Concepts Flashcards
Dr Johnson
- Published his dictionary of English Language in 1755 + was met with huge acclaim as a milestone in lexicography.
- Contributed to standardising spelling + establishing fixed meanings for words + phrases.
- Dictionary extremely popular + used as reference text.
- However, choice of literary sources to evidence his definitions was drawn from English writers between 1580 - 1666.
- Highly subjective approach stemmed from his reaction of French influences in later period.
Prescriptivism
- Assumes a higher value for one form of language than another.
- Imposes an authoritarian stance demanding the imposition of language rules such as never ending a sentence with a preposition.
- States there’s a correct way to use language + any deviation is incorrect.
Descriptivism
- Doesn’t make value judgements about language usage.
- Rather, it describes variations + attempts to explain factors that account for linguistic difference.
- For instance, descriptivists explore social + cultural influences on changes in pronunciation rather than judging one variation to be correct.
Milroy + Milroy (1999) - Standardisation
- Suggests the process of standardisation is ‘an idea in the mind rather than a reality.’
Trudgill, Crystal + Fairclough - Standardisation
- Claim Standard English is an assertion of social power +, as social hierarchies of power alter, the standard changes shape.
• Process of standardisation + emergence of Modern English are intertwined with changes in British society: as societies change, languages change.
Einar Haugen’s Model of the Process of Standardisation
- Selection: variety of language selected to be standard. One existing variety of lang / dialect chosen- usually reflects most powerful groups in society. Overt prestige evident in choice of words + grammatical structures for standard lang.
- Codification: dictionaries + grammar refer to uniform lexical + grammatical features which inform a standard language.
- Elaboration: standard is applied to range of functions which allow it to be used more widely. Dominant emerging dialect is elaborated to communicate effectively in range of contexts. Expansion of polysemy was important to ensure English could provide sufficient words to describe every idea. Between 1500 - 1700, estimated over 30,000 new words, or neologisms, were added: Shakespeare, for instance, turned nouns into verbs, imposed semantic change, changed verbs into adjectives, hyphenated compounds such as ‘hugger-mugger’ + added prefixes + suffixed to affect semantic shifts. For instance, use of prefix ‘un’ transforms meaning in newly coined verb, ‘unfriended’: King Lear describes his daughter as ‘unfriended, new-adopted to our hate’. Interestingly, current tech change has afforded a parallel elaboration in form of ‘unfriended’ as a verb: users of social media ‘Facebook’ will be familiar with term as means of discarding contacts on site.
- Implementation: standard is imposed + variations of standard are removed or ascribed low prestige.
Halliday - role of science + its impact on grammar
- Suggests the change in grammatical structures represented a change in scientific views of the world from the subjective to the objective.
- Language is therefore instrumental in shaping + influencing scientific study.
Harris (1993) - role of science + its impact on irregular / strong verbs
- Having undergone change since Old English Period, irregular verb system was simplified further in both literary + vernacular English in 18th century.
Trudgill (2002) - role of science + its impact on irregular / strong verbs
- Language change is influenced by low status dialects: such as simplification of irregular verbs + their influence on Standard English
- Example: past participle of verb ‘to do’ is used in place of past tense in spoken English: ‘I done that.’
- Possible that this might emerge as standard form in future if majority of users adopt this form.
Labour (1994) - role of science + its impact on irregular / strong verbs
- Claims that language changes in two distinct ways.
- Recognises change that originates unconsciously from low social groups, but also identifies role of conscious change imposed by socially powerful groups.
Cheshire + Milroy (1993) - role of science + its impact on irregular / strong verbs
- Since non-standard forms of English weren’t codified / standardised into ‘norm’, they underwent diff processes of language changes that resulted in more regular forms
- Example: negative form ‘weren’t’ is regularised for all subjects in Outer Banks area of North Carolina, USA.
Tagliamonte et al (2004) - role of science + its impact on irregular / strong verbs
- Changing use of ‘must’. ‘Must’ as term of obligation: ‘You must clean your room’ is declining in use while other meanings such as drawing conclusions are frequently used: ‘you must be exhausted’.
- ‘Must’ now replaced by ‘got to’.
Jonathan Swift - codification of English
• Jonathan Swift + others in 18th century worried English would disintegrate into an unintelligent form- in their view political + social order were inextricably entwined in lang.
• Swift recommended creation of an academy (to prescribe correct form of English) to regulate English in 1712- not adopted.
Dr Samuel Johnson - codification of English
- Focused on importance of codifying lang by creating dictionary of English.
- Takes a prescriptivist approach to language.
- Describes English language as ‘copious without order’ + ‘confusion to be regulated’- classical approach to restore order to the way that people should use language.
- Adopts the position of ‘protector’ of English, making sure rules modelled on grammar of Latin are used in English- similar to past grammarians.
- Asserts overt prestige of a specific code of English in contrast to that used at bottom of 18th century social hierarchy, ‘fugitive cant’.
Herring (2007) - language change + technology
- Users shape digital meaning according to the factors they both afford + constraint.
- Example: users can manipulate mobile phone tech to send text messages, but are constrained by small screen + potential cost of texts.
Caxton’s Printing Press - orthographic change
- In 15th century facilitated a great deal of standardisation in spelling.
• However, factors that influenced spelling decisions weren’t always informed by prior usage - Example: inclusion of ‘s’ in ‘island’ is a mistake by Dutch printers who were unfamiliar with Old English etymology + mistakenly thought it was derived from Latin, resulting in current spelling + mismatched pronunciation.
Noah Webster - orthographic change
‘American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)’ didn’t consider differences in American + English pronunciation.
* Dictionary was an attempt to define an American linguistic + nationalist identity + yet different spellings he created were purely visual + didn’t mirror differences in speech.
Caxton’s Printing Press - implementation of Standard English
- Being introduced in 15th century was a powerful motor behind spread of south-east dialect.
- Since written form is main form is standardised English, volume of printed literary tracts gradually invested this dialect with highest social prestige.
King James Bible 1611 - implementation of Standard English
- Continued implementation of phrases + words that are still used today.
Crystal (2010) - implementation of Standard English
- Identified 257 commonly used expressions in King James Bible, but insists they’re used in multitude of different, often non-religious contexts.
Dr Johnson - language change in spoken English : accent.
- Extended prescriptive approach to writing + not speech.
Thomas Sheridan - language change in spoken English : accent.
- Focused on spoken English in pronunciation.
- In 1762, wrote ‘A Course of Lectures on Elocution’- argued pronunciation of court is of higher value than pronunciation used in other accents.
- Views of an elite London accent were very popular.
Peter Trudgill (1983) - language change in spoken English : accent
- Defines Standard English as ‘dialect of education’.
- Although Standard English could be spoken with any accent, 19th century witnesses emergence of prescribed ‘educated accent.’
Alexander Ellis (1869) - language change in spoken English : accent.
- Defined RP as ‘a standard of pronunciation which should be acknowledged + followed throughout the countries where English is spoken’.
Giles + Powesland (1975) - language change in spoken English : accent.
- Conducted research into how different accents were perceived.
- RP consistently given highest value judgment- associated with intelligence, leadership + self-confidence.
- Educated Scottish second in prestige, followed closely by varieties of Welsh + Irish.
- Urban working-class accents of Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, + London were ascribed least social prestige.
Anne Fabricus (2002) - language change in spoken English : accent.
- Glottal stop no longer a socially pejorative form + was most marked by students from London- suggesting capital was a source of linguistic innovation + change.
Trudgill (2002) - language change in spoken English : accent.
- Asserts there’s a continuance of discrimination towards what are considered socially less prestigious accents- reflective of continuation of British class divisions.
Cameron (2002) - language change in spoken English : accent.
- Employers + examiners commented on ‘poor communication skills’ of people ‘because they used non-standard grammar’ or had ‘broad accents’.
Coupland (1988) - contemporary language change : dialect levelling.
Identifies features that have moved into common use as a result of this process:
• Multiple Negation: ‘I didn’t go nowhere with no one’.
• ‘Never’ as negative in past tense: ‘I never saw him’.
• ‘Them’ as demonstrative determiner: ‘I don’t like them cars’.
• Plurals not signified: ‘I’ll have two box of apples’.
• Use of ‘good’ as adverb in addition to its use as adjective (e.g. ‘the good girl’ - ‘the girl done good.’)
• Omission of prepositions: ‘I’m going up town’.
• Modification of reflux pronouns: ‘he did it hisself’.
David Crystal - contemporary language change + technology.
- Believes in the future people will adopt bidialectalism + that speakers will switch between 2 dialects of English: one will be their regional dialect + other will be a more international variety used to communicate with English speakers globally.
Halliday’s Functional Theory
- Suggests that language always changes and
adapts to the needs of its users. - Changes in technology + industry often fuel need for new words.
- Words fall out of usage (e.g. ‘vinyl’ for records + are replaced by initialisms such as MP3.)
*Colloquialisms + slang also manifests changes, creating new words / new usages + then discarding them as they strive for social
identity +/or personal/ group expression.
Chen (1968 + 1972) - S curve model
- S Curve model is based on idea that language
change can occur at a slow pace creating the initial curve of the ‘S’ + then increases speed as it becomes more common + accepted into the language. - This can then slow down + again + level out once it has fully integrated into the language + is widely used.
- This model is based on Chen- asserted that users would pick up a language change at a certain rate before spreading into wider language usage and then slowing.
- Change can be measured on a chart + will
produce a curve resembling the letter ‘s.’
Charles Hackett Random fluctuation theory (1958)
- ‘Fashions in language are as unpredictable as fashions in clothes’
- Charles Hockett devised a theory that put significance on random errors + events as having an influence on language change.
- Suggesting that language change occurs due to the unstable nature of language itself.
- The theory suggests that changes that occur within language do so to the constant changing context of language itself + its users.
-
Example: word ‘book’ became a replacement for word ‘cool’ due to mobile phone
predictive text corrections, which is a random way for a word to have changed usage.
