Language Change Flashcards
What time period of language is between 450AD-1066
Old English
What time period of language is between 1066-1485
Middle English
What time period of language is between 1300-1500
The Great Vowel Shift
What time period of language is between 1485-1603
Early Modern English
What time period of language is the 1600s
Modern English
What time period of language is the 1700s
The Age of Reason/ Modern English
What time period of language is the 1800s
Industrial Revolution/ Modern English
What time period of language is between 1900s-2000s
Late Modern English
What influenced language during the Old English period
Written Language begins to develop from Latin
Anglo’s and saxon’s bring German dialects
INVASION
What influenced language during the Middle English period
Inclusion of French to spelling- Norman invasion of 1066 Reduction in Latin INVASION- French BLACK DEATH PRINTING PRESS
When was William Caxtons printing press introduced
Middle English- 1475
Enabled beginnings of standardization
What influenced language during the Great Vowel Shift
Latin back to being superior language
The Long ‘S’/vowels
Due to mass migration from north England to south because of black death, caused mixing of accents
TRANSPORT-migration
What influenced language during the Early Modern period
Latin became important in Science and Maths
Spelling was not yet standardized
Use of interrogatives without the auxiliary (“think you i am handsome?”)
Expansion n travel
Due to the RENAISSANCE, rise in nationalism led to more expressive language (Latin)
TRANSPORT-travel
What influenced language during the Modern period
Catholicism & scientific discoveries
Shakespeare experimented with language and coined around 2000 new words
1/2 population out of 3 1/2 million were literate (growth in education)
Spelling mainly standardized
RELIGION
SCIENCE
What influenced language during the 18th c (Modern English)
Language gained a lot of prestige
Prescriptivism- standardisation
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary 1755
What influenced language during the 19th C (Modern English)
Overseas travel led to alot of loan words Expansion of British empier Scientific discoveries SCIENTIFIC TRANSPORT
What influenced language during the Late Modern period
Influence from overseas
Computer technology-standardised spelling
relaxation of grammer
TECHNOLOGY
TRANSPORT- migration
When was Samuel Johnson’s dictionary
1755
What is Ammelioration
words become more prestige
What is a conditional clause
starts with “if”
What is coordinating clause
starts with “but”
What is deregration
word changes for the worse
What is pejoration
words gain a positive meaning
What is borrowing
taken from a foreign language
What is coining
inventing new words to describe new experiences
What is clipping
alters words by shortening them
What is compounding
Two words joined together
What is a prescriptivist view
No change with langauge
What is descriptivist
Langauge change
What theory suggests that language changes according to the needs of its user
Halliday’s Functional Theory
New words arise because there is need to label new technology
What theory critiques prescriptive views
Jean Aitchison’s
Damp spoon- language has become lazy
Crumbling castle- language should be preserved
Infectious disease- bad habits spread
what is David Crystals language change theory
Tied Metaphor- Language flows and brings in new words and takes out old
Natural process
descriptive
What is Charles Hockett Random Fluctuation Theory
Random events and errors lead to language change
What are Suzanne Romaines 2 language change theories
Internal Changes- factors within language
External changes- changing social context, ideologies, technology, inventions
What theory highlights advertisement and marketing a s attempts to mimic speech (conversationalism)
Fairclough
What theory highlights political correctness as an important factor for change
Mackinnon- attitudes to language change are a driving force
What is negation
The use of double negatives used to be acceptable
What is an example of the ‘be-ing construction- progressive
“what do you read my lord” would now be “what are you reading”
the progressive imply instant action
What are the 4 stages of Haugens standardisation
Selection- language selected (usually prestigious)
codification- reduction on variability of language (dictionary)
Elaboration- language developed for a variety of
purpose
Implementation- Standardisation is implemented
What is the lexical gap theory
New words created due to a advancments in e.g technology meaning there is a group of words missing
What is economisation
Writing becoming more compressed over time
