hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2011-09

■ #860. 現代英語の変化と変異の一覧 [pde][language_change][pde_language_change][exclamation_mark]

　[2010-05-31-1]の記事「現代英語に起こっている言語変化」と[2011-01-11-1]の記事「現代英語の文法変化の一覧」で，現代英語に生じている言語変化の一覧を挙げたが，今回はその拡大版を作った．網羅的な一覧は作り得ないので，Barber, Bauer, Fennell, Potter, Leech et al. その他の諸文献で取り上げられているような言語変化および変異の項目を，参照用にまとめたものとして理解されたい．含めた項目の広がりと細かさは恣意的だが，中心に据えたのは "PDE linguistic changes and variations in spoken and written varieties of present-day Standard British and/or American English" である．より詳しい一覧としては，中尾を参照されたい．
　通時的変化と共時的変異の区別は曖昧であり，明確に言語変化とみなせるかどうか疑わしい例もあるかもしれない．また，逸話や直感のレベルで言語変化と言い立てられているe例も含まれている．さらに，すべて現代英語で進行中の変化ではあるが，多くは現代英語で始まった変化ではない．多くは近代英語期から，あるいは中英語期以前から継続している変化であり，前史をもっている点にも注意したい．いずれの項目も，現代英語に生じている変化としてみなせるかどうか，検証するに値する項目ではある．

phonology

• centering of short vowels (Barber 42): yes, good
• change of /ɔː/ to /ɔ/ before /f/, /s/, and /θ/ (Barber 43): off, lost, cloth
• closer /ɔː/: lord used to be pronounced like lard today
• Continental pronunciation (Barber 72--74, Potter 31--32): Seine, Cherbourgh, Majorca, Sofia, Buenos Aires; quasi-, nuclei
• de-syllabification of pp adj. with -ed (#776): aged, beloved
• de-syllabification of /iə, uə/ to /i-ə, u-ə/ (Potter 18--19)
• diphthongisation of /iː/ and /uː/ (Barber 44--45): tea, two
• dramatic fronting of /uː/ and /ʌ/ in RP (Bauer 114--21)
• final /iː/ for /i/ (Barber 46--47): pretty, Derby
• fluctuation in pronunciation (#488, #766): applicable, dilemma, status
• h-dropping (#462): herb, homage
• initial /h/ for /wh/: where, what
• instable pronunciation of triphthongs (Potter 19--20): [faə], [fɑə], [fɑː]] for [faiə]
• intrusive (linking) -r (#500): the idea(r) of, law(r) and order
• intrusive stops (Barber 58--59): fan(t)cy, warm(p)th, leng(k)th
• loss of final alveolars (Barber 53--54): no(t) bad, ol(d) man, half pas(t) five
• loss of plosives (Barber 54): knocked, East Coast
• loss of /p/ from initial /ps/ and /pt/ (Barber 55): pseudo, psyche
• new weak forms of pronunciation (Barber 64): /srait/ (that's right), /fjuˈlaik/ (if you like), /ˈtsɔːl ˈrait/ (it's all right)
• Northern Cities Shift (#396)
• noun-verb stress alternation (#803, #804, #406)
• simplification of double consonants (Barber 54--55): a good deal, upside-down, lamp-post, prime-minister
• Southern Hemisphere Shift (#402)
• spelling pronunciation (#211, #212, #379): often, forehead
• spread of /ə/ in unstressed syllables (Barber 48--49): ability, women, useless, engine
• spread of glottal stops (Barber 60--61): butter, batman, button, not yet
• vocalic influence of "dark l (Barber 47--48): revolve, solve; salt, falter; milk
• voicing of intervocalic consonants (Barber 57): letter, better, British
• vowel shift in Estuary English (#465)
• word stress shift (#488, #769; #321, #342, #366): controversy, harass, Caribbean
• /ɛ/ for /eɪ/ (#541, #543): says, against
• yod-dropping (#841): dew, enthuse, lewd, new, suit, tune

morphology

• acronyms, initialisms, and alphabetisms (#625, #817): EU, UNESCO, asap
• active conversion (#394): to pluto
• active blending (#631, #625): electrocute, Singlish
• active shortening (Barber 89--91): telly, mike, sub, polio, bra
• affixation (#732, #133, #593, #420): -dom, -ish, -wise, super-, mini-
• back-formation (#108): baby-sit, escalator, ism, enthuse, liaise
• change in formation of new words (Bauer 38--40): blends and compounds grow while suffixation and neo-classical compounds decline
• conversion of phrasal verbs to nouns (Potter 171--73): breakout, getaway, layout, leftover, setup, walkout
• generalisation of the s-plural (#121, #161, #482): thesauruses, mouses, oxes
• headless compound (#420): pickpocket, sell-out
• -ic for -ical (Barber 115): comic, botanic, politic
• monosyllabism (Potter 76--78): ad, jet, op, quake
• regularisation of irregular verb conjugations (#178, #528): dreamed for dreamt, wedded for wed
• spread of the s-genitive to non-human nouns (#425): today's newspaper, the book's cover
• suffixation for semantic differentiation (Potter 74--76): emergency / emergence, continuance / continuation / continuity
• variants of the preterite of verb (#312): dove / dived, sung / sang, swum / swam

syntax

• analytical comparison of disyllabic adjectives (#403, #456, #425; Bauer 51--61): more polite, most polite for politer, politest
• change in case inflections of personal pronouns (Bauer 88): between you and I for between you and me; than myself to avoid the choice of either I or me
• change in non-finite clausal complementation (part of "Great Complement Shift") (Leech et al. 205)
• decline of wh-relatives in AmE (#424, #425; Bauer 66--83)
• decline of whom (#622)
• decline of auxiliary verbs like shall, ought (to), need(n't) (#677)
• decline of passive constructions (Leech et al. 164)
• development of new, auxiliary-like uses of certain lexical verbs: wanna for want to,
• do-support for have in BrE: Have you any money? and No, I haven't any money → Do you have / have you got any money? and No, I don't have any money / I haven't got any money
• do-support for be (Potter 132): Why don't you be a good boy?, Why on earth doesn't the fellow be reasonable?
• due to as a compound preposition (Barber138): Due to heart-failure, he suffered an early death.
• elimination of shall as a future marker in the first person (#301)
• expansion of phrasal verbs and compound verbs (Barber 140): run down; build up, start up
• extension of the progressive to new constructions (especially modal, present perfect and past perfect passive progressives: the road would not be being built / has not been being built / had not been being built / They are remembering the days of their childhood, You are surely imagining things
• fixed order of attributive adjectives (Potter 152--56): his five short brilliant creative years
• fluctuation of prepositions in phrases (#301): different to for different from
• further auxiliation of semi-auxiliaries and modal idioms (#64): gonna, have got to, be supposed to
• gerunds as attributives (Fennell 174): the come-backing Australian tennis player, Claire X is a rapidly becoming confused mother of four
• hyphenated attributives (Potter 106--107): an off-the-cuff opinion, round-the-clock discussions, hard-to-get-at volumes
• increase in negative and verbal contractions: is'nt, it's
• increase in the number and types of multi-word verbs (expanded predicates): phrasal verbs, have / take / give a + noun
• increase in title + name: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for Mrs Thatcher, the Prime Minister, young Lambeth housewife Amy Green for Mrs Green, a young Lambeth housewife
• less use of no-negation in contrast to not-negation (Leech et al. 241)
• like, same as, and immediately as conjunctions (#312)
• longer VPs (catenatives) (Fennell 174): He appears to wish to be able to carry on being examined by the same doctor.
• more use of adjectives as adverbs (#312): They pay them pretty good.
• more zero-relatives and that-relatives (Bauer 66--83)
• more use of less instead of fewer with countable nouns: less people
• more use of the preterite for the perfect (Fennell 175): I bought a new car for I've bought a new car
• more use of the get-passive (Leech et al. 164): get frightened, get mixed
• more use of the mediopassive (Leech et al. 165): Oilcloth wears well, Thr routes are designed to bicycle in a few hours.
• (multiple) noun adjuncts (#625, #425; Potter 107--13, Fennell 175): World Court, recreation facilities, for health reasons, on efficiency grounds, weapons technology; World Heath Organization, Trades union congress centenary, New York City Ballet School instructor, railway station waiting room murder inquiry verdict
• "noun disease" (Potter 100--05): London's growth is rapid for London is growing rapidly
• number concord of collective nouns (#312; Bauer 61--66): The Government has/have been considering further tax cuts.
• omission of the definite article (Potter 144--46): (the) university, (the) Government, (the) radio, all (the) winter
• omission of have and do (Barber 136--37): we done it, they been, you seen; What you want that for?, Where you think you're going?
• omission of Do you in questions (Barber 137): Like a cigarette?, Have a drink?
• omission of that in now that and so that (Barber 138)
• placement of frequency adverbs before auxiliary verbs even if no emphasis is intended: I never have said so
• plural attributives (Bauer 48): drugs courier for drug courier
• positive tags as afterthoughts (Potter 160): We all agree on this, or do we?, We know in our hearts that we shall be rewarded, or do we?
• revival of the 'mandative' subjunctive, probably inspired by formal US usage (#312, #325, #326): we demand that she take part in the meeting
• sentences becoming shorter (Barber 143)
• sort of and kind of as adverbs (Barber 138): meaning so to speak, if that is the right word for it
• spread of 'singular' they to formal and standard usage (#275; Bauer 148): Everybody came in their car
• suppressed prepositions (Potter 140--41): agree (with), approve (of), compensate (for), protest (against), cope (with)
• syntactic contamination (#737; Barber 139): both A but also B; between A to B, comprise of
• this and that as intensive adverbs (Potter 147): It is not all that simple.

semantics

• change in usage and meaning of words (#823, #755, #301): uninterested / disinterested, literally, hopefully

pragmatics

• decline of she for ships and countries (#852)
• decline of honorific vocatives such as Mr and Sir
• democratised mode of address as by first-names (Bauer 141--45)
• increase in questions (Leech et al. 242)
• popularisation of political correctness (#115): Ms, chairperson; refuse collector
• second person plural pronouns (#312, #529): y'all, you guys

lexicon

• change in sources of new words (Bauer 35--36): English grows while French, Latin, and Greek decline
• Cockney rhyming-slang since the World Wars (Barber 103): trouble and strife (wife), half-inch (to pinch), titfer (hat)
• general growth in vocabulary (#629, #623)
• Greco-Latin scientific vocabulary and its popularisation (Potter 90--98): ISV (International Scientific Vocabulary) such as pediatrics, arthritis, euphoria, claustrophobia, inferiority complex
• growth in e-vocabulary as a result of e-revolution
• new intensifiers (Barber 123--24): smashing, shattering, wizard, bang-on, super, super-duper, massive, fabulous
• new lexical euphemisms (Barber 125): slump / depression / recession / downturn
• proper names and trade names (Barber 95--97): diesel, kodak, Hoover, Biro
• revival of old (esp. war-related) words: frigate, corvette, armour

spelling

• -ise / -ize in BrE (#314; Bauer 134--35): emphasise, criticise, characterise, summarise, specialise
• "pronunciation spelling" (#799, #825): lite, thru, warez

punctuation

• fewer exclamation marks and semi-colons (Leech et al. 245)
• growth in parenthetic sentences (Barber 143): Boxer Bill Smith (he will be twenty-four to-morrow) has signed a contract to fight. . .
• increase of quoted speech (Leech et al. 248)
• less use of apostrophes (Bauer 132--33): the 1969s
• less use of hyphens (Potter 58--59): yearbook for year-book or year book; today for to-day
• more use of quotes (Potter 56--57): to impress the uninitiated?
• preference for lowercase (Potter 59--60): neo-platonic for Neo-Platonic or neo-Platonic
• smileys and emoticons (#808): :-) and :-(
• unindented address lines (Bauer 132)

　・ Barber, Charles. Linguistic Change in Present-Day English. Alabama: U of Alabama P, 1964.
　・ Bauer, Laurie. Watching English Change: An Introduction to the Study of Linguistic Change in Standard Englishes in the Twentieth Century. Harlow: Longman, 1994.
　・ Fennell, Barbara A. A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001.
　・ Leech, Geoffrey, Marianne Hundt, Christian Mair, and Nicholas Smith. Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study. Cambridge: CUP, 2009.
　・ Potter, Simon. Changing English. London: Deutsch, 1969.
　・ 中尾 俊夫 著，児馬 修・寺島 迪子 編　『変化する英語』　ひつじ書房，2003年．

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