Diachronic (Historical) Linguistics

the study of change in language

“How did language get that way ?

“How does language change ?

See also . . .

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• Applied
• Dialectology
• Kinesics / Proxemics
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Structural
• Lists of English loanwords by country or language of origin

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• the study of language across time
  
  
• the study of language change using formal methods that compare shifts over time and across space in formal aspects of language such as phonetics, grammar, and semantics
  
  
• meanings change*
  
  
  • narrowing -- the meaning of a form becomes more restricted in scope
    • meat from Old English mete (food)
    • deer from Old English dëor (beast)
    • garage from a French word denoting any storage place
      
      
  • widening -- the meaning is enlarged
    • barn from Old English bern (a storage place for barley)
    • brand names
      • victrola
      • frigidaire
      • xerox
        
        
  • degeneration -- a form takes an unfavorable meaning, or one which is improper or obscene
    • knave from Old English cnafa ("boy, servant")
    • madam (keeper of brothel) from honorific madam
      
      
  • elevation -- the meaning of a form rises in the social scale, losing an earlier significance
    • knight from Old English cniht (servant, young disciple")
    • marshal from an older French word meaning "a caretaker of horses (mares)"
      
      
  • metaphor -- an earlier metaphorical or marginal meaning becomes nuclear
    • pen from Latin penna (feather)
      
      
• factors making for semantic change are largely undetermined

linguistics index page

*After E.A. Hoebel, Anthroplogy: The Study of Man, 4th ed. (NY: McGraw-Hill, 1972.)

• Ancient Language Mystery Deepens -- BBC News (10 August 2010)
  
  
• Are Dying Languages Worth Saving? -- BBC News (14 September 2010)
  
  
• The 'Bumpy Ride' of Linguistic Change -- ScienceDaily (21 June 2010)
  
  
• The Cool Twists of Language -- Guardian (21 November 2011)
  
  
• Endangered Languages: The Full List -- Guardian (15 April 2011)
  
  
• English language has doubled in size in the last century -- Telegraph (16 December 2010)
  
  
• Evolving English: Podcasts -- The British Library
  
  
• The Great Pronunciation Controversy -- Guardian (28 October 2010)
  
  
• Hope for Endangered Language in Spain -- EurekAlert (27 June 2011)
  
  
• Huge Ancient Language Dictionary Finished After 90 Years -- ScienceDaily (07 June 2011)
  
  
• Interaction Is Critical for the Evolution of the Language -- ScienceDaily (05 July 2011)
  
  
• Language and Toolmaking Evolved Together, Say Researchers -- Guardian (03 November 2010)
  
  
• Language Change Can Be Traced Using Gigantic Text Archives -- ScienceDaily (29 June 2009)
  
  
• The Language Fossils Buried in Every Cell of Your Body -- Discovery Magazine (17 October 2011)
  
  
• Library to Rediscover Aboriginal Languages -- Miller-McCune (29 August 2011)
  
  
• Linguist on Mission to Save Inuit 'Fossil Language' Disappearing with the Ice -- Guardian (10 August 2010)
  
  
• "Lost" Languages to Be Resurrected by Computers? -- National Geographic News (19 July 2010)
  
  
• Mesopotamian dictionary completed after 90 years' work -- Guardian (07 June 2011)
  
  
• 'Oldest English words' identified -- BBC News (2009-02-26)
  
  
• The Original Human Language Like Yoda Sounded -- LiveScience (13 October 2011)
  
  
• The origins of "OK" explored -- The Scout Report, November 24, 2010, Volume 16, Number 47
  
  
• Our Ancestors Speak Out After 3 Million Years -- NewScientist (23 November 2011)
  
  
• Our Mother Tongues -- Anne Makepeace
  
  
• Oxford University Mission to Save a Language Spoken by Three People -- Telegraph (21 April 2011)
  
  
• Resurrecting Endangered American Indian Language -- LiveScience (22 November 2011)
  
  
• Rescuing Endangered Languages Means Saving Ideas -- Miller-McCune (19 August 2011)
  
  
• Signing, Singing, Speaking: How Language Evolved -- NPR (16 August 2010)
  
  
• The Voynich Manuscript: Will We Ever Be Able to Read This Book? -- Telegraph (24 May 2011)