languagechange题稿.ppt

Language Change Outline The Traditional View Some Changes in Progress The Progress of Change The Traditional View According to the traditional view of language change, the only changes that are important in a language are those that can be demonstrated to have structural consequences.Consequently, over a period of time a distinction between two sounds may be lost in a language. Internal and external change of language: Internal histories of language showing the structural changes that have occurred over periods of time through use of this principle of “contrast vs lack of contrast”(是否存在对比的原则) External change is the change occurring through borrowing from other dialects or languages and are often quite clearly distinguishable. Of internal and external change, linguists view the former as being far more important even though it’s the latter that is inclined to come to public attention. “Family tree” account and “wave ” account of language change 语言变化的“谱系树”观和“波浪”观 Family tree：At one point in time one thing( that is, a language itself, or a variety, or even a specific linguistic item) splits（分裂） into two or more, or is lost. More rarely, there is coalescence（结合）.This account focuses on the consequences of change. Wave : the various changes that occur must been seen as flowing into and interacting with one another. This account opens up to us for understanding the progress of change. The traditional view of language change also favors a “family tree ” account of change and of the relationships among languages. Some changes in progress正在发生的变化 Various linguists have observed and reported on what they consider to be changes in progress. 钱伯斯和特拉吉尔（1980：187-190）描述了小舌音r在西欧和北欧的传播。小舌音r似乎首先为城市居民所用，然后新的用法再向外扩散。因此，有小舌音r的地区内部紧密的联系也是城市间的联系，他们形成了一种网络。很明显，小舌音r是从城市传播到城市，然后又进入到了这些城市周围的乡村。 语音学家吉姆森（1962：83-85）注意到在标准发音（RP）中双元音的前一部分可能会日益呈央化趋势（centralization） ,而整个的双元音则会单音化。这种趋势多见于非常封闭的上层社会和专业人士社会群体。 泽勒（1997）描述了一种正在威斯康辛州的米尔沃基一带发生的音变，她的研究表明该变化与年龄和性别都有关系。 以上都是变化通过