Lang Change Theories and Context Flashcards
(18 cards)
What is the:
Lexical Gap Theory
Neologisms are created to “fill a gap” which exists organically within the language
What is the:
Functional Theory
And provide an example
Language changes/ evolves in order to be functional and to meet the needs of the user causing words to fall in and out of use
E.g. Shillings and pounds
What is the:
Informalisation Theory
And who theorised it
Goodman - Language is becoming more informal, acquiring more spoken features in written language due to technology
What is the:
Substatum Theory
And provide an example
Language changes through contact
E.g. Loan words from other contries - colonsiation, trade etc.
KEY DATES BITCH
What happened in: 1468
I’m sorry, these suck ass
Caxton introduces the printing press to England and the process of standardising the English language begins as he selects variations of English that he has a preferance for.
Who does this guy think he is?
KEY DATES BITCH
When does Caxton introduce the printing press
OOOOOO GOT YOU NOW!!!!
1468
Shit, you weren’t supposed to get that
KEY DATES BITCH
What happened in: 1755
Yes, I am just going to skip the 16th and 17th Century
Johnson publishes his dictionary. He attempts to “fix” the English language into place to avoid “degradation” of the language. He selects and omits words based on his own preferences.
SOOOOOOO unoriginal, Caxton basically did this in 1468
Well, kinda
KEY DATES BITCH
What did Johnson do and when
Starting to see the pattern?
He published his dictionary in 1755. He attempts to “fix” the English language into place to avoid “degradation” of the language. He selects and omits words based on his own preferences.
WELL GOOD FOR YOU. This one was easy lets be honest
KEY DATES BITCH
What happened in: 1762
I bet you don’t know this one
Bishop Lowth’s gramar book is used in schools, codifying and elaborting gramatical rules.
I now there is two m’s in grammar, I’m not stupid
Bet you didn’t notice mistake in that though ;)
KEY DATES BTICH
What did Bishop Lowth do and when
Come on, I just told you
His grammar books were used in schools from 1762 which codified and elaborated grammatical rules
God this is taken a while
*taking
KEY DATES BITCHS
What happened in: 1880
Did we learn this one in History?
The Education Act makes school compulsory for children aged 5-10 years (school leaving age raised to 16 in 1972). This led to a wider literacy rates and starts to create generalised audiences
No, I couldn’t be bothered to make a different card. And what!
KEY DATES BITCH
When was the Education Act and what did it do
And when was amended and what did it do
I don’t know if it was actually ammended, I just don’t know how to word it any better
1880: Education Act makes school compulosry for children aged 5-10 years
1972: School leaving age raised to 16
Effect: Led to a wider literacy rates and starts to create generalised audiences
Is that too much for one card?
TOUGH, DEAL WITH IT!!
KEY DATES BITCH
What happened in the: 1990’s
Aghh it has ruined my design
The internet was introduced in homes. Widespread by 2000s and vast/ rapid technological revolution. “the digital age”
Just went downhill from here really
KEY DATES BITCH
When was the internet introduced into homes and when did it become widespread?
What was this time period called?
1990’s and 2000’s
“the digital age”
Key Centuries
What happened in the 17th C
3 things
- Start of Modern English
- King James Bible published and highly influential on language
- Shakespear - coined over 200 neologisms and sayings that we still use today. Used a lot of conversion
Key Centuries
What happened in the 18th C
2 things
- Age of Reason - science, order, logic began to influence language
- Latin is less use but still holds prestige (language of law)
Key Centuries
What happened in the 19th C
4 things
- Increasing literacy levels at the end of the century
- British Empire means trade and travel - lots of loanwords enter the language and leads to huge lexical growth
- Industrial Revolution - business, manufacturing leads to lexical growth
- Continuing scientific discoveries
Key Centuries
What happened in the 20th and 21st Century
3 things
- Wide spread global travel
- The internet/ media leads to the informalisation of language and rapid lexical growth/ change.
- Contiuing scientific discoveries and technological innovations create more lexical growth
