English Language Change
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- English Language
- Language variation and discoursesInvestigating languageLanguage change
- A2/A-level
- All boards
- Created by: ninabattle
- Created on: 02-03-18 21:12
Lexical Change
- Creation of a new word = 'coinage', new words themselves = 'neologisms'
- Sometimes words can disappear - known as 'archaisms'
- The many different sounds for '-ough' = 'idiosyncrasies'
- Different ways of forming new words:
- Borrowing = to 'borrow' a word from another language e.g. barbecue from Spain
- Scientific Progress = advances in medicine, science, and technology
- Affixation = new prefixes or suffixes are added to existing words e.g. hyperactive
- Compounding = joining two separate words e.g. laptop
- Blending = two words merged together e.g. Oxbridge
- Conversion = when words change class e.g. from noun to verb --> Google/to Google
- New words can be formed through forms of shortening:
- Clipping = drop one or more syllable to create an abbreviation e.g. demo for demonstration
- Initialism = first letter of a word stands for the word itself e.g. FBI
- Acronyms = initial letters of words combined to create completely new word e.g. WAGS for wives and girlfriends of footballers
- Back-formation = when suffixes are removed to make new words e.g. babysitter to babysit
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Semantic Change
- Words that remain part of a language for many years often change meaning (semantic change)
- Amelioration = a word develops a more positive meaning e.g 'nice' used to mean foolish
- Pejoration = a word develops a more negative meaning e.g 'notorious' meant well known
- Broadening/generalisation/expansion/extension = a word's meaning broadening over time
- Narrowing/specialisation/restriction = a word's meaning narrowing over time
- Political correctness can cause semantic change, by removing words that have negative connotations e.g. 'old people' --> 'senior citizens'
- Slangs and colloquialisms give new meaning to established words e.g. 'mint' being positive
- Figurative expressions give new meanings to old words:
- Metaphor = describes things as if they were actually something else
- Metonymy = when we use a word associated with an object instead of the object's name
- Idiom = sayings that don't make sense if you literally interpret the meaning
- Euphemism = use of alternative words or phrases to avoid offending someone
- Cliche = overused phrases which fail to excite the imagination
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Grammatical Change
- Nouns used to be capitalised in the 18th century
- The definite article is now used less e.g. The Russians would mean Russians in general, now we'd just say Russians
- Syntax used to be more complicated:
- Since 1700 - trend towards sentences being shorter with less complicated syntax
- Sentences used to contain more subordinate clauses
- Present day English - more simple punctuation - fewer commas/semicolons - less formal
- Due to the increase of auxiliary verbs like 'do', 'have', 'be', the word order has changed e.g. 'not' is now placed before the verb rather than after --> "I do not deny" / "I deny not"
- Contractions have gone in and out of fashion:
- Early 18th century poetry used it to make sure words fit the metre of the verse
- Printers contracted words to make them fit on the line, so were inconsistent within a text
- Proclitic contractions = at the beginning of words e.g. 'twas
- Enclitic contractions = at the end of words e.g. it's
- Past participles used to be contracted to show not to pronounce the syllable e.g. disturb'd
- 18th century - Jonathan Swift said contractions corrupted English - went out of fashion
- Late 20th century - they became more frequent, like present day usage
- Double negatives were common until c18th prescriptive grammar books said it was wrong
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Graphological Change
- Letters have changed over time due to handwriting - the use of the long S instead of S
- Abstract nouns and words the writer wanted to emphasise were capitalised
- Fonts have changed bc modern print material and more font options - serif less popular now
- Newspaper layout has changed:
- Black and white, no illustration, text was small
- Magazine layout has changed:
- Font on top of glossy picture is now overlaid, different font types and colours
- Sometimes presented in strange angles and styles
- Graphology of modern books is varied:
- Earliest books had 2 columns per page, and big margins for notes
- Modern books can show lots of variety in terms of layout, typeface, and colour
- Electrionic media has changed the appearance of written communication:
- Can be more creative with graphology
- No need to think about printing costs
- Modern day can incorporate animated text and images
- Can choose style of font depending on purpose
- Similar to the changes in graphology with mobile phones
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English from 1700
- Biggest change = language is more standardised
- Printing Press helped to standardise English:
- 1476 - William Caxton established first Printing Press - produced identical copies so everyone could read the same thing, written in the same way
- Tricky bc different authors used different spellings, so Caxton had to decide what to use
- Chose English used in courts/unis/London - became standardised, but still variation
- 18th century - state of language became a concern (worry over decay) - made dictionaries
- Dictionaries/grammar books told people how to use English 'properly' - had strong influence:
- Samuel Johnson's 'A Dictionary of the English Language' laid out rules and meanings of words, creating a standard reference point for all - a prescriptivist's view to 'register' Eng
- Grammar books changed grammar:
- Popular in 18th century - prescriptivists assumed there are 'correct' linguistic rules
- Robert Lowth 'A Short Introduction to English Grammar'
- Lexis continued to grow:
- Expansion of British Empire led to words being borrowed from other countries 1780-1810
- New advances in science and medicine e.g. antibiotic 1894
- New inventions e.g. radio 1907
- Social, cultural and political developments e.g. credit crunch 2008
- International conflict and war e.g. blitz 1939
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Causes of Language Change
- Language change can be internal or external:
- External = language that is a result of outside influences, invasions, immigration & media
- Internal = need for simplification and ease of articulation e.g. inflection like -eth
- Phonological change to make pronunciation easier:
- Omission = sounds are gradually lost e.g. 'tune' was originally pronounced 'tyune'
- Assimilation = a sound in a word is affected by an adjacent sound e.g. "what do you want?" --> "wha'ju want?"
- Technology has influenced language change:
- Industrialisation in 18th & 19th century introduced new words/phrases relating to labour e.g. productivity, shift work, clocking on
- Scientific advancement, new inventions, and brand names e.g. MSN, PC email
- Other languages also influences language change:
- 8th-11th centuries invasions: Scandanavian 'skirt', 'cog', 'skip' / French 'accompany', 'tax'
- 16th-17th centuries writings: Latin 'prefixes', 'sub', 'trans' / Greek 'affixes', 'auto', 'pan'
- 18th-19th centuries expansion of British Empire: Malay 'amok' / Hindi ' shampoo'
- 20th century immigration: Cantonese 'wok'
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