Language Change Theory

Question 1

Haugen (1966) Standardisation

Answer 1

4 stages- selection, codification, elaboration, implementation. Conscious choice not natural change. Based on dialect of wealthy in South East.

Question 2

Prescriptivism

Answer 2

Language implemented from above (RC). One correct form with rules. Extreme view that change corrupts rather than enhances.

Question 3

Jonathan Swift (1712)

Answer 3

Proposal to create academy to preserve and regulate language based on the ‘Académie Françoise’

Question 4

Samuel Johnson (1755)

Answer 4

Dictionary to ‘embalm his language and secure it from corruption and decay’. Admitted this was like trying to ‘lash the wind’- perpetual change. Yet, dictionaries still gatekeepers.

Question 5

Robert Lowth (1768)

Answer 5

‘A Short Introduction to Grammar’- rules written to teach his son used in education eg. avoid double negatives

Question 6

Queens’ English Society (1972)

Answer 6

‘Guardian of proper English’ to prevent a ‘decline in standards’ eg MLE tag question ‘innit’ - difference or decline?

Question 7

Descriptivism

Answer 7

Change is inevitable
Looks at how/why it occurs

Question 8

Jean Aitchison (1996)

Answer 8

3 metaphors to mock prescriptivism: damp spoon- laziness- eg. glottal stop
crumbling castle- pinnacle of excellence reached needs preserving (no golden age, rigid system doesn’t allow change in social attitudes) infectious disease- ‘catch’ change from social contact

Question 9

Donald Mackinnon (1996)

Answer 9

lang can be seen as: incorrect/correct; pleasant/ugly; appropriate/inappropriate; useful/useless; socially/morally acceptable/not

Question 10

Crystals’ Tide Model

Answer 10

Change ebbs and flows in natural waves. Sounds and structures constantly removed and introduced

Question 11

Lesley Milroy (1989)

Answer 11

Complaint tradition- towards youth, technology, immigration and in the past the working class (Newbolt report)

Question 12

Robert Lane Green (2012)

Answer 12

Sticklerism- finger wagging approach to correct others (journalist Lynne Trust book ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’ 2003) Declinism- irreversible decline from its peak (but literacy rates higher than ever)

Question 13

Suzanne Romaine (1998)

Answer 13

External factors: youth culture, war, politics, technology, movement of people
Internal factors: regularisation and ease of articulation (assimilation- handbag/ ‘hambag’ and omission- ‘walkin’’)

Question 14

Halliday Functional Theory

Answer 14

Language adapts to users needs eg. technological advancements- need for new words or slang to establish identity

Question 15

Deutscher (2006)

Answer 15

3 patterns of change: economy- saves time eg clipping, expressiveness- new ways to emphasise, analogy- change in society matches change

Question 16

Hockett (1958)

Answer 16

Random fluctuation theory- change is due to random error eg verb ‘pwned’ for ‘owned’ in World of Warcraft. Problematic as would be chaotic change and is actually quite controlled and organised

Question 17

Stephen Pinker (2003)

Answer 17

Euphemism Treadmill- language introduced to replace those that pejorate and become politically incorrect eg. cripple as attitudes change

Question 18

Stephen Pinker (2003)

Answer 18

Euphemism Treadmill- language introduced to replace those that have become pejorative and politically incorrect as attitudes change eg. cripple

Question 19

Chen (1972)

Answer 19

Diffusion and S curve- new language forms and is slow to take off and gradually builds and rapidly accelerates. Innovation dominates eg. gay-happy now gay-homosexual

Question 20

Bailey (1973)

Answer 20

Wave Model- change starts at the centre and gradually spreads like ripples and becomes weaker. Due to geographical factors but also age, class, gender and ethnicity. Tech and social media spreads it further