Language Evolution and Change

Language Evolution

• Language is a genetically conditioned ability unique to humans.

Language Change

• Phonetic and phonological changes are evident in the evolution of words (e.g., OE scyrte → ModE shirt).
• Syntactic changes are evident (e.g., OE Ic will slaep → ModE I will sleep).
• Semantic changes are observed (e.g., OE gesælig 'happy' → ModE silly 'stupid').
• Pragmatic/discourse changes affect how language is used (e.g., be + like as a discourse marker).
• Cognitive factors (economy principle, imperfect learning) and structural features (grammaticalization) drive language change.
• Social contexts (language contact, cultural environment, social prestige) influence language change.

Differences Between Languages

• Linguistic typology classifies languages based on their structural and functional characteristics.
• Phonological differences relate to the number and kinds of sounds in language (e.g., clicks in some African languages).
• Morphological differences relate to the morpheme-per-word ratios, ranging from analytic languages to polysynthetic languages.
• Syntactic differences relate to word order variations. Examples of word order are SOV (Subject-Object-Verb), SVO (Subject-Verb-Object), VSO (Verb-Subject-Object) and VOS (Verb-Object-Subject).
• Semantic differences affect the meanings of words and can differ significantly between languages.

Languages of the World

• There are approximately 7,099 living languages.
• There are approximately 152 documented language families.
• The Niger-Congo language family has 1,539 languages.

Evolution of English

• The Roman conquest of Britain introduced Latin.
• Anglo-Saxon settlers introduced Old English from 400–600 AD.
• Christianity's introduction affected language in the seventh century.
• Viking invasions added Old Norse.
• The Norman invasion introduced Old Norse and French.

English Language

• Major dialects of English include British English, Welsh English, Scottish English, Irish English, American English, Canadian English, West Indies and Bermuda English, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English and African-American Vernacular English.

History of Polish

• The history of Polish spans various periods, from the pre-written period to the present day.

Polish Language

• Approximately 37.4 million people speak Polish.
• Polish language has certain features including a voicing difference when relating to English in terms of the basic form of the word, which may lead to errors in pronunciation.

Polish Dialects

• There are two primary isoglosses:
• Voicing of word-final obstruents, in Little Polish, Great Polish, and Silesia. For example, [brad muj] for /brat muj/ versus devoicing in Mazovia and Kashubian.
• distinction in three-way Great Polish and southern Silesia. For example, a) siano, ziarno, ciasto, dziadek; b) dusza, żaba; c) sam, car, zamek, sadza.

Phonetics

• The study of speech sounds in human language. It comprises three types:
• Articulatory, acoustic and auditory
• Speech sounds categorized into obstruents and sonorants.
  • Obstruents: Plosives, fricatives and affricates
  • Sonorants: Nasals, liquids and semivowels

Morphology

• The study of words, their structure and forms.
• Focuses on morphemes (smallest units related to meaning): free (independent) morphemes and bound (grammatical) morphemes. • Common patterns of word formation include affixation, compounding, clipping, back-formation and conversion.

Loanwords

• Words adopted from other languages.
  • English has a significant number of words from French, Latin, Germanic languages and Greek, to name just a few.

False Friends

• Words that look or sound similar in different languages, but have distinct meanings.
  Examples in Polish-English include "Dom publiczny" (Public house) and "dywan" (Divan) which are both false friends that appear similar but have different meanings.

Conjugation and Declension

• Conjugation modifies verbs to change grammatical aspect (tense), mood, and voice
• Declension modifies nouns, pronouns, adjectives and modifiers to align with the grammatical role in a sentence (case, gender, number).

Syntax and Word order

• English has a more fixed word order (Subject-Verb-Object - SVO) compared to more flexible orders in Polish (sometimes Verb-Subject-Object - VSO or other orders).

Case, Number and Gender

• Grammatical categories that denote relationships between words within a sentence.
• Number denotes whether words are in singular or plural forms.
• Gender classifies nouns and pronouns as masculine, feminine or neuter. For example, in Polish nouns and adjectives inflect according to gender (masculine, feminine or neuter).

Semantics

• The study of meaning in language. It involves various elements such as denotation and connotation, including their connection to related words, cultural context and personal experience

Frames of Reference

• Different ways speakers structure their spatial information and understanding of their surroundings, including relative or absolute spatial references.

Time and Linguistic Relativity

• Some languages may structure their conceptualizations of time differently compared to others, including the use of metaphors to represent spatial or temporal concepts. For example, the idea of time as space can be evident in the languages of speakers from the Aymara and Piraha cultures.

Phonology (Speech sounds)

• The science study of systematic organization of sounds used in languages, and the function of sounds in a language
• It can be further broken down into phones or phonemes.

Explore the fascinating dynamics of language evolution and change, focusing on phonetic, syntactic, and semantic transformations. Understand how cognitive and social contexts influence language development and the distinctions among various languages. This quiz delves into the genetic and structural aspects that shape human language.