Language Change + Historical Development

Theoretical Frameworks and Drivers of Language Change

Language change is driven by six primary catalysts:

Individuals: Influential figures such as Claxton, William Shakespeare, Robert Lowth, and Samuel Johnson.
Society: Cultural shifts, such as the Renaissance, affect how language is used.
Technology: Innovations like the Printing Press and the Industrial Revolution facilitate standardization and new vocabulary.
Foreign Influences: Colonization and contact with languages like Latin, Greek, and French introduce loanwords.
Science: Borrowing words for innovations and creating neologisms for new discoveries.
Travel: Global economies, migration, and globalization spread linguistic features.

Linguistic Framework for Analysis

Borrowing/Loanwords: Direct adoption from other languages.
Derivation: Creating words through compounding (e.g., notebook),
clipping (e.g., mayo),
blending (e.g., brunch, Brexit).
Affixation: Using prefixes or suffixes (e.g., bigness).
Coinage/Neologism: Inventing entirely new words for phenomena never seen before (e.g., cryptocurrency).

Semantics:

The study of word meaning and how it shifts over time.

Narrowing: A word's meaning applies to fewer things over time.
Broadening: A word's meaning expands to cover more things.
Pejoration: A word's meaning becomes more negative.
Amelioration: A word's meaning becomes more positive.
Denotation and Connotation: Differentiation between literal dictionary meanings and symbolic social meanings (e.g., the color red).

Morphology:

The structure of words and morphemes (prefixes, suffixes, bases).

Final "e": Used in Early Modern English (EME) to emphasize long vowel sounds in preceding syllables; largely phased out by the $17^{th}$ century due to standardization.
Double Consonants: Examples include "Hopp" (hop), "Lett" (let), "Sitt" (sit), and "Watt" (what). These were used to indicate short vowels, show syllable stress, differentiate homophones (e.g., reinn vs. rain), or reflect Latin etymology (e.g., "possess" from "possidere").
Archaic Inflections: Use of "-est" for second person and "-eth" for third person (e.g., "she goeth"). These disappeared during the Great Vowel Shift (TGVS), replaced by the marker "-s".
Archaic Elision: Contractions such as proclictic (start of word, e.g., "t’was") or enclictic (end of word, e.g., "seem’d"). These created rhythmic mimics of speech or saved space on printed pages. Jonathan Swift considered them "inelegant."

Grammar and Syntax:

The arrangement of words and sentences.

Sentence Structure: Move from long, multi-clause, dense paragraphs (mimicking Latin sophistication) to shorter, direct sentences.
Word Order: Shift from Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) (e.g., "Spake you with him?") to Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) (e.g., "Did you speak to him?").
Auxiliary Verbs: Increased use of "do," "have," and "will" to mark tense and modality as inflectional endings were lost.
Pronouns: Shift from second person singular (thou, thee, thy, thine) and plural (ye, you, your, yours) toward the universal use of "you" in the $17^{th}$ and $18^{th}$ centuries.
Negation and Prepositions: Prescriptivist rules in the $1700$ - $1800$ period ended the use of double negatives and prohibited ending sentences with prepositions.
Subjunctive Mood: Formalized by Lindley Murray in $1795$ for wishes (e.g., "I wish I were taller").

Orthography, Graphology, and Phonology:

Interchangeability: Historic use of $and$ $(lust/just) or$ $and$ $(loue/love).</li><li>Long S: A variant of "s" used at the start or middle of words phased out by the$ 18^{th} $century.</li><li>Consonant Cluster Reduction: Silent first letters in words like "Knight" and "Gnat."</li><li>Rhoticity: Shift from rhotic pronunciation (pronouncing "r" in all positions) to non-rhoticity in Southern England during the Late Modern English period.</li></ul><h3 id="9bb8e5b1-c962-4b8d-9025-866d3f5a16f1" data-toc-id="9bb8e5b1-c962-4b8d-9025-866d3f5a16f1" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">Theories of Language Change</h3><ul><li>Cultural Transmission Theory: Language features are passed between generations. In EME ($ 1500 $-$ 1800 $), scholars adopted Greek/Latin terms like "philosophy" and "metaphor."</li></ul>Criticism: It does not account for trial-and-error learning.<ul><li>Functional Theory (Halliday): Language changes to meet the communicative needs of speakers. Neologisms like "locomotive" or gendered distinctions like "girlfriend" arise for efficiency or precision.</li></ul>Criticism: It primarily explains lexis, not grammar.<ul><li>Random Fluctuation Theory (Hockett): Change is due to chance events or "instability" in the system.</li></ul>Criticism: Language change often appears more organized than pure chaos.<ul><li>Substratum Theory (Labov): Change happens through contact with other languages. English borrowed "chaise" from French and "status" from Latin due to social influence.</li></ul><ul><li>Wave-Tree Model: Changes originate in one location and spread outward like ripples (e.g., phonological changes in Southeast England spreading across the country).</li><li>S-Curve Model: Change starts slowly, undergoes a rapid burst of adoption, and then levels off (e.g., the loss of the Old English "-an" noun ending).</li><li>the Young-Cuckroo process: in which new words slowly get used more than old words and eventually the new word will replace the old word.</li></ul><h2 id="14afaf02-4f3c-4aef-a4a4-998290cad696" data-toc-id="14afaf02-4f3c-4aef-a4a4-998290cad696" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">Jean Aitchersion</h2><ul><li>Jean Aitchison’s PIDC Model: Vocabulary acquisition occurs in four stages:<ul><li>Potential: The need for a new word.</li><li>Implementation: The word enters use.</li><li>Diffusion: The word spreads through the community.</li><li>Codification: The word is recorded in dictionaries/standard usage.</li></ul></li></ul><h4 id="e8ad2864-f5fe-457b-9d35-f50547e4ebbf" data-toc-id="e8ad2864-f5fe-457b-9d35-f50547e4ebbf" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">Jean Aitchison’s Prescriptivist Metaphors:</h4><ul><li>Damp Spoon: The view that language change is not due to laziness.</li><li>Crumbling Castle: The view that English was never a perfect structure and has needed go adapt and change.</li><li>Infectious Disease: The view that "bad" language habits spread and are driven by a personal want to fit in using in-group language.</li><li>progress vs decay: the idea that the presence of slang is not the decay of the english language but it is the sign of language progression → challenges prescriptivism</li></ul><h2 id="8c928c98-799a-4c09-8dd7-1fc95b7152dc" data-toc-id="8c928c98-799a-4c09-8dd7-1fc95b7152dc" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">Chronology of Language History</h2><h3 id="aba5cda7-c985-429c-a10d-a331323e1f55" data-toc-id="aba5cda7-c985-429c-a10d-a331323e1f55" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">Old English ($ 500 $-$ 1100 $AD)</h3><ul><li>Influence of Roman raids ($ 55 $BC) introduced Latin administration terms (e.g., "agenda," "ad hoc").</li><li>Anglo-Saxon settlement introduced everyday lexis (e.g., "bread," "house") and complex inflectional endings.</li><li>Characterized by the use of the runic alphabet and letters</li><li>The Norman Conquest ($ 1066 $AD) and Middle English ($ 1100 $-$ 1500 $)</li></ul><ul><li>French became the language of the ruling class; English was for the lower class.</li><li>Introduction of specialized lexis for law/government ("jury," "parliament") and food ("beef" vs. Old English "cow").</li><li>Wycliffe Bible ($ 1380s $): Early English translation aimed at democratization of knowledge; helped standardize grammar.</li><li>Great Vowel Shift ($ 1400 $-$ 1700 $): A massive shift in long vowel pronunciation where sounds moved higher/upward in the mouth. For example, "bite" shifted from sounding like "beet" to the modern "ai" sound.</li></ul><h3 id="e1bb332a-820e-41b4-82f3-4d5b9083b7bb" data-toc-id="e1bb332a-820e-41b4-82f3-4d5b9083b7bb" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">Early Modern English and the Printing Revolution ( 14-17th century)</h3><ul><li>Caxton's Printing Press ($ 1476 $): Initiated mass production and the need for standardized spelling to save costs and ensure wide understanding.</li><li>The Renaissance ($ 14^{th} $-$ 17^{th} $Century): Influx of Greek and Latin "inkhorn terms" (e.g., "epitome," "biology") to express scientific and artistic concepts.</li><li>William Shakespeare ($ 1558 $-$ 1625 $): Introduced over$ 1,700 $neologisms (e.g., "eyeball," "uncomfortable") and coined idioms like "break the ice."</li><li>King James Bible ($ 1611 $): Standardized lexis and syntax; introduced phrases like "apple of my eye."</li></ul><h3 id="21eaff24-499c-48ff-a31a-f1ec725958b6" data-toc-id="21eaff24-499c-48ff-a31a-f1ec725958b6" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">The Era of Standardization and Prescriptivism ($ 18^{th} $Century)</h3><ul><li>Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary ($ 1755 $): contained$ 42,773 $entries; used literary quotations to define usage; helped establish rules for "polite" conversation.</li><li>Robert Lowth ($ 1762 $): Published "A Short Introduction to English Grammar," prohibiting split infinitives and double negatives based on Latin models.</li><li>Lindley Murray ($ 1795 $): Standardized the subjunctive mood and punctuation rules.</li></ul><h3 id="71a8b2fa-0077-45da-a4bb-0c549fdb812d" data-toc-id="71a8b2fa-0077-45da-a4bb-0c549fdb812d" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">Late Modern English and Global Expansion ($ 1750 $- Present)</h3><ul><li>The Industrial Revolution (1760-140) Created a surge in technical neologisms (e.g., "telegraph," "locomotive") and favored direct, efficient communication.</li><li>Colonization- the scramble for Africa 1780: British English influenced Australia and Canada, leading to the adoption of indigenous words (e.g., "barbecue," "loonie").</li><li>Noah Webster’s Dictionary ($ 1828 $): Established American English spelling (e.g., "color" vs "colour") and included American-specific terms (e.g., "skunk").</li><li>The Education Act ($ 1870 $): Drastically increased literacy rates and reduced regional dialects by promoting a national curriculum.</li></ul><h3 id="162de318-abdf-4329-bea6-22b14dff67c2" data-toc-id="162de318-abdf-4329-bea6-22b14dff67c2" collapsed="false" seolevelmigrated="true">The$ 20^{th} Century and the Digital Age
- World Wars (WWI & WWII) : Introduced military lexis and acronyms (e.g., "radar," "blitz," "A-bomb," "trench warfare"). WWII specifically increased the use of contractions due to telegraph costs.
- Broadcasting (BBC, 1922 $): Promoted Received Pronunciation (RP) as the prestige standard, influencing national speech patterns.</li><li>Social Movements: The Civil Rights ($ 1950s $-$ 60s $) and Feminist ($ 1960s $-$ 70s $) movements introduced terms like "racial profiling," "gender identity," and "glass ceiling."</li><li>The Internet ($ 1990s$$-Today): Facilitated the rise of "text speak" (e.g., "u" for "you"), social media-derived semantics (e.g., "friend" as a verb, "like" as a noun), and the use of memes for cultural commentary.