language change Flashcards
David Crystal
2 things
- Trying to stop language change is impossible; “it would be easier to stop the tide coming in.”
- Spoken language is accelerating due to increasing due to increasing English speakers- we should embrace this change, as we are moving to more informal language
David Crystal
(diachronic and synchronic change)
Diachronic change- studies language change over time
Synchronic change- considers change happening at a particular moment
Descriptivist view of language change
Accepting language change and reflecting the reasons how and why language changes
Prescriptivist view of language change
Focussing on there being “correct” linguistic rules and usage of language
Samuel Johnson 1755
- Published his dictionary of English language
- First to reflect English as “how it appeared in use”
- 1st edition contained 40,000 words, with meanings, examples and notes on a word’s use
- Prescriptivist in tone- favoured traditional spellings and advised pronunciations on “elegant speakers”
Robert Lowth 1762
4 things
- Attempted to standardise the use of grammar, advising on its “correct” usage
- Lowth’s grammar rules reflected those in Latin, but he acknowledged it would be better not to use rules from a foreign langauge
- Successful and used in education until the 20th century
- Adopted by those wishing to distinguish themselves from lower classes- prescriptivist
Otto Jespersen
3 things
Great Vowel Shift 1909
1. Long vowel sounds pronounced lower down in the mouth during Middle English changed so they were pronounced higher up
2. E.g. “mu:s” changed to “maus”
3. Spelling didn’t change, but pronunciation did, which is why learning English as a foreign language can be hard
William Caxton 1476
Printing press
1. Caxton’s use of English in addition to Latin became the standard
2. Stories were told through the spoken tradition prior, now there emerged a widening gap between the spoken and written world
John McWhorter
Textspeak
1. Spoken and written language are becoming increasingly homogeneous
2. “Textspeak” reflects spoken language- we are increasingly writing as we speak
Martin Janssen
- Lexical gaps- where words should exist, but do not
- Often relates to words in other languages which exist e.g. “ubermorgen” in German means “the day after tomorrow”
- Neologisms occur to fill lexical gaps
- Substratum- how different langauges change another (often due to war)
- British English used “like” more after more American TV
How did English develop from the mid fifth century? - what happened and its effect on language
Germanic tribes began to conquer Britannia, a Roman province
We can still see links with Germanic dialect in our language today, due to the localised linguistic development of the different groups
What did language develop into over the fifth to the eleventh century? Are there words from this period that we still use today?
Old English
Largely incomprehensible, but some words are the same e.g. “man”, “house” and “friend”
What is the next period of linguistic development after Old English? What happened to affect language here? Give examples of words from then that we still use?
Middle English
From the eleventh century, the Norman King William I conquered England and we began to adopt French linguistic influences e.g. “castle”, “forest” and “vessel”
How was language affected by the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) between England and France?
A more anglicised form was used increasingly in written form, leading to a greater standardisation of the language
Who was Middle English used by? And what did this develop into?
Chaucer
Modern English in the 16th century
Jonathan Swift 1712
Published “A proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue”
He set out the need for a language academy to prevent the further ‘decay’ of English which had never achieved a ‘Degree of Perfection’
Jonathon Swift’s pamphlet sounds very prescriptivist, but what is it worth noting about his work?
He was a satirist, so may be mocking contemporary concerns
