语言学基础教程
Chapter8HistoricalLinguistics:LanguageThroughTime8.1Whatishistoricallinguistics?Itisanindisputablefactthatalllanguageshavebeenconstantlychangingthroughtime.Essentially,modernlinguisticshascenteredaroundtwodimensionstodealwithlanguagechange:thesynchronicdimensionandthediachronicdimension.Thesynchronicdimensionhasdominantlybeenappliedtodescribeandexplaindifferencesorvariationswithinonelanguageindifferentplacesandamongdifferentgroupsatthesametime.Thesynchronicdimensionisusuallythetopicofsociolinguistics,whichwillbediscussedinChapter10.Thischapterwillfocusonthediachronicdimensionoflanguagechange.Thosewhostudylanguagefromthislatterpointofviewareworkinginthefieldofhistoricallinguistics(Poole,2000:123).Toputitmorespecifically,historicallinguisticsisthestudyofthedevelopmentsinlanguagesinthecourseoftime,ofthewaysinwhichlanguageschangefromperiodtoperiod,andofthecausesandresultsofsuchchanges,bothoutsidethelanguagesandwithinthem(Robins,2000:5).8.2WhenlanguagechangesAlthoughlanguagechangedoesnottakeplaceovernight,certainchangesarenoticeablebecausetheyusuallyconflatewithacertainhistoricalperiodormajorsocialchangescausedbywars,invasionsandotherupheavals.ThedevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguageisacaseinpoint.Generallyspeaking,thehistoricaldevelopmentofEnglishisdividedintothreemajorperiods:OldEnglish(OE),MiddleEnglish(ME),andModernEnglish(ModE).500(thetimewhenGermanictribesinvadedBritain)OldEnglish1100(thetimeaftertheNormanConquestin1066)MiddleEnglish1500(thebeginningofRenaissanceandthefirstprintingpresssetupin1476inEngland)ModernEnglishthepresentInabouttheyear449AD,theGermanictribesofAngles,SaxonsandJutesfromnorthernEuropeinvadedBritainandbecamethefoundersoftheEnglishnation.Theirlanguage,withtheGermaniclanguageasthesource,iscalled,thenamederivedfromthefirsttribe,theAngles.It\nhadavocabularyinheritedalmostentirelyfromGermanicorformedbycompoundingorderivationfromGermanicelements(Dension,1993:9).FromthisearlyvarietyofEnglisc,manyofthemostbasictermsintheEnglishlanguagecameintobeing:mann(“man”),cild(“child”),mete(“food”),etan(“eat”),drincan(“drink”)andfeohtan(“fight”).FromthesixthtotheeighthcenturiesAD,theAnglo-SaxonswereconvertedtoChristianity,andanumberofterms,mainlytodowithreligion,philosophyandmedicine,wereborrowedintoEnglishfromLatin,thelanguageofreligion.Theoriginsofthemodernwordsangel,bishop,candle,church,martyr,priestandschoolalldatefromthatperiod.Fromtheeighthcenturytothetenthcentury,theVikingsfromnorthernEuropeinvadedEnglandandbroughtwordssuchasgive,law,leg,skin,sky,takeandtheyfromtheirlanguage,OldNorse(Yule,2000:218).Intheyearof1066AD,theNormanFrenchconqueredthewholeofEngland,bringingFrenchspeakersintotherulingclassandthenpushingFrenchtothepositionasthe“prestigelanguage”forthenexttwohundredyears.Thislanguagewasusedbythenobility,thegovernment,thelawandcivilizedbehavior,providingthesourceofsuchmoderntermsasarmy,court,defense,prisonandtax(Yule,2000:219).YetthelanguageofthepeasantsremainedEnglish.BytheendoftheMEperiod,whenEnglishhadonceagainbecomethefirstlanguageofallclasses,thebulkofOElexishadbecomeobsolete,andsometenthousandFrenchwordshadbeenincorporatedintoEnglish,maybe75%survivingintoModE(Baugh&Cable,2001:174).DuringtheearlyModEperiod,whichcoincidedwiththeRenaissanceperiod,EnglishborrowedenormouslexicalresourcesfromtheclassicallanguagesofLatinandGreek.And,lateronastheBritishEmpireexpanded,therangeoflexicalinfluencewidenedtoevermoreexoticsourcelanguages(Dension,1993:13).ThetypesofborrowedwordsnotedaboveareexamplesofexternalchangesinEnglish,andtheinternalchangesoverlapwiththehistoricalperiodsdescribedabove.AccordingtoFennell(2005:2),theyear500ADmarksthebranchingoffofEnglishfromotherGermanicdialects;theyear1100ADmarkstheperiodinwhichEnglishlostthevastmajorityofitsinflections,signalingthechangefromalanguagethatrelieduponmorphologicalmarkingofgrammaticalrolestoonethatreliedonwordordertomaintainbasicgrammaticalrelations;andtheyear1500ADmarkstheendofmajorFrenchinfluenceonthelanguageandthetimewhentheuseofEnglishwasestablishedinallcommunicativecontexts.Thus,thoseinternalchangeswillbeelaboratedbelow\natthephonological,lexical,semanticandgrammaticallevels.8.3HowlanguagechangesThechangeoftheEnglishlanguagewiththepassageoftimeissodramaticthattodaypeoplehardlyreadOEorMEwithoutspecialstudy.Ingeneral,thedifferencesamongOE,MEandModEinvolvesound,lexiconandgrammar,asdiscussedbelow.8.3.1PhonologicalchangeTheprinciplethatsoundchangeisnormallyregularisaveryfruitfulbasisforexaminingthephonologicalhistoryofalanguage.Themajorityofsoundchangescanbeunderstoodintermsofthemovementsofthevocalorgansduringspeech,andsometimesmoreparticularlyintermsofatendencytoreducearticulatoryeffort(Trask,2000:70,96).8.3.1.1Phonemicchange8.3.1.1.1VowelchangeOneofthemostobviousdifferencesbetweenModEandtheEnglishspokeninearlierperiodsisinthequalityofthevowelsounds(Yule,2000:219).Sometimesalanguageexperiencesawholesaleshiftinalargepartofitsphonologicalsystem.ThishappenedtothelongvowelsofEnglishinthefifteenthandsixteenthcenturiesAD,eachvowelbecomingcloser,thehighestbecomingdiphthongsasinthewordswifeandhouse(respectivelychangedfromwayf/wi:f/andhaws/hu:s/inOE).WecallthisshifttheGreatVowelShift(Poole,2000:127),andthespecificchangesmaybediagrammedasfollows(Robins,2000:342).InME,thevowelsinnearlyallunstressedsyllabicinflectionswerereducedto[ә],spelled
(Dension,1993:12).Thegeneralobscuringofunstressedsyllablesisamostsignificantsoundchange(tobeelaboratedfurtherin8.3.3and8.3.4),sinceitisoneofthefundamentalcausesofthelossofinflections(Fennell,2005:99).\n8.3.1.1.2ConsonantchangeConsonantsareproducedwithanobstructionoftheair-stream,andtendtobelessstableovertimethanvowelsinmostlanguages.Twofairlycommonprocessesareassimilationandlenition.Assimilationistheprocessbywhichtwosoundsthatoccurclosetogetherinspeechbecomemorealike.Thissortofchangeiseasytounderstand:movingthespeechorgansallovertheplacerequiresaneffort,andmakingnearbysoundsmoresimilarreducestheamountofmovementrequired,andhencetheamountofeffort(Trask,2000:53).Instancescanbefoundinwordssuchasirregular,impossibleandillegal,inwhichthenegativeprefixesim-andil-shouldbe“in-based”inaccordancewithetymology.Undertheinfluenceofneighboringvowels,consonantsmayalsobeweakened.Thisweakeningorlenition,canchangeavoicelessconsonantintoavoicedoneandaplosiveintoafricative(Poole,2000:126).Instancesof[h]innativeEnglishwordsgenerallyderivefromthelenitionofanearlier*[k]:suchwordsashead,heart,help,hillandheallbeganwith[k]inaremoteancestralformofEnglish,butthis[k]waslenitedfirstto[x]andthento[h],andthemodernlenitionof[h]tozeromerelycompletesaprocessoflenitionstretchingoverseveralthousandyears(Trask,2000:59).8.3.1.2Whole-segmentchangeCertainphonologicalchangesaresomewhatunusualinthattheyinvolve,notjustchangesinthenatureofsegments,butachangeinthenumberororderingofsegments,andthesearereferredtoaswhole-segmentprocesses(Trask,2000:66).Thechangeknownasmetathesisinvolvesareversalinpositionoftwoadjoiningsounds.ThefollowingareexamplesfromtheOEperiod:acsianàaskbriddàbirdbrinnanàbeornan(burn)fristàfirsthrosàhorsewaepsàwasp(Yule,2000:220).8.3.2LexicalchangeAsdefinedbyFreeborn(2000:23),lexicalchangereferstonewwordsbeingneededinthevocabularytorefertonewthingsorconcepts,withotherwordsdroppingoutwhentheynolonger\nhaveanyuseinsociety.Lexicalchangemayalsoinvolvesemanticchange,thatis,changeinthemeaningofwords.Thus,lexicalchangemainlyconsistsofadditionofnewwords,lossofwordsandchangeinthemeaningofwords.8.3.2.1AdditionofnewwordsTheconditionsoflifeforindividualsinsociety,theirartifacts,customs,andformsoforganizationareconstantlychanging.Accordingly,manywordsinlanguagesandthesituationsinwhichtheyareemployedareequallyliabletochangeinthecourseoftime(Robins,2000:343).Floodsofnewwordsconstantlyneedtobeaddedtotheword-stocktoreflectthesedevelopments.Etymology,whichisthestudyofthehistoryofindividualwords,showsthatwhilethemajorityofwordsinalanguagearenativewords,theremayalsobeloanwordsorborrowedwordsfromanotherlanguage.Nativewordsarethosethatcanbetracedbacktotheearliestformofthelanguageinquestion.InEnglish,nativewordsarewordsofAnglo-Saxonorigin,suchasfull,hand,wind,red.Loanwordsarethosethatareborrowedorimportedfromanotherlanguage,suchasmyth,career,formula,genius.Apartfromborrowing,manynewwordsareaddedtoalanguagethroughword-formation.ThefollowingprocessesarequitepervasiveintheadditionofnewwordsintheevolutionofEnglish.8.3.2.1.1CompoundingandaffixingAccordingtoFennell(2005:77-8),newwordsinOEweremainlyformedonthebasisofcompoundingandaffixing.Manywordswereformedthroughcompounding,e.g.blod+read(“blood-red”);Engla(“Angles”)+land=England.AffixingcoverssuffixingandprefixinginOE,theformerusuallyusedtotransformpartsofspeechwhilethelattergenerallyusedtochangethesemanticforce.Asuffixlike-domcouldcreateanabstractnounfromanothernounoradjective:wis+dom(“wisdom”).Theperfectiveprefixge-wasmostoftenusedtoformpastparticiples:ceosan(“tochoose),gecoren(“chosen”);findan(“tofind”),gefunden(“found”).Itcouldalsobeusedtochangethemeaningofaword:hatan(“tocall”),gehatan(“topromise”).InmodernEnglish,newwordsareaddednotonlythroughcompoundingandaffixing,butalsobymeansofcoinage,conversion,blending,backformationandabbreviation.Alltheseword-formationprocessesarediscussedinChapter3.\n8.3.2.1.2ReanalysisandmetanalysisReanalysismeansthatawordwhichhistoricallyhasoneparticularmorphologicalstructure,isperceivedbyspeakersashavingasecond,quitedifferentstructure.TheLatinwordminimumconsistedinLatinofthemorphemesmin-(“little”,alsofoundinminorandminus)and-im-(“most”),plusaninflectionalending;however,thankstotheinfluenceoftheunrelatedminiature,Englishspeakershaveapparentlyreanalyzedbothwordsasconsistingofaprefixmini-(“verysmall”)plussomethingincomprehensible,leadingtothecreationofminiskirtandallthenewerwordswhichhavefollowedit(Trask,2000:102).ThehistoryofEnglishprovidessomeniceexamplesofreanalysisinvolvingnothingmorethanthemovementofamorphemeboundary,atypeofchangeimpressivelycalledmetanalysis.Formslikeanapronandanewtwereapparentlymisheardasanapronandanewt,producingthemodernforms.Othersimilarinstancesareadder(theEnglishformerword:naddre),umpire(noumpere)andnickname(ekename)(Trask,2000:103).8.3.2.1.3AnalogicalcreationAnalogicalcreationisthereplacementofanirregularorsuppletiveformwithinagrammaticalparadigmbyanewformmodeledontheformsofthemajorityofmembersoftheclasstowhichthewordinquestionbelongs.Thevirtualreplacementofkinebycowsasthepluralofcowisanexampleofanalogicalcreation,andsoarethemoremodernregularpasttenseformshelped,climbed,andsnowed,fortheearlierholp,clomb,andsnew(Robins,2000:359).Analogicalcreationisquitepersuasiveinaccountingfortheprocessofculturaltransmissiontobediscussedin8.4.2.8.3.2.2LossofwordsInthecourseoftime,somewordspassoutofcurrentvocabularyastheparticularsortsofobjectsorwaysofbehavingtowhichtheyreferbecomeobsolete.OneneedonlythinkinEnglishoftheformerspecializedvocabulary,nowlargelyvanished,whichrelatestoobsoletesportssuchasfalconry(Robins,2000:343).Suchexamplesaboundinalmosteverylanguage.\n8.3.2.3SemanticchangeSemanticchangereferstochangesinthemeaningsofwords.Therearemainlythreeprocessesofsemanticchange:broadening,narrowingandmeaningshifts(Fromkin&Rodman1983:297).Broadeningandnarrowingarechangesinthescopeofwordmeaning.Thatis,somewordswidentherangeoftheirapplicationormeaning,whileotherwordshavetheircontextualapplicationreducedinscope.Broadeningisaprocessbywhichawordwithaspecializedmeaningisgeneralizedtocoverabroaderorlessdefiniteconceptormeaning.Forexample,theoriginalmeaningofcarryis“transportbycart”,butnowitmeans“transportbyanymeans”.Narrowingistheoppositeofbroadening,aprocessbywhichwordswithageneralmeaningbecomerestrictedinuseandexpressanarroworspecializedmeaning.Forexample,thewordgirlusedtomean“ayoungperson”,butinmodernEnglishitreferstoayoungfemaleperson.Moreexamplesofbroadeningandnarrowingareprovidedbelow:Broadening:dog(docgaOE)oneparticularbreedofdogàallbreedsofdogsbird(bridME)youngbirdàallbirdsirrespectiveofageholiday(holyday)areligiousfeastàtheverygeneralbreakfromworkNarrowing:hound(hundOE)anykindofdogàaspecificbreedofdogmeat(meteOE)anykindoffoodàediblefoodfromanimalsdeer(dēorME)anybeast,animalàonespeciesofanimalMeaningshiftisaprocessbywhichawordthatusedtodenoteonethingisusedtomeansomethingelse.Forexample,thewordcoach,originallydenotingahorse-drawnvehicle,nowdenotesalong-distancebusorarailwayvehicle.Meaningshiftsalsoincludetransferenceofmeaning,thatis,changefromtheliteralmeaningtothefigurativemeaningofwords.Forexample,inexpressionslikethefootofamountain,thebedofariverandtheeyeofaneedle,weusefoot,bedandeyeinametaphoricalway.Othertypesofmeaningshiftsincludeelevationanddegradation.Elevationofmeaningisaprocessbywhichawordchangesfromaderogatorysensetoanappreciativesense.Forexample,thewordniceoriginallymeant“ignorant”andfondsimplymeant“foolish”.Degradationofmeaningisaprocessbywhichawordofappreciativemeaningfallsintopejorativeuse.Forexample,thewordsillyusedtomean“happy”andcunningoriginallymeant“skillful”.\n8.3.3GrammaticalchangeThemostfundamentalfeaturethatdistinguishesOldEnglishfromthelanguageoftodayisitsgrammar(Baugh&Cable,2001:54).ModernEnglishisananalyticlanguagewhileOldEnglishisasyntheticlanguage.Themajordifferenceisthatasyntheticlanguageisonethatindicatestherelationofwordsinasentencelargelybymeansofinflections,butananalyticlanguagemakesextensiveuseofprepositions,auxiliaryverbs,anddependsonwordordertoshowotherrelationships.InOE,theorderofwordsinaclausewasmorevariablethanthatofModE,andthereweremanymoreinflectionsonnouns,adjectivesandverbs(Freeborn,2000:66).ThegrammaticalchangesofEnglishsuchasthoseinnumber,gender,caseandtensemainlytookplaceonitsmorphologicallevel,whilesyntacticchangessuchasthoseinwordorderaretheconsequenceofthelossofrichinflectionsinEnglish.ThemostsweepingmorphologicalchangeduringtheevolutionofEnglishistheprogressivedecayofinflections.OE,MEandModEcanbecalledtheperiodsoffull,reducedandzeroinflections,respectivelybecause,duringmostoftheOEperiodtheendingsofthenoun,theadjective,andtheverbarepreservedmoreorlessunimpaired,whileduringtheMEperiodtheinflectionsbecomegreatlyreduced,andfinallybytheModEperiod,alargepartoftheoriginalinflectionalsystemhaddisappearedentirely(Dension,1993:12;Baugh&Cable,2001:50).ThelossofinflectionsinthecasesystemofOldEnglishisagoodexampleofgrammaticalchange.Caseisthegrammaticalfeaturethatmarksfunctionsofthesubject,object,orpossessioninaclause.InOE,nounsshowedafour-termcasecontrast,forwhichtheLatinatetermsnominative(subject),accusative(directobject),genitive(possessive)anddative(indirectobject)areconventionallyused,andthecase-endingsystemcanbeillustratedbythefollowing:CASEnominativegenitivedativeaccusativeMODERNENGLISHstone/stonesstone’s/stones’stone/stonesstone/stonesOESINGULARstānstānesstānestānOEPLURALstānasstānastānumstānas(Fromkin&Rodman,1983:290)TheMEperiodisthebeginningofthelossofmostoftheinflectionsofOE,mainlythroughtheweakeninganddroppingofthefinalunstressedvowels.Forexample,whenthevowelwas\ndroppedinthepluralformofstones[stR:n[s],itbecame[stRwnz],andwhenthe“weak”syllablesrepresentingcaseendingsintheformsofthesingular,genitiveplural,anddativepluralweredropped,Englishlostmuchofitscasesystem(ibid).ThelossofinflectionsmarksatransitionofEnglishfromasynthetictoananalyticlanguage,andthusledtoagreaterrelianceonwordorder.WordorderinOEwasmorevariablethanthatofModE:wordorderwasnotasfixedorrigidinOEasitisinModE(Fennell,2005:59).Boththeorderssubject-object-verb(“hēhinegeseah”:“hesawhim”)andobject-subject-verb(“himmannesealde”:“nomangave[any]tohim”)arepossible(Yule,2000:221).WordorderinanOEsentencewasnotsocrucialbecauseOEissohighlyinflected.Thedoeroftheactionandtheobjectoftheactionwererevealedunambiguouslybyvariouscaseendings,whichmakesthesentencemeaningperfectlyclear.Itcanbesaidthatchangesinsound,lexiconandgrammardonotoperateseparatelyorindependentlyofeachother,buttheyareinteractingandinterdependent.Onechangeisoftenintegratedorincorporatedintotheotherchanges.And,itisthecomplexinterrelationshipsamongthemthathaveshapedthewholeprocessofthelanguagechange.Asisshownabove,thedroppingofthefinalunstressedvowelsledtothelossofinflectionsofOE,andthisinturnledtoagreaterrelianceonwordorder.8.4WhylanguagechangesNochangedescribedabovehashappenedovernight,buthasconstantlyandgraduallytakenplace.Manychangesaredifficulttodiscernwhiletheyareinprogress.Thecausesoflanguagechangearemanyandvarious,andonlysomeofthemarereasonablywellunderstoodatpresent(Trask,2000:12).Twobroadcategoriesoffactorscontributetolanguagechange:externalandinternalfactors.8.4.1ExternalcausesExternalcausesoflinguisticchangesarethecontactsbetweenthespeakersofdifferentlanguages:thesortthatoccurswhenalanguageisimposedonapeoplebyconquestorpoliticalorculturaldomination,orwhenculturalandotherfactorsproduceahighdegreeofbilingualismbetweenadjacentspeechareas(Robins,2000:340).ThesignificantinfluenceofNormanFrenchontheEnglishlanguagefromtheeleventhcenturyADsupportsthisproposition.Itcanbesaid\nthatanydramaticsocialchangecausedbywars,invasionsandotherupheavalscanpossiblybringaboutcorrespondentchangesinlanguage.8.4.2InternalcausesAccordingtoYule(2000:222),themostpervasivesourceofchangeseemstobeinthecontinualprocessofculturaltransmission(inparticular,thetransmissionofspeechhabitsfromonegenerationtoanother).Eachnewgenerationhastofindawayofusingthelanguageofthepreviousgeneration.Inthisunendingprocesswherebyeachnewlanguage-userhasto“recreate”forhim-orherselfthelanguageofthecommunity,thereisanunavoidablepropensitytopickupsomeelementsexactlyandothersonlyapproximately.Thereisalsotheoccasionaldesiretobedifferent.Intheprocessofculturaltransmission,someunderlyingphysiologicalfactorscanalsoplayavitalrole,mainlymarkedbyleasteffort.Forsoundchange,onekeymotivatoriseaseofarticulation.Thereisatendencyforintervocalicvoicelessplosivestobesubjectedtolenitionbecauseproducingavoicedfricativebetweenvowelsrequireslessphysiologicalchangethandoestheproductionofavoicelessplosive(Poole,2000:130).Forgrammaticalchange,itisnotdifficulttoseethattheprincipleofleasteffortworksforwidespreadsimplificationofthegrammaticalcategoriesintheEnglishlanguage,exemplifiedbysubstantiallossesofgender,caseandtensedistinctions.8.5SummaryInthischapterwehavefocusedonlanguagechangeinthediachronicdimension,namelyfromthehistoricalperspectiveofchange.WedrawtheconclusionthatEnglishhasgraduallyandcontinuouslyshiftedfromasyntheticlanguagetoananalyticlanguageinthecourseoftime,markedbyinterrelatedandinterdependentchangesatalllevels,includingthegeneralobscuringofunstressedsyllables,theprogressivedecayofinflectionsandtherigidityofwordorder.And,thisshiftmaybemainlycausedbymajorsocialchangesandcontacts,andbyculturaltransmissionandleasteffort.QuestionsandExercises1.Definethefollowingterms.historicallinguisticsGreatVowelShiftlenition\nmetathesisanalogicalcreationetymologysyntheticlanguagereanalysisanalyticlanguage2.HowarethehistoricaldevelopmentsoftheEnglishlanguagegenerallydivided?Whatarethemainfeaturesthatcharacterizeeachperiod?3.Canyouapplythetheoryofreanalysistoexplainhowcheeseburger,chickenburgerandvegeburgerarederivedfromthewordhamburger?CanyoufindmoreexamplesofreanalysisinEnglish?4.UseoneortwoexamplestoshowhowthegrammaticalcaseischangedinthecourseofthehistoricalevolutionofEnglish.5.Useoneortwoexamplestoillustratehowchangesinsound,lexiconandgrammarareintegratedorinterrelated.6.Whatarethesemanticprocessesinthechangesofwordmeanings?7.Amongthephonological,lexicalandgrammaticallevelsoflanguagechange,whichleveldoyoubelieveundergoesthefastestchangeandwhichleveltheslowestchange?Canyouaccountforthesechanges?8.IntheEnglishlanguage,somenamesofanimalsaregenerallyknownbytheGermanictermsandtheresultantmeatsbytheFrenchterms.WhichofthefollowingwordsarederivedfromOEandwhichfromNormanFrench?Canyoutracethereasonforthisdifferentiatedorigin?calf,pork,mutton,ox,veal,swine,beef,sheep9.Giveexamplestoaccountforthecausesforlanguagechange.
