The Origins and Development of the English Language Chapter 4: The Backgrounds of English

The Origins and Development of the English Language

Chapter 4: The Backgrounds of English

John Algeo

Michael Cheng National Chengchi University

Similarities between languages

English:

mom

miaow-miaow

me

pistachio

choose

glide

Welsh mam

Chinese mi-mi

Swahili mimi

Italian pistacchio

French choisir

Swedish glida

faderfader

faðerfaðer

vadervaderVaterVater

fatherfather

faderfader

faðerfaðer

vadervaderVaterVater

paterpaterpadrepadrepaipai

ppéérerepatpatēērr

pitarpitar

pedarpedar

fatherfather

parepare

The language in the Bible is related to the language in the Rig Veda

Origins of the PIE hypothesis

Scholars worked from the socio-political environment in which they were raised

Before the 1800s: Bible influence

The Tower of Babel: a perfect proto-language existed


The Flood: Noah had 3 sons that repopulated the Earth: Shem, Ham, Japheth

SemiticSemitic

HamiticHamitic

JapheticJaphetic


James Parsons, physician

1767

The Remains of Japhet, Being Historical Enquiries into the Affinities and Origins of the European Languages

Compared lexical items across many languages


Irish, Welsh, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Swedish, English, Polish, Russian, Bengali, and Persian had affinities

Turkish, Hebrew, Malay, Chinese did not have affinity

Singh, The History of English

Page 43

Parson’s numerical comparisons


Conclusion: Language of Europe, Iran, and India emerged from a common ancestor, the language of Japheth

Not taken seriously; doctor not a philologer

William Jones (September 28, 1746 – April 27, 1794)

Greek, Latin, Persian, Arabic, Chinese

Knew 13 languages; familiar with 28

1768 Oxford

1773 law degree

1783 Supreme Court judge in Calcutta


Indian culture was a new subject for European scholarship1786 – Sanskrit bore a resemblance to Greek, Latin, Gothic, Celtic, and possibly PersianSanskrit: pitar Greek: patēr Latin: paterSuggested a common root language that no longer exists


Jones showed cognate words

Affinities in grammar

Systematic variations in sound

Jones’ philologer passage, 1786

His third annual discourse before the Asiatic Society on the history and culture of the Hindus (delivered on February 2, 1786 and published in 1788) with the famed "philologer" passage is often cited as the beginning of comparative linguistics and Indo-European studies. This is Jones' most quoted passage, establishing his tremendous find in the history of linguistics:

The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanscrit; and the old Persian might be added to the same family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jones_(philologist)

Languages from Iceland to India are related to a common languageBased on the geographic locations of these languages, we now call the language that Jones hypothesized Proto Indo-European

The Proto Indo-European people

Who were the people who spoke Proto Indo-European and where did they come from?

PIE dispersion hypotheses

Kurgan Migration, Marija Gimbutas

Anatolian Farmer, Colin Renfrew

Balkan

Black Sea Flood

Paleolithic Continuity Theory, DNA evidence

Kurgan Migration—GimbutasCognates

Based on the analysis of cognates

Cognates: “data which displayed similarities in terms of form and meaning not because of borrowing or coincidence, but because of genetic relatedness.” (Singh, 2005)

Similarities between languages

English:

mom

miaow-miaow

me

pistachio

choose

glide

Welsh mam

Chinese mi-mi

Swahili mimi

Italian pistacchio

French choisir

Swedish glida

Cognates (Singh, 2005)

Core lexicon: “a set of words which, in their everyday ordinariness, remained impervious to processes such as borrowing or rapid and extensive change”

“Concepts ubiquitous to human existence”

Mother, father, daughter, son, kind, leader, sun, moon, body parts, a deity, basic numerals

Cognates

Comparing cognates allowed linguists to determine relationships between languages

Languages were grouped into language families

Since language change in inevitable, regular, and rule governed, it is possible to work backward and recreate lost languages

Proto Indo-European is the source of English

http://www.intersolinc.com/newsletters/images/Language%20Tree.gif

Kurgan Migration--Gimbutas

Who were the people who spoke Proto Indo-European and where did they come from?

Words related to flora and fauna in the Proto-lexicon can provide an indication of:

Where they came from

Lifestyle/Culture


Cognates for:– Alder, apple, ash, beech, birch, elm, hazel,

linden, oak, willow, yew– Wolf, bear, lox, beaver– Snow, freezing cold

No common words for:– Olive, cypress, palm, vine, coconut– Ocean

Suggests inland culture in temperate zone


Cognates for:– Plough, yoke, wheel, axle – Ox, cow, sheep, swine, goats, goose, fish – Milk, apples, grain, mead – Family, house, pottery – Wool, leather, wood, stone, bone

Kurgan culture fits

Kurgan Culture

Herded domesticated animals

Mobile – used wagons

Warrior nobility

Worshipped sky god associated with thunder (Zeus pater, Jupitar)

Sun, horse, boar, snake

Elaborate burials in mounds (kurgans)

5000 BCE

Kurgans 4000 BCE

3000 BCE Anatolian

Expansion 2000 BCE

Evolution 500 BCE

500 CE Huns invade from East

Medieval 1500 CE Turks invade

Indo-European languages today

World Language families

Official Indo-European languages today

Anatolian Farmer Hypothesis

Colin Renfrew

Believed some significant historic event must have accompanied the expansion by the speakers of PIE

Agriculture

Language spread peacefully with the dispersion of farming technology

Anatolian Farmer Hypothesis

Homeland in Anatolia

Expanded into Greece in 7th century BCE

Armenian homeland

Haplogroup R1a distribution

Features of the Proto Indo-European Language

Features of Proto Indo-European

Types of languages: Isolating, Agglutinative, InflectiveIsolating– Every morpheme forms a different word– Chinese

Agglutinative (Incorporative)– Combine grammatical morphemes with a lexical stem– Grammatical morphemes are discrete & don’t change– Strung onto the lexical stem– Swahili, Turkish

Agglutinative example

SwahiliI will like you: nitakupenda– ni – ta – ku – penda– (I) (future) (2nd person object) (verb stem: like)

I liked you: nilakupenda– ni – la – ku – penda– (I) (past) (2nd person object) (verb stem: like)

I like him: nitampenda– ni – ta – m – penda– (I) (future) (him as object) (verb stem: like)

Inflective languages

Inflective– Inseparable inflections are fused to the lexical

stem– Greek, Latin– I love: Amo– Am – o– (love) (first person, singular, present tense,

indicative)

What kind of language is English?

says– inflective

unfriendliness– agglutinative

the, for, to, by, no– isolating

PIE Morphology

Parts of speech– Nouns/Adjectives– Pronouns– Verbs– Prepositions

Nouns/Adjectives and Pronouns were inflected for Case, Number, and Gender

Noun/Adj Inflections: 8 cases

Nominative: They saw me. (subject)

Vocative: Officer, I need help. (person addressed)

Accusative: They saw me. (direct object)

Genitive: Shakespeare’s play. (possessor or source)

Dative: Give her a hand. (indirect object, recipient)

Ablative: He abstained from it. (what is separated)

Locative: We stayed home. (place, where)

Instrumental: She ate with chopsticks. (means, instrument)

Germanic cases

Nominative: They saw me. (subject)

– Vocative: Officer, I need help. (person addressed)

Accusative: They saw me. (direct object)

Genitive: Shakespeare’s play. (possessor or source)

Dative: Give her a hand. (indirect object, recipient)• Ablative: He abstained from it. (what is separated)

• Locative: We stayed home. (place, where)

– Instrumental: She ate with chopsticks. (means, instrument)

Noun/Adj Number and Gender

Number: singular, plural, dual

Gender: male, female, neuter

Proto Indo-European Nouns

Singular

Nom.

Voc.

Acc.

Gen.

Dat.

Abl.

Loc.

Ins.

*ekwos

*ekwe

*ekwom

*ekwoso

*ekwōy

*ekwōd

*ekwoy

*ekwō

Plural

Nom/Voc

Acc.

Gen.

Dat./Abl.

Loc.

Ins.

*ekwōs

*ekwons

*ekwōm

*ekwobhyos

*ekwoysu

*ekwōys

Pronouns

Cases (3)

Number (3)

Gender (3)

Person: first, second, third

Verb Inflections

Person

Number

Aspect (kind of like tense): Completion, duration, repetition of action

Voice

Mood

IE Verb Aspect

Present: continuing action in progressImperfect: continuing action in the pastAorist: momentary action in pastPerfect: completed actionPluperfect: completed action in the pastFuture: actions to come(Evolved into only present and past tense in Germanic languages)

IE Voice

Active

Passive

Middle (reflexive)

Germanic lost the passive and middle voices and expressed these notions by phrases rather than inflections

IE Mood

Indicative: statements or questions of fact

Imperative: expressing commands

Optative: expressive wishes

Subjunctive: expressing will

Injunctive: expressing unreality

IE Mood evolution into Germanic

Indicative: statements or questions of fact– Imperative: expressing commands

Optative(Subjunctive): expressive wishes• Subjunctive: expressing will

• Injunctive: expressing unreality

Proto Indo-European was an inflective language: Verb inflectionsEnglish Sanskrit Greek Latin I-EI bear

you bear

he bears

we bear

you bear

they bear

bharā-mi

bhara-si

bhara-ti

bharā-mas

bhara-tha

bhara-nti

pherōpherei-s

pherei

phero-mes

phere-te

phero-nti

ferōfer-s

fer-t

feri-mus

fer-tis

feru-nt

*bherō*bheresi

*bhereti

*bheromes

*bherete

*bheronti

Word Order

Greenburg (Some Universals of Grammar)SVO languages:– verb + object: The workman made a horn.– noun + modifier: the size of the building– conjunction + noun: the Senate and the House– preposition + object: Harold fought with him.

SOV languages usually reverse these features

Word Order

Most Indo-European languages are SVOProto Indo-European was SOVProto-Germanic had more SOV characteristics than modern GermanEnglish is evolving to being more SVO in characteristics– 10th century 84.4% of possessives before nouns– 14th century 15.6% of possessives before nouns– the building’s size vs. the size of the building

PIE Phonology

Prosody: – Accent (stress) based on pitch differences– Free accent: could occur on different syllables

depending on the form of the word Germanic Prosody– Word stress based on loudness not pitch– Primary stress on root syllable– Weak stress on other syllables– Intermediate stress on secondary root or prefix

Later Germanic word stress became fixed on first syllable

PIE Consonants

Stops, Fricative, Resonants, Laryngeal

Fricative [s]

Resonants [m, n, l, r, j, w]

Stops:

Bilabial Dental Velar Labiovelar

Voiceless p t k kw

Voiced b d g gw

Voiced Aspirated

bh dh gh ghw

First Sound Shift – Grimm’s Law

In the first millennium BCE IE stops transformed into different stops in Germanic languages

Probably took several centuries to complete the change

Voiced aspirated stops (Stage 1)

Indo-Euro bh

bhrāter

dh

dhug(h)tēr

gh

ghosti

Latin f-/-b-

frāter

f-/-b- h-/-d-/-g-

hostis

Greek ph th

thugatēr

kh

Germanic b

brother

d

daughter

g

guest

Voiceless stops (Stage 2)

Indo-Euro p

pətēr

t

treyes

k

krn-

Latin p

pater

t

tres

k

cornu-

Greek p t k

Germanic f

father

θthree

h

horn

Voiced stops (Stage 3)

Indo-Euro b

treb/abel-

d

dwō/drew

g

genu-/gwen-

Latin b

trabs

d

duo

g

genu

b (Russian)

jabloko

d (Greek)

drūs (oak)

g (Greek)

gunē

Germanic p

thorp/apple

t

two/tree

k

knee/queen

Exceptions

After s– Spuo (Latin) – spit– stella (Latin) – star

After voiceless stop– octo (Latin) – eahta (OE)– capto (Latin) - haft

More Exceptions(Grimm’s Law p>f, t> θ,k>h )

PIE – pətēr

Latin – pater

Greek – patēr

What should this word become in a Germanic language?


PIE – pətēr

Latin – pater

Greek – patēr

What should this word become in a Germanic language?

English – father

Gothic – fadar [faðar]

Icelandic faðir

Old English – fæder [fæðer]

Why are these exceptions?


(Latin) centum >

(Latin) caput >

(Greek) klutós >

(Greek) dekás >

(Sanskrit) snusá >

hunddred

haubbiþ (Gothic)

hludd (OE)

tiggus (Gothic)

snorru (OE)

p > f > b? / t > θ > d? / k > h > g?

Verner’s Law

A rule to explain the exceptions and show that the changes from Indo-European to Germanic was regular

Voiceless fricatives became voiced fricatives in the Germanic languages under certain conditions

Verner’s Law

p > f / t > θ / k > h

p > β / t > ð / k > Ɣ / s > z

Surrounded by voiced sounds

Syllable before it is NOT stressed

NOT the first sound of the word

p > β > b / t > ð > d / k > Ɣ > g / s > z > r

Verner’s Law (t > ð > d)

PIE – pətēr

Latin – pater

Greek – patēr

Not the first sound

1st syllable not stressed

Surrounded by voiced

English – father

Gothic – fadar [faðar]

Icelandic faðir

Old English – fæder [fæðer]

Verner’s Law

k > Ɣ > g

exert [ɪg ˈzǝrt]

exist [ɪg ˈzɪst]

exercise [ˈɛksǝrsaɪz]

Not the first sound

1st syllable not stressed

Surrounded by voiced

Verner’s Law: Surrounded by voiced sounds after unstressed syllable

IE voiceless stops

Germanic Verner’s Law

Later

p f β b

t θ ð d

k x/h Ɣ g

s z r

More Examples of Verner’s Law

was – were

exert, exist vs. exercise, exigent

OE: leosan “to lose” vs. -loren “lost” (lovelorn)

Major Changes from PIE to Germanic

West Germanic Languages

Documents

The Origins and Development of the English Language Chapter 4: The Backgrounds of English