Language change

Language change is the process of alteration in the features of a single language, or of languages in general, across a period of time. It is studied in several subfields of linguistics: historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and evolutionary linguistics. Traditional theories of historical linguistics identify three main types of change: systematic change in the pronunciation of phonemes, or sound change; borrowing, in which features of a language or dialect are introduced or altered as a result of influence from another language or dialect; and analogical change, in which the shape or grammatical behavior of a word is altered to more closely resemble that of another word.

Language change usually does not occur suddenly, but rather takes place via an extended period of variation, during which new and old linguistic features coexist. All living languages are continually undergoing change. Some commentators use derogatory labels such as "corruption" to suggest that language change constitutes a degradation in the quality of a language, especially when the change originates from human error or is a prescriptively discouraged usage.^[1] Modern linguistics rejects this concept, since from a scientific point of view such innovations cannot be judged in terms of good or bad.^[2]^[3] John Lyons notes that "any standard of evaluation applied to language-change must be based upon a recognition of the various functions a language 'is called upon' to fulfil in the society which uses it".^[4]

Over a sufficiently long period of time, changes in a language can accumulate to such an extent that it is no longer recognizable as the same language. For instance, modern English is the result of centuries of language change applying to Old English, even though modern English is extremely divergent from Old English in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The two may be thought of as distinct languages, but Modern English is a "descendant" of its "ancestor" Old English. When multiple languages are all descended from the same ancestor language, as the Romance languages are from Vulgar Latin, they are said to form a language family and be "genetically" related.

^ Lyons, John (1 June 1968). Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-521-09510-5. The traditional grammarian tended to assume [...] that it was his task, as a grammarian, to 'preserve' this form of language from 'corruption'.
^ Joan Bybee (2015). Language Change. Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 9781107020160.
^ Lyle Campbell (2004). Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. MIT Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780262532679.
^ John Lyons (1 June 1968). Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 42–44. ISBN 978-0-521-09510-5.

[1] Lyons, John (1 June 1968). Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-521-09510-5. The traditional grammarian tended to assume [...] that it was his task, as a grammarian, to 'preserve' this form of language from 'corruption'.

[2] Joan Bybee (2015). Language Change. Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 9781107020160.

[3] Lyle Campbell (2004). Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. MIT Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780262532679.

[4] John Lyons (1 June 1968). Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 42–44. ISBN 978-0-521-09510-5.

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