Historical Ling and Typology

Question 1

Aspects of language change

Answer 1

phonetics & phonology,
morphology,
syntactic,
lexical / semantic

Question 2

language change is…

how does it happen?

Answer 2

regular, systematic,

sweeps across the language (eg. sound change affects all words with sound X)

Question 3

synchronic variation

Answer 3

A Source of language change 
People by nature just say things differently,
describes variation across speakers at a fixed point
// this does not lead to language change in most cases

Question 4

[r] ~ [ʁ]/[χ]

Answer 4

variation

Question 5

[r] –> [ʁ]/[χ]

Answer 5

change

Question 6

causes of language change

Answer 6

articulatory/acoustic simplification 
language acquisition (mislearning)
language contact
social factors
analogy
NATURAL AND UNINTENTIONAL

Question 7

sound change (process order)

Answer 7

phonetic variation first then phonology can change over time

Question 8

phonetic variation

Answer 8

sounds differ in a particular environment 
// see phonological rules

Question 9

types of sound change

Answer 9

• phonetically-conditioned change

- phonological change

Question 10

phonetically-conditioned change

Answer 10

A –> B / C __ D

based in articulatory(!!) and also auditory factors

Question 11

What kind of curve does language change follow?

Answer 11

S-curve

Question 12

articulatory factors of phonetically-conditioned change

Answer 12

assimilation, dissimilation, epenthesis, epenthesis, metathesis, weakening/deletion

Question 13

phonological change

Answer 13

add, eliminate, or rearrange phonemes

Question 14

types of phonological change

Answer 14

mergers, splits, shifts

Question 15

Lexical Diffusion

Answer 15

word to word changes spread gradually through the language

Question 16

assimilation

Answer 16

sounds become more (articulatorily) similar along some dimension (eg. voicing, place, nasalization)

Question 17

Genetically related?

Answer 17

Two languages descended from a common
parent
Italian and Swedish: related
Italian and Chinese: not related

Question 18

palatalization

Answer 18

common type of assimilation;
velar, alveolar, dental stops become “more palatal” before front vowels/glides (/j/)
[tju] ~ [ t͡ʃu ]

Question 19

dissimilation

what is it? why does it happen? what sounds are commonly affected?

Answer 19

similar sounds become less similar;
occurs due to difficulty of articulation/perception of similar sounds
commonly affects liquids ( [l] / [r] )
eg. february ~ febyuary

Question 20

Comparative method

Answer 20

reconstruct earlier form of a language by comparing newer forms
Method: compare cognates in related languages
Use cognates to reconstruct proto-forms of
proto-language
Understand logic of reconstruction, fill in some steps
– Ex:
• Sound corresp. → proto-form, and explanation
• Fill in sound correspondences
• Apply sound changes to proto-forms

Question 21

epenthesis

Answer 21

insertion of a sound in an environment

Question 22

epenthetic consonant

Answer 22

serves as a bridge between adjacent sounds
less common than vowel counterpart
strength [ŋθ] ~ [ŋkθ]

Question 23

vowel epenthesis

Answer 23

changes consonant sequences which are "hard to pronounce" or not allowed by a languages syllable structure
// common in loan words!
// fr: arbre (adding a vowel sound after the r)

Question 24

metathesis

Answer 24

change of relative position of segments

waeps –> wasp from old english

Question 25

Splits

Answer 25

Allophones become contrastive (adding a phoneme)

• Often by loss of conditioning environment

Question 26

vowel reduction and deletion

Answer 26

vowels (especially in weak positions/ unstressed syllables) get weaker (less distinct/contrastive)
reduction precedes deletion

Question 27

Tonogenesis

Answer 27

type of split, thought to be how
tone systems emerge
– Adjacent consonant affects vowel pitch
– Consonant lost, pitch differences remain

Question 28

consonant weakening/deletion

Answer 28

tends to occur btwn vowels

deletion = complete weakening

Question 29

Mergers

Answer 29

2+ phonemes collapse into one
meet = meat
vein = vain

Question 30

Shifts

Answer 30

Several phonemes change
– Changes overall organization
of sound system

Question 31

consonant strength scale

Answer 31

STRONG
voiceless stops >
voiceless fricatives, voiced stops >
voiced fricative >
nasal >
liquids >
glides
WEAK
*long consonants are stronger than short

Question 32

Phonological typology

Answer 32

(universal) tendencies: most languages do X, or X is more
common than Y
– Ex: most languages have 3+ vowels
– /q/ is much less common than /p/, /t/, /k/ in cons. inventories.

Terminology: marked / ‘less basic’ vs. unmarked / ‘more
basic’
• ‘Markedness’ is descriptive: based on tendencies,
implicational universals
– /q/ more marked than /p/, /t/, /k/
– nasal vowels marked, oral vowels unmarked

Question 33

substitution

Answer 33

-segment replaced w a similar sounding segment
-auditory factor of phonetic change!
[θ] > [f]

Question 34

Vowel systems

Answer 34

Most languages:
– 3-9 vowels (phonemes), including /i a u/
– Front vowels unrounded, back vowels rounded

Nasal vowels, long vowels are marked
– Presence of either ⇒ oral vowels
– Most common: oral only

Question 35

Perceptual distinctness

Answer 35

– Languages favor vowels ‘spread out’ in vowel
quadrangle (= F1/F2 space)
– Includes: unrounded front, rounded back vowels >
rounded front or unrounded back

Question 36

consonant system

Answer 36

Sonorants: most languages have at least 1 nasal,

1 liquid