Internal and external factors of language development. External factors in the development of languages

Introduction to work

The traditional comparative-historical paradigm of linguistics, which turned the study of language into an independent science, aimed at reconstructing the parent language by methods of internal and external comparison of linguistic data. The logical continuation of these methods is the potential possibility of reconstructing the stages of language evolution and their consideration in a contrastive aspect in order to identify general patterns of development.

The modern period of development of diachronic studies in the field of Germanic languages is marked by the appearance of a number of works in which the historical development of the language is presented as a statement of changes at different levels of its system (Baugh, Cable 2002; Blake 2006; Gelderen 2006; Hogg, Denison 2006; Horobin, Smith 2002 ; Moser 1985; Polenz 2000; Romaine 2007; Singh 2005; Schmidt 2000; Sonderegger 1979; Wolf 1981; Wolman 2008; Afanasyev 2000; Berekov 1996, 2006; Bloch 2003; Gurevich 2003; Hukhman 1983; Zender 1965, 1968; Ilyush 1968; Zhirmunsky 1965; Zelestsky 2004; Ivanova 2001; Rastorgueva 2003; Steblen-Kamensky 1959; Zimmerling 1996, 2002; Yartseva 1969.) Meanwhile, general issues The evolution of the Germanic languages and the reconstruction of its individual stages remain insufficiently studied.

Object of study is the language of literary monuments of English and German in three diachronic sections (ancient, middle and new) and in two parallels: prose and poetry.

Subject of study is the behavior of the language systems of the two Germanic languages in diachrony in order to clarify the main, typologically significant phenomena and trends.

Research material composed a total of 19 texts in English and German.

The relevance of research due to a new approach to the theoretical rethinking of the problem of the general laws of evolution of language systems, addressing the issue of reconstructing the main stages of language development, clarifying scientific ideas about a single universal path of evolution of language systems in diachrony. It is proposed to comprehend the language stratification of the actualized state of language systems and the isomorphism of the diachronic behavior of level elements.

Hypothesis of this work is that a comparative analysis of the behavior of the language system of the English and German languages reveals the general patterns of language development, and creates the basis for highlighting the stages of language evolution. The direction of evolution for these languages is the same, but the speed of language changes is not the same, due to the influence of internal and external factors.

Purpose of the study is to identify the influence of external and internal factors on the formation of typologically significant stages in the evolution of the morphology of the language system of the English and German languages.

Achieving this goal involves solving a complex of the following tasks:

to select a limited number of the most significant factors of a typological nature that affect systemic changes in the language in diachrony;

find out the taxonomy of structural levels according to the degree of their activity/passivity, their compensatory, limiting or parity properties in order to clarify the isomorphism of their constitutional, syntagmatic and paradigmatic characteristics;

clarify the role and significance of units of individual levels in the process of self-regulation of the language system;

identify the main stages and trends in the development of the systems of the English and German languages in a certain period of linguistic time, sufficient to update innovative trends;

to analyze the mechanisms and conditions for the development of the language system of the English and German languages;

to show the typological universality of the processes of self-regulation of the morphology of language systems in diachrony.

Research methods of the above object are quite diverse due to the different nature of the tasks being solved. In the work are applied in a complex: descriptive-analytical method, which provides for the analysis of the studied language material with the subsequent generalization of the results obtained; system research method, aimed at learning the language as a level system; contrastive analysis method in conjunction with descriptive-analytical method made it possible to demonstrate the dynamics of the process of formation of morphology in English and German; quantitative method research is complemented comparative analysis quantitative indicators of the Greenberg Indices.

Methodological base of the research amounted to:

Proceedings of I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay common problems linguistics;

Monographs by E.A. Makaeva and G.P. Melnikov in the field of studying diachronic language changes;

Works on particular issues of Indo-European linguistics: K.G. Krasukhina, G.A. Menovshchikova, B.A. Serebrennikov;

Research in the field of Germanic languages: B.A. Abramova, V.D. Arakina, V.P. Berkova, M.Ya. Bloch, V.V. Gurevich, M.M. Gukhman, B.A. Ilyish, V.M. Zhirmunsky, A.L. Zelenetsky, L.R. Zinder, E.S. Kubryakova, E.A. Makaeva, T.A. Rastorgueva, A.I. Smirnitsky, M.I. Steblin-Kamensky, N.I. Filicheva, A.V. Zimmerling, V.N. Yartseva.

Scientific novelty dissertation is determined by the description of the mechanism of evolution of the language system. In the work, its stages are identified and substantiated, and a scheme of these stages is proposed. The general patterns of development of the language system in time are established. The concept of "level model of the language system" has been expanded, to which a functional component has been added. The factors of internal and external plans and their influence on the diachronic development of the language are analyzed.

The main provisions submitted for defense:

The course of linguistic evolution is influenced by external and internal factors. In different diachronic sections, the impact of these factors on language development is not the same. Before the Great Migration of Peoples, the ancient Germanic languages were located on the territory of Europe and were characterized by common diachronic tendencies.

The formation of the system of Old English and Old High German proceeded in accordance with the influence of the environment and the course of internal self-development. The direction of the internal processes in these languages was the same, but the external conditions were different. English was transferred to the island of Britain, while High German remained one of the languages of Europe.

Ability different languages systems to self-development is different, due to the influence of external factors. Language contact can have an inhibitory or accelerating effect on the evolution of language.

Self-regulation of the language system is one of the important internal factors influencing the development of the language. Different levels have different ability to perceive, accumulate and assimilate innovations. The phonological level is comparatively open. The phonological system was the first to actively accumulate innovations. The fixation of stress on the root morpheme and the subsequent weakening of inflection were among the most important innovations.

Phonological changes have led to a restructuring of morphological paradigms in the English and German language systems. External factors had a stronger impact on the diachronic development of the English language system than on the German language system. The insular position and further contact with the language of the Scandinavian Vikings and Normans led to an accelerated pace of language change.

Recognizing the fact of the self-sufficiency of the language system, it is possible to trace the causes of systemic development and identify its stages. By stating the typology of these stages, if similar trends are found, it is possible to determine the universal stages of evolution for a certain group of languages.

When reconstructing the processes of evolution of the two Germanic languages, common trends are found, but the speed of actualization of language changes is not the same, due to the interaction of external and internal factors.

Theoretical significance of the study. The study of evolutionary trends reveals new facets of the existence of the language system, both at the synchronous and diachronic levels, which is of interest to further development diachronic linguistics. The inclusion of the stages of the evolution of the language system in the range of typological studies will make a certain contribution to the theoretical rethinking of the issues of language diachrony. The development of the ideas contained in the dissertation can be continued on the material of other areas of linguistic knowledge and confirmed by various linguistic material. The results obtained in the course of linguistic analysis can be used to correct diachronic concepts. The material collected and systematized quantitatively is important for the linguistic prognostic characteristics of the evolution of the language system in general.

The practical significance of the study. New general theoretical and applied conclusions can be used as basic or problematic for further diachronic studies of ancient and modern languages, reconstruction of their retrospective and prospective state. The work is of applied importance in terms of correction of university teaching courses on the theory and history of language. The main provisions and conclusions of the dissertation research can be applied in lecture courses and in seminars on general linguistics, diachronic linguistics, comparative studies and the history of Germanic languages. Specific results of the work can be recommended to students, graduate students in order to improve the scientific level, and also be used when writing works on German studies, language theory and comparative historical linguistics.

Approbation of the study was held in the form of reports at international and Russian scientific conferences at the universities of Belgorod (1996 - 2011), Zaporozhye (2002; 2003), Kharkov (2003), Voronezh (2004), Moscow (2004; 2005), Severodvinsk (2004), Rostov ( 2005), Kursk (2005), Armavir (2005), Volgograd (2005), Rostov-on-Don (2006). The results of the dissertation research were discussed at annual scientific conferences and meetings of the department of the second foreign language Belgorod State University.

The dissertation materials are reflected in 47 publications with a total volume of about 80 printed sheets, including two monographs, two dictionaries, 43 articles, including twelve articles in scientific publications recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.

Scope and structure of work. The structure, content and scope of the dissertation work are determined by the main goal and objectives. The dissertation consists of an introduction, four chapters, a conclusion, a bibliographic list and appendices.

29. Internal factors of language development.

It should be noted that the human body is by no means indifferent to how the language mechanism works. He tries in a certain way to respond to all those phenomena that arise in the language mechanism that do not adequately correspond to certain physiological characteristics of the organism. Thus, a permanent tendency arises for the adaptation of the linguistic mechanism to the characteristics of the human organism, which is practically expressed in tendencies of a more particular nature. Here are examples of intralanguage changes:
1) In phonetics: the emergence of new sounds (for example, in the early Proto-Slavic language there were no hissing sounds: [g], [h], [w] - rather late sounds in all Slavic languages, resulting from the softening of sounds, respectively [g], [ k], [x|); the loss of some sounds (for example, two previously different sounds cease to differ: for example, the Old Russian sound, denoted by the old letter%, in Russian and Belarusian languages coincided with the sound [e], and in Ukrainian - with the sound [I], cf. others .-Russian a&gj, rus, Belarusian, snow, Ukrainian sshg).
2) In grammar: the loss of some grammatical meanings and forms (for example, in the Proto-Slavic language, all names, pronouns and verbs had, in addition to the singular and plural forms, also dual forms used when talking about two objects; later the category of dual numbers have been lost in all Slavic languages except Slovenian); examples of the opposite process: the formation (already in the written history of the Slavic languages) of a special verbal form - the gerund; the division of a previously single name into two parts of speech - nouns and adjectives; the formation of a relatively new part of speech in Slavic languages - the numeral. Sometimes grammatical form changes without changing the meaning: they used to say cities, snows, and now cities, snows.
3) In vocabulary: numerous and exceptionally varied changes in vocabulary, phraseology and lexical semantics. Suffice it to say that in the publication "New Words and Meanings: A Dictionary-Reference Book on the Materials of the Press and Literature of the 70s / Ed. years, about 5500 entries.

I. Tendency towards easier pronunciation.

The presence in languages of a well-known tendency to facilitate pronunciation has been repeatedly noted by researchers. At the same time, there were skeptics who were inclined not to attach much importance to it. They motivated their skepticism by the fact that the very criteria of ease or difficulty of pronunciation are too subjective, since they are usually viewed through the prism of a particular language. What seems difficult to pronounce due to the operation of the system "phonological synth" to a speaker of one language may not present any difficulties to a speaker of another language. Observations on the history of the development of the phonetic structure of various languages of the world also convincingly indicate that in all languages there are sounds and combinations of sounds that are relatively difficult to pronounce, from which each language seeks, if possible, to free itself or turn them into sounds that are easier to pronounce and sound combinations.

II. Expression tendency different values different forms.

The tendency to express different meanings in different forms is sometimes referred to as repulsion from homonymy.

Arabic language in the more ancient era of its existence, it had only two verb tenses - the perfect, for example, katabtu "I wrote" and the imperfect aktubu "I wrote". These times originally had species value, but not temporary. As for their ability to express the relation of an action to a certain time plan, in this respect the above tenses were polysemantic. So, for example, the imperfect could have the meaning of the present, future and past tenses. This communicative inconvenience required the creation additional funds. So, for example, adding the particle qad to the forms of the perfect contributed to a clearer delineation of the perfect itself, for example, qad kataba "He (already) wrote." Adding the prefix sa- to imperfect forms such as sanaktubu "we will write" or "we will write" made it possible to express the future tense more clearly. Finally, the use of the perfect forms of the auxiliary verb kāna "to be" in conjunction with the imperfect forms, for example, kāna jaktubu "he wrote" made it possible to more clearly express the past continuous.

III. The tendency to express the same or similar meanings in the same form.

This trend is manifested in a number of phenomena that are widespread in various languages of the world, which are usually called the alignment of forms by analogy. Two most typical cases of alignment of forms by analogy can be noted: 1) alignment of forms that are absolutely identical in meaning, but different in appearance, and 2) alignment of forms that are different in appearance and reveal only a partial similarity of functions or meanings.

Words like table, horse and son in the Old Russian language had specific endings of the dative instrumental and prepositional cases plural.

D. table horse son

T. tables horses sons

P. table of horse sons
In modern Russian, they have one common ending: tables, tables, tables; horses, horses, horses; sons, sons, sons. These common endings arose as a result of transfer by analogy with the corresponding case endings nouns representing old stems in -ā, -jā such as sister, earth, cf. other Russian sisters, sisters, sisters; lands, lands, lands, etc. For alignment by analogy, the similarity of case functions turned out to be quite sufficient.

IV. The tendency to create clear boundaries between morphemes.

It may happen that the boundary between the stem and suffixes becomes not clear enough due to the merger of the final vowel of the stem with the initial vowel of the suffix. So, for example, a characteristic feature of the types of declensions in the Indo-European stem language was the preservation in the paradigm of the declension of the stem and its hallmark, i.e., the final vowel of the stem. As an example for comparison, we can cite the reconstructed declension paradigm of the Russian word zhena, compared with the declension paradigm of this word in modern Russian. Only singular forms are given.
I. genā wife
P. genā-s wives
D . genā-i to wife
IN . genā-m wife
M. genā-i wife
It is easy to see that in the conjugation paradigm of the word wife, the former axis of the paradigm - the basis on -ā - is no longer maintained due to its modification in oblique cases as a result<244>various phonetic changes, which in some cases led to the merger of the stem vowel a with the vowel of the newly formed case suffix, for example, genāi > gene > wife, genām > geno > wife, etc. In order to restore clear boundaries between the stem of the word and the case suffix in in the minds of the speakers, a re-decomposition of the stems took place, and the sound that used to act as the final vowel of the stem went to the suffix.

V. The trend towards savings language tools.

The tendency to economize on linguistic resources is one of the most powerful internal trends that is manifested in various languages of the world. It can be stated a priori that the globe there is no language that has 150 phonemes, 50 verb tenses, and 30 different plural endings. A language of this kind, burdened with a detailed arsenal means of expression, would not facilitate, but on the contrary, would make it difficult for people to communicate. Therefore, every language has a natural resistance to over-detailing. In the process of using a language as a means of communication, often spontaneously and independently of the will of the speakers themselves, the principle of the most rational and economical selection of language means really necessary for the purposes of communication is implemented.
The results of this trend are manifested in the most diverse areas of the language. So, for example, in one form of the instrumental case, its most diverse meanings can be included: the instrumental agent, the instrumental adverbial, the instrumental objective, the instrumental limitation, the instrumental predicative, the instrumental adjective, the instrumental comparison, etc. The genitive case also has no less richness of individual meanings. : genitive quantitative, genitive predicative, genitive belonging, genitive weight, genitive object, etc. If each of these meanings were expressed in a separate form, then this would lead to an incredible cumbersome case system.
The vocabulary of the language, numbering many tens of thousands of words, opens up wide opportunities for the realization in the language of a huge number of sounds and their various shades. In fact, each language is content with a relatively small number of phonemes endowed with a meaningful function. How these few functions are singled out, no one has ever investigated. Modern phonologists are concerned with the function of phonemes, but not with the history of their origin. One can only assume a priori that some kind of spontaneous rational selection took place in this area, subject to a certain principle. In each language, apparently, a selection of a complex of phonemes associated with a useful opposition has taken place, although the appearance of new sounds in the language is not explained only by these reasons. With the principle of economy, apparently, the tendency to designate the same values with one form is connected.

One of the clearest manifestations of the trend towards economy is the tendency to create typical monotony. Each language is constantly striving to create a type uniformity.

VI. The trend towards limiting the complexity of speech messages.

The latest research indicates that psychological factors act in the process of generating speech, limiting the complexity of speech messages.

The process of generating speech occurs, in all likelihood, by sequentially recoding phonemes into morphemes, morphemes into words, and words into sentences. At some of these levels, recoding is carried out not in the long-term, but in random access memory person, the volume of which is limited and equal to 7 ± 2 symbols of the message. Therefore, the maximum ratio of the number of units of the lowest level of the language contained in one unit is more than high level, provided that the transition from the lowest level to the highest is carried out in RAM, cannot exceed 9: 1.

The capacity of RAM imposes restrictions not only on the depth, but also on the length of words. As a result of a number of linguo-psychological experiments, it was found that with an increase in the length of words beyond seven syllables, a deterioration in the perception of the message is observed. For this reason, with an increase in the length of words, the probability of their occurrence in texts sharply decreases. This limit of word length perception was found in experiments with isolated words. Context makes things easier to understand. The upper limit of the perception of words in context is approximately 10 syllables.
If we take into account the favorable role of the context - intra-word and inter-word - in word recognition, it should be expected that exceeding the critical word length of 9 syllables, determined by the amount of RAM, greatly complicates their perception. The data of linguo-psychological experiments definitely indicate that the volume of perception of the length and depth of words is equal to the volume of a person's working memory. And in those styles of natural languages that are focused on the oral form of communication, maximum length words cannot exceed 9 syllables, and their maximum depth is 9 morphemes.

VII. The tendency to change the phonetic appearance of a word when it loses its lexical meaning.

This tendency is most clearly expressed in the process of transforming a significant word into a suffix. So, for example, in the Chuvash language there is an instrumental case characterized by the suffix -pa, -pe, cf. Chuv. pencilpa "pencil", văype "by force". This ending developed from the postposition palan, veil "c"

In colloquial English, the auxiliary verb have in the perfect forms, having lost its lexical meaning, was actually reduced to the sound "v", and the form had to the sound "d", for example, I "v written "I wrote", he "d written" he wrote " etc.

The phonetic appearance of a word changes in frequently used words due to a change in their original meaning. A striking example is the non-phonetic dropping of the final g in the Russian word thank you, which goes back to the phrase God save. The frequent use of this word and the associated change in meaning God save > thank you - led to the destruction of its original phonetic appearance.

VIII. The tendency to create languages with a simple morphological structure.

In the languages of the world, a certain tendency is found to create a language type characterized by the most in a simple way morpheme compounds. It is curious that in the languages of the world the overwhelming majority are languages of the agglutinative type. Languages with internal inflection are relatively rare.

This fact has its specific reasons. In agglutinating languages, morphemes, as a rule, are marked, their boundaries in the word are defined. This creates a clear intra-word context allowing morphemes to be identified in the longest sequences. This advantage of agglutinative languages was pointed out at one time by I. N. Baudouin de Courtenay, who wrote the following on this subject: “Languages in which all attention in terms of morphological exponents is focused on the affixes following after the main morpheme (root) (Ural-Altaic languages , Finno-Ugric, etc.), are more sober and require much less expenditure of mental energy than languages in which morphological exponents are additions at the beginning of a word, additions at the end of a word, and psychophonetic alternations within a word.

Internal causes of language development (Serebrennikov):

1. Adaptation of the language mechanism to the physiological characteristics of the human body. For example, a tendency to facilitate pronunciation, a tendency to unify the grammatical forms of words, a tendency to save language resources.

2. The need to improve the language mechanism. For example, in the process of development in the language, redundant means of expression or those that have lost their function are eliminated.

3. The need to preserve the language in a state of communicative suitability.

4. Resolution of internal contradictions in the language, etc.

But not all scientists agree to accept internal causes. Since language is a social and psychophysiological phenomenon. Without such conditions, it cannot develop. Language development is driven by external factors.

External factors of language development (Golovin, Berezin):

1. Associated with the development of society. An important role is played by the interaction of different peoples, which is due to migration, wars, etc. The interaction of languages and their dialects is the most important stimulus for their development.

There are two types of interaction between languages: differentiation and integration.

Differentiation- the divergence of languages and dialects, due to the resettlement of peoples over vast territories.

Integration- convergence of different languages. There are 3 types of integration: coexistence, mixing and crossing of languages.

Coexistence- this is a long and stable mutual influence of adjacent languages, as a result of which some stable common features in their structure develop.

Mixing- are united in language unions. Unlike the coexistence mixing- this is a kind of mutual influence when two languages collide on their historical path, have a significant impact on each other, and then diverge and continue to exist independently.

There are different degrees of mixing languages:

Light degree of mixing. High - observed in hybrid ersatz languages.

Crossing is the layering of two languages, in which one language dissolves into the other. That is, from two parents-languages, a third is born. As a rule, this is the result of ethnic mixing by the carrier. One nation swallows up another. As a result, the transition from one language to another is accompanied by bilingualism.

Supstrat and superstrat.

supstrat- elements of the language of the conquered people in the language, which was transformed by crossing two other languages.

Superstrat- elements of the language of the winners, formed in the third language.

A variety of languages are being developed. The development of the language at its different stages:

1. Phonetic-phonological changes. Implemented more slowly than others. Factors are largely due to the language system.

4 types of functional changes: a) differential signs of phonemes can change, as a result of which the composition of phonemes changes (loss of breathiness, palatality and labialization - 6 phonemes remain); b) changes in the compatibility of phonemes. For example, the principle of increasing sonority has disappeared - as a result, unusual combinations of phonemes are now possible; c) change or reduction of variants of phonemes. For example, with the advent of reduction, vowels began to fall out; d) individual changes in a particular speech, all changes grow out of the individual speech of native speakers.

Reasons for phonetic changes:

1. The systemic factor is the internal logic of the development of the system (assimilation - loss b, b, closing syllables, etc.).

2. Articulation-acoustic conditions of speech activity (nasal consonants have disappeared).

3. Social factor - least of all influences, but changes also depend on the speaking person.

2. Changes in grammar. They are caused to a greater extent not by external causes, but by the influence of systemic factors.

1. A change in form is associated with a change in content (many forms of declension have been lost - now gender is important).

2. Process of analogy ( doctor- originally masculine, but now possibly feminine, that is, compatibility has changed).

3. The distribution of functions between similar elements (there used to be a branched system of times).

These were internal factors.

External factors: as a result of the interaction of speakers of different languages, a change in grammar may occur (as a result of the penetration of elements from another language). External factors in b about influence vocabulary to a greater extent.

3. Lexical changes are caused by external causes. Types of lexical changes:

1. Morphemic derivation - the formation of a new word from the available morphemic material (computer +ization).

2. Lexico-semantic derivation:

a) the formation of a new meaning of the word as a result of rethinking the old one;

b) the emergence of a new word as a result of rethinking the old word.

3. Lexico-syntactic derivation - a combination of words “crosses” into one (today, immediately).

4. Compression - a combination of words with general meaning was, but the meaning of one word was lost, the meaning of the phrase was preserved in the remaining word (complex - inferiority complex).

5. Borrowing - when a word is borrowed from another language. One of the varieties is tracing (pomorphemic translation) (skyscraper - sky building), another variety is semantic tracing (we borrow the meaning of the word) (in French - a nail is a bright sight, hence: the highlight of the program).

6. Lexeme loss - the word leaves the language.

7. The process of archaization of a word (left the language) or meaning (godina).

8. Changing the stylistic or semantic marking of a word.

9. The process of developing the stability of individual combinations of lexemes.

10. Development of the idiomatic character of individual combinations of lexemes (integrity of meaning and non-derivation from the meanings of components) (Indian summer is a warm season in the autumn period).

The development of the Russian language is influenced by both external and internal factors. External factors in b about to a greater extent due to changes in vocabulary, and to a lesser extent - in phonetics, grammar.

1) In phonetics: the emergence of new sounds (for example, in the early Proto-Slavic language there were no hissing sounds: [g], [h], [w] - rather late sounds in all Slavic languages, resulting from the softening of sounds, respectively [g], [ k], [x|); the loss of some sounds (for example, two previously different sounds cease to differ: for example, the Old Russian sound, denoted by the old letter%, in Russian and Belarusian languages coincided with the sound [e], and in Ukrainian - with the sound [I], cf. others .-Russian a&gj, rus, Belarusian, snow, Ukrainian sshg).

2) In grammar: the loss of some grammatical meanings and forms (for example, in the Proto-Slavic language, all names, pronouns and verbs had, in addition to the singular and plural forms, also dual forms used when talking about two objects; later the category of dual numbers have been lost in all Slavic languages except Slovenian); examples of the opposite process: the formation (already in the written history of the Slavic languages) of a special verbal form - the gerund; the division of a previously single name into two parts of speech - nouns and adjectives; the formation of a relatively new part of speech in Slavic languages - the numeral. Sometimes the grammatical form changes without changing the meaning: they used to say cities, snows, and now cities, snows.

3) In vocabulary: numerous and exceptionally varied changes in vocabulary, phraseology and lexical semantics. Suffice it to say that in the publication "New Words and Meanings: A Dictionary-Reference Book on the Materials of the Press and Literature of the 70s / Ed. years, about 5500 entries.

I. Tendency towards easier pronunciation.

II. The tendency to express different meanings in different forms.

The tendency to express different meanings in different forms is sometimes referred to as repulsion from homonymy.

The Arabic language in the more ancient era of its existence had only two verb tenses - the perfect, for example, katabtu "I wrote" and the imperfect aktubu "I wrote". These times originally had species value, but not temporary. As for their ability to express the relation of an action to a certain time plan, in this respect the above tenses were polysemantic. So, for example, the imperfect could have the meaning of the present, future and past tenses. This communication inconvenience required the creation of additional funds. So, for example, adding the particle qad to the forms of the perfect contributed to a clearer delineation of the perfect itself, for example, qad kataba "He (already) wrote." Adding the prefix sa- to imperfect forms such as sanaktubu "we will write" or "we will write" made it possible to express the future tense more clearly. Finally, the use of the perfect forms of the auxiliary verb kāna "to be" in conjunction with the imperfect forms, for example, kāna jaktubu "he wrote" made it possible to more clearly express the past continuous.

III. The tendency to express the same or similar meanings in the same form.

Words like table, horse and son in the Old Russian language had specific endings in the dative instrumental and prepositional plural cases.

D. table horse son

T. tables horses sons

P. table of horse sons

In modern Russian, they have one common ending: tables, tables, tables; horses, horses, horses; sons, sons, sons. These common endings arose as a result of transferring, by analogy, the corresponding case endings of nouns representing the old stems in -ā, -jā such as sister, earth, cf. other Russian sisters, sisters, sisters; lands, lands, lands, etc. For alignment by analogy, the similarity of case functions turned out to be quite sufficient.

IV. The tendency to create clear boundaries between morphemes.

I. genā wife

P. genā-s wives

D. genā-i to wife

B. genā-m wife

M. genā-i wife

It is easy to see that in the conjugation paradigm of the word wife, the former axis of the paradigm - the basis on -ā - is no longer maintained due to its modification in oblique cases as a result<244>various phonetic changes, which in some cases led to the merger of the stem vowel a with the vowel of the newly formed case suffix, for example, genāi > gene > wife, genām > geno > wife, etc. In order to restore clear boundaries between the stem of the word and the case suffix in in the minds of the speakers, a re-decomposition of the stems took place, and the sound that used to act as the final vowel of the stem went to the suffix.

V. Trend towards economy of language resources.

The tendency to economize on linguistic resources is one of the most powerful internal trends that is manifested in various languages of the world. It can be a priori stated that there is not a single language on the globe in which 150 phonemes, 50 verb tenses and 30 different plural endings would differ. A language of this kind, burdened with a detailed arsenal of expressive means, would not facilitate, but, on the contrary, would make it difficult for people to communicate. Therefore, every language has a natural resistance to over-detailing. In the process of using a language as a means of communication, often spontaneously and independently of the will of the speakers themselves, the principle of the most rational and economical selection of language means really necessary for the purposes of communication is implemented.

The results of this trend are manifested in the most diverse areas of the language. So, for example, in one form of the instrumental case, its most diverse meanings can be included: the instrumental agent, the instrumental adverbial, the instrumental objective, the instrumental limitation, the instrumental predicative, the instrumental adjective, the instrumental comparison, etc. The genitive case also has no less richness of individual meanings. : genitive quantitative, genitive predicative, genitive belonging, genitive weight, genitive object, etc. If each of these meanings were expressed in a separate form, then this would lead to an incredible cumbersome case system.

The vocabulary of the language, numbering many tens of thousands of words, opens up wide opportunities for the realization in the language of a huge number of sounds and their various shades. In fact, each language is content with a relatively small number of phonemes endowed with a meaningful function. How these few functions are singled out, no one has ever investigated. Modern phonologists are concerned with the function of phonemes, but not with the history of their origin. One can only assume a priori that some kind of spontaneous rational selection took place in this area, subject to a certain principle. In each language, apparently, a selection of a complex of phonemes associated with a useful opposition has taken place, although the appearance of new sounds in the language is not explained only by these reasons. With the principle of economy, apparently, the tendency to designate the same values with one form is connected.

One of the clearest manifestations of the trend towards economy is the tendency to create typical monotony. Each language is constantly striving to create a type uniformity.

VI. The trend towards limiting the complexity of speech messages.

The latest research indicates that psychological factors act in the process of generating speech, limiting the complexity of speech messages.

The process of generating speech occurs, in all likelihood, by sequentially recoding phonemes into morphemes, morphemes into words, and words into sentences. At some of these levels, recoding is carried out not in the long-term, but in the human operative memory, the volume of which is limited and equal to 7 ± 2 characters of the message. Consequently, the maximum ratio of the number of units of the lower level of the language contained in one unit of a higher level, provided that the transition from the lower level to the higher one is carried out in RAM, cannot exceed 9: 1.

If we take into account the favorable role of the context - intra-word and inter-word - in word recognition, it should be expected that exceeding the critical word length of 9 syllables, determined by the amount of RAM, greatly complicates their perception. The data of linguo-psychological experiments definitely indicate that the volume of perception of the length and depth of words is equal to the volume of a person's working memory. And in those styles of natural languages that are focused on the oral form of communication, the maximum length of words cannot exceed 9 syllables, and their maximum depth - 9 morphemes.

VII. The tendency to change the phonetic appearance of a word when it loses its lexical meaning.

VIII. The tendency to create languages with a simple morphological structure.

In the languages of the world, there is a certain tendency to create a language type characterized by the simplest way of combining morphemes. It is curious that in the languages of the world the overwhelming majority are languages of the agglutinative type. Languages with internal inflection are relatively rare.

End of work -

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language code. Switching and mixing codes

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In languages of this type, the objects of actions and the circumstances of their commission are expressed not by special members of the sentence (additions and circumstances), but by affixes that are part of the verb. Sometimes the subject of the action (subject) can also receive an expression as part of a verb-predicate. Thus, all members of a sentence can be included in one word, which is why it is often said that words-sentences function in incorporating languages.

In the Chinook language, the language of the Oregon Indians, the word "i-n-i-á-l-u-d-am" means "I gave it to her on purpose." Consider what each of the morphemes means:

i - elapsed time;

n - 1st person singular;

i - the object of the action "this";

á is the second object of the action “she”;

l - an indication that the object is not direct, but indirect (“she”);

u - an indication that the action is directed from the speaker;

d - root meaning "give"

am - an indication of the target action.

Over time, languages change. Obviously, these changes do not occur spontaneously, but in a certain direction. Since the language is closely connected with the life of society, changes in it are aimed at ensuring that it better serves the needs of communication within the language community that speaks this language.

Among the factors that cause language changes, it is customary to distinguish between external and internal causes.

External associated with the characteristic features of the language community using a given language, and with the historical events that this language community is experiencing. There is reason to believe that under the influence of communication features typical for a given language community, each language in the course of its evolution gradually develops and improves those features that are inherent in one of the four types languages.

If a language is used by a homogeneous and numerous language community, then traits develop in it. inflections And synthetism . For example, the Russian language, which has all the prerequisites for the formation of a large number of words that convey the subtlest shades of meaning (boy, boy, boy, boy, etc.) and for the ability to express grammatical meaning in different words using different affixes.

If the language community is mixed with another language community and becomes heterogeneous, then the language develops features analyticism : the number of affixes is reduced, and many grammatical meanings begin to express themselves with the help of functional words. It is these changes that have undergone in the course of its development English language.

If a language exists for a long time in a heterogeneous language community, then it can turn into a language insulating type. In this case, it loses all forms of inflection, and grammatical meanings begin to be expressed in it exclusively by word order or functional words. Obviously, the Chinese language has gone this way.

Incorporating languages are characteristic of very small, isolated communities, whose members are so well aware of all current events that short and capacious sentence words are enough for them to exchange information, in which verbal stems are combined with affixes denoting objects and circumstances of the action.