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English language > Language And Change > Flashcards

Language And Change Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Diachronic variation

A

Variation through time

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2
Q

Synchronic variation

A

Variation across society at a single point in time

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3
Q

Borrowing

A

Incorporating words and phrases from another language

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4
Q

External factor

A

A factor to do with external forces. Eg. French terms came into English after the Norman conquest of 1066

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5
Q

Internal factor

A

A factor to do with the internal structure of the language system. Eg.
English used to have different sing and plural forms of you: thee and thou to address an individual or to express closeness, and ye and you to address groups or to express respect to a powerful individual

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6
Q

Blending

A

Using parts of existing words to create a new word. Eg. Bromance, shark ado

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7
Q

Compound

A

Adding two existing words together to create a new word. Eg. Laptop, headache

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8
Q

Functional theory

A

The idea that language changes because society does

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9
Q

Infix

A

A particle added to the middle of a word. Ironic twist. Eg. Hoo-bloody-ray

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10
Q

Amelioration

A

Process whereby a word or phrase develops more positive connotations

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11
Q

Determinism

A

The idea that language determines the way we think and behave

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12
Q

Reflectionism

A

The idea that language reflects the society that produces it

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13
Q

Pejoration

A

Process whereby a word or phrase develops more negative connotation

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14
Q

Sapir Whorf hypothesis

A

Language constructs our view of the world and that it is difficult or even impossible to think beyond it

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15
Q

Linguistic relativity

A

Language shapes our thinking but does not completely control it

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16
Q

John Mcworther

A

Spoken language has become more like written language. Tendency to save effort in communication

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17
Q

Semantic reclamation

A

Taking language that has had negative connotations and trying to overturn them by using the language in new ways. Eg.slut

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18
Q

Broadening

A

Process by which words acquire a broader reference. Eg. Hoover (vacuum cleaner/ brand)

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19
Q

Hegemonic

A

Culturally dominant

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20
Q

Narrowing

A

Process by which words acquire a narrower reference. Eg. Deer (used to refer to animals in general/not a specific animal)

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21
Q

Inflection

A

A morpheme on the end of a word to indicate a grammatical relationship or category

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22
Q

GVS

A

Great Vowel Shift (14-17 Century)

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23
Q

Random fluctuation theory

A

The idea that language change is not a logical and ordered process

24
Q

Driving forces of language change

A

Movement of people, technological change, war, politics, youth culture, expressive new and creativity, media, social acceptance

25
Q

Libfix

A

A liberated suffix or one which has been taken from its original content and applied to new situations. Eg. ‘-gate’ hugely productive, denotes any kind of scandal or political outrage like plebgate

26
Q

Deutscher

A

Language changes for reasons for expressiveness. People are always in the search for inventive ways of saying things that are common to human experience

27
Q

Reasons of language change according to Deutscher

A

Economy: tendency to save effort in communication. Eg. Shortening longer words, ellipsis- unnecessary grammatical elements, short cuts
analogy: tendency to regularise language use. Eg. Coined New nouns-regular pattern of pluralization, adding -s rather than -en

28
Q

Language reform

A

A term used by liberal commentators, to support the idea of conciously changing language because it is considered unfair to different groups

29
Q

Political correctness PC

A

A term used by conservative commentators to object to the idea of conciously changing language because it is considered unfair to different groups.

30
Q

Standardisation

A

The process by which a form of language is developed and used as a common code

31
Q

Codification

A

Took the form of establishing rules of spelling, drawing up definitions of word meanings and agreeing norms of grammar usage. This has remained something of a sticking point ever since, because some of the earliest grammarians often turned to Latin for grammar rules. English grammar were often not addressed head-on

32
Q

Stages of standardisation

A

Selection, elaboration, codification and implementation

33
Q

Selection

A

East Midlands dialect, area’s power-key universities, cathedrals

34
Q

Elaboration of SE

A

Used in government, science, and education

35
Q

Implementation

A

Control and maintain it. Promotion of SE- prestige form built up through the publication of books, pamphlets and newspapers, dismissal of non standard forms as inferior or uneducated.

36
Q

Jonathan Swift 1700

A

Language use must be regulated

37
Q

Coinage

A

The creation of a new word

38
Q

Acronym

A

Made up of the first letters

39
Q

Initialism

A

Letters are said individually eg. NASA

40
Q

Prescriptive attitude

A

Language is better pure, standard forms (based on dictionary and grammar books) are good whereas new language is bad

41
Q

Descriptive attitude

A

Accepts that there are many forms of language. Change is necessary in the language process

42
Q

Jean aitcheson’s language change: progress or decay

A

He is a descriptivist himself: research misses out on the tiny bits of detail and therefore fails to acknowledge the changes in progress in Lang.

Prescriptivism-slow decay:

  • Damp spoon syndrome: language change due to laziness. “
  • the crumbling castle view: language is crumbling and needs to be preserved
  • the infectious disease assumption
43
Q

Damp spoon syndrome

A
  • Drunken speech: alcohol affects coordination, and English is not getting like drunken speech
  • Faster speech: we are more likely to use more words
  • Slow speech: jerky and careful means we miss out on words we see are unnecessary to convey meaning. Eg: dunno
44
Q

Crumbling castle view

A

English was a once great castle, but over time it has decayed and crumbled.
She states this is false because the description of English as a ‘once fine language ‘ is a particularly inaccurate one, as language is constantly changing and evolving. “No year,” she said, “can be found when language achieved some peak of perfection.”

45
Q

The infectious disease

A

the careless, unthinking assimilation of the floating germs which envelop us.”
Douglas Bush – Writer – 1972
This argues that bad English is a disease and it spreads from person to person. We have no control or vaccine. Aitchison suggests that the idea that changes are caught or spread is technically correct. But it is no disease. People pick up changes in language because they want to.

46
Q

Samuel Johnson

A

1775- first dictionary- regulate and control English and secure it from decay was as pointless as trying to lash the wind. Standard English is still not officially prescribed, but discussed and debated by its users.

47
Q

David Crystal

A

‘Language has no independent existence apart from the people who use it’. Shares the same perspective as Aitchison. He created his win tide metaphor to explain language change. In this, he suggested language is like a tide, constantly changing. It flows, bringing in new words, taking out other in a natural, progressive way. Changes are not for the better or for the worse, just changes.

48
Q

Lesley Milroy

A

Described the slipping standards of English as complaint tradition when she wrote about Standard English in authority in Language in 1989. The blame for decline is often laid at the door of young people, technology and immigration. There has never been such a time period of language excellence.

49
Q

Linguistic relativity

A

Language shapes our thinking but doesn’t completely control it. Link to Sapir short hypothesis

50
Q

Example of random fluctuation theory

A

The spread of a new form of language eg. Lit which took off in use recently.

51
Q

What does language change consist of?

A
  • innovation- the creation of a new word, phrase, meaning or way of saying something, sometimes initially perceived as a mistake
  • diffusion- the spread of a feature from the original user to a wider population
52
Q

Example of language reform

A

Link to language reform:Avoid- the handicapped. Use instead- disabled people
Avoid- sub normality. Use instead- learning disability/ difficulty
If negative language could be challenged, if people could be made to think about their language choices and the implications of them, then attitudes towards this would be altered, social and political change would follow

53
Q

Give a quote from John Humphrys that argues about language change

A

The SMS vandals…are destroying our language, salvaging our sentences and rapping our vocabulary

54
Q

Complaint tradition

A

A tradition of complaining about the state of the language

55
Q

Declinism

A

The idea that language is in constant decline

56
Q

Sticklerism

A

An intrusive concern with correcting others’ language use

57
Q

Prescriptive-descriptive attitude metaphor

A

A tug of war- there is always a tension between the forces of innovation and conservatism(change and stability) just as there is always tension between the view of descriptivists and prescriptivists about what is happening, or should be happening, to language. As in a tug of war, one side may achieve dominance for a while, before the other side pulls them in the opposite direction.

English language (11 decks)

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