2.01 English: Language Change

Question 1

“Language changes and moves in a different direction evolving all the time. Where a lot of people see deterioration, I see expressive development”

“At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects”

“The only languages which don’t change are dead ones”

“Swearing makes an excellent relief mechanism”

“Anyone interested in language ends up writing about the sociological issues around it”

“Although many texters enjoy breaking linguistic rules, they also know they need to be understood”

Answer 1

David Crystal’s views on language change

Question 2

Change in the meaning/use of a word

Answer 2

Lexical change

Question 3

Change in grammatical features of a language over time

Answer 3

Grammatical change

Question 4

Evolution of word usage

Answer 4

Semantic change

Question 5

Change in spoken language

Answer 5

Phonological change

Question 6

Spelling change required to maintain the sound of the original infinitive

Answer 6

Orthographical change

Question 7

• When telephones were introduced, people didn’t understand
• Broadcasting was thought to brainwash people
• New technologies are developing into new styles of English
• Technology influences language in specific ways
• Takes a long time for ‘trends’ to influence language
• The vast majority of English is the same as it was 20 years ago

Answer 7

David Crystal’s thoughts on technology’s influence on language

Question 8

Suggests that language changes according to the needs of its users

Mainly covers lexical change

Tends to take the form of new discoveries and inventions, technological words and slang

Can’t count for all language change since it only focuses on lexical change

Answer 8

Michael Halliday: Functional theory

Question 9

Debate over whether to support borrowings (borrowing words from other languages) and coinages (creating new words)

Support:
• Allows acknowledgement of other languages
• Allows new words for things that don’t have a specific meaning

Challenge:
• May change meaning of the original word when borrowed
• Some new words may be unnecessary

Answer 9

Inkhorn Controversy

Question 10

A type of semantic change that happens when a word’s meaning improves or becomes more positive over time

Answer 10

Amelioration

Question 11

A type of semantic change that happens when a word’s meaning becomes more negative

Answer 11

Pejoration

Question 12

When a group of people reclaim a word that was previously used negatively towards them

Can gain power from this - now proud of the word

For example: “gay”

Answer 12

Semantic reclamation

Question 13

Language affects how we perceive and think about the world around us

Answer 13

Sapir Whorf hypothesis

Question 14

Language determines how people think and feel

Answer 14

Linguistic determinism

Question 15

Language simply reflects the needs, views and opinions of its users

Answer 15

Linguistic reflectionism

Question 16

Describes a period of change in the basic phonology of the English language

This change documents a shift of long vowel sounds to shorter vowel sounds
• It also saw vowel letters correspond to different vowel sounds

Danish Linguist Otto Jespersen was the first to coin the term
• He suggested it occurred between the 15th century to the 18th century in his book ‘A Modern English Grammar’

Answer 16

The Great Vowel Shift

Question 17

Believes that pre-existing grammar rules are correct and the ‘standard’ - any variations from this are incorrect

There are standard and specified sets of grammar rules

Answer 17

Prescriptivism

Question 18

Language can change according to the speakers - doesn’t consider any form ‘correct’

Rules are made according to the daily usage of the language by the speakers

Answer 18

Descriptivism

Question 19

Some believe language change is caused by sloppiness and laziness

Answer 19

Jean Aitchison’s damp spoon metaphor

Question 20

Some see language as a beautiful old building which needs to be preserved

Implies language once peaked, but is there any proof of this?

Answer 20

Jean Aitchison’s crumbling castle metaphor

Question 21

Suggests we somehow ‘catch’ language from those around us, and we ought to fight such diseases

Challenge: People pick up changes because they want to
(EG: Wanting to fit in with social groups - Jocks and Burnouts study by Penelope Eckert

Answer 21

Jean Aitchison’s infectious disease metaphor

Question 22

‘Random’ errors and events significantly influence language change

Language change occurs due to the unstable nature of language itself

His theory suggests that changes that occur within language do so because of the constant changing context of the language itself and its users

Suggests that errors occur in language and we tend to pass these errors on to other users
• Evidence to support this can be seen in technology where errors have been adopted as an acceptable feature

Answer 22

Charles Hocket: Random fluctuation (1958)

Question 23

Focuses on the influences of different language forms that can come into contact with English - mainly through the languages of non-native speakers or regional dialects

They use a ‘substrata’ of English, as dialects are often thought of as less socially prestigious than Standard English - as is the language use of non-native speakers

Can be argued to be at work in the emergence of MLE and MUBE
• Both have been heavily influenced by different immigrant communities - now spreading to young people of all ethnicities

Answer 23

Substratum theory

Question 24

Based on the idea that language change can occur at a slow pace creating the initial curve of the ‘S’

Then it increases speed as it becomes more common and accepted in the language

This can slow down again once it is fully integrated into the language and is widely used

Answer 24

Chen (1968/72): S-curve model

Question 25

Shows that geographical distance can have an effect on language change

A person closer to the epicentre of language change will pick it up, whereas a person/group further away from the centre of the change is less likely to adopt it

This idea is now weakened due to the advancement of electronic communication through social media and the internet in general
• Means that people everywhere have almost-immediate access to events and changes

Answer 25

Bailey: Wave model (1973)

Question 26

Examined Norwegian dialects that emerged in two towns - Odda and Tyssedal

Both towns drew migrants from different parts of Norway

Those in
Odda: came predominantly from Western Norway
Tyssedal: 1/3 came from Western Norway, 1/3 came from Eastern Norway and 1/3 came from other parts of the country

Therefore, the dialects that evolved in both towns were very different from each other

Answer 26

Kerswill: Koinésation

Question 27

Dr Samuel Johnson recorded and described the words in use at the time in the first major dictionary

Was published in 1755

Answer 27

Johnson’s dictionary (1755)

Question 28

The attitude of policing the correct use of a language and scolding or correcting if usage is incorrect or illogical

Sticklers adhere to this attitude

EG: Lynne Truss (2003) went correcting grammar use in grocers such as the inappropriate apostrophes - for example ‘Potateo’s’

Answer 28

Sticklerism