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Dia Lesson 1 Intro Concepts and Methods
Dia Lesson 1 Intro Concepts and Methods
2
2. THE
C OMPARATIVE
M ETHOD
-‐ This
method
developed
within
the
framework
of
Comparative
Linguistics.
(Comparative
Grammar,
Comparative
Philology)
o This
was
the
most
active
branch
of
linguistics
in
the
19th
c.
o Promoted
by
Sir
William
Jones’
discovery
that
Greek,
Sanskrit
and
Latin
stemmed
from
the
same
parent
language.
-‐ The
Comparative
Method
was
basically
developed
in
the
reconstruction
of
Proto-‐‑Indo-‐‑European
o
and
then
it
was
used
in
the
analysis
of
other
language
families.
-‐ The
basis
is
above
all,
the
regular
principle
of
phonological
change.
o This
principle
was
introduced
as
a
linguistic
rule
by
the
Neogrammarians.
o At
the
beginning,
The
Neogrammarians’
hypothesis
endured
strong
opposition
on
the
part
of
some
schools,
§
until
they
entered
the
linguistic
scene,
phonological
changes
had
not
been
considered
rules,
but
tendencies.
o It
was
finally
accepted
as
common
procedure
in
the
study
of
linguistic
changes
and
the
classification
of
language
families.
-‐ Patterns
in
phonological
change
were
studied
in
terms
of
sound
laws
o the
most
important
being
Grimm’s
law
and
Verner’s
Laws,
both
developed
in
connection
with
Germanic
languages.
-‐ Also
Saussure’s
Laryngeal
Theory.
-‐‑>
hypothesized
for
the
Indo-‐‑European
-‐ In
the
C OMPARATIVE
M ETHOD
T HERE
A RE
T WO
S TEPS :
1) The
ISOLATION
OF
A
SET
OF
COGNATES,
or
putative
cognates.
For
example
the
numeral
ten.
=>
Latin
decem;
Greek
deca;
Sanskrit
dasa;
Gothic
taihun
2) A
number
of
phonological
correspondences
can
be
extracted:
-‐ The
sound
laws
mentioned
before
would
help
the
scholar
to
reconstruct
a
series
of
phonemes.
o Proto-‐‑indo-‐‑European
word
for
ten
was
*dekm.
o Using
phonological
principles
-‐‑>
figure
out
how
word
develop
into
different
variants
in
lges
under
analysis
o Ss
can
see
=>
1) on
single
change
separates
reconstructed
form
from
Latin
term
*m
>
em
2) In
Greek
-‐‑>
2
steps
o Vocalization
of
syllabic
nasal
o Disappearance
of
nasality
*m
>a
3) In
Sanskrit
-‐‑>
2
different
o Palatization
of
velar
*k
>
s
o Same
sound
change
as
Greek
*m
>a
4) Development
Gothic
term
-‐‑>
only
that
seems
to
be
least
obvious
to
ss
o Constitutes
exemplar
of
Grimm´s
law
o Change
derived
taihum
from
*dekm
o 1st
*d>t
and
*k>h
o dental
has
become
voiceless
o velar
has
become
fricative
o 2nd
*m>un
o where
Indo
European
term
has
undergone
vocalization
of
syllabic
nasal
o velarisation
of
this
nasal
-‐ Despite
the
empirical
and
scientific
character
of
this
method,
it
has
been
subjected
to
some
criticism.
o For
instance,
there
are
linguists
who
claim
that
the
reconstructed
forms
are
the
result
of
comparing
attested
cognates,
o but
they
are
often
unpronounceable
and
cannot
be
taken
as
bearing
a
100%
correspondence
to
the
linguistic
reality
of
Indo-‐‑European.
o
In
the
beginning
of
the
Comparative
Method
linguists
had
an
absolute
faith
in
its
feasibility.
§ Assumption
that
lges
as
some
point
are
born
from
a
parent
lge
§ This
view
poses
the
question
of
what
happens
with
the
parent
lge
as
their
descendants
rise.
§
-‐ Another
controversial
points
is
the
belief
that
once
two
languages
have
split
from
their
common
ancestor
they
will
diverge
until
they
do
not
bear
any
resemblance.
o The
facts
support
the
view
that
there
is
not
just
one
single
direction
for
the
evolution
of
two
languages.
o They
can
also
converge
if
social
or
historical
developments
stimulate
contact
again,
particularly
if
the
languages
happen
to
be
geographically
close.
o This
is
something
that
occurs
with
the
English
dialects;
they
are
converging
rather
than
diverging
due
to
the
pressure
of
the
standard
and
the
press
media.
3
3. THE
W AVE
T HEORY
-‐ Johannes
Schmidt
propounded
the
existence
of
the
Wave
Theory.
o To
overcome
shortcomings
of
the
Comparative
Method
o Metaphor
of
Family-‐‑tree
(by
August
Schleicher
–
German
linguist
Johannes
Schmidt
(1872)
-‐ He
proposes
changes
would
spread
as
waves
in
the
water
from
a
politically
or
historically
important
centre,
and
as
with
waves,
not
all
the
changes
have
to
reach
the
same
area.
-‐ This
explains
the
fact
that
when
two
languages
are
compared,
there
exists
a
certain
correlation
between
o
geographic
distance
o and
the
influence
that
one
specific
change
has.
-‐ B YNON
-‐‑>
offers
enumeration
of
different
situations
that
can
take
place:
-‐ The
ideal
case
consists
of
a
linguistic
territory
that
has
not
been
“disturbed”
by
external
influences.
o A
centre
appears
(political,
commercial,
cultural,
etc)
o Innovations
-‐‑>
only
reach
part
of
territory
where
lge
is
spoken
-‐‑>
rest
territory
ruled
by
pre-‐‑existent
centre
o Isoglosses
will
start
to
rise
-‐‑>
until
speakers
of
2
territories
will
lose
mutual
intelligibility
-‐‑>
2
different
Lgs
remain
-‐ Not
all
linguistic
changes
lead
to
divergence
between
languages,
the
opposite
case
may
also
occur.
o After
2
lges
independent
-‐‑>
start
sharing
certain
features
-‐ B YNON
-‐‑>
Two
dialects
that
are
clearly
differentiated
but
geographically
adjacent.
o If
the
territories
where
they
are
spoken
become
integrated
under
a
political
force
with
a
single
administrative
and
cultural
centre
-‐‑>
some
isoglosses
will
start
to
disappear
and
common
traits
will
be
shared.
o Also
innovations
which
apply
to
the
totality
of
the
new
territory
will
promote
the
convergence
of
the
two
languages.
-‐ The
spreading
-‐‑>
not
only
to
lges
previously
related
-‐‑>
also
lgs
geographically
close
(related
or
not)
-‐ B YNON
-‐‑>
The
situation
presented
by
the
family-‐‑tree
is
of
continuity
in
the
course
of
time,
since
the
evolution
of
language
is
presented
in
an
ideal
temporal-‐‑spatial-‐‑frame.
o This
is
called
“a
relative
chronology”.
o It
does
not
deal
with
actual
innovations
which
take
place
in
real
time
and
space.
-‐ Vandeloise
-‐‑>
distinguishes
between
historical
and
logical
time.
“
Logical
time
is
idealized
historical
time”
o He
uses
this
distinction
to
explain
the
path
semantic
evolution
followed.
o “Words
evolve
from
a
simple
toward
a
complex
meaning
o Logical
-‐‑-‐‑-‐‑-‐‑-‐‑
Historical
time
=>
do
follow
parallel
routes
-‐ It
is
sometimes
necessary
to
idealise
actual
facts
so
that
general
theories
about
linguistic
variation
and
relatedness
can
be
constructed.
o When
more
emphasis
placed
on
how
variation
is
determined
(geopraphical/social
factors)
§ Wave
Theory
should
be
used
o 2
approaches
to
linguistic
change
-‐‑>
can
be
considered
to
complement
(rather
than
exclude)
4. THE
N OTION
O F
P ROTO-‐‑LANGUAGE
-‐ A
proto-‐‑language
is
a
hypothetical
reconstruction
of
the
earlier
form
of
a
language.
-‐ No
written
records
exist
of
a
proto-‐‑language
and
its
reconstruction
o draws
upon
the
comparison
of
related
words
o and
expressions
of
the
different
languages
that
derived
from
it.
-‐ The
proto-‐‑language
is
the
ancestral
parent
language
of
all
the
derived
language.
-‐ Proto-‐‑language
can
be
reconstructed
with
more
or
less
accuracy
depending
on
the
evidence
available
to
linguists.
-‐ Lingusits
-‐‑>
successful
in
reconstructing
great
deal
of
phonological,
morphological,
lexical
systems
4
5. LINGUISTIC
G ENEALOGIES
-‐ There
exists
two
basic
ways
in
which
languages
can
be
classified:
typologically
and
genetically.
o Are
not
mutually
exclusive
-‐‑>
can
be
combined
§ E.g
Once
a
genetic
classification
has
been
established,
a
typological
classification
can
be
superimposed
to
observe
the
variation
in
linguistic
type
within
the
same
phylum
or
lge
family
TYPOLOGICAL
CLASSIFICATION
-‐ is
based
on
similarities
in
the
linguistic
structure.
-‐ have
been
particularly
frequent
in
the
structuring
of
unwritten
languages.
GENETIC
CLASSIFICATION
-‐ is
usually
preferred
when
scholars
observe
that
these
lgd
could
also
be
grouped
on
genetically
grounds
-‐ However,
the
use
of
typologies
is
again
relevance
in
the
study
of
the
world’s
languages.
-‐ Scholars
also
Focus
on
lexical
typologies
-‐‑>
particularly
useful
for
anthropologists,
o since
they
bring
along
a
large
amount
of
data
on
social
organization
and
cultural
spaces.
-‐ Typological
classifications
of
language
lead
to
the
establishment
of
L ANGUAGE
F AMILIES
o consist
of
language
stocks
that
are
considered
to
be
related
by
common
origin
because
of
cognates
in
vocabulary.
-‐ P HYLUM
o This
category
encompasses
a
number
of
language
families
o very
often
the
term
phylum
is
equated
with
that
of
language
family
o both
terms
are
often
used
interchangeably.
(
are
not
mutually
exclusive,
can
be
combined)
-‐ L ANGUAGE
ISOLATE.
There
are
some
families
that
are
made
up
of
just
one
language.
-‐ Once
a
genetical
classification
has
been
established
o a
typological
classification
can
be
superimposed
to
observe
the
variation
in
linguistic
type
within
§
the
same
phylum
or
language
family.
-‐ There
exists
T HREE
M AIN
T YPES
O F
L ANGUAGES :
Traugott
1) Isolating
(analytic)
-‐‑>
words
are
typically
made
up
of
a
single
morpheme.
o Classical
Chinese
and
Vietnamese.
2) Agglutinative
-‐‑>
Series
of
morphemes,
each
of
them
represents
a
single
grammatical
category.
o Japanese,
Turkish
and
Finnish.
3) Inflectional
(synthetic)
-‐‑>Single
morpheme
in
one
word
may
represent
several
grammatical
categories.
o Greek,
Latin
and
Sanskrit.
6. THE
N EOGRAMMARIANS
-‐ Despite
the
regularity
attested
in
phonological
changes
there
remain
exceptions
that
have
led
linguists
to
speak
of
tendencies
instead
of
rules.
-‐ Example
(Trask):
Old
English
o have
evolved
into
o in
present-‐‑day
English,
all
with
the
diphthong
.
-‐ This
occurred
due
to
the
effects
of
the
Great
Vowel
Shift.
Grimm’s
law
explaining
the
F IRST
G ERMANIC
C ONSONANT
S HIFT
o presented
exceptions
seemed
to
confirm
that
phonological
developments
should
not
be
placed
under
rules
o
but
should
be
considered
as
tendencies.
-‐ Neogrammarian
Hypothesis
o Karl
Verner
found
an
explanation
for
those
apparent
exceptions
to
Grimm’s
Law
o showed
that
they
were
conditioned
by
the
phonological
environment.
o This
proved
that
every
Germanic
word
had
evolved
in
a
predictable
regular
way.
o This
kind
of
change
is
always
regular
and
the
apparent
exceptions
were
for
which
no
explanation
was
yet
found.
-‐ Most
of
these
linguists
were
working
at
the
University
of
Leipzig.
-‐‑>
called
Junggrammatiker
(“young
grammarians”)
o Neogramáticos
-‐ The
Neogrammarian
Hypothesis
had
become
part
of
the
orthodoxy
in
Historical
Linguistics.
-‐ Factors
for
successful
reception
of
Neogrammarian
Hypothesis
o Rigorous
methodology
employed
in
their
analysis
and
the
scientific
concern
that
this
Hypothesis
held.
§ example
of
interest
in
approaching
language
change
-‐‑>
their
attitude
towards
exceptions.
§ Exceptions
were
only
apparent
§ It
was
a
linguist´s
work
to
find
the
rules
that
were
behind
those
apparent
exceptions
5
7. INTERNAL
R ECONSTRUCTION
-‐ The
method
of
Internal
Reconstruction
supplements
Comparative
Linguistics
in
the
reconstruction
of
earlier
forms
of
a
language.
o It
focuses
on
the
analysis
of
irregular
linguistic
patterns
and
its
main
tenet
is
that
they
had
developed
from
earlier
regular
forms.
-‐ Example
of
Internal
Reconstruction
in
Latin
o Honos
–oris
o Orator
–
oris
o May
lead
one
to
believe
that
regular
form
of
genitive
singular
of
honos
was
honosis
§ But
at
some
point
intervocalic
/s/
became
/r/
-‐ The
reason
why
it
is
called
INTERNAL
is
that
it
is
not
necessary
to
examine
other
languages
to
reconstruct
the
earlier
stages
of
a
given
language.
-‐ Example
ENGLISH
PAST
PARTICIPLES.
(Trask)
o The
past
participle
of
English
regular
verbs
is
formed
by
the
addition
of
the
suffix
–ed:
/loved/.
o In
a
number
of
strong
verbs
this
past
form
is
constructed
using
the
suffix
–en
instead:
write/written.
o This
second
pattern
is
not
productive
anymore
§ since
all
the
new
verbs
entering
the
language
follow
the
first
pattern.
o However,
some
older
verbs
show
a
curious
pattern
§ even
though
they
keep
the
suffix
–ed,
they
have
developed
adjectival
forms
ending
in
–en.
• He
has
shaved
-‐‑>
He
is
clean-‐‑shaven
• The
lead
has
melted
-‐‑>
This
is
molten
lead
• I
have
mowed
the
lawn
-‐‑>
This
is
new-‐‑mown
hay
-‐ Original
forms
of
the
participles
showed
the
–en
pattern,
since
they
were
strong
verbs
o but
by
analogy
with
weak
verbs
the
regular
forms
in
–ed
displaced
the
original
strong
pattern.
o Considered
Strange
development.
6