Language Change Theory Flashcards
Varieties Revision
When new things are invented, older things become o _ _ _ _ _ _ _ so the language used to discuss them does the same
Obsolete
What does graphology mean?
How things look on the page
What is the name of the theorist who came up with ‘The Functional Theory’?
Halliday
What does The functional Theory claim?
That “Language changes and adapts to the needs of its users.”
Functional theory states that one of the reason language changes to adapt to the needs of its users is because of new inventions and d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Developments
One example that supports Halliday’s Functional theory and why language changes because of new inventions and developments is the noun ‘Large Hadron _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ‘
Large Hadron Collider
Why did the Large Hadron Collider not exist in the early 1900’s?
Because the technology to make one wasn’t available and the physics that it is used to explore, wasn’t then understood
Why has the noun ‘ballista’ become obsolete?
Because we now have more effective weapons.
As well as describing physical objects, lexical change reflects changes in knowledge, u _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and ideas.
Understanding
What does the noun ‘carbicide’ mean?
‘the act of eating too many carbohydrate-rich foods’
What does the verb ‘flexischooling’ mean?
‘the practice of attending school for part of the week and being home schooled for the rest of the time’
How does the noun ‘carbicide’ show a change in ‘knowledge, understanding and ideas’?
Because, previously, much more emphasis was placed on reducing fat intake if you wanted to lose weight.
One criticism of Halliday’s functional theory is that it only explains lexical and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ change
Semantic
Another criticism of Halliday’s Functional theory is that new words _ _ _ _ _ _ _ existing words
replace
Why was the Old English noun ‘hound’ replaced by the noun ‘dog’?
For no apparent reason.
As people think differently about the world around them, their language changes to reflect this. What term do we use for this?
Changes in social attitudes
Explain what ‘reclaiming’ means
Reclaiming means the use of an abusive term by the group it was used to abuse.
Sapir-Whorf’s (Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf) theory of Reflectionism argues a person’s language reflects their way of what?
Their way of thinking
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is the idea that, if people can be persuaded not to use offensive or prejudicial terms, but ones that are seen as more acceptable, this will determine a new way of thinking,
Determinism
Who criticised Sapir-Whorf?
Pinker
Steven Pinker argues that thought is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of language.
Independent
Pinker says that human beings do not think in ‘n _ _ _ _ _ _’ language, i.e. any language that we actually communicate in.
Natural
Pinker says that we do not speak in a ‘natural’ language. Instead, we think in a ‘meta-language’ - what did he call this ‘meta-language’?
Mentalese
According to Pinker, speaking ‘Mentalese’ suggests that our thoughts are _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of the language we speak in.
Independent
Who came up with the ‘Euphemism Treadmill Theory’?
Steven Pinker
Pinker claimed that words are not in charge of thought. Instead, what did he believe?
Thoughts are in charge of words.
Donald Mackinnon Mackinnon claimed that language change is caused by users’ attitudes to language such as whether a variation is s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ acceptable or unacceptable
Socially
Donald Mackinnon Mackinnon claimed that language change is caused by users’ attitudes to language such as whether a variation is m _ _ _ _ _ _ acceptable or unacceptable
Morally
Since World War Two, international travel has become much more common leading to increased _ _ _ _ _ _ _ between people
Contact
Greater g _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ mobility of people and communities mean that words from different regions and languages move with them.
Geographical
Population movement is believed to have caused a significant change in English g _ _ _ _ _ _ and s _ _ _ _ _
Grammar and Syntax
In Old English, grammatical function was determined largely by word endings. Now, function is determined by what?
Syntax
Because function is determined by syntax (in contemporary English), this meant two things. What are these two things?
1) English had fewer word endings and 2) English syntax was much more rigidly SV(OCA) in order
Between 1400 and 1600, English underwent The G _ _ _ _ V _ _ _ _ S _ _ _ _ . There are many theories about why this happened, several involving population changes, but none are entirely convincing
The Great Vowel Shift
One example of a contemporary phonological change due to the movement of people is changes associated with London Urban English and Multicultural English. The consonants in ‘ask’, went from /a:sk/ to ?
/a:ks/
Which theory states that when speakers learn a language, they will learn it imperfectly and will pass these imperfections on to future generations?
The Substratum Theory
How do Jewish New Yorkers pronounce ‘coffee’?
cawfee - k )? f i?
How did Eastern European Jewish settlers in New York in the 30s and 40s pronounce the word ‘coffee cup’? very differently.
‘cAffee cAp’
The children of Eastern European Jewish settlers in New York in the 30’s and 40’s, didn’t wish to sound like their parents, so they h _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the pronunciation so that it was as unlike ‘caffee cap’ as possible and settled on ‘cawfee.’
Hypercorrected
One criticism of The Substratum Theory is that it can only explain a _ _ _ _ _ _ range of changes.
Narrow
Another criticism of The Substratum Theory is that change happens in places and at times where there aren’t significant number of _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ speakers learning the language.
Non - English
What term do we use for ‘groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something’
Communities of practice
Groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something (‘communities of practice’) often use language innovatively as a marker of _ _ _ _ _ identity
Group
What does ‘GG’ mean? (example of language used by computer gamers)
Good Game
What does ‘n00b’ mean? (example of language used by computer gamers)
New, inexperienced player
‘N00b’, ‘GG’ and ‘pwned’ are used by gamers as part of their _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ code
In-group code
Sometimes language changes can come from ‘_ _ _ _ _’. For example, when the government include laws which mean that the use of discriminatory language during cases of violent crime have led to an increased sentence or prison sentences for Twitter users who are judged to have committed acts of sexual harassment.
Above
Which theorist said the following? “Fashions in language are as unpredictable as fashions in clothes”
Charles Hockett
What is the name of Charles Hockett’s theory?
Random Fluctuation and Cultural Transmission
Which example, used by Trump, demonstrates Hockett’s Random Fluctuation and Cultural Transmission Theory?
‘bigly’
Hockett claims that someone invents, deliberately and accidentally, a new word and others like it, so choose to _ _ _ _ _ _ it.
Spread
Hockett claims that some users of language, produce random, unpredictable fluctuations or errors in English which are then deliberately adopted and r _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ by other speakers
Reproduced
Hockett claimed that language change occurs due to the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ nature of language itself
Unstable
One criticism of Hockett’s Random Fluctuation and Cultural Transmission Theory is that if what he says is entirely true, language would be _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and would not obey the rules it clearly does.
Chaotic
Another criticism of Hockett’s Random Fluctuation and Cultural Transmission Theory is that language changes are too _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ to be explained by random change.
Consistent
What is the name of the theory that states that words are created to ‘fill a gap’ where a word does not currently exist.
Lexical Gap Theory
Lexical Gap Theory is different from Functional Theory as the gaps do not reflect an _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ change or innovation. They are pre-existing.
External
One criticism of Lexical Gap Theory is that it only explains _ _ _ _ _ _ _ change
Lexical
Another criticism of Lexical Gap Theory is that some lexical gaps remain _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Unfilled
I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is the process whereby features of language that were traditionally reserved for close personal relationships are now used in many more social contexts. E.g. addressing one’s teacher or boss by their first name.
Informalisation
Sharon G _ _ _ _ _ _ claimed that we are living in a time of increased informalisation
Goodman
Norman Fairclough said that spoken language has risen in s _ _ _ _ _ and p _ _ _ _ _ _ _ as a more informal written mode has also risen in usage
Status and Prestige
One of the characteristics of ‘Informalisation’ is the s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ terms of address
Shortened
Another characteristic of ‘Informalisation’ are the c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of negatives and auxiliary verbs
Contractions
Another characteristic of ‘Informalisation’ is the use of _ _ _ _ _ _ rather than passive sentence constructions.
Active
Another characteristic of ‘Informalisation’ is the use of c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ language and slang.
Colloquial
Guy Deutcher outlined some reasons for Language change. He called his first reason ‘e _ _ _ _ _ _ ‘ This is the tendency to save effort and is behind the short-cuts speakers often take in pronunciation.
Economy
Guy Deutcher outlined some reasons for Language change. He called his second reason ‘e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ‘ This is when speakers try to avoid predictable language and cliches
Expressiveness
Guy Deutcher outlined some reasons for Language change. He called his second reason ‘a _ _ _ _ _ _ ‘ This is when we apply the rules of one word to other words by a _ _ _ _ _ _ to make language more regular.
Ana;ogy. Analogy
What did Dan Jurafsky call his theory?
Semantic Bleaching
Explain what semantic bleaching means
Semantic bleaching is the process whereby words lose their intensity of meaning.
One example of semantic bleaching is the adjective ‘horrible’, which used to mean ‘inspiring horror’ but now is often used as a synonym for ‘ _ _ _ ‘
‘bad’
The ‘S’ curve model by _ _ _ _ has 3 stages.
Chen
The first stage of the ‘S’ curve model is called ‘Initiation’ - This is when change initially occurs at a _ _ _ _ pace creating the initial curve of the ‘S’
Slow
The second stage of the ‘S’ curve model is called ‘Expansion’ - This is when the rate of change then increases in speed as the innovation becomes more c _ _ _ _ _ and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ in the language.
Common and accepted
The second stage of the ‘S’ curve model is called ‘Expansion’ - This is when the rate of change then slows down again once it has fully _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ in the language and is widely used.
Integrated
Who came up with The Wave Model?
C. J. Bailey
Bailey’s Wave Model suggests that d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (geographical, temporal and social) can have an effect on language change.
Distance
Bailey, in his Wave Model, states that the person or group close to what will be most affected by it?
The epicentre
Bailey, in his Wave Model, states that the person or group further away from the centre of the change is less like or more likely to adopt it?
Less likely
Bailey’s Wave Model argues that different innovations spread at different rates, in different directions, so that the areas covered by different innovations do not c _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Coincide
Who criticised Bailey’s Wave Model?
Trudgill
In response to Bailey’s Wave Mode, Trudgill argues that leaping over the intervening c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is the last to be affected.
countryside
Who came up with the Social Bonding theory?
William Labov
Labov, in his Social Bonding Theory, said that small group begins to pronounce certain words a little differently from who?
The rest of the population.
Labov, in his Social Bonding Theory, said that small groups begin to pronounce certain words differently from the rest of the population. This difference in pronunciation starts to become a signal for _ _ _ _ _ _ and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ identity.
Social and cultural
Labov, in his Social Bonding Theory, said that after others who wish to be identified with the group adopt this difference in pronunciation, and if given enough time, the change ends up affecting all words that possess the same _ _ _ _ _
Sound
Standardisation is the process by which S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _ was created.
Standard English
There was a great deal of variation between regions, groups and individuals without any clear way of determining what was right or wrong, so _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ helped this
Standardisation
In the 1600s, English underwent massive _ _ _ _ _ _ _ expansion
Lexical
As a consequence of lexical expansion, pronunciation change, and grammar and syntax change, in the 1600s, who tried to stop language from changing?
Early Prescriptivists
Who claimed the following: English “is extremely imperfect; that its daily Improvements are by no means in proportion to its daily Corruptions; and the Pretenders to polish and refine it, have chiefly multiplied Abuses and Absurdities”
Jonathan Swift
Swift suggested that English should have an ‘a _ _ _ _ _ _’ to decide what’s right and wrong.
Academy
Johnson’s ‘Dictionary’ of 1755 attempted to fix what?
The spellings and definitions of words.
Lowth’s Short Introduction to English G _ _ _ _ _ _ of 1762 was tried to make English grammar logical and to make it obey the same rules as _ _ _ _ _
Grammar. Latin
What did Lowth insist, in his Short Introduction to English Grammar, about the pronoun ‘thou’?
That it should no longer be used
Lowth insisted, in his Short Introduction to English Grammar, that ‘will’ and ‘shall’ should be?
Differentiated
What did Lowth insist, in his Short Introduction to English Grammar, about ‘who’ and ‘whom’?
They should be differentiated
What did Lowth insist about prepositions?
That they should come before a noun.
What did Lowth insist about infinitives?
Infinitives should not be split.
What did Lowth insist about multiple negation, comparatives and superlatives?
That they should not be used.
Einar Haugen said that Standardization happens in four stages. The first stage is called what?
Selection
The selection stage of standardization, outlined by Einar Haugen, is when which dialect of English was chosen as the basis for Standard English?
East Midlands dialect
Einar Haugen said that Standardization happens in four stages. What did he call the second stage?
Elaboration
The elaboration stage of standardization, outlined by Einar Haugen, states that the selected dialect was used for?
An increasing range of functions
Einar Haugen said that Standardization happens in four stages. What did he call the third stage?
Codification
The codification stage of standardization, outlined by Einar Haugen, is when the rules of spelling, the definitions or words and agreed norms of grammar were decided upon and then _ _ _ _ _ _ _ down
Written
Einar Haugen said that Standardization happens in four stages. What did he call the fourth stage?
Implementation
In the ‘implementation’ stage, outlined by Haugen, is when the standard form is used in and insisted upon by writers and academics who _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ those who do not use the Standard form.
Criticise
Because English was increasingly used as a prestige language in the 16th and 17th centuries, what did writers begin to expand?
Their vocabulary
In the 16th anf 17th century, some writers objected to the expansion of new words, finding them to be?
Pretentious and artificial.
According to Inkhorn’s controversy, which is the ‘loser’ term? Anonymous or Adnichilate?
Adnichilate
