Theories On Language Change

Question 1

What is prescriptivism?

Answer 1

The notion that language should be fixed, prescribing yo a set standard of rules for language usage, with any shift from these or standards being seen incorrect

Question 2

What is descriptivism?

Answer 2

Where no judgement or negative attitude is imposed on language change, but an examination of language as it is and how it is used

Question 3

What is coinage/neologisms?

Answer 3

The deliberate creation of a new word (e.g. widget, hobbit and spoof)

Question 4

What are borrowed/loan words?

Answer 4

Borrowing of words/concepts from other languages. Words are either anglicised (so that we no longer recognise them as loan words) or they may retain their original spelling or phonology (e.g. bungalow from Hindi)

Question 5

What is compounding?

Answer 5

Words are combined together to form new words (e.g. user-friendly, long winded and handheld)

Question 6

What is clipping?

Answer 6

Words are shortened and the shortened form becomes the norm (e.g. pram, bus, phone, gym, deli and flu)

Question 7

What is blending?

Answer 7

A combination of clipping and compounding: words are abbreviated and joined together to form a new word (e.g. moped- moter + pedal, newscast- news + broadcast)

Question 8

What is an acronym?

Answer 8

First letters are taken from a series of words to create a new term (e.g. NATO, AIDS)

Question 9

What is initialism?

Answer 9

The first letter from a series of words form a new term, but each letter is pronounced (e.g. CD, MP3 and OMG)

Question 10

What is affixation?

Answer 10

One or more free morphemes are combined with one or more bound morphemes (e.g. disinterest, marketeer and regift)

Question 11

What is a Functional Shaft?

Answer 11

A word shifts from one word class to another, usually from a noun to a verb (e.g. text, google and network)

Question 12

What is eponym?

Answer 12

Names of a person or company are used to define particular objects. Often they are the inventors ir distributors of the object (e.g. pasteurise, galvanise, botcott and silhouette)

Question 13

What do new words need?

Answer 13

For new words to become a part of the language, there must be a need for them, or they must refer to something new

Question 14

What is Neosemy?

Answer 14

The process whereby a new meaning develops from an existing word

Question 15

What is Broadening?

Answer 15

The meaning of a word broadens so that it retains its old meaning but takes on added meaning(s): holiday- originally from ‘holy day’; in the past people were often only permitted a day off during days of religous importance

Question 16

What is Narrowing?

Answer 16

The opposite of broadening- a word becomes more specific in meaning: meat- the Old English ‘mete’ used to mean food in general but now refers to a specific type of food

Question 17

What is Amelioration?

Answer 17

Over time a word acquires a more pleasant or more positive meaning: pretty- used to mean sly or cunning

Question 18

What is Pejoration?

Answer 18

The opposite of Amelioration- over time a word becomes less favourable: villain- uses to mean ‘farm worker’

Question 19

What is Bleaching?

Answer 19

The loss of the force of a meaning of a word: thing- in Old English this referred to a meeting or assembly but now can refer to an unspecified object or anything

Question 20

What is a Metaphor? In language change

Answer 20

Words acquire additional meanings as physcial ideas are extended to abstract ideas with similar qualities, allowing abstract ideas to be more clearly understood: grasp- to physcially grasp something, or to grasp an idea

Question 21

What is a Euphimism?

Answer 21

The creation of a polite expression for things that may be considered unpleasant

Question 22

What is Polysemy?

Answer 22

Words acquire many possible meanings, which coexist with the orignal: foot: when he got to the foot of the hill, he twisted his foot

Question 23

What is the Academie Francaise? When was it founded?

Answer 23

Institution set up to make French a pure language in 1635

Question 24

Key facts about the Academie Francaise?

Answer 24

• Was halted in the French Revolution then restored in 1803 by Napoleon
• First dictionary was released in 1687 compared to England’s one in 1775
• Run by immortals, self elected officials

Question 25

What is Cockney Rhyming slang?

Answer 25

A cryptolect originating from canting, now using noun phrases such as ‘apples and pears’ to form words

Question 26

What is dialect levelling?

Answer 26

In linguistics, dialect levelling is the reduction of differences between dialects over time. Tends to happen when speakers of different dialects come together into contact

Question 27

What is a Matched Guise Test?

Answer 27

Uses recorded voices speaking first in one dialect then another, listeners do not know its the same person but judge the two guises of the same speaker as two speakers

Question 28

When was the King James Bible released? What were some key facts about it

Answer 28

-Released in 1661
-With 47 scholars taking 7 years to make
Considered the best bible for 400 years, the greatest piece of literature

Question 29

What were some popular idioms that came from the bible?

Answer 29

• ‘Blind leading the blind’ 15:14

- ‘Old as the hills’ Job 15:7

Question 30

What were the steps in Milroys creation for a language standard 1985?

Answer 30

• Selection- language is selected
• Codification- establishment of some norms of Lexis and grammar
• Elaboration- expansion of linguistic features and developed for a variety of purposes
• Implementation- language is given currency by making texts available to the public

Question 31

Who was Samuel Johnson? What were some key facts about him

Answer 31

• English critic, biographer and poet
• 1755 published a dictionary, most up to date and had notes on the word usage
• Not the first, as Thomas Elliot came before in 1538 under Henry 8th and Richard Mulcasters list

Question 32

When was the OED released?

Answer 32

1888

Question 33

What is the crumbling castle fallacy?

Answer 33

Language is precious, shouldn’t be changed and needs to be looked after

Question 34

What is the damp spoon fallacy?

Answer 34

Carelessness, laziness, people corrupting the purity of language

Question 35

What is the infectious disease fallacy?

Answer 35

Misuse is a disease, people catch ‘wrong’ language and spread it. Though change is involuntary it’s voluntary