On the Evolution of Language Part 1

On the Evolution of Language.

by John Wesley Powell.

Possible ideas and thoughts are vast in number. A distinct word for every distinct idea and thought would require a vast vocabulary.

The problem in language is to express many ideas and thoughts with comparatively few words.

Again, in the evolution of any language, progress is from a condition where few ideas are expressed by a few words to a higher, where many ideas are expressed by the use of many words; but the number of all possible ideas or thoughts expressed is increased greatly out of proportion with the increase of the number of words.

And still again, in all of those languages which have been most thoroughly studied, and by inference in all languages, it appears that the few original words used in any language remain as the elements for the greater number finally used. In the evolution of a language the introduction of absolutely new material is a comparatively rare phenomenon. The old material is combined and modified in many ways to form the new.

How has the small stock of words found as the basis of a language been thus combined and modified?

The way in which the old materials have been used gives rise to what will here be denominated THE GRAMMATIC PROCESSES.

I.--THE PROCESS BY COMBINATION.

Two or more words may be united to form a new one, or to perform the office of a new one, and four methods or stages of combination may be noted.

_a._ By _juxtaposition_, where the two words are placed together and yet remain as distinct words. This method is ill.u.s.trated in Chinese, where the words in the combination when taken alone seldom give a clew to their meaning when placed together.

_b._ By _compounding_, where two words are made into one, in which case the original elements of the new word remain in an unmodified condition, as in _house-top_, _rain-bow_, _tell-tale_.

_c._ By _agglutination_, in which case one or more of the elements entering into combination to form the new word is somewhat changed--the elements are fused together. Yet this modification is not so great as to essentially obscure the primitive words, as in _truthful_, where we easily recognize the original words _truth_ and _full_; and _holiday_, in which _holy_ and _day_ are recognized.

_d._ By _inflection_. Here one or more of the elements entering into the compound has been so changed that it can scarcely be recognized. There is a constant tendency to economy in speech by which words are gradually shortened as they are spoken by generation after generation. In those words which are combinations of others there are certain elements that wear out more rapidly than others. Where some particular word is combined with many other different words the tendency to modify by wear this oft-used element is great. This is more especially the case where the combined word is used in certain categories of combinations, as where particular words are used to denote tense in the verb; thus, _did_ may be used in combination with a verb to denote past time until it is worn down to the sound of _d_. The same wear occurs where particular words are used to form cases in nouns, and a variety of ill.u.s.trations might be given. These categories const.i.tute conjugations and declensions, and for convenience such combinations may be called paradigmatic. Then the oft-repeated elements of paradigmatic combinations are apt to become excessively worn and modified, so that the primitive words or themes to which they are attached seem to be but slightly changed by the addition. Under these circ.u.mstances combination is called inflection.

As a morphologic process, no well-defined plane of demarkation between these four methods of combination can be drawn, as one runs into another; but, in general, words may be said to be juxtaposed when two words being placed together the combination performs the function of a new word, while in form the two words remain separate.

Words may be said to be compound when two or more words are combined to form one, no change being made in either. Words maybe said to be agglutinated when the elementary words are changed but slightly, _i.e._, only to the extent that their original forms are not greatly obscured; and words may be said to be inflected when in the combination the oft-repeated element or formative part has been so changed that its origin is obscured. These inflections are used chiefly in the paradigmatic combinations.

In the preceding statement it has been a.s.sumed that there can be recognized, in these combinations of inflection, a theme or root, as it is sometimes called, and a formative element. The formative element is used with a great many different words to define or qualify them; that is, to indicate mode, tense, number, person, gender, etc., of verbs, nouns, and other parts of speech.

When in a language juxtaposition is the chief method of combination, there may also be distinguished two kinds of elements, in some sense corresponding to themes and formative parts. The theme is a word the meaning of which is determined by the formative word placed by it; that is, the theme is a word having many radically different meanings; with which meaning it is to be understood is determined only by the formative word, which thus serves as its label. The ways in which the theme words are thus labeled by the formative word are very curious, but the subject cannot be entered into here.

When words are combined by compounding, the formative elements cannot so readily be distinguished from the theme; nor for the purposes under immediate consideration can compounding be well separated from agglutination.

When words are combined by agglutination, theme and formative part usually appear. The formative parts are affixes; and affixes may be divided into three cla.s.ses, prefixes, suffixes, and infixes. These affixes are often called incorporated particles.

In those Indian languages where combination is chiefly by agglutination, that is, by the use of affixes, _i.e._, incorporated particles, certain parts of the conjugation of the verb, especially those which denote gender, number, and person, are effected by the use of article p.r.o.nouns; but in those languages where article p.r.o.nouns are not found the verbs are inflected to accomplish the same part of their conjugation. Perhaps, when we come more fully to study the formative elements in these more highly inflected languages, we may discover in such elements greatly modified, _i.e._, worn out, incorporated p.r.o.nouns.

II.--THE PROCESS BY VOCALIC MUTATION.

Here, in order to form a new word, one or more of the vowels of the old word are changed, as in _man--men_, where an _e_ is subst.i.tuted for _a_; _ran--run_, where _u_ is subst.i.tuted for _a_; _lead--led_, where _e_, with its proper sound, is subst.i.tuted for _ea_ with its proper sound.

This method is used to a very limited extent in English. When the history of the words in which it occurs is studied it is discovered to be but an instance of the wearing out of the different elements of combined words; but in the Hebrew this method prevails to a very large extent, and scholars have not yet been able to discover its origin in combination as they have in English. It may or may not have been an original grammatic process, but because of its importance in certain languages it has been found necessary to deal with it as a distinct and original process.

III.--THE PROCESS BY INTONATION.

In English, new words are not formed by this method, yet words are intoned for certain purposes, chiefly rhetorical. We use the rising intonation (or inflection, as it is usually called) to indicate that a question is asked, and various effects are given to speech by the various intonations of rhetoric. But this process is used in other languages to form new words with which to express new ideas. In Chinese eight distinct intonations are found, by the use of which one word may be made to express eight different ideas, or perhaps it is better to say that eight words may be made of one.

IV.--THE PROCESS BY PLACEMENT.

The place or position of a word may affect its significant use. Thus in English we say _John struck James_. By the position of those words to each other we know that John is the actor, and that James receives the action.

By the grammatic processes language is organized. Organization postulates the differentiation of organs and their combination into integers. The integers of language are sentences, and their organs are the parts of speech. Linguistic organization, then, consists in the differentiation of the parts of speech and the integration of the sentence. For example, let us take the words _John_, _father_, and _love_. _John_ is the name of an individual; _love_ is the name of a mental action, and _father_ the name of a person. We put them together, John loves father, and they express a thought; _John_ becomes a noun, and is the subject of the sentence; _love_ becomes a verb, and is the predicant; _father_ a noun, and is the object; and we now have an organized sentence. A sentence requires parts of speech, and parts of speech are such because they are used as the organic elements of a sentence.

The criteria of rank in languages are, first, grade of organization, _i.e._, the degree to which the grammatic processes and methods are specialized, and the parts of speech differentiated; second, sematologic content, that is, the body of thought which the language is competent to convey.

The grammatic processes may be used for three purposes:

First, for _derivation_, where a new word to express a new idea is made by combining two or more old words, or by changing the vowel of one word, or by changing the intonation of one word.

Second, for _modification_, a word may be qualified or defined by the processes of combination, vocalic mutation or intonation.

It should here be noted that the plane between derivation and qualification is not absolute.

Third, for _relation_. When words as signs of ideas are used together to express thought, the relation of the words must be expressed by some means. In English the relation of words is expressed both by placement and combination, _i.e._, inflection for agreement.

It should here be noted that paradigmatic inflections are used for two distinct purposes, qualification and relation. A word is qualified by inflection when the idea expressed by the inflection pertains to the idea expressed by the word inflected; thus a noun is qualified by inflection when its number and gender are expressed. A word is related by inflection when the office of the word in the sentence is pointed out thereby; thus, nouns are related by case inflections; verbs are related by inflections for gender, number, and person. All inflection for agreement is inflection for relation.

In English, three of the grammatic processes are highly specialized.

_Combination_ is used chiefly for derivation, but to some slight extent for qualification and relation in the paradigmatic categories. But its use in this manner as compared with many other languages has almost disappeared.

_Vocalic mutation_ is used to a very limited extent and only by accident, and can scarcely be said to belong to the English language.

_Intonation_ is used as a grammatic process only to a limited extent--simply to a.s.sist in forming the interrogative and imperative modes. Its use here is almost rhetorical; in all other cases it is purely rhetorical.

_Placement_ is largely used in the language, and is highly specialized, performing the office of exhibiting the relations of words to each other in the sentence; _i.e._, it is used chiefly for syntactic relation.

Thus one of the four processes does not belong to the English language; the others are highly specialized.

The purposes for which the processes are used are _derivation_, _modification_, and _syntactic relation_.

_Derivation_ is accomplished by combination.

_Modification_ is accomplished by the differentiation of adjectives and adverbs, as words, phrases, and clauses.

_Syntactic relation_ is accomplished by placement. Syntactic relation must not be confounded with the relation expressed by prepositions.

Syntactic relation is the relation of the parts of speech to each other as integral parts of a sentence. Prepositions express relations of thought of another order. They relate words to each other as words.

Placement relates words to each other as parts of speech.

In the Indian tongues combination is used for all three purposes, performing the three different functions of derivation, modification, and relation. Placement, also, is used for relation, and for both lands of relation, syntactic and prepositional.

With regard, then, to the processes and purposes for which they are used, we find in the Indian languages a low degree of specialization; processes are used for diverse purposes, and purposes are accomplished by diverse processes.