Language Change Processes Flashcards
Coinage
the creation of new words (often nouns to words)
eg. “to google”
Neologism
words that appear to come from nothing - newly invented words (often come from advertising)
eg. “kindle”
Eponym
words formed from the name of a real or fictitious person
eg. “atlas”
Derivation
words formed by the addition of a prefix or suffix to a root word
eg. “nature –> natural”
Conversion
words changing function over time
eg. “text” (noun –> verb)
Telescoping
shortening / contracting words
eg. “biodegradable”
Acronym
words formed by an initialism being pronounced as a word
eg. “ASAP”
Abbreviation
words formed by the initial letters of a word or phrase
eg. “RSVP”
Compounding
words formed by joining two words together
eg. “note + book = notebook”
Blending
words formed by joining the beginning of one word with the ending of another word
eg. “breakfast + lunch = brunch”
Clipping
words that have been reduced without changing the actual meaning
eg. “advertisement –> ad”
Coalescence
sounds are clipped from endings of words or between two words
eg. “cupboard”
Backformation
words made by removing part of the word
eg. “babysitter –> babysit”
Reduplication
sounds are repeated with identical or only very slight changes
eg. “zig-zag”
Borrowing
using words from other languages
eg. “bouquet”
Amelioration
the upgrading or elevation of a word’s meaning, as when a word with a negative sense develops a positive sense
eg. “geek”
Pejoration
the worsening or degenerating of a word’s meaning, as when a word comes to mean something less favourable than it originally did
eg. “notorious”
Broadening
a word expands from its original meaning to become something more general
eg. “virus”
Narrowing
a word takes on a more restricted meaning than it originally did
eg. “fowl”
Etymology
the study of the way in which words change their meaning
Standardisation
- Natural / necessary process
- Printing
- Grammar books
- Education
- Dictionaries
- Travel
- Prescriptivist attitudes
Prescriptivist
People with this attitude think that language should be standardised and there is one variety of language that is superior to the other(s)
Descriptivist
People with this attitude think that language is made up of what people say and write and no one variety is superior - no right or wrong as long as communication and understanding are clear
