Discussion Thread: Language, Society, and Evolution
Discussion one
Robert Morehouse
Question 1/2
The evolution, or devolution, of languages is demonstrable. We can trace the change of language through time and place in much of the human record. For example, we can see even in the Hebrew Scriptures the history of the Hebrew language, its development and evolution and some of its interaction with the languages around it (Schniedewind, 2013). Similarly, we can map over time and space in Aramaic, the language of the once great Babylonian Empire, and lingua franca of the ancient Middle East, the changes of the language impacted by evolution and contact with other languages (Persian, Armenian, Greek, Egyptian, etc.) (Khan, 2020). Latin is a particularly powerful European example as we have an unbroken history of use for millennia and a number of living derivatives of that language, e.g. French,
Italian, Romanian, Romansch, Spanish (Adams, 2013).
Similarly, we can see how the records of the evolution of each of these languages over time and space tells the story of the death of some other languages. The shifting sands of the Hebrew tradition for example tell the story of that language’s evolution, which naturally encompasses the death of others, including earlier iterations of Hebrew itself, such as Yiddish, but also of languages that it displaced, like Samaritan (Schniedewind, 2013). Like classical Latin, Hebrew, and old English, Aramaic has a version (Neo-Aramaic) that is still spoken today, but its classical form is “dead” for all intents and purposes (Khan, 2020)..
If one is teaching a modern language, one used contemporarily, etymology has great potential. While it is not necessary for communication or dialogue at beginning stages, as these are often best acquired by mimicry and taught by modelling, for more advanced students etymological knowledge is a powerful element for conceptual understanding of the target language. Knowing where words have come from to mean what they do can help students to understand their lexical range. The fact that a term in Arabic means what it means, the opposite of what it means, something vulgar, and something about a camel giving birth can be helpful information to a student grappling with nuance in the language. Similarly, from an etymological survey of the English language, the student can learn why my undergrad “Introduction to Linguistics” professor referred to English as an illegitimate child. Moreover, knowledge of the Greek and Latin etymologies of English terms can help students recognize and predict the meaning of many other terms. For example, knowing the etymology of the term perceptive and receive could help a student when they later encounter perceive or receptive. At least in this way that etymology is linked to morphology, it has great explanatory power and considerable potential for aiding linguistic competence and performance.
References
Adams, J. (2013). Social variation and the Latin language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511843433
Khan, G. (2020).
How can the study of the Neo-Aramaic dialects contribute to an understanding of the language situation in Second Temple Palestine? Orientalia., 89(1), 78–96.
Schniedewind, W. M. (2013). A social history of Hebrew : Its origins through the rabbinic period. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu
