Language Change

Accommodation

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

Amelioration

The meaning of a word/phrase becoming increasingly negative over time

Broadening

A words meanings becoming more generalised over time

Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)

Any form of communication that uses the medium of a keyboard or digital device, opposed to being spoken or written

Corpus linguistics

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

Critical Discourse Analysis

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

Declinism

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.

Descriptivism

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

Diachronic change

The historical development of language

Diglossia

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

Emoji

A term to describe visual icons (representations of facial expressions, actions and objects) used in social media messaging.

Etymology

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

Grammatical variation

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

Lexicon

The vocabulary of language

Linguicism

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

Linguistic imperialism

An ideological view and process of 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.

Multi-modal communication

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

Narrowing

The process of a words meaning becoming more specialised over time

Pejoration

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

Prescriptivism

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

Sociolect

Variation in language associated with particular social groups

Speech community

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

Standardisation

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

Synchronic change

The study of language change at a particular moment in time

Uptalk

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

Writing system

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

History of English

Old English (5th century)

The languages of Britain were Celtic. English developed from the speech of the Angles, Jutes and Saxons. Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse had significant influence; vocabulary being drawn from both. English was largely phonetic, with little consistency in writing.

History of English

Middle English (11th century)

French was the verbal language of the court and administration (due to the Norman invasion), whilst Latin was the written language (due to the Church). English became more prominent due to writers, such as Chaucer, using English to write, rather than French. Dialectal differences remained around the country.

History of English

Early Modern English (15th century)

Caxton introduced the printing press (1476), contributing to the establishment of a standard English. The SE dialect was used as the basis for this. The popularity of English spread to due English writers and playwrights. James 1 commissioned the Authorised Version of the Bible

History of English

Modern English (18th century)

The English language had grown at an incredible rate, with words borrowed from Latin, Greek and further afield; the spread of the British Empire also influenced this. Grammarians began to propose correct ways of speaking and writing.

History of English

Present English (20th century onwards)

English has continued to develop and the influence of the media, technology and travel has helped to establish English as a global language.

Processes of Change

Acronym

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

Processes of Change

Affixation

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

Processes of Change

Back formation

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

Processes of Change

Blending

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

Processes of Change

Borrowing

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

Processes of Change

Clipping

Words are shortened and the shortened form becomes the norm. q

Processes of Change

Compounding

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

Processes of Change

Conversation / functional shift

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

Processes of Change

Eponym

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

Processes of Change

Initialism

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

Processes of Change

Loan word

A word that has been borrowed into the lexicon

Processes of Change

Neologism

A completely new word

Language Change

CRYSTAL

The way we communicate online is similar to how we communicate in real life. He believes we are now living in a linguistic economy in which now language is more practical than formal, we shorten words for practicality, this has derived from things like text talk

Language Change

MACKINNON

Categorises the attitudes people may have to language use:

1. As incorrect or correct

2. As pleasant or ugly

3. Socially acceptable or socially unacceptable

4.Morally acceptable or morally unacceptable

5.Appropriate in context or inappropriate in context

6. Useful or useless.

Language Change

HARVEY and SHALOM

Taboo language has become increasingly acceptable in the home, between friends and in informal situations. Over time it becomes more acceptable in society at large.

Language Change

AITCHINSON

Three metaphors to describe language change:

The damp spoon syndrome, the crumbling castle view, and the infectious disease assumption.

Language Change

LOWTH

A prescriptivist who introduced the first grammar book for the English Language.

Language Change

SAPIR WHORF Hypothesis

This states that the certain thoughts of an individual in one language cannot be understood by those who live in another language.

The way people think is strongly effected by their native languages.

Language Change

GOODMAN

Explores two aspects of language change:

Firstly, she states that that we are living in a time where language has become informalisation, this the idea that language which was used in close personal relationships is now being used in wider sociological context.

She also talks about supercharged typographic icon- Letters in the English language act as symbols in modern society with meanings behind them. e.g. x meaning incorrect.

Language Change

ROMAINE

External and Internal history of language: Internal: Formation of new words and the influence of dictionaries. Look what happens with no external influences. External: the changing social contexts-how social contexts influence language change.