LANGUAGE CHANGE

Question 1

Halliday’s Functional Theory

Answer 1

Language changes because of the needs of its users. As society evolves, so do linguistic requirements.

Question 2

Hockett’s Random Fluctuation Theory

Answer 2

Language change happens due to the random and unpredictable fluctuations in human communication.

Question 3

Jespersen’s Linguistic Efficiency Theory

Answer 3

Language change leads inevitably to increased linguistic efficiency.
We desire to speak distinctly, but equally with ease.

Question 4

Haugen’s Codification Theory

Answer 4

Language standard is developed in 4 key stages:

1) Selection - A variety of the language is chosen to be the standard.

2) Codification - The variety is given a fixed set of rules for grammar, spelling and vocal.

3) Elaboration - The language is expanded and adapted to meet the needs of society

4) Implementation - Standard language is promoted and taught in schools.

Question 5

Akbarov’s text speak theory

Answer 5

Text speak communications protect teens/young adults from unintended recipients.
Text speak might also be a rebellion against language rules.

Question 6

French’s text speak theory

Answer 6

The compression of language in text speak has influenced the development of abbreviation, slang and new word forms.
An effort to codify.

Question 7

Semantic change

Answer 7

Semantic change refers to the evolution of word meanings over time. This can be due to cultural shifts, social influences, technological developments, or other external factors.

Question 8

Semantic broadening

Answer 8

A word’s meaning expands to cover more contexts than it originally did.

Question 9

Semantic narrowing

Answer 9

A word’s meaning becomes more specific or limited than it used to be.

Question 10

Amelioration

Answer 10

A word’s meaning changes to become more positive or socially elevated.

Question 11

Pejoration

Answer 11

A word’s meaning shifts to become more negative or derogatory.

Question 12

Semantic Bleaching (Weakening)

Answer 12

A word loses the intensity of its original meaning over time.

Question 13

Metaphorical Extension

Answer 13

A word acquires a new meaning by being used in a figurative or metaphorical way.

Question 14

Euphemism

Answer 14

A softer or more polite word is used to avoid something harsh, unpleasant, or taboo.

Question 15

Aitchison’s S-Curve Model

Answer 15

Explains how language change spreads. Initially, change happens slowly, then accelerates as more people adopt it, and finally slows down once it becomes widely accepted

Question 16

Bailey’s Wave Model

Answer 16

Suggests that language change starts in one particular area (or among a specific group of people) and spreads outwards

Question 17

Articulatory Simplification

Answer 17

The tendency of speakers to modify sounds or words to make them easier to pronounce. This process often leads to changes in a language’s phonology over time

Question 18

Language Contact

Answer 18

Language contact refers to the process through which languages influence one another when speakers of different languages interact. Borrowing words, sounds, grammar, and other features from each other.

Question 19

Metonym

Answer 19

A figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept.

Eg “Hollywood” or “Crown’

Question 20

Synecdoche

Answer 20

A term for a part of something is used to refer to the whole, or vice versa.

Eg “Nice wheels” or “It’s a cruel world’

Question 21

Meiosis

Answer 21

A euphemistic figure of speech that intentionally understates something or implies that it is lesser in significance or size than it really is.

Eg “Tree hugger” or “The troubles”