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November 24, 2005
Chapter 11 and Baby Talk
Changes in pronunciation, lexicon, and syntax occur throughout the time. As we read materials from hundreds and hundreds years ago we instantly notice differences in “our” language and “theirs”. In my opinion the pronunciation changes take the least amount of time due to many factors such as change in locations of speakers of certain languages and when they settle in their new location they may start to spread the “new” way of saying and pronouncing words.
Change in lexicon comes next in line. There are new words being added and some words getting illuminated in languages daily or monthly. You learn new word and you forget the old word. Also meanings of words change along time and people start using them differently under various circumstances. Such as before the inventions of magnificent calculators, the word calculate would have meant to do a calculation using slide rules. Nowadays, when you want to calculate something, the first thing that comes into your mind is a calculator.
The change in syntax comes last in line. Because it takes long time for speakers to learn and really start using it, the rules of sentence formation and words orders don’t change overnight but rather takes long time to build up in one’s mind.
I would assume that babies learn in order such as pronunciation, lexicon, and syntax. They start making sounds and eventually they learn pronunciation. Even though they don’t know the exact meaning of the word they imitate what people around them say. Next they start connecting the meanings of words with the pronunciations. Afterwards they learn to express themselves by using complete and understandable sentences.
Posted by lcisbold at November 24, 2005 03:27 PM