Origin & Evolution of Languages (was: Sociological Linguistics)

Adam Hyllested adahyl at cphling.dk
Fri Jun 4 13:22:01 UTC 1999


DR. JOHN E. McLAUGHLIN:

>> Linguistic "evolution" is that part of the history of language between
>> the first human utterances and the stabilization of modern human
>> grammar (...) "Change" is what goes on now and has gone on throughout
>> our recorded linguistic history. (...) Ancient Sumerian is no more or
>> less complex in its total grammar (phonology, morphology, syntax)
>> than is Modern English. There is a lot of change that has occurred
>> between Proto-Indo-European and Modern English, but no evolution.

STEVEN SCHAUFELE:
> Really???? Is this how people are using the terminology?????  Strange;
> i've been routinely using the word `evolve'/`evolution' to refer to the
> process whereby, e.g., Modern English derives from Middle English etc.
> (...) How many historical linguists reserve the lexeme `evolve' for the
> restricted sense that John allows?

[ moderator snip ]

I admit that using the word 'evolution' may indicate that the new language has
developed into something superior to its predecessor. But there are so many
other parallels between the behavior of linguistic and biological development
that I would not hesitate to let the two sciences share a common terminology.

Adam Hyllested



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