Chapter 8: Historical Linguistics Flashcards
Diachronic Language Change
Historic change
[fifϴs] > [fifs]
Deletion of a consonant
[æϴlit] > [æϴəlit]
Insertion of a vowel
Partial Assimilation
Involves place or manner of articulation
[semda] > [senda]
Partial Assimilation
[septem] > [sette]
Total Assimilation
[gentem] > [d3ent]
Palatalization
[bon] > [bõ]
Nasalization
[gōs] > [gus]
Umlaut: fronting of a vowel
[anma] > [alma]
Dissimilation: one segment becomes less like another segment
[ganra] > [gandra]
Epenthesis
[schola] > [escuela]
Epenthesis
[wæps] > [wæsp]
Metathesis
[mettere] > [meter]
Degemination (weakening)
[maturus] > [maduro]
Voicing (weakening)
[maduro] > [maðro]
Frication (weakening)
[maðyr] > [mûr]
Deletion (weakening)
[maiza] > more
Rhoticism (weakening)
[cúra] > [cur]
Apocape (deletion)
[perdere] > [perdre]
Syncope (deletion)
[gros] > [gro]
Consonant deletion (deletion)
[juvenis] > [giovane]
Glide Strengthening
[d3ent] > [3ent]
Deaffrication
[ϴin] > [fin]
Substitution
[vit] > [vIt}
Vowel laxing
Phonetic Sound Change
Adding, removing, changing an allophone
Phonological Sound Change
Changing the inventory of underlying segments in a language
Substratum
Lexical borrowing from a non-dominant language into a dominant one
Superstratum
Lexical borrowing from a dominant language into a non-dominant one
Broadening (Semantic Change)
Meaning becomes more general
Narrowing (Semantic Change)
Meaning becomes less general
Amelioration (Semantic Change)
Meaning becomes more positive
Pejoration (Semantic Change)
Meaning becomes more negative
Weakening (Semantic Change)
Meaning is exaggerated
Shift (Semantic Change)
Meaning completely changes
Lexical Diffusion
Change that occurs word for word
Reconstruction
Method of comparing languages to find a language’s earliest form (proto-form)
2 Reconstruction Strategies
Majority rules and phonetic plausibility
Grimm’s Law
Consonant shifts that take place between Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic
