theories

Question 1

what is Suzanne Romaine’s theory called

Answer 1

internal and external change - 1998

Question 2

what does romaines internal and external change theory claim

Answer 2

• language change occurs in two ways
• internal changes = the factors within the language –> the influence of dictionaries promoting new words and meanings, the omission of certain sounds due to the economic principle of language
• external changes = changing social contexts, ideologies, technology and inventions –> political correctness has come about due to ideological changes

Question 3

what is Hallidays theory called

Answer 3

functional theory

Question 4

what does Hallidays functional theory claim

Answer 4

• language changes according to the needs of its users
• many other theories take this general concept and apply it more specifically
• can be used to explain archaisms as many of them occur because technology has moved on
• supports rise of new words like MP3, Blu-Ray and USB
• can be used to explain new inventions, technologies, discoveries and the use of slang

Question 5

what is Charles hockett’s theory called

Answer 5

random fluctuation theory - 1958

Question 6

what is Hockett’s random fluctuation theory about

Answer 6

• random events and errors lead to language change
• language results from ever changing contextual factors
• the word “pease” referred to a single pea in Middle English but people mistakenly thought it referred to more than one
• they therefore changed to use the word “pea” to refer to the single form and it entered the lexicon

Question 7

what does substratum theory relate to (S-Wave theory)

Answer 7

• the influence of different varieties of language including dialects, sociolects, occupational lexis and other languages and how they change mainstream language use
• looks at the way language can change overtime due to those factors above –> words, meanings, structures, written forms or sound
• can be used to explain borrowings, hyper-correction, omission

Question 8

what was jean Aitchison’s theory called

Answer 8

prescriptive attitudes to language change 1996

Question 9

what did Aitchison’s prescriptivist theory claim

Answer 9

• categorised different prescriptive attitudes towards language
• the views were not her own, she was a descriptivist
• three categories
  1. Damp Spoon Syndrome –> the view that language use has become lazy, like putting a damp spoon back into the sugar. Criticisms to this include that language is economical rather than lazy and also sometimes sounds that are considered lazy actually require lots of energy
  2. Crumbling Castle View –> the belief that language is like a beautiful stately home that should be preserved, language was once perfect but it no longer is. Criticisms of this include language is in a constant state of flux so there has never been a period of perfect language use
  3. Infectious Disease Assumption –> language use is contagious, bad habits spread to other users. Criticisms include that people adopt new language habits because they like them, it is not done to them against their will

Question 10

what 6 categories are there for attitudes to language change - Donald Mackinnon 1996

Answer 10

• incorrect/correct, prescriptivist/descriptivism
• pleasant/ugly, taboo, expletives, euphemisms
• useless/useful, jargon, vague lexis, fillers, empty adjectives
• socially acceptable/unacceptable, taboo, expletives
• morally acceptable/unacceptable, political correctness, xenophobia
• appropriate/inappropriate in context

Question 11

what is Sharon Goodman’s theory about in formalisation in 1996 about

Answer 11

• public texts are becoming more and more informal
• marketing texts seem to use in formalisation as a persuasive device

Question 12

what is Fairclough’s conversationalisation and personalisation theory about

Answer 12

• he noticed that advertisements and marketing texts are increasingly attempting to mimic speech
• he calls this conversalisation
• at the same time synthetic personalisation is becoming more common

Question 13

explain Sapir wharf theory

Answer 13

• linguistic determinism - language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought

Question 14

what are lexical gaps

Answer 14

• word or word usages that do not currently exist but fit the existing language patterns well
• pap, pip, pop and pup all existed as words in the 1900s but pep did not as it seems its phonological structure made it likely to become one of the future
• often filled when certain morphemes are present, in the word impressions, confessions and digression all contain the same -ion suffix, a free morpheme, to base forms of impress, confess and digress
• however the -ion suffix in the words aggressions and compassion is a bound morpheme as the words agress and compass do not exist
• lexical gaps also occur where words have not gone through conversion, verging is a common type of conversion where the noun becomes a verb –> googling, clicking