Language Change Flashcards
language change processes Compounding
- existing words to form new words
blending
joining morphemes or syllables from existing words (glamping)
pejoration
change in word’s meaning, so it losses status (mistress_)
amelioration
change in word’s meaning, so it gains status (wicked)
clipping
shortening words, as in “maths” for “mathematics” and “doc” for “doctors”
broadening
extending a range of meaning (cool)
narrowing
loss of range of meaning (meat)
conversion
creating new meanings by using it in a different word class (google)
affixation
adding a prefix or suffix to a word (kitchenette)
acronyms
abbreviations
SWH Determinism
language determines how we think
criticism of determinism
Native American nation - Sapir and Whorf studied
they misunderstood the language and thought they didn’t have ‘tenses’ in language, that why they were more relaxed
You can change the words but it will not change the attitude.
Reflectionism
language is shaped by our thoughts
criticism of reflectionism
dismisses the value of trying to shape or change lang.
according to that racist lang can be changed only when attitudes change
lexical gap
When a language doesn’t have a word for a particular concept. such as aggression and compassion don’t have a verb from
unlike confession -confess
random fluctuation and cultural transmission
Charles Hockett’s theory: language is unstable. it is not a progress or decay, it’s just a response to the changing context.
(book=cool in 21 century)
substratum theory
influence from foreign lang.
william labov - jewish over pronounced coffee(caw-fee) and it became new NewYork Accent
functional theory
-Language changes according to the needs of its users
like memory stick
changes are more lexical
s-curve
Chen’s assertion: new lang/pronunciation is adapted by users at a certain rate and no effect seen. then change accelerates and then slows down.
wave
Bailey(1973): how change spreads out gradually - the further away you are from the origin of a particular change (geographically or status) = the less impact it will have on you.
Jean Aitchison 1
potential - there is an external pressure for social change.
Jean Aitchison 2
diffusion - change starts to spread out through the population.
Jean Aitchison 3
implementation - people start using the variant
Jean Aitchison 4
codification model - written down, put into the dictionary, accepted officially
Jean Aitchison is a descriptivist - she developed three metaphors for prescriptivists
- dump spoon - laziness e.g. lol, gr8
- crumbling castle - we have to preserve language, like we preserve old historical objects (but to what form are we coming back, when was English’s golden period?)
- infectious disease - the change is spreading like a virus. (change only catches and adopts by people when they need it, otherwise it’s not gonna stay for long)
Guy Deutscher motives for language change: ECONOMY
saves effort
refers to pronunciation - ‘wasn’t’ , ‘innit’
language gets more efficient
Guy Deutscher motives for language change: EXPRESSIVENESS
language bleached of meaning
we need more synonyms for lang to become fresh and effective, up to date
‘good’ - ‘ brilliant, awesome, amazing, fabulous.
Guy Deutscher motives for language change: ANALOGY
we are seeking for analogy and logic
all the new words have ‘s’ ending for plural
the irregular ending ‘en’ is disappearing
David Crystal on text-speak
it’s not destroying lang
teens are not illiterate
they know/learn how to code switch
Vyvyan Evans emojis
emojis are helping to communicate online. replicates emotions, body lang, attitude, tone
helps to avoid misunderstanding
politically correct language
seeks to reduce and remove offence caused to particular individuals through prejudice and discrimination in language.
1970 - usa
Kate Swift and Casey Miller
re-writing a sex education textbook, to make it more equal and both gender inclusive. promote respect for both.
found it was difficult to do, as male pronouns were used all the time.
three types of NON PC LANGUAGE - SUBTLE
exclusive words subtly influenced our way of thinking
e.g. policemen, firemen, mailmen: make job only for men
imply masculinity is the default and dominant
three types of NON PC LANGUAGE - OFFENSIVE
first set - words linked to people to insult them
second set - offensive bcs of pejorative connotations implied to words
e.g. gay - as smth undesirable
three types of NON PC LANGUAGE - BLATANT
highly offensive words
the objectify and belittle entire groups
e.g. n-word
Euphemism Treadmill (Stephen Pinker)
The process whereby words introduced to replace an offensive word, over time become offensive themselves.
18 century: bog-house -> house-of-office
20th century: lavatory -> bathroom -> restroom -> WC (water closet) -> toilet/loo
dominant and muted groups theory Edwin & Shirley Ardener
in all the cultures there are more and less powerful groups
powerful will dominate in language
others became muted group
Gatekeeper is …
opooses to what?
example
using language to exclude other people
keeping insiders in and outsiders out
they opposed to PC language
and are in dominant group
‘policeman’ - keeps women from doing that job.
pronoun issue Laura Paterson
pronounce are closed class system
you have to hear neutral pronunciation since you are a child to put it in your brain.
they singular, titles - Mrs, Mr, Miss -Ms or Mx
PC real examples
- kids couldn’t sing ‘black ship’
- Tottenham Hotspurs - Y-word : was a former area around Tottenham, but now used with a bad connotation.
- Slutwalks -fresher - in unis - gained a connotation of getting close during Covid 19 - so got banned
- black lives matter - racist insisting that all lives matter, not understanding the background behind
have we changed?
Young generations are used to ‘firefighter’
to singular they - which supports Determinism
but racism still exists, though people are terrified of n-word - supports Reflectivism
woke language is
language that is very inclusive, people who use it understand the perspective of others, not simply thier ‘white middle class’ point of view
the problem with woke language
it underwent pejoration process
Euphamism treadmill
and gaind a negative connotation through overuse of it in the social media
what was called the first form of woke language
+a year
Black slang
1960s
woke rpelaced
pc
as ps also became pejorative
