Language Diversity And Change Flashcards
(13 cards)
What are the two key points included in the Sapir-whorf theory
Reflectionism and determinism
What does reflectionsim mean
A persons language reflects their way of thinking. As a result, family members and friends sharing a consistent amount of time together may adapt towards these prejudices, resulting in modern day and unconscious racism
What does determinism mean
Based on the idea that if people can be persuaded not to use such terms, but ones that are deemed more acceptable. It can determine a new way of thinking, and this forms the basis on which political correctness is created
What are the key areas covered in language change
Reasons to language change, lexical change, semantic change, graphological change, orthographical change, phonological changes, grammatical changes, technological changes
What are the 3 big questions to ask regarding diversity and language change
- how and why does language change
- how and why does language vary
- what do people think about these changes and variations
What is diachronic change
Refers to the study of historical Change occurring over a span of time
History of the English language summary
- dedicated 2000 words from vikings
- Shakespeare created over 2000 words/ phrases
- King James created a new bible, thriving all over the British empire
- 1857 urban dictionary was created
- discovering words from the native Americans
- 1991 the internet was created
What factors make language change
Social media, laziness (abbreviations), new and evolved beliefs and ideologies, travelling, technology and science, war and invasion, politics
Name 3 examples of words originating from across the world
Bungalow = India = small, low storied house
Robot = Czech = forced labour
Rucksack = German = sack of the rack
What occurred during old English 5th-11th centuries
- Anglo Saxons created a lot more useful languages
- Christian missionaries
- the vikings created many violent words
What occurred in the Middle English during 11th-14th centuries
- 1066, England was invaded and new words invented from old French
- 116 years of battle between the English and the French where English became the dominant language
- a huge number of French words entered the division
What happened to grammar during Middle English
Became much simpler, reflecting the way two languages had to co-exist
What happened to pronunciation during Middle English
Was changing with vowels becoming short (great vowel shift)
