Language Change) How Does Language Change Flashcards
Diachronic
Language through time
Synchronic
Language at a particular point in time
Difference between prescriptivist and descriptivism
Descriptivism describes how language is used whereas prescriptivism describes how language should be used
Frameworks for change . 5
Lexical change Semantic change Grammatical change Phonological change Orthographical change
Why does our language change . 10
Technology Streamlining and efficiency Colonisation, revolution and empire Political correctness and politeness Theories Loan words (borrowing) Changes in society and societal attitudes Functional theory Substratum theory Random fluctuation Lexical gaps
Who invented s curve model
Chen
S curve model
Users pick up language change at gradual rate before it accelerates and spreads into wider usage. It then slows down again and stabilises
Lexical diffusion
The gradual speed of a change
Example of s curve model
Shakespeare’s firms of question construction
“Thinkst thou?” changes to “dost thou think”
Who invented wave model
Bailey
Wave model
Geographical distance has impact on language change spread - change strengthens nearer the ‘epicentre’
Example of wave model
Words adopted by multicultural youths in London less likely to be taken up by mc speakers in Edinburgh
Lexical gaps
Eg
When words could exist but don’t
Eg no word for ‘to not look’ or no word for when parent loses child
Who invented random fluctuation
Hockett
Random fluctuation
Eg
Random mistakes and events cause language change
Eg ‘owned’ misspelled as ‘pwned’ now common in gaming community
Substratum theory
Eg
English language changes through context with other languages
Eg through social media and immigration
Problem with substratum theory
Adopting elements of new language can lead to imperfections and passing these on
Functional theory
Eg
Language changes and adapts according to needs of users
Eg ‘cassete’ became archaic
What does functional theory suggest
There’s a certain logic to language change
Who invented functional theory
Halliday
Loan words (borrowings) Eg
Loan words that are taken from other languages
Eg 20th century onwards, 2 world wars and immigration
Technological change
Influence of technology has biggest influence on language
Eg rise of tv and film has exposed us to regional, national, and international dialects
Streaming and efficiency
Eg
More streamlined and efficient language is most important motivating force behind language change
Eg ease of articulation, neatening
Colonisation, revolution and empire
Eg
British industrial revolution brought about technological change
New inventions and ways of working meant new words were needed
Eg British empire colonised 25% of land - much of that land used English
Political correctness and politeness
Eg
Removing words with negative connotations from language
Eg loss of ‘thou’ and ‘the’ increases politeness
Politeness theory followed with increased use of euphemism and politically correct terms
Changes in society and societal changes
Eg
Emergence of teenagers
Rise of youth culture saw an open to change, and linguistically creative social group
Youth culture community seen as innovators of language use
Eg Mx included in Oxford English Dictionary
