语言学基础教程

Chapter 8 Historical Linguistics: Language Through Time8.1 What is historical linguistics?It is an

Chapter 8Historical Linguistics: Language Through Time 8.1 What is historical linguistics? It is an indisputable fact that all languages h__e been constantly changing through time. Essentially, modern linguistics has __ntered around two dimensions to deal with synchronic diachronicsynchronic language change: the dimension and the dimension. The dimension has dominantly been applied to describe and explain differen__s or variations within one language in different pla__s and among different groups at the same time. The synchronic dimension is usually the topic of sociolinguistics, which will be discussed in diachronic Chapter 10. This chapter will focus on the dimension of language change. Those who study language from this latter point of view are working in the field of historical linguisticshistorical linguistics (Poole, 2000: 123). To put it more specifically, is the study of the developments in languages in the course of time, of the ways in which languages change from period to period, and of the causes and results of such changes, both outside the languages and within them (Robins, 2000: 5). 8.2 When language changes Although language change does not take pla__ overnight, __rtain changes are noti__able because they usually conflate with a__rtain historical period or __jor social changes caused by wars, invasions and other uphe__als. The development of the English language is acase in point. Generally speaking, the historical development of English is divided into three __jor periods: Old English (OE), Middle English (ME), and Modern English (ModE). 500 (the time when Ger__nic tribes invaded Britain) Old English 1100 (the time after the Nor__n Conquest in 1066) Middle English 1500 (the begi nnin gof Ren aiss