English 306A; Harris Historical linguistics Mutability Dialectal differences Stages of English Symbolic shifts Linguistic study Reconstruction Language families Origins Lexical, social, and cognitive theories Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris History of English Aetalects! far out … outasite … groovy… rilly [really] … greaser … dude … cool … hip … keen … neat … swell Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Early modern English I am no orator, as Brutus is; But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him: For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, To stir men's blood Julius Caesar, c1599 Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Middle English Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; yadda, yadda, yadda Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages The Canterbury Tales, c1380 Homo sapien #1 You are here L o n d o n

English 306A; Harris Si † en † e sege and † e assaut watz sesed at Troye, † e bor ° brittened and brent to bronde and askez, † e tulk † at † e trammes of tresoun † er wro ° t Watz tried for his tricherie, † e trewest on erthe The Green Knight, c1380 Middle English (Northumberland) Sociolects! Ethnolects! Regiolects! Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Language variation !

English 306A; Harris Language variation Idiolects! Different persons growing up in the same language are like different bushes trimmed and trained to take the shape of identical elephants. The anatomical details of twigs and branches will fulfill the elephantine form differently from bush to bush, but the overall outward results are alike. W.V.O. Quine Idiolects!

English 306A; Harris Old English Nu sculon herigean heofonrices weard, meotodes meahte, and his modge†anc, weorc wuldorfæder, swa he wundra gehwæs, ece drihten, or onstealde. Caedmon’s hymn, c670 Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris 1066

English 306A; Harris Modern English Substratum (under-level) Germanic (Angles, Saxons etc.) king, law, deer, cow, cock, piss, … Superstratum (over-level) Latinate (Norman French) monarch, justice, venison, beef, penis, urinate, …

English 306A; Harris Mutability Language change Internal (isolation, fashion, prestige, …) External (trade, war, imperialism, …) Phonological Morphological Lexical Syntactic Semantic

English 306A; Harris Semantic change (hyponym / hypernym swap) dog … poodle hound spaniel … Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … hyponym hypernym hyponym hypernym

English 306A; Harris Semantic change (hyponym / hypernym swap) Modern English dog … poodle hound spaniel … Toy, French, … Grey, Blood, … Springer, Cocker, … hyponym hypernym hyponym hypernym Middle English hound … dogge poodle spaniel … Mastiff, Basset, … Toy, French, … Springer, Cocker, … dog hound dogge hound

English 306A; Harris night knight knee name cough … [nIFt] [knIFt] [knij] [nQm´] [kAF] [nAit] [nij] [nejm] [kAf] Phonological change Middle EnglishModern English

English 306A; Harris Morphological change PresentPast Singularfirstdrÿgedrÿgde seconddrÿgstdrÿgdes thirddrÿgþdrÿgde Pluraldrÿgaþdrÿgdon Infinitive, drÿgan Past participle, gedrÿged Present participle, drÿgende

English 306A; Harris Morphological change PresentPast Singularfirstdrydried seconddrydried thirddriesdried Pluraldrydried Infinitive, to dry Past participle, (has) dried Present participle, (is) drying

English 306A; Harris Lexical changes Mayhaps Hark Cad Elden Burdalane Sweltersome Clyte Tofu Interface Robot Radar Sandwich Mutton Fornication

English 306A; Harris Syntactic change Good even, Casca: brought you Caesar home? Good evening, Casca: did you bring Caesar home?

English 306A; Harris Mutability Subtotal History of English Periods Events Pressures to change Internal/external Aeta-, regio-, socio-, ethno-lects Types of change Semantic (e.g., dog/hound) Phonogical (e.g., “cough”) Morphological (e.g. ‘levelling’) Lexical (words come, words go) Syntactic (Yes/no question formation)

English 306A; Harris Reconstruction Contrast and compare Proto-languages Language families Indo-European Pre-Indo-European Origins Lexical theories Language theories Origins and varieties of languages

English 306A; Harris Philology Looking at texts for noteworthy signifier/signified linkages Contrast and compare

English 306A; Harris Philology, reconstruction, and language families Grimm’s Law English father mother brother sister king milk meat German Vater Mutter Bruder Schwester König Milch Fleisch

English 306A; Harris Philology, reconstruction, and language families Grimm’s Law Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Philology, reconstruction, and language families Grimm’s Law /p//f/ Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Philology, reconstruction, and language families Grimm’s Law /p/—>/f/ Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Proto-Germanic Philology, reconstruction, and language families Grimm’s Law hypothetical, reconstructed language Proto-IndicProto-Italic Proto-Indo-European (*PIE) Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Language families GermanicIndicItalic Families Philo- logical evidence

English 306A; Harris Proto-Indo-European (*PIE) GermanicIndicItalic Families Philo- logical evidence Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Indo-European GermanicIndicItalic Families Philo- logical evidence

English 306A; Harris Indo-European family

English 306A; Harris Bow-wow theory Language arose from onomatopoeia (iconic) Making noises to represent elements in the environment: animals, rain, expulsive gas, … Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Pooh-pooh theory (AKA the ouch theory) Language arose from spontaneous emotional noises (indexical) Sighs, moans, cries, ejections of surprise, fear, delight, … Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Lexical theories Nothing about syntax Nothing about phonology, morphology, … Not mutually exclusive Bow-wow & pooh-pooh theories

English 306A; Harris Yadda, yadda, yadda … that language evolved among humans to replace social grooming because the grooming time required by our large groups made impossible demands on our time. Language, I argue, evolved to fill the gap because it allows us to use the time we have available for social interaction more efficiently. Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Yo-he-ho theory Language arose in muscular and rhythmic efforts accompanying group work (indexical) Gathering, distributing, distance-pursuit of prey, … Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Throwing madonna theory Nursing (left-side) Motor/linguistic sequencing Structural Non-lexical Piggy-backing theory Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Neuron packing theory To be, or not to be. That is the question. [The origin of language may have to do with] certain physical laws relating to neuron packing or regulatory mechanisms. Homo sapien #1 You are here

English 306A; Harris Bow-wow and pooh-pooh Lexical Ye-ho-ha, Throwing Madonna, Neuron-packing Non-lexical Cognitive Yadda-yadda-yadda Non-lexical Social Language origins: sub-total Not Mutually Exclusive

English 306A; Harris Historical linguistics Languages change over time External (war, imperialism, trade, …) Internal (fashion, prestige, isolation, …) Types of changes Semantic, phonological, morphological, lexical, … Genealogical relationships Reconstructed proto-languages Language families Language origins Lots of guesses, no clear solutions Lexical, social, and cognitive variants Homo sapien #1 You are here