language change Flashcards
what is neologism?
new words
what is coinage?
the way in which new words are formed
what is blending?
two words are mixed together
eg ‘sitcom’ ‘brunch’ ‘clicktivism’ (from online activism) ‘frenemy’
what is a compound?
two words are brought together
eg ‘skateboard’ ‘crowdsourcing’
what is borrowing?
take words from other languages
eg ‘safari’ from Arabic, ‘lemon’ from Arabic, ‘futon’ from Japanese, ‘cafe’ from french
what is clipping?
shorten a word
eg ‘app’ , ‘clerk’ from the word cleric from clergy, ‘ad’
what is an eponym?
word named after the creator
eg ‘sandwich’ from the Earl of Sandwich, ‘cardigan’ from the Earl of Cardigan
what is affixation?
adding prefixes or suffixes
eg ‘hyperactive’, ‘intergalactic’ , ‘megamix’
what is an acronym?
the first letter of each word in a phrase is taken to create a new word
eg ‘DOB’ ‘FOMO’ ‘LOL’
what is initalism?
taking the initials of the words in a phrase
eg ‘GCSE’, ‘BBC’ ‘Ofsted’ (from the Office of Standards in Education’)
what is back formation?
removing suffixes to create a new word, sometimes adding an alternative suffix
eg ‘vaccinate’ , ‘personify’ , ‘edit’ (from the word ‘editor’)
what are descriptivisits?
are in favour of language change
think we do not have control of language and we can’t stop it from changing
love to study how language changes as it gives us an insight into how society works
what are presciptivists?
don’t like the change in language, and want to try and stop it. they value language eg lexis, and fear misunderstanding.
(stages of…)
what did Jean Atchinson do?
pidc
identified four stages of lang change:
- potential (reason for new piece of lang)
- implementation (usually begun by small group)
- diffusion - spreads to wider use
- codification (it becomes formalised)
what is Halliday’s Functional Theory?
language changes bc we need it to
as things are invented or discovered we need new words to label these developments eg ‘vaccine’ ‘refrigerator’ ‘DNA’
society changes and lang has to change to reflect who we are eg maternity leave - paternity leave - parental leave - family leave
changing communication technology means we need lang to work in different ways eg ‘Esteemed sir’ - ‘My dear sir’ - ‘Dear Mr Smith’ - ‘Hi Mr Smith’
what is Paul Postal’s Random Fluctuation Theory?
lots of lang change can’t be controlled or standardised bc it happens randomly and is unpredictable
social media has been very important to addition of new words due to random fluctuation. Eg 2002 - one person used ‘selfie’ and it then unpredictably became extremely popular very quickly
similarly, ‘photobomb’ was used on socials in 2008 + had same effect
what is Hockett’s Random Fluctuation by Errors theory?
found that change is random but it can be caused by errors
eg word ‘apron’ was originally introduced from French as ‘napron’ but people heard ‘a napron’ as ‘an apron’ and the mistake became the most commonly used version
autocorrection lead to mistakes being used deliberately, such as ‘book’ - ‘cool’ and ‘teh’ for ‘the’
what is the Substratum Theory?
we can’t link this to any one theorist bc there are so many different types, but all the research for this aspect of lang change shows that changes can occur through contact w/ lang of other, often marginalised groups outside the broad lang community
English speakers used borrowed words from foreign langs, as if they are a natural part of our vocab eg ‘pyjamas’ and ‘shampoo’ from Hindi
‘Woke’ was popularised by members of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 60s America as part of political campaigns
‘throw shade’ began its life in a Jane Austen novel in 1814 but its new slang meaning was created by the gay community in 1980s NY
‘chutzpah’ and ‘klutz’ come from communities of Jewish immigrants who settled in NY from EU in early 1930s
what did Gretchen McCulloch do?
her book ‘Because Internet’ explains how internet changed all aspects of lang usages
what did Sharon Goodman do?
informalisation theory
her research shows how the increased blending of modes has increase informality in most language contexts, even legal ones
what is Bailey’s Wave Model?
a new aspect of lang happens in one place and spreads out from there with those further away less likely to pick it up. The immediate ripple is strong and as further ripples happen they become weaker and slower. this can involve geography, time, social grp etc. eg ‘#earthhour’, ‘slob’
what is Chen’s S-Curve Model?
this suggests that once an aspect of lang is introduced, the initial growth is slow and limited to a smaller grp of people, then its use extends and builds up speed, then gradually reaches a plateau and slows down again eg ‘woke’
what is Crystal’s Tide Metaphor?
lang is like a tide and change is natural and essential. Just as some things can be ;eft on a beach by the tide, some aspects of lang change remain for longer while others are swept away. What gets swept away can always be brought back by another tide
eg carbon copy/CC, troll
what is McKinnon’s Polarised Views Theory?
language is seen as either:
- correct or incorrect
- pleasant or ugly
- acceptable or unacceptable
- useful or useless
what is OE?
Old English
what is ME?
Middle English
what is EMnE?
Early Modern English
what is ModE?
Modern English
what is LME?
Late Modern English
what does diachronic mean?
over time
what does synchronic mean?
at the same time
what are the driving forces of language change?
movement of people
technological change
war/crises
politics
youth culture
expressiveness
what are the driving forces of language change according to Deutscher?
language changes for what he terms reasons of economy
and analogy:
Economy – the tendency to save effort – e.g. shortening words, and
using ellipsis to remove unnecessary grammatical elements and to
take shortcuts in pronunciation.
Analogy – the tendency to regularise language use. When new words
are formed they follow standard morphological patterns.
how has the English language been standardized over time?
gradual process beginning in 14th century:
Clacton’s printing press selected east-Midlands dialect
King James’ Bible
Lexicographers of 17th century
increased access to education, widespread literacy
changes in communication eg the BBC
how is language standardised according to Haugen (1996)?
seci
Selection – the selection of East midlands dialect as standard was linked to the area’s power particularly key universities, cathedrals and the capital itself.
Elaboration – the elaboration of SE involved using this prestige form in a increasing
range of functions and roles: Government, science and education.
Codification – the establishing of rules of spelling, drawing up of definition of word
meanings and agreeing norms of grammar use.
Implementation – is then required to control and maintain it. The promotion of SE as the prestige form was built up through the publications of books, pamphlets, newspapers. 18th century grammarians put forward ideas of English and these have been influential on many modern-day prescriptivists.
what was Milroy and Milroy’s 1985 theory on standardisation?
standardisation is an ongoing process and an ideological struggle. The choices made about which language is selected within institutions and systems of power, and the means by which they are spread and accessed, represent hegemonic power
what was Sharon Goodman’s 1996 theory?
as language has developed over generations it has become more informal– even in contexts usually considered to be formal or that require formal language.
Texts no longer rely solely on words. They use devices from more than one semiotic code simultaneously.
Professional encounters are becoming increasingly ‘conversationalised’.
Gretchen McCulloch’s theory?
the internet has influenced all aspects of language
we now receive more communication through images and need far fewer words.
fonts, emojis and writing in spoken style add to our ability to interpret online texts more accurately
what is political correctness?
some have referred to the policing and replacement of apparently offensive language as ‘political correctness’, but this has picked up pejorative connotations as it is often misused, sometimes deliberately.
A more positive term for PC is ‘language reform’.
what is reflectionism?
suggests that language simply reflects the needs, views and opinions of its user
what is determinism
(associated with the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis)
maintains that language controls our perceptions of reality - -influencing us to thinking certain ways. thus, to change attitudes, we need to change language
what is linguistic relativity?
less absolute version of determinism
language exerts a powerful influence on the way we think and behave
what did David Crystal say about Language Change in 2011?
All living languages change. They have to. Languages have no existence except for the people that use them. And because people are changing all the time, their language changes too, to keep up with them
what are lexical gaps?
tries to see how language might change in future. the ‘gaps’ are words not currently used in English, but fit into existing language patterns
eg pap pip pop and pop all had meanings going into the 20th century, but pep didn’t. eventually though, it did,as an abbreviation of pepper to describe having a lot of energy.
Substratum Theory - Einer Haugen
Linguistic change is due to the influence of substratum, or less prestigious
language forms.
Focus here is on the influence of other languages on English. It emphasises the way words, meanings, structures, written forms or sound may change the shape of English. Think of the
influence of invasions on Old English, for example. But it’s still happening – English is global.
Substratum Theory - William Labov
Linguist William Labov noticed the influence of Yiddish in New York City.
Yiddish speakers in the Jewish community hypercorrected (adopted an “incorrect” pronunciation)
their use of English. Their pronunciations of door (do-er) and coffee (caw-fee), for example, are recognisable in the New York accent today
what was jean aitchison’s crumbling castle metaphor?
said that descriptivists think the english language is like a beautiful stately home that should be preserved
her criticism is that language can constantly change so when was language ‘perfect’
what is jean aitchison’s damp spoon metaphor
the view that new forms of language arise from sheer laziness
her criticism of this is that only drunken speech is lazy, all else is efficient
what is jean aitchison’s infectious disease metaphor
the view that changes in language are contagious
her criticism of this is that there is free will in a persons language use and choice (link to performativity theorists such as butler and sharma)
