LANGUAGE CHANGE Flashcards
Halliday’s Functional Theory
Language changes because of the needs of its users. As society evolves, so do linguistic requirements.
Hockett’s Random Fluctuation Theory
Language change happens due to the random and unpredictable fluctuations in human communication.
Jespersen’s Linguistic Efficiency Theory
Language change leads inevitably to increased linguistic efficiency.
We desire to speak distinctly, but equally with ease.
Haugen’s Codification Theory
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.
Akbarov’s text speak theory
Text speak communications protect teens/young adults from unintended recipients.
Text speak might also be a rebellion against language rules.
French’s text speak theory
The compression of language in text speak has influenced the development of abbreviation, slang and new word forms.
An effort to codify.
Semantic change
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.
Semantic broadening
A word’s meaning expands to cover more contexts than it originally did.
Semantic narrowing
A word’s meaning becomes more specific or limited than it used to be.
Amelioration
A word’s meaning changes to become more positive or socially elevated.
Pejoration
A word’s meaning shifts to become more negative or derogatory.
Semantic Bleaching (Weakening)
A word loses the intensity of its original meaning over time.
Metaphorical Extension
A word acquires a new meaning by being used in a figurative or metaphorical way.
Euphemism
A softer or more polite word is used to avoid something harsh, unpleasant, or taboo.
Aitchison’s S-Curve Model
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
Bailey’s Wave Model
Suggests that language change starts in one particular area (or among a specific group of people) and spreads outwards
Articulatory Simplification
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
Language Contact
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.
Metonym
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’
Synecdoche
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’
Meiosis
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”
