Language Change Flashcards
What are the three prescriptive discourses around language change?
Infectious disease, damp spoon and crumbling castle.
What is the infectious disease meaning?
This is the view that pick up language change by trying to fit in with what is new within language and society. The disease part makes it seem like something clearly you dont want to have or happen.
What is the meaning of the damp spoon syndrome?
This discourse implies that people have become lazy with language, precisely the kind of distaste people feel when a damp spoon is dipped in a sugar bowl.
What is th meaning of the crumbling castle view?
This is the tendency of people treating language as an ornate building that once had a peak of perfection but is now falling apart.
When were these discourses coined and who by?
These were created in 1997 by Jean Aitchison
Was Jean Aitchinson a prescriptivist?
No, she was a descriptivist. We can see this by her responses towards the discourses she has created.
What were her responses to each metaphor?
She believed that there was never a peak of perfection of language, she also believed that the only truly lazy speech is drunken speech and it often critisizes a person’s idiolect or sociolect such as using a glottal stop, and also implied that picking up new language isn’t a way of trying to fit in but is normal behaviour and people pick up new language only if they want to.
What is prescriptivism?
This is the attitude or belief that one variety of language is superior to others and should be promoted as such.
What is someone called if they have these prescriptive views?
They are a prescriptivist or, informally, a stickler.
What is linguistic descriptivism?
This involves observing and analysing, without passing too much judgement, the habits and practises by the language’s users.
What is standardisation?
This was a gradual process that standardised the spellings, grammatical rules and definitions evolved over a process of approximately 200 years. Because of this we refer to ‘the era of standardization’ when writing about the process.
What did standardization change?
- lexis and semantics- lexicographers began to compile dictionaries and ‘fix’ meanings
- spelling- dictionaries establish standard, correct spellings
- grammar- grammarians such as Lindley Murrary wrote grammar books that looked to Latin and Greek for influence
- Graphology- today, all primary students are taught to write cursively. Print technology has enabled mass produced printed texts many of which follow a ‘house style’
What is informalisation?
This is the incorporation of aspects of intimate, personal discourse (such as colloquial language) into public forms of spoken and written communication is called informalisation.
Language change processes and their definitions
Acronym
Lexicalised words made up from the intial letters of a phrase e.g. RADAR (spoken as a whole word)
Initialism
Words created by taking the initial letters of a phrase e.g. BBC (spoken as seperate letters)
Blend
The beggining of one word and the end of another fused to make a new one e.g. smog
Compound
Combining seperate words to make a new one. They can be written as seperate words (binge watch) or as a whole (superfood) or hyphenated (carbon-neutral)
Affixing
Adding either a prefix or suffux to make a new word e.g. SUPERmarket or veganISM
Conversion
When a word changes its word class. The most common conversions are from noun to verb e.g. google- to google
Clipping
When the abbreviated form of a word becomes accepted as the norm e.g. fridge (refridgerator) or pub (public house)
Borrowing
When the english language takes a word from another language and begins using it e.g. sushi (from Japanese) or bungalow (from Hindi)
Eponym
When the name of a person is used to define a particular object e.g. Biro
Coinage
These are very rare. To be labelled a coinage, a word has to be completely new. Most coinages come from a new invention/appliance.
Neologism
This is a catch all term used to describe any new word regardless of its formation process.
Semantic change processes and their definitions
Broadening
When a word keeps its original meaning but also takes one or more additional meaning e.g. bug- small insect and software glitch.
Narrowing
When a word becomes more specific in its meaning e.g. meat originally meant food but now refers only to animal flesh
Amelioration
When a word adopts more pleasant connotations than it used to have e.g. wicked
Pejoration
When a word develops less favourable connotations e.g. cowboy
Weakening
When a word loses strength of its original meaning
Euphemism
A more polite or sensitive way of talking about potentially offensive, upsetting or embarrassing topics such as sex or death
Dysphemism
A very blunt, often vulgar or taboo way of talking about something
Idiom
A saying whose meaning cannot be understood from the individual words alone e.g. ‘over the moon’. Idioms work on a pragmatic level
Metaphor
A form of broadening - when a word or phrase is used in a non literal sense
Linguistic determinism
Associated with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf, this concept states that the language you use is directly influenced and shaped by the attitudes and values you already have. In order to change the language used, you first need to change attitudes.
What are the opinions towards linguistic determinism?
This concept has been widely criticised. Today we think of it as linguistic relativity, a concept that focuses on the extent to which language might influence thought, usage or behaviour
What is linguistic reflectionism?
This is the opposite to dterminism. It states that the language we use reflects the attitudes that are already held in society and the thoughts of the individual. Therefore, to change attitudes, we must first change the language used
What is political correctness?
PC is an aspect of semantic change and is a form of linguistic determinism. The PC movement started in the US in the 1970’s and states that we should not accept language that is used to descriminate against others due to their gender, race, sex etc.
How do people use the term ‘political correctness’ today?
The term political correctness has picked up quite pejorative connotations and is often misused (sometimes deliberately)
Examples of changes to become more politically correct
Spastic - person who has cerebral palsy
Able-bodied - non-disabled
Suffers from - has (name of condition or impairement)
What shows a clear chane in attitudes towards people living with disabilities?
In Egypt, people with dwarfism were seen as gods
What organisation felt like it needed flee from new pejorative connotations towards its name?
The Spastic Society. It changed to SCOPE in 1994 as they witnessed people using spastic pejoratively and needed to flee from the connotation as it wasnt what they stood for and needed to become more politically correct.
Which charity organisation also change its name?
MENCAP - a blend of ‘mentally handicapped’ used to be called ‘the association of parents of backward children’ and changed its name in 1969
What is semantic reclamation?
The process whereby language that has previously been used in a pejorative way is reclaimed by those it was directed at and used in a different, more positive way in an atempt to change attitudes.
Examples of semantic reclamation
Slut is commonly used on both sides of the atlantic to refer to promiscuous women in a derogatory fashion. There has been marches in the US and Canada in response to a police officer who said that women should try to not dress like ‘sluts’ to avoid being raped or victimised. These people are trying to reclaim the word slut.
Second example of semantic reclamation
Crip (from cripple to describe a wheelchair user) and gay
Standardisation, what is change from above?
This is conscious change initiated by those in dominant social positions or occupying positions of power and authority. Such change is usually in line with standard or ‘correct’ forms of usage and linked to prestige.
Standardisation, what is change from below/ unconscious change?
This change is driven by the users of language who develop or adapt language according to their social needs. Often these changes are introduced in spoken forms and by any social class.
Who produced the first dictionary in a form we still recognise today?
Dr Samuel Johnson- published his dictionary in 1755 with 40,000 words but it was biased and personal.
When was the Oxford English Dictionary published?
In 1928 and it was ojective and unbiased
What is the OED’s word of the year (WOTY)?
This is a word or expression that we can see has attracted a great deal of interest over the last 12 months. These vary depending on what is happening culturally and in the news. Examples of some WOTY’s are ‘climate emergency’, ‘selfie’ and even a face with tears of joy emoji!
What stance do some prescriptivists believe that descriptivists have?
A laissez-faire stance/ complacent/ laid back
They also believe this attitude enables language to be warped by errors and unintelligible
What law prohibited the promotion of sexuality in schools and libraries? And when?
Section 28, from 1988-2003
What is a good example of semantic reclamation?
Suffragette, because I didn’t even realise it had negative connotations before
Example of a stickler
Lynne Truss - author of ‘ eats, shoots and leaves’ has pedantic attitudes towards grammatical rules
What was the plain english campaign?
It was established in 1979 and aimed to remove corporate jargon and misleading info from the workplace. They created a crystal mark to recognise organisations that use plain english
What does Deborah Cameron argue?
She argues that language is a proxy battleground for wider social concerns. She believes that grammar is a tool for carrying on this war on words because of its associations with authority, heirarchy, order, tradition and rules.
The history of English - What are the 10 influences and processes?
The Anglo Saxons The Norman Conquest Shakespeare The king james bible The enlgish of science The english of empire The age of the dictionary American english Internet engish Global english
The anglo saxon examples
They gave us simple language
The viking invasion gave us around 2,000 new words including give, take and die
Shakespeare examples
He elevated the view of the english language from poor and working class to a rich, vibrant and elevated language. He also introduced new words like eyeball, alligator and dauntless and even gave us idioms like breaking the ice and dead as a doornail.
Internet english examples
1972 the first email, 1991 the internet arrived. New words like download, toolbar and firewall. More initialisms like BTW, FYI and some online words were starting to be spoken
Global english examples
We have borrowed words from 350 languages
American english examples
Early british settlers in america borrowed words from the native americans for unfamilliar plants and animals such as racoon and squash
What is CMC?
CMC is computer-mediated-communication
Who was the guest on word of mouth in 2021 that talked about reclaiming crip?
Samantha renke
What do the french have in order to control their language?
The academie francaise
