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Edward Sapir (18841939). Language: An Introduction to the Study o Speech. 19!1.

I". How Languages Influence Each Other

LA#$%A$ES&'ie cu'ture& are rare'y uicient unto the*e'+e. ,he neceitie o

intercoure -ring the peaer o one 'anguage into direct or indirect contact with thoe o

neigh-oring or cu'tura''y do*inant 'anguage. ,he intercoure *ay -e riend'y or hoti'e.

It *ay *o+e on the hu*dru* p'ane o -uine and trade re'ation or it *ay conit o a

-orrowing or interchange o piritua' goodart& cience& re'igion. It wou'd -e diicu't to

point to a co*p'ete'y io'ated 'anguage or dia'ect& 'eat o a'' a*ong the pri*iti+e peop'e.

,he tri-e i oten o *a'' that inter*arriage with a'ien tri-e that pea other dia'ect or

e+en tota''y unre'ated 'anguage are not unco**on. It *ay e+en -e dou-ted whether

inter*arriage& intertri-a' trade& and genera' cu'tura' interchange are not o greater re'ati+e

igniicance on pri*iti+e 'e+e' than on our own. /hate+er the degree or nature o contact

-etween neigh-oring peop'e& it i genera''y uicient to 'ead to o*e ind o 'inguitic

interin'uencing. 0reuent'y the in'uence run hea+i'y in one direction. ,he 'anguage o a

peop'e that i 'ooed upon a a center o cu'ture i natura''y ar *ore 'ie'y to e2ert anapprecia-'e in'uence on other 'anguage poen in it +icinity than to -e in'uenced -y

the*. hinee ha 'ooded the +oca-u'arie o orean& apanee& and Anna*ite or

centurie& -ut ha recei+ed nothing in return. In the wetern Europe o *edie+a' and

*odern ti*e 0rench ha e2ercied a i*i'ar& though pro-a-'y a 'e o+erwhe'*ing&

in'uence. Eng'ih -orrowed an i**ene nu*-er o word ro* the 0rench o the #or*an

in+ader& 'ater a'o ro* the court 0rench o I'e de 0rance& appropriated a certain nu*-er

o ai2ed e'e*ent o deri+ationa' +a'ue (e.g.& -essoprincess, -ardo drunkard,

-tyo royalty)& *ay ha+e -een o*ewhat ti*u'ated in it genera' ana'ytic drit -y contact

with 0rench& 1and e+en a''owed 0rench to *odiy it phonetic pattern 'ight'y (e.g.&

initia' vandjin word 'ie vealandjudge;in word o Ang'o5Sa2on origin vandjcan

on'y occur ater +owe'& e.g.& over, hedge). 6ut Eng'ih ha e2erted practica''y noin'uence on 0rench.

1

,he i*p'et ind o in'uence that one 'anguage *ay e2ert on another i the

7-orrowing o word. /hen there i cu'tura' -orrowing there i a'way the 'ie'ihood

that the aociated word *ay -e -orrowed too. /hen the ear'y $er*anic peop'e o

northern Europe irt 'earned o wine5cu'ture and o pa+ed treet ro* their co**ercia'

or war'ie contact with the o*an& it wa on'y natura' that they hou'd adopt the Latin

word or the trange -e+erage (vinum,Eng'ih wine,$er*an Wein) and the una*i'iar

type o road (strata [via],Eng'ihstreet,$er*an Strasse). Later& when hritianity wa

introduced into Eng'and& a nu*-er o aociated word& uch a bishopand angel,ound

their way into Eng'ih. And o the proce ha continued uninterrupted'y down to the

preent day& each cu'tura' wa+e -ringing to the 'anguage a new depoit o 'oan5word. ,hecareu' tudy o uch 'oan5word contitute an intereting co**entary on the hitory o

cu'ture. ne can a'*ot eti*ate the r;'e which +ariou peop'e ha+e p'ayed in the

de+e'op*ent and pread o cu'tura' idea -y taing note o the e2tent to which their

+oca-u'arie ha+e i'tered into thoe o other peop'e. /hen we rea'i

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0rench in into a econdary poition. It i a 'itt'e diappointing to 'earn that the genera'

cu'tura' in'uence o Eng'ih ha o ar -een a'' -ut neg'igi-'e. ,he Eng'ih 'anguage ite'

i preading -ecaue the Eng'ih ha+e co'oni

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,i-et& yet it i trange how ew Sanrit word ha+e ound their way into the 'anguage.

,i-etan wa high'y reitant to the po'yy''a-ic word o Sanrit -ecaue they cou'd not

auto*atica''y a'' into igniicant y''a-'e& a they hou'd ha+e in order to atiy the

,i-etan ee'ing or or*. ,i-etan wa thereore dri+en to tran'ating the great *aority o

thee Sanrit word into nati+e eui+a'ent. ,he ,i-etan cra+ing or or* wa atiied&

though the 'itera''y tran'ated oreign ter* *ut oten ha+e done +io'ence to genuine

,i-etan idio*. E+en the proper na*e o the Sanrit origina' were careu''y tran'ated&e'e*ent or e'e*ent& into ,i-etanC e.g.& Suryagarbha7Sun5-oo*ed wa careu''y

,i-etaniere are a ew e2a*p'e. ,he $er*anic

'anguage a a who'e ha+e not de+e'oped naa'i

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thee cononant in accordance with what ee* to ha+e -een a genera' $er*anic

phonetic dritB E+en *ore triing than thee intance i the pecu'iar ree*-'ance& in

certain pecia' phonetic repect& o uian and other S'a+ic 'anguage to the unre'ated

%ra'5A'taic 'anguage Fo the Go'ga region. ,he pecu'iar& du'' +owe'& or intance& nown

in uian a 7yeri Hha %ra'5A'taic ana'ogue& -ut i entire'y wanting in $er*anic&

$ree& Ar*enian& and Indo5Iranian& the nearet Indo5European congener o S'a+ic. /e

*ay at 'eat upect that the S'a+ic +owe' i not hitorica''y unconnected with it %ra'5A'taic para''e'. ne o the *ot puow are we to e2p'ain thee and hundred o i*i'ar phonetic con+ergenceB In

particu'ar cae we *ay rea''y -e dea'ing with archaic i*i'aritie due to a genetic

re'ationhip that it i -eyond our preent power to de*ontrate. 6ut thi interpretation wi''

not get u ar. It *ut -e ru'ed entire'y out o court& or intance& in two o the three

European e2a*p'e I ha+e intancedC -oth naa'i

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and 6 ha+e an i*portant phonetic trait in co**on. E+entua''y their phonetic yte*&

udged a *ere ae*-'age o ound& *ight e+en -eco*e co*p'ete'y ai*i'ated to

each other& though thi i an e2tre*e cae hard'y e+er rea'iad Eng'ih e+o'+ed a new uture

on the *ode' o the ynthetic uture in 0rench or had it -orrowed ro* Latin and $ree

their e*p'oy*ent o redup'ication a a unctiona' de+ice (Latin tango tetigi;$ree leipo

leloipa)& we hou'd ha+e the right to pea o true *orpho'ogica' in'uence. 6ut uch ar5

reaching in'uence are not de*ontra-'e. /ithin the who'e coure o the hitory o the

Eng'ih 'anguage we can hard'y point to one i*portant *orpho'ogica' change that wa not

deter*ined -y the nati+e drit& though here and there we *ay ur*ie that thi drit wa

hatened a 'itt'e -y the uggeti+e in'uence o 0rench or*. 9

1/

It i i*portant to rea'i

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unuua' degree o cu'tura' contact& condition that do not happen to -e rea'ia*itic& to the +ariou Soudanee 'anguage& to ?a'ayo5=o'yneian and ?on5

h*er11and ?unda&1!to Atha-aan and ,'ingit and >aida. /e *ut not a''ow

oure'+e to -e rightened away -y the ti*idity o the pecia'it& who are oten nota-'y

'acing in the ene o what I ha+e ca''ed 7contrati+e perpecti+e.

1#

Atte*pt ha+e o*eti*e -een *ade to e2p'ain the ditri-ution o thee unda*enta'tructura' eature -y the theory o diuion. /e now that *yth& re'igiou idea& type

o ocia' organi

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the autono*ou drit o 'anguage& not to the co*p'icating eect o ing'e& diued

eature that c'uter now thi way& now that. Language i pro-a-'y the *ot e'5

contained& the *ot *ai+e'y reitant o a'' ocia' pheno*ena. It i eaier to i'' it o

than to diintegrate it indi+idua' or*.

Note 1. ,he ear'ier tudent o Eng'ih& howe+er& gro'y e2aggerated the genera'

7diintegrating eect o 0rench on *idd'e Eng'ih. Eng'ih wa *o+ing at toward a*ore ana'ytic tructure 'ong -eore the 0rench in'uence et in. M-acN

Note 2. 0or we ti'' na*e our new cientiic intru*ent and patent *edicine ro*

$ree and Latin. M-acN

Note 3. ne *ight a'' -ut ay& 7ha -orrowed at a''. M-acN

Note 4. See page !KH. M-acN

Note 5. %gro50innic and ,urih (,artar). M-acN

Note 6. =ro-a-'y& in Sweet@ ter*ino'ogy& high5-ac (or& -etter& -etween -ac and

7*i2ed poition)5narrow5unrounded. It genera''y correpond to an Indo5European

'ong u!M-acN

Note 7. ,here ee* to -e ana'ogou or part'y ana'ogou ound in certain 'anguage o

the aucau. M-acN

Note 8. ,hi can actua''y -e de*ontrated or one o the Atha-aan dia'ect o the

Juon. M-acN

Note 9. In the phere o ynta2 one *ay point to certain 0rench and Latin in'uence& -ut

it i dou-tu' i they e+er reached deeper than the written 'anguage. ?uch o thi type o

in'uence -e'ong rather to 'iterary ty'e than to *orpho'ogy proper. M-acN

Note 1. See page 1H3. M-acN

Note 11. A group o 'anguage poen in outheatern Aia& o which h*er

(a*-odgian) i the -et nown repreentati+e. M-acNNote 12. A group o 'anguage poen in northeatern India. M-acN

Note 13. I ha+e in *ind& e.g.& the preence o potpoition in %pper hinoo& a eature

that i c'ear'y due to the in'uence o neigh-oring Sahaptin 'anguageC or the ue -y

,ae'*a o intru*enta' prei2e& which are 'ie'y to ha+e -een uggeted -y

neigh-oring 7>oan 'anguage (Shata& aro). M-acN

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