General Flashcards
What is etymology
The origin of words
The origin of words
Etymology
Deliberate creation of new words
Coinage/neologisms
Coinage/neologisms
Deliberate creation of new words
Taking words/concepts from other languages
Borrowing/ loan words
Borrowing / loan words
Taking words/concepts from other languages
Existing words are combined to form new words
Compounding
Compounding
Existing words are combined to form new words
Clipping
Words are shortened become the norm
Words are shortened become the norm
Clipping
Blending
Combination of clipping and compounding
Combination of clipping and compounding
Blending
Acronym
First letters are taken to form a word
Initialism
First letters are put together in a term but each letter is pronounced
Affixation
One or more free morphemes are combined with one or more bound morphemes
One or more free morphemes are combined with one or more bound morphemes
Affixation
Conversion or functional shift
Words shift from one word class to another
Words shift from one word class to another
Conversion or functional shift
Eponym
Name/brand is used to define an object
Name/brand is used to define an object
Eponym
Back formation
Verb created from a noun
Dictionary
Samuel Johnson 1955
Johnathon swift 1712
Lang change meant a decline of English, supposedly reflecting a lack of standards
Lang change meant a decline of English, supposedly reflecting a lack of standards
Who said it?
Johnathon swift 1712
Joanna Coles, guardian 1992
Political correctness is simply a new name for what, in the old days, we used to call good manners
Political correctness is simply a new name for what, in the old days, we used to call good manners
Joanna Coles, guardian, 1992
Inkhorn controversy
16-17th century Growing pride in eng lang extensive use of coining and borrowing language from Latin Greek French Spanish Italy
Considered pretentious + unnecessary
Semantic drift internal
Amelioration Pejoration Weakening Narrowing Broadening Political Correctness Euphemism
Thomas Wilson
Straunge ynkehorne terms
Inkhorn was a vessel for carrying ink- a symbol of authorial self-importance
Straunge ynkehorne terms
Inkhorn was a vessel for carrying ink- a symbol of authorial self-importance
Thomas Wilson
The process of neosemy
Words acquire new meanings
External factors
Social ideas
Cultural changes
Technology
Nice
Negatives
Interrogatives
Code usage
Emphasis
Homographs
Spelt the same but sound different
Spelt the same but sound different
Homographs
Homophones
Spelt differently but sound the same
Spelt differently but sound the same
Homophones
6th century
Roman alphabet was introduced to Britain by Christian missionaries
Did not include some consonants and had extra vowels
Phonetic language meant words were spelt differently depending on accents - variation in dialect in England
Norman conquest
Some Πletters were abandoned
Added K Q X Z
Caxton 1476
Printing press standardised spelling although was still irregular as his writing contained few inconsistencies
The great vowel shift 18th century
Gradual change of vowel pronunciation
Long vowels raised to position tongue closer to the roof of the mouth
