Ch. 10 Historical Linguistics(歷史語言學)

※Causes of Language Change (語言改變原因)

(A) Articulatory Simplification(發音簡單化)

Consonant deletion:

clothes： /kloðIz/ → /kloz/

fifth︰ /fifθ/ → /fift/

(B) Spelling Pronunciation (照拼法發音)

- Pronunciation based on the spelling of a word rather than on its historically inherited form. For example, many pronounce often with /t/, influenced by the spelling with ‘t’, though historically the word had no /t/.

- often → /oftən/ → /ofn/ → /oftən/

(C) Analogy(類比) and Reanalysis (重新分析) – cognitive factors

mandatory: optional= competent:inept

Analogy: reflects preference of speakers of regular over irregular patterns

= extension/generalization of a regularity

- bases on inference of speakers: elements alike in respect A must be alike in respect B

- sting- stung → bring –* brung

- analogy has large role in morphological change

Reanalysis: It means fusion, the merger of two or more forms across word or morphological boundaries. (root + affix is mapped onto word that is originally not decomposable)

hamburger → fishburger → chickenburger... even as free morpheme, burger

(D) Language Contact(語言接觸)

- extensive borrowing, especially in contact situations with bilinguals, multilinguals

- borrowing affects all areas but mostly the lexicon

ox- pig-sheep (English)

beef- pork- mutton (French)

(E) Hypercorrection (矯往過正)：

(1) The use of a nonstandard form due to a belief that it is more formal or more correct than the corresponding standard form.

For example, many American English speakers hypercorrect with the use of I inconstructions such as He saw John and I; just between you and I.

(2) Hypercorrection refers to the situation when a word may have two possible pronunciations, one of which is regarded as prestigious, while the other is stigmatized.

dance→/dæns/; /dans/

understand→/ʌndəstænd/; /ʌndəstand/

*The stages of the change in the English language

  1. 449 – 1066Old English

449Saxons invade Britain

6th century------Religious literature

8th century------Beowulf (貝奧武夫)

1066------Norman Conquest (諾曼人征服)

2. 1066 – 1500Middle English

1387-----Canterbury Tales (坎特伯雷故事集)

1476-----Caxton’s printing press (卡克斯頓)

1500----Great Vowel Shift

  1. 1500 - Modern English

1564----Birth of Shakespeare

撒克遜人（英語：Saxons，德語：Sachsen），又譯薩克遜人、薩克森人，原屬日耳曼蠻族，早期分布於今日德國境內的下薩克森（Niedersachsen）地方。西元5世紀中期，大批的日耳曼人經由北歐入侵不列顛群島，包括了盎格魯人（Angles）、撒克遜人、朱特人（Jutes），經過長期的混居，逐漸形成現今英格蘭人的祖先。

※諾曼征服，指1066年法國諾曼第公爵威廉對英格蘭的入侵和征服。這次征服改變了英格蘭的走向，從此英格蘭受到歐洲大陸的影響加深，而受到斯堪的納維亞的影響逐漸衰退。諾曼征服整個改變了英格蘭的文化，甚至是其語言。

入侵英格蘭
起因
當年，諾曼第大公爵．威廉(Duke of Normandy William)率領大軍橫渡英吉利海峽，登陸於黑斯廷斯（Hastings）。英國盎格魯——薩克遜王室末代國王哈羅德二世倉促應戰，陣亡沙場。 威廉從此兼任英國國王威廉一世（征服者）（William I the Conquerer）。

征服英格蘭
英國盎格魯——薩克遜時代結束。諾曼第王朝建立。古英語的發展進入低谷。由於諾曼第人在建國之初，就對法國國王承諾臣服法國、說法語，因而諾曼征服後的政府用語為法語。

政府架構
英國再次融入歐洲大陸，在政治上依附法國，經濟上雖然獨立，但與低地國家（今荷蘭、比利時）的貿易量逐年遞增——這是後來英國復興、覬覦法國領土，並引發英法百年戰爭的主要因素。正因為政治上依附法國，英國才與法國一起參與了十字軍東征。而兼任英國國王的諾曼第大公一直問鼎法國王位，這也成為英法百年戰爭的導火索之一。

英格蘭文化的发展

英语中開始發展大量法语詞彙，多为政治、法律、宗教、食品方面的词语。以下是一些例子：

古法語借詞 / 現代英語詞 / 意義
cité / city / 城市
duc / duck / 大公
baron / baron / 男爵
juge / judge / 法官
armée / army / 軍隊
enemi / enemy / 敵人
garde / guard / 門衛
prisun / prison / 監獄
liberteé / liberty / 自由
limon / lemon / 檸檬
boef / beef / 牛肉
saumon / salmon / 三文鱼
erbe / herb / 草药

※ Syntactic Change in English(英文句法改變)

  1. Modern English has SVO word order whereas Old English have a basic SOV word order.

Old English︰ se man pone kyning sloh

the man the king slew

Modern English： The man slew the king.

  1. In Old English, negation occurred before the auxiliary verbal whereas Modern English occurred after that.

Old English︰I ne can ne I ne mai tellen alle pe wunder

I not know nor I not can tell all the atrocities

Modern English：I cannot know nor can I tell all the atrocities.

※Grimm’s Law(格林法則): The German linguist Jakob Grimm found that a set of consonant shifts that took place between Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic.

  1. voiceless stops> fricatives：p, t. k> f, θ, h
  2. voiced stops> voiceless stops：b, d, g> p, t, k
  3. voiced aspirated stops> plain voiced stops：bh, dh, gh> b, d, g, respectively

Proto-Germanic (原始日耳曼語)：英語 德語 丹麥語 荷蘭語 瑞典語

Romance Language (羅曼語)(拉丁語系)：西班牙語 法語 義大利語

Ch.11 Writing System (書寫系統)

The palest ink is better than the sharpest memory.

(廣記不如淡墨)

  1. Logographic (拼詞文字): Chinese
  2. Syllabic (音節文字): 音節文字是表音文字的一種，以音節為單位的文字; Japanese
  3. Consonantal alphabetic (子音拼音文字): vowels are inferred from context; Arabic

Ktb (write) (root)詞根

Kitab (book)

Katab (he wrote)

Katib (writer)

  1. Alphabetic (拼音文字): English