Language change Flashcards
1
Q
KEY DATES
When were the earliest Old English inscriptions
A
450 - 480
2
Q
KEY DATES
When was the old english poem beowulf composed?
A
800
3
Q
KEY DATES
When did King Alfred the Great become king, and encourage English prose and translations of latin work?
A
871
4
Q
KEY DATES
When was the Norman invasion?
A
1066
5
Q
KEY DATES
When was Oxford University established?
A
1167
6
Q
KEY DATES
When was Cambridge uni established?
A
1209
7
Q
KEY DATES
When is english used in english parliament for the first time?
A
1362
8
Q
KEY DATES
When did the great vowel shift begin?
A
1450
9
Q
KEY DATES
When and who established the first english printing press?
A
William Caxton, 1476
10
Q
KEY DATES
When was the start of the english renaissance?
A
1500
11
Q
KEY DATES
When did Shakespeare write his first play?
A
1590
12
Q
KEY DATES
When and who published the first english dictionairy?
A
Samuel Johnson 1755
13
Q
KEY DATES
When is the 1st edition oxford dictionary published?
A
1928
14
Q
LANGUAGE CHANGE
Define a change from above
A
A conscious attempt by those in positions of authority to impose a correct form of language on users
15
Q
LANGUAGE CHANGE
Define a change from below
A
Occurs when language users adapt their language to suit a particular need
16
Q
LANGUAGE CHANGE
Define determinism
A
The theory language over history determines the way we think and behave
17
Q
LANGUAGE CHANGE
Define reflectionism
A
The theory language change reflects the society that produces it and has no influence on the changing society solely
18
Q
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
Give the dates
A
5th century to 1100
19
Q
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
What type of language was old english?
A
A case language (used inflections rather than SVO to indicate the function of a word in a sentence)
20
Q
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
How many endings could nouns have?
A
4
21
Q
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
How many genders did anglo saxon nouns have?
A
3 (feminine masculine neuter)
22
Q
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
As with modern english, what did nouns depend on?
A
Whether they were plural or not
23
Q
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
What was the old english word for children, and where does it still feature?
A
Bearn - Scotland
24
Q
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
What was the great advantage old english had over modern english?
A
The case system meant writers did not have to rely on word order - poetry
25
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
Did some articles and pronouns of old english survive?
Yes
Ic - I
Is - this
26
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
When did King Alfred reign?
871 - 899
27
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
What did Alfred do in terms of books?
Translate books from Latin to English
28
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
Was Roman influential on old English?
No, only about 20 words survived such as rosa, ancor or candel
29
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
What are the three common place names inspired by old english?
-ing, -ton, -ham
30
OLD ENGLISH (anglo saxons)
Give four examples of common old english words
Daughter, friend, house, drink
31
MIDDLE ENGLISH
What was the Norman Conquest?
A disaster for English culture
32
MIDDLE ENGLISH
What followed the NC?
The country became linguistically split for 2 centuries
33
MIDDLE ENGLISH
What did the English court produce?
A wealth of literary, administrative and religious documents in Latin and French
34
MIDDLE ENGLISH
What was English regarded as?
A sign of low classes/ the speaker having social inferiority
35
MIDDLE ENGLISH
Define dioglossic
A nation of 2 languages divided by class
36
MIDDLE ENGLISH
Describe the reestablishment of english
- French ruled: powerful but a minority
- Peasants became more imp after black death 1348 killed 30 - 60% of Europe's pop, Labour became a scarce resource
- Lower clergy began preaching in English rather than Latin
37
MIDDLE ENGLISH
When was the first english monarch?
1399 Henry IV
38
MIDDLE ENGLISH
When english reemerged what was there no longer?
A case system. The infliction 'e' remained on a number of words. Not much consistency until Caxton's pp 1476
39
MIDDLE ENGLISH
What did dialect diversity continue along the lines of?
The anglo-saxon dialect
40
MIDDLE ENGLISH
What did writers become more conscious about?
Dialectual differences, something commented on by Caxton
41
MIDDLE ENGLISH
Where did Caxton print?
The east midlands, as it contained oxbridge. Later this became known as modern standard english.
42
MIDDLE ENGLISH
What can the rise of the prestigious image of standard english be associated with?
The tudor policy deliberately encouraging a unified national identity
43
CAXTON AND THE PP
Describe printing in Europe
- Orgins in the 1430s Germany
- Moving types meant a variety of books could be printed
- Established in many of the low countries
44
CAXTON AND THE PP
What was Caxton's most famous publication?
The canterbury tales
45
CAXTON AND THE PP
What did the pp do for english lit?
Set up a template for english lit, making books more readily available and cheap
46
CAXTON AND THE PP
What did the pp lead to?
The standardization of english language
47
CAXTON AND THE PP
Was the pp in Britain a renaissance fuel?
No, medieval texts published more regularly
48
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
What does 1500 tend to mark the boundary for?
Modern English
49
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
What did the rapid growth of London encourage?
The beginnings of an attitude that London English was the best type of English
50
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
What were the most notable features of change in the renaissance era?
- Introduction of foreign loan words
- Great vowel shift
- Grammar school emphasis on classical learning
- Inkhorn terms
- Dictionaries and grammar guidebooks
51
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
Give five examples of Latin loan words
Advert
Calendar
December
Educator
Fungus
52
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
Give five examples of French loan words
Money
Denim
Advice
Origin
Honesty
53
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
Give five examples of Greek loan words
Acrobat
Cemetery
Democracy
Dinosaur
Europe
54
CREATING NEW WORDS
Give three examples of words w anglo saxon origin
Day, thing, world
55
CREATING NEW WORDS
What are the three ways of creating new words?
- External factors: borrowing loan words from other countries
- Internal factors: adapting existing words by modifying them
- Creation of entirely new words (neologism/coinage): less common
56
CREATING NEW WORDS
How many words do we have now?
250,000
57
CREATING NEW WORDS
Give three examples of blendwords
- Carbicide
- Cronut
- Smartwatch
58
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
During the 16th and 17th century what was growing?
Pride in the mother tounge. Return to English after years of french rule bought an increase in national pride
59
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
What did renaissance writers begin to expand?
Vocab by coining new words, using compund or affixation, or borrowing from other languages
60
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
Give examples of two spanish and two portugeze loan words
S cargo breeze
P banana albino
61
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
What did Thomas Wilson refer to inkhorn terms as? 1533
'straunge ynke horne termes'
62
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
What were IH terms considered?
Pretentious and artificial, but enabled creativity and writers made frequent use of them
63
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
What did opposition to IH terms believe?
They would corrupt the english language, and were merely fashionable
64
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
Describe Johnathan Swift 1712
A proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Asserting the English Tongue. Main dislike: vagueness, shortened words, unnecessary contractions, unnecessary polysyllabic words, inkhorn terms
65
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
Describe Thomas Nash 1593
'most swarmeth with the single money of monasyllables'
66
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEXICAL CHANGE
Describe Samuel Dakin 1599
'the treasure of our tounge' 'the greatness of our stile' 'our best glorie'
67
SEMANTIC CHANGE
Describe neosemy
68
SEMANTIC CHANGE
Describe neosemy
A process whereby words are used in new ways or require new meanings
69
SEMANTIC CHANGE
Define broadening or generalisation
Meanings broaden so as it retains old meaning but takes on new aswell
70
SEMANTIC CHANGE
Define narrowing or specialisation
Word becomes more specific in meaning but can again retain old meaning aswell
71
SEMANTIC CHANGE
Define amelioration
Word takes on a more pleasant or positive meaning than originally held
72
SEMANTIC CHANGE
Define pejoration
Words og meaning becomes less favourable
73
SEMANTIC CHANGE
Define metaphor
Words take on new, metaphorical meaning
74
SEMANTIC CHANGE
Define idioms
Formed from existing words but assume new meanings often as fixed frame forms
75
LEXICAL CHANGE
Define borrowings
Loans taken from foreign languages
76
LEXICAL CHANGE
Define affixation
Two words are combined in their entirety to make a new word
77
LEXICAL CHANGE
Define blending
Two words are moulded together to form a new word
78
LEXICAL CHANGE
Define conversion
Changing of word class
79
LEXICAL CHANGE
Define acronym
NATO, AIDS
80
LEXICAL CHANGE
Define shortening or abbreviation
Clipping part of a word
81
LEXICAL CHANGE
Define initialism
Words abbreviated to initial letter
82
LEXICAL CHANGE
Words from proper ____
Name
83
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define action
To show off
84
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define boh-chup
Couldn't care less
85
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define chope
Reserve
86
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define kayu
Dumb or stupid
87
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define lah
Emphasis at the end of sentences
88
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define shiok
Fantastic
89
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define kiasu
Afraid to lose face
90
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define tersk
Troublesome or difficult
91
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define utu
Rural
92
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
Singlish
Define ya ya
Boastful/arrogant
93
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
What is political correctness?
An area of semantic change which has caused many new words and phrases to be generated
94
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
How is this thought of by some?
A pernicious form of censorship, seen by promiters as a search for more caring language
95
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
What was political correctness born out of?
American University campuses, it seeks to rid the lexicon of words which beray racist, sexist and ablist ways of thinking
96
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
Joanna Coles Guardian 1992
'Political correctness is simply a new name for what, in the old days, we used to call good manners'
97
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
Bernard Levens, the times, 1993
'The US is experiencing an atrocious form of censorship'
98
TYPES OF ADVERBS
Time
when something happens
99
TYPES OF ADVERBS
place
where something happens
100
TYPES OF ADVERBS
manner
the way something happens
101
TYPES OF ADVERBS
degree
expresses degrees of qualities, states, properties, conditions, and relations
102
TYPES OF ADVERBS
focusing
point attention to something
103
TYPES OF ADVERBS
evaluative
give an opinion
104
TYPES OF ADVERBS
viewpoint
personally
105
TYPES OF ADVERBS
linking
make links between clauses
106
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
What did the Los Angeles Times "guidelines on racial and ethnic identification" do?
Ban or restrict some 150 words, phrases such as 'birth defects' or 'step child'
107
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
What does the economist allow?
Use of he for both sexes, crippled for disabled people
108
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
Steven pinker quote
"words are not thoughts, despite the theory language determines what we think about"
109
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
What is political correctness?
A mandated replacement of formerly unacceptable words w new ones1
110
ORTHOGRAPHY
What is often claimed about english?
There is no logic, but it has been impacted by historical influences
111
ORTHOGRAPHY
When was the roman alphabet introduced to england?
6th century by christian missionairies
112
ORTHOGRAPHY
What did the OE alphabet not include?
Some consonants, and had extra vowels
113
ORTHOGRAPHY
What type of language was OE?
Phonetic, words spelt as they sounded. As there was considerable regional diversity meant could be very different spellings of same word
114
ORTHOGRAPHY
What happened to OE alphabet after the invasion?
Some letters abandoned and others introduced
115
ORTHOGRAPHY
Describe caxton's work for the spelling system
Regularise, selected east midlands dialect as standardized spelling. He was irregular with his own spelling however - booke and boke
116
ORTHOGRAPHY
Give some examples of the great vowel shift
Sit = seat
Loss = lose
Teem = time
Hosse = house
117
ORTHOGRAPHY
What are the two types of spelling reformists?
1. Those who believe current alphabet should be enlarged so that sounds that are not adequately expressed have a corresponding letter
2. Those who believe current alphabet should be attained, but trickier issues addressed
118
ORTHOGRAPHY
What did Noah Webster set out to do?
'Ascertin the true principles of the language to purify it from palpable errors, and reduce number of anomolies' 1832
119
ORTHOGRAPHY
Give two types of spelling reform
Readscript, soundspel
120
ORTHOGRAPHY
What did the english spelling society set out to do?
Make spelling simpler
121
GRAMMATICAL CHANGE
In middle english what did the second person pronoun do?
Distinguish between singular and plural form
Singular = thou (subject position) or thee (object position)
Plural = ye (subject) or you (object)
122
GRAMMATICAL CHANGE
From 13th century onwards what happened?
Possibly due to french influence, ye and you also came to be marked as polite forms
123
GRAMMATICAL CHANGE
By the 16th century what were thou/thee and ye/you firmly linked to?
Social distinction between users, thou/thee lower status and ye/you higher
124
GRAMMATICAL CHANGE
By 18th century what happened to thou/thee?
Use was mostly obsolete. You became preferred pronoun as it was considered unmarked
125
GRAMMATICAL CHANGE
In old/middle english how was the verb "to do" used?
With inflicted endings: i doth, he dost
126
THE STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH
Which dialect was selected as the standard for writing?
East Midlands
127
THE STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH
Give two reasons why the east midlands dialect became the standard for writing
- Printing press
- The London-Oxford-Cambridge triangle
128
THE STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH
By Shakespeare's writing what was non standard language use considered?
Simplicity or buffoonery, such as in King Lear the high born Edgard disguises himself as a peasant and uses kentish speech
129
THE STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH
What is the goal of standardisation?
Maximal variation in function, minimal variation in form
130
THE STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH
What act was passed in 1731?
One to limit the use of french and latin
131
THE STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH
What were classicists in favour of?
Injecting more latin loan words and structures into english, purists against
132
THE STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH
What does codification involve?
The defining and prescription of the form of language to be used with the aim to minimise variation
133
THE STANDARDISATION OF ENGLISH
Give the milroy and milroy quote
"Standardisation is an ongoing process and an ideological struggle"
134
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
Give Jean Aitchinson's three metaphors
Damp spoon syndrome
Crumbling castle
Infectious disease
135
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
In a series of BBC lectures, what did Aitchinson put forward?
A series of metaphors for explaining the declinism view of the english language
136
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANG
What is the declinism view of the english language?
Irreversible decline from a great peak
137
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
What did Donald Mackinnon suggest?
Lang can be seen as:
- Correct/incorrect
- Pleasant/ugly
- Appropriate/innappropriate
138
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
What is Mackinnon's notion?
Attitudes change over time
139
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
What are the limits of Mackinnon's theory?
Deterministic, regional diversity, code switching
140
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
Give the Samuel Johnson quote
"Tounges, like governments, have a natural tendency to degenerate"
141
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
Where is the Johnson quote from?
Dictionairy of the English Lang 1755
142
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
Give the Henry Hitchings quote
"We can see diversity of language in a different way (to degeneration): as permitting through it's richness, greater possibilities for creativity and adaptability"
143
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
Where is the Hitchings quote from?
A history of proper english 2011
144
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
Define sticklerism
Hyperfocus on correctness, standards must be set and maintained
145
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
Define degeneration/regeneration
Getting worse/better over time
146
ATTITUDES TOWARDS LANGUAGE CHANGE
Define progressivism
Moving forward, not following rules just for the sake of following them
