ChapterSevenhistoricallinguistics.docx
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ChapterSevenhistoricallinguistics.docx
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ChapterSevenhistoricallinguistics
Chapter7HistoricalLinguistics
1.ThepurposeandsignificanceofthehistoricalstudyofLanguage
Historicallinguisticsisthesubfieldoflinguisticsthatstudieslanguagechange.Historicallinguistsareconcernedwiththehistoricaldevelopmentoflanguagesandtheprocessesinvolvedinlanguagechange.Historicallinguistsstudythenatureoflanguagechangeandthecausesthatleadtolanguagechange.Theyalsostudymethodsandtechniqueswithwhichtheycanreconstructlinguistichistoryandestablishtherelationshipbetweenlanguagesthatbelongtothesamelanguagefamily
2.Thenatureoflanguagechange
Languagechangeisinevitable.Asageneralrule,languagechangeisuniversal,continuousand,toaconsiderabledegree,regularandsystematic.Languagechangeisextensive,takingplaceinvirtuallyallaspectsofthegrammar---inphonology,morphology,syntax,lexicon,andsemantics.Languagechangeisneveranovernightoccurrence,otherwise,communicationwouldbeimpossible.Languagedevelopmentmayberegardedaslinguisticevolutionfromonestagetoanother.ItisgenerallyacceptedthatthehistoryoftheEnglishlanguageisdividedintotheperiodsofOldEnglish,MiddleEnglishandModernEnglish.
3.ThehistoricaldevelopmentofEnglish
3.1MajorperiodsinthehistoryofEnglish
ThreemajorperiodsEnglishhasexperienced:
OldEnglish(roughlyfrom449to1100)
MiddleEnglish(roughlyfrom1100to1500)
ModernEnglish(roughlyfrom1500tothepresent)
3.1.1OldEnglish
OldEnglishdatesbacktothemid-fifthcenturywhenAnglo-Saxons,thespeakersofEnglish,invadedtheBritishIslesfromnorthernEurope.ThepronunciationofOldEnglishisverydifferentfromitsmodernform.Intermsofmorphology,nearlyhalfofthenounsareinflectedtomarknominative,genitive,dative,andaccusativecases.Syntactically,theverbofanOldEnglishsentenceoftenprecedes,insteadoffollowingthesubject.
3.1.2MiddleEnglish
MiddleEnglishbeganwhentheNormanFrenchinvadersinvadedEnglandunderWilliamtheConquerorin1066.Inthisperiod,French,asthelanguageoftherulingclasses,deeplyinfluencedEnglish.Forexample,wordssuchas"army,""court,"and"defense,"wereborrowedintotheEnglishlanguagefromthelanguageoftheFrenchrulers.
3.1.3ModernEnglish
ModernEnglishbeganwiththeEuropeanrenaissancemovement.AdirectconsequenceoftheRenaissancemovementwastheinfluenceofLatinandGreekontheEnglishlanguage.Inthepost-Renaissanceperiod,Englandestablishedmanycoloniesacrosstheworld.Now,EnglishwasthenativelanguageinEngland,theUnitedStates,Canada,Australia,NewZealand,etc.
3.2LinguisticchangeofEnglish
Languagechangeisessentiallyamatterofchangeinthegrammar,includingchangesinthesound,morphological,syntactic,lexical,andsemanticsystems.InEnglish,linguisticchangeinthesoundsystemandthevocabularyofalanguageismorenoticeablethanthatinothersystemsofthegrammar.
3.2.1Soundchange
3.2.1.1Vowelsoundchange
GreatVowelShift,whichoccurredattheendoftheMiddleEnglishperiod,approximatelybetween1400and1600andwhichinvolved7longvowels,ledtooneofthemajordisagreementsbetweenthepronunciationandthespellingsystemofModernEnglish.Forexample:
MiddleEnglish
ModernEnglish
five
fi:
v
faiv
mouse
mu:
s
mans
feet
fe:
t
fi:
t
mood
moid
mu:
d
break
breken
breik
broke
broiken
brauk
Name
na:
ma
neim
3.2.1.2Soundloss
SomesoundsinEnglishhavesimplydisappearedfromthegeneralpronunciationofEnglish.Forexample,thevoicelessvelarfricative/x/,whichwaspresentin"nicht"/nixt/("night")inoldEnglish,waslostinthepresent-dayformofnight.
InOldandMiddleEnglish,/k/soundin/kn-/clustersintheword-initialpositionwaspronounced,butinmodernEnglish,this/k/islostinsuchwordsas"knight"and"knee."
Anothersoundlossisthedeletionofaword-finalvowelsegment,aphenomenoncalledapocope.Forexample,nameandlovewerepronouncedrespectively/na:
m/and/luv/inMiddleEnglish,butas/neim/and/lv/inModernEnglishandtheword-finalsound//waslost.
3.2.1.3Soundaddition
Soundadditionincludesthegainorinsertionofasound.Achangethatinvolvestheinsertionofaconsonantorvowelsoundtothemiddleofawordisknownasepenthesis,forexample:
emtyempty
glimseglimpse
3.2.1.4Soundmovement
Metathesisreferstosoundchangebecauseofareversalinthepositionsoftwoneighbouringsounds.Forexample,ModernEnglishword“bird”istheresultofthethereversalofthetwoneibouringsounds/r/and/i/intheOldEnglishword"bridd"("bird")
3.2.2Morphologicalchange
3.2.2.1Affixloss
InOldEnglish,theaffix"-bora",whichwasaddedtoanountoindicatetheperformeroftheaction,wasnowlostinModernEnglish.
mund("protection")+boramundbora("protector")
DerivationalrulelossalsooccurredtotheOldEnglishsuffix“-yan”,whichwasaddedtoanadjectivetoproduceacausativeverb.InmodernEnglish,thissuffixhassimplydisappeared.
OldEnglishhadagender-markingsystem.Thissystemdividednounsintothreegendersofmasculine,feminine,andneuter.InOldEnglish,overhalfofthenounsareinflectedtoindicatedifferentcases.InmodernEnglish,thelossofgenderandcasemarkinghasbecomethemostnoticeableofthemorphologicallosses.
3.2.2.2Affixaddition
Theaffix"-able"and“-ment”wereaddedtotheEnglishmorphologicalsystembecauseofthewordssuchas“favourable”and“accomplishment”borrowedfromtheFrenchlanguage.
3.2.3Syntacticchange
3.2.3.1Ruleloss
InOldEnglish,therewasamorphosyntacticruleofadjectiveagreement,accordingtowhich,theendingsofadjectivesmustagreewiththeheadnounincase,number,andgender.ButthissyntacticrulehasbeenlostinmodernEnglish.
3.2.3.2Ruleaddition
TheparticlemovementruleisasyntacticruleaddedtoModernEnglish.Thisruleallowstheparticleinsomephrasalverbstobeshiftedtotherightoftheobject.ThisparticlemovementisimpossibleinOldEnglish.Forexample:
A:
Heswitchedoffthelight.
B:
Heswitchedthelightoff.
3.2.3.3Rulechange
MajorrulechangesinthestructureofEnglishsentencestookplaceintheirwordorders.InMiddleEnglish,“not”wasaddedtotheendofanaffirmativesentencetomakeitnegative.ButinModernEnglish,thenegationisoftenmadewith“not”insertedbetweentheauxiliaryverbandthemainverb.Forexample:
Idenyitnot.
OldEnglishhadanelaboratecase-markingsystem.Thegrammaticalfunctionswerewellrevealedwithcasemarkers.ThissystemmadethewordorderofOldEnglishmorevariablethanthatofModernEnglish.Forexample,thewordordersinOldEnglishincludedSVO,VSO,SOVandOSV,butModernEnglishhaslostthemajorityofcasemarkers,thereforeabasicwordorderofSVOhastobefollowed.
3.2.4Lexicalchange
3.2.4.1Lexicalloss
Manywords,whichwereusedinOldEnglishorMiddleEnglishhavefallenoutofuseinModernEnglish.Forexample:
demiss,ere,oft,wot,beseem,wer,aught,thee,thou,thy.Someofthemcanstillbefoundincompoundwordsoridioms,suchaswere-wolf.
3.2.4.2Lexicaladdition
ThehistoryofEnglishlexicalexpansionisonethatischaracterizedwithheavyborrowingandwordformation,forexample:
LoanwordsfromFrench:
Government,religion,chaplain,crime,medicine,physician
LoanwordsfromGreek:
Myth,geometry,gymnastics
LoanwordsfromLatin:
Formula,memorandum,datum,curriculum
LoanwordsfromSpanish:
Banana,mosquito,embargo,plaza
LoanwordsfromGerman:
Kindergarten,dock,seminar,plunder,zinc
LoanwordsfromChinese:
Lichi,typhoon,tea,ginseng
Newwords,whichareaddedtoEnglish,canalsobeformedbyusingsuchwordformationrulesascompounding,derivation,acronymformation,blending,abbreviation,clipping,back-formation,andcoinage.
Compounding:
Itisaprocessofcombiningtwoormorewordsintoonelexicalunit.Forexample:
warweary,law-abiding,short-sighted,sit-in,endproduct
Derivation:
Itreferstotheprocessbywhichnewwordsareformedbytheadditionofaffixestotheroots,stems,orwords.Forexample,
nation
national
nationalize
nationalization
internationalization
Acronymy:
Itisaprocessofcreatingawordcalledacronymbycombiningtheinitialsofanumberofwords.Forexample,
VIP(veryimportantperson)
OPEC(OrganizationofPetroleumExportingCountries)
Blending:
Itisaprocessofforminganewwordbycombiningpartsofotherwords.Forexample,
medicare(medical+care)
smog(smoke+fog)
comsat(communications+satellite)
brunch(breakfast+lunch)
Abbreviation:
Anabbreviationisashortenedformofawordorphrasewhichrepresentsthecompleteform.Forexample,
kg(kilogram),TV(television),cf(confer),cm(centimetre)
Clipping:
itisakindofabbreviationofotherwiselongerwordsorphrases.Forexample,
Zoo(zoologicalgarden)
gym(gymnasium)
copter(helicopter)
phone(telephone)
Back-formation:
Itisaprocessbywhichnewwordsareformedbytakingawaythesuffixofanexistingword.Forexample,
enthuse(enthusiasm)
burgle(burglar)
babysit(babysitter)
edit(editor)
Coinage:
Itreferstotheinventionofanewword,oftenfromthebrand-nameortrade-markofaproduct.Forexample,Hoover,Whiteout,Thermofax,Macearethetrademarksfortheirrespectiveproducts,butnowarecommonized:
Tohooverafloor
Towhiteoutamistake
Tothermofaxamaterial
Tomace
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