Re: Historical Lingusitics/Dialect Question

> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Sat, 6 Sep 2003 23:06:31 -0400
> From:    Roger Mills <romilly@...>
> Subject: Re: Historical Lingusitics/Dialect Question
>
> J.K.Hoffman wrote:
>
>
>>Okay, so I've got a couple of questions regarding language change.
>>What's more common, change in pronunciation of words?  Or, change in
>>grammatical structure?
>
>
> Pronounciation, by far.  Sometimes within the space of 2-3 generations.
> Grammatical change seems a lot more resistant; I think the schoolmarms have
> finally given up on "whom" and maybe "it is I" etc, but those battles were
> going on even before I was born a Long Time Ago.
Frankly, that's a relief! ^_^
I have this idea for a story, or series of stories, and I'd like to make
some more realistic languages for the world.  So, I found myself
wondering if I was going to have to invent a series of grammars, which
changed over time, in addition to the sound changes.  But, based on what
you're saying, I can go with my plan of making three, or four, "proto"
languages complete with grammars and use sound changes from that to make
dialects that are more distinct.  Cool!  Less work for me!

>>Or, are there other ways that are more common that I'm not aware of?
>
> Interesting and sometimes amusing things happen in the semantic area-- aside
> from words being lost, you can find pejoration, amelioration, loss/addition
> of connotations, confusion (e.g. disinterested vs. uninterested), not to
> mention all the slang that comes and goes. Groovy.
>
> An interesting and not overly-technical book on semantics (in the
> linguistic, not philosophical, sense) is Stephen Ullmann's; I disremember
> the title at the moment; it may be "Meaning and Change of Meaning".  Old,
> but still available.

Well, according to Amazon.com, if you've gotten the title right, it's
_Meaning and Change of Meaning; with Special Reference to the English
Language_ by Gustaf Stern.  And, I hope that's what you meant, because
it's the only one in print!

But, either way, I dropped it into my Amazon Wishlist for when my
reading queue gets cleared up some.  (I'm about two years behind.  If
only they'd stop insisting I work at the office...)

Thank you very much for the suggestions!
Jim



--
"It's better to light one candle
   than to curse the darkness."
-Chinese Proverb and The Motto of the Christophers
                      http://www.christophers.org

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