Explanation about how language changes over time.

1. Language history and change-
Yule, G. (2010). The study of Language. U.K.: CUP.
LAGROTTA, Daniela
RIOS, Florencia

2. ❖ The study of language is also known
as philology.
❖ It helps us understand the many
changes English language has gone
through.
❖ It involves the investigation of the
features of older languages and the
ways they developed into modern
languages.

3. Family trees
❖ Family trees were created to show how languages were related.
❖ Proto- Indo- European was the term used to describe the common ancestor
between languages.
❖ Proto to refer to the original form
❖ Indo and European to refer to the Indian subcontinent and Europe.
❖ Indo- European is the language family with the largest population and
distribution in the world.
❖ There are thirty other language families containing more than 6,000 different
languages.

4. Family connections
❖ It is almost impossible that exactly the same words will be found throughout
the languages.
❖ We can find close similarities between words, especially regarding
pronunciation, by looking at its ancestors.
❖ Looking at records of an older generation from which the modern languages
evolved is known as family connections.

5. Cognates
❖ Cognates are words in different languages that share a similar meaning,
spelling and pronunciation.
❖ For example, the English words mother, father and friend are cognates of the
German mutter, vater and freund.
❖ Modern English and Modern German probably have a common ancestor in the
Germanic branch of Indo- European.
❖ In Spanish, madre, padre y amigo are cognates of the Italian madre, padre,
amico.

6. Comparative reconstruction
❖ It is a procedure which aim is to reconstruct what must have been the original form in the
common ancestral language.
❖ Two of its principles are: The majority principle and the most natural development principle.
❖ According to the majority principle, if in a cognate set, three words begin with a [p] sound
and one begins with a [b] sound, then we can guess that the majority have retained the
original sound.
❖ The most natural development principle is based on the fact that certain types of sound
change are very common while others are extremely unlikely.
1. Final vowels often disappear. (Vino-Vin)
2. Voiceless sounds become voiced, typically between vowels (Muta-Muda)
3. Stops become fricatives(Ripa-Riva)
4. Consonants become voiceless at the end of words(Rizu-Ris)

7. Sound reconstruction
● Comparative reconstruction of sounds and pronunciation.
A B C D
cantare cantar chanter (“sing”)
catena cadena chaìne (“chain”)
caro caro cher (“dear”)
cavallo caballo cheval (“horse”)

8. Word reconstruction
Comparative reconstruction of words, taking into account spelling
1 2 3 Proto-forms
mube mupe mup (“stream”)
abadi apati apat (“rock”)
agana akana akan (“knife”)
enugu enuku enuk (“diamond”)

9. History of
English
It is divided into four periods.
Old English
bf 1100
Middle English
1100 to 1500
Early Modern
English
1500 to 1700
Modern English
after 1700

10. Old English before 1100

11. Middle English
Was a form of the
English language
spoken after the
Norman conquest
(1066) until the late
15th century. English
underwent distinct
variations and
developments
following the Old
English period. William the Conqueror (Duke of
Normandy and, later, William I of
England) invaded the island of Britain
from his home base in northern
France, and settled in his new
acquisition along with his nobles and
court.

12. Early Modern English 1500 - 1700
Great Vowel Shift
The apparition of long vowel sounds
/o:/
The introduction of printing in 1476
Shakespeare gave to English
language 2000 word and
phrases.
Eyeball
Puppy dog
Anchovy
Alligator
Hobnob
King James Hoy Bible
The language of science
Acid
Gravity
Electricity
Pendulum
Parts of the body
Cardiac
Tansil
Ovary
Sternum

13. Modern English
After 1700

14. 1 2
Sound Loss
Metathesis
Epenthesis
Prothesis
Word order
Use of negative
Inflexions
Suffixes
No longer used words
Broadening
Narrowing
3
Internal changes

15. Languages have changing shapes that adapt, spread and
innovate itself, they change under the influence of
different environments, cultures , new technologies,
events. Probably the language that we speak today will
be ‘old English’ or ‘Old Spanish’ in the future . We do not
know how the language will be in a hundred years, but
we are sure it will survive.