Attitudes

Question 1

Prescriptivist view of language chnage

Answer 1

Correct form of spoken English - R.P and any other form is less educated/prestige
Lang chnage as decaying
Against creoles and pidgins - it pure
CMC corrupting young gen lang

Question 2

Descriptivist view of lang chnage

Answer 2

See lang chnage as innovating
CMC is creative - code switching
Slang + new word forms - empowering ‘Rizz from charisma’
Shows intelligence - creative, diverse
Lang chnage - natural and inevitable- never stayed same and can’t control

Question 3

Complaint tradition

Answer 3

Complain about state of lang - Lowth and Dryden

Question 4

Declinism

Answer 4

Belief that society/institution - tending towards decline - view past favourably + future negatively

Question 5

Sticklerism

Answer 5

Intrusive concern with correcting others lang

Question 6

Donald MacKinnon 1996

Answer 6

Attitudes people may have to lang use
1. Lang as correct/incorrect (Lowth/dryden/johnson)
2. Pleasant/ugly
3. Examples as socially acceptable/unacceptable (bitch - semantically reclaimed/ too taboo)
4. Morally acceptable/ unacceptable
5. Appropriate/inappropriate

Question 7

Lynne Truss

Answer 7

Prescriptivist
‘Zero tolerance’ approach to punctuation

Question 8

John Humphrys

Answer 8

Prescriptivist
CMC is ‘pillaging our punctuation’ ‘savaging our sentences’ ‘raping our vocabulary’ - need to safeguard language

Question 9

Prince Charles

Answer 9

Prescriptivist
Americanisms ruin English language

Question 10

Emma Thompson

Answer 10

Prescriptivist
Discourage use of ‘like’ in girls speech

Question 11

Katie Hopkins

Answer 11

Prescriptivist
Ban teaching of Welsh - dead lang
Sign in diff lang in Bradford ‘give me a break and put this in English’ - RACIST

Question 12

Piers Morgan

Answer 12

Prescriptivist
Mysoginsitc + traditional views - linguistic relativity ‘if a form of a language imposed on us, imposes world view rhat goes with it’

Question 13

Jean Aitchinson 1991

Answer 13

3 ways to view lang chnage
1. Decay (prescriptivist)
2. Progress (some descriptivist support)
3. Inevitability (descriptivist)
Aitchinson = descriptivist - views lang change as natural, sees it as a living entity that evolves and adapts - new forms come in, some drip out and some remain

Question 14

Aitchinson parodies of prescriptivism

Answer 14

‘Crumbling castle’ - English language is like a beautiful Home that should be preserved PROBLEM - chnage is constant so when did perfect castle exist
‘Damp spoon’ - new forms arise from sheer laziness like dipping a damp spoon back into sugar PROBLEM - only true lazy speech is drunken speech
‘Infectious disease’ - chnages in lang = contagious, ‘pick up’ new words and phrases PROBKEM - people adopt new words/forms bc they like them, it’s a choice

Question 15

David crystal

Answer 15

‘All living languages chnage’ ‘no existence apart from the people who use them’
Texting is GOOD for English language, belief that text messages are entirely abbreviated WRONG - 80% adults text, only 10% words in text messages abbreviated
Acronyms - easier communication- RSVP - been about for ages
More you text - better literacy scores, kids know difference between text speak + how to write in school

Question 16

Deborah Cameron 1995

Answer 16

Descriptivist
Prescriptivism shouldn’t be discounted shows people realise it as an important social tool + care about how it is used.
Fear about language chnage symbolises fear about social problems - people worry that decrease in standard of language = mirror declining standards in behaviour + education.
Focus on language change to make sense of bigger societal problems

Question 17

Stephen fry

Answer 17

Descriptivist
Argues there is no right or wrong language more than right or wrong clothes - context, convention + circumstance are all - attacks those who use prescriptivism.

Question 18

Miriam Margoyles

Answer 18

Descriptivist
On Graham Norton show ‘if you can make someone happy and give them a sense of themselves then do it’
Refer to they/them pronouns - initially wasn’t keen - pedant about structure of lang but became accepting of them