Theories Flashcards
Deutscher (2006)
Identified 3 language change patterns:
Economy - language changes to save users time/energy e.g. abbreviations
Expressiveness - lang changes to find new ways to express meaning e.g. “awesome” “wicked” - Combats semantic bleaching
Analogy - lang changes in ways that match other changes for similar reasons
Sutherland (2002)
Prescriptivist
“Texting masks dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness”
Counter argument- People can codeswitch in different environments e.g. no abbreviations in professional setting
Humphreys (2007)
Claimed people who text are:
“Pillaging our punctuation, savaging our sentences…”
Consideration- This was theorised in early days of texting, outdated viewpoint?
David Crystal (2008)
“People have been initialising for ages”
‘IOU’ known from 1618
Eric partridge published dictionary of abbreviations in 1942, which contained SMS looking examples
E.g. “gd” for “good”
Eric Partridge (1942)
Dictionary of Abbreviations
SMS looking examples:
“gd/good”
“mth/month”
“agn/again”
David Crystal (2008)
Texting is “the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative”
“Adapting language to suit the demands of diverse settings”
Baron
Talked about people’s views on technological developments for lang:
“They balked at the new technology of printing, which threatened to democratise reading and depersonalise it”
“Typewriters also threatened to render handwriting obsolete”
Halliday Functional theory
Language changes to fit the needs of it’s users
E.g. Abbreviations more common due to tech advancements
Random fluctuation theory
Language change is due to errors not deliberate change
E.g. “pwned” instead of “owned”
-Link to tech causing changes?
S Curve Theory
Lang change in relation to technological advancements
Starts slow, then sees rapid change, then plateaus
Wave Theory (Chen and Wang)
Language change spreads like a wave rippling
Starts at centre and ripples outwards, with those closest to middle being most affected
Aitchson’s Metaphors
Crumbling Castle- English was once great and has decayed over time
Infectious Disease- Language change spreads through a population rapidly, like a disease
Damp Spoon- Language simplification happens due to laziness e.g. playin’ instead of playing
Labov Presitge
Overt Prestige- Making your language more standard in order to gain status
Covert Prestige- Making language non-standard, possibly to identify stronger with a community
Declinism and Stickerlism (Robert Greene)
Declinism (The view language is in decline) and Sticklerism (Fixation on minor grammar errors) is harmful and outdated
Language is a dynamic and evolving system
Sharon Goodman Informalisation
Language forms traditionally reserved for intimate relationships are seeping into more formal context, blurring the lines between informal and formal speech
E.g. Emojis used in professional emails
Crystal Tide Metaphor
Compares language change to the ‘ebbs and flows’ of a tide
Some things are brought in, some things are washed away
Sometimes permanent changes, sometimes not
Substratum Theory
Explains how a dominant incoming language (superstratum) is altered by contact with a native language (substratum)
E.g. formation of Singlish etc..
Cameron Verbal Hygiene
Processes through which people attempt to ‘clean up’ language and make its structure conform more closely to their ideals of what language should be
(Form of standardisation)
