1、L Change(Historical linguistics)n nHistorical linguisticsHistorical linguisticsistheabranchoflinguistics,isistheabranchoflinguistics,ismainlyconcernedwithboththemainlyconcernedwithboththedescriptiondescriptionandandexplanationexplanationoflanguagechange.Diachronicoflanguagechange.Diachroniclinguisti
2、cslinguisticsn ntheidentificationofthechangesenablesustotheidentificationofthechangesenablesustoreconstructthereconstructthelinguistichistorylinguistichistoryofthatlanguage,ofthatlanguage,hypothesizesitsearlierforms.hypothesizesitsearlierforms.n nitalsoenablesustodeterminehowitalsoenablesustodetermi
3、nehownon-linguisticnon-linguisticfactors,factors,suchassocial,culturalandpsychologicalsuchassocial,culturalandpsychologicalfactors,interactovertimetotriggerlinguisticfactors,interactovertimetotriggerlinguisticchange.change.Sound Change Morphological&Syntactic Change Lexical Change&Semantic Change Ex
4、ercisesCauses of the Language Change Introductiona.OldEnglisha.OldEnglish古古 代英语代英语(449-1066)(449-1066)Beowulf,anAnglo-Saxonepicpoem,themostimportantworkBeowulf,anAnglo-Saxonepicpoem,themostimportantworkofOldEnglishliteratureofOldEnglishliteratureb.MiddleEnglishb.MiddleEnglish中世纪英语中世纪英语(1066-1500)(10
5、66-1500)Chaucer,ShakespeareChaucer,Shakespeare c.ModernEnglishc.ModernEnglish现代英语现代英语(1500-present)(1500-present)IntroductionIt is a fact that all languages change through time,though they do so rather slowly.沛公旦日从百余骑来见项王,至鸿门,谢曰:“臣与将军戮力而攻秦,将军战河北,臣战河南,然不自意能先入关破秦,得复见将军于此。今者有小人之言,令将军与臣有郤(x)(同“隙”,隔阂。)。”
6、项王曰:“此沛公左司马曹无伤言之;不然,籍何以至此?”项王即日因留沛公与饮。史记Phonological changesn nAmongallthechangesinlanguage,eithersubtleorobvious,Amongallthechangesinlanguage,eithersubtleorobvious,changesatphonologicallevelareparticularlynoticeableandchangesatphonologicallevelareparticularlynoticeableandvaried.Somecommontypesofsou
7、ndchangescanbevaried.Somecommontypesofsoundchangescanbedistinguishedandrecognized,whichmakesitpossibletoworkdistinguishedandrecognized,whichmakesitpossibletoworkoutpatternsofpronunciationchangesthroughoutthehistoryofoutpatternsofpronunciationchangesthroughoutthehistoryoftheEnglishlanguage.theEnglish
8、language.n nThemostdramaticchangethatEnglishunderwentincludedtheThemostdramaticchangethatEnglishunderwentincludedthevowelsasillustratedintheexamples.(P.94)vowelsasillustratedintheexamples.(P.94)Sound Changen nTheTheGreat Vowel ShiftGreat Vowel Shiftwasamajorchangeinthewasamajorchangeinthepronunciati
9、onpronunciationoftheoftheEnglishlanguageEnglishlanguagethattookplaceinthattookplaceinEnglandEnglandbetween1350and1500.between1350and1500.The key pronunciation features of the Great Vowel Shift are the following:Vowel raising,Vowel fronting,DiphthongizationSound/phonological change:systematic;regular
10、 pattern of pronunciation changes a)Vowelsoundchangea)Vowelsoundchangen nGreatVowelShiftGreatVowelShift元音大换位元音大换位,whichoccurredattheendofthe,whichoccurredattheendoftheMiddleEnglishperiod,approximatelybetween1400and1600andMiddleEnglishperiod,approximatelybetween1400and1600andwhichinvolved7longvowels,
11、ledtooneofthemajorwhichinvolved7longvowels,ledtooneofthemajordisagreementsbetweenthepronunciationandthespellingsystemdisagreementsbetweenthepronunciationandthespellingsystemofModernEnglish.Forexample:ofModernEnglish.Forexample:MiddleEnglishMiddleEnglishModernEnglishModernEnglishFivefi:vFivefi:vfaivf
12、aivmousemu:smousemu:smmaUaUs sfeetfeetfe:tfe:tfi:tfi:tmoodmmoodm:d dmu:dmu:dbreakbrbreakbrZ:Z:kenkenbreikbreikbrokebrbrokebrC:C:kenkenbrbrEUEUkkNamena:meNamena:meneimneimSound Changen nThe Great Vowel Shiftauaii:eieu:a:uMicemi:smaisMousemu:smausn nb)Soundlossb)SoundlossSomesoundsinEnglishhavesimplyd
13、isappearedfromSomesoundsinEnglishhavesimplydisappearedfromthegeneralpronunciationofEnglish.thegeneralpronunciationofEnglish.-thevoicelessvelarfricative/x/,-thevoicelessvelarfricative/x/,nicht/nixt/nicht/nixt/nightnightsorh/sorx/sorrowsorh/sorx/sorrow-/k/soundin/kn-/clustersinthewordinitialposition-/
14、k/soundin/kn-/clustersinthewordinitialpositionknight“kneeknight“knee-Anothersoundlossisthedeletionofaword-finalvowel-Anothersoundlossisthedeletionofaword-finalvowelsegment,aphenomenoncalledapocope.segment,aphenomenoncalledapocope.词尾脱落词尾脱落/na:m/na:m/neim/neim/l/lQQv v/l/lQQv/v/n nc)SoundadditionSound
15、additionincludesthegainorinsertionofasound.Achangethatinvolvestheinsertionofaconsonantorvowelsoundtothemiddleofawordisknownasepenthesis插音,forexample:emtyemptyglimseglimpsespinlespindlen nd)SoundmovementMetathesisMetathesis换位换位 referstosoundchangebecauseofareversalinthereferstosoundchangebecauseofare
16、versalinthepositionsoftwoneighboringsounds.positionsoftwoneighboringsounds.n nbriddbirdbriddbirdn nhroshorsehroshorseMorphological&Syntactic Changen nAdditionofaffixesAdditionofaffixesn nLossofaffixesLossofaffixesn nChangeofwordorderChangeofwordordern nChangeinnegationruleChangeinnegationrulen nChan
17、gein“agreement”ruleChangein“agreement”rulen nProcessofsimplificationProcessofsimplificationAddition of affixesn nInEnglishmanyaffixesareborrowed.DuringtheMiddleInEnglishmanyaffixesareborrowed.DuringtheMiddleEnglishperiod,manyFrenchwordscontainingthesuffixEnglishperiod,manyFrenchwordscontainingthesuf
18、fixment(e.g.accomplishment,commencement)wereintroducedment(e.g.accomplishment,commencement)wereintroducedintoEnglish.ThissuffixbecameveryproductiveinEnglishintoEnglish.ThissuffixbecameveryproductiveinEnglishandwasusedwithbasesthatwerenotofFrenchorigin(e.g.andwasusedwithbasesthatwerenotofFrenchorigin
19、(e.g.acknowledgement,merriment).acknowledgement,merriment).n nInadditiontotheborrowedaffixes,somelexicalformsInadditiontotheborrowedaffixes,somelexicalformsbecamegrammaticalizedovertime.Thisprocessiscalledbecamegrammaticalizedovertime.Thisprocessiscalledgrammaticalization.Suchformsoftenundergodramat
20、icgrammaticalization.Suchformsoftenundergodramaticphonologicalreductionaswellassemanticchange,inwhichphonologicalreductionaswellassemanticchange,inwhichtheymaylosemuchoftheiroriginalcontent.theymaylosemuchoftheiroriginalcontent.n nInthecasewheretwowordsarefrequentlyadjacent,overtimeInthecasewheretwo
21、wordsarefrequentlyadjacent,overtimetheycanbecomefusedtogethertoformasingleunittheycanbecomefusedtogethertoformasingleunitconsistingofabaseandanaffix.consistingofabaseandanaffix.n nFusionreferstothistypeofgrammaticalizationinwhichFusionreferstothistypeofgrammaticalizationinwhichwordsdevelopintoaffixe
22、d,eitherprefixesorsuffixes.wordsdevelopintoaffixed,eitherprefixesorsuffixes.Loss of affixesn nAsaffixescanbeaddedtothegrammar,theycanalsoAsaffixescanbeaddedtothegrammar,theycanalsogetlost,someaffixessimplyfadeoutofusefornogetlost,someaffixessimplyfadeoutofusefornoapparentreason.Somelosscanbeexplaine
23、dviaapparentreason.Somelosscanbeexplainedviasoundchanges.Forexample,OldEnglishhadasoundchanges.Forexample,OldEplexsystemofaffixesmarkingcaseandgender.NounsweredividedintothreegenderclassesNounsweredividedintothreegenderclassesmasculine,neuter,andfeminie.Andtheassignmenttomasculine,neuter,andfeminie.
24、Andtheassignmenttoaclasswasbasedonitsgrammaticalgender,notonaclasswasbasedonitsgrammaticalgender,notonthenaturalgender,sex.thenaturalgender,sex.Change of word ordern nAlllanguagesmakeadistinctionbetweenthesubjectandAlllanguagesmakeadistinctionbetweenthesubjectanddirectobject,whichcanbeillustratedinw
25、ordorder.Olddirectobject,whichcanbeillustratedinwordorder.OldEnglishhadacomplicatedsystemofcasemarkingasEnglishhadacomplicatedsystemofcasemarkingasexplainedintheprevioussection;itswordorderwassomehowexplainedintheprevioussection;itswordorderwassomehowvariablefromthatofModernEnglishtoo.Whenthedirectv
26、ariablefromthatofModernEnglishtoo.WhenthedirectobjectwasapronouninOldEnglish,thesubject-object-verbobjectwasapronouninOldEnglish,thesubject-object-verborderwasused.orderwasused.Change of word ordern nThesubject-object-verborderalsoprevailedinembeddedThesubject-object-verborderalsoprevailedinembedded
27、clauses,evenwhenthedirectobjectwasnotapronoun.clauses,evenwhenthedirectobjectwasnotapronoun.n nSincecasemarkingswerelostduringtheMiddleEnglishSincecasemarkingswerelostduringtheMiddleEnglishperiodthroughsoundchange,fixedsubject-object-verborderperiodthroughsoundchange,fixedsubject-object-verborderbec
28、amethemeansofgrammaticalrelationmarking.Statisticsbecamethemeansofgrammaticalrelationmarking.Statisticsshowthatamajorchangeinthisaspectoccurredbetween1300showthatamajorchangeinthisaspectoccurredbetween1300and1400,withtheverb-objectbecomingdominant.and1400,withtheverb-objectbecomingdominant.Change of
29、 Word OrderShehimadvised.Sheadvisedhim.Sentencestructure:SVO,VSO,SOV,OSVe.g.Whenhethekingvisited,heboasted.Change in negation ruleIlovetheenot.Hesawyounot.Idontloveyou.Notisattheendofthesentence.Auxiliary+notHedidntseeyou.Process of simplificationn nChangesreflectedincaseandgender.OldEnglishMiddleMo
30、dernEnglishure/urumoureourLexical and semantic changen nLexicalitemsarethebuildingblockofalanguage,andtheLexicalitemsarethebuildingblockofalanguage,andthechangesinthisaspectarecomparativelymoreobviousandchangesinthisaspectarecomparativelymoreobviousandnoticeable.Generallyspeaking,therearemainlytwopo
31、ssiblenoticeable.Generallyspeaking,therearemainlytwopossiblewaysoflexicalchanges:theadditionandlossofwords,whichwaysoflexicalchanges:theadditionandlossofwords,whichoftenreflectstheintroductionofnewobjectsandnotionsinoftenreflectstheintroductionofnewobjectsandnotionsinsocialpractices.socialpractices.
32、Vocabulary Change n nAdditionofnewwordsAdditionofnewwordsn nLossofwordsLossofwordsAddition of New Wordscoinage(创新词)clippedwords(缩略词)blending(紧缩法)acronyms(词首字母缩略词)back-formation(逆构词法)functionalshiftborrowingCoinageAnewwordcanbecoinedoutrighttofitsomeAnewwordcanbecoinedoutrighttofitsomepurpose,mostlyf
33、ornewthingsandobjectspurpose,mostlyfornewthingsandobjectse.g.e.g.n nKodakKodakn nXeroxXeroxn nFordFordn nBenzBenzn nToyotaToyotaClipped WordsClippingreferstotheabbreviationoflongerwordsorphrases,Clippingreferstotheabbreviationoflongerwordsorphrases,e.g.e.g.n ngymgymnasiumgymgymnasiumn nmemomemorandu
34、mmemomemorandumn ndiscodiscothequediscodiscothequen nfridgerefrigeratorfridgerefrigeratorBlendingAblendisawordformedbycombiningpartsofotherwords,Ablendisawordformedbycombiningpartsofotherwords,e.g.e.g.n nsmogsmoke+fogsmogsmoke+fogn nmotelmotor+hotelmotelmotor+hoteln ncamcordercamera+recordercamcorde
35、rcamera+recordern ncomsatcommunication+satellitecomsatcommunication+satelliten nvideophonevideo+telephonevideophonevideo+telephoneAcronymsAcronymsarewordsderivedfromtheinitialsofseveralwords,e.g.n nCBS-ColumbiaBroadcastingSystemn nISBN-InternationalStandardBookNumbern nWTOWHOPLAAIDSUNESCOAPECOPECCAD
36、SARSBack-formationNewwordsmaybecoinedfromalreadyexistingwordsNewwordsmaybecoinedfromalreadyexistingwordsby“subtracting”anaffixthoughttobepartoftheoldby“subtracting”anaffixthoughttobepartoftheoldword.word.n nediteditorn nhawkhawkern nbegbeggarn nbaby-sitbaby-sitterFunctional Shift Wordsmayshiftfromon
37、epartofspeechtoanotherWordsmayshiftfromonepartofspeechtoanotherwithouttheadditionofaffixes,whichisalsocalledwithouttheadditionofaffixes,whichisalsocalledconversion,e.g.conversion,e.g.n nNounNounverb:toknee,tobug,totape,tobrakeverb:toknee,tobug,totape,tobraken nVerbVerbnoun:ahold,aflyby,areject,aretr
38、eatnoun:ahold,aflyby,areject,aretreatn nAdj.Adj.verb:tocool,tonarrow,todim,toslowverb:tocool,tonarrow,todim,toslown nAdj.Adj.noun:adaily,aChristian,therich,thenoun:adaily,aChristian,therich,theimpossibleimpossibleBorrowing Whendifferentculturescomeintocontact,wordsareoftenborrowedfromWhendifferentcu
39、lturescomeintocontact,wordsareoftenborrowedfromonelanguagetoanother.Theonelanguagetoanother.Theloan wordloan wordmaylabelanewconcept,oritmaylabelanewconcept,oritmayreplaceorbecomeasynonymofanativeword.mayreplaceorbecomeasynonymofanativeword.EnglishhasborrowedaverylargenumberofwordsfrommanydifferentE
40、nglishhasborrowedaverylargenumberofwordsfrommanydifferentlanguagesthroughoutitshistory.Ofthe20,000orsowordsincommonlanguagesthroughoutitshistory.Ofthe20,000orsowordsincommonuse,aboutthree-fifthsareborrowed.Theexamplesbelowaresomeoftheuse,aboutthree-fifthsareborrowed.Theexamplesbelowaresomeoftheloanw
41、ordsinEnglish.loanwordsinEnglish.n nLatinbonuseducationexitLatinbonuseducationexitn nGermanbeerwaltzquartzGermanbeerwaltzquartzn nChineseteakowtowsampanChineseteakowtowsampann nRussiansputnikcommissarvodkaRussiansputnikcommissarvodkan nArabiczeroalgebraalcoholArabiczeroalgebraalcoholLoss of Words Wo
42、rdscanbelostfromalanguageastimegoesby.ThefollowingWordscanbelostfromalanguageastimegoesby.Thefollowingwords,takenfromwords,takenfromRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet,havefadedoutofthe,havefadedoutoftheEnglishlanguage.Englishlanguage.BeseemBeseemtobesuitabletobesuitableWotWottoknowtoknowGyveGyveafette
43、rafetterWhereforeWhereforewhywhyShall I compareShall I compare theethee to a summers day?to a summers day?ThouThou art more lovely and more temperate art more lovely and more temperaten nThelossofwords,astheexamplesshow,takeplacegraduallyThelossofwords,astheexamplesshow,takeplacegraduallyoverthecour
44、seofseveralgenerations.Incontrast,thearrivaloverthecourseofseveralgenerations.Incontrast,thearrivalofanewwordisquiteobviousandoftendrawsattentiondueofanewwordisquiteobviousandoftendrawsattentionduetoitsnovelty.toitsnovelty.n nNewwordsconstantlycomeintobeing,yetmanynewNewwordsconstantlycomeintobeing,
45、yetmanynewcoinagesarequiteshort-lived.Oneofthemostcommoncoinagesarequiteshort-lived.Oneofthemostcommoncausesforthelossoflexicalitemsisthediscontinuationofthecausesforthelossoflexicalitemsisthediscontinuationoftheobjecttheycame.Forinstance,objecttheycame.Forinstance,soapflakessoapflakesisalreadyobsol
46、ete,isalreadyobsolete,andandwashboardwashboardandandrumbleseatrumbleseatareonthewayout.areonthewayout.New Words&Loss of Words给力给力 geiliable团购团购 group purchase农民工农民工 Migrant worker神马都是浮云!神马都是浮云!大哥大大哥大 Walkie-talkie随声听随声听Walkman 秘书秘书 secretary煤油煤油 kerosene相声相声 crosstalk晒工资晒工资 Share salary手机控手机控 粉色控粉色控
47、Semantic change(Changes in the Meaning)n nSemanticbroadening(Wideningofmeaning)Semanticbroadening(Wideningofmeaning)n nSemanticnarrowing(Narrowingofmeaning)Semanticnarrowing(Narrowingofmeaning)n nSemanticshift(Meaningshift)Semanticshift(Meaningshift)Widening of MeaningHoliday:+specificholydayHoliday
48、:+specificholyday+generalanyrestday+generalanyrestdayTail:+specifictailofahorseTail:+specifictailofahorse+generaltailofanyanimal+generaltailofanyanimal(黄河黄河,河流河流)河河birdbird(youngbird,anybird)(youngbird,anybird)Narrowing of Meaningn nhound:anydoghound:anydogaspecialkindofdogaspecialkindofdogn ndeer:a
49、nyanimaldeer:anyanimalaparticularkindofanimalaparticularkindofanimaln ngirl:youngpersonofeithersexgirl:youngpersonofeithersexyoungpeopleoffemalesexyoungpeopleoffemalesexn nmeat:foodmeat:foodediblepartofananimalediblepartofananimalknight(youth,amedievalgentlman-soldier)corncorngrain,aparticulargraing
50、rain,aparticulargrainMeaning Shift n ninn:asmall,oldhotelorpubinn:asmall,oldhotelorpubwell-known,nicehotelwell-known,nicehoteln nnice:ignorant(1000yearsago)nice:ignorant(1000yearsago)good,finegood,finen nlust:pleasurelust:pleasurewithnegativeandsexualovertoneswithnegativeandsexualovertonessillysilly