Presentation: 

Subject: Grammatical History

Topic: How does language
evolve and change?
Worked by: Gesis Piroli,
Group III-G
Submitted to: Ergys Bezhani
• Does language evolve and change?
• Why does it change over time?
• Types of change.
• The benefits of evolving a particular language, in
this case English.
• References
Some linguists think of language as a
living thing: it grows and changes, and
every time a child learns it the language
reproduces itself. Language also varies
across time. Generation by generation,
pronunciations evolve, new words are
borrowed or invented, the meaning of old
words drifts, and morphology develops or
decays.  Language is always evolving.
The English language has changed
dramatically over the last millennium. It
change enables us to accommodate new
ideas, inventions and technologies.It's not
just the words themselves which change;
the way in which we use them can shift
too.
There are many different ways that this evolution happens. Here are some of the primary
ways:
1. Trade and migration
As cultures interact, mix and trade, language
shifts to accommodate these changes.
English, for example, often borrows from other
languages. These are called loanwords.
Avatar, tsunami and sudoku are good examples
of more recent loanwords.
2. Technology and new inventions
New words and phrases are also invented to describe
things that didn’t exist before.
A few years ago we weren’t lured by clickbait and didn’t
worry about our carbon footprint. It is only recently that
we have taken selfies or listened to podcasts.
Sometimes these invented words are the fusion of two
words that existed before.
These are known as portmanteau words. For example, blog
comes from the combination of web and log.
Also another new words which are used daily are: emoji,
snap, click bait etc.
3. Old words acquiring new meanings
Nice is often given as an example of a word
shift.
Over seven hundred years it has changed its
meaning from 'foolish' to 'shy', then to
'dainty', from there to 'delightful' and to our
modern meaning of 'giving pleasure or
satisfaction'. Some shift!
The internet has also been responsible for a
number of more recent word shifts: mouse,
surf and web are obvious examples.
Types of change.
•Lexical changes.
•Phonetic and phonological changes.
•Spelling changes.
•Semantic changes.
•Syntactic changes.
 
All aspects of language change, and a great deal is know about
general mechanisms and historical details of changes at all levels
of linguistic analysis. However, a special and conspicuous success
has been achieved in modeling changes in phonological systems,
traditionally called sound change.Another unconditioned sound
change that occurred between Middle and Early Modern English
(around Shakespeare's time) is known as the Great Vowel Shift. At
that time, there was a length distinction in the English vowels, and
the Great Vowel Shift altered the position of all the long vowels, in
a giant rotation.
 Some of the
benefits of evolving
a certain language,
in this case English
are:

New skills and

The ability to Greater new
words you learn
communicate in a Increased mental Increased problem- comprehension for
help increase the
new modern flexibility. solving abilities. how long language
level of
language. works and is used.
conversation.
References:
• https://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2003/ling001/language_chang
e.html
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z86qsbk/articles/z7fyb82
Thank you
for your
attention!