Language Change Flashcards
Define diachronic change.
Studying the historical development and evolution of language.
Change over a broad period of time, bigger picture of language change.
Define synchronic change.
Studying language change at a particular moment in time.
It links to causes and attitudes (specifity and precision).
Give some causes for language change.
- Invasions and battles leading to hybrid language.
- Technological advancement and mass production.
- Travel/ the British Empire/ colonialism
- Prominent writers choosing to write in English
- Prescriptivist grammarians/ lexicographers trying to control language (standardisation)
- Societal changes and development.
Break down key events influencing Old English.
400CE- Celtic languages in England, ruled by Romans. English developed form the langauges of the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons.
As the Roman Empire crumbled, Anglo-Saxon became the dominant language in England.
Anglo-Saxon was a simple Germanic language, which came to be known as Old English.
c.700s- Danes and Saxons merged, Old Norse was mixed with Old English. Tuesday, Wedensday, and Thursday were named for Norse Gods.
c.800CE- Latin comes to England through Christianity.
Break down the key events influencing Middle English.
1066- Norman conquest- Vikings in France abandoned the Viking language in favour of French, whihc became the language of the aristocracy. English gains roughly 10,000 new words from Normans.
A divide in language is formed: nobility/ aristocracy speak French, peasants speak Old English.
French and Latin (the langauge of religion) blended with Old English, bringing many words about aristocracy and religion.
Anglo-Saxon: “cow”, “sheep”, “swine”, French: “mutton”, “beef”
Break down the key events influencing Early Modern English.
100 years war- France become the enemy; English becomes dominant and a source of pride.
1611- King James I Bible- start of standardisation, 1st widely published English translation of the Bible. Resulted in the expansion of Christianity. Gave rise to metaphor and discourses on morality (e.g. “fly in the ointment”, “wolf in sheep’s clothing”, “leopard can’t change its spots”.
Native American words- raccoon, squash, moose
We gain around 2000 new words/ phrases from Shakespeare (e.g. “flesh and blood”, “house and home”, “eyeballs”, “puppy-dog”. His writing showed the power of vernacular English.
Pre-17th century, science unrecognised. The Enlightenment now gives rise to neologism (“cardiac”, “electricity”, “gravity”, “vagina”).
Break down the key events influencing Modern English.
Dr Johnson- influences prescriptivist attitudes to language change. Wrote the first widely published English dictionary. Introduced standard spellings, form, and grammar.
1857- Oxford English Dictionary begins production. (1st edition piublished in 1928 and is continually revised).
British Empire, new ‘loan words’ from the Carribbean (“cannibal”, “barbecue”, “canoe”), India (“yoga”, “crimson”, “bungalow”), Africa (“zombie”, “voodoo”), Australia (“boomerang”, “walkabout”).
Break down the key events influencing Present Day English.
Americanism and the Cold War brought neoloogisms to English (“breakeven”, “white collar”) and kept some Older English terms, which have been changed in the British lexicon (“diaper”, “fall”, “candy”, etc.). Some American terms have been carried over in “movies” or “cool jazz”.
The Oxford English Dictionary is continually revised- we cannot prevent new words from being made.
The internet sees the shift from emphasis on spoken language to texts. It also brought neologisms of its own (“email”, “toolbar”, “firewall”, “text” as a verb) and abbreviations (BTW, TBH, LOL, FYI) some of which are now common in speech.
English is a global constitution- only 1/4 of English speakers speak it as their first langauge. There are now varieties of English like Chinglish, Hinglish, and Singlish- English is now so involved with other cultures, can it still be called English?
