Language Change Over Time

Introduction

All languages change as long as they have speakers.
Language change viewed negatively by older speakers, but it's natural and has patterns.

Synchronically: Differences among languages and dialects as they exist today.
Diachronically: Changes in languages and dialects over time.

Old English: The Lord's Prayer from around 1100 A.D. is unrecognizable to modern speakers.
Middle English: Geoffrey Chaucer's time still poses comprehension challenges.
Early Modern English: Shakespeare's time is more recognizable to modern readers.

Sir William Jones: Noted philologist who studied language change.
- Noticed cognates among Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit.
- Established the concept of Indo-European as a language family.
- Started comparative linguistics.

Metathesis: Switching of sounds in a word.
- Example: 'aks' instead of 'ask'.
Parenthesis: Addition of a sound in the middle of a word.
- Example: 'athlete' pronounced as 'ath-e-lete'.
Prothesis: Addition of a sound at the beginning of a word.
- Example: 'school' pronounced as 'es-cool' by some Spanish speakers.

Grammaticalization: A form takes on a more grammatical function.
- Example: 'go' in English indicating future tense ("I'm going to").
- Romance languages use similar strategies (e.g., Spanish "voy a").

Broadening: A word takes on a broader meaning.
- Example: 'dog' used to refer to a specific breed, now means any canine.
Narrowing: A word takes on a narrower meaning.
- Example: 'hound' used to refer to any dog, now a specific breed.
Amelioration: A word takes on a more positive meaning.
- Example: 'bad' in slang means something good.
Pejoration: A word takes on a more negative meaning.
- Example: 'hussy' used to mean housewife, now means an immoral woman.

Language change is complex and involves various mechanisms in phonology, morphosyntax, and semantics.
Understanding these changes helps us appreciate the evolution of language.