Changes in the meaning of words from Old to Modern English.

MEG – 04: Aspects of Language

ASSIGNMENT 2019 - 2020

                                                                          Max. Marks: 100

2. Write short notes on any four of the following, giving examples as far as possible:

i) Changes in the meaning of words from Old to Modern English. 

Answer.: Generation by generation, pronunciations evolve, new words are borrowed or invented, the meaning of old words drifts, and morphology develops or decays. The rate of change varies, but whether the changes are faster or slower, they build up until the "mother tongue" becomes arbitrarily distant and different. After a thousand years, the original and new languages will not be mutually intelligible. After ten thousand years, the relationship will be essentially indistinguishable from chance relationships between historically unrelated languages.

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