According to Sapir, drift is the unconscious change in natural language. He gives the example Whom did you see? which is grammatically correct but is generally replaced by Who did you see? Structural symmetry seems to have brought about the change: all other wh- words are monomorphic (consisting of only one morpheme). The drift of speech changes dialects and, in long terms, it generates new languages. Although it may appear these changes have no direction, in general they do. For example, in the English language, there was the Great Vowel Shift, a chain shift of long vowels first described and accounted for in terms of drift by Jespersen (1860–1943). Another example of drift is the tendency in English to eliminate the -er comparative formative and to replace it with the more analytic more. Thus, in some dialects one now regularly hears more kind and more happy instead of the prescriptive kinder, happier. In English, it may be the competition of the -er agentive suffix which has brought about this drift, i.e. the eventual loss of the Germanic comparative system in favor of the newer system. Moreover, the structural asymmetry of the comparative formation may be a cause of this change.
The underlying cause of drift may be entropy: the amount of disorder (differences in probabilities) inherent in all linguistic systems.[1]
Another underlying cause of drift may be crosslinguistic influence (CLI) in situations of language contact. For example, in Shanghai Chinese (Shanghainese) it has been reported that vowel sounds have gradually changed over time due to the influence of Mandarin Chinese (Yao & Chang, 2016). At a shorter timescale (weeks of intensive exposure to a second language) as well, phonetic changes have been observed in an individual's native language; these changes, termed 'phonetic drift', generally approximate properties of the second language.[2]
Long-term cyclic driftedit
Cyclic drift is the mechanism of long-term evolution that changes the functional characteristics of a language over time, such as the reversible drifts from SOVword order to SVO and from synthetic inflection to analytic observable as typological parameters in the syntax of language families and of areal groupings of languages open to investigation over long periods of time. Drift in this sense is not language-specific but universal, a consensus achieved over two decades by universalists of the typological school as well as the generativist, notably by Greenberg (1960, 1963), Cowgill (1963), Wittmann (1969), Hodge (1970), Givón (1971), Lakoff (1972), Vennemann (1975) and Reighard (1978).
Chang, Charles B. (2012). Rapid and multifaceted effects of second-language learning on first-language speech production, Journal of Phonetics, 40.249-68. [1]
Chang, Charles B. (2013). A novelty effect in phonetic drift of the native language, Journal of Phonetics, 41.520-33. [2]
Chang, Charles B. (2019a). Language change and linguistic inquiry in a world of multicompetence: Sustained phonetic drift and its implications for behavioral linguistic research, Journal of Phonetics, 74.96-113. [3]
Chang, Charles B. (2019b). Phonetic drift. The Oxford handbook of language attrition, Monika S. Schmid and Barbara Köpke (eds.), 191-203. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. [4]
Cowgill, Warren (1963). A search for universals in Indo-European diachronic morphology. Universals of language, Joseph H. Greenberg (ed.), 114-141 (2nd ed., 1966). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
GivÓn, Talmy (1971). Historical syntax and synchronic morphology: an archaeologist's field trip. Papers from the Regional Meetings of the Chicago Linguistic Societv 7.394-415.
Greenberg, Joseph H. 1960. A quantitative approach to the morphological typology of language, International Journal of American Linguistics, 26.178-94 (Reprint of a 1954 article).
Greenberg, Joseph H. 1963. Some universals of grammar with particular reference to the order of meaningful elements. Universals of language, Joseph H. Greenberg (ed.), 73-113 (2nd ed., 1966). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Hale, Mark. 2007, Historical linguistics: Theory and method, Oxford, Blackwell
Hodge, Carleton T. 1970. The linguistic cycle. Language Sciences. 13.1-7.
Jespersen, Otto (1909–1949). A Modern English grammar on historical principles. London: Allen & Unwin. Chapter 7.
Martinet, André (1955). Économie des changements linguistiques: traité de phonétique diachronique. Berne: Frannke.
Reighard, John. 1978. Contraintes sur le changement syntaxique. Cahiers de linguistique de l'Université du Québec 8.407-36.
Sapir, Edward (1921). Language: An introduction to the study of speech. New York: Harcourt.
Vennemann, Theo (1975). An explanation of drift. Word order and word order changes, Charles N. Li (ed.), 269-305.
Wittmann, Henri (1969). "The Indo-European drift and the position of Hittite." International Journal of American Linguistics 35.266-68;[5]
Wittmann, Henri (1983). "Les réactions en chaîne en morphologie diachronique." Actes du Colloque de la Société internationale de linguistique fonctionnelle 10.285-92.
Yao, Yao, and Chang, Charles B. (2016). On the cognitive basis of contact-induced sound change: Vowel merger reversal in Shanghainese, Language, 92.433-67. [7]
Zipf, George Kingsley (1935). The psycho-biology of language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Zipf, George Kingsley (1949). Human behavior and the principle of least effort. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
January 19, 2024
drift, linguistics, types, language, change, characterized, linguistic, drift, unidirectional, short, term, cyclic, long, term, drift, contents, short, term, unidirectional, drift, long, term, cyclic, drift, also, notes, referencesshort, term, unidirectional, . Two types of language change can be characterized as linguistic drift a unidirectional short term and cyclic long term drift Contents 1 Short term unidirectional drift 2 Long term cyclic drift 3 See also 4 Notes 5 ReferencesShort term unidirectional drift editAccording to Sapir drift is the unconscious change in natural language He gives the example Whom did you see which is grammatically correct but is generally replaced by Who did you see Structural symmetry seems to have brought about the change all other wh words are monomorphic consisting of only one morpheme The drift of speech changes dialects and in long terms it generates new languages Although it may appear these changes have no direction in general they do For example in the English language there was the Great Vowel Shift a chain shift of long vowels first described and accounted for in terms of drift by Jespersen 1860 1943 Another example of drift is the tendency in English to eliminate the er comparative formative and to replace it with the more analytic more Thus in some dialects one now regularly hears more kind and more happy instead of the prescriptive kinder happier In English it may be the competition of the er agentive suffix which has brought about this drift i e the eventual loss of the Germanic comparative system in favor of the newer system Moreover the structural asymmetry of the comparative formation may be a cause of this change The underlying cause of drift may be entropy the amount of disorder differences in probabilities inherent in all linguistic systems 1 Another underlying cause of drift may be crosslinguistic influence CLI in situations of language contact For example in Shanghai Chinese Shanghainese it has been reported that vowel sounds have gradually changed over time due to the influence of Mandarin Chinese Yao amp Chang 2016 At a shorter timescale weeks of intensive exposure to a second language as well phonetic changes have been observed in an individual s native language these changes termed phonetic drift generally approximate properties of the second language 2 Long term cyclic drift editCyclic drift is the mechanism of long term evolution that changes the functional characteristics of a language over time such as the reversible drifts from SOV word order to SVO and from synthetic inflection to analytic observable as typological parameters in the syntax of language families and of areal groupings of languages open to investigation over long periods of time Drift in this sense is not language specific but universal a consensus achieved over two decades by universalists of the typological school as well as the generativist notably by Greenberg 1960 1963 Cowgill 1963 Wittmann 1969 Hodge 1970 Givon 1971 Lakoff 1972 Vennemann 1975 and Reighard 1978 To the extent that a language is vocabulary cast into the mould of a particular syntax and that the basic structure of the sentence is held together by functional items with the lexical items filling in the blanks syntactic change is no doubt what modifies most deeply the physiognomy of a particular language Syntactic change affects grammar in its morphological and syntactic aspects and is seen as gradual the product of chain reactions and subject to cyclic drift 3 See also editPhonological change Phonemic differentiation Sound change Syntactic changeNotes edit See early work of Bar Hillel and Mandelbrot as well as Zipf and Martinet See the work of Chang Chang 2012 2013 2019a 2019b See Henri Wittmann s 1983 state of the art article References editChang Charles B 2012 Rapid and multifaceted effects of second language learning on first language speech production Journal of Phonetics 40 249 68 1 Chang Charles B 2013 A novelty effect in phonetic drift of the native language Journal of Phonetics 41 520 33 2 Chang Charles B 2019a Language change and linguistic inquiry in a world of multicompetence Sustained phonetic drift and its implications for behavioral linguistic research Journal of Phonetics 74 96 113 3 Chang Charles B 2019b Phonetic drift The Oxford handbook of language attrition Monika S Schmid and Barbara Kopke eds 191 203 Oxford UK Oxford University Press 4 Cowgill Warren 1963 A search for universals in Indo European diachronic morphology Universals of language Joseph H Greenberg ed 114 141 2nd ed 1966 Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Press Givon Talmy 1971 Historical syntax and synchronic morphology an archaeologist s field trip Papers from the Regional Meetings of the Chicago Linguistic Societv 7 394 415 Greenberg Joseph H 1960 A quantitative approach to the morphological typology of language International Journal of American Linguistics 26 178 94 Reprint of a 1954 article Greenberg Joseph H 1963 Some universals of grammar with particular reference to the order of meaningful elements Universals of language Joseph H Greenberg ed 73 113 2nd ed 1966 Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Press Hale Mark 2007 Historical linguistics Theory and method Oxford Blackwell Hodge Carleton T 1970 The linguistic cycle Language Sciences 13 1 7 Jespersen Otto 1909 1949 A Modern English grammar on historical principles London Allen amp Unwin Chapter 7 Martinet Andre 1955 Economie des changements linguistiques traite de phonetique diachronique Berne Frannke Reighard John 1978 Contraintes sur le changement syntaxique Cahiers de linguistique de l Universite du Quebec 8 407 36 Sapir Edward 1921 Language An introduction to the study of speech New York Harcourt Vennemann Theo 1975 An explanation of drift Word order and word order changes Charles N Li ed 269 305 Wittmann Henri 1969 The Indo European drift and the position of Hittite International Journal of American Linguistics 35 266 68 5 Wittmann Henri 1983 Les reactions en chaine en morphologie diachronique Actes du Colloque de la Societe internationale de linguistique fonctionnelle 10 285 92 6 Yao Yao and Chang Charles B 2016 On the cognitive basis of contact induced sound change Vowel merger reversal in Shanghainese Language 92 433 67 7 Zipf George Kingsley 1935 The psycho biology of language Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Press Zipf George Kingsley 1949 Human behavior and the principle of least effort Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Press Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Drift linguistics amp oldid 1136791116, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
