theory/case studies Flashcards
peter trudgill
language change can only occur as a result of direct contact
david crystal
DESCRIPTIVIST
- language change is like a tidal wave
- not necessarily god or bad
the sapir-wharf hypothesis
PRESCRIPTIVIST
- thoughts are manifested in language - changing language will only cause it to mutate (eg. political correctness)
- preserving language is important as it impacts thought and knowledge
- linguistic determinism - language determine the way we see the world
damp spoon theory - aitchison
DESCRIPTIVIST - theorised prescriptivism
- language has become sloppy and lazy (like putting a damp spoon back into sugar)
- criticism - language is economical + lazy sounds often require hard work
crumbling castle theory - aitchison
DESCRIPTIVIST - theorised prescriptivism
- language is a castle that is decaying overtime
- used to be a beautiful structure
- criticism: language is always fluctuating, there was never a ‘golden age’
infectious disease assumption - aitchison
DESCRIPTIVIST - theorised prescriptivism
- language is like a disease that spreads with contact (socialisation)
- criticism : people adapt habits because they like them - not forced to
random fluctuation theory - hockett
DESCRIPTIVIST
- language fluctuates at random points caused by errors and events - contextual factors
- eg. middle english ‘pease’ meant 1 pea and people mistook for more than 1 - single ‘pea’ entered lexicon
interal vs external changes - romaine
DESCRIPTIVIST
- internal (language based changes) - eg. new word, omission due to economic principles of language
- external (wider contextual factors) - social change ideologies etc
functional theory - halliday
DESCRIPTIVIST
- different uses for language
- words become archaic due to progression
conversationalism - fairclough
DESCRIPTIVIST
- advertising and marketing tries to mirror everyday speech
- synthetic personalisation
