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A Level English Language > Language Change > Flashcards

Language Change Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

What is diachronic change

A

studying the historical development and evolution of language

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2
Q

What is synchronic change

A

studying language change at a particular moment in time

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3
Q

From what century did old english start

A

5th

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4
Q

Who were the kelts ruled by

A

romans, then anglo-saxons including angles, jutes, freisans and saxons

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5
Q

What language did the anglo saxons bring

A

a germanic language

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6
Q

When did the danes invade from the north

A

700

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7
Q

Where did the danes push the saxons

A

to the south

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8
Q

What language did the danes bring

A

old norse

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9
Q

Why did old norse and old english begin to mix

A

due to marriages and migration

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10
Q

Give 3 examples of old norse

A

freckle, skin, leg

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11
Q

Give 2 examples of old english

A

hearty, welcome

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12
Q

From what century did middle english begin

A

11th

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13
Q

Which language did the norman conquest bring

A

french

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14
Q

What social class used french

A

aristocracy

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15
Q

Which social class used old english

A

peasants

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16
Q

What language did the clergy bring

A

latin

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17
Q

Give 3 examples of latinate words

A

govern, marriage, council

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18
Q

Give 2 examples of french words

A

cordial, reception

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19
Q

From what century did early modern english begin

A

15th

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20
Q

Who invented 2000 words in early modern

A

Shakespeare

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21
Q

Which countries did we travel to and take words from in early modern

A

Native america and caribbean

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22
Q

Name two native american words

A

moose, squash

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23
Q

Name one caribbean word

A

barbeque

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24
Q

From what century did modern english begin

A

18th century

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25
Q

What did King James introduce that brought in more language

A

translated the bible which brought many metaphors

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26
Q

Which sector was fast growing and brought new language

A

science

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27
Q

What did the British empire do a lot of in modern english

A

travel and take words from colonial countries

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28
Q

What was first introduced in 1857

A

the new oxford dictionary

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29
Q

From what century did present day english begin

A

20th

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30
Q

Which type of words did Americans introduce to english in the early 20th century

A

economic and commuting words like break even, bottom line and freeway

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31
Q

What happened in 1991 that brought lots of new words

A

the internet - download, tool bar, abbreviations

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32
Q

When was the first Johnson Dictionary

A

1700

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33
Q

Who invented printing press

A

Caxton

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34
Q

What is included in standardisation

A

bibles, dictionaries

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35
Q

Why did people want standardisation

A

to get one standard english that everyone can understand and take hold of the language

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36
Q

What are the 5 factors that trigger language change

A 
social factors
historical factors
geographical location
different registers
cultural transmission
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37
Q

Give two examples as to why different registers have caused language change

A

people use more french words to sound more sophisticated (cordial) dating back to norman conquest
abbreviations used in slang

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38
Q

Name 3 historical factors as to why language has changed

A

invasions from danes and normans
integration of religious language
economy

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39
Q

Name 4 social factors in language change

A

gender
class
age
changing social attitudes

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40
Q

Define functional theory

A

language changes to suite the needs of its users

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41
Q

What did David Crystal say about functional change

A

that all living languages change and only the dead ones dont change

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42
Q

Define random fluctuation theory

A

language changes randomly, or accidently, not because of a need

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43
Q

Give an example of synchronic and random fluctuation theory

A

War craft mistype of owned to pwned

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44
Q

What are the 4 levels, in order, of the lexical change flow chart

A

potential, implementation, diffusion, codification

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45
Q

What is potential

A

a need for change, practical or social

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46
Q

What is implementation

A

a word filling a gap for need, first appears

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47
Q

What diffusion

A

the spread of a word through a language

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48
Q

give 2 examples of diffusion

A

semantic shift, functional shift

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49
Q

What is codification

A

process of dictionary announcing/standardising a word

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50
Q

What happened to the word Spam

A

underwent a functional shift and change in word class
noun to verb
monty python sketch
pejoration

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51
Q

What is pejoration

A

giving a word a new negative association

52
Q

What is expressiveness and who commented on it

A

Deutscher (2006) said that it is a way that speakers attempt to achieve greater effect for their utterances
no - not in a million years

53
Q

What is language change through economy

A

clipping a word to remove unnecessary grammatical elements

54
Q

What is language change through analogy

A

the tendency to regularise language use

adding ed - hammered

55
Q

Why would the plain english campaign not be wanted 200 years ago

A

as people wanted more complicated language to diverge from the lower classes

56
Q

What process has the word lockdown under gone

A

bleaching, as its meaning has been lessened as its not as scary as before

57
Q

What is a new word for 2020 and its cultural meaning

A

hellacious
meaning awful experience
affixation
used to describe the climate emergency

58
Q

What are borrowings

A

an external expansion where we take words from other languages

59
Q

What is internal expansion

A

modifying existing words

60
Q

What is coinage

A

the official making of a word

61
Q

What is an eponym

A

names of a company are used to define particular objects eg hoover

62
Q

Where did the word chav come from

A

romania borrowings “chavi” - chav 1860

then acronym council house and violent in 2011 by Manly

63
Q

What is blending

A

merging 2 words together

64
Q

What is political correctness

A

using non offensive terms that do not discriminate against certain groups

65
Q

Give 3 examples of social groups that are described using PC

A

illegal immigrants to undocumented person to decriminalise the word
social class - poor to economically challenged
disability - blind and deaf to visually and hearing impaired to stop the word defining them

66
Q

Where did PC come from

A

USA in the 1970’s

67
Q

Why were greek and latin terms considered inkhorn terms

A

as they believed they were pretentious and artificial

68
Q

What came from the ink horn controversy

A

first dispute about the english language

69
Q

Who was the 16th century John Humpherys

A

John Cheke

70
Q

What was Johnathon Swifts proposal

A

said that daily corruptions of english language outweighed the daily improvements

71
Q

Explain the s curve model

A

Chen (1968)
change in speed of change
slow when first introduced
increases as it becomes more common and accepted
then slows down again when fully integrated

72
Q

Explain the wave model

A

Bailey (1973)
geographical distance effects change
epicentre uses most
further away less likely to catch on as quick

73
Q

Give an example of the wave model

A

MLE

74
Q

Explain the random fluctation theory

A

Hockett (1958)
changes occur due to the unstable nature of the language
random errors

75
Q

What is amelioration

A

a semantic change when a words original meaning improves or becomes positive over time

76
Q

Give an example of amelioration

A

nice

foolish to good

77
Q

What is the opposite of amelioration

A

Pejoration

78
Q

What do gaps refer to in lexical gaps

A

the words that are not currently used but fit exisiting language patterns

79
Q

Explain Halliday’s function theory

A

when language changes to fit its users

opposite of random fluctation

80
Q

What is the substratum theory

A

how our language has changed due to influences from other languages

81
Q

What is the word for the process where a new meaning develops for a word

A

neosemy

82
Q

What is semantic reclamation

A

when a bad word is taken by the person being called it to lessen the bad connotations
eg bitch

83
Q

What is narrowing and broadening

A

the meaning narrows or broadens

84
Q

What is change from above

A

conscious attempts by those in positions of power to impose a correct form of language

85
Q

Which 2020 words have undergone bleaching

A

lockdown (word of the year)
self isolate
quarantine

86
Q

What is change from below

A

unconscious attempts from general public to make language that they need

87
Q

Define orthology

A

the spelling and punctation system of a language

88
Q

What is a lexicographer

A

someone who compiles dictionaries

89
Q

What are the 2 significant events in standardisation

A 
Caxtons printing press (1476)
Johnsons dictionary (1755)
90
Q

Why did Caxtons printing press give a London dialect a feeling of prestige

A

as it was used in printed texts

91
Q

What did Johnson say about language

A

made dictionary to try and fix variations

realsied language is ever changing and he should describe and not prescribe it

92
Q

Why did Milroy and Milroy (1985) say that standardisation is an ideological struggle

A

because one persons standardisation is anothers censorship

93
Q

Which cities have decided to remove all apostrophes from road signs

A

Birmingham and Cambridge

94
Q

What are reasons for abolishing the apostrophe

A

removes confusion as to when to use one
bsuinesses spend lots on proof readers
rarely make a semantic difference
dont aid communication

95
Q

What are reasons for keeping the apostrophe

A

removing it is dumbing down

questions use of any punctuation

96
Q

Does grammatical change occur faster or more slowly than semantic or lexical change

A

slower, and can often be a source of anger for more conservative speakers

97
Q

Name 4 examples of grammatical change

A

double negations used to be common, now seen as non-standard
syntax simplified, sentences used to have more subordinate clauses
loss of thou/thee, changed to you
loss of superlatives, used to use cleverest now use more clever

98
Q

When did attention turn to grammar rules

A

18th and 19th century

99
Q

What did correct grammar begin to be associated with

A

higher social status

100
Q

What did a desire for correct grammar lead to

A

the making of grammar guides

101
Q

Describe someone who created a grammar guide

A

Lowth 1762
a short introduction to english grammar
prescriptivist
change from above

102
Q

Name some rules in Lowths guide

A

thou should no longer be used
who and whom should be used correctly
multiple negotion is illogical

103
Q

When did the great vowel shift occur

A

14th-18th century

104
Q

Who coined the term the great vowel shift

A

Jesperson

105
Q

What happened in the great vowel shift

A

long vowels changed to short

106
Q

What is the root language

A

indo-european

107
Q

How many english speakers world wide

A

2 billion

108
Q

What are native english speakers (L1)

A

a minority

109
Q

What is english mostly used as

A

L2 used as a second language

110
Q

What did Beneke find

A

that 80% of interactions in english are between non native speakers

111
Q

Why is english so popular

A

colonisation as we colonialised 25% of the world
scientific and technology power
economic power

112
Q

Why is english now a lingua franca

A

a bridging language between speakers who do not share a common language

113
Q

What are the 5 key characteristics of english as a lingua franca accroding to Jenkins (2006)

A 
used by speakers of different languages
its a functional form of communication
can include elements of local varieties
context dependant rather than 'all-purpose'
users may have a high or low proficiency
114
Q

Define diaspora

A

the spread of people and their language around the world

115
Q

What are the 5 phases of Schneider’s dynamic model

A

phase 1 - foundation - english appears in a new territory
phase 2 - exonormative stabilisation - english begins to be used, modelled off of British standards
phase 3 - nativisation - old and new languages become more closely linked
phase 4 - endonormative stabilisation - english being spoken develops inside standards and norms
phase 5 - differentiation - new variance of english develops its own regional differences

116
Q

Why is Singlish disencouraged in Singapore

A

as its seen as sub standard or broken English, they want RP

117
Q

According to the Singapore government, why is speaking RP good

A

it is imperative to raise the standrd of living and stops poor communication

118
Q

Why do the Singapore government do every year to promote good english

A

“Speak Good English Campaign”

119
Q

What is a pidgin

A

a simplified language formed from the contact of exisiting languages
no one native language

120
Q

What is a creole

A

mother tongue formed from the contact of european language with a local language

121
Q

Name 4 orthological differences between American and British English

A

or endings
er endings
ize endings
loss of diagraph ae

122
Q

Who believed english spelling rules were too complex and proposed reforms

A

lexicographer noah webster

123
Q

What did Noah Websters changes make

A

it easier to learn american english than british english as there was a greater grapheme-phoneme correspondence

124
Q

What does Matthew Engel say about americanisms

A

the “ugly and pointless new usages are invading Britain in battalions”
making the english language “wither”

125
Q

What is an issue with americanisms/american phrases in the UK

A

Sussex police recorded a distrubing high number of children thinking they should dial 911 in an emergency

126
Q

What are Aitchison’s 3 models

A

damp spoon syndrome, crumbling castle view, infectious diseases assumption

A Level English Language (4 decks)

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