1
Q
What is language change caused by?
A
- Technology changes
- Global issues
- Change in society
- Pop culture
- Science developments
- Historical developments
2
Q
What historical developments caused language change?
A
- Wars and battles
- Books and influential writers
- Societal developments
- Travel and colonisation
- Attempts to control language
3
Q
What influences did the early settlers have on place names?
A
-ton/tun (Anglo-Saxon, enclosed village)
-burn (Old English, stream)
-by (Danish, village)
-worth (Old English, fenced land)
-ham (Old English, village)
4
Q
Old English
A
- 5th century
- Language developed from the speech of the Angles, Jutes, Saxons
- Many different dialects
- Little consistency with spelling
5
Q
Middle English
A
- 11th century
- Normans invaded in 1066 and French became the dominant language, the rest of the country continued speaking English
- Rapid expansion of vocab from French and Latin
- The Black Death killed a lot of French and Latin speakers, making English more dominant
- The Great Vowel Shift
- No standardised spelling
6
Q
Early Modern English
A
- 15th century
- William Caxton invented the printing press in 1476
- Growing interest and pride in English
- Different word order
- Interrogatives didn’t always include auxiliary verbs
- Shakespeare invented new words
- King James’ Bible
- Robert Cawdry’s dictionary attempted to standardise English
7
Q
Modern English
A
- 18th century
- Increased travel and the British Empire added new words
- There was a rise in contractions, however Johnathon Swift heaving opposed them and they went out of fashion
- Schooling became compulsory until 12, helping to standardise spelling
- Robert Lowth published the first grammar book
- Grammarians were concerned with inconsistencies so they introduced standard ways of speaking and writing
8
Q
Present-day English
A
- 20th century
- Media, technology, and travel led to English becoming a global language
- Words gained new meanings
- Contractions are common
- Widely standardised but varies from country to country
9
Q
How is the Oxford English Dictionary word of the year chosen?
A
It’s based on what has been created to reflect the societal changes of the last year, as well as being popular
10
Q
What does Suzanne Romaine argue?
A
Language changes because society changes
11
Q
What does Michael Halliday argue?
A
Language changes to meet the needs of it’s users
(Functional Theory)
12
Q
What does David Crystal argue?
A
Language is controlled by the people who use it
13
Q
What language change did Shakespeare do?
A
1) Converted nouns into verbs (grace, season)
2) Created compounds (fair-play)
3) Affixation (disgraceful, laughable)
14
Q
What is borrowing + an example?
A
- Taking words from other languages
- For example, Bungalow was borrowed from Hindi when new houses were being made in the UK
15
Q
What is Pejoration + an example?
A
(fill in later)
16
Q
What is Compounding + an example?
A
- Two or more free morphemes are combined
- For example, smartphone was created to name a new concept that did not previously exist
17
Q
What is Coinage + an example?
A
- A new word being created rather than adapting from existing words
- For example, Google
18
Q
What is Broadening + an example?
A
- When a word’s meaning becomes more general overtime
- For example, Holiday used to mean a religious hold now but now refers to any period of leisure
19
Q
What is Affixation + an example?
A
- The process of adding Latin/Greek prefixes and suffixes to existing words
- For example, the ‘hyper’ in hyperactive means excessive and beyond
20
Q
What is Anerlioration + an example?
A
(fill in later)
21
Q
What is Conversion + an example?
A
- A word shifting from one word class to another
- For example, Google going from a noun to a verb
22
Q
What is Blending + an example?
A
- Words are shortened and joined together to form a new word
- For example, smog combined smoke and fog to describe the air pollution of the 50s in London
23
Q
What is Clipping + an example?
A
- Shortening a word from it’s full length
- For example, advertisement becoming ad
24
Q
What is Initialism + an example?
A
- The first letters are taken from words to create a new term
- For example, BBC meaning British Broadcasting Corporation
25
What is Prescriptivism?
- They believe that the English language should always follow certain rules and structures and never deviate.
- They see Standard English and RP and superior.
26
What is Descriptivism?
They aim to describe language without any moral judgement attached.
27
What do Prescriptivists disagree with?
- Grammatical conversions
- American spellings
- Rising intonation in declarative sentences
- Double superlatives
- Split infinitives
- Beginning sentences with conjunctions
28
How does John Humphrys feel about textspeak?
- He dislikes it, calling abbreviations 'grotesque'
- He believes the dictionary should stop including new words and that they are doing it for fashion
- He worries that we will forget how to write if we carry on texting
29
How does David Crystal feel about textspeak?
- Texting actually improves literacy rates
- Standard English still exists within texts, especially texts from institutions
- Only a small percentage of words are abbreviated
- Initialisms have been around for a long time
- People are aware there is a limit of textspeak as they need to be understood
30
What are some examples of Prescriptivism throughout history?
- Samuel Johnson's dictionary in 1975
- Robert Lowth publishing the first grammar book in 1762
- Compulsory schooling helping to enforce grammar rules
- Caxton's printing press which standardised London's dialect
- John Humphry's article against texting
31
What are some examples of Descriptivism throughout history?
- Early settlers changing the language
- Shakespeare's neologisms
- The industrial revolution brought new words
- Inconsistent spelling in Old English due to it being based off pronunciations, which varied with regions
- David Crystal's article
- Present-day digital communication
32
What is Michael Halliday's Functional Theory?
Halliday argues that language changes and adapts according to the needs of it users. Words disappear overtime and neologisms are created due to need, which reflect the sociocultural climate of the time.
33
What is an example of Halliday's Functional Theory in practice?
Words such as gramophone going out of use with the introduction of new technologies, such as cassette players, MP3 players, and streaming services
34
What is Chen's S Curve Model?
Chen argues that language users pick up a language change at a gradual rate before it accelerates and spreads into wider usage before slowing down again and stabilising.
Old and new terms may coexist until old forms are lost
35
What is an evaluation of the S Curve Model?
(Chen)
Not all language change is gradual, viral internet trends and memes demonstrate how linguistic innovation can happen almost instantaneously
36
What is Bailey's Wave Model?
- Bailey argues geographical distance has an impact on language change spread, changes weakens the further you are from the 'epicentre'
- A person close to the epicentre of language change will pick it up
For example, the spread of MLE
37
What is lexical loss?
When words are no longer in use, deemed obsolete
38
What are some words that we no longer use and why?
- Alienism, refers to the study of mental illness
- No longer used due to being politically incorrect
- Charabanc, refers to a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach
- No longer used as it was replaced by cars
39
What is Charles Hockett's Random Fluctuation Model?
Hockett argues languages change by accident
For example, 'pwned' began to be used by gamers in place of 'owned' due to them finding the typo funny
40
What is an 'Inkhorn Term'?
- Words coined by writers through borrowing words from Greek or Latin, creating neologisms regularly
- These were seen as pretentious and artificial
41
What did Cambridge professor Jon Cheke argue about Inkhorn Terms?
'I am of the opinion that our own tung should be written cleane and pure, unmixt and unmangled with borrowing of other tunges'
42
What was Latin the language of?
Scholarship, religion, thought and philosophy, and medicine
43
Who was Jonathon Swift and what did he believe?
- Swift was a strict prescriptivist who believed that the language needed regulation around grammar, freezing sematic shifts, and preventing change
- His main concerns were around shortened words, unnecessary polysyllabic words, and words that were mere 'fashion'
44
What did Jean Aitchison explain in her descriptive 'Words Pour Into English' article
- Words come into English through loanwords, formations, and layering
- English was used alongside other languages in the past
- Some words that started out as jokes became used regularly
- American words re becoming part of British English due to popculture and the dominant position of the US
- New words provide insight into the time of which they were created
- New words are made of existing components
- Existing words can split to have multiple meanings or fade in meaning
45
What is a modern example of descriptivism?
Negative responses to the laughing emoji being the OED's word of the year such as 'sick and sad world' and 'RIP language' being response tweets
46
What is semantic change?
When words change meanings
For example, gay originally meant joyous
47
What are the processes of semantic change?
- Narrowing
- Broadening
- Weakening
- Amelioration
- Pejoration
- Functional Shift
48
What's an example of Narrowing?
Meat used to mean all food
49
What's an example of Broadening?
Butcher used to mean slaughterer of goats
50
What's an example of Weakening?
'Terrible' used to mean causing terror
51
What's an example of Amelioration?
'Nice' used to mean foolish, the meaning hs become more positive
52
What's an example of Pejoration?
'Hussy' used to mean housewife, the meaning has become more negative
53
What's an example of Functional Shift?
'Text' (noun) became 'to text' (verb)
54
What does Simon Heffer's article argue about language?
Correct English is important and needs to be used if you want to be employed or not seem foolish
55
What are the key arguments made in the 'Sluts are re-appropriating language' article?
- People are trying to reclaim the term slut
- Semantic shifts are not a straightforward process yet can be achieved
56
What is Political Correctness and example of?
Linguistic Determinism
57
What are some examples of semantic change being caused by political correctness?
Old people --> Senior Citizens
Half-caste --> Mixed-race
Disabled people --> People with disabilities
58
What are the pros and cons of Political Correctness?
It avoids offence, however it can be seen as over the top or unnecessary
59
What 3 metaphors did Jean Aitchison come up with?
- Damp Spoon Metaphor
- Crumbling Castle Metaphor
- Infectious Disease Metaphor
60
What is the Damp Spoon Metaphor?
(Jean Aitchison)
- Some prescriptivists argue that language change is caused by sloppiness or laziness, believing that 'bad English' sticks to people who are lazy and passive
- Aitchison argues the only lazy speech is drunk speech because of poor muscular coordination
61
What is the Crumbling Castle Metaphor?
(Jean Aitchison)
- Some see language as a beautiful old building that needs to be preserved, considering English to have been carefully created
- Aitchison argues there was never a 'Golden Age' when language was used correctly by all
62
What is the Infectious Disease Metaphor?
(Jean Aitchison)
- Some people believe that we 'catch' change from those around us, as though it is contagious
- Aitchison argues that people pick up change because they want to and they choose the appropriate language for different contexts
63
What does Robert Lane Greene argue?
- Greene argues against declinism, seeing literacy rates being higher in the 21st century with increased education
- He argues for the existence of sticklerism, which is the overcorrecting and criticisms of other people's language even if it doesn't need to be corrected
64
What does Leslie Milroy argue?
There has been a complaint tradition in the English language, with young people always being blamed for not using language properly
65
How can the dictionary be seen as both descriptive and prescriptive?
Descriptive - the inclusion of new words
Prescriptive - its standardisation of spelling
66
What are some facts about Caxton's Printing Press?
- Invented and first sold in 1476
- Caxton chose to use the spelling of the dialect being used in courts, unis, and London at the time
- Books became widely available for the first time, allowing knowledge to be shared
67
What are some benefits of standardisation?
- Makes the language easier to understand
- Avoids the use of different phonetic spellings for each region
- Gives consistency
- Helps people be clear with their language
- Education becomes more efficient as it is standardised
- Written texts become more accessible
68
What are some drawbacks of standardisation?
- Limits creativity
- Marginalises regional varieties and minority ethnolects, making them seem inferior
69
What impact did Johnson's dictionary have on standardisation?
Johnson's dictionary was highly influential and helped to standardise spellings and meanings, with him initially hoping to 'fix' variations in spelling yet he realised language is ever-changing
70
What was said in Johnson's preface?
- He wished that dictionaries and lexicographers would fix the language and its irregularities
- Argued the language has been neglected, 'our speech copious without order'
71
What did Milroy and Milroy say about standardisation?
'Standardisation is morally questionable - our standard is based on the speech habits of the wealthy elite and this does not reflect all of society equally'
72
What controversial decision did Birmingham council make?
They decided to remove the apostrophe from street signs to avoid further costs and confusion
73
What is grammatical change?
A change in the rules of how to put sentences together in the right order
74
What are some grammatical features that John Cheke opposed to?
- Double negations (I don't want nothing)
- Contractions ('twas, can't)
- Multiple comparatives (more cleverer)
75
When did attention turn to grammar rules?
The 18th and 19th century when it began to be associated with social status, leading to the popularity of grammar guides
76
What were some of Robert Lowth's grammar rules as shown in his book?
- 'thou' should no longer be used
- 'who/whom' should be distinguished between
- multiple negation is illogical
77
What is The Queen's English Society?
They wrote a 'useful guide to English' and treat the language as if it is to be defended and owned
78
Who is Jacob Rees-Mogg?
- A conservative MP who was the leader of the House of Commons
- He sent out a list of rules and banned words
- For example, 'equal', 'unacceptable', and 'speculate' were banned
- Commas after 'and' were banned alongside no double spacing after full stops
A-Level English Language AQA
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Decks in class (12)
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