Language Change * Flashcards
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Borrowing
Taking words from other languages
e.g. karaoke
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Affixation
Meaning ‘to listen’
Attaching parts of words to others to form a new one
e.g. microbiology, eco-warrior
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Compounds
Words formed from joining together two other words with or without a hyphen
e.g. laptop, see-through
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Initialism
A word made up of the first letters of a phrase, where the letters are individually pronounced
e.g. CD, FBI
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Neologism
The creation of completely new words
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Back-formation
Removal of part of a word
e.g. editor > edit
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Weakening
a word that loses the strength of its original meaning
e.g. word Gillian used to mean farm labourer
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Obselete
The opposite to coining (a new word) when a word seios being used
(Becomes archaic)
LEXIS - TERMINOLOGY
Broadening
A word that means it’s original meaning but gains others
e.g. dogs currently refers to all types of dogs, it used to refer only to large dogs
SEMANTICS - TERMINOLOGY
Narrowing
When the meaning of a particular word becomes more specific.
SEMANTICS - TERMINOLOGY
Broadening
When a word takes on additional new meanings.
SEMANTICS - TERMINOLOGY
Amelioration
When the meaning of a word becomes positive.
e.g. wicked now means great.
SEMANTICS - TERMINOLOGY
Prejoration
When the meaning becomes less favourable/more negative.
e.g. hussy used to be a housewife
SEMANTICS - TERMINOLOGY
Euphemism
An inoffensive way of describing something distasteful
CONCEPTS AND ISSUES
STANDARDISATION
Prescriptivism
Prescribes how a language should be in order to be better or pure.
Draws its model of language from dictionaries and grammar books
CONCEPTS AND ISSUES
STANDARDISATION
DESCRIPTIVISM
Describes the nature of language variations without judgement.
Uses criteria of standard/non-standard
CONCEPTS AND ISSUES
ATTITUDES/IDEAS ON LANGUAGE CHANGE
Disintegration
The idea that the English language will disintegrate into a collection of related but Padgett separate dialects.
In 1978, Robert Burchfield, editor or the Oxford English Dictionary, predicted that within a few centuries the speakers of British and American English would be unable to understand each other.
CONCEPTS AND ISSUES
ATTITUDES/IDEAS ON LANGUAGE CHANGE
Uniformity
The idea that a world standard English is emerging, with the different varieties of English growing closer together, as a result of the influence of increased communication and the media.
CONCEPTS AND ISSUES
ATTITUDES/IDEAS ON LANGUAGE CHANGE
Bidialectalism
The ability to use two dialects of the same language, with people about to adapt their language to meet the needs of different situations.
A linguist that believes in this theory is David Crystal.
CONCEPTS AND ISSUES
Informalisation
Informalisation has led to the increased use of slang, varied graphology and a more personal and colloquial tone.
It usually runs parallel with prescriptivism and standardisation; as such processes add a more formal and rigid structure to the English langauge
CONTEXT
REASONS FOR LANGUAGE CHANGE
1) transport and communication (automobile, car, motorcar; phone, internet, text language)
2) trade, work and urbanisation (headcount for farmers)
3) globalisation/travel (borrow terms such as brand names and foods from other cultures/countries)
4) science and technology (mouse, tower, cookies)
5) politics (e.g. the rise and fall of the British empire led to foreign winds entering our language m. A highly important political change was the Norman invasion in 1066, which led to the use of french words and spellings)
- POSSIBLE REASONS FOR LANGUAGE CHANGE
SOCIAL
1) fictional theory: Halliday - words enter and leave the lexicon as needed
2) lexical gap theory: new word of theory creates room for related words e.g. brexit = brexiteer, brexiting, anti-vaxer, anti-masker
3) Changing attitudes over time: prescriptivist/nationalist/ prestige or french derived words or Latinate/ standardisation
4) Changing social contexts: Suzanne romaine external language change
5) Political Correctness: Sapir-Whorf - reflectionism language, changes in response to our thoughts, awareness of race/gender
- POSSIBLE REASONS FOR LANGUAGE CHANGE
TECHNOLOGY
1) Mass Printing (Caxton)
2) Social media/ instant messaging / online texts
3) Sharon Goodman - informalisaiton , process language once reserved for close personal relationships become used in wider contexts
4) Economisation - writing style has become more compressed over time to communicate more efficiently
5) Lexical gap theory - technology influences language change
twitter = tweets/tweeting
1485-1603
The tutor period / renaissance
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
Language features:
1) expanded vocabulary of green and Latin
2) spelling is not yet standardised
3) double negatives were used for emphasis
Context:
1) rise in nationalism, which linked to a desire for a more expressive language, Latin was preserved as the superior language
2) significant expansion of travel and trade in the new world, Europe and Asia
17th CENTURY
Language features:
1) start of modern English
2) Shakespeare exploited English’s liberal grammatical rules. He converted nouns into verbs, adverbs and adjectives.
3) King James Bible was published in 1611
Context:
1) bible was influential as might be expected in Christian society
2) Shakespeare also hugely influential and coined around 2000 new words which we still used today (leapfrog, laughable, radiance)
18TH CENTURY
Language features:
1) language gained a lot of prestige
2) there was a desire to standardise spelling and enforce rules (prescriptivism)
Context:
1) known as the age or reason as ideas of order and reason prevailed
2) Samuel Johnson dictionary was published in 1755
3) Lowths ‘a short introduction to English grammar’ was published in 1762 and used in all schools - further prescription of English rules
19TH CENTURY
Language features:
1) overseas travel and trade led to many loan words being imported
2) sentence structures tend to remain long with multiple embedded clauses
3) stricter rules around grammar and syntax (such as the split infinitive)
Context:
1) industrial revolution
2) expansion of British empire
3) scientific discoveries
4) wider education
5) Webster published the ‘American dictionary of the English language’ in 1838
20TH AND 21ST CENTURY
Language Features:
1) start of late modern English
2) influence of overseas firms grow - US and international English becomes dominant
3) computer technically (spellcheck) encourages standardisation of spelling which is now rigidly fixed
4) relaxation or grammatical rules as informalisation takes place
5) greater tolerance of regional accent
6) increasing Americanisation of language
Context:
1) compulsory education
2) technological/ digital revolution
3) more scientific discoveries
4) globalisation
5) media helps the vast and rapid spread of new slang and neologisms
