Language change

Question 1

prescriptivism

Answer 1

language should be protected from change

Question 2

descriptivism

Answer 2

all varieties of language are valuable and positive

Question 3

archaic

Answer 3

old and out dated

Question 4

codification

Answer 4

a change becomes officially recognised

Question 5

lexical innovation

Answer 5

using current words and adapting to make new words

Question 6

affixation

Answer 6

adding a prefix

Question 7

blending

Answer 7

taking parts of two existing words

Question 8

clipping

Answer 8

shortening a word

Question 9

conversion

Answer 9

a word changes class

Question 10

compounding

Answer 10

combining two full existing words

Question 11

reduplication

Answer 11

combining two similar sounds

Question 12

acronymisation

Answer 12

using first letters to make a word, said as a word

Question 13

initialisation

Answer 13

using first letters to make a word, said as letters

Question 14

lexical invention

Answer 14

creating fully new words

Question 15

loan words / borrowing

Answer 15

new words from other languages

Question 16

eponymisation

Answer 16

using someone’s name to form a word

Question 17

neologisation

Answer 17

completely new word

Question 18

amelioration

Answer 18

gains a more positive meaning

Question 19

bleaching

Answer 19

loses power

Question 20

derogation

Answer 20

gains a more negative meaning

Question 21

expansion

Answer 21

definition covers more

Question 22

metaphor / metonymy

Answer 22

a word / phrase becomes a metaphor and so its meaning changes

Question 23

restriction

Answer 23

a word loses some of its meaning

Question 24

neosemy

Answer 24

gains a completely new meaning

Question 25

words bought by vikings

Answer 25

sky
skull
anger

Question 26

norman influence

Answer 26

large amount of French terms

Question 27

the great vowel shift

Answer 27

long vowel sounds moved from front of mouth to further back
moose –> mouse

Question 28

Caxton

Answer 28

bought printing press to england in 15th century

Question 29

johnson

Answer 29

published a dictionary in 1755 containing 40,000 words and spellings
trying to control language is like trying to ‘lash the wind’

Question 30

swift

Answer 30

believed that English needed to be corrected and improved. he disliked
- contractions
- clipped words
- new words
- borrowed words
- young people changing language

Question 31

lowth

Answer 31

wrote a grammar book for teaching
stated that multiple negation isn’t acceptable (this has become codified)