Language and technology

Question 1

Present day english

Answer 1

20th Century. English has continued to develop and the influence of the media, technology and travel has helped to establish English as a global language.​

Question 2

How has technology caused lexical changes

Answer 2

Texting has led to users finding new and interesting ways to communicate.​

2. This saw the rise of things like ‘lol’ (laughing out loud and occasionally lots of love), ‘Imao’ (laughing my ass off) and ‘wuu2’ (what you up to?).​
3. These abbreviations are also a quicker way to convey meaning and ultimately, ease of communication is the reason for the development of text talk (sometimes known as ‘txttik’).​

Question 3

lexical gap

Answer 3

There is a logical reason to create words to ‘fill a gap’. Words can be borrowed, converted or invented in order to fill a gap in usage.​

Question 4

functional theory

Answer 4

Language always changes and adapts to the needs of the users - language therefore has a functional purpose. Changes in technology/industry often fuel the need for new words.​

Question 5

Jean Aichsons metaphor of language decay

Answer 5

1) Damp spoon syndrome: language change caused by sloppiness or laziness
2) Crumbling castle: sees language as a beautiful old building which must be carefully preserved
3) Infectious disease: we ‘catch’ change from those around us

Question 6

blending definitation use in technology

Answer 6

internet - international , network

Question 7

compounding an give an example

Answer 7

Words are combined together to form new words. These can be open, hyphenated or solid, e.g. ‘handheld’, ‘user-friendly’