1. I.S.F.D. N° 41
Profesorado de Inglés.
START!
Lengua y Expresión Escrita IV
Oral presentation- Group 8.
Students:
Pair 1: Vazquez, Victoria and Peralta Noelia (Unit 1 and 2)
Pair 2: Elicegui Mercedes and Sanguinetti Agostina (Unit 17)
Pair 3: Franco Florencia and Germinario Ana (Unit 18)
Pair 4: Eisenacht Vilma and Petralanda Maite ( Unit 19)
The Study of
Language
By George Yule

2. We can define philology as the investigation of the features of older
languages, and the way in which they develop into modern languages; it
involves the study of language history and change.
19th century the discovery that a variety of languages were
members of the same family “family trees” show how
languages were related with each other in a hierarchical structure.
Language history and change

3. FAMILY TREES
Suggested by Sir William Jones
Realised that languages from
different areas have some common
ancestor.
NEXT!
It was not possible to describe the
ancestor from any existing record.
It had to be hypothesized on the
basis of similar features.
Proto original form of a language.
Indo
European The source of modern languages
Proto-Indo-European “Great Grandmother”

4. Family Trees
Family connections
Records of an older generation
give a clearer picture of
languages relations.
Cognates
When a word in one language
has a similar form and is/was
used with a similar meaning in
another language.
For example:
English words mother, father and
friend; are cognates of German words
mutter, vater and freund.
Close similarities
Same words
extremely unlikely
evidence for
proposing a family
connection

5. Comparative reconstruction
The goal of comparative reconstruction is to recreate what would have
been the original or “proto” form in the common ancestral language by
using the information cognates give us.
During this process there are some principles to take into consideration:
Family
trees
The majority principle:
If in a cognate set there is a
predominant sound with only
one or little few exceptions, we
can say that the majority have
retained the original sound.
The natural development principle:
1. Final vowels often disappear (vino → vin)
2. Voiceless sounds become voiced, typically
between vowels (muta → muda)
3. Stops become fricatives (ripa → riva)
4. Consonants become voiceless at the end of
words (rizu → ris)

6. Sound reconstruction
Examples of three languages
¿What was the most likely form of the initial sound in the
original source of all three?
A and B = same initial sound
C = different initial sound
The initial sound of A and B is older than the one in C
Family
Trees
Comparative reconstruction

7. Word reconstruction
Examples of three languages
¿What was the most likely original form source of all three?
2 and 3 = /p/ majority principle
1 = /b/ voiceless sounds become voiced, typically between
vowels .
1 and 3 = final vowels tend to disappear.
Family
Trees
Comparative reconstruction
2 is the most likely original form

8. The history of English
Written records from an older period may not bear any resemblance to the written
form of today’s language.
History of English:
Middle English: 1100 to 1500
Early Modern English: 1500 to 1700
Modern English: after 1700
Old English: before 1100

9. The
history of
English

10. The
history of
English

11. The
history of
English

12. Sound changes
The
history of
English
Influences from the outside are external changes.
Changes within the historical development of English are internal
changes.
In a few changes from Middle to Modern English, some sounds disappeared
sound loss.

13. Sound changes
“Silent letters"
Some words lost sounds, but kept the
spelling, resulting in the “silent letters”.
For example: Initial velar stops are no
longer pronounced before nasals, but
we still write the word knee with the
remnants of earlier pronunciations.
Metathesis
It is a reversal in position of two sounds
in a word, illustrated in the changed
versions of these words from their earlier
forms.
acsian → ask
frist → first
The reversal of position in metathesis
can sometimes occur between non-
adjoining sounds.
The
history of
English

14. Sound changes
The
history of
English
Another type of sound change,
known as epenthesis, involves the
addition of a sound to the middle of
a word.
æmtig → empty
spinel → spindle
timr → timber
Prothesis
This is, when a word in one language
has a similar form and is/was used
with a similar meaning in another
language.
For example:
English words mother, father and friend; are
cognates of German words mutter, vater and
freund.

15. Word order .
Old English structures
● Subject-Verb-Object
● Verb-Subject
● Subject-Object-Verb
● Object-Subject-Verb
Syntactic changes
The
history of
English
Used in Modern
English
Double
negative
constructions
were possible.
Lost of
inflexional a large
number of
suffixes

16. Semantic changes
The
history of
English
Modern English ≠ Old English
Main difference
*Some have words and
expressions ceased to be used .
Borrowed words
Broadening Narrowing
The change on the use or
meaning of a word, to adopt
a more general concept.
The change on the use or
meaning of a word, to adopt
a more specific concept.

17. Diachronic and synchronic variation
The
history of
English
Change and variation
are inevitable
The variation in language viewed
from the historical perspective of
change through time.
The variation in language viewed in
terms of differences within one
language in different places and
among different groups at the
same time.

18. CREDITS: This presentation template was created
by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, and
infographics & images by Freepik.
Bibliography
Thanks
for
watching
Yule, G. (2010). The Study of Language. New York,
USA. Cambridge University Press