3. Fill in linguistics flowchart. Be ready to explain its meaning. One point is done for you.
LINGUISTICS
synchronic diachronic microlinguistics macrolinguistics
theoretical applied
- description of a language as it is at a given time
Methods of studying language and its history. Fill in the gaps in the table according to the model.
-
Year/Century
Name of method
Representative/s
Brief description
1786
comparative
orientalist Sir William Jones
Sanscrit, Greek and Latin ‘must have sprung from some common source, which perhaps no longer exists’
1818
1822
1870
20th century
5. Do you remember these terms? Find their definitions.
-
The Indo-Eropean family of languages
The First Consonant Shift
Verner’s Law
Structuralism
Langue and parole
Glossematics
Functionalism
Phonology
Theory of markedness
Theme and rheme
6. Elaborate on the sources that can be used for studying the history of language.
See the model.
extant tests: give a picture of vocabulary and grammar; disadvantage- pronunciation may be misleading as sounds may change but spellings remain. Pronunciation can be influenced by illiterate spelling in private letters and diaries.
rhymes:
related languages:
ancient historians and geographers:
method of internal reconstruction:
7. Periods in the history of the English language. Answer the questions.
1) What criteria did Henry Sweet use to divide the history of English into 3 periods?
2) Why do modern linguists disagree with him?
3) What factors should be taken into consideration while dividing it into periods?
What is the role of external (extralinguistic) factors in describing the history of a language?