Glottochronology

Abstract

All languages change as time goes by. Dramatic evidence is given by Hockett [11, p.365] who presents nine passages, all in English, but originally written about a hundred years apart. The most current is a 1749 passage from The History of Tom Jones, the earliest from the Blickling Homily dated 971. His conclusion is clear: “a millenium of phylogenetic change has sufficed to alter English so radically that if a tenth-century Englishman and a twentieth- century Englishman or American could meet face to face, they would not understand each other at all.” Some changes are mild and lead to words which are similar in sound and in meaning, often indicating a common origin. Examples of such cognates are the English “father,” the German “Vater,” and the Latin “pater.” Other changes have led to non-cognates, such as “equus” in Latin and “cheval” in French, corresponding to the English “horse.” Words can be lost completely and new words can come into use. And the study of language change is not made easier by the fact that writing itself is a relatively recent event in the history of man’s use of language.