Historical linguistics 63630 223671019 2008-07-05T05:07:55Z Mrg3105 2654809 /* References */ +recommended readings (which they are until cited) {{Nofootnotes|date=April 2007}} {{linguistics}} '''Historical linguistics''' (also called '''diachronic linguistics''') is the study of language change. It has five main concerns: * to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages; * to reconstruct the pre-history of languages and determine their relatedness, grouping them into [[language families]] ([[comparative linguistics]]); * to develop general theories about how and why language changes; * to describe the history of [[speech communities]]; * to study the history of words, i.e. [[etymology]]. ==History and development== Modern historical linguistics dates from the late [[18th century]] and grew out of the earlier discipline of [[philology]], the study of ancient texts and documents, which goes back to antiquity. At first historical linguistics was [[comparative linguistics]] and mainly concerned with establishing language families and the reconstruction of prehistoric languages, using the [[comparative method]] and [[internal reconstruction]]. The focus was on the well-known [[Indo-European languages]], many of which had long written histories. But since then, significant comparative linguistic work has been done on the [[Uralic languages]], [[Austronesian languages]] and various families of [[Native American languages]], among many others. [[Comparative linguistics]] is now, however, only a part of a more broadly conceived discipline of historical linguistics. For the [[Indo-European languages]] comparative study is now a highly specialised field and most research is being carried out on the subsequent development of these languages, particularly the development of the modern standard varieties. ==Evolution into other fields== Initially, ''all'' modern linguistics was historical in orientation - even the study of modern dialects involved looking at their origins. But [[Ferdinand_de_Saussure|Saussure]] drew a distinction between [[synchronic analysis (linguistics)|synchronic ]] and diachronic linguistics, which 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, is now seen to be idealised. In practice, a purely synchronic linguistics is not possible for any period before the invention of the [[gramophone]]: written records always lag behind speech in reflecting linguistic developments, and in any case are difficult to date accurately before the development of the modern [[title page]]. Also, the work of [[sociolinguistics|sociolinguists]] on linguistic variation has shown synchronic states are not uniform: the speech habits of older and younger speakers differ in ways which point to language change. Synchronic variation is linguistic change in progress. The biological [[origin of language]] is in principle a concern of historical linguistics, but most linguists regard it as too remote to be reliably established by standard techniques of historical linguistics such as the [[comparative method]]. Less standard techniques, such as [[mass lexical comparison]], are used by some linguists to overcome the limitations of the comparative method, but most linguists regard them as unreliable. The findings of historical linguistics are often used as a basis for hypotheses about the groupings and movements of peoples, particularly in the prehistoric period. In practice, however, it is often unclear how to integrate the linguistic evidence with the archaeological or genetic evidence. For example, there are a large number of theories concerning the homeland and early movements of the [[Proto-Indo-Europeans]], each with their own interpretation of the archaeological record. ==Sub-fields of study== ===Comparative linguistics=== [[Comparative linguistics]] (originally '''comparative [[philology]]''') is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages in order to establish their historical relatedness. Languages may be related by convergence through [[Borrowing (linguistics)|borrowing]] or by genetic descent. [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|Genetic relatedness]] implies a common origin or [[proto-language]], and comparative linguistics aims to construct [[language family|language families]], to reconstruct proto-languages and specify the changes that have resulted in the documented languages. In order to maintain a clear distinction between attested and reconstructed forms, comparative linguists prefix an asterisk to any form that is not found in surviving texts. ===Etymology=== [[Etymology]] is the study of the [[history]] of [[word]]s &mdash; when they entered a language, from what source, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. In languages with a long detailed history, etymology makes use of [[philology]], the study of how words change from culture to culture over time. However, 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 analyzing related languages with a technique known as the [[comparative method]], linguists can make inferences, about their shared parent language and its vocabulary. In this way, [[root (linguistics)| word roots]] have been found which can be traced all the way back to the origin of, for instance, the [[Indo-European languages| Indo-European]] [[language family]]. Even though etymological research originally grew from the philological tradition, nowadays much etymological research is done in [[language family| language families]] where little or no early documentation is available, such as [[Uralic languages| Uralic]] and [[Austronesian languages| Austronesian]]. ===Dialectology=== [[Dialectology]] is the scientific study of linguistic [[dialect]], the varieties of a language that are characteristic of particular groups, based primarily on geographic distribution and their associated features (as opposed to variations based on social factors, which are studied in [[sociolinguistics]], or variations based on time, which are studied in [[historical linguistics]]). Dialectology treats such topics as divergence of two local dialects from a common ancestor and [[descriptive linguistics|synchronic variation]]. Dialectologists are ultimately concerned with grammatical features which correspond to regional areas. Thus they are usually dealing with populations living in their areas for generations without moving, but also with immigrant groups bringing their languages to new settlements. ===Phonology=== [[Phonology]] is a sub-field of historical linguistics which studies the [[sound]] system of a specific [[language]] or set of languages change over time. Whereas [[phonetics]] is about the physical production and [[perception]] of the sounds of speech, phonology describes the way sounds function within a given language or across languages. An important part of phonology is studying which sounds are distinctive units within a language. [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] while the same phoneme in "spin" is not. In some other languages, for example [[Thai language|Thai]] and [[Quechua]], this same difference of aspiration or non-aspiration does differentiate phonemes. In addition to the minimal meaningful sounds (the phonemes), phonology studies how sounds alternate, such as the /p/ in English, and topics such as [[syllable]] structure, [[stress (linguistics)|stress]], [[accent (linguistics)|accent]], and [[intonation (linguistics)|intonation]]. The principles of phonological theory have also been applied to the analysis of [[sign language]]s, even though the phonological units do not consist of sounds. The principles of phonological analysis can be applied independently of [[modality (semiotics)|modality]] because they are designed to serve as general analytical tools, not language-specific ones. ===Morphology=== [[Morphology (linguistics)|Morphology]] - the study of the formal means of expression in a language; in the context of historical linguistics, how the formal means of expression change over time; for instance, languages with complex inflectional systems tend to be subject to a simplification process is the field of linguistics that studies the internal structure of words as a formal means of expression.<ref>A ''formal language'' is a set of words, i.e. finite strings of letters or symbols. The inventory from which these letters are taken is the ''alphabet'' through which the language is defined. A formal language is often defined by means of a [[formal grammar]], but it does not describe their [[semantics]] (i.e. what they mean)</ref> Words as units in the lexicon are the subject matter of [[lexicology]]. While words are generally accepted as being (with [[clitic]]s) the smallest units of [[syntax]], it is clear that in most (if not all) languages, words can be related to other words by rules. The rules understood by the speaker reflect specific patterns (or regularities) in the way words are formed from smaller units and how those smaller units interact in speech. In this way, morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies patterns of word-formation within and across languages, and attempts to formulate rules that model the knowledge of the speakers of those languages, in the context of historical linguistics, how the means of expression change over time. ===Syntax=== [[Syntax]] is the study of the principles and rules for constructing [[sentence]]s in [[natural language]]s. The term ''syntax'' is used to refer directly to the rules and principles that govern the sentence structure of any individual language, as in "the [[Irish syntax|syntax of Modern Irish]]". Modern research in syntax attempts to [[descriptive linguistics|describe languages]] in terms of such rules. Many professionals in this discipline attempt to find [[Universal Grammar|general rules]] that apply to all natural languages in the context of historical linguistics, how characteristics of sentence structure in related languages changed over time. ==See also== *[[Comparative linguistics]] *[[Comparative method]] *[[Genetic linguistics]] *Comparative word lists: [[Wiktionary:Wiktionary:Swadesh list]], [[Wiktionary:Wiktionary:Basic English Word List]] *[[Germanic philology]] *[[Lexicostatistics]] *[[Glottochronology]] *[[Indo-European studies]] *[[Afroasiatic]] *[[Language change]] *[[Language families and languages]] *[[:Category:Language histories|List of language histories]] *[[Paleolinguistics]] *[[Proto-language]] *[[Journal of Language and Linguistics]] *[[List of languages by first written accounts]] *[[mass lexical comparison]] ==Citations and notes== {{reflist}} ==References== ==Recommended readings== * [[August Schleicher]]: ''Compendium der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen.'' (Kurzer Abriss der indogermanischen Ursprache, des Altindischen, Altiranischen, Altgriechischen, Altitalischen, Altkeltischen, Altslawischen, Litauischen und Altdeutschen.) (2 vols.) Weimar, H. Boehlau (1861/62); reprinted by Minerva GmbH, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, ISBN 3-8102-1071-4 *[[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 *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 *[[Winfred P. Lehmann]], ''Historical Linguistics: An Introduction (Second Edition)'' (Holt, 1973) 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 *M.L. Samuels, ''Linguistic Evolution'' (Cambridge University Press, 1972) ISBN 0-521-29188-7 *[[Larry Trask|R.L. Trask]],(ed.)''Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics '' (Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001) ISBN 1-57958-218-4 [[Category:Historical linguistics|*]] [[af:Diachroniese taalkunde]] [[ast:Llingüística hestórica]] [[bn:ঐতিহাসিক ভাষাবিজ্ঞান]] [[ca:Lingüística diacrònica]] [[de:Historische Linguistik]] [[es:Lingüística histórica]] [[eo:Historio de lingvo]] [[fa:زبان‌شناسی تاریخی]] [[fr:Linguistique comparée]] [[gl:Lingüística diacrónica]] [[ko:비교언어학]] [[ia:Linguistica historic]] [[is:Söguleg málvísindi]] [[it:Glottologia]] [[he:בלשנות היסטורית]] [[ku:Zimannasiya dîrokî]] [[hu:Történeti nyelvészet]] [[nl:Historische taalkunde]] [[ja:歴史言語学]] [[no:Sammenlignende lingvistikk]] [[pl:Językoznawstwo diachroniczne]] [[pt:Lingüística histórica]] [[ru:Историческое языкознание]] [[sl:Zgodovinsko jezikoslovje]] [[sv:Historisk lingvistik]] [[zh:歷史語言學]]