Language Change Flashcards
1
Q
What is diachronic change
A
studying the historical development and evolution of language
2
Q
What is synchronic change
A
studying language change at a particular moment in time
3
Q
From what century did old english start
A
5th
4
Q
Who were the kelts ruled by
A
romans, then anglo-saxons including angles, jutes, freisans and saxons
5
Q
What language did the anglo saxons bring
A
a germanic language
6
Q
When did the danes invade from the north
A
700
7
Q
Where did the danes push the saxons
A
to the south
8
Q
What language did the danes bring
A
old norse
9
Q
Why did old norse and old english begin to mix
A
due to marriages and migration
10
Q
Give 3 examples of old norse
A
freckle, skin, leg
11
Q
Give 2 examples of old english
A
hearty, welcome
12
Q
From what century did middle english begin
A
11th
13
Q
Which language did the norman conquest bring
A
french
14
Q
What social class used french
A
aristocracy
15
Q
Which social class used old english
A
peasants
16
Q
What language did the clergy bring
A
latin
17
Q
Give 3 examples of latinate words
A
govern, marriage, council
18
Q
Give 2 examples of french words
A
cordial, reception
19
Q
From what century did early modern english begin
A
15th
20
Q
Who invented 2000 words in early modern
A
Shakespeare
21
Q
Which countries did we travel to and take words from in early modern
A
Native america and caribbean
22
Q
Name two native american words
A
moose, squash
23
Q
Name one caribbean word
A
barbeque
24
Q
From what century did modern english begin
A
18th century
25
What did King James introduce that brought in more language
translated the bible which brought many metaphors
26
Which sector was fast growing and brought new language
science
27
What did the British empire do a lot of in modern english
travel and take words from colonial countries
28
What was first introduced in 1857
the new oxford dictionary
29
From what century did present day english begin
20th
30
Which type of words did Americans introduce to english in the early 20th century
economic and commuting words like break even, bottom line and freeway
31
What happened in 1991 that brought lots of new words
the internet - download, tool bar, abbreviations
32
When was the first Johnson Dictionary
1700
33
Who invented printing press
Caxton
34
What is included in standardisation
bibles, dictionaries
35
Why did people want standardisation
to get one standard english that everyone can understand and take hold of the language
36
What are the 5 factors that trigger language change
```
social factors
historical factors
geographical location
different registers
cultural transmission
```
37
Give two examples as to why different registers have caused language change
people use more french words to sound more sophisticated (cordial) dating back to norman conquest
abbreviations used in slang
38
Name 3 historical factors as to why language has changed
invasions from danes and normans
integration of religious language
economy
39
Name 4 social factors in language change
gender
class
age
changing social attitudes
40
Define functional theory
language changes to suite the needs of its users
41
What did David Crystal say about functional change
that all living languages change and only the dead ones dont change
42
Define random fluctuation theory
language changes randomly, or accidently, not because of a need
43
Give an example of synchronic and random fluctuation theory
War craft mistype of owned to pwned
44
What are the 4 levels, in order, of the lexical change flow chart
potential, implementation, diffusion, codification
45
What is potential
a need for change, practical or social
46
What is implementation
a word filling a gap for need, first appears
47
What diffusion
the spread of a word through a language
48
give 2 examples of diffusion
semantic shift, functional shift
49
What is codification
process of dictionary announcing/standardising a word
50
What happened to the word Spam
underwent a functional shift and change in word class
noun to verb
monty python sketch
pejoration
51
What is pejoration
giving a word a new negative association
52
What is expressiveness and who commented on it
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
What is language change through economy
clipping a word to remove unnecessary grammatical elements
54
What is language change through analogy
the tendency to regularise language use
| adding ed - hammered
55
Why would the plain english campaign not be wanted 200 years ago
as people wanted more complicated language to diverge from the lower classes
56
What process has the word lockdown under gone
bleaching, as its meaning has been lessened as its not as scary as before
57
What is a new word for 2020 and its cultural meaning
hellacious
meaning awful experience
affixation
used to describe the climate emergency
58
What are borrowings
an external expansion where we take words from other languages
59
What is internal expansion
modifying existing words
60
What is coinage
the official making of a word
61
What is an eponym
names of a company are used to define particular objects eg hoover
62
Where did the word chav come from
romania borrowings "chavi" - chav 1860
| then acronym council house and violent in 2011 by Manly
63
What is blending
merging 2 words together
64
What is political correctness
using non offensive terms that do not discriminate against certain groups
65
Give 3 examples of social groups that are described using PC
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
Where did PC come from
USA in the 1970's
67
Why were greek and latin terms considered inkhorn terms
as they believed they were pretentious and artificial
68
What came from the ink horn controversy
first dispute about the english language
69
Who was the 16th century John Humpherys
John Cheke
70
What was Johnathon Swifts proposal
said that daily corruptions of english language outweighed the daily improvements
71
Explain the s curve model
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
Explain the wave model
Bailey (1973)
geographical distance effects change
epicentre uses most
further away less likely to catch on as quick
73
Give an example of the wave model
MLE
74
Explain the random fluctation theory
Hockett (1958)
changes occur due to the unstable nature of the language
random errors
75
What is amelioration
a semantic change when a words original meaning improves or becomes positive over time
76
Give an example of amelioration
nice
| foolish to good
77
What is the opposite of amelioration
Pejoration
78
What do gaps refer to in lexical gaps
the words that are not currently used but fit exisiting language patterns
79
Explain Halliday's function theory
when language changes to fit its users
| opposite of random fluctation
80
What is the substratum theory
how our language has changed due to influences from other languages
81
What is the word for the process where a new meaning develops for a word
neosemy
82
What is semantic reclamation
when a bad word is taken by the person being called it to lessen the bad connotations
eg bitch
83
What is narrowing and broadening
the meaning narrows or broadens
84
What is change from above
conscious attempts by those in positions of power to impose a correct form of language
85
Which 2020 words have undergone bleaching
lockdown (word of the year)
self isolate
quarantine
86
What is change from below
unconscious attempts from general public to make language that they need
87
Define orthology
the spelling and punctation system of a language
88
What is a lexicographer
someone who compiles dictionaries
89
What are the 2 significant events in standardisation
```
Caxtons printing press (1476)
Johnsons dictionary (1755)
```
90
Why did Caxtons printing press give a London dialect a feeling of prestige
as it was used in printed texts
91
What did Johnson say about language
made dictionary to try and fix variations
| realsied language is ever changing and he should describe and not prescribe it
92
Why did Milroy and Milroy (1985) say that standardisation is an ideological struggle
because one persons standardisation is anothers censorship
93
Which cities have decided to remove all apostrophes from road signs
Birmingham and Cambridge
94
What are reasons for abolishing the apostrophe
removes confusion as to when to use one
bsuinesses spend lots on proof readers
rarely make a semantic difference
dont aid communication
95
What are reasons for keeping the apostrophe
removing it is dumbing down
| questions use of any punctuation
96
Does grammatical change occur faster or more slowly than semantic or lexical change
slower, and can often be a source of anger for more conservative speakers
97
Name 4 examples of grammatical change
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
When did attention turn to grammar rules
18th and 19th century
99
What did correct grammar begin to be associated with
higher social status
100
What did a desire for correct grammar lead to
the making of grammar guides
101
Describe someone who created a grammar guide
Lowth 1762
a short introduction to english grammar
prescriptivist
change from above
102
Name some rules in Lowths guide
thou should no longer be used
who and whom should be used correctly
multiple negotion is illogical
103
When did the great vowel shift occur
14th-18th century
104
Who coined the term the great vowel shift
Jesperson
105
What happened in the great vowel shift
long vowels changed to short
106
What is the root language
indo-european
107
How many english speakers world wide
2 billion
108
What are native english speakers (L1)
a minority
109
What is english mostly used as
L2 used as a second language
110
What did Beneke find
that 80% of interactions in english are between non native speakers
111
Why is english so popular
colonisation as we colonialised 25% of the world
scientific and technology power
economic power
112
Why is english now a lingua franca
a bridging language between speakers who do not share a common language
113
What are the 5 key characteristics of english as a lingua franca accroding to Jenkins (2006)
```
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
Define diaspora
the spread of people and their language around the world
115
What are the 5 phases of Schneider's dynamic model
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
Why is Singlish disencouraged in Singapore
as its seen as sub standard or broken English, they want RP
117
According to the Singapore government, why is speaking RP good
it is imperative to raise the standrd of living and stops poor communication
118
Why do the Singapore government do every year to promote good english
"Speak Good English Campaign"
119
What is a pidgin
a simplified language formed from the contact of exisiting languages
no one native language
120
What is a creole
mother tongue formed from the contact of european language with a local language
121
Name 4 orthological differences between American and British English
or endings
er endings
ize endings
loss of diagraph ae
122
Who believed english spelling rules were too complex and proposed reforms
lexicographer noah webster
123
What did Noah Websters changes make
it easier to learn american english than british english as there was a greater grapheme-phoneme correspondence
124
What does Matthew Engel say about americanisms
the "ugly and pointless new usages are invading Britain in battalions"
making the english language "wither"
125
What is an issue with americanisms/american phrases in the UK
Sussex police recorded a distrubing high number of children thinking they should dial 911 in an emergency
126
What are Aitchison's 3 models
damp spoon syndrome, crumbling castle view, infectious diseases assumption
