Historical linguistics: Difference between revisions

{{ForRedirect|Historical Linguistics|the German-language journal|Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics}}

{{More footnotes needed|date=July 2016}}

{{Anthropology |linguistic}}

'''Historical linguistics''', also termed '''diachronic linguistics''', is the scientific study of [[language change]] over time.<ref>{{harvnbsfnp|Bynon|1977|page=1}}.</ref> Principal concerns of historical linguistics include:<ref>{{harvnb|Radford|1999|pp=17–18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Busser |first=Rik De |year=2015 |title=The influence of social, cultural, and natural factors on language structure: An overview |url=https://www.academia.edu/13131111 |access-date=September 6, 2023 |website=Academia.edu}}</ref>

Historical linguistics is founded on the [[Uniformitarianism#Social sciences|Uniformitarian Principle]], which is defined by linguist [[Donald Ringe]] as:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ringe |first=Donald |author-link=Donald Ringe |year=2009 |title=The Linguistic Diversity of Aboriginal Europe |url=https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=980|title=The Linguistic Diversity of Aboriginal Europe|last=Ringe|first=Donald|authoraccess-linkdate=Don2020-03-22 Ringe|date=2009|website=[[Language Log]]|access-date=2020-03-22}}</ref>{{nvib|date=July 2024}} {{QuoteBlockquote|text=Unless we can demonstrate significant changes in the conditions of language acquisition and use between some time in the unobservable past and the present, we must assume that the same types and distributions of structures, variation, changes, etc. existed at that time in the past as in the present.|author=|title=|source=}}

{{furtherFurther|Comparative method#Origin and development}}

In practice, a purely-synchronic linguistics is not possible for any period before the invention of the [[phonograph|gramophone]], as written records always lag behind speech in reflecting linguistic developments. Written records are difficult to date accurately before the development of the modern [[title page]]. Often, dating must rely on contextual historical evidence such as inscriptions, or modern technology, such as [[carbon dating]], can be used to ascertain dates of varying accuracy. Also, the work of [[sociolinguistics|sociolinguists]] on linguistic variation has shown synchronic states are not uniform: the speech habits of older and younger speakers differ in ways that point to language change. Synchronic variation is linguistic change in progress.

Synchronic and diachronic approaches can reach quite different conclusions. For example, a [[Germanic strong verb]] like(e.g. English ''sing'' –↔ ''sang'' –↔ ''sung'') is [[regular verb|irregular]] when it is viewed synchronically: the [[neurolinguistics|native speaker's brain processes]] them as learned forms, but the derived forms of regular verbs are processed quite differently, by the application of productive rules (for example, adding ''-ed'' to the basic form of a verb as in ''walk'' –→ ''walked''). That is an insight of [[psycholinguistics]], which is relevant also for [[second language acquisition|language didactics]], both of which are synchronic disciplines. However, a diachronic analysis shows that the strong verb is the remnant of a fully regular system of internal vowel changes, in this case the [[Indo-European ablaut]]; historical linguistics seldom uses the category "[[irregular verb]]".

The principal tools of research in diachronic linguistics are the [[comparative method]] and the method of [[internal reconstruction]]. Less-standard techniques, such as [[mass lexical comparison]], are used by some linguists to overcome the limitations of the comparative method, but most linguists regard them as unreliable. The findings of historical linguistics are often used as a basis for hypotheses about the groupings and movements of peoples, particularly in the prehistoric period. In practice, however, it is often unclear how to integrate the linguistic evidence with the [[archaeological]] or [[genetics|genetic]] evidence. For example, there are numerous theories concerning the homeland and early movements of the [[Proto-Indo-Europeans]], each with its own interpretation of the archaeological record.

===Etymology= Dialectology ==

=== Phonology= ==

[[Phonology]] is a sub-field of linguistics which studies the [[sound]] system of a specific language or set of languages. Whereas [[phonetics]] is about the physical production and [[perception]] of the sounds of speech, phonology describes the way sounds function within a given language or across languages. Phonology studies when sounds are or are not treated as distinct within a language. For example, the ''p'' in ''pin'' is [[aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]], but the ''p'' in ''spin'' is not. In English these two sounds are used in [[complementary distribution]] and are not used to differentiate words so they are considered [[allophones]] of the same [[phoneme]]. In some other languages like [[Thai language|Thai]] and [[Quechua languages|Quechua]], the same difference of aspiration or non-aspiration differentiates words and so the two sounds, or [[Phone (phonetics)|phones]], are considered to be distinct phonemes. In addition to the minimal meaningful sounds (the phonemes), phonology studies how sounds alternate, such as the {{IPA|/p/}} in English, and topics such as [[syllable]] structure, [[stress (linguistics)|stress]], [[accent (dialect)|accent]], and [[intonation (linguistics)|intonation]].

StudiesHistorical in historical linguisticslinguists often use the terms "''[[conservative (language)|conservative]]"'' orand "''innovative"'' to characterizedescribe the extent of change occurring inwithin a particular language orvariety dialectrelative asto comparedthat withof relatedcomparable varieties. InConservative particular,languages a ''conservative'' variety changes relativelychange less thanover antime ''innovative''when variety. The variations in plasticity are often relatedcompared to the socio-economic situation of the language speakers. An example of an innovative dialect would be [[American English]] because of the vast number of speakers and the open interaction its speakers have with other language groups; the changes can be seen in the terms developed for business and marketing, among other fields such as technologylanguages.

== See also ==

* [[List of antecesorancestor languages]]

== CitationsReferences ==

=== General andWorks cited sources ===

* {{citeCite book | urllast=https://archive.org/details/historicallingui0000bynoBynon | url-accessfirst=registrationTheodora | pageurl=[https://archive.org/details/historicallingui0000byno/page/1 1] | quote=Historical linguistics. | title=Historical Linguistics | location=Cambridge | publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1977 first|isbn=Theodora978-0-521-21582-4 |lastlocation= BynonCambridge | yearpage=[https://archive.org/details/historicallingui0000byno/page/1 1977|1] isbn|url-access=9780521215824 registration}}

* {{citeCite book |last=Radford |first=Andrew |title=Linguistics: An lastIntroduction |publisher=RadfordCambridge University |Press |others=With co-authors Martin Atkinson, David Britain, Harald Clahsen, Andrew Spencer | titleyear=Linguistics: An Introduction1999 | location=Cambridge, UK | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=1999}}

== Further reading ==

* {{citeCite book |last= Zuckermann |first= Ghil'ad |title= Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan |year= 2003 |isbn= 1-4039-1723-X }}

{{Historical linguistics}}{{Historiography}}{{Authority control}}