Theorist's Attitudes of Language

Question 1

Descriptivists

Answer 1

Milroy
Cameron
Aitchison
Trudgill
Harlow
Deutscher

Question 2

Prescriptivists

Answer 2

Cawdrey
Hart
Truss

Question 3

What are Milroy’s views? (D)

Answer 3

There was no “golden age”

“is there really any persuasive evidence that literacy standards have declined?”

Question 4

What are Cameron’s views? (D)

Answer 4

Although a descriptivist, she defends prescriptivists.
They shouldn’t be seen as fussy, it shows they realise how important language is. They fear language change correlates with standards of behaviour and education

Question 5

What are Aitchison’s views? (D)

Answer 5

Language change is caused by:

1. pressures from above - conscious change
2. pressures from below - unconscious change
   (2) is more common as the changes happen naturally, people conform to each others’ speech styles.

Question 6

What did Aitchison come up with to describe prescriptivist views?

Answer 6

The 3 metaphors

Question 7

What were the 3 metaphors?

Answer 7

Damp Spoon
Crumbling Castle
Infectious Disease

Question 8

What is the Damp Spoon Metaphor?

Answer 8

Implies laziness

Putting the damp spoon back into the sugar

Question 9

What is the Crumbling Castle Metaphor?

Answer 9

Implies English was carefully assembled to a point of a “golden age” yet people are no longer maintaining it. They are letting it fall apart

Question 10

What is the Infectious Disease Metaphor?

Answer 10

Implies change is contagious, we need to fight it. It’s brought on by social contact

Question 11

What are Trudgill’s views? (D)

Answer 11

Change is inevitable
Change is neither a good nor a bad thing
Change is particular in meaning, but no confusion is caused due to context or one meaning (new) is more commonly used
It shouldn’t matter what you say, so long as people understand you

Question 12

Trudgill quote #1

Answer 12

“Languages are self-regulating systems which can be left to take care of themselves.”

Question 13

Trudgill quote #2

Answer 13

“When is misuse not a misuse? When everybody does it.”

Question 14

What does Trudgill’s second quote show?

Answer 14

Although something may start as a misused word and is only used by few people; as soon as this starts to become more widely used, it will evolve and everyone will understand the “wrong” meaning making it the norm

Question 15

Trudgill quote #3

Answer 15

The only languages which do not change are those, like Latin, which nobody speaks”

Question 16

What does Trudgill’s third quote show?

Answer 16

That change happens through the use of communication

Question 17

Trudgill quote #4

Answer 17

The language will have perhaps lost something, but it will also have gained something

Question 18

What does Trudgill’s fourth quote show?

Answer 18

When something is lost in language, it is lost for a reason

Question 19

Trudgill quote #5

Answer 19

Words do not mean what we as individuals might wish them to mean but what spectators of the language in general might wish them to mean

Question 20

What does Trudgill’s fifth quote show?

Answer 20

It is what the majority of people in society use and know the meaning of a word to be which is the “true” meaning rather than individuals and the minority.

Question 21

What are Cawdrey’s views? (P)

Answer 21

(wrote one of first dictionaries - dated)
Older generations become confused by new meanings. This leads to mutual unintelligibility.
Borrowings make people forget their own language

Question 22

What are Harlow’s views? (D)

Answer 22

Argues against the idea that “Some languages aren’t good enough” for reasons:
lack of certain grammar (Romanch - no compounds)
people’s perceptions of people from that language
certain topics can not be discussed in certain languages

Question 23

What is Harlow’s main point?

Answer 23

Challenges the idea that if history had been different would people still see those languages that “aren’t good enough” in this same way?

Question 24

What is Hart’s view? (P)

Answer 24

(Grammarian)

Criticises the contemporary spellings. Believes they are chaotic and illegal

Question 25

What are Truss’ views? (P)

Answer 25

(Purist)

Language change is bad because it is an act of laziness and ignorance.

Question 26

What are Deutscher’s views? (D/P)

Answer 26

Argues against "golden age" 
Language changes due to: 
 economy (saving us effort)
 expressiveness (achieve greater effect in what we say)
 concept of analogy (regulation)

Question 27

What is Deustscher’s main view?

Answer 27

Language change is necessary for the language to progress. Language is getting better and more suited to the world we live in