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English Language Paper 2 > Examples For Change > Flashcards

Examples For Change Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Examples of top down change failing

A

Jonathan Swift wanting to “fix” the English language by having a language academy. This attempt ultimately failed and other academies in countries such as Italy and Spain were also unsuccessful in fulfilling their purpose.

During William the Conquerer’s reign, French became the language of the courts and was used by the elite but it failed to spread to the ordinary people.

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2
Q

An example of a dialect that has a sense of prestige

A

Received Pronunciation (RP) is the dialect used by the BBC.

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3
Q

Examples of lexical change in reference to functional theory (technology)

A

Text (as a verb)
Blog
iPhone
Selfie

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4
Q

An example of semantic change in reference to technology

A

Mouse (the animal) and mouse (the device used in accompaniment with a computer)
Virus (something that causes illness) and virus (a computer virus)

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5
Q

An example of narrowing

A

“Meat” used to mean all food.

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6
Q

An example of broadening

A

“Butcher” used to mean slaughterer of goats

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7
Q

An example of amelioration

A

“Nice” used to mean foolish.

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8
Q

An example of perjoration

A

“Hussy” used to mean housewife.

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9
Q

An example of weakening

A

“Terrible” used to mean causing terror

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10
Q

Example of semantic change - SAD

A

Used to mean mature and trustworthy

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11
Q

Example of semantic change - GIRL

A

Used to mean young person of either sex

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12
Q

Example of semantic change - AWFUL

A

Inspiring wonder - full of awe - negative meaning

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13
Q

An example of semantic change - INMATE

A

A tenant or housemate - a prisoner

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14
Q

An example of semantic change - BULLY

A

Superb, wonderful - An unkind person

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15
Q

Example of semantic change - GAY

A

Light-hearted, joyous - happy - connotations of immorality - a term for homosexuals

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16
Q

An example of a metaphor

A

Bug=insect= to annoy someone

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17
Q

An example of a euphemism

A

Passed away=kicking the bucket=died

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18
Q

Examples of idioms

A

Break a leg
Beat around the bush
A blessing in disguise

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19
Q

An example of reflectionism (Sapir-Whorf theory)

A

“Key” in German is masculine “schlüssel” so German speakers may describe a key as “hard” and “heavy”
Key in Spanish is feminine “llave” so Spanish speakers may describe a key as “golden” and “intricate”

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20
Q

An example of Hockett’s random fluctuation theory

A

The misspelling of “owned” as “pwned” has become a common term in the gaming community.

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21
Q

An example of lexical gap theory

A

There is a term for when a child loses their parent (orphan) but there is not a term for when a parent loses a child.

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22
Q

Examples of French words that have entered our language

A

Duke
Parliament
Crime
Dress
Poem

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23
Q

Examples of words borrowed from Latin

A

Species
History
Scripture

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24
Q

Examples of compounding

A

Ice cream
Toothbrush
Thumbprint

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25
Q

Examples of back formation

A

Edit formed from editor
Choreograph formed from choreography

26
Q

Examples of blends

A

Smog
Staycation
Hangry
Workaholic

27
Q

Example of conversion

A

Text (noun)
To text (verb)

28
Q

Examples of clipping

A

Telephone - phone
Influenza - flu
Bicycle - bike
Photograph - photo

29
Q

Examples of initialisms

A

BBC
FBI

30
Q

Examples of acronyms

A

NASA
NATO
SCUBA

31
Q

Examples of affixation

A

Selfless
Hyperactive

32
Q

An example of change from above

A

Political correctness

33
Q

Examples of gender neutral job titles

A

Headmaster/mistress - principal or head teacher
Fireman/firewoman - firefighter
Policeman/policewoman - police officer

34
Q

An example of semantic reclamation

A

The word “bitch” is now used as a sisterhood term in female rap music or between female friends instead of in a misogynistic way.

35
Q

Examples of Webster’s American spelling reforms

A

Colour - color
Defence - defense
Theatre - theater
Capitalise - capitalize

36
Q

An example of a homograph

A

Wind = a gust of wind or the verb to wind up

37
Q

Examples of homophones

A

Through and threw

38
Q

An example of schwa

A

Uhbout rather than about

39
Q

An example of Th-fronting

A

“Fink” rather than “think”

40
Q

An example of assimilation

A

“Hanbag” instead of “handbag”

41
Q

Examples of loan words form 8th-11th centuries as a result of invasions from other countries

A

Scandinavia - skirt, cog and, skip
French - accompany, department, tax

42
Q

Examples of loan words from the 16th-17th centuries as a result of Latin and Greek writers

A

Latin - benefit, temperature and the prefixes sub and trans
Greek - catastrophe, pneumonia and the morphemes auto and pan

43
Q

Examples of loan words from the 18th-19th centuries as a result the British Empire

A

Malaysia - amok
India - shampoo

44
Q

Examples of loan words from 20th century as a result of immigration to the UK and two world wars

A

China - wok
The world wars exposed our language to contact with countries from around the world
Post-war affluence led to a rise in travel and increased contact with other cultures

45
Q

Example of politically correct language

A

Use ‘wheelchair user’ instead of ‘wheelchair bound’

46
Q

Examples of omission

A
  • When speaking at speed some sounds within a group of sounds may be left out e.g. George bang(ed) the drum (past tense markers might be omitted in normal colloquial speech)
  • Makes language more fluent and flow more easily so it is not ‘lazy’
    e.g. omitted the ‘t’ in ‘whistle’
47
Q

Example of change in consonant use

A
  • Before the 19th century, -ing was generally pronounced -in even by the middle and upper classes e.g. Walkin’
  • Nowadays this is associated with the lower class
48
Q

Examples of the Queen’s pronunciation

A

‘hand’ pronounced more like ‘hend’
‘tissue’ pronounced more like ‘tisyu’

49
Q

What do CMC texts tend to involve?

A
  • Increased interactivity
  • Multi modal texts
  • Text-image cohesion
  • Intertextuality
  • Collaborative writing/multiple authors
50
Q

The Queens English Society, 1972

A
  • A charity that aims to keep the English language safe from perceived declining standards
  • They treat English as an object to be defended and owned
51
Q

Example of grammatical change

A

Double negations: used to be common in English but is now considered non-standard English e.g. I don’t want nothing

52
Q

An example of a lost superlative

A

Properest - Superlatives such as this one were grammatically accepted but in Present Day English you’d use ‘most proper’

53
Q

An example of a multiple comparative

A

More cleverer (used in the 19th century)

54
Q

Examples of changes in word function

A

Tech - nouns (text, email, Facebook) become verbs

Americanisms - adjectives used instead of adverbs e.g. I’m good!

55
Q

Examples of contemporary English

A

Adverb ‘well’ used as an intensifying adverb e.g. ‘That was well good’
Tag question ‘isn’t it’ is often shortened to the slang ‘innit’
1990s - intensifying adverb ‘so’ used with ‘not’ e.g. ‘I’m so not OK’

56
Q

Examples of 18th century grammar rules (Robert Lowth ‘short introduction to English grammar’)

A

Pronoun ‘thou’ should no longer be used
No split infinitives e.g. to quickly walk
There should be a differentiation between ‘who’, ‘which’ and ‘that’

57
Q

Why were contractions popular in the 18th century?

A

Due to their use in poetry

58
Q

An example of a significant event in standardisation

A

Caxton’s printing press, 1476
- The first ever printing press
- Meant that identical copies of a text could be produced and this allowed for standardisation
- Caxton decided which spelling to use
- He chose the dialects used in courts, universities like Oxford and Cambridge - this gave the dialect a sense of prestige
- Everyone was reading the same form of English
- Provided a benchmark standard of English

59
Q

Examples of features of EFL (English as a lingua Franca)

A
  • Dropping 3rd person present simple -s
  • Using frequently used verbs of high semantic generality - ‘do’, ‘have’, ‘make’, ‘put’, ‘take’
  • Explicit statements e.g. ‘how long time’
60
Q

Example of the Great Vowel Shift evident in spelling

A

Blood was spelt as ‘blod’ in Middle English but was later spelt as ‘blud’ reflecting the move towards the long vowel

61
Q

Examples of perceived difficulty with the spelling system

A
  • Some words have silent letters e.g. knight
  • Some words are spelt the same but sound different (homographs)
  • Some words are spelt differently but are pronounced the same (homophones)

English Language Paper 2 (13 decks)

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