Chapter 8 - Historical Linguistics Flashcards
Define synchronic linguistics
The study of language structure that is at a single point in time
Define diachronic perspective/linguistics
Linguistics across a span of time
Synonym to historial linguistics
Name one of the uses of historical linguistics
Helps in archaeology - to guess what the objects that we find were used for (example: table)
Provides us tools to determine the properties of dead languages
What is critical info?
Linguistic information that has a real purpose - ex: by making us able to determine the use of a certain archaeological object
What are the 2 components if the pursuit of historical linguistics that we will focus on?
Language change
Language relatedness
If there is a language change related to phonology, how will the change be called?
A phonological change
How can we describe the relation between previous days’ languages and today’s languages? What does it mean?
As systematic
If we see that u: becomes aw, this change will be systematic accross ALL words
If there is a rule for when the change happens (for ex’ X become Z when in front of a vowel but not anywhere else), can we still say that the change is systematic?
Yes
How do we call the words from old languages?
Ancestor words
How do we call the words descending from old languages?
Descendants words
What is the etymology of a word?
Its history
What is a conditioned sound change?
Happens in certain environments only (ex: X become Z when in front of a vowel but not anywhere else)
What is an unconditioned sound change?
Happens all the time, no matter the environment
What does it mean that sound change displays “regularity”?
That when a sound change happens in a word, it will change in all words which have that sound in the same phonological context
What is the comparative method used for?
To determine that 2 or + languages are related
How is it possible that 4 different languages that are spoken very far form one another can be extremely similar? Name the 4 possibilities
Onomatopoeia: words that represent sounds can resemble each other accross languages
Chance: because of the length of words, there is some extent of chance that they can be similar
Borrowed words: for this to happen, close and extended contact between the populations is required
Genetics: (genesis) - the words have the same origin, they are related
How can we qualify the (phonological) differences in related languages?
Systematic
What is the genetic hypothesis?
Genetics refers to genesis (origin/source)
This hypothesis suggests that similar languages were once the same linguistic system
Why does language change happens?
Because it is transmitted imperfectly from generation to generation; therefore different regions come to have each their own language
What is linguistic reconstruction?
Trying to guess what an ancient language looked like using deduction
What does it mean if I write that the word of an ancient language for “hat” was *miu?
The * means that this reconstruction is a theory, not an established truth
What are sound correspondences?
The correspondence between the sound in an ancient language and it’s form today (ex: *a - [a])
What happens when the words for descendent languages are not all the same? How can we guess the earlier form?
We need to figure out rules as to where and how the change happened, that would explain all the differences in the simplest way possible
What is relative chronology?
When a certain sound change happened, relative to another (which came first between the 2)
