Dov-Ber Kerler
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198151661
- eISBN:
- 9780191672798
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198151661.003.0036
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
The late eighteenth century saw Eastern literature as a constantly moving, rapidly changing and evolving form, making their way into modernization. It is a journey that finally ended with the debut ...
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The late eighteenth century saw Eastern literature as a constantly moving, rapidly changing and evolving form, making their way into modernization. It is a journey that finally ended with the debut of modern Eastern literature. There were two types of literature that stand witness to this change. There were those that were revised from old Yiddish literature to give rise to a modern feel and structure, and those that we purely and entirely written in modern contemporary Eastern literature. Although linguistic change were more confined and to some degree restrained in revisions of old Yiddish texts, morphology was mostly and significantly altered in these texts. The need for change cannot be ignored as it is demanded by the new century.Less
The late eighteenth century saw Eastern literature as a constantly moving, rapidly changing and evolving form, making their way into modernization. It is a journey that finally ended with the debut of modern Eastern literature. There were two types of literature that stand witness to this change. There were those that were revised from old Yiddish literature to give rise to a modern feel and structure, and those that we purely and entirely written in modern contemporary Eastern literature. Although linguistic change were more confined and to some degree restrained in revisions of old Yiddish texts, morphology was mostly and significantly altered in these texts. The need for change cannot be ignored as it is demanded by the new century.
Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199297337
- eISBN:
- 9780191711220
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297337.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
The main goal of this book is to demonstrate that the languages and dialects of Europe are becoming increasingly alike. This unifying process — that goes at least as far back as the Roman empire — is ...
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The main goal of this book is to demonstrate that the languages and dialects of Europe are becoming increasingly alike. This unifying process — that goes at least as far back as the Roman empire — is accelerating and affects every one of Europe’s 150 or so languages, including those of different families such as Basque and Finnish. The changes are by no means restricted to lexical borrowing, but involve every grammatical aspect of the language. They are usually so minute that neither native speakers nor trained linguists notice them. But they accumulate and give rise to new grammatical structures that lead, in turn, to new patterns of areal relationship. The book describes linguistic transfer from one language to another in terms of grammatical replication, using grammaticalization theory as a framework. The linguistic domains covered in more detail are definite and indefinite articles, possession, case marking, and the relationship between questions and subordination.Less
The main goal of this book is to demonstrate that the languages and dialects of Europe are becoming increasingly alike. This unifying process — that goes at least as far back as the Roman empire — is accelerating and affects every one of Europe’s 150 or so languages, including those of different families such as Basque and Finnish. The changes are by no means restricted to lexical borrowing, but involve every grammatical aspect of the language. They are usually so minute that neither native speakers nor trained linguists notice them. But they accumulate and give rise to new grammatical structures that lead, in turn, to new patterns of areal relationship. The book describes linguistic transfer from one language to another in terms of grammatical replication, using grammaticalization theory as a framework. The linguistic domains covered in more detail are definite and indefinite articles, possession, case marking, and the relationship between questions and subordination.
Anne Storch
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199768974
- eISBN:
- 9780199914425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199768974.003.0008
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
The concluding chapter discusses how the conscious creation of specific linguistic forms by speakers contributes to specific forms of deliberate language change, and how language necessarily—because ...
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The concluding chapter discusses how the conscious creation of specific linguistic forms by speakers contributes to specific forms of deliberate language change, and how language necessarily—because of its relation to power—is polylectal and hence is characterized by the application of varying norms and normative strategies. One central thesis here is that after having understood the principle types, forms, functions, and usage of manipulated languages, we have to reject the discussion of manipulated languages as pidginized languages or creoles. As variation appears to be a principle element of language, manipulation contra a “standard” form needs to be understood as one of the basic features of linguistic praxis.Less
The concluding chapter discusses how the conscious creation of specific linguistic forms by speakers contributes to specific forms of deliberate language change, and how language necessarily—because of its relation to power—is polylectal and hence is characterized by the application of varying norms and normative strategies. One central thesis here is that after having understood the principle types, forms, functions, and usage of manipulated languages, we have to reject the discussion of manipulated languages as pidginized languages or creoles. As variation appears to be a principle element of language, manipulation contra a “standard” form needs to be understood as one of the basic features of linguistic praxis.
Donald Ringe (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199284139
- eISBN:
- 9780191712562
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199284139.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This volume traces the prehistory of English from Proto-Indo-European, its earliest reconstructable ancestor, to Proto-Germanic, the latest ancestor shared by all the Germanic languages. It begins ...
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This volume traces the prehistory of English from Proto-Indo-European, its earliest reconstructable ancestor, to Proto-Germanic, the latest ancestor shared by all the Germanic languages. It begins with a grammatical sketch of Proto-Indo-European, then discusses in detail the linguistic changes — especially in phonology and morphology — that occurred in the development to Proto-Germanic. The final chapter presents a grammatical sketch of Proto-Germanic. This is the first volume of a linguistic history of English. It is written for fellow-linguists who are not specialists in historical linguistics, especially for theoretical linguists. Its primary purpose is to provide accurate information about linguistic changes in an accessible conceptual framework. A secondary purpose is to begin the compilation of a reliable corpus of phonological and morphological changes to improve the empirical basis of the understanding of historical phonology and morphology.Less
This volume traces the prehistory of English from Proto-Indo-European, its earliest reconstructable ancestor, to Proto-Germanic, the latest ancestor shared by all the Germanic languages. It begins with a grammatical sketch of Proto-Indo-European, then discusses in detail the linguistic changes — especially in phonology and morphology — that occurred in the development to Proto-Germanic. The final chapter presents a grammatical sketch of Proto-Germanic. This is the first volume of a linguistic history of English. It is written for fellow-linguists who are not specialists in historical linguistics, especially for theoretical linguists. Its primary purpose is to provide accurate information about linguistic changes in an accessible conceptual framework. A secondary purpose is to begin the compilation of a reliable corpus of phonological and morphological changes to improve the empirical basis of the understanding of historical phonology and morphology.
Muriel Norde
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199207923
- eISBN:
- 9780191709135
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207923.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This is a book about degrammaticalization, a rare type of linguistic change whereby grams become ‘less grammatical’, typical examples being shifts from affix to clitic, or from function word to ...
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This is a book about degrammaticalization, a rare type of linguistic change whereby grams become ‘less grammatical’, typical examples being shifts from affix to clitic, or from function word to lexical item. It discusses the alleged unidirectionality of semantic and morphosyntactic change, showing that change is in fact reversible on all levels. It also aims to classify degrammaticalization by examining primitive changes on several levels: semantics, pragmatics, morphology, syntax, and phonology. It is argued that there exist three separate types of degrammaticalization: degrammation, whereby a function word develops into a lexical item; deinflectionalization, whereby an inflectional affix becomes either derivational or enclitic, while gaining additional functions; and debonding, whereby a bound morpheme becomes a free morpheme, often without change on the semantic-functional level.Less
This is a book about degrammaticalization, a rare type of linguistic change whereby grams become ‘less grammatical’, typical examples being shifts from affix to clitic, or from function word to lexical item. It discusses the alleged unidirectionality of semantic and morphosyntactic change, showing that change is in fact reversible on all levels. It also aims to classify degrammaticalization by examining primitive changes on several levels: semantics, pragmatics, morphology, syntax, and phonology. It is argued that there exist three separate types of degrammaticalization: degrammation, whereby a function word develops into a lexical item; deinflectionalization, whereby an inflectional affix becomes either derivational or enclitic, while gaining additional functions; and debonding, whereby a bound morpheme becomes a free morpheme, often without change on the semantic-functional level.
Leonard Neidorf
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501705113
- eISBN:
- 9781501708282
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501705113.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
Beowulf is a foundational work of Western literature that originated in mysterious circumstances. This book addresses philological questions that are fundamental to the study of the poem. Is Beowulf ...
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Beowulf is a foundational work of Western literature that originated in mysterious circumstances. This book addresses philological questions that are fundamental to the study of the poem. Is Beowulf the product of unitary or composite authorship? How substantially did scribes alter the text during its transmission, and how much time elapsed between composition and preservation? The book answers these questions by distinguishing linguistic and metrical regularities, which originate with the Beowulf poet, from patterns of textual corruption, which descend from copyists involved in the poem’s transmission. It argues, on the basis of archaic features that pervade Beowulf and set it apart from other Old English poems, that the text preserved in the sole extant manuscript (ca. 1000) is essentially the work of one poet who composed it ca. 700. Of course, during the poem’s written transmission, several hundred scribal errors crept into its text. These errors are interpreted in the central chapters of the book as valuable evidence for language history, cultural change, and scribal practice. The book reveals that the scribes earnestly attempted to standardize and modernize the text’s orthography, but their unfamiliarity with obsolete words and ancient heroes resulted in frequent errors. The Beowulf manuscript thus emerges from his study as an indispensible witness to processes of linguistic and cultural change that took place in England between the eighth and eleventh centuries.Less
Beowulf is a foundational work of Western literature that originated in mysterious circumstances. This book addresses philological questions that are fundamental to the study of the poem. Is Beowulf the product of unitary or composite authorship? How substantially did scribes alter the text during its transmission, and how much time elapsed between composition and preservation? The book answers these questions by distinguishing linguistic and metrical regularities, which originate with the Beowulf poet, from patterns of textual corruption, which descend from copyists involved in the poem’s transmission. It argues, on the basis of archaic features that pervade Beowulf and set it apart from other Old English poems, that the text preserved in the sole extant manuscript (ca. 1000) is essentially the work of one poet who composed it ca. 700. Of course, during the poem’s written transmission, several hundred scribal errors crept into its text. These errors are interpreted in the central chapters of the book as valuable evidence for language history, cultural change, and scribal practice. The book reveals that the scribes earnestly attempted to standardize and modernize the text’s orthography, but their unfamiliarity with obsolete words and ancient heroes resulted in frequent errors. The Beowulf manuscript thus emerges from his study as an indispensible witness to processes of linguistic and cultural change that took place in England between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
Kerwin Lee Klein
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520268814
- eISBN:
- 9780520948297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520268814.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
This chapter explores the politics of linguistic change and the investments in narratives of progress and declension. It explains that theory has become a battle flag, despite the notorious vagaries ...
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This chapter explores the politics of linguistic change and the investments in narratives of progress and declension. It explains that theory has become a battle flag, despite the notorious vagaries of the term. It clarifies that recent accounts of the rise of theory have blamed either reactionary European imports or the segmentation of the academic market for leading people astray. It argues that earlier changes in the ways people talk about language, history, and culture prepared the ground for the ways they think about history and theory today.Less
This chapter explores the politics of linguistic change and the investments in narratives of progress and declension. It explains that theory has become a battle flag, despite the notorious vagaries of the term. It clarifies that recent accounts of the rise of theory have blamed either reactionary European imports or the segmentation of the academic market for leading people astray. It argues that earlier changes in the ways people talk about language, history, and culture prepared the ground for the ways they think about history and theory today.
Gawdat Gabra
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774248924
- eISBN:
- 9781617970443
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774248924.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter examines linguistic and religious changes through an analysis of the temples of the Fayoum Oasis in Egypt during the Roman period. It reflects on the contributions that new evidence has ...
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This chapter examines linguistic and religious changes through an analysis of the temples of the Fayoum Oasis in Egypt during the Roman period. It reflects on the contributions that new evidence has brought to light in the last ten years to the question of the way in which Coptic arose in the Roman period and became a crucial language and script for early Christianity.Less
This chapter examines linguistic and religious changes through an analysis of the temples of the Fayoum Oasis in Egypt during the Roman period. It reflects on the contributions that new evidence has brought to light in the last ten years to the question of the way in which Coptic arose in the Roman period and became a crucial language and script for early Christianity.
Ken Hirschkop
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198745778
- eISBN:
- 9780191874253
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198745778.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
Chapter 4 focuses on three particular linguists, all of whom consider whether, from the perspective of Saussure’s work, a linguistic revolution is possible. One, S. I. Kartsevskii, does not want such ...
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Chapter 4 focuses on three particular linguists, all of whom consider whether, from the perspective of Saussure’s work, a linguistic revolution is possible. One, S. I. Kartsevskii, does not want such a revolution and believes Saussure tells us why it is not possible. Another, G. O. Vinokur, both desires it and believes Saussure has provided tools for its realization. A third, Lev Iakubinskii, shares Vinokur’s enthusiasm but sees Saussure’s linguistics as an obstacle. The problem is not one of misinterpretation, for this varied reception reveals the striking inconsistency and ambiguity of Saussure’s conservative conception of consent and change in language.Less
Chapter 4 focuses on three particular linguists, all of whom consider whether, from the perspective of Saussure’s work, a linguistic revolution is possible. One, S. I. Kartsevskii, does not want such a revolution and believes Saussure tells us why it is not possible. Another, G. O. Vinokur, both desires it and believes Saussure has provided tools for its realization. A third, Lev Iakubinskii, shares Vinokur’s enthusiasm but sees Saussure’s linguistics as an obstacle. The problem is not one of misinterpretation, for this varied reception reveals the striking inconsistency and ambiguity of Saussure’s conservative conception of consent and change in language.
Ken Hirschkop
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198745778
- eISBN:
- 9780191874253
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198745778.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
Chapter 5 borrows Walter Benjamin’s description of the ‘narcotic historicism’ of nineteenth-century Paris (expressed in its arcades, panoramas, wax museums, and architecture) and applies it to ...
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Chapter 5 borrows Walter Benjamin’s description of the ‘narcotic historicism’ of nineteenth-century Paris (expressed in its arcades, panoramas, wax museums, and architecture) and applies it to comparative philology, suggesting that, in effect, it creates ‘museums’ of language. In this perspective, some forms of twentieth-century modernism appear as attempts to liberate the force bound up in historicist forms; Saussure, Bakhtin, and Benjamin unleash the productivity and creativity of language that had been explained (and confined) in the phonetic laws discovered in the previous century. Bakhtin does so by counterpoising heteroglossia with myth; Saussure does so by invoking a model of linguistic change modelled on urban life and the republican social contract; Benjamin does so in his theory of translation, which aims to recover a native linguistic energy from the diversity of actual languages. In their different ways, these paeans to linguistic productivity draw attention to another feature of mass democracy: its urban character.Less
Chapter 5 borrows Walter Benjamin’s description of the ‘narcotic historicism’ of nineteenth-century Paris (expressed in its arcades, panoramas, wax museums, and architecture) and applies it to comparative philology, suggesting that, in effect, it creates ‘museums’ of language. In this perspective, some forms of twentieth-century modernism appear as attempts to liberate the force bound up in historicist forms; Saussure, Bakhtin, and Benjamin unleash the productivity and creativity of language that had been explained (and confined) in the phonetic laws discovered in the previous century. Bakhtin does so by counterpoising heteroglossia with myth; Saussure does so by invoking a model of linguistic change modelled on urban life and the republican social contract; Benjamin does so in his theory of translation, which aims to recover a native linguistic energy from the diversity of actual languages. In their different ways, these paeans to linguistic productivity draw attention to another feature of mass democracy: its urban character.
Kristján Árnason
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199229314
- eISBN:
- 9780191728464
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229314.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Language Families
Chapter 2 describes the phonological development. Both languages underwent fundamental changes in quantity and prosodic structure. Open syllable lengthening (and sometimes consonant lengthening) ...
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Chapter 2 describes the phonological development. Both languages underwent fundamental changes in quantity and prosodic structure. Open syllable lengthening (and sometimes consonant lengthening) eliminated light stressed syllables, and ‘overlong (superheavy)’ syllables were eliminated by vowel shortening and led to substantive changes in vowel qualities. Widespread diphthongization of long vowels affected both languages, and old short vowels were lowered in Icelandic. This prevented large scale mergers of old short and long vowels. A change called ‘the West Nordic consonant shift’ affected the obstruent system, so that aspiration (both post‐ and preaspiration) developed, and new postvocalic unaspirated stops fill some gaps left by the aspitation of the old fortis coda consonants. A particularly interesting development is the Verschärfung, occurring in Faroese, creating geminate stops in historical hiatus forms. The historical distinction between weak or ‘restricted’ and ‘full’ syllables valid in Common West Nordic is maintained in Faroese but abolished in Icelandic.Less
Chapter 2 describes the phonological development. Both languages underwent fundamental changes in quantity and prosodic structure. Open syllable lengthening (and sometimes consonant lengthening) eliminated light stressed syllables, and ‘overlong (superheavy)’ syllables were eliminated by vowel shortening and led to substantive changes in vowel qualities. Widespread diphthongization of long vowels affected both languages, and old short vowels were lowered in Icelandic. This prevented large scale mergers of old short and long vowels. A change called ‘the West Nordic consonant shift’ affected the obstruent system, so that aspiration (both post‐ and preaspiration) developed, and new postvocalic unaspirated stops fill some gaps left by the aspitation of the old fortis coda consonants. A particularly interesting development is the Verschärfung, occurring in Faroese, creating geminate stops in historical hiatus forms. The historical distinction between weak or ‘restricted’ and ‘full’ syllables valid in Common West Nordic is maintained in Faroese but abolished in Icelandic.
Pieter A. M. Seuren
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199682195
- eISBN:
- 9780191764929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199682195.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics
This chapter discusses the fact that natural languages are pieces of social reality. Due to settling, forms of behaviour become ‘standard’ in any given community. The notion of social reality is ...
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This chapter discusses the fact that natural languages are pieces of social reality. Due to settling, forms of behaviour become ‘standard’ in any given community. The notion of social reality is analysed, as well as the open question of how it comes into being, lending a community its ‘identity’. The processes that lead to the identity of any particular language and the maintenance thereof through time, are unclear. Many linguistic features ‘jell’ in arbitrary ways unrelated to culture or functionality, thereby enhancing semantic opacity and increasing learning load. A counterweight to this arbitrariness is that all languages are subject to universal restrictions, as discussed in Chapter 3. Topics discussed are the arbitrary extension of semantic categories, semantic bleaching, auxiliation, choice of perfective tense auxiliaries, truth conditions versus use conditions, forced creolization processes—whereby new (Creole) languages arise within the time span of one generation, as in the case of Sranan (Surinam)—and to ‘the heteromorphy problem’ whereby humans do not all speak in the universal language of semantic form.Less
This chapter discusses the fact that natural languages are pieces of social reality. Due to settling, forms of behaviour become ‘standard’ in any given community. The notion of social reality is analysed, as well as the open question of how it comes into being, lending a community its ‘identity’. The processes that lead to the identity of any particular language and the maintenance thereof through time, are unclear. Many linguistic features ‘jell’ in arbitrary ways unrelated to culture or functionality, thereby enhancing semantic opacity and increasing learning load. A counterweight to this arbitrariness is that all languages are subject to universal restrictions, as discussed in Chapter 3. Topics discussed are the arbitrary extension of semantic categories, semantic bleaching, auxiliation, choice of perfective tense auxiliaries, truth conditions versus use conditions, forced creolization processes—whereby new (Creole) languages arise within the time span of one generation, as in the case of Sranan (Surinam)—and to ‘the heteromorphy problem’ whereby humans do not all speak in the universal language of semantic form.
Don Ringe
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- August 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198792581
- eISBN:
- 9780191834578
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198792581.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Language Families
This book describes the earliest reconstructable stages of the prehistory of English, focusing specifically on linguistic structure. It outlines the grammar of Proto-Indo-European, considers the ...
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This book describes the earliest reconstructable stages of the prehistory of English, focusing specifically on linguistic structure. It outlines the grammar of Proto-Indo-European, considers the changes by which one dialect of that prehistoric language developed into Proto-Germanic, and provides a detailed account of the grammar of Proto-Germanic. In the course of his exposition Don Ringe draws on a long tradition of work on many languages, including Hittite, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Slavic, Gothic, and Old Norse. This second edition has been significantly revised to provide a more in-depth account of Proto-Indo-European, with further exploration of disputed points; it has also been updated to include new developments in the field, particularly in the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European verb and nominal inflection. The author also reconsiders some of his original approaches to specific linguistic changes and their relative chronology based on his recent research.Less
This book describes the earliest reconstructable stages of the prehistory of English, focusing specifically on linguistic structure. It outlines the grammar of Proto-Indo-European, considers the changes by which one dialect of that prehistoric language developed into Proto-Germanic, and provides a detailed account of the grammar of Proto-Germanic. In the course of his exposition Don Ringe draws on a long tradition of work on many languages, including Hittite, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Slavic, Gothic, and Old Norse. This second edition has been significantly revised to provide a more in-depth account of Proto-Indo-European, with further exploration of disputed points; it has also been updated to include new developments in the field, particularly in the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European verb and nominal inflection. The author also reconsiders some of his original approaches to specific linguistic changes and their relative chronology based on his recent research.
Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199945115
- eISBN:
- 9780199398447
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199945115.003.0007
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
The focus of this chapter is grammar. Jane Austen is often cited by scholars to illustrate a particular grammatical feature in the history of English, yet her usage is sometimes conservative, ...
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The focus of this chapter is grammar. Jane Austen is often cited by scholars to illustrate a particular grammatical feature in the history of English, yet her usage is sometimes conservative, sometimes ahead of changes going on in the language. It is thus not always characteristic of standard usage of the period. It is unlikely that she was greatly influenced by the normative grammars of the time. The chapter shows how her growing authorship contributed to a strong sense of awareness of what was appropriate in language (her own letters, the language of nonstandard speakers in her novels). Her grammar contains some dialectal characteristics, while it also changed across time and varied according to who she corresponded with in her letters. In one new linguistic feature she is found to hypercorrect, which confirms her sensitiveness to ongoing linguistic changes, even if she mostly lived a relatively secluded life.Less
The focus of this chapter is grammar. Jane Austen is often cited by scholars to illustrate a particular grammatical feature in the history of English, yet her usage is sometimes conservative, sometimes ahead of changes going on in the language. It is thus not always characteristic of standard usage of the period. It is unlikely that she was greatly influenced by the normative grammars of the time. The chapter shows how her growing authorship contributed to a strong sense of awareness of what was appropriate in language (her own letters, the language of nonstandard speakers in her novels). Her grammar contains some dialectal characteristics, while it also changed across time and varied according to who she corresponded with in her letters. In one new linguistic feature she is found to hypercorrect, which confirms her sensitiveness to ongoing linguistic changes, even if she mostly lived a relatively secluded life.
Leonard Neidorf
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501705113
- eISBN:
- 9781501708282
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501705113.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter assesses the particular language quirks of Beowulf’s transmission. The failure of the scribes to comprehend the language of Beowulf would not be relevant to the transmission of the text ...
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This chapter assesses the particular language quirks of Beowulf’s transmission. The failure of the scribes to comprehend the language of Beowulf would not be relevant to the transmission of the text if the task of the scribe were to reproduce the letters encountered in the exemplar without modification. However, for the Anglo-Saxon scribe, the task of the mechanical reproduction of the text was complicated by the imperative to modify its superficial, nonstructural features. Language change frequently induced the scribes to make minor alterations to the text that inadvertently deprived it of sense, grammar, alliteration, or meter. These alterations offer valuable insights into the history of the English language—particularly, into some specific ways that the language had changed between the period when Beowulf was composed and the period when its extant manuscript was produced.Less
This chapter assesses the particular language quirks of Beowulf’s transmission. The failure of the scribes to comprehend the language of Beowulf would not be relevant to the transmission of the text if the task of the scribe were to reproduce the letters encountered in the exemplar without modification. However, for the Anglo-Saxon scribe, the task of the mechanical reproduction of the text was complicated by the imperative to modify its superficial, nonstructural features. Language change frequently induced the scribes to make minor alterations to the text that inadvertently deprived it of sense, grammar, alliteration, or meter. These alterations offer valuable insights into the history of the English language—particularly, into some specific ways that the language had changed between the period when Beowulf was composed and the period when its extant manuscript was produced.
Don Ringe and Ann Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199207848
- eISBN:
- 9780191779763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207848.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Language Families
This chapter sketches the development from Proto-Germanic to Proto-Northwest Germanic and discusses some subsequent changes that were widely shared among Northwest Germanic dialects. In addition to ...
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This chapter sketches the development from Proto-Germanic to Proto-Northwest Germanic and discusses some subsequent changes that were widely shared among Northwest Germanic dialects. In addition to discussions of sound changes narrowly datable to Proto-Northwest Germanic and those partially shared with Gothic, and a discussion of Proto-Northwest Germanic morphological innovations, the chapter treats a number of important innovations that are widespread but not uniform in North and West Germanic, at least some of which probably spread through a diversifying dialect continuum.Less
This chapter sketches the development from Proto-Germanic to Proto-Northwest Germanic and discusses some subsequent changes that were widely shared among Northwest Germanic dialects. In addition to discussions of sound changes narrowly datable to Proto-Northwest Germanic and those partially shared with Gothic, and a discussion of Proto-Northwest Germanic morphological innovations, the chapter treats a number of important innovations that are widespread but not uniform in North and West Germanic, at least some of which probably spread through a diversifying dialect continuum.
David M. Gordon
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190657543
- eISBN:
- 9780190657574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190657543.003.0012
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
By the late 19th century, a caravan trade extended from the Indian and Atlantic littorals through the hinterlands of south central Africa. Industrial commodities—guns, cloths, iron, and beads—were ...
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By the late 19th century, a caravan trade extended from the Indian and Atlantic littorals through the hinterlands of south central Africa. Industrial commodities—guns, cloths, iron, and beads—were exchanged for ivory, slaves, beeswax, and rubber. Along the trade routes and in trading centers, words spread to describe new commodities, new peoples, new trading customs, and new forms of political power. These Wanderwörter originated in the languages of the coastal traders, in particular in Portuguese and Kiswahili. When the diverse vernaculars of the south central African interior were transcribed by colonial-era missionaries into “tribal” languages, such wandering words were incorporated into these languages, often disguised by distinctive orthographies. Other words were left out of dictionaries and political vocabularies, replaced by supposedly more authentic and archaic words. Examining these wandering words provides a window into linguistic dynamism and political-economic change prior to European conquest.Less
By the late 19th century, a caravan trade extended from the Indian and Atlantic littorals through the hinterlands of south central Africa. Industrial commodities—guns, cloths, iron, and beads—were exchanged for ivory, slaves, beeswax, and rubber. Along the trade routes and in trading centers, words spread to describe new commodities, new peoples, new trading customs, and new forms of political power. These Wanderwörter originated in the languages of the coastal traders, in particular in Portuguese and Kiswahili. When the diverse vernaculars of the south central African interior were transcribed by colonial-era missionaries into “tribal” languages, such wandering words were incorporated into these languages, often disguised by distinctive orthographies. Other words were left out of dictionaries and political vocabularies, replaced by supposedly more authentic and archaic words. Examining these wandering words provides a window into linguistic dynamism and political-economic change prior to European conquest.
Don Ringe and Ann Taylor
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199207848
- eISBN:
- 9780191779763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207848.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Language Families
This chapter sketches the development from Proto-Northwest Germanic to Proto-West Germanic and discusses some subsequent changes that were widely shared among West Germanic dialects. It resembles the ...
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This chapter sketches the development from Proto-Northwest Germanic to Proto-West Germanic and discusses some subsequent changes that were widely shared among West Germanic dialects. It resembles the preceding chapter in organization but is much more detailed because of the much greater number of West Germanic changes. Topics covered include: Proto-West Germanic sound changes; Proto-West Germanic morphological innovations; parallel developments in West Germanic, divided into post-PWGmc sound changes and post-PWGmc morphological changes. A chart of the relative chronology of sound changes from Proto-Germanic to and beyond Proto-West Germanic closes the chapter.Less
This chapter sketches the development from Proto-Northwest Germanic to Proto-West Germanic and discusses some subsequent changes that were widely shared among West Germanic dialects. It resembles the preceding chapter in organization but is much more detailed because of the much greater number of West Germanic changes. Topics covered include: Proto-West Germanic sound changes; Proto-West Germanic morphological innovations; parallel developments in West Germanic, divided into post-PWGmc sound changes and post-PWGmc morphological changes. A chart of the relative chronology of sound changes from Proto-Germanic to and beyond Proto-West Germanic closes the chapter.
Martina Da Tos
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199678860
- eISBN:
- 9780191758089
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199678860.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This study investigates the origin of the Italian finire-type verbs, a large subclass of third conjugation verbs characterized by the presence of a segment -ìsc- between the root and the inflectional ...
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This study investigates the origin of the Italian finire-type verbs, a large subclass of third conjugation verbs characterized by the presence of a segment -ìsc- between the root and the inflectional ending in some word-forms of the paradigm. Taking Early Latin as a starting point, it focuses on the diachronic development of the segment -ìsc-, which characterizes this inflectional type. In its development from Latin to Italian, the segment undergoes a significant paradigmatic redistribution, as it is restricted to the singular and third person plural of the present tenses. Following Maiden (2004b, 2011b), the contribution suggests that this paradigmatic redistribution should be an instance of the attractive force of the abstract paradigmatic template traditionally known as ‘N-pattern’.Less
This study investigates the origin of the Italian finire-type verbs, a large subclass of third conjugation verbs characterized by the presence of a segment -ìsc- between the root and the inflectional ending in some word-forms of the paradigm. Taking Early Latin as a starting point, it focuses on the diachronic development of the segment -ìsc-, which characterizes this inflectional type. In its development from Latin to Italian, the segment undergoes a significant paradigmatic redistribution, as it is restricted to the singular and third person plural of the present tenses. Following Maiden (2004b, 2011b), the contribution suggests that this paradigmatic redistribution should be an instance of the attractive force of the abstract paradigmatic template traditionally known as ‘N-pattern’.
