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HISTORY OF ENGLISHSee also “Semantic Gaps and Sources of
New Words”
by Don L. F. Nilsen
and Alleen Pace Nilsen
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FOUR MAJOR LANGUAGE FAMILIES
SINO-TIBETANe.g. Mandarin Chinese
FINNO-UGRICe.g. Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian, etc.
HAMIDO-SEMITICe.g. Arabic and Hebrew
INDO-EUROPEANe.g. Romance, Germanic, Balto-Slavic, Indo-Iranian, and Celtic
NOTE: GIVE OTHER LANGUAGE FAMILIES PLUS EXAMPLES:
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INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES
ROMANCEFrench, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
BALTO-SLAVICBulgarian, Croation, Czech, Macedonian, *Old Church Slavonic,
Polish, Russian, Serbian
INDO-IRANIAN*Avestan, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Pashto, Persian, Urdu,
CELTICBreton, Cornish, Irish, Scots Gaelic, Welsh
GERMANICAfrikaans, Danish, Dutch, English, Flemish, German, Icelandic,
Norwegian, Swedish, Yiddish
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SOUND CHANGES BEFORE ENGLISH
ABLAUT
UMLAUT
FIRST CONSONANT SHIFT (GRIMM’S LAW)
SECOND CONSONANT SHIFT (TO DISTINGUISH HOCH DEUTCH FROM PLATT DEUTCH)
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ABLAUT
begin-began-begun
break-broke-broken
choose-chose-chosen
come-came-come
eat-ate-eaten
fly-flew-flown
sing-sang-sung
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GRIMM’S LAW
/bh/, /dh/, /gh/ => /b/, /d/, /g/
/b/, /d/, /g/ => /p/, /t/, /k/
/p/, /t/, /k/ => /f/, /Θ/, /h/(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 510-511, 513)
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GRIMM'S LAW 1st GERMANIC CONSONANT SHIFT
/b/ => /p/: bursa-purse, labial-lip
/d/ => /t/: decade-ten, dozen-twelve, dent-tooth, duet-two
/g/ => /k/: agriculture-acre
/p/ => /f/: pedestal-footnote, padre-father, plate-flat, pyre-fire
/t/ => /θ/: tricycle-three
/k/ => /h/: courage-hearty, corn-horn, canis-hound(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 510-511, 513)
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VERNER’S LAW
“When the preceding vowel was unstressed, /f/ /θ/ /x/ underwent a further change to /b/ /d/ /g/.”
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 513)
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INDO-EUROPEAN NUMBERS
ENGLISH:
one
two
three
four
five
SPANISH:
uno
dos
tres
quatro
cinqo
GERMAN:
eins
zwei
drei
fier
funf
FRENCH:
un
deux
trois
quatre
cinque
PERSIAN:
yek
do
seh
chahar
panj(FRH [2011] 535)
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499-1066: Old English1066-1500: Middle English1500-Today: Modern English
499: Saxons invade Britain6th Century: Religious Literature8th Century: Beowulf1066: Norman Conquest1387: Canterbury Tales1476: Caxton’s Printing Press1500: Great Vowel Shift1564: Birth of Shakespeare
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 462)
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SOUND CHANGES IN ENGLISH
1. Great English Vowel Shift
2. Intervocalic Fricatives become contrastive (phonemic)
3. Loss of Vowels in Unstressed Syllables (Suffixes)
4. Loss of Duals
5. Number Becomes Intimacy (thou, thee, thy, thine, ye, you)
6. Loss of Verb Endings (-est, -eth)
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Great English Vowel Shift
A: bāt => boat, nāme => name
E: mē => me, hē => he, wē => we, gēs => geese
I: wīs => wise, ic => I, mīn => my, þīn => thine, mīs => mice
O: ēow => you, gōs => goose
U: þū => thou, mūs => mouse (Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 493-494)
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Intervocalic Fricatives become contrastive (phonemic)
bath vs. to bathe
calf vs. to calve
half vs. to half
house vs. to house
lath vs. lathe
safe vs. to save
teeth vs. to teethe
use vs. to use(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 465)
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Note that before English root syllables became stressed and English suffixes lost their stress and became lost, Old English was a very highly inflected language.
In fact, at that time it was a synthetic language (with many inflections) rather than an analytic language (with prepositions and auxiliaries instead of suffixes).
Here is an overview of Old English inflections. Contrast it with Modern English, but don’t sweat the details.
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Loss of Vowels in Unstressed Syllables (Suffixes)
Nominative: bātas (boat) stān (stone)Accusative: bāta stānes
Genitive: bātas stāne
Dative: bātum stāne
Instrumental: bātum stān
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 494)
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SINGULAR ADJECTIVES, NOUNS & PERSONAL PRONOUNS
ADJ: N: PERSONAL PRONOUNS:
1st 2nd 3rd
Nom: wīs bāt ic þū hē/hit/hēo
Gen: wīses bātes mīn þīn his/his/hiere
Dat: wīsum bāte mē þē him/him/hiere
Acc: wīsne bāt mē þē hine/hit/hit
Inst: wīse bāt mē þē hine/hit/hit
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DUAL ADJECTIVES, NOUNS & PERSONAL PRONOUNS
ADJ: N: PERSONAL PRONOUNS:
1st 2nd
Nominative: wit git
Genitive: uncer incer
Dative: unc inc
Accusative: unc inc
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PLURAL ADJECTIVES, NOUNS & PERSONAL PRONOUNS
ADJ: N: PERSONAL PRONOUNS:
1st 2nd 3rd
Nom: wīse bātas wē gē hie/hie/hie
Acc: wīse bāta ūs ēow hie/hie/hie
Gen: wīsra bātas ūre ēower hiere/hiere/hiere
Dat: wīsum bātum ūs ēow him/him/him
Inst: wīsum bātum ūs ēow him/him/him
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VERBS
IND: SUBJ: IMP: PAST TENSE:SINGULAR:1st drīfe drīfe drāf2nd drīfest drīfe drīf drīfe3rd drīfeþ drīfe drāf
PLURAL: drīfaþ drīfen drīfaþ drīfon
VERBALS:INFINITIVE: drīfanGERUND: tō drīfennePARTICIPLE: drīfende
SUPPLETIVE VERBS, which come from two different paradigms: ēom, eart, is, sindon, wæs, wære, wæronNOTE: “go” comes from the “to go” paradigm; but “went” comes from
the “to wend” paradigm
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OLD ENGLISH: “The Lord’s Prayer”
Fæder ure,
þou þe eart on heofonum,
si þin name gehalgod.
Tobecume þin rice.
Gewurþe þin willa on eorþan swa swa on heofenum.
Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg.
And forgyf us ure gyltas, swa swa we forgyfaþ urum gyltendum.
And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge,ac alys us of yfele.
Soþlice.(Roberts [2009]: 76)
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MIDDLE ENGLISH, from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droght of March hath perced to the roote…
When April with its sweet showersThe drought of March has pierced to the
root….(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2011] 489, 496)
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MIDDLE ENGLISH, from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Ther was also a nonne, a Prioresse,
That of hir smyling was ful symple and coy,
Hir gretteste oath was but by Seinte Loy,
And she was cleped Madame Eglentyne.
Ful wel she song the service dyvyne,
Entuned in hir nose ful semely.
And Frenshe she spak ful faire and fetisly
After the scole of Stratford-atte-Bowe,
For Frenshe of Parys was to hir unknowe.
(Roberts [2009]: 90)
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EARLY MODERN ENGLISH: Shakespeare’s Hamlet
A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 462)
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THE KING’S ENGLISHName the ruler who settled:
Charleston
Georgia
Jamestown
Louisiana
North and South Carolina
Virginia and West Virginia
Williamsburg
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TODAY: ENGLISH AS A WORLD LANGUAGE
In Hong Kong you can find a place called the “Plastic Bacon Factory.”
In Naples, there is a sports shop called “Snoopy’s Dribbling,”
while in Brussels there is a men’s clothing store called “Big Nuts,” which has a sign saying “SWEAT—690 FRANCS.” This was for a sweatshirt.
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In Japan you can drink “Homo Milk” or “Poccari Sweat” (a popular soft drink, eat some chocolates called “Hand-Maid Queer-Aid,” or go out and buy some “Arm Free Grand Slam Munsingswear.”
(Nilsen & Nilsen 164)(from Bill Bryson’s The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way)
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!ANACHRONISM # 1:
Pease porridge hot.
Pease porridge cold.
Pease porridge in the pot nine days old.
(Fromkin Rodman Hyams [2007] 476)
EXPLANATION: On the first day of a march, prisoners used to be served hot pea soup.
On the second day they were served cold pea soup.
And on the ninth day of the march they would be served pea soup that had been in the pot for nine days.
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!ANACHRONISM # 2
Bob Newhart does a sketch in which Sir Walter Raleigh telephones the West Indies Company in London.
He was reporting on his voyage to the New Land of America.
Since Sir Walter Raleigh is on the telephone, we can only hear one side of the conversation:
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!!“What is it this time, Walt? You got another winner for us do you? Tobacco? What’s tobacco, Walt? It’s a kind of leaf and you bought 80 tons of it? … You take a pinch of tobacco and shove it up your nose and it makes you sneeze. I imagine it would, Walt…”.
The skit ends with, “You’re going to have a tough time telling people to stick burning leaves in their mouth.”
(Nilsen & Nilsen 31)
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!!!Web Site
History of Five Religions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-sIF78QYCI
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References:References:
Aitchison, Jean “Language Change: Progress or Decay? Aitchison, Jean “Language Change: Progress or Decay? (Clark, Eschholz & Rosa, [1998]: 431-441).(Clark, Eschholz & Rosa, [1998]: 431-441).
Bryson, Bill. Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That WayThat Way. New York, NY: William Morrow, 1990. . New York, NY: William Morrow, 1990.
Clark, Virginia, Paul Eschholz, and Alfred Rosa, eds. Clark, Virginia, Paul Eschholz, and Alfred Rosa, eds. Language: Readings in Language and Culture, 6th Language: Readings in Language and Culture, 6th EditionEdition. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.
Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark, eds. Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark, eds. Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers, 10Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers, 10 thth Edition Edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.
Fennell, Barbara A. Fennell, Barbara A. A History of English: A Sociolinguistic A History of English: A Sociolinguistic ApproachApproach. Oxford, England: Blackwell, 2001.. Oxford, England: Blackwell, 2001.
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Falk, Julia. “To Be Human: A History of the Study of Language” Falk, Julia. “To Be Human: A History of the Study of Language” (Clark, Eschholz & Rosa [1998]: 442-476). (Clark, Eschholz & Rosa [1998]: 442-476).
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. “Language Change: The Syllables of Time.” An Introduction to Language, 9th Edition. Boston, MA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2011, 488-539.
Herndon,Herndon, Jeanne H. “Comparative and Historical Linguistics” Jeanne H. “Comparative and Historical Linguistics” (Clark, Eschholz & Rosa [1998]: 411-419).(Clark, Eschholz & Rosa [1998]: 411-419).
Moore, Samuel and Albert Marchwardt. Moore, Samuel and Albert Marchwardt. Historical Outlines of Historical Outlines of English Sounds and InflectionsEnglish Sounds and Inflections. Ann Arbor, MI: Wahr, 1969.. Ann Arbor, MI: Wahr, 1969.
Nilsen, Alleen Pace. “Changing Words in a Changing World.” Nilsen, Alleen Pace. “Changing Words in a Changing World.” Living Living LanguageLanguage. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999, 427-473.. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999, 427-473.
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Nilsen, Alleen Pace. “Technology and Language Change.” Nilsen, Alleen Pace. “Technology and Language Change.” Living Living LanguageLanguage. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999, 379-426.. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999, 379-426.
Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen. Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000.
Ohio State University Files. “The Family Tree and Wave Models” Ohio State University Files. “The Family Tree and Wave Models” (Clark, Eschholz & Rosa [1998]: 416-419).(Clark, Eschholz & Rosa [1998]: 416-419).
Roberts, Paul “A Brief History of English” (Clark [1998]: 420-430, Roberts, Paul “A Brief History of English” (Clark [1998]: 420-430, Eschholz, Rosa & Clark [2009]: 84-93]). Eschholz, Rosa & Clark [2009]: 84-93]).
van Gelderen, Elly, van Gelderen, Elly, A History of the English LanguageA History of the English Language. . Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins, 2006.Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins, 2006.