Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

A-Level English Language > Language Change > Flashcards

Language Change Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Coinage/Neogolism

A

Deliberate creation of a new word. Uncommon.

Example: Hobbit

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Borrowing/Loan words

A

Borrowing from other languages. May involve anglicisation or they may retain original spelling or phonology.

Bungalow (Hindi)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Compounding

A

Words combined to form new words. May be open, hyphenated or solid.

handheld

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Clipping

A

Words are shortened and the shortened version becomes the norm.

Phone

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Blending

A

Words are abbreviated and joined to form a new word.

Moped (motor+pedal)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Acronym

A

First letters are taken from a series of words to create a new word.

NATO

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Initialism

A

The same as acronym, but each letter is pronounced.

PE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Affixation/Derivaiton

A

One or more free morphemes combined with one or more bound morphemes

unlawful

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Conversion/Functional shift

A

A word shifts from one word class to another.

Text

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Eponym

A

Names of a person or company which are used to define objects.

boycott

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Back formation

A

A verb is created by removing a suffix from a noun

location-locate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Synchronic variation

A

range of accents, dialects, sociolects and idiolects in one language. Regional variation has long been documented as has social variation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Diachronic variation

A

Takes place over time. All languages change.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Dialect

A

A variant of a language which has different syntax, morphology, possibly grammar and/or lexis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Accent

A

Purely the way in which a language is pronounced. Someone can speak standard english but have a northern accent.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Sociolect

A

A language spoken by one particular social group. Young people often have a distinct vocabluary

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Idiolect

A

Language features that are typical to one unique speaker.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Literary language

A

In some cultures there are distinct dialects in use to separate speaking and writing.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Lexical/semantic change

A

Changes in words and their meanings. Includes words that have become obsolete.

Can occur because slang changes how words are used, new things need names and there is a need to create more specific names

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Spelling change

A

Can occur because of standardisation and changes in pronunciation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Morphological change

A

Changes is morphemes. Endings in particular are prone to change, for example, dreamt to dreamed.

This may occur to remove irregularities from language.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Syntax change

A

Means something crucial in a language has changed. These take place over a long time and may be because of language contact.

23
Q

The Origins of Language

A

Chomsky: language originated as a genetic mutation in one individual 90,000 years ago

Darwin: any complex organ must have evolved through many gradual adaptations, meaning Chomsky’s theory doesn’t work
In an ape brain, the mirror system controls hand gestures, maps what is seen unto what can be done. The equivalent in the human brain controls language

24
Q

Bipedalism

A

freed hands and face for gestures and facial expression
-began 7 million years ago. likely completed 2 million years ago
The link between bipedalism and language contradicts Chomsky’s view

25
Q

The Inkhorn Controversy (includes Thomas Wilson)

A

16th and 17th centuries, there was a growing pride in english. a return to english following many years of French rule led to an increased sense of national pride
Renaissance writers began to expand the vocabulary, borrowing from Greek and Latin.
Inkhornisms were viewed by many with scorn and were seen as unnecessary and useless to anyone without knowledge of classical literature.
The inkhorn, which would contain a writer’s ink, was associated with this, as new, much longer, latinate or greek words would waste ink, unlike shorter anglo-saxon words.

Thomas Wilson: ‘the Arte of Rhetorique’1553, referred to ‘straunge ynkehorne termes’ (those borrowed from other languages). The Inkhorn was seen as a vessel of self importance. Purist.

26
Q

Jonathan Swift

A

‘Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue’ (1712). An appeal to the English government to establish an ‘Academy’ that will fix the vocabulary, spelling and grammar of English, fixing the changes that had occurred over the last hundred years (the changes contested in the inkhorn debate). It was to be modelled after the ‘Academie Francaise’, a top-down authority which regulated the French language.
disliked:
-vagueness, ‘poverty of conservation’
-shortened terms, ‘mob’d and disturb’d’
-unnecessary polysyllabic words obscuring meaning
-‘modish’ words, ‘bully’

Failed to fix the language, an example of change from above Most language change is from below

27
Q

Ease of articulation

A

Assimilation: when one sound replaces another, e.g. handbag-hambag

Omission: when a sound is left out, e.g. “George banged the drum hard as he marched through the town”, the bound past tense suffix morpheme -ed is likely to be omitted in colloquial speech

28
Q

S-curve model

A

Chen 1972
users pick up a language change at a gradual rate before it accelerates and spreads into wider usage before slowing down again and stabilising. Aitchison refers to this as lexical diffusion, the gradual spread of a change.
old and new terms may coexist until old forms eventually are lost. e.g. thinkst thou and dost thou think both appear in shakespeare’s work

29
Q

(Why does our language change?) Changes in society and Social attitudes

A

teenagers are now in school until a later age, creating a new social group and thus youth culture
teenagers are the most creative language users, seen as innovators in language use
gender neutral language (Mx and they) have become accepted by institutions

30
Q

(Why does our language change?) Political correctness and politeness

A

loss of thee and thou to leave just you is an example of increased politeness
other languages have retained both formal and informal pronouns
Deborah Cameron coined ‘verbal hygiene’ when referring to how the language is being cleaned up by PC
actor now usually refers to both male and female performers while actress is becoming redundant

31
Q

(Why does our language change?) Colonialism, revolution and empire

A

new inventions from the industrial revolution meant a need for new words and phrases
same with science
migration to cities saw increased language contact
colonialism borrowed words from abroad
English was imposed upon foreign natives so that it could be used for control

32
Q

(Why does our language change?) Streamlining and efficiency

A

widely believed that ease of articulation is the most important factor in language change
Assimilation is when adjacent sounds are pronounced in a different way to make them easier to say.
Omission is when sounds are omitted from words, making them easier to say and making speech more fluent and efficient
language undergoes neatening over time so that anomalies and inconsistencies are smoothed out. for example, now most plurals end in s while some used to end otherwise, for example, shooen for shoes. same with irregular verbs, for example, snuck is becoming sneaked

33
Q

(Why does our language change?) Technology

A

new words needed to refer to the hardware we use
we have increased the use of acronyms and initialisms
languages and dialects reach each other through television, film and social media

34
Q

(Why does our language change?) Loan words/borrowing

A

many words came from other languages
8-11th centuries invasions from Scandinavia (skirt, cog, skip) and France (accompany, department, tax)
16-17th centuries writers borrowed from Latin (temperature, benefit, sub, trans) and Greek (catastrophe, pneumonia, auto, pan)
18-19th centuries colonialism, Malaysia (amok) and India (shampoo)
20th century immigration and world wars, China (wok), and post war affluence lead to an increase in travel

35
Q

(Why does our language change?) Functional Theory

A

Hallday, a language adapts to the needs of its users
words disappear over time and become archaisms
cassette has been replaced by CD which will likely cease use due to the increased use of streaming

36
Q

(Why does our language change?)
Substratum theory

A

change through contact with other languages
many through trade and invasion historically but has recently been caused by social networking and immigration
adopting elements of a language may result in imperfections and these may then be passed on

37
Q

(Why does our language change?) Random Fluctuation

A

Charles Hockett 1958 random mistakes and events cause change
the misspelling of owned to become pwned has become used often in online gaming
events such as lockdown have effected our language

38
Q

(Why does our language change?) Lexical gaps

A

when a word that could exist doesn’t, may be that it does in other languages
gaps are filled by borrowing or coining
e.g. hygge is Danish and refers to a feeling of cosy contentment

39
Q

Wave model

A

Bailey 1973
Geographical distance has an impact on language change spread- change weakens the further from the epicentre you are. can be compared to an earthquake

40
Q

World Englishes

A

refers to the differences in the English language that emerge as it i used in various contexts across the world. Scholars of World Englishes identify the varieties of English used in different sociolinguistic contexts, analysing their history, background, function and influence.

41
Q

David Crystal on World Englishes

A

• ‘Englishes’ first used recently to refer to adaptations of the language
• when new varieties of english come about, it is first due to lexical change
• South African English has 10,000 words which appear in no other varieties of English, many of these are borrowed from other local languages

42
Q

Pinoy English

A

• American occupation in 1898 after Spanish-American war
• a 3 year long Philippine American war followed
• USA invaded for commercial opportunities in Asia, concerns over Filipino ability to self-rule and to prevent other powers from gaining control
• Pinoy is rhotic, the letter r is always pronounced,certain polysyllabic words have a distinctive stress pattern
• loss of singular inflection of verbs (the home rest(s) on the hill), usually transitive verbs often used intransitively
• some words are shared with America English while others are unique to Philipipne English
• some words are used in different contexts (open the light)

43
Q

World Englishes info from Paul Hesselton

A

• english became a globally dominant language because
• native speakers: English 300 million, Spanish 400 million, Mandarin 800 million
• English is the dominant language in 75 countries
• native english isn’t as widespread as most world Englishes , there are far fewer native British English speakers than there are speakers of other forms of English
• English is the language of science, business and air traffic control
-status of English in other countries

44
Q

Status of English in other countries (from Paul Hesselton video)

A

• L1: English as a first language, occurs where there has been extensive settlement of speakers of English as a first language, e.g. Ireland. indigenous languages of existing native people are marginalised and these countries become largely monlolingual
• L2: English as a second language occurs in countries where there has been substantial trade with L1 speakers, has more speakers than L1, e.g. Kenya
• EFL: English as a Foreign Language, this has happened in countries that wish to trade withEnglish speaking countries , the language has no official status and individuals decide to learn for their own purposes, e.g. Brazil
• ELF: English as a Lingua Franca, this happens when speakers of a variety of different languages need a common language in which to communicate for trade

45
Q

English as a lingua franca

A

• a language used for communication between speakers of different native languages
• may be necessary when:
• a regional example would be french in Africa
• the philipines has a national lingua franca
• name was that of a Mediterranean language which was used as a lingua franca

46
Q

Pidgins and Creoles

A

Pidgins are born out of the need for people to communicate without speaking a common language.

A creole is a language that has evolved from contact between a European language (e.g., French, English, or Portuguese) and a local language (or a variety of local languages).

47
Q

Jennifer Jenkins 2006 5 key characteristics of ELF

A

• used by speakers of different languages allowing them to communicate with each other
• as alternative to EFL rather than a replacement for it
• ELF may include words and phrases from local varieties of english as well as standard english
• code-switching and accommodating new aspects of language are seen as useful. ELF depends on specific communication rather than just being an ‘all purpose english’
• ELF tends to be used for description for the purpose of codification

48
Q

1992 Three Circles model

A

Expanding circle:
- English is used to communicate with speakers of other languages for business, politics, education etc. It is norm-dependent, as it is used for practical purposes rather than for cultural integration

Outer circle:
English used as L2, e.g. India, Singapore, Ghana, Nigeria. These are norm developing as they develop their own norms

Inner circle:
English used as L1, these are norm providing and are the varieties by which the others are measured

This was made before the internet and doesn’t address diversity within circles or the grey areas between them

49
Q

Linguistic innovations of ELF

A

• dropping third person present tense s
• confusion with who and which
• omission of definite and indefinite articles or inserting them where they are not really used
• use of ‘isn’t it’ or no?’ in tag questions
• inserting redundant prepositions
• overusing verbs of high semantic generality (do, make, have)
• overdoing explicitness how long time instead of how long

50
Q

(Attitudes towards ELF) Sobkowiak and Prodromou

A

Sobkowiak 2005: describes an ELF approach to pronunciation as one that will ‘bring the ideal [RP] down into the gutter with no checkpoint along the way”

Prodromou 2006: ELF is a ‘broken weapon’ and its speakers are “stuttering on the world stage”

51
Q

(Attitudes towards ELF) Roy Harris and Robert Philipson

A

Roy Harris 2007: “I couldn’t care less what kind of English Korean Airlines inflict on their passengers”

Robert Philipson 1992: the spread of English as a global language disadvantages other languages, causing them to lose prestige or die out

52
Q

(Attitudes towards ELF) Common Sense

A

Some regard ELF as common sense, with a streamlining of English to create a comprehensible accessible and usable form of a global communication, while others have reacted against the challenge to what may have ben seen as the authority of the British and American standards.

53
Q

Neosemy

A

a word gains a new meaning

A-Level English Language (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions