Key Terms

Question 1

Coinage/Neologism

Answer 1

The deliberate creation of a new word.
(This is not a common process of word formation)

Question 2

Borrowing/Loan Words

Answer 2

Borrowing of words/concepts from other languages.
Words are either anglicised (so that we no longer recognise them as loan words) or they may retain their original spelling or phonology.

Question 3

Compounding

Answer 3

Words are combined together to form new words.
These can be open, hyphenated or solid.

Question 4

Clipping

Answer 4

Words are shortened and the shortened form becomes the norm.
(E.g Phone or Bus)

Question 5

Blending

Answer 5

A combination of clipping and compounding:
Words are abbreviated and joined together to form a new word.
(E.g Moped (Motor + Pedal)

Question 6

Acronym

Answer 6

First letters are taken from a series of words to create a new term.
(E.g NATO)

Question 7

Initialism

Answer 7

The first letters from a series of words form a new term, but each letter is pronounced.
(E.g OMG or CD)

Question 8

Affixation

Answer 8

One or more free morphemes are combined with one or more bound morphemes.
(E.g Disinterest)

Question 9

Conversion or Functional Shift

Answer 9

A word shifts from one word class to another, usually from a noun to a verb.
(E.g Text or Network)

Question 10

Eponym

Answer 10

Names of a person or company are used to define particular objects.
Often they are the inventors or distributors of the object.
(E.g Boycott)

Question 11

Back Formation

Answer 11

A verb is created from an existing noun by removing a suffix.
(E.g Locate- from Location)

Question 12

Samuel Johnson

Answer 12

He made the dictionary in 1755.

Question 13

The Inkhorn Controversy

Answer 13

Terms that were considered pretentious and artificial (e.g Guard, Inherit and Banana etc) but they enabled creativity and many writers made use of these terms, including Shakespeare, who is said to have introduced over 1700 ‘new’ words.
However, those opposing these terms believe that they would ‘corrupt’ the English language as they were seen as merely fashionable, likely to fall as quickly out of use as they had come into use.

Question 14

Generalisation/Broadening

Answer 14

The meaning of a word broadens so that it retains its old meaning but also takes on added meaning(s).
(E.g Holiday- originally from ‘holy-day’)

Question 15

Specialising/Narrowing

Answer 15

The opposite of broadening- a word becomes more specific in meaning.
(E.g Meat- the Old English ‘mete’ used to mean food in general but now refers to a specific type of food)

Question 16

Amelioration

Answer 16

Over time a word acquires a more pleasant or more positive meaning.
(E.g Pretty- used to mean sly or cunning)

Question 17

Pejoration

Answer 17

The opposite of amelioration- over time a word becomes less favourable.
(E.g Villain- used to mean ‘farm worker’)

Question 18

Weakening/Bleaching

Answer 18

The loss or reduction of the force of meaning of a word.
(E.g Thing- in Old English, this referred to a meeting or assembly but now can refer to an unspecified object or anything)

Question 19

Metaphor

Answer 19

Words acquire additional meanings as physical ideas are extended to abstract ideas with similar qualities, allowing abstract ideas to be more clearly understood.
(E.g Grasp- to physically grasp something or to grasp an idea)

Question 20

Euphemism

Answer 20

The creation of polite, but roundabout, expressions for things that may be considered unpleasant.
(E.g Collateral Damage, to refer to military action that results in the unintentional death of civilians)

Question 21

Polysemy

Answer 21

Words acquire many possible meanings, which coexist with the original.
(E.g Milk/Milking it, where milking it has evolved from the verb to milk in its original sense)

Question 22

The Great Vowel Shift

Answer 22

A gradual changing of vowel pronunciation, where the production of long vowels was raised so that the position of the tongue moved closer to the roof of the mouth.
This therefore led to a widening gap between grapheme and phoneme correspondence.

Question 23

Standardisation
(Selection)

Answer 23

Language selected- variety selected is usually a prestigious one.

Question 24

Standardisation
(Codification)

Answer 24

Reduction of internal variability, establishment of norms of lexis, grammatical structures and spelling.

Question 25

Standardisation
(Elaboration)

Answer 25

The selected language is developed for a variety of purposes.
This may involve expansion of linguistic resources.

Question 26

Standardisation
(Implementation)

Answer 26

The standard language must be given currency by making texts available in it, encouraging users to develop pride and loyalty.

Question 27

Damp Spoon Syndrome
(Jean Aitchison 2013)

Answer 27

Suggests that language change is caused by sloppiness or laziness, the kind of sloppiness you get with a damp spoon being left in the sugar bowl.

Question 28

Crumbling Castle
(Jean Aitchison 2013)

Answer 28

This view sees the English language as a beautiful old building which needs to be preserved; the English language has been gradually and carefully created until it has reached the pinnacle of splendour.

Question 29

Infectious Disease
(Jean Aitchison 2013)

Answer 29

Suggests that we ‘catch’ change from those around us.