LANGUAGE CHANGE

Question 1

Prescriptivism vs descriptivism?

Answer 1

Prescriptivism = the notion that language should be fixed, prescribing a set standard of rules for language use, with any shift away from these rules being seen as incorrect

Descriptivism = Where no judgement or negative attitude is imposed on language change, but an examination of language as it is and how it is used.

Question 2

Timeline of historical and linguistic development?

Answer 2

Old English = 5th century

Middle English = 11th century

Early Modern English = 15th century

Modern English = 18th century

Present day English = 20th century

Question 3

How do we create new words?

Answer 3

• External factors: we borrow ‘loan’ words from other languages
• Internal factors: We adapt existing words by modifying them e.g blending, compounding, affixation, initalism etc
• We also create entirely new words, neologisms or coinage, but this is less frequent than external or internal lexical expansion

Question 4

Johnathon Swift’s protest against lexical development?

Answer 4

• He wanted to ‘fix’ the English language. His main concerns were about:
  1. vagueness in language
  2. shortened words e.g mob, latin for ‘fickle crowd’
  3. unnecessary contractions e.g ‘disturb’d’ - poets were to blame so their ideas could fit verse lines
  4. words invented by ‘some pretty fellow’ e,g banter, shuffling - he claimed had unknown etymologies or had undergone semantic shift; he claimed these were mere ‘fashion’ and therefore likely to fall out of use.

Question 5

Neosemy?

Answer 5

When words begin to be used in different ways and acquire new meanings e.g text now is a verb, as well as a noun

Question 6

English as a lingua franca?

INCOMPLETE PAGE 225

Answer 6

English as a lingua franca (ELF) refers to English being used as a common language among speakers who come from different linguistic backgrounds. This refers mostly, but not exclusively, to languages from the expanding circle.

Question 7

What is (or was) the inkhorn controversy?¿?¿

Answer 7

During the renaissance, writers began expanding the English vocabulary by creating new words and borrowing some from other languages.

These were looked down upon because they were believed to ‘corrupt’ the English language. Many writers protested against the expansion of English.

Question 8

What was the Great Vowel Shift?¿?¿

Answer 8

ur mum jks

The Great Vowel Shift was a massive sound change affecting the long vowels of English during the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries.

The long vowels shifted upwards; that is, a vowel that used to be pronounced in one place in the mouth would be pronounced in a different place, higher up in the mouth.

Question 9

What are robot games?

Answer 9

who the fuck knows

Question 10

4 stages of standardisation

the process of a language becoming a proper language

Answer 10

1. Selection - Language selected
2. Codification - Reduction of vague rules, establishment of norms + grammatical structures
3. Elaboration - Selection of language is developed for a variety of purposes
4. Implementation - The selected language must be given value by making texts available in it, validating it as a standard language

Question 11

What are the three attitudes towards language change?

Answer 11

Damp spoon syndrome - This view suggests that language change is caused by laziness (e.g. abbreviations and contractions)

Crumbling castle - This view sees the English language as a building that needs to be preserved

Infectious disease - This view suggests tht we ‘catch’ change from those around us (e.g. integration of different dialects) IT’S GONE VIRAL XDDD

Question 12

What is the S-curve model?

Answer 12

Jean Aitchison’s visual representation of a significant change in language

http://www.peyronies-disease-treatments.com/images/Dupuytrens2.jpg (image)