ANT3610- CH 9: Change and Choice

FSU 2026

Assimilation

the phonetic process in which the point (or manner) of articulation of a sound changes so it is closer to that of a neighboring sound

Bilingualism

the ability to speak two languages

Bioprogram

an innate grammar, thought by some to guide children in constructing creole languages from pidgins

Codeswitching

using more than one variety of language in a single situation or sometimes in different situations

Cognates

sets of words in related languages that can be shown to have descended from a common ancestral language; cognates have similar meanings, and they show regular sound correspondences

Correspondence set

in historical reconstruction, a set of sounds that appear to correspond to one another

creole

a complete language that has emerged out of pidgin

Diglossia

the situation where two (or more) varieties of the same language are used by speakers in different settings

External change

a change that occurs because of language contact and borrowing between speakers of different languages

family of languages

a set of languages thought to have descended from a common ancestor

genetically related languages

languages that have descended from the same ancestor language

glottochronology/lexicostatistics

the science of measuring time change in language

internal change

a change that is due to the way speakers of a language gradually modify their own language over time

language isolate

a language that cannot be classified into any other language family

lexifier language

the language that has contributed the majority of the words in a pidgin or a creole

macrofamilies

sets of language families that appear to have descended from a common ancient language (same as phyla)

majority rules strategy

in historical reconstruction, the assumption that if there is no phonetically plausible reason to choose a particular sound for a reconstruction, then the choice should be based on which ever sound appears most frequently in the correspondence set

mass comparison

a technique in which lists of words from large numbers of languages are compared all at once to determine that languages are related rather than using the slow, painstaking reconstruction of protolanguages from languages already known to be related

mock language

a pejorative language practice, generally engaged in by non-speakers of a specific language, that utilizes elements of that language to index negative stereotypes of its speakers; often a vehicle for the unconscious reproduction of racist ideologies through language practice

official language

a language designated as official by government policy

palatalization

the phonetic process in which the point of articulation of a sound is moved closer to the palate

phonetic plausibility strategy

in historical reconstruction, the assumption that the choice among alternative reconstructions should be based on what seems plausible given what is known about the ways that languages change and the relationships between the sounds on a reconstructed phonetic chart.