language change - theories

Question 1

Crystal

Answer 1

• the way we communicate online is similar to how we communicate in real life
• we are now living in a linguistic economy in which now language is more practical than formal, we shorten words for practicality which has derived from things like text talk

Question 2

Mackinnon

Answer 2

• categorised the attitudes people may have to language use
  1. incorrect or correct
  2. pleasant or ugly
  3. socially acceptable or socially unacceptable
  4. morally acceptable or morally unacceptable
  5. appropriate in context or inappropriate in context
  6. useful or useless

Question 3

Harvey and Shalom

Answer 3

• taboo language has become increasingly acceptable in the home, between friends and in informal situations
• over time is becomes more acceptable in society at large

Question 4

Aitchinson

Answer 4

• three metaphors to describe language change
  1. damp spoon syndrome
  2. crumbling castle
  3. infectious disease

Question 5

Robert Lowth

Answer 5

• prescriptivist
• introduced the first grammar book for the english language

Question 6

Sapir Whorf hypothesis

Answer 6

• also known as linguistic relativism
• the idea that the language a person speaks can influence their worldview, thought and even how they experience and understand the world

Question 7

Sharon Goodman

Answer 7

-n explores two aspects of language change
1. were living in a time where language had become informalisation, the idea that language which was used in close personal relationships is now being used in wider sociological context
2. supercharged typographic icon = letters in the english language act as symbols in modern society with meanings behind them e.g. x meaning incorrect

Question 8

Suzanne Romaine

Answer 8

• external and internal history of language
• internal = formation of new words + influence of dictionaries
• external = the changing social contexts - how context influence language change