语言学基础教程.docx
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语言学基础教程
Chapter8HistoricalLinguistics:
LanguageThroughTime
8.1Whatishistoricallinguistics?
Itisanindisputablefactthatalllanguageshavebeenconstantlychangingthroughtime.Essentially,modernlinguisticshascenteredaroundtwodimensionstodealwithlanguagechange:
thesynchronicdimensionandthediachronicdimension.Thesynchronicdimensionhasdominantlybeenappliedtodescribeandexplaindifferencesorvariationswithinonelanguageindifferentplacesandamongdifferentgroupsatthesametime.Thesynchronicdimensionisusuallythetopicofsociolinguistics,whichwillbediscussedinChapter10.Thischapterwillfocusonthediachronicdimensionoflanguagechange.Thosewhostudylanguagefromthislatterpointofviewareworkinginthefieldofhistoricallinguistics(Poole,2000:
123).Toputitmorespecifically,historicallinguisticsisthestudyofthedevelopmentsinlanguagesinthecourseoftime,ofthewaysinwhichlanguageschangefromperiodtoperiod,andofthecausesandresultsofsuchchanges,bothoutsidethelanguagesandwithinthem(Robins,2000:
5).
8.2Whenlanguagechanges
Althoughlanguagechangedoesnottakeplaceovernight,certainchangesarenoticeablebecausetheyusuallyconflatewithacertainhistoricalperiodormajorsocialchangescausedbywars,invasionsandotherupheavals.ThedevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguageisacaseinpoint.Generallyspeaking,thehistoricaldevelopmentofEnglishisdividedintothreemajorperiods:
OldEnglish(OE),MiddleEnglish(ME),andModernEnglish(ModE).
500(thetimewhenGermanictribesinvadedBritain)
OldEnglish
1100(thetimeaftertheNormanConquestin1066)
MiddleEnglish
1500(thebeginningofRenaissanceandthefirstprintingpresssetupin1476inEngland)
ModernEnglish
thepresent
Inabouttheyear449AD,theGermanictribesofAngles,SaxonsandJutesfromnorthernEuropeinvadedBritainandbecamethefoundersoftheEnglishnation.Theirlanguage,withtheGermaniclanguageasthesource,iscalled,thenamederivedfromthefirsttribe,theAngles.IthadavocabularyinheritedalmostentirelyfromGermanicorformedbycompoundingorderivationfromGermanicelements(Dension,1993:
9).FromthisearlyvarietyofEnglisc,manyofthemostbasictermsintheEnglishlanguagecameintobeing:
mann(“man”),cild(“child”),mete(“food”),etan(“eat”),drincan(“drink”)andfeohtan(“fight”).FromthesixthtotheeighthcenturiesAD,theAnglo-SaxonswereconvertedtoChristianity,andanumberofterms,mainlytodowithreligion,philosophyandmedicine,wereborrowedintoEnglishfromLatin,thelanguageofreligion.Theoriginsofthemodernwordsangel,bishop,candle,church,martyr,priestandschoolalldatefromthatperiod.Fromtheeighthcenturytothetenthcentury,theVikingsfromnorthernEuropeinvadedEnglandandbroughtwordssuchasgive,law,leg,skin,sky,takeandtheyfromtheirlanguage,OldNorse(Yule,2000:
218).
Intheyearof1066AD,theNormanFrenchconqueredthewholeofEngland,bringingFrenchspeakersintotherulingclassandthenpushingFrenchtothepositionasthe“prestigelanguage”forthenexttwohundredyears.Thislanguagewasusedbythenobility,thegovernment,thelawandcivilizedbehavior,providingthesourceofsuchmoderntermsasarmy,court,defense,prisonandtax(Yule,2000:
219).YetthelanguageofthepeasantsremainedEnglish.
BytheendoftheMEperiod,whenEnglishhadonceagainbecomethefirstlanguageofallclasses,thebulkofOElexishadbecomeobsolete,andsometenthousandFrenchwordshadbeenincorporatedintoEnglish,maybe75%survivingintoModE(Baugh&Cable,2001:
174).
DuringtheearlyModEperiod,whichcoincidedwiththeRenaissanceperiod,EnglishborrowedenormouslexicalresourcesfromtheclassicallanguagesofLatinandGreek.And,lateronastheBritishEmpireexpanded,therangeoflexicalinfluencewidenedtoevermoreexoticsourcelanguages(Dension,1993:
13).
ThetypesofborrowedwordsnotedaboveareexamplesofexternalchangesinEnglish,andtheinternalchangesoverlapwiththehistoricalperiodsdescribedabove.AccordingtoFennell(2005:
2),theyear500ADmarksthebranchingoffofEnglishfromotherGermanicdialects;theyear1100ADmarkstheperiodinwhichEnglishlostthevastmajorityofitsinflections,signalingthechangefromalanguagethatrelieduponmorphologicalmarkingofgrammaticalrolestoonethatreliedonwordordertomaintainbasicgrammaticalrelations;andtheyear1500ADmarkstheendofmajorFrenchinfluenceonthelanguageandthetimewhentheuseofEnglishwasestablishedinallcommunicativecontexts.Thus,thoseinternalchangeswillbeelaboratedbelowatthephonological,lexical,semanticandgrammaticallevels.
8.3Howlanguagechanges
ThechangeoftheEnglishlanguagewiththepassag