Historical Linguistics

The English Language

ELT 322 Historical Linguistics
Spring 2022
Esma Latić
1. What is the origin of language?
2. Why are there many languages
rather than one?
 God called the light “day,” and the
darkness he called “night.” And there
was evening, and there was morning—
the first day. (Genesis 1:5)
What is historical linguistics
concerned with?
 The range of possible changes in
an entity is inextricably linked with
the
nature of that entity.
Language as a fundamental human capacity
⏤ is a uniquely human trait
⏤is symbolic and the relationship between signifiers and
the signified is arbitrary
⏤ is most commonly acquired ‘naturally’,
without explicit instructions
⏤ is a sociopolitical construct
Language as a fundamental human capacity

⏤ is in a constant state of flux

Historical Linguistics
⏤ Historical linguists study language change.
⏤The field’s relevance is manifold:
⏤ helps us understand how languages work
⏤provides model methods for other fields
⏤helps solve historical problems of concern to society beyond linguistics
⏤contributes to other linguistic fields and theories

⏤ Historical linguists is not:

⏤ a history of linguistics
⏤ concerned with the origin of human language per se
⏤ interested in determining or preserving language or attempting to prevent change
What do you think about language
today? Do you think it is changing,
and if so, is it getting better or
worse?
Historical Linguistics
“The farther back in time one can climb, the more beautiful and
more perfect he finds the form of language, [while] the closer he
comes to its present form, the more painful it is to him to find the
power and adroitness of the language in decline and decay.”

- Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, 1854

Historical Linguistics
⏤ However, language change is inevitable and it is not inherently good or
bad – it just is.
Historical or diachronic linguistics
Synchronic– the study of a language at a given point in time

sing-sang-sung – paradigm of an irregular verb

Diachronic – the study of a language (as it changes) over a period of time

sing-sang-sung – regular product of the Indo-European ablaut

 Historical linguistics

describes and accounts for

observed changes in a language
 Historical linguistics

reconstructs the pre-history of

languages to determine their
relatedness, grouping them into
language families
 Historical linguistics

develops general theories

about how and why language
changes
Historical Linguistics
⏤At first, historical linguistics was concerned with ‘how’ languages change –
nowadays, we see that the study is dedicated to both ‘how’ and why’
languages change, i.e. the methods of investigating linguistic change and to
the theories designed to explain these changes
 Historical linguistics

studies the history of words, in

the field known as etymology
Cont’d.
⏤ However, it does not primarily aim at deriving etymologies, but accurate
etymology is a significant product of the area’s work.
English: coffee BrE /ˈkɒ.fi/ ; AmE /ˈkɔ.fi/

Dutch: koffie /ˈkɔ.fi/

Ottoman Turkish: qahweh /qæhˈwæ/ ‫ﻗﮭوه‬

Arabic: qahwa /qah.wa/ ‫ﻗﮭو‬

Ethiopian: kaffa /qa.fa/

Etymology in Historical Linguistics
⏤Can you guess the etymology of the word ‘goodbye’?

⏤Late 1500s: God be with you (spelled as God be wy ye, God b’uy, etc.)
⏤God < good (either analogy with similar greetings, e.g. ‘good morning’, or
avoidance of blasphemy of saying ‘God’ – or both)
⏤ The independent words were amalgamated into ‘goodbye’
⏤ Clipped to ‘bye’
Historical or diachronic linguistics
⏤ Historical linguistics also deals with language varieties, including:

Dialects – varieties used by a community of one specific region (e.g. Rhode Island AmE)

Sociolects – varieties used by groups demarcated by social categories (age, gender, class),
e.g. upper-class BrE

Ethnolects – varieties traditionally associated with an ethnic group (e.g. German Australian
English)

Registers – varieties that are linked to occupations, professions or topics (e.g. the language
of science)
 Internal
&
External changes
 Internal changes

are brought about by the

usage of native speakers who
modify their language
 External changes
are brought about by language contact
(between speakers of different languages),
innovations by speakers, or issues of political
or social identity.
 When emphasizing or
suppressing language change, a
speaking community is trying to
control the natural features of
language.
How can we stop or encourage
language change?
 conservative
vs
innovative
language planning
Prescriptivism
vs
Descriptivism