How languages change

In short: Languages are constantly changing in sounds, words and grammar. Change arises in speakers’ everyday use and can be observed over centuries.

In more detail: No change is decay: today’s German too is the result of many changes.

In detail

• Sound change: For example the High German consonant shift (water → Wasser).
• Vocabulary: New words arise, others vanish; loanwords add.
• Semantic change: “Awful” once meant something different.
• Grammar: Cases are simplified, for example through prepositions.
• Language contact: Migration and trade bring influences (sprachfamilien-der-welt).
• Youth language: Drives change, much disappears again.
• Standardisation: Dictionaries and school slow it but do not stop it.
• Digital: Short messages and emojis shape new ways of expression.