Language Change Flashcards
Old English
700 - 1066
Germanic and Old Norse influence in the form of place names, animal words, body parts, family words and war/maritime words.
Middle English
1066 - 1500
Started with the Battle of Hastings (1066)
We speak French for over 300 years
Norman French was brought over, ended with the merging of French and Germanic
Standardisation began
The Great Vowel shift influenced pronunciation
Early Modern English
1500 - 1700
The Renaissance period began, sparking an interest in Latin and Greek
Latinate was introduced through science
French was also restored
Shakespeare coined over 1500 new words
Modern English
1700 - 1950
Rate of standardisation increased due to Johnson’s dictionary in 1755
Prescriptivism encouraged codification
Rural-urban migration lead to higher literacy rates
Late Modern English
1950 - Present
Technology and commercialisation expanded
Methods of communication have influenced the language we use (social media etc)
Social liberation movements
Political cooperation
Archaic lexis
Words that aren’t widely recognisable to the reader but aren’t reflective of modern society (e.g. milkmaid)
Obsolete lexis
Words that are no longer used in our language (e.g. illecebrous, meaning attractive)
Negative verb phrases (grammar)
Negative particle attached to auxiliary verb now (e.g. I know not –> I don’t know)
Pronouns (grammar)
‘you’ was introduced in 1600s to replace ‘thou’
Changes to the Masculine generic ‘he’
Prepositions (grammar)
Prepositions became simpler (upon –> on)
Single prepositions such as ‘Before your face’ became outdated, we would now use prepositional phrases such as ‘infront of’
Affixation (lexis)
adding affixes (prefixes and suffixes) to words, e.g. affixation
-eth suffix changed to -s suffix, e.g. creepth –> creeps
Compounding (lexis)
Two words that can stand alone, placed together (e.g. playground)
Blending (lexis)
Two words are blended together to make a single word (e.g. Brexit, motel)
Acronym (lexis)
Creating a word from the initials of words from a phrase, pronounced as a new word (e.g. NATO, NASA)
Initialism (lexis)
Pronouncing the initials of the words from a phrase (e.g. lmk, brb)
Clipping (lexis)
Removing part of a word (e.g. ‘intro)
Conversion (lexis)
Changing a word’s word class (e.g. ‘google’ –> ‘googled’
Coinage (lexis)
Creating a new word (neologism) to language
Neologism (lexis)
A new word
Proprietary name (lexis)
Brand names that are now used universally for the generic name of their product (e.g. ‘hoover, sellotape)
Eponym (lexis)
Process of naming a product/invention after the inventor (e.g. sandwich, wellington)
Borrowing/Loan words (lexis)
Using a word from another language (e.g. bungalow, pizza)
Orthographical change (lexis)
When the spelling of a word changes over time (e.g. trowsers)
Amelioration (semantics)
A word’s meaning becomes more positive over time (e.g. sick)
Pejoration (semantics)
A word’s meaning becomes more negative over time (e.g. mistress)
Broadening (semantics)
A word’s meaning becomes more broad over time (e.g. holiday)
Narrowing (semantics)
A word’s meaning becomes more narrow over time (e.g. lily)
Semantic shift (semantics)
The meaning of a word shifts, depending on circumstances/technology (e.g. dashboard)
Weakening (semantics)
A word’s meaning loses power over time (e.g. awful)
Euphemisms (semantics)
A polite way of talking about a taboo topic (e.g. use the ladies room)
Dysphemism (semantics)
An expression with connotations that are offensive/crude (e.g. we shagged)
Printing Press
1476
Caxton
Key catalyst for standardisation
Linguistic reflectionism
Language is a reflection of our thoughts, it is shaped by the way we think (e.g. censoring a racist’s language would not stop them from being racist)
Lexical gaps
Process used to fill gaps in language where words don’t currently exist
Functional theory
Language changes according to our needs, e.g. technological language
Wave theory
Schmidt, 1872
Language change moves across geographical areas from a source of influence (e.g. MLE moving from London to Surrey)
Informalisation & colloquialisation theory
Fairclough
20th Century phenomenon, written texts in media, advertisements, speeches etc. are become more like speech
18th Century prescriptivists
Jonathon Swift (1712)
Samuel Johnson (1755) Dictionary
Robert Lowth (1762) Grammar book
All trying to prescribe a form of English, thinking it is superior
Haugen’s model of standardisation
1966
1) Selection - a standard is selected
2) Codification - A standard is laid down in print, dictionaries, documents etc.
3) Elaboration - The standard is expanded, e.g. other dialects
4) Implementation - The standard is implemented in society (e.g. teachers, schools, media etc.)
Milroy & Milroy
1999
Suggests that standardisation is ‘an idea is in the mind rather than a reality’
We can still understand each other well enough without someone’s use of grammar being the same
When did standardisation occur?
It is thought to have been happening from 1476 (Thomas Caxton’s printing press) -> 1800s
Significance of the long ‘ʃ’ (orthography)
- Was used until 1800s, where it was replaced by the short ‘s’ we use today
- It was deemed unnecessary due to there being no phonological function
How can context/genre feed into language change?
Look at the type of text, e.g. ‘etiquette guides’, ‘rules of society’ etc. we no longer have these, marks era of prescriptivism that expanded to society, not just language
Often hyperbolic, over the top to make a point
Orthography in early modern/modern texts
- Consonants were doubled where we would use single, and vice versa
- ‘y’ was commonly used for ‘i’
- ‘u’ and ‘v’ were interchangeable, ‘v’ was commonly seen at the beginning of words
- Silent ‘e’ found on the end of words to show long vowel sound, e.g. ‘crosse’, ‘laste’
- ‘j’ and ‘i’ were inerchangeable
Reasons for orthographical changes
Phonological - as our sounds change, our language must change to accomodate this
Technological - When printing presses were used, some printers would be paid per letter meaning they would add letters to gain money - some would shorten words to allow more to fit on pages etc.
Standardisation - language was undergoing standardisation from 1476-1800s, constantly changing - spelling was further standardised during modern period (1750-1950), before, spelling would’ve been individual choice
Anthropomorphism
Making something sound more animalistic
- Used in older texts to make them sound more literary
- Often hyperbolic, over the top to make a point
Inverted syntax
Non standard English, can be linked to standardisation and prescriptivism
Reversing the typical order of words
Seen often in older texts
‘I know not’ ‘Some there are’ ‘A cake Jan ate’
Makes text more complex, older texts may have been seen as more literary and prestigious, as only educated people would be able to understand
Orthography in early modern/modern texts - consonant pairs
Omission of medial or final ‘e’
Use of ‘ck’ where we would use ‘c’ (Germanic)
Use of ‘ee’ where we would use ‘ea’
Use of ‘oo’ where we would use ‘oa’
Use of ‘aw’ where we would use ‘au’ (e.g. sawces instead of sauces)
Heteronormative relationships in older texts
Lots of mentions of ‘wives’ and ‘husbands’, they were expected to be married at this time period
Can be linked to prescriptivism and class divide
Changes in verb mood
Look at shifts between declaratives and imperatives in the two different texts, especially in guides or instruction texts
Use of passive voice
- Can distance the writer from the writing
- Makes the text less personal
- Creates uniformity in writing
Multiclausal sentences in older texts
Older texts used to string together multiclausal sentences extended by conjunctions and more clauses, far beyond what we would call ‘standard’
Language has become more efficient, our sentences are shorter and key information is placed at the beginning to reduce number of clauses and conjunctions
Adverbial information (when, where, who etc) is moved to beginning to avoid unnecessary clauses and conjunctions, we are less concerned with formality and extension of information, as well as not needing to make texts sound more literary
Structure of response
Begin with brief GAP analysis, not too detailed just outlining the points
3 points of comparison, must contain something about lexis, grammar, semantics, discourse, orthography etc
Era of Prescriptivism
18th century (1700-1800)
Discourse structure
Is it narrative?
Is it chronological?
Has it got anecdotes?
Is it logical?
Accessibility of language - old vs new
Language did not need to be accessible in older texts, e.g. 1800s as not as many people were educated and fewer had the ability to read
Writers would overcomplicate texts to exhibit their own education and knowledge, using complex sentence structure, syntax, passive voice etc. to make it harder for those less educated to understand
Language today is written to be more accessible to the wider public, without prestige or class/status being a factor
Fairclough -Informalisation
Suggests that language has become more informal and colloquial over time and must appeal to readers personally
Significance of colons in older texts
Used to signify a pause, like a comma - came from Ancient Greek - For the Greeks, the comma was the shortest pause; the colon was twice as long.
