science

Syntactic change

Syntactic change is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Syntactic change rather than just read about it. In short: In the field of linguistics, syntactic change is change in the syntactic structure of a natural language. Description If one regards a language as vocabulary within a particular syntax (with functional items maintaining the basic structure of a sentence and with the lexical items filling in the blanks), syntactic change plays the greatest role in modifying the physiognomy of a particular language.

Key takeaways

Syntactic change belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Syntactic change to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Syntactic change from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In the field of linguistics, syntactic change is change in the syntactic structure of a natural language.

Description If one regards a language as vocabulary within a particular syntax (with functional items maintaining the basic structure of a sentence and with the lexical items filling in the blanks), syntactic change plays the greatest role in modifying the physiognomy of a particular language. Syntactic change affects grammar in its morphological and syntactic aspects and is one of the types of change observed in language change. If one pays close attention to evolutions in the realms of phonology and morphology, it becomes evident that syntactic change can also be the result of profound shifts in the shape of a language. The effect of phonological change can trigger morphological reanalysis, which can then engender changes in syntactic structures. Syntactic change is a phenomenon creating a shift in language patterns over time and is subject to cyclic drift. The morphological idiosyncrasies of today are seen as the outcome of yesterday's regular syntax. For instance, in English, the past tense of the verb to go is not goed or any other form based on the base go but went, a borrowing from the past tense of the verb to wend. Massive changes may occur both in syntax and vocabulary and are attributable to either creolization or relexification. Some theories of language change hypothesize that it occurs because the grammatical input that children receive is ambiguous and so they analyze the underlying grammatical construction in a different manner. The reanalyzed grammar may create new ambiguities, which subsequent generations may analyze in another manner. In some cases, change can happen in a cyclic manner. For example, prepositions can become reduced over time until they are reanalyzed as case markers affixed onto the adjacent nouns. The case markers, in turn, may be lost over time, which will lead to the introduction of new prepositions. An example of syntactic change in English can be seen in the development from the verb second (V2) word order, which was used before the 15th century, to the modern word order. Like other Germanic languages, Old and Middle English had V2 word order. An example from Middle English is shown here, where nu 'now' is in first position, and the verb loke 'look' is in second position.

'Now it's for every man to look to himself.' (as cited in Roberts 2007: 59) Even though V2 was lost, verb raising was maintained in the 1600s in Early Modern English. Unlike in Modern English, the verb preceded adverbs and negation, as shown in (2). That word order is still apparent in Shakespeare's writing.

See also Language change Creole language Relexification

References

Further reading Ferraresi, Gisella; Goldbach, Maria (2008). Principles of Syntactic Reconstruction. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 9789027248183.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Syntactic change

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Syntactic change claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Syntactic change before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Syntactic change ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Syntactic change

In research: Syntactic change appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Syntactic change in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Syntactic change is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Historical linguistics, Syntax, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Syntactic change outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Syntactic change in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Syntactic change means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Syntactic change out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Syntactic change in simple terms?

In the field of linguistics, syntactic change is change in the syntactic structure of a natural language. Description If one regards a language as vocabulary within a particular syntax (with functional items maintaining the basic structure of a sentence and with the lexical items filling in the bla…

Why does Syntactic change matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Syntactic change?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Syntactic change.