English Language Unit 1: Processes of language change

change in language/language devices

Borrowing

Borrowing

The process by which words or phrases are taken from one language and incorporated into another, often enriching the vocabulary of the borrowing language.

Loanwords

Words adopted from one language into another

Semantic Narrowing

is the process by which a word's meaning becomes more specific over time, often limiting its original broader meaning.

semantic broadening

is the process by which a word's meaning becomes more general over time, expanding beyond its original specific meaning.

pejoration

is the process by which a word develops negative connotations or meanings over time, often reflecting a shift in cultural attitudes.

Amelioration

is the process by which a word develops positive connotations or meanings over time, often reflecting a shift in cultural attitudes.

derivation

is the process of forming new words by adding prefixes or suffixes to existing words, thereby creating a word with a new meaning.

coinage

is the process of creating entirely new words, often for new inventions, concepts, or phenomena.

neologisms

are newly coined words

acronyms

formed from the initial letters of a phrase, often used for convenience or brevity.

compounding

is the linguistic process of combining two or more existing words to create a new word with a specific meaning, such as "toothbrush" or "notebook."

blending

is a linguistic process that combines parts of two or more words to create a new word, such as "brunch" (breakfast + lunch) or "smog" (smoke + fog).

clipping

is a linguistic process that shortens a word by removing one or more syllables, such as "ad" from "advertisement" or "lab" from "laboratory."