Language Over Time

Question 1

Aitchison

Answer 1

The Prescriptivist Syndromes:
Damp spoon syndrome: language changed because people are lazy
Crumbling Castle view: language is like a beautiful castle that must be preserved
Infectious disease syndrome: bad language is caught from others and we must fight it

Question 2

Crystal

Answer 2

Triadialetism (3 dialects of language)
Regional (used in informal and social situations)
National (used in formal or professional communication)
Universal (used in travel)

Question 3

Haugen

Answer 3

Processes of standardisation
Selection
Codification: establishment of norms
Elaboration: used in a variety of functions
Implementation: given currency by making texts available in it

Question 4

Jespersen

Answer 4

The Great Vowel Shift; centuries long change due to different factors such as
the Black Death which caused people to move around which influenced the local dialect
French seen as enemies
More people wanted to sound fashionable
Everyone wanted to pronounce things how they were written in printing press
Across ocean, americans lose their longer vowels

Question 5

Old English

Answer 5

5th to 11th centuries

Question 6

Factors that affected Old English

Answer 6

Anglo-Saxon invaders invaded and the Celtic languages survived in Scotland, Wales and Cornwall, the mix of that and the Anglo-saxon languages made up Old English
Missionaries spread Christianity

Question 7

Middle English

Answer 7

11th to 14th centuries

Question 8

Factors that affected Middle English

Answer 8

French invaded at the start and their language was used by those in power
The Bible was only in Latin and only the priests could understand it
Famous Writer Geoffrey Chaucer

Question 9

Early Modern English

Answer 9

15th to 17th centuries

Question 10

Factors that affected Early Modern English

Answer 10

The Great Vowel Shift
Rise of nationalism; seperate from French
Latin words flood English because it is seen as classic and romantic
The Bible is made accessible by King James
Samuel Johnson dictionary
Printing press
English settled in North America so their English is closer to Shakespeare than ours
Renaissance; rediscovery of art, classics and science
Shakespeare and his Hyphenated compounds

Question 11

Late Modern English

Answer 11

17th to 19th centuries

Question 12

Factors that affected Late Modern English

Answer 12

Industrial revolution; new discoveries in science and technology and increase in use of Greek and Latin neologisms
Colonialism and the expansion of the British Empire which mixed English with a bunch of other languages
Creations of pidgin and creoles as a sign of rebellion

Question 13

Modern English

Answer 13

19th century onward

Question 14

Factors that are affecting Modern English

Answer 14

Made up of Anglo-saxon (major little words), Greek (in science and drama) and French (power words)
85% of Old English words have disappeared
English is rich in synonyms but has a bunch of spelling rules and exceptions
Modern science and technology
More descriptive and less prescriptive
Raised status of non-standard variations
Reduced formality
More dominant international English as it is often seen as a lingua franca
Neologisms from other languages

Question 15

Sharon Goodman

Answer 15

Increased informalisation

Question 16

James Milroy

Answer 16

There was never a golden age [btw 1940 to 1960 no proper unis]

Question 17

Peter Trudgill

Answer 17

Language change is inevitable

Question 18

Guy Deutscher

Answer 18

We are working towards a Golden age

The unfolding of language:
Economy: save time so shortcuts in pronounciation
Expressiveness: speakers attempt to extend their range of meaning is self defeating and inflator as it devalues their currency
Analogy: the minds craving for order or regularity In language.