Journal of Historical Linguistics - Volume 8, Issue 2, 2018

Modern Hebrew provides an idiosyncratic case for historical linguistic study: due to the discontinuity of its use as a spoken language, differences between contemporary structures and classical ones do not necessarily reflect change processes, but may instead result from imperfect language learning by the original L2 speakers of Modern Hebrew at the initial stages of speech revival. This article offers a new research direction for delineating the boundaries between the two types of phenomena based on the recent discovery of two collections of recordings of spontaneous Hebrew speech made in the 1960s. Focusing on one conspicuous sound change in contemporary Modern Hebrew, namely the transition from [i] to [e] in the prefix of the verbal pattern hif’il, we show that the variability in contemporary language between hif’il and hef’il has two distinct sources: (i) an initial state of variability between [i] and [e] in forms derived from weak root verbs (initial-[n] and middle-[w/y] roots, e.g. higi’a-hegi’a ‘arrived’) due to imperfect language learning in the initial phases of the formation of Modern Hebrew; and (ii) a recent change from [i] to [e] in forms derived from regular roots (e.g. hitxil-hetxil ‘started’). In this category, the 1960s recordings attest to a stable realization of [i] amongst all age groups, with deviations from the rules of traditional Hebrew grammar occurring only marginally. Based on this data, the measure of synchronic variation documented in the 1960s recordings is analyzed as a precursor of the sound change that developed in the language at a later stage.

The presence of two forms of the future and conditional paradigms in Old Spanish is well-attested. The analytic form, which was marked by a mesoclitic, was more syntactically restricted, while the synthetic form, which surfaced with either a proclitic or an enclitic, was essentially free to appear in any syntactic context. It is notable that the analytic form was only acceptable in contexts in which finite verbs obligatorily hosted enclitics. In this article, I test various morphosyntactic factors to determine the level of variation among the analytic and synthetic future and conditional forms across six centuries of Old Spanish. The factors of verb tense, preverbal constituent, and verb stem morphology significantly affect the emergence of mesoclisis or enclisis, as does the century during which the verb is produced; however, subject expression is not a significant factor.

The relationship between Unangam Tunuu (Aleut) and Eskimo was established in the early 19th century, and the 20th century especially saw a number of efforts on the reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo-Aleut (PEA). Reconstruction has supported assumptions of a largely genealogical relationship between the EA languages, assumptions which include a long history of independent development in isolation from other languages and language families. The reconstruction of PEA, however, is incomplete; many apparent cognates have irregular or imperfectly understood sound correspondences. Furthermore, advances in archaeology and genetics have called into question many assumptions about EA prehistory and about the isolation or lack thereof of Unangam Tunuu. In this study, I re-examine the proposed cognates and evaluate them based on the strength of their correspondences and their distribution within the lexicon, with reference to new findings regarding technological innovations and periods of cultural contact. Several patterns emerge, including a large group of proposed cognates with overly-specific semantic correlations relating to technologies or cultural practices post-dating the split of EA languages, a gender-based difference in the number of cognates relating to cultural activities, and a correlation between known borrowings and high levels of cognates in certain semantic domains. Results suggest extensive language contact, especially in the past millennium.

This article addresses the replacement of the diminutive form ‑lein by ‑chen as the leading suffix in written German during the New High German period. A large sample of diminutives from 1600–1900, retrieved from the DTA corpus, forms the basis of this investigation. The study aims to provide a detailed periodization of the replacement process with regard to both types and tokens. By using methods from computational linguistics and time series analysis, clear patterns of language variation and change are demonstrated; these patterns are to some extent interrelated and staggered throughout time. The study additionally shows that there are transfers between genres that coincide with the transition from ‑lein to ‑chen. This indicates that the replacement is due to a strengthening of the semantic effort of the diminutive suffix. Finally, information regarding the writers’ origins is used to map the areal distribution of diminutive forms over time. The maps illustrate the importance of geography as a factor, particularly in the initial phase of the replacement; however, it seems to be without any impact by the end of the 19th century. In doing so, the study offers a particular framework for the analysis of word formation based on historical corpora.