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English Language > Language Change and Diversity > Flashcards

Language Change and Diversity Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Globalisation

A

Technology is becoming multilingual, people no longer need to learn English to use the internet etc. American films are increasingly available in a range of subtitled or dubbed languages

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2
Q

Common features of pidgin

A 
Uncomplicated clausal structure 
Simple sentence structure 
Simple connective use
Reduction or elimination of some syllables
Basic vowels
Separate words indicating tense
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3
Q

Acronym

A

A lexicalised word made up from the initial letters of a phrase (spoken like word)

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4
Q

Initialism

A

A words made from inital letters each being pronounced

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5
Q

Broadening

A

A word loses its original meaning but acquires others

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6
Q

Narrowing

A

Becomes more specific in its meaning

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7
Q

Weakening

A

A word loses the strength of its original meaning

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8
Q

Peter Trudgill Norwich Study 1974

A

Found that class is more of a determiner in the use of Standard English than gender, women of each class use the prestige variant more than men of the same class. Using non-standard variable is not just a working-class thing it also a male thing

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9
Q

John Honey

A

children are being disadvantaged by not being equipped with an accent that will help them succeed in life. Damaging to teach children that their accent and dialect is a key part of identity as it stops them climbing social ladder

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10
Q

Montgomery

A

foreigners have no preference over different regional accents, our preferences are due to what we associate the accent with

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11
Q

Robert Lane Green

A

“Nearly all modern dictionaries are descriptive in that they seek to find the words people actually use and record them”

  • Including a neologism too soon is risky as the word may have fallen out of fashion before the dictionary is printed
  • Online dictionaries can include new words faster than printed ones
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12
Q

Prof. Wyv Evans

A

Emojis acts our natural speech prosody

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13
Q

Received Pronunciation

A

Rates highly on authority, confidence, intelligence and determination but rates lowly on approachableness, attractiveness and sense of humour

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14
Q

Estuary English

A

Close to Standard English but has pronunciation and dialect features from Cockney and South England. His classless and non-regional. Growth due to its use in broadcasting and media and social mobility

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15
Q

Unmarked form

A

The measured form, against which marked lexical items can be compared

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16
Q

Marked form

A

That which stands out as different from the norm, the standard, the hegemonic

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17
Q

Overt marking

A

Often occurs through the addition of the suffix-ess

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18
Q

Swales’ 6 characteristics of a discourse community

A
  1. Broadly agreed set of common public goals
  2. Has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members
  3. Uses it’s participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback
  4. Utilises and hence possesses one or more genre in the communicative feedback of its aims
  5. Has acquired some specific lexis
  6. Has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content of discourse expertise
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19
Q

Teun Van Dijk

A

Knowledge device: Factors such as age gender and occupation are no sole reasons for speaking how we do. We use language appropriate to our audience in that we know they have the knowledge of what we are talking about

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20
Q

Martin Joos - Level of Formality

A 
Frozen Level
Formal Level
Consultative Level
Casual Level
Intimate Level
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21
Q

Frozen Level

A

Characterised by the use of set phrases in ceremonial, ritual and or very conventional situations

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22
Q

Formal Level

A

Normally used by a speaker addressing an audience without interaction and interruption

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23
Q

Consultative Level

A

Normally used between people who are not family, friends and acquaintances but where interaction between and among speakers is the norm

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24
Q

Casual Level

A

Used between people who know each other reasonably well in informal settings. Features can include the use of colloquial forms, with interruptions being permitted and even expected

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25
Q

Intimate Level

A

Reserved for private communication such as between family members and close friends

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26
Q

Types of Power

A 
Political power
Personal Power
Social Group Power
Instrumental Power
Influential Power
Power in Discourse
Power behind the Discourse
Ideology
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27
Q

Political Power

A

Power held by those with the backing of the law

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28
Q

Personal Power

A

Power held by individuals as a results of their roles in organisations

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29
Q

Social Group Power

A

Power held as a result of being a member of a social group

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30
Q

Instrumental Power

A

Power used to influence of persuade others

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31
Q

Power in Discourse

A

The ways in which power is manifested in situations through language

32
Q

Power behind the Discourse

A

The focus on the social and ideological reasons behind the enactment of power

33
Q

Ideology

A

A set of belief systems, attitudes or world views held by an individual or group

34
Q

Regularisation

A

Occurs when we change language in order to make it more consistent, people look for rules and patterns in language and will change words or construction if they seem odd

35
Q

Key historical changes to language

A 
Shakespearean English - 1564-1613
English Renaissance - 1485-1620
Printing Press - 1476
First Dictionary - 1755
The KJB - 1611
Trading - 16th and 17th century
36
Q

Back formations

A

the removal of an imagined affix from an existing word

37
Q

Overt Prestige

A

Putting on an accent that is generally recognised as being used by the ‘culturally dominant group’

38
Q

Covert Prestige

A

Putting on an accent to show membership to an ‘exclusive community’ in the area, rather than fit with the ‘dominant culture group’

39
Q

Hypercorrectness

A

A pronunciation, word form, or grammatical construction produced by mistaken analogy with standard usage out of a desire to be correct. May sometimes be a sign of language change

40
Q

Robert Lowth

A

Prescriptivist

Tried to order language into a standard, prestigious form based on using Latin rules

41
Q

Lakoff’s Politeness Principles

A

Don’t impose: Similar to the concept of negative politeness. E.g “I’m sorry to bother you”
Give options: We avoid forcing the other person into a corner. E.g “It’s entirely up to you”
Make your receiver feel good: We says things that flatter others and show that they are appreciated. These include “What would I have done without you”

42
Q

Grice’s Maxims

A

Quality - be truthful
Quantity - be concise
Relevance - be relevant
Manner - be clear

43
Q

Hypermasculinity

A

The belief that in order to be a man you must in no way resemble a woman; being even remotely feminine strips you entirely of your masculinity

44
Q

Implicature

A

An implied meaning inferred as a result of a conversational maxim being broken

45
Q

Speech acts

A

Communicative acts that carry meaning beyond the words and phrases e.g apologies

46
Q

Hegemony

A

How one social group can use language to get other people to accept its way of seeing the world as natural

47
Q

Reappropriation

A

Cultural process where a group reclaims terms that were previous used as a way disparaging of that group

48
Q

Political correctness

A

A movement to change language and redress some of the perceived inequality in how language represents traditionally less powerful groups in society

49
Q

Mary Talbot Synthetic Sisterhood

A

Producers use power to create artificial bonds with readers. Power comes from knowledge of their readers values and interest derived from market research. They create ‘imaginary communities’ which readers consider themselves to be members

50
Q

Dennis Freeborn

A
  • Incorrectness view
  • Ugliness view
  • Impreciseness view
51
Q

Incorrectness view

A

All accents are incorrect compared to Standard English and RP. Accent’s popularity comes in fashion and convention. RP became standard because social prestige rather than correctness

52
Q

Ugliness view

A

Some accents don’t sound good and so are linked to stereotype and negative social connotations

53
Q

Impreciseness view

A

Some accents such as ‘Estuary English’ are regarded as lazy and sloppy where sounds are omitted and changed. Offers the glottal stop as an argument that some sound changes are logical and fit into linguistic views

54
Q

Damp Spoon Syndrome

A

Language changes because people are lazy - presupposes that one type of language is inferior to another

55
Q

Crumbling Castle View

A

Language must be preserved - Language has never been at a pinnacle and a rigid system is not always better

56
Q

Infectious Disease Assumption

A

Bad/poor language is caught like a disease and we should fight it - but people pick up language changes because they want to, perhaps in order to fit in with certain social groups

57
Q

Prescriptivism

A

Favours rules that identify ‘correct’ language usage. They disapprove of use of language that breaks these rules

58
Q

Descriptivism

A

Seek to describe as accurately and objectively as possible, how language is actually used. They do not label particular uses of language ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’

59
Q

American English

A

1st English settlement - Virginia 1607

English spoken by newcomers developed over years by groups; German, Italian, Irish and Jewish

60
Q

Guy Deutscher

A

Modern prescriptivist
Argues children of the 21st century will not learn proper english - there will be more archaisms, slang, and colloquialisms

61
Q

Paradigmatic

A

Meaning based on association, the fixed value of signs based on their immediate associations with other signs

62
Q

Members Resources - Fairclough

A
  • A readers background knowledge used to interpret texts

- Same knowledge drawn upon by producers to manipulate reader

63
Q

Four main ways people change their speech

A
  • May use an accent or change the way they pronounce things; veering away from S.E or generally accepted by region
  • They may change their lexis
  • They may alter their grammar constructs so that it’s non-standard
  • Observe a group to pick up on particular linguistic rituals
64
Q

Considered Middle Class Speech

A
  • Complex sentences including subordination
  • Extended vocab
  • Use of the 1st person
65
Q

Considered Working class speech

A
  • Simple sentences
  • Limited vocab
  • Frequent use of “you know”
66
Q

Anglocreep

A

The gentle drift of British English terms in the US English vernacular i.e “cheers” for “thank you” “ginger” for “redhead”

67
Q

Steven Pinker - on language change

A

Once we accept that the “rules” are not rules at all and instead “tacit conventions” we realise that it’s all a matter of appropriacy

68
Q

Diachronic Change

A

the study of language change occurring over a span of time

69
Q

Synchronic Change

A

the study of language at a particular point in time without considering historical context

70
Q

5th-10th Century

A

Old English - influenced by Germanic and Viking Invaders

71
Q

11th-14th Century

A

Middle English - French after Norman Conquest

72
Q

15-17th Century

A

Early Modern English - Older English forms discarded, Latin added

73
Q

18th - Present Day

A

Late Modern English - Age of Standardised English

74
Q

Amelioration

A

A word that takes on a different more positive meaning, gaining status i.e Pretty - Old English meaning - cunning skilful Mid 15th century - beautiful in a slight way

75
Q

Pejoration

A

A word takes on a different more negative meaning, losing status i.e Notorious - Medieval Latin - well known 17th Century - negative connotations

76
Q

Factors that have influenced language change

A 
War and Invasions
Migration, travel, British Empire, globalisation 
Science and technology
Travel, working practices and inventions
Social, ideological and cultural changes
Media

English Language (5 decks)

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