Language Change Flashcards
Processes of standardization, attitudes to language change and mechanisms of how change happens and spreads.
Thou/Thee
By the 18th Century, the use of these words was mostly obsolete.
‘You’ became the preferred pronoun as it was considered unmarked.
To do
The Old English and Middle English verb, ‘to do’ was used with inflected endings: I doth, he dost
It was used alongside a man lexical verb, often by poets
NICE Properties
N - Negatives- she did not take it well
I - interrogatives- created by the inversion of the auxiliary and subject: Did she take it well
**C - code usage **- avoiding repetition of a lexical verb: she cried while watching the film, but her friend did not
E - emphasis- Se did not find it very moving
Stative verb
A verb which describes a state of being rather than a physical action; stative verbs don’t usually show ongoing action so tend not be used in the progressive form
Standardization
It is a gradual process and in the case of English, it began as early as the 14th century
Haugen 1966 and the Four stages of standardization
Identified a four-stage process to standardization
Selection - Language selected - variety selected is usually a prestigious one
Codification - Reduction of internal variability, establishment of norms of lexis, grammatical structures and spelling
Elaboration - The selected language is developed for a variety of purposes. This may involve expansion of linguistic resources
Implementation - The standard language must be given currency by making texts available in it, encouraging users to develop pride and loyalty
Jean Aitchison (2013) Damp Spoon syndrome
Suggests that language change is caused by sloppiness or laziness, the kind of sloppiness you get with a damp spoon being left in the sugar bowl
Crumbling Castle
Sees the English language as a beautiful old building which needs to be preserved
Infectious disease
Suggests that we ‘catch’ change from those around usd
Donald Mackinnon in 1966
Language can bee seen as
* Correct or incorrect
* Pleasant or ugly
* Socially acceptable or socially unacceptable
* Appropriate or inappropriate in their context
* Useful to us or useless
How is Mackinnon’s model useful
Explores attitudes towards language use over time.
Why does change happen
Change is not a random process, and sometimes we are not even aware that any changes are taking place.
How does change happen
External factors play a significant role in language change
Assimilation
Sounds that are adjacent to each other ‘become similar’ with one sound moving towards the other to make pronunciation simpler
Omission
When speaking at speed, some sounds within a group of sounds might be left out
