Reasons For Language Change Flashcards

Question

Answer 1

Chalkboard, paper, pencils, fountain pens – writing tools are a technology we take for granted. But they allowed an ease of writing in new situations From the invention of the printing press and its introduction to the UK to its dynamic impact on standardisation. Allowed mass production of books and newspapers, which helped codify a particular dialect of English as having a written standard There are so many inventions and tool which have had an impact on English changing. For example: The wireless radio, the telephone, fax machines, typewriters.

Answer 2

Social class hierarchy has shifted, meaning movement between classes is more possible for individuals The treatment of women has changed, and women have more legal and political rights. Feminist movements. There are many more changes that have occurred too: religious, familial, community, lifestyles… All of which has caused, and been influenced by, language change.

Answer 3

Perjoratives either being reappropriated or being shunned as taboo Public and media discussion of language which is offensive to one group or another Some members of society still arguing that they shouldn’t have their speech restricted Of course, massively intertwined with politics, society, power , and aspects of all the groups who are treated as minorities

Answer 4

Deutschers opinion is summarised by the image of a desire path. City planners create new footpaths. Someone wants to cut across more quickly – others see wear in the grass and follow. Gradually the new concrete path is ignored, and most people use the muddy shortcut It’s not neat but its functional

Answer 5

Lava Lamp Mcwhorter says that some people see language as like a clock o the parts need to be replaced with parts almost identical to keep ticking He disagrees- and believes that the lava lamp analogy of language os the one which is true- and says that there is ‘joy in the infinite variations’ of language. Whilst a language is always changing, it is also always ‘mesmerising’, spontaneous and expressive This is a view of English as fluid. He is passionately descriptivists.

Answer 6

The Wave model Any particular change typically spreads simultaneously in different directions – not necessarily at the same time Impact of geographical distance. Changes spread out through different groups: age, social, regional, gender, status… Put simply, if you’re close to people in a group you’ll pick up changes from them; if you’re close to people on lots of groups you’ll pick up more and quicker If you’re far from the epicentre - it wont be relevant and you will not pick the change up Links with Milroys Belfast study and Labovs New York study People who have contacts in more than one group will usually be at the centre of new changes (Like being at the epicentre of an earthquake.

Answer 7

New form of language starts at a centre and gradually spreads further away As waves move further away they become weaker which could be reflected in fewer people using new feature further from the centre. Could be related to geographical distance (when we’re fae away can’t hear word) Could be related to other factors i.e. age class, gender However, Said to be outdated – peop;e far from epicentre can feel tremors of new word due to social media CMC means change can spread almost instantly over a huge distance. Example: New slang in multi-ethnic working class area of south London would spread fast to similar young people in East London and Essex, then beyond via social media and pop. Ripple better? There are multiple epicentres and less emphasis on geographical distance, appreciating the effect of social media and media.

Answer 8

Chen says that these are the main stages of a change entering the English Language (or any language) 1. Initiation (when a new word/form/phrase etc is introduced) 2. Expansion (The change spreads; more people use it) 3. Termination (Rate of growth slows/stops as most people are using it. However m there are usually some who refuse to use it) Chen considers how the English language progresses at the rate it does.

Answer 9

Young people tend to adopt new forms quicker and more extensively e.g. in London and East Anglia the glottal stop for the final ‘t; of words has spread recently. Now it’s heard even in formal styles of people ‘sent’

Answer 10

Language change like seeds – a critical period, Damp spoon, crumbling castle and infectious disease.

Answer 11

Descriptivist – believes language change is necessary, mesmerising and spontaneous.

Answer 12

Desire paths– change as efficiency; people will not vend to rules and laws of language but will rake the path of least resistance –change is not controllable – not intentional.

Answer 13

Verbal hygeine – “political correctness”. Want for the old and security of the past; deliberate agency – conscious changes to reflect society and values/ideologies.

Answer 14

Most linguists agree with Chen’s S-curve theory, including, Aitchinson She tried out a few different images to explain it, for example trees: “The process is not unlike that of leaves falling off a tree. A few are blown off in August, but the vast majority whirl down in September and October, while a few stubborn remembers cling till November or even December” . However she argues that images like this aren’t complete, as it would need to have new leaves on the tree at the same time as old ones dying to work She agree that it’s a competition between a pool of variants.

Answer 15

Languages exist for long periods side-by-side (equilibrium period), having a slow, mutual impact on each other . But- there are times of ‘puncturated equilibrium’ when (mostly people-made) circumstances cause fast change e.g. invasions, trade, immigration, social networking Substratum is the process of different forms of language (other languages/dialect) come into contact with English, and habits of ‘pronunciation, semantic and metaphorical characterisation, and general concept

Answer 16

Linguistic determinism is the overall concept (Safir-Wharf is a strong version of it). Determinism says that language determines or controls thought Linguistic reflectionism or relativity says language is influenced by our thought and is a reflection of how we think. Therefore it dismisses value of trying to change language to avoid issues ie. Racism because it is a reflection of how people think so would reappear in a changed form

Answer 17

Safer Whorf: No two languages are sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. Language shapes the way we think and determines what we think about Criticism: people who are non-verbal can’t think?

Answer 18

1. Declinism – similarly to Sitchinsons summary (fear of decay, crumbling castle etc), Greene talks about this as the belief that something is undergoing a significant and possible irreversible decline 1. Sticklerism Green uses this name for the attitude which leads to scolding other vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar, happening virtually since English was written, often these ‘rules’ are not genuine rules but matters of taste and prejudice.

Answer 19

external factors - we borrow loan words from other languages

Answer 20

Internal factors – adapt existing words by modifying them

Answer 21

We create entirely new words or neologisms, less frequent than external and internal factors

Answer 22

“There is no language we know of in the history of the world that has become unfit for communication” “Though individual changes.. May be annoying in the short run, the system adapts in the long run, as a result of the ingenuity of its speakers”

Answer 23

He’s an author and critic, not a linguist. The Language Wars: A history of Proper English, 2011 “No language has spread as widely as English… for increasingly English serves as the lingua Franca of business and popular culture. It is very dominant or least very prominent in other areas such as shipping, diplomacy, computing, medicine and education”

Answer 24

“Cultural might outlives military rule” Hitching theories that the English languages in the countries which were colonised. He raises that English as language Franca, is in some countries, ‘traces with suspicion’ or is ‘far from a force for unity’ as it ‘denigrated as an instrument of colonialism’ Yet it has still grown ‘in speakers and functions’ “And as a English continues to spread, it seems like a steamroller, squashing whatever gets in its way”

Answer 25

It shifts cultural emphasis Alters aspirations and expectations Is often a ‘second first language’ (has power and dominance) ‘Impinges on the space occupied by other language’ (start to take over) Becomes more prestigious than the native/locals language/s Becomes the language of wealth, politics, law, education.

Answer 26

Hitchings argues that English is a symptom of globalisation and has become a ‘steam roller’ or the lingua Franca, for everything to do with business, law etc

Answer 27

“Language is kind of a curry, and new words are relishes that spice it up” “Language is also something of a house…The veranda is the space of language; it enables us to bring together disparate elements from different origins; it keeps us dry and shaded when experiencing the outside” “The verbal equivalent of the veranda or the curry: exemplars of mixing or cross breeding”

Answer 28

1. Structural changes As new words are adopted (lexical change), the meaning of other words shorts (semantic change) to accommodate the new words. This happens when there part of a system. 2. Changes to our sociocultural climate (functional) 3. The desire to avoid ambiguity 4. Politeness - political correctness or euphemisms 5. Prestige - We already had the Norman invasion of 1066 which brought ghd first influx of French to British shores. Trask says an estimated between 60-80% of native English lexis disappeared after this invasion.

Answer 29

Our language reflects our sociocultural climate