Chapter 17
Language history and change
Description reflection
This procedure is used to reconstruct what
must have been the original or "proto" form in
the common ancestral language.
The reconstruction of proto-forms is an
attempt to determine what a language must
have been like before any written records.
However, even when we have written records
from an older period of a language such as
English, they may not bear any resemblance
to the written form of the language found
today.
Diachronic and synchronic variation
The changes were gradual and probably
difficult to discern while they were in
progress. Although some changes can be
linked to major social changes caused by
wars, invasions and other upheavals, the
most pervasive source of change in language
seems to be in the continual process of
cultural transmission. In this chapter we can see Family
Connections
To see how the different
languages are related, we can
see the records of an earlier
generation, such as Latin and
Sanskrit, from which modern
languages evolved.
Although some forms have fairly
clear similarities, it is extremely
improbable that exactly the same
words are found across
languages.
The history of English
Comparative reconstruction
Cognates
The process by which we
establish a possible family
connection between different
languages.