Language Change Terminology

Question 1

Accommodation

Answer 1

How people adjust their speech behaviours to match others; this can be aspects of accent, grammar, vocabulary and even the style of speech delivery.

Question 2

Amelioration

Answer 2

The process of a word’s meaning changing and picking up more positive connotations over time.

Question 3

Broadening

Answer 3

The process of a word’s meanings becoming generalised over time.

Question 4

Computer-mediated communication

Answer 4

Also known as CMC. Any form of communication that uses the medium of a keyboard or digital device, rather than being spoken or written.

Question 5

Corpus Linguistics

Answer 5

A method of studying language using computational tools and big datasets (corpora).

Question 6

Critical Discourse Analysis

Answer 6

An approach to the study of both written and spoken language focusing on the ways the power is enacted.

Question 7

Declinism

Answer 7

A tendency noted by Robert Lane Greene for prescriptivists to view language as being in a state of constant decline from a once great peak.

Question 8

Descriptivism

Answer 8

A way of viewing language as being standard or non-standard, not making judgements about correctness.

Question 9

Diachronic change

Answer 9

The historical development of language.

Question 10

Diglossia

Answer 10

A situation where tow very different varieties of a language exist alongside each other, each holding a distinct social function.

Question 11

Etymology

Answer 11

The study of the origin of words and the way they change in meaning.

Question 12

Grammatical variation

Answer 12

How varieties of English use different grammatical structures to create meaning.

Question 13

Lexicon

Answer 13

The vocabulary of language.

Question 14

Linguicism

Answer 14

A term used to draw parallels between hierarchies on the basis of race or ethnicity, gender and language.

Question 15

Linguistic imperialism

Answer 15

An ideological view and process of a language change, whereby one language is imposed on speakers who use another language, often undermining the rights of those speakers. It promotes the idea that there is a hierarchy of languages.

Question 16

Linguistic purism

Answer 16

A pejorative label used for a view that sees a language as needing preservation from things that might make it change, such as dialect variation and borrowings from other languages.

Question 17

Multi-modal communication

Answer 17

A way of communicating that uses multiple channels e.g. speech and body language.

Question 18

Narrowing

Answer 18

The process of a word’s meanings becoming more specialised over time.

Question 19

Pejoration

Answer 19

The process of a word’s meaning changing and picking up more negative connotations over time.

Question 20

Prescriptivism

Answer 20

A way of viewing language as correct or incorrect, prescribing a ‘correct’ way to use language.

Question 21

Sociolect

Answer 21

Variation in language use associated with membership of a particular social group.

Question 22

Speech community

Answer 22

Any socially or regionally defined groups in which its members share a number of linguistic characteristics.

Question 23

Standardisation

Answer 23

The process under which a language develops a standard ‘prestige’ variety.

Question 24

Synchronic change

Answer 24

The study of language change at a particular moment in time.

Question 25

Uptalk

Answer 25

A way of speaking in which the intonation pattern moves up towards the end of a declarative utterance.

Question 26

Writing system

Answer 26

A method for visually representing spoken language, including letters of alphabets and punctuation marks.

Question 27

Acronym

Answer 27

First letters are taken for a series of words to create a new term.

Question 28

Affixation

Answer 28

One or more free morphemes are combined with one or more bound morphemes.

Question 29

Back formation

Answer 29

A verb is created from an existing noun by removing a suffix.

Question 30

Blending

Answer 30

A combination of clipping and compounding. Words are abbreviated and joined together to form a new word.

Question 31

Borrowing

Answer 31

The process of taking a word from another language and inserting it into the lexicon of another.

Question 32

Clipping

Answer 32

Words are shortened and the shortened form becomes the norm.

Question 33

Compounding

Answer 33

Words are combined together to form new words. These can be open, hyphenated or solid.

Question 34

Conversion or functional shift.

Answer 34

A word shifts from one word class to another, usually from a noun to a verb.

Question 35

Eponym

Answer 35

Names of a person or company are used to define particular objects. Often they are the inventors or distributors of the product.

Question 36

Initialism

Answer 36

The first letters from a series of words form a new term, but each letter is pronounced.

Question 37

Loan word

Answer 37

A word that has been borrowed into a lexicon.

Question 38

Neologism

Answer 38

A completely new word.