Language Change Flashcards
Synchronic variation
Variation at any given time (e.g. if things are synchronous, they are happening at the same time)
Diachronic variation
Variation over time
Borrowings
Words from other languages are incorporated into English e.g. deja vu
Compounds
New words are made by joining two words together e.g. handbag
Blends
New words are made by blending other words together e.g. bromance
Acronyms
Acronyms become words through common usage e.g. phone
Initialisms
Phrases can become so commonly used that they become lexicalized e.g. FYI, FOMO
Word class changes
New meanings are formed when words were used in different word classes
Morphology
New words are formed when prefixes or suffixes are added to existing words e.g. unbothered
Coinages
Completely invented new words (often slang)
Abbreviations
Words getting shortened e.g. obvs, litch
Semantic change (or shift)
The general term for how words change their meanings. This can happen when words pick up new meanings (especially among the young), and the old meanings gradually drop away as the elder die e.g. gay
Amelioration
This is the process of semantic change whereby a word develops more positive connotations over time e.g. nice originally meant ignorant
Pejoration
This is the opposite of amelioration. When this happens, words take on a more negative meaning
Semantic reclamation
This is the process whereby particular groups consciously reclaim a pejorative and start to self-consciously ameliorate the meaning e.g. queer
Broadening
When words pick up wider and less specific meanings
Narrowing
When words gain more specific meanings and lose their broader meaning
4000 BC
English originated somewhere between south Russia and the Baltic around 4000 BC or slightly earlier.
0 AD
Britain, being part of the Roman Empire, was inhabited by celts who spoke Celtic and romanised celts who spoke a form of Latin. The romans then left, leaving the land to the celts.
5th century AD
Germaic tribes from northern Germany invaded the island. These tribes were known as the angles, the Saxons and the jutes. The celts retreated to the west where the Celtic languages survived (Cornish, welsh and Gaelic)
500-1100 AD
Old English
Approx. 700 AD
Beowolf
Mid 9th-11th centuries
Britain was invaded for the second time, this time by the vikings, who spoke old Norse. They colonised large parts of eastern and northern England
1066
The Duke of Normandy (William the conqueror) defeated and killed the last anglo-Saxon king of England at the battle of Hastings and made himself king. The norman conquest brought a huge influx of Latin and french vocab into English.
1100-1300 AD
Early Middle English
1300-1500 AD
Late Middle English
1380s
The Canterbury tales
1470s
Caxtons printing press
The great vowel shift
A series of changes in the pronunciation of the English language that took place primarily between 1400-1700
1500-1700
Early modern English
1540-1611
Shakespeare
1611
The King James Bible
1700-now
Modern english
1755
Samuel Johnson’s dictionary
1776
English,the language of the US, has spread across North America
1886
Oxford English Dictionary
1876
The telephone
English change: pronunciation
-Why English spelling is so strange? Pronunciation changes, but spelling does not, spelling reflects pronunciation
-relevant technology for phonology: writing done by trained scribes, 1450: moveable type invented in Europe, 1476: William Caxton set up the first English press, 1604: Robert caudreys table alphabetical published, Noah Webster: American English dictionary
Inflections
A change in the form of a word to express a grammatical function or attribute such as tense, mood, person, number and gender
Subjective case
When a noun or pronoun is the subject of a verb
Objective case
When a noun or pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition
Possessive case
When a noun or pronoun shows ownership or relationship.
Inflections in nouns
- the comparative -er
- the superlative -est
- possessive ‘s
- plural -s
- 3rd person singular -s
Inflections in verbs
-en forms of verbs
-ing forms of verbs
-the -ve particle ‘nt
-the past tense -d,-ed,-t
The grammar of negation
Turning affirmative declarative sentences into negative declarative sentences
Periphrasis
The use of one or more function of words to express meaning that otherwise may be expressed through one inflection. The resulting phrase includes two or more collocated words instead of one inflected word.
Examples of Saxon words
Man, woman, eat, drink, sleep
Examples of Latin words
Cock, pear, cup, pail, anchor, minister
Examples of Viking words
Haven, knife, take, root
Examples of Norman words
Castle, tower, moat, court, chimney
Words from india
Cockatoo, chintz, pyjamas
Words from Persia
Divan, Shawel
Words from turkey
Coffee
