language change theorists Flashcards
what is Johnson’s dictionary and date it was released? what was the aim of this?
‘a dictionary of the english language’ (1755) which contained 40,000 words
this laid down rules for spelling and definitions of words because he felt that language was out of control
what did Lowth publish and in what year? what did he aim to do?
‘a short introduction to english grammar’ (1762)
disapproves of prepositional ending
grammar books became popular in the 18th century
what is the Queen’s English Society (1972)?
advocates prescriptivism, wanting to defend its prestige
grammatical correct and proper usage of words and expressions
what is the plain english campaign (1979)?
set up to eliminate use of jargon and popularise one standard version of english
what is Rosewarne’s (1984) theory?
coined ‘Estuary English’
the effect of london accents spreading through countries, common features included glottal stops (foo’ball)
what is Aichinson’s (1991) theory?
a descriptivist who describes three different types of prescriptivist metaphors towards language: crumbling castle (english should be preserved and language change should be stopped), damp spoon (language used to be perfect but is now falling apart as people have become lazy), infectious disease (language is spreading and continues to change)
what is Mackinnon’s (1996) theory?
categories attitudes people may have to language use:
ugly or unpleasant, incorrect or correct, socially acceptable or unacceptable, morally acceptable or unacceptable, useful or useless
what is Jenkins’ (2006) theory?
points out characteristics of english as a lingua franca (ELF):
used by speakers of different languages to be able to communicate with each other
what is Crystal’s (2011) theory?
believes language has to change
if we invent something we need a name for it (google, text, iphone)
