Language Change Flashcards

1
Q

What countries did English come from

A

Holland and Germany

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2
Q

What were the names of the tribes that brought English

A

Angles, Saxons, jutes and frisians

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3
Q

How was Latin brought to Anglo- Saxon churches

A

Through teaching of Christianity

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4
Q

What is the reason for many accents and dialect differences between northern and southern England

A

The division of land for the vikings

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5
Q

What is Middle English

A

Between 1100-1500
Social and political change in language

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6
Q

Features of Middle English

A

Verb construction different to SE (as nyght was come)
Lengthy syntax
Archaic letters
Spelling different to SE
<i> replaced by <y> grapheme
Archaism’s (wenden)</y></i>

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7
Q

When did standardisation occur

A

15th century

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8
Q

What increases people pride to use English

A

Increased power in trading nations and military successes

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9
Q

Why was increasing availability in print media important

A

It made it important to have a standard English that could be understood by all regions (standardisation)

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10
Q

Caxtons eggs

A

‘Egg’ in north
‘Eyren’ in south
Used dialect of the London educated class for his printing press to form the standard English

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11
Q

Haugens 4 stage process of standardisation

A

Selection- variety selected
Codification- established as normal language
Elaboration- selected language is developed for a variety of purposes
Implementation- standardisation is implemented

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12
Q

Prescriptive views that language should be preserved and fixed

A

Swifts proposals for a language academy
Johnson’s dictionary
Work of grammarians such as bishop lowth

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13
Q

Jean Aitchison’s metaphors for peoples anxieties towards language change

A

Damp spoon- caused by laziness
Crumbling castle- needs preserving
Infectious disease- language forms are a virus we catch from others

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14
Q

When was Early Modern English

A

1500-1650

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15
Q

Does English still borrow words from other languages

A

English is more of a donor of new words rather than borrower

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16
Q

Borrowed words

A

Scandinavia- give,take,hit,leg,sky
Close contact does not inevitably lead to borrowing

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17
Q

Johnson’s dictionary

A

Johnson published a dictionary which became the work of reference for 150 years before the Oxford dictionary
Originally wanted to ‘fix’ language however became a descriptivist during writing

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18
Q

Semantic change: what is neosemy

A

The process whereby a new meaning develops from an existing word e.g fond originally was silly but now is to like something

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19
Q

What is amelioration

A

When a word takes on a more positive meaning over time e.g sick

20
Q

What is pejoration

A

When a word takes on a more negative meaning over time e.g awful

21
Q

What is weakening

A

When a word looses force over time e.g naughty

22
Q

What is broadening

A

When a word takes on a broader meaning over time e.g dog

23
Q

What is narrowing

A

When a word becomes more specific in meaning over time e.g wife

24
Q

Who was Noah Webster

A

Spelling reformist in America who wanted American English to be equal to British English

25
Q

What graphological changes have occurred over time

A

Before the 10th century the ‘u’ was used by ‘v’
Before the 15th century the ‘j’ was used by ‘i’
Before 1800 printers used two lower case forms of long ‘s’ and short ‘s’

26
Q

World English- why do some countries have their first language as English?

A

Happened In countries were there has been extensive settlement of speakers of English as a first language

27
Q

Countries that have English as a first language

A

America

28
Q

Countries that have English as a second language

A

India

29
Q

Why do some countries have English as a second language

A

This happened in countries where there has been substantial trade with first language English speakers

30
Q

Variations of English as a second language

A

High social level is spoken similar to SE
In many countries this is becoming stigmatised as younger speakers claim the language for themselves and cut ties with the colonial roots of the language

31
Q

Lexis of English as second language

A

Likely to incorporate terms from indigenous languages to reflect culture (Indian English)

32
Q

Example of Indian English

A

Face- cut (shape)
Chaste (good)
Yaar (mate)

33
Q

Examples of World English

A

Peelhead= bald headed (Jamaican English)
Bushmeat= game (west African English)
Key- bunch= bunch of keys (Indian English)
Basket- woman= coarsely behaved woman (Lanka English)

34
Q

What was the language before English (history)

A

Celtic language

35
Q

What is beowulf

A

A piece of old English high has helped to understand the old English

36
Q

Ends from old English

A

-hill
-ham
-end
-ton
-wick

37
Q

King James Bible

A

Responsible for many idioms
Archaisms

38
Q

Punctuation in Middle English

A

Full stops not always expected
Colons and semi colons became featured to separate clauses
Capital letters were thought to be important

39
Q

Kachru’s three circles of English

A

Inner circle- UK, USA, AU, NZ
(Norm providing variety)
outer circle- India, Nigeria, Pakistan
(Norm developing, own varieties become developed)
Expanding circle- China, Russia, Japan
(Norm dependent, used for practical purposes)

40
Q

Criticisms if kachrus three circles of English

A

The rise of the internet has blurred the distinction between English users
Doesn’t address diversity
Doesn’t take into account the grey areas between the circles

41
Q

Features of ELF

A

drop 3rd person present simple -s
Omission or insertion of definite or indefinite articles
‘Isn’t it?’ ‘No?’ Tag questions
Frequent verbs of high semantic generality ‘do’ ‘have’
Explicit statements ‘black colour’

42
Q

Schneider dynamic model of post colonial Englishes

A

Phase 1: foundation
English is brought to a territory by a colonising power leading to an emerging bilingualism

43
Q

Phase 2 exonormative stabilisation

A

An ‘elite’ bilingualism spreads, led by the politically dominant power

44
Q

Phase 3 nativisation

A

Bilingual speakers forge a new variety of English as ties with settlers country of origin weaken

45
Q

Phase 4 endonormative stabilisation

A

A new linguistic norn is established and codified
Singaporean basilect (shingling)- generalised ‘is it’ tag questions
Consistent deletion

46
Q

Stage 5 differentiation

A

Varieties emerge leading to internal diversity