Language Variation

Question 1

When was old English

Answer 1

450 - 1150

Question 2

When was Middle English

Answer 2

1150 - 1500

Question 3

When was Early Modern English

Answer 3

1500 - 1700

Question 4

When was Modern English

Answer 4

1700 - 1900

Question 5

When was Late Modern English

Answer 5

1900 - present

Question 6

When was the Renaissance

Answer 6

1500 - 1650

Question 7

What happened during the renaissance

Answer 7

Increase in art, science, medicine and culture. Huge influx of new words. Rise of literacy and desire to standardise

Question 8

Why do many words contain silent letters

Answer 8

In the 16th century scholars tried to indicate history of words by altering spelling. E.g. ‘Debt’

Question 9

When was the age of exploration

Answer 9

Late 16th century to early 17th century

Question 10

What happened during the age of exploration

Answer 10

Loan words were introduced from other languages

Question 11

When was Samuel Johnson’s dictionary published

Answer 11

1755

Question 12

When was the internet invented

Answer 12

1970’s

Question 13

What was a common inflection ending to make verbs past tense

Answer 13

“eth”

Question 14

Why was a silent ‘e’ often used at the end of words

Answer 14

It presents a vowel that was formerly pronounced, but became silent between the Middle English period and the Early Modern English period. Sometimes from line justification in printing when blank blocks ran out

Question 15

What three metaphors did Jean Aitchison use to describe prescriptivist views of language change

Answer 15

• Crumbling castle view
• Damp spoon syndrome
• Infectious disease assumption

Question 16

Why can language not remain the same

Answer 16

Language change is natural, it only occurs when it needs to. Trying to keep language from changing, or trying to initiate change where it is not needed will never work.

Question 17

INTRO for the essay

Answer 17

Keep it short. Establish the mode and what year both texts were produced in. Establish the topic and infer the differences between the two texts. E.g. ‘There are noticeable differences in context, purpose and audience between the two texts.

Question 18

Damp spoon syndrome

Answer 18

When people are lazy and disrespectful of language. E.g. The growing trend of ‘g-dropping’.

Question 19

Infectious disease assumption

Answer 19

Changes in language are like germs which spread and infect the language. For example, text language is always described as infecting our language.

Question 20

Crumbling castle view

Answer 20

The English language is deteriorating and is beyond repair. The language used to be perfect and in a ‘golden age’ but is now disintegrating.

Question 21

What are the different types of innovative lexical change (changing something which already exists)

Answer 21

1) Blending: When two existing words are fused to make a new one
2) Clipping: When a part of a words is removed, but the meaning is virtually the same
3) Compounding: When two existing words are put together as they are to create a new word
4) Conversion: The word class of an existing word is changed.

Question 22

What are different types of inventive lexical change (creating something entirely new)

Answer 22

1) Neologism: Creating a brand new word
2) Borrowing: Words are taken from another language
3) Acronyms: Forming a word which is said as a word and is formed from the initials of what it is describing. E.g. SCUBA - self contained underwater breathing apparatus
4) Initialism: Forming a words which is said as the individual letters formed from the initials of what it is describing. E.g. BBC
5) Eponym: Forming a word based on a person’s name.