Language change

Question 1

Diachronic Linguistics

Answer 1

linguistics is the study of the changes in language over time. This can be can be the general evolution of all languages or the evolution of a particular language or dialect. A diachronic
approach might focus more on the interplay of historical events and language changes.

Question 2

Synchronic linguistics

Answer 2

the study of the linguistic elements and usage of a language at a particular
moment.

Question 3

Lexical change: external vs internal factors

Answer 3

External influence: source is another language eg. loanwords
Internal influence: source is the same language eg. compounds
Neologism: brand new lexeme

Question 4

Lexical borrowing:

Answer 4

lexemes (loanwords) absorbed by one language through contact with another.

Question 5

Neosemy:

Answer 5

process whereby a new meaning develops for an existing word eg. virus, pirate. The original lexeme and semantic meaning still exist alongside the new.

Question 6

Semantic shift:

Answer 6

the change in a word’s meaning over time.

Question 7

Levels of synonymy:

Answer 7

the idea that as a language absorbs loanwords, some will be similar in meaning to existing lexemes, and so meanings can diverge to become more semantically specific, perhaps in
terms of context for use, formality or connotation.
such as:
The old Norse verb “take” while Old English “steal” already existed
the Norman French synonyms for food such as “beef” while “Cow” and “Oxen” already existed

Question 8

Standardisation:

Answer 8

process by which conventional forms of a language are established and maintained; may occur as a natural development or as an effort by members of a community to impose one dialect or variety as a standard.

Question 9

Ascertainment:

Answer 9

making language usage certain; fixing/freezing a language in one state.

Question 10

Codification:

Answer 10

process where certain linguistic features are recognised as standard and others are rejected; designing a writing system and writing conventions for a language.

Question 11

Regularisation:

Answer 11

Regularisation: a ‘neatening’ of language elements to fit the prominent patterns, eg. stadia becoming stadiums; a tendency to convert irregular verbs to fit regular morphological patterns eg.
snuck becoming sneaked.

Question 12

Prescriptivism:

Answer 12

the attitude or belief that one variety of a language is superior to others and should be promoted as such.

Question 13

Descriptivism:

Answer 13

the view that language is defined by what people actually do with it. Studying the usage of real people in a real-world context allows us to uncover the principles of a language.

Question 14

Informalisation:

Answer 14

a trend for language, particularly in the written mode, to become more informal over time

Question 15

Inkhorn term:

Answer 15

lexical borrowing into English considered unnecessary or pretentious, especially during the Renaissance.

Question 16

Diffusion:

Answer 16

the spread of a change, especially a sound change, through a language.

Question 17

Transmission:

Answer 17

the ‘passing on’ of linguistic characteristics. This may be through contact between two communities, where influence may be adstratum, substratum or superstratum. Cultural transmission refers to passing via social learning mechanisms such as imitation, teaching, or language.

Question 18

Functional theory

Answer 18

(Halliday): language alters as the needs of its users alter. New lexemesappear as they are required for new inventions, ideas etc. Other lexemes become archaic once they are unnecessary in real life; garments such as the doublet and kirtle are no longer
worn, so we stop using the words.

Function shifts – where a word exists, but we need a different word class.
For example, ‘Google’ as:
A noun (‘I found it on Google’).
A verb (‘I’ll Google it’).
An adjective (‘A Google search’).

Question 19

Lexical gap theory:

Answer 19

new lexemes coined through necessity fill ‘lexical gaps’- the absence of a word in a particular language where it is present in another. These neologisms will not already be in use, but will fit the current patterns within the language,
and may also fill phonological gaps, eg. nouns git, gut and irregular verb get already exist, so ‘gat’ could fill a lexical gap

Question 20

Random fluctuation

Answer 20

(Postal): language is as unpredictable as fashion; hard to foresee future trends. Hockett also believed change to be unpredictable due to the errors which occur by chance and are then transmitted through contact eg. typo ‘pwned’ for ‘owned’ has spread in online gaming

Question 21

Linguistic Reflectionism:

Answer 21

the theory that a person’s language reflects their way of thinking;
use of sexist language reflects a sexist viewpoint.

Question 22

Linguistic Determinism:

Answer 22

the idea that language can determine thought; if a person has non-
sexist language available to them, then they are less likely to hold sexist attitudes. Linked to the (strong) Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Question 23

Linguistic Relativism:

Answer 23

Relativism: the idea that the language a person speaks has an influence on this
person’s thought; linked to the (weak) Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Question 24

Substratum theory

Answer 24

when speakers learn a new language then learn in imperfectly and pass it onto future generations e.g phonetic imperfections

Question 25

Process of Standardisation (Haugen):

Answer 25

Selection: a prestigious variety of a language is chosen
- Codification: linguistic norms are established, reducing internal variability
- Elaboration: language is developed for a variety of purposes
- Implementation: language variety is given currency through production of (official) written texts

Question 26

Wave model

Answer 26

(Bailey): a new aspect of language (innovation) is initiated in one place at one time and spreads outwards from that point.
In this sense, those closest to the geographical location of where the change occurs are more likely to pick up the change.

Question 27

S-curve model of diffusion

Answer 27

(Chen): A pronunciation change occurs on one, or a small number of words, such as the 16th Century prosodic change of stressing the first syllable of nouns ‘record’ and ‘rebel’.
The innovation then gathers momentum, and the rate of diffusion to other lexemes becomes rapid, as with the trend for stressing the first syllable of most nouns during the 17th Century.
After a while, a critical point is reached and the rate of change slows, or stops. Noun ‘address’ and abstract noun ‘mistake’ and ‘report’ still have not undergone this
change today.

Question 28

Polarised views to language

Answer 28

(Mackinnon): Language is viewed towards extremes
- correct or incorrect - pleasant or ugly - socially acceptable or unacceptable
- morally acceptable or unacceptable - appropriate or inappropriate in context
- useful or useless

Question 29

Language change as a slow decay

Answer 29

(Aitchison’s metaphorical models)
- Damp spoon syndrome: Attitude that slovenliness and laziness are leading to change and variation in language, like placing a damp spoon in the sugar bowl
- Crumbling castle: View that the English language is a beautiful old building that
needs to be preserved, but has long passed its pinnacle
- Infectious disease: Changes are ‘caught’ through contact with dangerous/inferior varieties

Question 30

Economy as progress

Answer 30

(Jespersen): considers language change as progressive when it creates economy; change is progress when we can ‘express the greatest amount of meaning with the simplest mechanism’.

Question 31

The recency illusion

Answer 31

Term coined in 2005 by American linguist Arnold Zwicky. It describes the belief that a word, phrase, grammatical construction or word meaning is recent, when in fact it has existed for a long time
For example many believe the adjective “high” in reference to being on drugs came from the 1960s while it was actually documented as early as 1932 for this usage, and in 1627 for a similar result from alcohol

Question 32

The frequency illusion

Answer 32

Arnold Zwicky
Once you’ve noticed a phenomenon, you think it happens a whole lot, even “all the time”

Question 33

The adolescent illusion

Answer 33

Arnold Zwicky
The belief that adolescents are the cause of undesirable language trends
For example, text speak and abbreviations are often associated with teenages but in fact are used by texting and e-mailing adults of all ages.

Question 34

Caxton’s Printing Press

Answer 34

(1476)
Spelling needed to be accessible to anyone.
Caxton set up a printing press in the vicinity of Westminster Abbey and began to print books, some in Latin as had been traditional, but Caxton also printed books in English. Because there was no standardisation in English spelling, Caxton’s choices often became the standard. eg Instead of using Chancery’s ‘theym’, he used ‘them for the third person pronoun

Question 35

Dr Samuel Dictionary

Answer 35

1755
standardised around 40,000 words with definitions, illustrated with over 114000 quotations
Following the Renaissance there was a general feeling that English Language needed rules (period called “Appeal to Authority”)
But criticised for imposing his personality on the book eg not including lexemes such as the abstract noun “fuss” and common noun “gambler”
The descritptions also were influenced by his opinion such as the common noun “Canary” being described as the noun phrase “an excellent singing bird”

Question 36

Morphological levelling

Answer 36

Throughout its history, the English language has undergone a steady decrease in its inflectional morphemes (morphemes which carry grammatical information such as -er on comparative adjectives “faster”.
Old English inflections were much more complex than today such as nouns marking three genders.
Possible explanation- Norse + Old english were germanic thus similar but inflections varied thus during danelaw they were stopped being pronounced to improve contact between Vikings and Anglo Saxons.
However, this is not certain may not be due to contact such as heavy overlapping of some of the forms of inflections.

Question 37

Robert Lowth

Answer 37

Wrote ‘A short introduction to English Grammar’ in1762- start of prescriptivist grammar.
Created ‘rules’ which are still mostly followed today such as:
No multiple negation “I ain’t done nothing”
The subject pronoun should be used after ‘to be’ thus the declarative “It is I” is correct while “it is me” is not
Distinctions between the relative pronoun “who” and “whom”

Question 38

Tide metaphor

Answer 38

Crystal describes language changing as being like the tide – new things get washed up on shore and the tide takes other things away.
Sometimes things make it onto the beach permanently, others only momentarily.