Language Change Flashcards
Accommodation
How people adjust their speech behaviours to match others; this can be aspects of accent, grammar, vocabulary and even the style of speech delivery.
Amelioration
The process of a word’s meaning changing and picking up more positive connotations over time.
Broadening
The process of a word’s meanings becoming generalised over time.
Computer-mediated communication
Also known as CMC. Any form of communication that uses the medium of a keyboard or digital device, rather than being spoken or written.
Corpus Linguistics
A method of studying language using computational tools and big datasets (corpora).
Critical Discourse Analysis
An approach to the study of both written and spoken language focusing on the ways the power is enacted.
Declinism
A tendency noted by Robert Lane Greene for prescriptivists to view language as being in a state of constant decline from a once great peak.
Descriptivism
A way of viewing language as being standard or non-standard, not making judgements about correctness.
Diachronic change
The historical development of language.
Diglossia
A situation where tow very different varieties of a language exist alongside each other, each holding a distinct social function.
Etymology
The study of the origin of words and the way they change in meaning.
Grammatical variation
How varieties of English use different grammatical structures to create meaning.
Lexicon
The vocabulary of language.
Linguicism
A term used to draw parallels between hierarchies on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender and language.
Linguistic imperialism
An ideological view and process of a language change, whereby one language is imposed on speakers who use another language, often undermining the rights of those speakers. It promotes the idea that there is a hierarchy of languages.
Linguistic purism
A pejorative label used for a view that sees a language as needing preservation from things that might make it change, such as dialect variation and borrowings from other languages.
Multi-modal communication
A way of communicating that uses multiple channels e.g. speech and body language.
Narrowing
The process of a word’s meanings becoming more specialised over time.
Pejoration
The process of a word’s meaning changing and picking up more negative connotations over time.
Prescriptivism
A way of viewing language as correct or incorrect, prescribing a ‘correct’ way to use language.
Sociolect
Variation in language use associated with membership of a particular social group.
Speech community
Any socially or regionally defined groups in which its members share a number of linguistic characteristics.
Standardisation
The process under which a language develops a standard ‘prestige’ variety.
Synchronic change
The study of language change at a particular moment in time.
Uptalk
A way of speaking in which the intonation pattern moves up towards the end of a declarative utterance.
Writing system
A method for visually representing spoken language, including letters of alphabets and punctuation marks.
