FAMILIES OF LANGUAGES: THE INDOEUROPEAN
Families of languages
-Different languages can be systematically compared and depending on the
number and kind of similarities, the relationship between them can be
established.
-Either they can be traced to a common attested, reconstructed or
allegedly reconstructable “proto-languages”,
or
-They have no attested (no surviving, no existing…), reconstructed or
allegedly reconstructable common ancestor:
A: Genetic Tree Theory. The origin of individual languages
is caused by their “branching off” from older languages similarly to branches
stemming from a trunk. Differentiation into daughter languages is abrupt and
clear cut.
B: Wave Theory: Language change usually starts in restricted
contexts within a certain community like a wave caused by a stone dropped into
the water. The change then spreaks successively to further contexts and with
all speakers.
-Genetic relationship between languages according to the “Genetic Tree
Theory” exist if there is clear linguistic evidence of a “close” relationship
between those languages. In this case:
·
The ancestor language is called a
PARENT LANGUAGE
·
There are DAUGHTER LANGUAGE with
respect to the PARENT LANGUAGE: Spanish, Italian, etc.
·
And there are SISTER LANGUAGES (the differences
between daughter languages)
A group of genetically related languages is called:
·
A language family in the narrow
sense
·
A language family in the broad sense
Reconstruction of non-existent language
· DEF: A procedure for determining older, non-recorded or insufficiently
attested stages of a language based or
· Our knowledge of possible types of change. Ex: a possible sound change
· Phonetically motivated changes: the trend towards simplicity in the
articulatory effort. Ex: hćvtu>hćftu.
· Phonologically motivated changes: the trend towards maximal
distinctiveness of speech sounds. Ex: ѲeofѲ>Ѳeoft. The /Ѳ/ changed to a /t/ after another fricative.
· Synchronic linguistic data. Ex: sounds spoken in today`s languages.
There are two types of “reconstruction” depending on the type of synchronic linguistic data they are
based on:
1. -LANGUAGE INTERNAL RECONSTRUCTION: if
historical forms are reconstructed on the basis of systematic relationships
within a single language. Ex: ablant in
Indo-European based on Greek.
2. –LANGUAGE-EXTERNAL (comparative)
RECONSTRUCTION: if historical forms are reconstructed on the basis of
systematic relationships between different (presumably) genetically related
language.
Accidental similarities
·
The Greek verb “to breathe” “blow”
has a root –pnew, and in the language
of the Klamath of Oregon the verb “to blow” is –pniw, but these languages are not remotely related.
·
In the languages of most countries
where the bird is know, the cuckoo has a name derived from the noise it makes.
·
We try to reconstruct the parent
from of forms used in contenporany Romance languages to denote “father”. To do
that, we apply extend reconstruction – we collect words from different potentially cognate languages:- padre
(italiŕ)
-pare
(catalŕ)
-pere (French)
·
The
following process may occur universally in the evolution of language:
1. WEAKENING: (Lenisization), which could result in the change
/t/>/d/>/Ѳ/ in the derivation of the above forms from their common
parent form (in agreement with the trend towards simplicity in articulatory
effort).
2. METATHESIS: which could result in the change /er/>/re/. When deriving
the forms in the daughter languages-
3. VOWEL HARMONY: which could cause the change of the putative vowel /a/ in
the first syllable into /e/ under resulting in the present French form. Ex:
foot, feet…
TRACES OF ROMAN INFLUENCE
-
Place-names: - cester or –chester (from Latin)
-
Bath
was a place of leisure (Aqua Solis)
-
London
(Lugdinium: Londinium)
DE
EXCIDIO BRITANNIAE
-
407/410
AD the Roman legions left Britannia to defend empire from Germanic raids.
-
Romanised
Britons left alone toface the attacks by the Picti (Scotland) and the Scotti
(Ireland).
-
Eventually,
the inhabitants of Britain had to ask other Germanic tribes for help, mainly the
Saxons and Jutes.
-
Germanic
mercenaries, landed in Kent in the year 456 AD.
ADVENTUS ANGLORUM
-
“JUTES”
arrived in England first, and were offered the little island of Thoned to live
in, but later occuped the area of Kent.
-
“ANGLES”
(from Anglorum terrae, Denmark) settled the area north of the river Humber
(Northumbria) and the south (Mercia).
-
“SAXONS”
(called after the Sax, a kind of axe) settled in Essex, Wessex, Middlessex and
Sussex.
They
spoke a kind of Germanic, but not the same, so it’s the beginning of dialects.
-
The
most important Saxon kingdom was Wessex. Capital: Winchester.
-
The
seven main kingdoms competing for supremacy formed the “Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy”
are:
1.
Kent
2.
Essex
3.
Sussex
4.
Wessex
5.
East
Anglia
6.
Mercia
7.
Northumbria
-
Kent
was the first nucleus of culture and power, approximately in the 6th century AD
(Episcopal see at Canterbury).
-
In
the 7th and 8th century, the supremacy passed on to Northumbria:
monasteries of: - Jarrow
-
Lindisfarne
- Wearmouth
-
Mercia
became the ruling kingdom until it was invaded by the Norsemen.
-
At
the end of the 8th century, Wessex was the only surviving Anglo-Saxon kingdom,
thanks to king Alfred the breat. Anglo-Saxon Chronicles started AD 890.
CELTS AND ANGLO-SAXONS
-
Britons
and Anglo-Saxons cohabited peacefully at first, but Celtic language and customs
had very little influence on the Anglo-Saxons.
-
Celtic
Britons resisted Saxons invaders, king Arthur - probably a Romanized Celtic
chieftain – fought briefly against the invaders but domination was inevitable.
-
About
the year 577 most of Britannia was already under Germanic rules.
LATIN INFLUENCE
-
The
Germanic invaders did NOT adopt LATIN because:
a)
No
coexistence with Latin speaking Britons.
b)
Decadence
of Roman civilization.
c)
Germanic
tribes which invaded Britannia had had little contact with the Roman Empire.
-
Latinisation:
Pope Gregory sent St.Augustine to Christianize the island from the year 597.
9th / 11 th Century: VIKING INVASIONS
-
793
AD: Vikings raid destroyed Lindisfarne, and the following year, Jarrow suffered
a similar fate.
-
From
then on pirates coming from Norway and Denmark devastated coastal areas of
Ireland and G.Britain.
-
The
Viking invaders were defeated by Alfred the treat in the battle of Edington in
the year 878.
-
The
suqsequent peace treaty led to the division of the territory into two: Wessex
and Danelaw.
-
By
the year 970 the Danelaw (parts of north Lancashire, Westmoreland and
Cumberland) were settled by Scandinavian speakers.
THE NORMAN CONQUEST
1.
When
Edwars the Confessor died, the Anglo-Saxon noblemen elected Harold, son of
Gadwin, as the new king.
2.
William
of Normandy, second cousin of king Edward, thought that he was the legal king
of England.
3.
Originally
Norsemen, they came from the French region of Normandy, and brought the French
culture and language with them.
By 1185, England and France _ Britany
_ Normandy
_ Aquittany
-
The
new king imported the principle of the feudal system: the state as a hierarchy
in which every member was directly responsible to the person above him.
-
William
brought with him Norman barons and clerics and replaced the native nobility in
the State and Church.
-
By
1086 only two of the greater landlords and only two bishops were Saxon.
LINGUISTIC SITUATION TILL 13th CENTURY
-
The
language of the Church and the court was Norman, French and Latin.
-
King,
greater feudal landlords, higher clergy- spoke French and Latin.
-
Lesser
landlords and clergy were bilingual.
-
Most
people of Saxons descent spoke only English.
-
English
was disdained by the upper classes; it was no longer written.
-
Anglo-Saxon
Chronicles ended 1155.
THE RISE OF ENGLISH
-
1204-1348:
Several events would seal the resurgence of English over Norman French:
** the Black Death: fewer workers meant that
landlord gave land to English- Speakers tenants for rent.
** the Hundred years War: gradual loss of dominions
on the continent.
** the creation of cities and the brith of
middle-classes.
** the Parisian dialect, became more fashionable
than Norman French and was used in Universities and other centres of culture.
MIDDLE ENGLISH DIALECTS
-
Continental
verse forms based on metrics and rhyme replaced the Anglo-Saxon alliterative
line in Middle English poetry (with the important exception of the 14th century
alliterative revival: The Pearl, Sir Gawain and the Green knight, Piers
Plowsmas, Morte Arthur).
14th
century: Beginning of standard with Chaucer and the introduction of the
Printing Press.
TEST 2
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH FROM 16th C.
(Towards a
standard)
-Henry VIII
(r.1509-1547), establishment of Church of England, incorporation of Wales.
-Great Bible.
Emphasis on England.
Elizabeth
I (r.1558-1603)
-Defeat of the
Armada 1588. National Pride including the English language.
-Renaissance- classical influence, loanwords.
English style affected, attempts to improve English.
-Beginning of
colonial expansion. Bermuda, Jamaica, Bahamas, Honduras,
Canada, American colonies Plymouth (1620), India, Gambia, Gold Coast,
Australia, New Zealand.
-Words from
non-Indo-European languages (eg. koala, boomerang, squaw).
-Spread of
English around the world.
James I (VI of Scotland) (r. 1603-1625), paron
of King James Bible (1661).
-Translating
committees in Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster.
-Called the
Authorized version but never specifically approved to replace other bibles.
-The Book of
Common Prayer- 1559 “A proclamation for authorizing and uniforminity of
the Book of Common Prayer so to be used throughout the Realm”
-17th C. scholarly writing still mostly in
Latin. Newton, Bacon.
-Some in favour
of borrowing from Latin to enrich English.
-Many new
loanwords. Greek and Latin technical vocab. Further borrowing from French
(comrade, duel), also Spanish (armada, bravado), Italian (cupola, piazza).
-Sir Thomas Elyot, definition of neologisms (new
words)
-Shakespeare’s
character Holofernes in Loves Labor’s Lost is a satire of a schoolmaster who is
keen on Latin terms.
-Critics of Classical borrowings called
them“inkhorn terms”, Thomas Wilson, Roger Ascham, Sir John Cheke (translated
New Testament using only English words).
-Reviving of
older English words, Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
-Compounding of
English words- Arthur Golding (1587), attempts to produce English technichal
vocab.- endsay (conclusion), saywhat (definition), dry mock (irony).
Spelling
Reform
-John Cheke
(1569) proposed removing silent letters.
-Sir Thomas
Smith (1568)- elimination of c and q, reintroduction of “pb”, use of
“th”, vowel length marked with diacritics.
-John Hart
(1569-70)- elimination of y, w, c, capital letters.
-William
Bullokar (1580)- diacritics and new symbols.
-Public
spelling standardized by mid 1700s, influenced by printers, scribes of
Chancery.
-English
Academy Movement (17th-18th C.)
-To regulate
excesses of the Renaissance
-Based on
Academie Francaise (1635)
-Prononents-
scientist and philosopher Robert Hooke (1660), curator of experiments of Royal
Society, Daniel Defoe (1697), Joseph Addison (1711), Jonathan Swift (1712).
-Middle class use English as scholarly language
during 18th C.
-Samuel
Johnson’s “A Dictionary of the English Language” (1755), 40,000 entries, illustrative
quotations, model for OED
-Act of Union
(1707), England and Scotland united to form G.B.
-George I
(r.1714-1727) Hanover Dynasty. Could not speak English.
-George II
(1727-1760) born in Germany. He never learnt to speak English properly.
-American Revolution. Independence of American
colonies 1783.
-Separation of
English speakers, beginning of several national “Englishes”
-Noah
Webster’s “Plain and Comprehensive Grammar” (1784), American grammar,
based on usage.
-1828- Noah
Webster published his dictionary.
-Beginning of
industrial revolution. New words needed.
-Ireland
incorporated into England 1801.
Queen Victoria (r.1837-1901). Consolidation of the
British Empire.
Middle English dialects
-Continental
verse forms based on metrics and rhyme replaced the Anglo-Saxon alliterative
line in Middle English poetry (with the important exception of the 14th C.
alliterative revival- The Pearl, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Piers
Plowman, Morte Arthur).
-14th C.-
Beginning of standard with Chaucer and the introduction of the Printing Press
by William Caxton, who made it possible for the middle classes to read
literature. Caxton had the objective of selling as many books as possible and
therefore being understood by both northerners and southerners. to do this, he
approached spelling with a“middle of the road” attitude. His standardized
spelling system became particularly popular and became a model followed by
many.
-Below is a
link to Caxton’s translation of the French version of the Prologue to Virgil’s
Booke of Eneydos (Aeneid), c.1490-