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2 - History of English > History of English - W01 > Flashcards

History of English - W01 Flashcards

1
Q

Saussure (Language)

A

Language is a system of systems

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2
Q

Language as a convention

A

It is always meaningful

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3
Q

Language 2 main things

A
  • System (difference - e.g. dog and dogs)
  • Convention
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4
Q

Do all human beings have language?

A

Yes

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5
Q

All Languages…

A
  • Creative and Symbolic
  • Finite sets of Discrete Sounds
  • Governed by finite set of rules (Grammar) (not essential)
  • Semantic Universals (e.g. Male, Female, Human)
  • Change Overtime
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6
Q

All Languages have Grammar

A

Different (not essential)

  • Gramm. Categories (noun, verbs)
  • Gramm. Evolution (no improvement, no complexification, no primitive language)
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7
Q

Grammar Evolution

A

Change

  • No improvement
  • No Complexification
  • No Primitive Language
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8
Q

Declension

A

Deformation of a word in a language indentifying grammatical case, number, gender.

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9
Q

Homo amat Feminem

(exemple of…)

A

Declension

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10
Q

Study of Language history because

A
  • Show Development
  • World View (Cognition + Perception of Reality)
  • Language is Cultural Construct
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11
Q

Basic Thruth about Language

A
  • Always on a way to change in a New One
  • Changes are All Logical
  • Mixture is Inevitable and Natural part of Lang Ch.
  • Changes in Different Random Directions among different Groups
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12
Q

Latin is Origin of

A
  • Portuguese
  • Romanian
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Italian
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13
Q

Diachrony

A

(through time) = evolution and change

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14
Q

Synchrony

A

(at the same time) = given system at given point in time

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15
Q

Language as a System

A

Synchronically

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16
Q

Language as a Constantly Evolving Organism

A

Diacronically

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17
Q

What Percent of pop = what percent of all languages

A

94 pc of Pop = 6 pc of Worlds Language

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18
Q

Most Spoken Language Rank

A

1 - Chinese

2 - Spanish

3 - English

French - 16

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19
Q

English as a Lingua Franca

A
  • Colonizers’ Language
  • Internation Organizations Official Lang. (EU, UN)
  • Olympics, Miss Universe
  • International Business & Technology
    • 3/4 mail, telexes, cables
    • 1/2 Scientific - technical periodicals
    • 30% info stored in Computers
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20
Q

Dialect

A

Form of language used by a speech community

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21
Q

Form of language used by a speech community

A

Dialect

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22
Q

Dialect Categories

A
  • Regiolect
  • Sociolect
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23
Q

Sociolect

A

Social Speech Patterns

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24
Q

Regional Speech Patterns

A

Regiolect (dialect)

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25
Social Speech Patterns
Sociolect (dialect)
26
Accent
Manner of Pronunciation
27
Manner of Pronunciation
Accent
28
Strandard Language
Dialect supported by an institution (convention)
29
Dialect supported by an institution (convention)
Standard Language
30
Standard Language (Exemples)
RP + BBC (Before WWII) Standard American English (Since WWII)
31
RP
Received Pronunciation (before WW2)
32
Standardization (Causes)
- Writing - Dictionaries - Industrialization - Middle class mobility and class consciousness - Spoken media
33
Localization
Identification with clan/tribe/people/ideology Nationalism
34
Truths about English
- Highly idiomatic language - Impossible Characteristics (th, vowel sounds, spelling vs pronun) - Gender of nouns determined by meaning - Grammar of great simplicity and flexibility - Vast Vocabulary
35
Demarcation of the History of English
OE: 450 - 1100 ME: 1100 - 1500 EModE: 1500 - 1800 PDE: 1800 - now
36
Germanic tribes arrive on the island
449
37
The Norman Conquest
1066
38
The Introduction of printing
1476
39
The American Revolution
1776
40
Studying Hist. of English Helps... Understand:
- Ourselves and How we think - Literature Written in Earlier Periods
41
Why does a Language Change (Motivation)
Internal or External Motivation
42
Internal Motivation (Language Change)
Intrinsic to Language System - Structural pressure - General tendencies
43
Structural Pressure
Regularities Stronger than Irregularities (which Disappear) e.g. pease-peas(zplur)-pea
44
General Tendencies
Disappearance of Declension
45
External Motivation (language change)
Social Context - Laziness (least effort) - Desire to be Different - Historical Circumstances
46
Language is Systemic
Does not live Sporadic Change
47
Language change is systemic
- Permanent alteration - Affects an entire subsystem of language - Normally irreversible, can occasionally be temporary
48
3 types of Change
- Loss of a feature - Gain of a feature - Substitution (one feature for another)
49
Factors Facilitating Language Change
- Perceived prestige - Changes in social values or perceptions - Extensive contacts with (an)other language
50
Factors Impeding language change
- Considerable changes in one subsystem stop other subsystems from changing - Writing and written literature provide ‘norms’ - Certain Types of Spoken Language (Standard American, RP)
51
Perceived prestige or the desire to belong to a social group (Example)
French borrowings: beige, garage, genre;
52
Changes in social values or perceptions (Example)
- Desexed language, political correctness - Taboo subjects & euphemisms
53
Extensive contacts with (an)other language (Example)
- Coexistence of Anglo-Saxon with Old Norse, later with Norman - - French
54
Writing and written literature provide ‘norms’ (Example)
- Influence spoken language (spoken pronunciation often) - Prescriptive grammars vs descriptive grammars
55
Changes Affecting Sub-Systems
- Phonological (Modifications of language sounds) - Lexical (+ or - words) - Semantic (word usage and meaning) - Morphological (word structure) - Syntactic (verb structure, word order, grammaticalization)
56
Graphic Change
How all Changes of Subsystems are Written Down
57
Phonological Change | (types)
Conditioned (specific phonetic env.) Unconditioned (not specific)
58
Phonological Conditionned Change
- Specific Phonetic environ. - Assimilation (-) and Dissimilation (+) - brought about by linguistic or extra-linguistic context
59
Phonological Unconditioned Change
- Can affect all occurrences of a particular sound - No specific cause factor
60
Assimilation (Phonological Change) - Example
Knight - ''night'' - (lost of k sound)
61
Dissimilation (Phonological Conditioned Change)
Purpre - Purple - (Addition of L sound)
62
Lexical Change
3 Processes - Loss - Conversion - Gain (Compounding, borrowing, derivation)
63
Semantic Change
5 distinct processes on Meaning - Generalization (broader) - Specialization (narrower) - Shift (changes) - Amelioration (+ connotation) - Pejorative (- connotation)
64
Morphological Change
2 process on word Structures 1 - Re-analysis 2 - Analogy As words are composed of sounds to form utterances, morphological change is closely related to changes in both phonology and syntax.
65
Syntactic Change
- Re-analysis - Word Order - Grammaticalization (when words lose all meaning)
66
Old English (Event)
Germanic tribes arrive on the island (449)
67
Middle English (Event)
The Norman Conquest (1066)
68
Early Modern English (Event)
Introduction of Printing (1476)
69
Present Day English (1800-now)
The American Revolution (1776)
70
English Demarcation Important Dates
* 449 – Germanic tribes arrive on the island * 1066 – the Norman Conquest * 1476 – introduction of printing * 1776 – the American Revolution
71
Example of Unconditionned Change
Rising of all vowels during the Great Vowel Shift

2 - History of English (9 decks)

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