Language as a Historical Source

Much of what can be said about some of the world’s greatest migrations – the migration of Indo-European peoples from central Asia into India and Western Europe, the movement of the Bantu peoples throughout southern Africa, the spread of the Polynesians across the Pacific – is based on historical linguistics, that is on the study of the vocabulary, structure, and spread of languages.

The study of language as a historical record is based on some fundamental ideas. Languages change over time. As they change they diverge from related languages. Languages with strong similarities in structure and vocabulary that cannot be explained by borrowing or contacts are considered to be part of the same family, and it is assumed that sometime in the past an original language (the protolanguage) was the parent of all the languages in that family. As groups of people separated, their language changed and diverged. Further separation resulted in further divergence, so that over time a large number of related languages could result from the original language. The proto-Indo European language as the parent of Sanskrit, Persian, and Latin, but Latin later split into French, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, and other related languages. By looking at structural and vocabulary similarities, we can establish linguistic subgroups and their relationship to one another as well as to the parent language. The study of the 300 to 600 (experts disagree) Bantu languages spoken today by more than 400 million people across much of the African continent is a case in point. From the comparative study of their vocabulary, we can tell much about their original cultures, but how can language be used to chart their history?

It can be assumed that the more diversity between languages, the more time has lapsed since their separation from each other. For a while, some linguists thought that if they could establish the rate at which linguistic changes took place, they could calculate the time that had elapsed since one language and its speakers had separated from another. On the basis of 100 or 200 basic words, they attempted to calculate the percentage of change or loss from one language to another. This technique, called glottochronology, is no longer popular. It has become clear that languages do not change at a constant rate of speed, and change depends on many factors. Still, rates of change in written languages can be studied, and when used in conjunction with archaeology language can provide further historical evidence.

It is simple enough to see that the similarity of words in languages (barring random coincidence or words borrowed directly from a foreign language) can indicate a common origin. Mother in English, mater in Latin, and mata in Hindi all point to their common Indo-European origin. The word for eye in Tahiti was mata; in Hawaii, maka; and among the New Zealand Maori, mata; these similarities point to their common heritage as Polynesian languages. Despite the similar sounds involved in these two sets, the meanings indicate that we are dealing with two different language families. Although historical linguistics has developed various methods for establishing these relationships, explaining the divergence or dating the separation of the peoples that speak the languages is another story. Without the help of archaeology, oral traditions, or written records, historical linguistics cannot describe the course of change.

The study of languages can tell us much about the values, social structure, and material life of peoples in the past.A language with twelve adjectives to describe the color of the sea between the speaker and the horizon, or another language that has twenty ways of describing the color of a llama’s coat, indicates the importance of those things to the people involved.On the other hand, a language that has no word for private property or nobility probably lacked those concepts.The grammar and pronunciation of a language can be independent of the physical world of its speakers, but the vocabulary cannot.It reflects what people knew and thought about.As a result, it can be assumed that if all the languages that have split off from a parent tongue have the same word for iron, dog, cattle, or canoe, then the original speakers must have had these things.

►Much of what can be said about some of the world’s greatest migrations – the migration of Indo-European peoples from central Asia into India and Western Europe, the movement of the Bantu peoples throughout southern Africa, the spread of the Polynesians across the Pacific – is based on historical linguistics, that is on the study of the vocabulary, structure, and spread of languages.

►The study of language as a historical record is based on some fundamental ideas. Languages change over time. As they change they diverge from related languages. Languages with strong similarities in structure and vocabulary that cannot be explained by borrowing or contacts are considered to be part of the same family, and it is assumed that sometime in the past an original language (the protolanguage) was the parent of all the languages in that family. As groups of people separated, their language changed and diverged. Further separation resulted in further divergence, so that over time a large number of related languages could result from the original language. The proto-Indo European language as the parent of Sanskrit, Persian, and Latin, but Latin later split into French, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, and other related languages. By looking at structural and vocabulary similarities, we can establish linguistic subgroups and their relationship to one another as well as to the parent language. The study of the 300 to 600 (experts disagree) Bantu languages spoken today by more than 400 million people across much of the African continent is a case in point. From the comparative study of their vocabulary, we can tell much about their original cultures, but how can language be used to chart their history?

►It can be assumed that the more diversity between languages, the more time has lapsed since their separation from each other. For a while, some linguists thought that if they could establish the rate at which linguistic changes took place, they could calculate the time that had elapsed since one language and its speakers had separated from another. On the basis of 100 or 200 basic words, they attempted to calculate the percentage of change or loss from one language to another. This technique, called glottochronology, is no longer popular. It has become clear that languages do not change at a constant rate of speed, and change depends on many factors. Still, rates of change in written languages can be studied, and when used in conjunction with archaeology language can provide further historical evidence.

►It is simple enough to see that the similarity of words in languages (barring random coincidence or words borrowed directly from a foreign language) can indicate a common origin. Mother in English, mater in Latin, and mata in Hindi all point to their common Indo-European origin. The word for eye in Tahiti was mata; in Hawaii, maka; and among the New Zealand Maori, mata; these similarities point to their common heritage as Polynesian languages. Despite the similar sounds involved in these two sets, the meanings indicate that we are dealing with two different language families. Although historical linguistics has developed various methods for establishing these relationships, explaining the divergence or dating the separation of the peoples that speak the languages is another story. Without the help of archaeology, oral traditions, or written records, historical linguistics cannot describe the course of change.

►The study of languages can tell us much about the values, social structure, and material life of peoples in the past.A language with twelve adjectives to describe the color of the sea between the speaker and the horizon, or another language that has twenty ways of describing the color of a llama’s coat, indicates the importance of those things to the people involved.On the other hand, a language that has no word for private property or nobility probably lacked those concepts.The grammar and pronunciation of a language can be independent of the physical world of its speakers, but the vocabulary cannot.It reflects what people knew and thought about.As a result, it can be assumed that if all the languages that have split off from a parent tongue have the same word for iron, dog, cattle, or canoe, then the original speakers must have had these things.

The study of languages can tell us much about the values, social structure, and material life of peoples in the past. ⬛ A language with twelve adjectives to describe the color of the sea between the speaker and the horizon, or another language that has twenty ways of describing the color of a llama’s coat, indicates the importance of those things to the people involved. ⬛ On the other hand, a language that has no word for private property or nobility probably lacked those concepts. ⬛ The grammar and pronunciation of a language can be independent of the physical world of its speakers, but the vocabulary cannot. ⬛ It reflects what people knew and thought about.As a result, it can be assumed that if all the languages that have split off from a parent tongue have the same word for iron, dog, cattle, or canoe, then the original speakers must have had these things.