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When and how did human language evolve?
It’s been called“The hardest
question in science”.
Current best guess for
development of human language:
sometime between 200,000 and 50,000 years
ago.
But no one knows how language developed.
• There are two main lines of arguments:
Continuous: Language gave humans some evolutionary advantage over a long period of time (song? Hunting and scavenging? (Bipedalism led to “L” shaped vocal track.)
Discontinuous: Language appeared suddenly fully formed in perhaps a single individual due to a genetic mutation.
“Ke” Family Foxp2 mutation
Middle Paleolithic: Mousterian tools
Nicaraguan Sign Language A clue to the origin of language?
A. Diffusion of Proto Indo European (c. 6000-4000 BCE)
Sir William Jones (1746-1794)
William Jones was a British judge stationed in Calcutta,
India in 1780. A bright fellow with
classical training in ancient Greek and Latin, Jones
began to study Sanskrit so he could brush up on native Indian law codes--many of
which were written in Sanskrit script—so that he
could fairly apply British law in the region.
Jones was shocked to discover a regular pattern of similarities between ancient Sanskrit words and ancient words in classical Western languages.
English Sanskrit
Greek Latin Armenian Old Irish Lithuanian
me mam eme me is - manefather pitar pater pater hayr athair -mother matar mater mater mayr mathair motinabrother bhratar - frater elbayr brathair brolis
daughter duhitar thugater- - dustr - duktercow gav- bous bos kov bo guovs(Latv)eoh (OE ) asvas hippos equus - ech asva, marehound svan kuon canis sun con sunfoot pad pod- ped- otn - -new navas ne(w)os novus nor nue naujasbears bharati pherei fert bere berid -two duva duo duo erku do duthree trayas treis tres erek tri trys
“No philologer (student of languages) could examine them all three, without believing them
to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists”
-William Jones, 1786
Jones had set in motion the search for a proposed ancestral Indo European language
called Proto Indo European (aka: PIE).
Jakob Grimm
pitar (Sanskrit)pater (Latin)
pater (Greek) Vater (German)
fa∂ir (Old Norse)
Jakob Grimm, nineteenth century German scholar (and writer of fairy tales) suggested that sound shifts, particularly the softening of consonants over time,
might provide a way of reconstructing extinct languages.
padre (Spanish)pere (French)fadar (Gothic) father (English)athir (Old Irish)
Through this process, known as “deep reconstruction” or “backward reconstruction” a genetic classification or tree
of Indo European languages was reconstructed.
As linguists reconstructed Proto Indo European vocabulary, they were able
to partially reconstructed their culture as well.
What do you think linguists deduced about the language of the Proto
European culture based the common vocabulary of Indo European
languages?
Indo European languages have common root words (cognates) for snow and winter but not for sea or
ocean.
They have cognates for dog, horse, bear and cow but not for camel, lion, elephant or tiger.
They have cognates for oak, pine and willow but not palm or banyan tree.
Distribution of Indo European Countries Today (Dark green: Core / Light Green: Fringe)
Two Russian linguists, Vladislav Illichsvitych and Aharon Dolgopolsky, working independently,
reconstructed an even older language encompassing even more current language families, a proposed
ancestral language of PIE called Nostratic.
Among their findings:
Nostratic had no names for domesticated animals like cows, sheep, and pigs. Conclusion?
Nostratic had the same word for “dog and wolf”. Conclusion?
Most ancient proposed “mother tongue”: Nostratic
PIE (Proto Indo-European
Languages
Non PIE
Languages
How little we know!
Conquest (aka Kurgan) Theory
Agricultural Theory
A. Diffusion of PIE: Takeaways
1. Both theories assume relocation + contagious diffusion (by conquest
or by adoption of a superior culture)
2. Because of poor communication, after diffusion of PIE, isolation led
to increasingly distinct languages.
3. PIE represents only tiny piece of larger puzzle yet to be solved.
English Words from PIE via Anglo Saxons"Core vocabulary“ such as
• Numerals
• Words for body parts (i.e. heart, lung, head, foot)
• Natural phenomenon (i.e. air, night, star, snow, sun, moon, mind), and
• Words for bodily functions (i.e. fart, and f#ck! From Indo-European "peig" or "pu" meaning respectively "hostile, evil-minded" and "to soil, defile")
Romance Branch of the Indo European Language Family
Germanic Branch of
Indo European Language
Family
Genetic Classification of EnglishFamily: Indo European Branch: Germanic Group: West Germanic Subgroup: Low Germanic
The surviving language most closely related to English?
Frisian.
Frisian is spoken by about a half million people in the NW
corner of The Netherlands.
Linguists believe Frisian sounds much like Old English used
to sound.
Timeline of English
Perhaps no other language has had so many streams of influence as English. This may explain why English has a richer vocabulary (150,000 words) than any other language.
Timeline of English
Perhaps no other language has had so many streams of influence as English. This may explain why English has a richer vocabulary (150,000 words) than any other language.
B. Anglo-Saxon Invasions of the British Isles
(5th c. CE)
Hearth of invading tribes: modern day
Denmark
B. Anglo Saxon Invasions Takeaways:
1. English dialects first developed because different Germanic invaders settled in different regions.2. Together these dialects of the Germanic invaders became Old English (root of modern English).
English Words from the Celts and Anglo Saxon Invaders
• From Celts (very little impact on modern English): a very few place names (i.e. “Avon” meant river in Celtic, also Thames, London, Dover)
• From Anglo Saxons: 90% of most common English words, i.e. son, daughter, drink, come, go, sing, like, love, on, in
C. Christian Missionaries (after 597 CE)
Christian Missionaries (after 597 CE)
C. Christian Missionaries Takeaways
1. Introduced Latin alphabet to English
Write words borrowed from Christian missionaries from the video:
“History of English in Ten Minutes”
D. Viking Invasions (787 CE)
Invaded from present day
Norway
Invaded NE coast of England
D. Viking Invasions Takeaways:
1. Although defeated in their attempt to conquer Britain, they enriched English with new words.
2. West Saxon became dominant dialect at this time.
Write borrowed Viking words from video: “History of English in Ten Minutes”
E. Norman Conquest and Occupation of Britain (1066 and for next three
hundred years)
Invaded from present day Normandy
E. Norman Occupation Takeaways:
1. Elite spoke French; commoners spoke English during this period.2. This period added 10,000 “fancy and elegant” words to English making English a kind of hybrid language (Germanic/Romance)
Write borrowed Norman (French) words from video: “History of English in Ten
Minutes”
F. From Middle to Early Modern English (12th to 18th century)
F. Middle to Early Modern English Takeaways: 1. Shakespeare's genius adds many new words and
phrases to English, as does the need for new words for scientific discoveries and inventions.2. With help of King James Bible and Samuel Johnson's
Dictionary, BRP (British Received Pronunciation), the dialect of Oxford, Cambridge, and London becomes standardized.
(Write borrowed words from this period from video: “History of English in Ten Minutes”)
G. British Colonization (from 19th c.)
Areas of British Colonization
G. British Colonization Takeaways: 1. English diffused throughout the British Empire.2. English absorbed many new words from the
peoples and languages from throughout the British Empire.
(Write borrowed words from this period from video: “History of English in Ten Minutes”)
H. American English (1600-present)
Noah Webster
In writing his famous dictionary, Webster
consciously sought to create a unique
American dialect of English
New England was almost entirely settled by settlers from England, mostly from East Anglia in southeastern England. These areas stayed in closer contact with England and the New England dialect absorbed many of the changes that occurred to 18th century British English.
The settlers to the Mid Atlantic region were more diverse, including Scots, Irish, Quakers from Northern England as well as Germans, Dutch and Swedes. The Midlands dialect from this region spread westward to become the standard dialect of American English.
The southern dialect of American English became distinctive because the original colonies in the South were relatively isolated from the other colonies.
Note: East Coast Midlands speech zone was hearth for
speech patterns throughout the Western United States.
H. American English Takeaways: 1. American English is based on 17th c. British English (and changed less than the British English it left behind.)2. Three East Coast dialects of English developed from different source regions in Britain.3. Standard American pronunciation derived from East Coast Midlands speech area which diffused westward.4. Western U.S. shows less language variation because it drew people from all over East coast and because there was greater mobility and less isolation when it was settled.5. Mass media is standardizing English and reducing regional variation.
(Write borrowed words from this period from video: “History of English in Ten Minutes”)
I. The Globalization of English (ongoing)
Distribution of English Speakers
Internet Content by Language
Internet Hosts by
Language
Language and Politics
Non-English Speakers
Political issue of speakers of Spanish and other languages vs. those desiring English only
Ever evolving English: Words added to Merriam-Webster Dictionary in last three years
2012 2013 2014man cavecloud computingE-readermash-upbucket listaha moment selfiegeocaching
staycationstormaggedonF-bombearwormsextingflexitariangame changerlife coach
crowdfundingfrackingfreeganhashtagselfititissteampunktweepYoope
I. Globalization of English Takeaways:
1. English is spoken by about 400 million people as first language and by almost 1 billion as second language. 2. English is international language of business, tourism, science, advertising and popular culture.3. English is still #1 internet language but is becoming less dominant.4. English words have become increasingly integrated into other languages Spanglish, Fraglais, Denglish, etc.)
(Write borrowed words from this period from video: “History of English in Ten Minutes”)
End