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Branches of linguistics

The study of linguistics is divided into numerous branches. Two

contrastive branches are

Historical linguistics

• Descriptive linguistics

These are named by Saussure as

Diachronic Linguistics

Synchronic Linguistics

of it most

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Definition

Brian D. Joseph(

linguistics as

) defines historical

Historical linguistics is the branch of linguistics that is concerned with language change in general
and with specific changes in languages, and in particular

With describing them

With cataloging them

And ultimately with explaining them

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Interdependency of diachronic

and synchronic linguistics

The strict division between these two branches of linguistics is based on a misunderstanding of the
relationship between these two aspects of the study of language. The unstable state of a language at
a given point of time is the consequence of historical processes, and its very instability is the
evidence that these processes continue to operate in the present. There is also a close
interrelationship between synchronic linguistic variations and diachronic linguistic change.
Diachronic linguistics as well needs the synchronic data of the language at different times.

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LANGUAGE CHANGE

Everything in the human affairs change. It would be a surprise if languages do not change. A basic
assumption in historical linguistics is that languages are constantly changing. It is not something
static or non- changing. It is one of the most dynamic areas of culture.

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HISTORCAL BACGROUND 1-Antiquity and the middle ages

The ancient Greeks laid down the foundation for the studies of historical linguistics. Their
philosophic studies incorporated speculations on the nature of language. In etymology they debated
whether or not the names of things arose due to the natural attributes of the objects in question or
were founded by convention.

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Domain of historic linguistics

Historical linguistics is that branch of linguistics which

1-Focuses on the interconnections between different languages in the world

2-Studies their historical developments

3-Investigate how languages evolve and changes through time

4-How multiple offspring languages can arise from one past parent language

5-How cultural contact between speakers of different languages can influence language
development and evolution.

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2-The Renaissance

With the advent of Renaissance, language studies underwent a change as both local and non-Indo-
European languages came under linguistic scrutiny. As trade routs opened to the East and explorers
ranged the lands of the New World, data on exotic languages began to stimulate the minds of the
linguists. An important trend in the seventeenth century was to the effort to compare and classify
languages in accordance with their resembences. The study of etymology also gained momentum.

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Historical and descriptive

Historical linguistics studies how languages change or maintain their structure during the course of
time. Diachronic literally means, "History calling". That is why this field of linguistics has been named
as diachronic linguistics. While descriptive linguistics investigates and attributes to the linguistic data
a uniform status of linguistic simultancity without any regard for time factor. Synchronic means at a
given time not necessarily present. That is why this approach of studying languages has been named
as synchronic linguistics.

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Substance of change

Virtually all aspects of language are subject to change, except for those that correspond to absolute
linguistic universals that truly cannot be violated. Thus the simple answer what can change in
language is “everything”(phonology,morphology, semantics, grammar etc)

to

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Why do languages change?

Reasons given by non-specialists

• 1-Change in language is brought about under the influence of geography

2-Change is brought due to change in internal anatomy

3-People are too lazy too use the language properly Reasons given by linguists

1-Functional explanation

2-Psycholinguistic change

3-Sociolinguistic explanations

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Why do languages change?

All languages are continually changing- their sounds, their syntax, their meaning. None of the
changes happen overnight. They are gradual and probably difficult to discern while they are in
progress. The most pervasive source of language change seems to be in the continual process of
cultural transmission. Each new generation has to find a way of using the language of the previous
generation. In this unending process whereby each new language user has to recreate for himself
the language of the community, there is an unavoidable propensity to pick up some elements
exactly and others approximately. Due to this transmission process it is expected that language will
not remain the same.

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Historical linguistics today

up

Today among the disciplines that make the broad field of linguistics (descriptive, historical,
sociological, psychological, etc) historical linguistics has become another branch of the multivaried
area of investigation.

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3-The twentieth century

The first decade of the twentieth century saw a shift in the linguistic sciences with the work of
Ferdinand de Saussure. His view of language

1-as a system of arbitrary signs

2-His distinction between language and speech

3- His separation of descriptive and historical linguistics into two defined spheres of interest

These views caused development in the field of descriptive linguistics while historical linguistics and
comparative studies lost their prominence.

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Aims and scope of historical linguistics

1-It studies the history of particular languages on the basis of existing written data.

2-It studies the pre history of languages by means of comparative reconstruction.

3-It studies the ongoing change in language.

4- it deals with the questions lie

What is changed in a language?

How is it changed?

Why did the change occur?

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DIALECTS
If multiple languages can be shown to have come from the same common root, which the linguists
assume to have happened, then what is the historical process that ultimately leads to their
separation into different languages?

One possible answer of this question is the formation of dialects. A dialect can be defined as a
geographical or social subdivision of a language that differs systematically from other such
subdivisions of the same language in its vocabulary, grammar, and phonology.

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Extension or broadening of

meaning

In extension or broadening of words the meaning of a word becomes more general i.e. from
particular to general.

The main mechanisms in it are metaphor and metonymy. Metaphor involves the transfer or term
because of an imagined similarity.

Metonymy uses the name of an attribute to denote the whole entity, such as white house for the
American president

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Arabic

Armenian

Danish

Dutch

o_O English

Esperanto

Finnish

French

German

Georgian Greek

Hebrew

Hindi

Hungarian Icelandic

Italian
Latin

Macedonian

(ananas) ‫انتنر‬

wub wub wu (ananas)

ananas

ananas

pineapple

ananaso

ananas

ananas

Ananas

stan (ananasi) ανανάς (ananas)

(ananas) ‫אננס‬

अनानास (ananas )

ananász

ananas

ananas

ananas

ананас (ananas)

ananas

Norwegian

Persian

Polish

Portuguese (eu)

Romanian

Russian

Spanish

Swedish

Turkish

(ananas) ‫أنتنس‬

ananas
ananás

Ananas

ананас (ananas)

ananas

ananas

ananas

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Semantic narrowing

In semantic narrowing meaning of a word becomes particular i.e. from general to particular. It is a
reverse process of

extension.

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COGNATES

Cognates are vocabulary words from two or more languages, which sound similar and refer to the
same thing. Cognates serve as clues that two or more languages are related to one another related
to one another since they share strong similarities in the form and meaning of certain vocabulary.

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Grammaticalization

Semantic bleaching, a particular type of semantic change, is connected with

grammaticalization as when English will develop from its full verb meaning 'to want' into the modern
auxiliary will, which now only has grammatical meanings.

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speaker's evaluation

Pejoration of meaning or negative evaluation is there in knave, in old English it was used for a boy,
then for peasant, and now as villain.

Extensive shift of meaning clouds the relationship of original meaning with the modern meaning. For
example meanings of silly.
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speaker's evaluation

Meanings can also be classified according to speaker's evaluation. Speaker may interpret an
evaluation as neutral, positive, or negative and this interpretation or evaluation is subject to change.
And such different evaluations are the result of associations which words take in different contexts,
i.e. in the process of speech.

An improvement of meaning or amelioration of meaning has occurred in the case of word knight,
originally it was used for boy, youth and attendant but its meaning is improved to its modern
meaning.

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Borrowing of words

• We borrow words from other languages, a result of intercommunication. We often a word for
which we have a synonym native word and this borrowing results in the disappearance of the word
e.g. ceapman for merchant.

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Why these semantic changes

occur?

Both linguistic as well as extra linguistic factors are involved in semantic change.

Extra linguistic factors

Need

Psychological factor is also involved in the semantic change and it is a basic human tendency to
emphasize and exaggerate. Constant use of words may fade the specific meanings, so new and more
expressive forms are needed.

Another main cause or factor of lexical change is taboo; we don't want to give direct reference to
unpleasant or socially stigmatized concepts.

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Linguistic factors

The meaning relation plays a major role in semantic

change.

Tendency to avoid synonym words for reason of economy. Homonymic clash, For example the old
English word laetan (to let) and lettan (to hinder); they have opposite meanings but became
homonym under the form let. Then gradually lettan (to hinder) disappeared due to this homonymic
clash.
So, there are number of factors involved in semantic changes.