Key language change theories Flashcards
(30 cards)
What does Halliday suggest about language
language is a social process and a system of choices that changes over time
How does Halliday believe language changes over time?
Because it changes by the way we use it
What does Halliday’s theory suggest overall?
Language always changes and adapts to the needs of its users
What changes often fuel the need for new words?
Changes in technology and industry
What is the substratum theory
This theory focuses on the influences of different language forms that come into contact with English
How do different language forms come into contact with English?
Through non-native speakers or regional dialects
What is an example of different forms of language coming into contact with English?
“like” made its way into British English through American films and TV. It is now a popular word, mainly used by younger generations who are heavily influenced by these media forms
What is a historical example of non-native speakers bringing their language into English?
The Norman invasion of 1066 brought French into middle English which was adopted by ruling classes and higher classes
Why did 2nd generation speakers of new adaptations from 106 over pronounce certain sounds?
So youth culture could find their own identity away from their parents. Evidence of this can be found in Aitchison’s 2nd generation Jewish and Italian immigrants study
What did Aitchison find within her study of Jewish and Italian immigrants
They hypercorrected their language, which then went on to form the distinctive New York accent - Based on Labov’s jewish communities study in New York
What is Mufwene’s feature pool?
Depicts both dialect contact and language contact situations as producing a “feature pool” created by the input of varieties
How does Mufwene’s feature pool work?
Speakers select different combinations of features from the pool and modify them into new structures within output varieties
How does Mufwene’s feature pool link to diversity?
Cheshire, who researched the development of MLE found that mufwene’s concept is helpful to explain the innvovations found in the inner city of London
What is the S-curve theory?
The idea that language change can occur at a slow pace, and then increase speed as it becomes more common and accepted and then slow down once it becomes fully integrated and widely used within language
Who is the S-curve model based on?
Chen
What does Chen believe?
A language change is picked up at a certain rate by uses before spreading wider into language usage
What are the 3 stages of the S-curve theory?
1) Intitiation
2) Expansion
3) Termination or not affected
What is Jean Aitchison’s PIDC model?
Potential for change
Implementation
Diffusion
Codification
What is potential for change?
Speaker makes a linguistic choice
What is implementation?
The choice becomes selected as part of a linguistic system
What is diffusion?
The change is imitated beyond site of origin - it spreads further than where it was created
What is codification?
The choice is recognised by an authoritative form - it is added into a dictionary or recognised formally
Does Aitchison agree with Chen’s S-curve theory?
Yes
How can lexical diffusion be described?
- messy
- word by word process
- spreads gradually
