Historical Linguistics: How Languages Change Through Time
  • Author(s): Olalekan Olusegun Bamidele, PhD.
  • Paper ID: 1709338
  • Page: 1569-1576
  • Published Date: 30-06-2025
  • Published In: Iconic Research And Engineering Journals
  • Publisher: IRE Journals
  • e-ISSN: 2456-8880
  • Volume/Issue: Volume 8 Issue 12 June-2025
Abstract

Language plays a central and crucial role in human communication, culture, and society. One of the remarkable features which has been observed about languages is their ability to change over a period of time. Unlike other social human establishments like culture, taboos, game rules, and use of non-verbal signs among others, languages undergo changes. The rate at which languages keep evolving is such that even linguists can be caught off-guard by the changes. Citing examples from the English language, Mithun (2014: 265-266) identifies phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical, and semantic as the different layers of change that a language exhibits when its present form is compared with ancient forms. These trajectories are identified by Kiparsky (2014: 8) as contact-induced change, sound change, analogical change, grammaticalization and semantic change, and syntactic change.

Keywords

Historical linguistics, Language change, human communication, Language contact, Social differentiation.

Citations

IRE Journals:
Olalekan Olusegun Bamidele, PhD. "Historical Linguistics: How Languages Change Through Time" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 8 Issue 12 2025 Page 1569-1576

IEEE:
Olalekan Olusegun Bamidele, PhD. "Historical Linguistics: How Languages Change Through Time" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 8(12)