Lang change theorists

Question 1

What is the potential model?

Answer 1

there is an internal weakness or external pressure for a particular change

Question 2

What is the diffusion model?

Answer 2

the change starts to spread through the population

Question 3

What is the implementation model?

Answer 3

people start using the variant > it is incorporated into people’s idiolect > group/ local langs

Question 4

What is the codification model?

Answer 4

written down & subsequently put into the dictionary & accepted officially

Question 5

What did John Honey believe?

Answer 5

standards of English lang are falling
>lang = evolving all the time
>slang terms (young ppl speak entirely different to older generation)
>Honey believes grammar taught should be ‘standard English’
>contradicts himself by rejecting idea that standardisation in history was a way to force a way of speaking amongst all English speakers

Question 6

What are the 3 parodies of prescriptivism?

Answer 6

Jean Aitchison
~Damp spoon parody: laziness, you don’t do things properly , distasteful, phonological/ grammatical features we don’t like
~Crumbling castle parody: at some point in the past lang was ‘perfect’, now has detiriorated & we have to look after it to stop it getting worse
~Infectious disease parody: we catch bad usage of lang from other ppl & it spreads

Question 7

Theory of lexical gaps

Answer 7

~logical reason to create words to ‘fill a gap’
~words can be borrowed, converted or invented to fill a gap in usage and a phonological gap

Question 8

Substratum theory

Answer 8

~influence of diff forms of lang that come into contact with English affect how it changes
~through lang of non-native speakers or regional dialects
~lang from a community below ‘standard form’ comes into & is adopted by the ‘standard’
~e.g. ‘dry’

Question 9

Functional theory (Michael Halliday)

Answer 9

~lang always changes & adapts to the needs of its users
~e.g. changes in tech & industry
~words fall out of usage
~initialisms e.g. MP3 (instead of vinyl)
~colloquialisms & slang > creating new words/ new usages > then discarding them as they strive for social identity and/or personal/group expression

Question 10

What is the random fluctuation theory?

Answer 10

Hocket
* random errors & events having an influence on lang. change
* lang. changes to the constant changing context of the lang itself & its users

Question 11

Sapir-Whorf theory

Answer 11

Reflectionism = a person’s lang reflects their way of thinking
>e.g. use derogatory terms > reflects users prejudice

Determinism = if ppl can be persuaded not to use such terms but more acceptable ones
> can determine a new way of thinking
> forms the basis on which PC is formed