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Historical Phonology & Morphology
How Sound Systems and Word Structures Change over
Time
Linguistic Structures
Languages are made up of structured systems
These systems exist at different levels
Languages havePhonology: sound structuresMorphology: word structuresSyntax: sentence structures
Historical Linguistics
When languages change over time, the changes can occur in any of these structured systems
One therefore speaks ofHistorical phonologyHistorical morphologyHistorical syntax
Historical Phonology
Different types of sound change can happen over time
Question: how individual sound changes affect the phonology of a language; that is, how they effect the number and relations of phonemes
Phonological Change
A sound change might have- No/little effect on the phonological
system- Change the allophones of a
phoneme- Decrease the number of phonemes- Increase the number of phonemesIf the number of phonemes
changes, it will affect minimal pairs
Phonological Change
No effect on the phonological system
# 1 EMidE /t d n/ = dentals >> RETRACTION >>ModE /t d n/ = alveolars#2 Ogerm /*b *d *g/ >> OE /p t k/ =
unaspiratedModE /p t k/ + STRESSED SYLLABLE
= aspirated
Example 2: English hypotheticalSuppose that we started to
pronounce /g/ as [k] (weakening).E.g. ‘bigger’ /’bıgɘ/ > [’bıkɘ] The number of phonemes does not
changeBigger and bicker are still a minimal
pair/g/- [k] (same phoneme, new
allophone)This change is happening in the
Northwest
ExSuppose that we started to
pronounce /g/ as [k] (weakening).E.g. ‘bigger’ /’bıgɘ/ > [’bıkɘ] The number of phonemes does not
changeBigger and bicker are still a minimal
pair/g/- [k] (same phoneme, new
allophone)This change is happening in the
Northwest
Phonological Change
CONDITIONED CHANGES
#1 ASSIMILATION (palatalisation + affrication)
WGerm * kirka > OE circe = ModE church# 2 UMLAUT (distant assimilation)- Back vowels >> fronted• (pre-OE plur.) mūs-i << OE mīs• (pre-OE plur.) gōs-i << OE gēs
#3 MANNER OF ARTICULATION
- OE modor >> MidE mother
DISSIMILATION
#1 LAT tutur >> turtle
- sporadic- unstressed syllables
METATHESIS
# 1 West & South Slavic languages - Milk : mleko- Garden : ogród# 2 Germanic languages
- OE þridda >> ModE third
HAPLOLOGY
#1
LOSS
# 1 WORD INITIAL /k/ + /n/- Knowledge : acknowlwdge# 2 POST-VOCALIC /r/#3 LOSS + COMPENSATORY
LENGTHENINGMidE sight /sɪxt/ >> /si:t/- Apocope (final vowels) - syncope (medial vowels)
Phonemic Merger
#1 Cockney English:- Two unconditioned changes:[θ] > [f] and [ð] > [v]- 4 phonemes have been reduced to
2That : vat were once minimal pairs;
now homophones [væt] (Cockney)Thin : fin were once minimal pairs;
now homophones [fɪn] (Cockney)
Phonemic Split#1 An earlier allophone >> a
phoneme (phonemisation)OE /y y:/ >> UNROUNDING >> /i: ɪ/
- sea : see ; made : maid#2 OE /f θ s/ >> PHONEMISATION
>> Middle English /v ð z/
EXCRESCENCE
#1 A sound appears /u/ + /x/:
- OE brohte >> MidE broughte
- Epenthesis (medial)- Prothesis (initial)
Other phonological changes
#1 The phonology of a language can change in more drastic ways than just the addition/subtraction of phonemes
- SOUND SHIFT = the Great Vowel Shift
Long Vowels: Raising/Diphthongising /i:/ & /u:/
Regularity of Sound Change
A fundamental principle of historical phonology
Sound change is regularIf sound A changes to sound B in a
particular environment in some words, then sound A changes to sound B in all words with that environment.
Regularity of Sound Change
Example: Southern American English
[e] > [ɪ] / _ [n] (vowel raising)Pen and ten are [phɪn] and [thɪn],
homophonous with pin and tin.This sound change is regularIt affects [e] in all words with this
environment: when, tennis, Ben, men, glen, etc.
Regularity of Sound Change
Regularity of sound change is a very important principle
It will allow us to reconstruct the pronunciation of languages in the distant past, even when we have no written records
We will see how when we do historical reconstruction
Historical Morphology
Over time, the morphology of a language changes
The set of morphemes in the language changes
The function and meaning of morphemes changes
Inflectional paradigms changeDerivational rules change
Historical Morphology
In extreme cases, languages that were once isolating can develop inflectional morphology
Likewise, languages can lose inflectional morphology and become isolating*
In the last 1500 years, English has lost much of its inflectional morphology
Historical Processes
Some common types of morphological change are: Grammaticalization (Grammaticization) Analogy Reanalysis Folk Etymology Back Formation Root Creation Functional Shift Commonisation Taboo Deformation Compounding Affixation Acronymy Abbreviation (Clipping)
Historical Processes
Remember: The building blocks of morphology are morphemes, not words
The historical processes described here involve changes to morphemes
Grammaticalization
Over time, a free morpheme (i.e. a word) acquires grammatical (i.e. morphological or syntactic) function
Often this process is accompanied byPhonological reduction (gets shorter)Fusion (becomes bound)Semantic bleaching (loses original
meaning)
Grammaticalization
Example 1: English be going to > be gonna
Original meaning: motion through spaceNew Function: future tense marker (“I’m
gonna take linguistics next quarter.”)Phonological reduction: 3 syllables > 2
syllables, vowels become schwa*I’m gonna the store to buy some soap.
Semantic bleaching: sense of motion is lostI’m gonna stay right here.
Grammaticalization
Example 2: English haveOriginal meaning: possessionFunction: auxiliary verb (“I’ve eaten
lunch already”) indicating completed action
Phonological reduction: have can be pronounced /v/ only when grammaticalized:*Do you’ve any money on you?
Semantic bleaching: possession meaning is lost
Analogy
A powerful force in morphological change
A morphological rule is extended, or generalized, to forms by analogy with other forms that already fit the rule
Q: Why can we make sentences or derive words that we have never heard before?
A: We have learned the morphological and syntactic rules and can apply them
But rules also have exceptions
Analogy
Example: English past tense {-ed}Children growing up hear present and
past tense forms of verbs, and induce an inflectional rule based on them:walk walked + /t/learn learned + /d/fade faded + /˙d/
Rule: Add an allomorph of {-ed} to verb stem to make past tense
Analogy
Having learned the rule, the child might make an analogy:Walk : walked :: go : ______Learn: learned :: teach : ______
By analogy, the child applies the rule and says:
“Yesterday we goed to the park” “Bill teached me how to tie my shoes” “I taked some cookies”
Analogy
Eventually the child may learn the exceptions to the rule. But sometimes analogical formations stay in the language, and the exceptions are regularized.
In some English dialects today, people say teached and throwed.
Similar changes have happened to many verbs in English, and continue to happen.
What’s the past tense of strive? cleave? dive?
Analogy
Analogy often has the effect of reducing the overall number of allomorphs
Example 2: Old English {old} had two allomorphs, /old/ and /eald/:Old - elder - eldest
Today these are obsolete. By analogy withRed - redder - reddest (no change to stem)
We now have only one allomorph:Old - older - oldest
Reanalysis
Speakers of a language reinterpret the location of morpheme boundaries
This may create new morphemes, or change the forms of existing morphemes
Example 1: English a napron > an apronExample 2: English an ewt > a newtListeners put the morpheme boundary
in a new location, and changed the form of the words napron and ewt.
Reanalysis
Example 3: Creation of a new morpheme
Historical morpheme boundary: alcohol-ic
Alcohol: noun; -ic: adjective-forming suffix
Alcoholic: adj (“an alcoholic beverage”)“An alcoholic person” > alcoholic: noun
(“a person addicted to alcohol)New morpheme boundary: alc-oholic-oholic/-aholic: derivational suffix: work-
aholic, choc-oholic
Reanalysis
Example 4: LollapaloozaSlang: “Something outstanding or
amazing”After the big Lollapalooza music tours,
palooza was reanalyzed as a derivational suffix meaning “an event that’s big and exciting”
Country-palooza, Polka-palooza, Metal-palooza, Soap-a-palooza, Polar-palooza, …
Folk Etymology
A specific type of re-analysis in which people misunderstand the historical origin of a word (etymology refers to word origins)
Example 1: In some dialects of English, asparagus is now called sparrow-grass.
Example 2: Hamburger derives from the German city Hamburg plus suffix -er.
Speakers assume the word is a compound with first morpheme ham, so conclude that burger is a morpheme too, meaning a type of food patty.
Back Formation
A specific type of reanalysis and/or analogy that creates new stems from derived or inflected forms
Happens when language speakers misidentify a word as being composed of a stem and affix, then remove the affix to get back to what they think is the original stem
Child (pointing to plate of cheese): “What’s that?”
Parent: “Cheese” Child (hearing /z/ and assuming it is a plural
suffix): “Can I have a chee?”
Back Formation
Consider these verb-noun pairs compensate compensation denigrate denigration operate operation procrastinate procrastination delegate delegation _________ orientation
By analogy, speakers assume the verb stem is orientate (historically it is orient). Orientate is a back-formation.
Back Formation
In Old English, the word for pea was pise (singular), pisan (plural)
In Middle English, singular pease was reanalyzed as having a plural {-s} suffix.
A new singular form pea was created by back-formation, and peas was reanalyzed as a plural.
The singular pease is still preserved in the old nursery rhyme: “Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot nine days old.”
ROOT CREATION
#1 Words out of nothing
GASNYLONRAYON
FUNCTIONAL SHIFT (ZERO-DERIVATION/CONVERSION)
A knee >> to knee
A shoulder >> to shoulder a burden
In and out >> to know the ins and outs
COMMONISATION
#1 Proper names, inventors, popularisers, trade names:
The 4th Earl of Sandwich >> a sandwichDiesel >> a diesel engile Bowie >> a bowie knifeDerringer >> a derringerEcho >> echoSpartan >> spartanA sliding fasterner >> zipper
TABOO DEFORMATION
GOD-DAMNED >> GOL-DARNED, GOL-DERNED, GOSH DARNED
EUPHEMISMS:
TO DIE >> TO BE MET ONE’S MAKER, PASS AWAY, LEAVE THE VALE OF TEARS
AFFIXATION
MORPHEMES ARE FUSED TOGETHER
ANTIESTABLISHARIANISM
COMPOUNDING
#1 NOUN + NOUNOE wīfmann; MidE hūswīfe; ModE schoolboy
#2 ADJ. + ADJ.
OE wynsum; MidE snauwhīt; ModE red-hot
#3 NOUN + ADJ.
watertight, life-long, time-consuming
# 4 VERB + NOUN
MidE pickepurse; ModE pickpocket, press-button
#5 PREP. + NOUN/VERB
afterbirth, downfall, output
ACRONYMY
#1 The initial sounds of several words
RADAR
LASER
BLENDING
MOTEL
SMOG
URINALISYS
ABBREVIATING (CLIPPING)
TELLY
LAB
PROF.
DOC
End