Language Change Processes

Question 1

Coinage

Answer 1

the creation of new words (often nouns to words)
eg. “to google”

Question 2

Neologism

Answer 2

words that appear to come from nothing - newly invented words (often come from advertising)
eg. “kindle”

Question 3

Eponym

Answer 3

words formed from the name of a real or fictitious person
eg. “atlas”

Question 4

Derivation

Answer 4

words formed by the addition of a prefix or suffix to a root word
eg. “nature –> natural”

Question 5

Conversion

Answer 5

words changing function over time
eg. “text” (noun –> verb)

Question 6

Telescoping

Answer 6

shortening / contracting words
eg. “biodegradable”

Question 7

Acronym

Answer 7

words formed by an initialism being pronounced as a word
eg. “ASAP”

Question 8

Abbreviation

Answer 8

words formed by the initial letters of a word or phrase
eg. “RSVP”

Question 9

Compounding

Answer 9

words formed by joining two words together
eg. “note + book = notebook”

Question 10

Blending

Answer 10

words formed by joining the beginning of one word with the ending of another word
eg. “breakfast + lunch = brunch”

Question 11

Clipping

Answer 11

words that have been reduced without changing the actual meaning
eg. “advertisement –> ad”

Question 12

Coalescence

Answer 12

sounds are clipped from endings of words or between two words
eg. “cupboard”

Question 13

Backformation

Answer 13

words made by removing part of the word
eg. “babysitter –> babysit”

Question 14

Reduplication

Answer 14

sounds are repeated with identical or only very slight changes
eg. “zig-zag”

Question 15

Borrowing

Answer 15

using words from other languages
eg. “bouquet”

Question 16

Amelioration

Answer 16

the upgrading or elevation of a word’s meaning, as when a word with a negative sense develops a positive sense
eg. “geek”

Question 17

Pejoration

Answer 17

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”

Question 18

Broadening

Answer 18

a word expands from its original meaning to become something more general
eg. “virus”

Question 19

Narrowing

Answer 19

a word takes on a more restricted meaning than it originally did
eg. “fowl”

Question 20

Etymology

Answer 20

the study of the way in which words change their meaning

Question 21

Standardisation

Answer 21

• Natural / necessary process
• Printing
• Grammar books
• Education
• Dictionaries
• Travel
• Prescriptivist attitudes

Question 22

Prescriptivist

Answer 22

People with this attitude think that language should be standardised and there is one variety of language that is superior to the other(s)

Question 23

Descriptivist

Answer 23

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