Language Change Class Notes

Question 1

Reasons for language change

Answer 1

Technology, social changes, travel, science

Question 2

Political correctness

Answer 2

Refraining from causing emotional harm

Question 3

Prescriptivism

Answer 3

Belief that one type of language is acceptable - judgemental

Question 4

Descriptivism

Answer 4

Belief that all types of language are acceptable - non judgemental

Question 5

Borrowing

Answer 5

Taking words from other languages

Question 6

Examples of borrowing

Answer 6

Judge - France, opera - Latin

Question 7

Affixation

Answer 7

Adding a prefix or suffix to a word

Question 8

Compounding

Answer 8

Two-words combined together

Question 9

Blending

Answer 9

Two words merged together (e.g. smog = smoke + fog)

Question 10

Functional shift

Answer 10

The conversion of one word class to another

Question 11

Neosemic shift

Answer 11

Gaining a new meaning (gay used to mean joyful)

Question 12

Clipping

Answer 12

Clipping part of a word (omnibus to bus)

Question 13

Pejoration

Answer 13

The process by which a word gains a negative meaning (e.g. awful)

Question 14

Amelioration

Answer 14

A word gains a more positive meaning (pretty, went from cunning to beautiful)

Question 15

Euphemism

Answer 15

An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is considered unpleasant

Question 16

Samuel Johnson’s dictionary

Answer 16

1755

Question 17

Samuel Johnson

Answer 17

Created the first dictionary of the English language, took 9 years and was written by hand

Question 18

Haugen

Answer 18

Process of standardisation

Question 19

Haugens four stage process

Answer 19

Selection - this is the choice of a language variety for specific purposes. It Isa associated with official status or national roles in status planning.
Codification - this step is related to the stabilisation of the norm selected. It is also related to the standardisation process in corpus planning.
Elaboration - this step involves the expansion of language functions and the assignment of new codes, such as scientific and technical. It is also called language modernisation by fishman.
Implementation - this step involves the actions of government agencies, institutions, and writers in adopting and using the selected and codified norm. Adopted by mass media

Question 20

Aitchisons metaphors (1996)

Answer 20

Three metaphors: crumbling castle, infectious disease, damp spoon syndrome

Question 21

Swift (theorist)

Answer 21

Our language is extremely imperfect and suggested we should make rules to follow

Question 22

Webster

Answer 22

The British spelling system is illogical and inconvenient and made an American English dictionary in 1832

Question 23

Caxtons printing press (1476)

Answer 23

Spelling needed to be accesible to anyone. Caxton set up a printing press in the vicinity of Westminster abbey and began to print books, some in Latin as had been traditional, but Caxton also printed books in English. Because there was no standardisation in English spelling. Caxtons choices often became the standard

Question 24

Chen’s S-curve model

Answer 24

S-curve is the model based on the idea that language change can occur at a slow pace creating the initial curve of the ‘S’ and then increases speed as it becomes more common and accepted in the language. No change is 100% effective

Question 25

Hallidays functional theory

Answer 25

The idea that language changes because society does: So, to take an example, technology.

Question 26

Linguistic reflectionism

Answer 26

Language reflects the needs, views and opinions of society

Question 27

Bailey’s wave model

Answer 27

The wave model works on the same basis as a drop of water hitting the surface of a lake - it creates ripples. Essentially, the closer you are to the drop of water the stronger the ripple

Question 28

Trudgill

Answer 28

Challenges the wave model - he believes that change comes from big cities, is passed to big towns, missing out country dwellings. He believes that the core case study of this is Yorkshire, where the archaic ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ are still in use in place of ‘you’

Question 29

David crystals tide metaphor

Answer 29

He created his own tide metaphor to explain language changes. In this, he suggests that language is like a tide - constantly changing. It ebbs and flows, bringing in new words and taking out others in a natural, progressive way. In using this metaphor, crystal claims that changes are not for the better. “Just changes” he says. In addition, no two tides are exactly the same, therefore describing that all change is different, lasts different amounts of tie and will effect different groups of people. David Crystal 2011

Question 30

David crystal 2011

Answer 30

‘ all living languages change. They have to. Languages have no existence apart from the people who use them. And because people are changing all the time, their language changes too, to keep up with them. The only languages that don’t change are dead ones’.

Question 31

Hockett

Answer 31

Random fluctuation theory - unpredictable changes in language change, compares to fashion

Question 32

Kachru’s circles

Answer 32

Inner,outer, and expanding circle

Question 33

Synchronic change

Answer 33

The study of language change at a particular moment in time