Language change

What is linguistic determinism?

• The idea that your language dictates the way you think

• If you don’t have a word for something you can’t comprehend it

• If your language has a lot of words for something, it will be important

What is linguistic reflectionism?

• Language only expresses what speakers already think

• If you didn’t have a word to express something a new one would just be made

What is linguistic relativism?

A halfway point that says language and thought are intertwined

What are lexical gaps?

Words that are created because they fit into existing patterns in the language such as:

• Fitting phonologically with existing words

• Affixes create new functions for existing forms eg confess → confession

• Converting the class of existing words eg text (noun) to text (verb)

What is semantic reclamation?

When negative words are ‘recaptured’ by the groups they label often turning them back into positive terms eg slut, queer etc

What is the euphemism treadmill and who came up with it

• Stephen Pinker

• New terms that intended to be inoffensive will eventually become offensive themselves eg retard, handicapped etc

What is random fluctuation/ cultural transmission theory and who came up with it?

• Charles Hockett

Explains how random events/ errors act as innovation and how cultural moments influence language to change

What is functional theory?

Explains how language changes according to the needs of its users

What is the S-curve model and who came up with it?

• Chen

Shows how language is adopted slowly, then catches on before evenutally slowing down to common usage

What is the wave model and who came up with it?

• Bailey

Languages moves like a wave and weakens as it moves further geographically or socially from its point of origin

What does Deutscher say are the 3 motives for language change?

Economy - the tendency to save effort by making shortcuts

Expressiveness - there is a constant battle against cliche and stale language that has lost meaning

Analogy - the need to find regularity within language

What is prescriptivism?

• The view that a set of rules must be maintained to prevent decay

• Change is often seen as a sign of laziness or deterioration

What is descriptivism?

• The view that language is a dynamic, evolving system that will always naturally change

What linguist is a descriptivist but speaks about prescriptivism

Aitchison

What are Aitchison’s 3 metaphors?

• Damp spoon

• Crumbling castle

• Infectious disease

What is the damp spoon metaphor?

• Prescriptivists would say that language deterioration such as blending, clipping, speaking quickly is lazy

• Aitchison counters them and says it isn’t lazy it’s more efficient

What is the crumbling castle metaphor?

• Prescriptivists argue that English is like a castle, it needs preservation and care or it will crumble and decay

• Aitchison counters this by saying no language can ‘decay’ they just adapt and evolve

What is the infectious disease metaphor?

• Prescriptivists believe bad English spreads like a disease and eventually the spread will take over

• Aitchison counters this by saying that although language spreads people encourage change and innovation as it wouldn’t spread otherwise, so it must be a good thing

Define:

1. Broadening

2. Narrowing

2. Amelioration

1. A word becomes more general and takes on new meanings

2. The semantic meaning is narrowed

3. The meaning becomes more positive

Define

1. Pejoration

2. Weakening

3. Strengthening

1. A word becomes more negative

2. A word loses its force

3. A word gains semantic intensity