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Historical Phonology & Morphology. How Sound Systems and Word Structures Change over Time. Linguistic Structures. L anguages are made up of structured systems These systems exist at different levels Languages have Phonology: sound structures Morphology: word structures - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Historical Phonology & Morphology
How Sound Systems and Word Structures Change over
Time
Linguistic StructuresLanguages are made up of
structured systemsThese systems exist at different
levelsLanguages have
Phonology: sound structuresMorphology: word structuresSyntax: sentence structures
Historical LinguisticsWhen languages change over
time, the changes can occur in any of these structured systems
One therefore speaks ofHistorical phonologyHistorical morphologyHistorical syntax
Historical PhonologyDifferent types of sound change
can happen over timeQuestion: how individual sound
changes affect the phonology of a language; that is, how they effect the number and relations of phonemes
Phonological ChangeA sound change might have- No/little effect on the phonological
system- Change the allophones of a
phoneme- Decrease the number of phonemes- Increase the number of phonemesIf the number of phonemes
changes, it will affect minimal pairs
Phonological Change
No effect on the phonological system
# 1 EMidE /t d n/ = dentals >> RETRACTION >>ModE /t d n/ = alveolars#2 Ogerm /*b *d *g/ >> OE /p t k/ =
unaspiratedModE /p t k/ + STRESSED SYLLABLE
= aspirated
Example 2: English hypotheticalSuppose that we started to
pronounce /g/ as [k] (weakening).E.g. ‘bigger’ /’bıgɘ/ > [’bıkɘ] The number of phonemes does not
changeBigger and bicker are still a minimal
pair/g/ [k] (same phoneme, new
allophone)This change is happening in the
Northwest
ExSuppose that we started to
pronounce /g/ as [k] (weakening).E.g. ‘bigger’ /’bıgɘ/ > [’bıkɘ] The number of phonemes does not
changeBigger and bicker are still a minimal
pair/g/ [k] (same phoneme, new
allophone)This change is happening in the
Northwest
Phonological Change
CONDITIONED CHANGES
#1 ASSIMILATION (palatalisation + affrication)
WGerm * kirka > OE circe = ModE church# 2 UMLAUT (distant assimilation)- Back vowels >> fronted• (pre-OE plur.) mūs-i << OE mīs• (pre-OE plur.) gōs-i << OE gēs#3 MANNER OF ARTICULATION- OE modor >> MidE mother
DISSIMILATION
#1 LAT tutur >> turtle
- sporadic- unstressed syllables
METATHESIS
# 1 West & South Slavic languages - Milk : mleko- Garden : ogród# 2 Germanic languages
- OE þridda >> ModE third
HAPLOLOGY
#1
LOSS
# 1 WORD INITIAL /k/ + /n/- Knowledge : acknowlwdge# 2 POST-VOCALIC /r/#3 LOSS + COMPENSATORY
LENGTHENINGMidE sight /sɪxt/ >> /si:t/- Apocope (final vowels) - syncope (medial vowels)
Phonemic Merger
#1 Cockney English:- Two unconditioned changes:[θ] > [f] and [ð] > [v]- 4 phonemes have been reduced to
2That : vat were once minimal pairs;
now homophones [væt] (Cockney)Thin : fin were once minimal pairs;
now homophones [fɪn] (Cockney)
Phonemic Split#1 An earlier allophone >> a
phoneme (phonemisation)OE /y y:/ >> UNROUNDING >> /i: ɪ/
- sea : see ; made : maid#2 OE /f θ s/ >> PHONEMISATION
>> Middle English /v ð z/
EXCRESCENCE
#1 A sound appears /u/ + /x/:
- OE brohte >> MidE broughte
- Epenthesis (medial)- Prothesis (initial)
Other phonological changes
#1 The phonology of a language can change in more drastic ways than just the addition/subtraction of phonemes
- SOUND SHIFT = the Great Vowel Shift
Long Vowels: Raising/Diphthongising /i:/ & /u:/
Regularity of Sound Change
A fundamental principle of historical phonology
Sound change is regularIf sound A changes to sound B in a
particular environment in some words, then sound A changes to sound B in all words with that environment.
Regularity of Sound Change
Example: Southern American English
[e] > [ɪ] / _ [n] (vowel raising)Pen and ten are [phɪn] and [thɪn],
homophonous with pin and tin.This sound change is regularIt affects [e] in all words with this
environment: when, tennis, Ben, men, glen, etc.
Regularity of Sound Change
Regularity of sound change is a very important principle
It will allow us to reconstruct the pronunciation of languages in the distant past, even when we have no written records
We will see how when we do historical reconstruction
Historical MorphologyOver time, the morphology of a
language changesThe set of morphemes in the
language changesThe function and meaning of
morphemes changesInflectional paradigms changeDerivational rules change
Historical MorphologyIn extreme cases, languages that
were once isolating can develop inflectional morphology
Likewise, languages can lose inflectional morphology and become isolating*
In the last 1500 years, English has lost much of its inflectional morphology
Historical Processes Some common types of morphological change are: Grammaticalization (Grammaticization) Analogy Reanalysis Folk Etymology Back Formation Root Creation Functional Shift Commonisation Taboo Deformation Compounding Affixation Acronymy Abbreviation (Clipping)
Historical ProcessesRemember: The building blocks of
morphology are morphemes, not words
The historical processes described here involve changes to morphemes
GrammaticalizationOver time, a free morpheme (i.e. a
word) acquires grammatical (i.e. morphological or syntactic) function
Often this process is accompanied byPhonological reduction (gets shorter)Fusion (becomes bound)Semantic bleaching (loses original
meaning)
GrammaticalizationExample 1: English be going to > be
gonnaOriginal meaning: motion through spaceNew Function: future tense marker (“I’m
gonna take linguistics next quarter.”)Phonological reduction: 3 syllables > 2
syllables, vowels become schwa*I’m gonna the store to buy some soap.
Semantic bleaching: sense of motion is lostI’m gonna stay right here.
GrammaticalizationExample 2: English haveOriginal meaning: possessionFunction: auxiliary verb (“I’ve eaten
lunch already”) indicating completed action
Phonological reduction: have can be pronounced /v/ only when grammaticalized:*Do you’ve any money on you?
Semantic bleaching: possession meaning is lost
AnalogyA powerful force in morphological
changeA morphological rule is extended, or
generalized, to forms by analogy with other forms that already fit the rule
Q: Why can we make sentences or derive words that we have never heard before?
A: We have learned the morphological and syntactic rules and can apply them
But rules also have exceptions
AnalogyExample: English past tense {-ed}Children growing up hear present and
past tense forms of verbs, and induce an inflectional rule based on them:walk walked + /t/learn learned + /d/fade faded + /˙d/
Rule: Add an allomorph of {-ed} to verb stem to make past tense
AnalogyHaving learned the rule, the child might
make an analogy:Walk : walked :: go : ______Learn: learned :: teach : ______
By analogy, the child applies the rule and says:
“Yesterday we goed to the park” “Bill teached me how to tie my shoes” “I taked some cookies”
AnalogyEventually the child may learn the
exceptions to the rule. But sometimes analogical formations stay in the language, and the exceptions are regularized.
In some English dialects today, people say teached and throwed.
Similar changes have happened to many verbs in English, and continue to happen.
What’s the past tense of strive? cleave? dive?
AnalogyAnalogy often has the effect of reducing
the overall number of allomorphsExample 2: Old English {old} had two
allomorphs, /old/ and /eald/:Old - elder - eldest
Today these are obsolete. By analogy withRed - redder - reddest (no change to stem)
We now have only one allomorph:Old - older - oldest
ReanalysisSpeakers of a language reinterpret the
location of morpheme boundariesThis may create new morphemes, or
change the forms of existing morphemes
Example 1: English a napron > an apronExample 2: English an ewt > a newtListeners put the morpheme boundary
in a new location, and changed the form of the words napron and ewt.
ReanalysisExample 3: Creation of a new
morphemeHistorical morpheme boundary: alcohol-
icAlcohol: noun; -ic: adjective-forming
suffixAlcoholic: adj (“an alcoholic beverage”)“An alcoholic person” > alcoholic: noun
(“a person addicted to alcohol)New morpheme boundary: alc-oholic-oholic/-aholic: derivational suffix: work-
aholic, choc-oholic
ReanalysisExample 4: LollapaloozaSlang: “Something outstanding or
amazing”After the big Lollapalooza music tours,
palooza was reanalyzed as a derivational suffix meaning “an event that’s big and exciting”
Country-palooza, Polka-palooza, Metal-palooza, Soap-a-palooza, Polar-palooza, …
Folk Etymology A specific type of re-analysis in which people
misunderstand the historical origin of a word (etymology refers to word origins)
Example 1: In some dialects of English, asparagus is now called sparrow-grass.
Example 2: Hamburger derives from the German city Hamburg plus suffix -er.
Speakers assume the word is a compound with first morpheme ham, so conclude that burger is a morpheme too, meaning a type of food patty.
Back Formation A specific type of reanalysis and/or analogy
that creates new stems from derived or inflected forms
Happens when language speakers misidentify a word as being composed of a stem and affix, then remove the affix to get back to what they think is the original stem
Child (pointing to plate of cheese): “What’s that?”
Parent: “Cheese” Child (hearing /z/ and assuming it is a plural
suffix): “Can I have a chee?”
Back Formation Consider these verb-noun pairs
compensate compensation denigrate denigration operate operation procrastinate procrastination delegate delegation _________ orientation
By analogy, speakers assume the verb stem is orientate (historically it is orient). Orientate is a back-formation.
Back Formation In Old English, the word for pea was pise
(singular), pisan (plural) In Middle English, singular pease was
reanalyzed as having a plural {-s} suffix. A new singular form pea was created by back-
formation, and peas was reanalyzed as a plural.
The singular pease is still preserved in the old nursery rhyme: “Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot nine days old.”
ROOT CREATION
#1 Words out of nothing
GASNYLONRAYON
FUNCTIONAL SHIFT (ZERO-DERIVATION/CONVERSION)
A knee >> to knee
A shoulder >> to shoulder a burden
In and out >> to know the ins and outs
COMMONISATION
#1 Proper names, inventors, popularisers, trade names:
The 4th Earl of Sandwich >> a sandwichDiesel >> a diesel engile Bowie >> a bowie knifeDerringer >> a derringerEcho >> echoSpartan >> spartanA sliding fasterner >> zipper
TABOO DEFORMATION
GOD-DAMNED >> GOL-DARNED, GOL-DERNED, GOSH DARNED
EUPHEMISMS:
TO DIE >> TO BE MET ONE’S MAKER, PASS AWAY, LEAVE THE VALE OF TEARS
AFFIXATION
MORPHEMES ARE FUSED TOGETHER
ANTIESTABLISHARIANISM
COMPOUNDING
#1 NOUN + NOUNOE wīfmann; MidE hūswīfe; ModE schoolboy#2 ADJ. + ADJ.OE wynsum; MidE snauwhīt; ModE red-hot#3 NOUN + ADJ.watertight, life-long, time-consuming# 4 VERB + NOUNMidE pickepurse; ModE pickpocket, press-button#5 PREP. + NOUN/VERB afterbirth, downfall, output
ACRONYMY
#1 The initial sounds of several words
RADAR
LASER
BLENDING
MOTEL
SMOG
URINALISYS
ABBREVIATING (CLIPPING)
TELLY
LAB
PROF.
DOC
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