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english language > attitudes to language change > Flashcards

attitudes to language change Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

What are the main aims of prescriptivism?

A
  • define standardised language forms either generally e.g. Standard English, or for specific reasons
  • to formulate these in such a way that makes them easily taught and learnt
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2
Q

What are the two categories of prescriptivism?

A
  1. sticklers
  2. declinists
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3
Q

What are sticklers concerned with?

A

the incorrect use of grammar

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4
Q

What are declinists concerned with?

A

the general condition of the English Language, which they feel is crumbling like a castle

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5
Q

What are the main aims of descriptivism?

A

to describe, systematically recording and analysing the endlessly changing ways people speak and write
- they accept that language change is a natural process that is inevitable and cannot be stopped

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6
Q

Who is David Crystal?

A
  • a notorious descriptivist who suggests that ‘there is a practical, everyday reason for studying language change’
  • he’s a progressive thinker who challenges some of the criticisms of the influence of new technology on language
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7
Q

Who is Jean Aitchison?

A
  • a descriptivist who argues that ‘language like everything else gradually transforms over the centuries’
  • she used metaphors to describe people’s anxieties about language use
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8
Q

What is meant by the damp spoon metaphor?

A
  • language change is caused by laziness or sloppiness, the kind of sloppiness you get with a damp spoon being left in the sugar bowl
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9
Q

What is Aitchison’s view on the damp spoon metaphor?

A
  • it can be difficult to find evidence for this view
  • the glottal stop can be seen as lazy when it actually represents variety
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10
Q

What is meant by the crumbling castle metaphor?

A
  • sees the English Language as a beautiful old building which needs to be preserved; the English Language has been gradually and carefully created until it has reached the pinnacle of splendour
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11
Q

What is Aitchison’s view of the crumbling castle view?

A
  • there is no indication of when this golden age of language was reached
  • the view presupposes that a rigid system is better than a flexible system, but a flexible system is neccessary to cope with the changing social circumstances
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12
Q

What is meant by the infectious disease metaphor?

A
  • suggest that we ‘catch’ change from those around us
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13
Q

What is Aitchison”s view on the infectious disease view?

A
  • social contact is indeed a key driving force for language change, but people pick up change because they want to, so it shouldn’t be seen as a force which we are powerless to resist
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14
Q

What is John Humphrys view on language change?

A
  • ## “it’s not a case that language should never change, because of course it always dies, but grammar matters”
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15
Q

What is Lynne Truss’ perspective on langauge change?

A
  • a stickler
  • “it’s tough being a stickler for punctuation these days”
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16
Q

What are some strengths of prescriptivism?

A
  • helps to maintain a standard
  • having a standard language can increase intelligibility of the language, particularly for those learning English as a second or additional language
  • clarity in language can only aid communication
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17
Q

What are some strengths of descriptivism?

A
  • offers an up-to-date perspective on language change as it happens, which has more relevance in a modern society
  • this approach avoids interference with variety
  • presents variety without preference and does not discriminate
18
Q

What are the two arguments about the relationship between thought and language?

A
  1. linguistic determinism
  2. linguistic reflectionism
19
Q

What is linguistic determinism?

A
  • our language determines the thoughts and attitudes we have and the way we see the world
20
Q

What is linguistic reflectionism?

A
  • our language is a reflection of our thoughts and attitudes
21
Q

Who defined the theory of linguistic determinsm?

A

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf

22
Q

What is the ‘Sapir-Whorf hypothesis’?

A
  • the central idea of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is that language functions, not simply as a device for reporting experience, but also, and more significantly, as a way of defining experiences for its speakers
  • this means that our view of the world, our knowledge and attitudes are all shaped by the language we learn and develop
  • therefore if we don’t have the words to describe time/colou/shape, we cannot understand these concepts
23
Q

What are the two studies that Sapir and Whorf conducted to support their ideas?

A
  • The Eskimo study
  • The South American study
24
Q

What is the Eskimo study?

A
  • they studied Innuit tribes to ascertain whether their extensive vocab for snow somehow changed and shaped the way they saw the world
  • they found that indeed, they had a more complex and comprehensive understanding of snow and weather conditions
25
Q

What is the South American study?

A
  • supporting these findings are the results of research into Brazilian tribes
  • this particular tribe only have three words to describe quantity: one, two and many
  • according to Gordon, this meant they were therefore unable to understand subtleties of number and physics
26
Q

What are some arguments in support of linguistic determinism?

A
  • this theory is plausible in some aspects: it explains the way in which it is difficult to process and understand complex, abstract concepts when we don’t have the words to describe it e.g. different varieties of love or friendship
  • Genie who didn’t acquire basic language and struggled to understand ‘play’, ‘politeness’, etc supports this theory
27
Q

What are some criticism of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

A
  • doesn’t take into account the flexibility of language, we are always inventing new words to help define our ideas
  • it argues that we simply cannot learn anything which cannot be described in our language, this doesn’t account for the instinctive understanding gained through non-verbal experience
  • translatability, if each language had a completely distinct reality encoded within it, how oculd a word be translated from one language to another?
28
Q

What is meant by linguistic reflectionism?

A
  • the opposing view to this covers the idea that the language we learn and develop is a reflection of the attitudes we possess
  • it posits that we use language as a tool to enable us to express the thoughts that we have developed
  • therefore our vocabukary has been shaped over the years to best reflect our attitudes and beliefs -> we have discarded words which no longer fit our thoughts
29
Q

What are some criticisms of linguistic reflectionism?

A
  • this theory is also thought to be too biased to fully explain the interrelation between thought and words
  • it doesn’t account for the way in which the language we learn as a child can influence the experience we have
  • it also assumes that any attempt to change or ‘cleanse’ language will be unsuccessful at chnaging attitudes
30
Q

What is political correctness?

A
  • it evolved from the desire to protect the feelings of vulnerable individuals and groups: “If we change language, we change everything”
  • the basic idea was to avoid language that would degrade individuals or groups or discriminate against them on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation,etc
31
Q

What are some examples of political correctness?

A
  • Women’s professional status was brought into line with men’s by the rejection of the -ess suffix in words like waitress and manageress
  • derogatory terms like bimbo and tart were also discouraged as threats to women’s dignity
32
Q

What is Shirley and Edwin Ardener’s theory?

A
  • the dominant and muted group theory
33
Q

What is the importance of the dominant and muted group theory?

A
  • it allows us to see in more detail the way in which language is connected to social values
  • the Ardeners believe that in any culture there are more and less powerful groups
34
Q

Who are the dominant group?

A
  • the more powerful social groups who control the means of communication e.g. language, TV, the press and therefore reflect the views of this dominant group
35
Q

Who are the muted group?

A
  • other groups who aren’t in control and thus aren’t equally represented
  • they become muted as they are denied means of expressing themselves
36
Q

What happened by the late 1990s with PC?

A
  • it had lost much of its credibility
  • the question whether PC had been pushed to the point where it became not only absurd but even sometimes counter-productive, insulting and disadvantaging those whom it set out to protect
37
Q

Who are the “gatekeepers”?

A
  • people who maintain the control of the language
  • they will seek out terms that they feel are pejorative and add them to the ever-growing list of banned terms, whilst creating a ‘suitable’ alternative
38
Q

What did Steven Pinker say about PC?

A
  • Pinker coined the ‘euphemism treadmill’ which refers to the way in which many euphemisms became taboo words themselves
  • the treadmill is the constant movement of terms that are acceptable then become unacceptable
39
Q

What is an example of the euphemism treadmill?

A

toilet - lavatory - becomes bathroom or restroom

40
Q

What would reflectionism say about PC?

A
  • PC would have little impact in society as the relectionist argument essentially dismisses the value of trying to shape or change language
41
Q

What would determinism say about PC?

A
  • if people can be persuaded not to use politically incorrect terms, but ones that are seen as more acceptable, this can determine a new way of thinking, and this forms the basis on which PC is formed

english language (16 decks)

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