Language Change

acronym

First letters are taken from a series of words to create a new term - which can be pronounced as one.

initialism

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

affixation

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

conversion/functional shift

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

eponym

Names of a person or company are used to define particular objects.

back formation

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

coinage/neologism

The deliberate creation of a new word.

borrowing/loan word

Borrowing of words/concepts from other languages.

compounding

Words are combined together to form new words.

clipping

Words are shortened and the shortened form becomes the norm.

blending

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

Back formation

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

generalisation/broadening

The meaning of a word broadens so that it retains its old meaning but also takes on added meaning(s).

specialising/narrowing

The opposite of broadening - a word becomes more specific in meaning.

amelioration

A word acquires a more pleasant or more positive meaning.

pejoration

The opposite of amelioration - a word becomes less favourable.

weakening/bleaching

The loss or reduction of the force of meaning of a word.

metaphor

Words acquire additional meanings as physical ideas are extended to abstract ideas.

euphemism

The creation of polite, but indirect expressions for things that may be considered unpleasant.

Semantic shift

change in the meaning of words over time

Archaic language

Old-fashioned, out-of-date language and expressions.

The Wave Model

C.J Bailey 1733

• A model of language change that likens spread of language to throwing a stone into a pond, with Cripples representing change spreading from a central point. The ripples are felt most by those closest (socially, geographically) but least by those further away.
• Social media means that the geographical dimension has become less important in recent years. But, the social dimension has often been more influential than the geographical.

The S-curve Model

• Chen 1968/1972
• Changes in language start slowly, then a change suddenly takes off and the rate of change spreads quickly, only for the rate of change to then slow and stabilize.

Long S

Another way of writing S

Ligature

A binding or joining

Ampersand

The character &; and.

Non standard capitalisation

Irregular use of capital letters

Standardisation

• End of 17th and start of 18th century there were attempts to fix the language

Dr Johnson's 1755 dictionary

• Took 7 years
• 43,000 words
• No jargon or slang

Prescriptivist

The view that language should have a strict set of rules that must be obeyed in speech and writing

Descriptivist

the view that no use of language is incorrect and that variation should be acknowledged and recorded rather than corrected

Plain English Campaign

A group who campaign against jargon and argue that language which is transparent should be used.

• 1979

Political correctness movement

Campaign to remove discriminatory and offensive language

• Remove words that have negative connotations

Sticklerism

An intrusive concern with correcting others' language use

The Euphemism Treadmill

• Steven Pinker
• Emotionally charged spheres of life such as sex, education, aging and disease
• Word may be acceptable for some time then becomes unacceptable
• 2003 book 'The Blank State' he talked about the euphemism treadmill
• EXAMPLE - Dr Hazel Price

Guy Deustcher

• 2006 book "The Unfolding of Language"
• 3 major forces driving change in all languages all the time which reflect social and cultural behaviours toward language
• Desire for economy, expressiveness and analogy

Simon Kirby - alien fruit experiment

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Economy

A force for destruction Air conditioning - air con - AC

Expressiveness

A force of creation Pre-planned Over-exaggerated

Analogy

A regularising force

Ease of Articulation

Through the process of assimilation

• handbag not han-bag

Omission

The old English way for neck was hnecca but the h and schwa are omitted

Neatening or regularisation

Regularised our plurals with 'S' or 'ed'

The Principle of Least Effort

George Kingsley Zipf

• 1949 Harvard academic Language has become lazy due to: Ease of articulation Omission Neatening or regularisation

Politics in language change

• Nicknames - Brexiteers Remainers

Invasion and War

Old English 5th Middle English 11th Early Modern 15th Modern English 18th Present day 20th

• Borrowing from other countries - France, India

Technology

• The Printing Press
• Might was pronounced Meet before the great vowel shift
• Messaging styles
• New words

The Printing Press

Printing was invented in 1435 Gutenberg Germany 1476 Caxton brought it to England

Charles Hocketts 1958

Random Fluctuation and Cultural Transmission Theory

• Users of language can make mistakes but then this can be passed on and made as words Acne = Mountain Acme in Greek

Norman Fairclough

• Mixed mode writing found on social media

Functional Theory of Language Change - Michael Halliday

Vocab often changes as new objects are invented and new ideas become popular

• Airplay, Headphones etc

Damp spoon syndrome

Language deteriorates as we are lazy with it.

Crumbling Castle

View holds that English language is like a beautiful stately home that should be preserved

Infectious disease

We catch languages changes from around us

Lynne Murphy - American

University of Sussex Negative discourse on American English Over diagnoses of people criticising English for using American English — 2 way process (Americans use English words like, baby bump, one-off, keen on, to fancy)

Hazel Price

Price studied the changing use of terms "mental health" and "mental illness" in a corpus of 51 million words of UK press reports. She found a tendency to avoid the term "mental illness" in favour of "mental health" (used twice as often). "Health" would suggest a positive word, so she suggested there is now a new euphemistic use for "mental health" (to avoid the taboo of reference to an 'illness'). Perhaps this could illustrate Pinker's euphemism treadmill (in time, perhaps a new euphemism will be created if "mental illness/health" become problematic to use).

The Queen's English Society

A charity established to promote the maintenance, knowledge, development and appreciation of the English language

Susie Dent's Factors - Survival of the fittest 2007

• Usefulness
• User-friendliness
• Exposure
• Durability
• Potential associations and extensions