Evaluate the idea that language can be controlled and directed

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

Language changes according to the needs of its users
Codification in the dictionary is an example of control and benign prescriptivism
Crystal - tide model (language cannot be controlled) especially spoken language
Language change happens due to social, cultural and political factors

Question 2

Para 1 - Attitudes and Attempts

Answer 2

Aitchison’s metaphors for language change eg. damp spoon, infectious disease - link to Bailey’s wave model
Post-Shakespeare playwright John Dryden attempted to control English by setting up an English Academy like the French version. eg. never ending a sentence with a preposition.
This attempt failed and highlights historically prescriptivist attitudes which place certain language above others and connote that language change is always negative and ‘ruins’ the English language
Johnson in 1755 attempted to regulate English through a 40,000 word dictionary - also failed and was considered bias

Question 3

Para 2 - Reasons for Change cannot be controlled

Answer 3

Reasons for language change cannot be controlled, and language is used to communicate, therefore language change cannot be fully controlled.
Halliday - language changes according to the needs of its users
Political events eg. Brexit cause change as lexis needs to be used to describe the event
Affixation - adding prefix eg. Remainers
Portmanteau - Brexit
To control language change the catalysts for language change would also need to be controlled.

Question 4

Para 3 - (opposition) Standardisation can be a good thing

Answer 4

Codification into the dictionary is a form of controlling written language - decides what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’ language change
For example, Brexit is in the dictionary but ‘bird’ to describe a young woman or girlfriend is not - suggests levels of acceptability
Bird- expansion of the noun bird describing a small type of animal
Benign prescriptivism - new language which is derogatory or offensive should be controlled and not formalised / not all language change is progressive

Question 5

Para 4 - Language change is harmless

Answer 5

Change that can be considered harmless eg. abbreviation, conversion and initialisation have no need to be controlled and are simply for ease and convenience
BSE has meant that these changes do not really occur in formal documents or education - mostly spoken language which cannot be controlled
eg. email change from noun to verb
abbreviating examination to exam
Initialising the BBC
Written language can be controlled in matters of linguistic importance and clarity

Question 6

Conclusion

Answer 6

Attempts to control language have traditionally been unsuccessful due to constant changes.
Can control language change in written texts
Factors which influence change cannot be controlled therefore language change cannot be fully controlled due to the lexical gaps the lang