""Relationships examined with the help of Comparative Method""
In a study of the relationships between two languages, comparisons for all environments should be consider.
In such comparisons there are variety of inter-relationship...
1....The sounds concerned may have been maintained in both languages ,Latin P in Pater and Greek P in Pater are examples.
2...The sounds concerned may have been maintained in one language and may have UndergoneChange in the other;Latin P in Pater and Gmc.f, as in Goth. fadar,are examples.
3....the sounds concerned may have Undergone Change in both languages; the b in Latin .nebula and b in Germ. Nebel ...both come from PIE bh.
When the sounds have changed in both languages. There are variety of developments.
a....the sounds concerned may merge completely, as did PIE d and dh in ocs jadetes ''they eat'' and rudru ''red'''. Such complete mergers cause great difficulties for reconstruction.
b....the sounds may merge in part , as did medial dh and bh in Lat; ruber ''red'' with b from PIE dh, and nebula ''fog'' with b from PIE bh.
By using mergers in individual languages illustrate that the comparative method can be used to determine earlier forms, even after a number of changes. by nothing carefully the environment in which each change occurred , earlier situation can be reconstruct, unless there has been a complete merger.
''Refinement of the Comparative Method by the study of Germanic Obstruents "
- the comparative method was being refined throughout the 19th Century.
- its development can be illustrate by observing the increasing precision system of Germanic in its relation to that of Proto-Indo-European and those of the other dialects.
Grimm:
published general statements on the relations between Germanic Obstruents and those in the other languages.
Labeling
Tenus Ptk
bh dh gh Aspirate
He stated that Indo-European
T......Germanic A, Indo-European
A.....Germanic M, Indo-Euoropean
M.....Germanic T, Producing
a circular scheme
circular formation
Grimm's contemporaries soon discovered ''exceptions'''to his law, specially verner contributed a lot in re-adjusting comparative method.
As one result , linguists noted that they could no longer limit their attention to consonants and vowels but that they had to consider accent as well.
The supra segmental began to receive attention . Although some of thse were overly enthusiastic, after 1876 linguistics paid attention to the pitch and stress patterns of language, as 14 years earlier they had learned to take into accunt entire words, and several decades earlier , immediate enviornments. Accordingly , after verner, linguists dealt with all the Phonological markers of an utterance.....
"The Neo grammarian Hypothesis, a conclusion based on successful use of the Comparative Method"
A group of linguists after 1876 proclaimed that ""Sound Change takes place according to laws that admit no exception"". these linguists referred to as neo grammarians by somewhat scornful elders, proclaimed that if one assembled all the facts, and analyzed them accurately and thoroughly , one could state exceptionalness principles or laws for the development of language. this assumption is often reffered to s neo grammarian hypothesis.
the principle that sound laws operate without exceptions encouraged linguists to uncover all the facts in volve in language change , for it assured them that thorough study would yield result. inspite of occasionalPedantic excesses , the neo grammarians applied the comparative method with great skill to various problems in language.
"Use of Comparative Method for Syntactic Phenomena"
It still deals with Phonological Change.
Recent advances in syntactic study make it possible to apply the method for Syntactic Analysis also. nistead of phonological change. it can also be applied to Sementic change also Two distint comparativeconstructions may be proposed . The Construction in English like.g higher than a mountain , has the structure , adjective Pivot Standard.
A morphological marker , like -er , may or may not be used in Comparatives.
Early Germanic languages has also same structure : standard pivot adjective (SPA)The Pivot is generally indicated by the ative case ending.
Apply to the comparative method to these syntactic constructions in the NW and E Gmc. dialects
SPA......SPA
We reconstruct an ov type comparative construction SPA for Proto-Germanic for thecomparative method it can be applied to all components oflanguage in much the way it has been applied to the phonological component.
Conclusion:
The Comparative Method is used for interpreting date in historical linguists. It is of concerned with the reconstruction of earlier forms, rrelationships in languages ,aadvantages and shortcoming in the languages and obstruents in the all languages.
BY:
AQSA RIAZ
