Jean Aitchison Flashcards
1
Q
Damp Spoon Syndrome
A
language change is due to laziness
2
Q
Crumbling Castle View
A
language is crumbling and needs to be preserved
implies that the language of English was gradually and lovingly assembled until it reached a point of maximum splendour at some unspecified time in the past. Yet no yeat can be found when language achieved some peak of perfection
3
Q
Infectious Disease Assumption
A
People pick up language change as if it were a disease
Chnages are not random and they take hold only if the language is predisposed to move in a particular direction. social contact can trigger a change only if it was already likely to happen
