Historical linguistics

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Historical linguistics, also termed diachronic linguistics, is the scientific study of language change over time.^[1] Principal concerns of historical linguistics include:^[2][3]

1. to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages
2. to reconstruct the pre-history of languages and to determine their relatedness, grouping them into
   language families (comparative linguistics
   )
3. to develop general theories about how and why language changes
4. to describe the history of
   speech communities
5. to study the history of words, i.e. etymology
6. to explore the impact of cultural and social factors on language evolution.

Historical linguistics is founded on the Uniformitarian Principle, which is defined by linguist Donald Ringe as:^[4]

Unless we can demonstrate significant changes in the conditions of language acquisition and use between some time in the unobservable past and the present, we must assume that the same types and distributions of structures, variation, changes, etc. existed at that time in the past as in the present.

Development

Modern historical linguistics dates to the late 18th century, having originally grown out of the earlier discipline of

, among many others. Comparative linguistics became only a part of a more broadly-conceived discipline of historical linguistics. For the Indo-European languages, comparative study is now a highly specialized field.

Some scholars have undertaken studies attempting to establish super-families, linking, for example, Indo-European, Uralic, and other families into

Several methods are used to date proto-languages, but the process is generally difficult and its results are inherently approximate.

Diachronic and synchronic analysis

In linguistics, a synchronic analysis is one that views linguistic phenomena only at a given time, usually the present, but a synchronic analysis of a historical language form is also possible. It may be distinguished from diachronic, which regards a phenomenon in terms of developments through time. Diachronic analysis is the main concern of historical linguistics. However, most other branches of linguistics are concerned with some form of synchronic analysis. The study of language change offers a valuable insight into the state of linguistic representation, and because all synchronic forms are the result of historically evolving diachronic changes, the ability to explain linguistic constructions necessitates a focus on diachronic processes.^[8]

Initially, all of modern linguistics was historical in orientation. Even the study of modern dialects involved looking at their origins.

and diachronic linguistics is fundamental to the present day organization of the discipline. Primacy is accorded to synchronic linguistics, and diachronic linguistics is defined as the study of successive synchronic stages. Saussure's clear demarcation, however, has had both defenders and critics.

In practice, a purely-synchronic linguistics is not possible for any period before the invention of the

on linguistic variation has shown synchronic states are not uniform: the speech habits of older and younger speakers differ in ways that point to language change. Synchronic variation is linguistic change in progress.

Synchronic and diachronic approaches can reach quite different conclusions. For example, a

".

The principal tools of research in diachronic linguistics are the

, each with its own interpretation of the archaeological record.

Comparative linguistics

satem

languages

proto-languages

, and analyze the historical changes that have resulted in the documented languages' divergences.

Etymology

Etymology studies the history of words: when they entered a language, from what source, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. Words may enter a language in several ways, including being borrowed as loanwords from another language, being derived by combining pre-existing elements in the language, by a hybrid known as phono-semantic matching.

In languages with a long and detailed history, etymology makes use of philology, the study of how words change from culture to culture over time. Etymologists also apply the methods of comparative linguistics to reconstruct information about languages that are too old for any direct information (such as writing) to be known. By analysis of related languages by the comparative method, linguists can make inferences about their shared parent language and its vocabulary. In that way, word roots that can be traced all the way back to the origin of, for instance, the Indo-European language family have been found. Although originating in the philological tradition, much current etymological research is done in language families for which little or no early documentation is available, such as Uralic and Austronesian.

Dialectology

Dialectologists are concerned with grammatical features that correspond to regional areas. Thus, they are usually dealing with populations living in specific locales for generations without moving, but also with immigrant groups bringing their languages to new settlements. Immigrant groups often bring their linguistic practices to new settlements, leading to distinct linguistic varieties within those communities. Dialectologists analyze these immigrant dialects to understand how languages develop and diversify in response to migration and cultural interactions.

Phonology

.

Principles of phonology have also been applied to the analysis of sign languages, but the phonological units do not consist of sounds. The principles of phonological analysis can be applied independently of modality because they are designed to serve as general analytical tools, not language-specific ones.

Morphology and syntax

; however, it is clear in most languages that words may be related to one another by rules. These rules are understood by the speaker, and reflect specific patterns in how word formation interacts with speech. In the context of historical linguistics, the means of expression change over time.

Syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing sentences in natural languages. Syntax directly concerns the rules and principles that govern sentence structure in individual languages. Researchers attempt to describe languages in terms of these rules. Many historical linguistics attempt to compare changes in sentence between related languages, or find universal grammar rules that natural languages follow regardless of when and where they are spoken..

Evolutionary context

In terms of evolutionary theory, historical linguistics (as opposed to research into the origin of language) studies Lamarckian acquired characteristics of languages. This perspective explores how languages adapt and change over time in response to cultural, societal, and environmental factors. Language evolution within the framework of historical linguistics is akin to Lamarckism in the sense that linguistic traits acquired during an individual's lifetime can potentially influence subsequent generations of speakers.^[10]

Rate of adaptation

Historical linguists often use the terms

, which retain outdated words to preserve poetic structure.

See also

• Comparative method
• Etymological dictionary
• Genetic linguistics
• Glottochronology
• Historical dictionary
• Lexicostatistics
• List of ancestor languages
• List of languages by first written accounts
• Mass lexical comparison
• Paleolinguistics
• Real-time sociolinguistics
• Wave model

References

Citations

1. ^ Bynon (1977), p. 1.
2. ^ Radford 1999, pp. 17–18
3. ^ Busser, Rik De (2015). "The influence of social, cultural, and natural factors on language structure: An overview". Academia.edu. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
4. ^ Ringe, Donald (2009). "The Linguistic Diversity of Aboriginal Europe". Language Log. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
5. ISBN 978-0-7486-4601-2
   .
6. ^ ^{a b} "Editors' Introduction: Foundations of the new historical linguistics." In: The Routledge Handbook of Historical Linguistics. Routledge, 2015, p. 25.
7. ^ Baldi, Philip (2012). "Historical Linguistics and Cognitive Science" (PDF). Rheis, International Journal of Linguistics, Philology and Literature. 3 (1): 5–27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2017-05-02. p. 11.
8. ^ Bybee, Joan L. "Diachronic Linguistics." The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, June 2010.
9. ^ Frees, Craig (1991). "The Historiography of Dialectology" (PDF). Lore and Language. 10 (2): 67–74. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
10. ISBN 978-1-317-78389-3
    . Retrieved 2016-12-27. [...] biological evolution does not proceed by the transmission of acquired characters across generations, and this is precisely what an evolutionary model of language change requires. We therefore must distinguish the cultural, or Lamarckian, evolution of language, a concern of historical linguistics, from its biological, or neo-Darwinian, evolution, a concern of developmental biology.

Works cited

• Bynon, Theodora (1977). Historical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 1.
  ISBN 978-0-521-21582-4
  .
• Kortmann, Bernd: English Linguistics: Essentials, Anglistik-Amerikanistik, Cornlesen, pp. 37–49
• Radford, Andrew (1999). Linguistics: An Introduction. With co-authors Martin Atkinson, David Britain, Harald Clahsen, Andrew Spencer. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Further reading

• ISBN 90-272-3557-0
• Karl Brugmann, Berthold Delbrück, Grundriß der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen (1886–1916).
• Theodora Bynon, Historical Linguistics (Cambridge University Press, 1977)
  ISBN 0-521-29188-7
• Henry M. Hoenigswald, Language change and linguistic reconstruction (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press 1960).
• Richard D. Janda and Brian D. Joseph (Eds), The Handbook of Historical Linguistics (Blackwell, 2004)
  ISBN 1-4051-2747-3
• Roger Lass, Historical linguistics and language change. (Cambridge University Press, 1997)
  ISBN 0-521-45924-9
• ISBN 0-03-078370-4
• April McMahon, Understanding Language Change (Cambridge University Press, 1994)
  ISBN 0-521-44665-1
• James Milroy, Linguistic Variation and Change (Blackwell, 1992)
  ISBN 0-631-14367-X
• A. C. Partridge, Tudor to Augustan English: a Study in Syntax and Style, from Caxton to Johnson, in series, The Language Library, London: A. Deutsch, 1969; 242 p. SBN 233-96092-9
• M.L. Samuels, Linguistic Evolution (Cambridge University Press, 1972)
  ISBN 0-521-29188-7
• ISBN 1-57958-218-4
• ISBN 3-8102-1071-4
• Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003). Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan.
  ISBN 1-4039-1723-X
  .

External links

• The dictionary definition of Swadesh list of languages at Wiktionary