The differential diversification of Mongolic
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Juha Janhunen
Abstract
This paper examines the Mongolic family of languages from the point of view of their different paths and rates of evolution, and with a view on the general problem concerning the speed of language change. All extant Mongolic languages descend from a relatively recent ancestral form of speech, Proto-Mongolic, spoken by the historical Mongols in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries and documented in a number of written sources conventionally known as Middle Mongol. A comparison of the modern Mongolic languages with Proto-Mongolic and Middle Mongol reveals considerable differences in their rates of evolution, with some languages being highly innovative, while others are conspicuously conservative. These differences are evident at all levels of linguistic structure and substance, including phonology, grammar, and lexicon. The reasons for the different rates of evolution can be sought in a variety of linguistic and extralinguistic factors, including not only the linguistic environment, but also the political and geographical context of the speakers, as well as their demographic structure, economic and cultural profile, and degree of mobility.
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© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Obituary
- In Memoriam Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Klaus J. Mattheier (1941–2020)
- Articles
- Comparative sociolinguistic perspectives on the rate of linguistic change
- Sociolinguistic typology and the speed of linguistic change
- L2 Greek in Roman Egypt: Intense language contact in Roman military forts
- History of English as punctuated equilibria? A meta-analysis of the rate of linguistic change in Middle English
- The differential diversification of Mongolic
- Linguistic system and sociolinguistic environment as competing factors in linguistic variation: A typological approach
- The spread zones and contacts of medieval Finnic in the Northeastern Baltic Sea area: Implications for the rate of language change
- Book Reviews
- Scribal Repertoires in Egypt from the New Kingdom to the Early Islamic Period (Oxford Studies in Ancient Documents)
- Borrowing. Loanwords in the Speech Community and in the Grammar
- Learning Languages in Early Modern England
- Language planning as nation building: Ideology, policy and implementation in the Netherlands, 1750–1850. (Advances in historical sociolinguistics, 9)
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Obituary
- In Memoriam Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Klaus J. Mattheier (1941–2020)
- Articles
- Comparative sociolinguistic perspectives on the rate of linguistic change
- Sociolinguistic typology and the speed of linguistic change
- L2 Greek in Roman Egypt: Intense language contact in Roman military forts
- History of English as punctuated equilibria? A meta-analysis of the rate of linguistic change in Middle English
- The differential diversification of Mongolic
- Linguistic system and sociolinguistic environment as competing factors in linguistic variation: A typological approach
- The spread zones and contacts of medieval Finnic in the Northeastern Baltic Sea area: Implications for the rate of language change
- Book Reviews
- Scribal Repertoires in Egypt from the New Kingdom to the Early Islamic Period (Oxford Studies in Ancient Documents)
- Borrowing. Loanwords in the Speech Community and in the Grammar
- Learning Languages in Early Modern England
- Language planning as nation building: Ideology, policy and implementation in the Netherlands, 1750–1850. (Advances in historical sociolinguistics, 9)
