Syntactic change
Encyclopedia
In the field of linguistics
, syntactic change is the evolution of the syntax
, or structure, of a natural spoken language
. In many languages, it is most easily observed in the transformation of irregular verb forms. For instance, in English
, the past tense of the irregular verb "to go" is not "goed," which is what a non-native speaker would probably expect. Instead, the verb has undergone a syntactic change to "went," a borrowing from the past tense of the verb "to wend". Over time, syntactic change is usually the greatest modifier of a particular language.
Syntactic change is seen as creating a gradual shift in language patterns over time. It is also subject to cyclic
drift
.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, syntactic change is the evolution of the syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
, or structure, of a natural spoken language
Natural language
In the philosophy of language, a natural language is any language which arises in an unpremeditated fashion as the result of the innate facility for language possessed by the human intellect. A natural language is typically used for communication, and may be spoken, signed, or written...
. In many languages, it is most easily observed in the transformation of irregular verb forms. For instance, in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, the past tense of the irregular verb "to go" is not "goed," which is what a non-native speaker would probably expect. Instead, the verb has undergone a syntactic change to "went," a borrowing from the past tense of the verb "to wend". Over time, syntactic change is usually the greatest modifier of a particular language.
Syntactic change is seen as creating a gradual shift in language patterns over time. It is also subject to cyclic
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
drift
Drift
- Film and literature :* Drift , a 2002 Doctor Who novel* Drift , a series of Japanese films written and directed by Futoshi Jinno* Drift, 2007 experimental short film by Max Hattler* Drift , a fictional character...
.