Jump to content

Conlang/Intermediate/History/Grammar changes

From Wikibooks, open books for an open world
  Conlang  

 Intermediate/History
Common sound changes

Intermediate/History
Grammar changes

Intermediate/History
Etymology
 

Grammar changes occur when a part of the grammar of a language changes over time, so that the language evolves a new way of expressing the same idea. For example, when French evolved from Latin it did not have a fixed word order, while it now does; much information that in Latin was conveyed by use of case, is conveyed by word order in modern French. In other words, while Latin conveyed relationships between words using morphology, French does so with syntax. (Italian too)

  • Latin: Parva mensa rufa non est.
  • French: La petite table n'est pas rouge.
  • English: The little table isn't red.
  • Italian: Il tavolino non è rosso.

Processes of Grammatical Change

[edit | edit source]

Grammar changes may take place in a variety of ways:

  • Sound changes
Latin
aqua, -ae
water f.
agricola, -ae
farmer m.
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative aqua –a aquae –ae agricola –a agricolae –ae
Genitive aquae –ae aquārum –ārum agricolae –ae agricolārum –ārum
Dative aquae –ae aquīs –īs agricolae –ae agricolīs –īs
Accusative aquam –am aquās –ās agricolam –am agricolās –ās
Vocative aqua –a aquae –ae agricola –a agricolae –ae
Ablative aquā –ā aquīs –īs agricolā –ā agricolīs –īs
Locative aquae -ae aquīs –īs agricolae -ae agricolīs –īs


 Next: Etymology