English Language - Language Change (AO2)

Language alters as needs of users alter. New lexemes appear as they are required for new inventions, ideas, etc. Other lexemes become archaic once they are unnecessary in real life, e.g. garments such as doublet and kirtle no longer worn so their names no longer relevant.

New lexemes coined through necessity to fill ‘lexical gaps’. These neologisms will not already be in use, but will fit current patterns within language, may also fill phonological gaps, e.g. git, get and gut already exist, so gat could fill a lexical gap.

Language is as unpredictable as fashion; hard to foresee future trends.

Believed change so unpredictable due to errors which occur by chance and then transmitted through contact, e.g. ‘pwned’ for ‘owned’ has spread in online gaming.

Theory that a person’s language reflects their way of thinking; use of sexist language reflects sexist viewpoint.

Idea that language can determine thought; if a person has non-sexist language available to them, less likely to hold sexist attitudes.

Idea that language a person speaks has an influence on this person’s thought.

Selection: prestigious variety of a language is chosen.

Codification: linguistic norms are established, reducing internal variability.

Elaboration: language is developed for a variety of purposes.

Implementation: language variety is given currency through production of (official) written texts.

Considers language change as progressive when it creates economy; change is progress when we can ‘express the greatest amount of meaning with the simplest mechanism’.

- Damp spoon syndrome: Attitude that slovenliness and laziness are leading to change and variation in language, like placing a damp spoon in the sugar bowl.

- Crumbling castle: View that the English language is a beautiful old building that needs to be preserved, but has long passed its pinnacle

- Infectious disease: Changes are ‘caught’ through contact with dangerous/inferior varieties

Attributes language change to influence of variety with lower prestige/power. Comes about through direct contact, e.g. migration or invasion. Indigenous population may learn conquerors’ language but imperfectly. Slight imperfections handed down through generations, eventually altering the language.

Describes belief that a word, phrase, grammatical construction or word meaning is recent when it has existed for a long time - "the belief that things you have noticed only recently are in fact recent." E.g. use of ‘they’/’them’/’their’ as singular pronouns but found in Jane Austen’s and Shakespeare’s works.

“once you’ve noticed a phenomenon, you think it happens a whole lot, even “all the time”. Your estimates of frequency are likely to be skewed by your noticing nearly every occurrence that comes past you.”

Belief that young people are responsible for 'undesirable' language trends. E.g. text speak and abbreviations often associated with teenagers but are used by texting and e-mailing adults of all ages. 

Claims these illusions are effect of what he refers to as selective attention, positing a general theory based on what an individual happens to have noticed. Type of cognitive bias. 

• Text messages aren't full of abbreviations - typically less than ten percent of the words use them. [Frequency Illusion]

• These abbreviations aren't a new language - they've been around for decades. [Recency Illusion]

• They aren't just used by kids - adults of all ages and institutions are the leading texters these days. [Adolescent Illusion]

1. The incorrectness view: All accents are incorrect compared to Standard English and the accent of RP.  

2. The ugliness view: Some accents don’t sound nice.  This seems to be linked to stereotypes and negative social connotations.  

3. The impreciseness view: Some accents are described as ‘lazy’ and ‘sloppy’ such as Estuary English, where sounds are omitted and changed.  

New aspect of language (innovation) is initiated in one place at one time and spreads outwards from that point (like an earthquake). Different innovations spread at different rates, in different directions, so that the areas covered by different innovations may not coincide e.g. ‘plimsolls’ called ‘daps’ in Bristol.

Pronunciation change occurs on one or small number of words. Innovation then gathers momentum and rate of diffusion to other lexemes becomes rapid. After a while, critical point is reached and rate of change slows or stops.

Language is viewed towards extremes e.g. correct/incorrect, pleasant/ugly, socially acceptable/unacceptable.

Notion that reforms have taken place at institutional level (law, broadcast media) to achieve linguistic equality. Non-sexist guidelines adopted by media have been salient in promoting feminist language reform.

Study of changes in language over time. Can be general evolution of all languages or evolution of particular language or dialect. Might focus more on interplay of historical events and language changes.

Study of linguistics and usage of a language at a particular moment.

Source is another language e.g. loanwords.

Source is same language e.g. compounds.

Brand new lexeme.

Lexemes (loanwords) absorbed by one language through contact with another.

New meaning exists for an existing word (virus, pirate). Original lexeme and semantic meaning exists alongside the new.

Change in a word’s meaning over time.

As a language absorbs loanwords, some will be similar in meaning to existing lexemes. Meanings can diverge to become more semantically specific in terms of context for use, formality or connotation.

When conventional forms of a language are established and maintained; may occur as a natural development or effort by members of a community to impose one dialect or variety as a standard.

Making language usage certain; fixing/freezing a language in one state.

When certain linguistic features recognised as standard and others rejected; designing a writing system or conventions for a language.

‘Neatening’ of language elements to fit prominent patterns, e.g. stadia becoming stadiums. Tendency to convert irregular verbs to fit regular morphological patterns, e.g. snuck becoming sneaked.

‘Neatening’ of language elements to fit prominent patterns, e.g. stadia becoming stadiums. Tendency to convert irregular verbs to fit regular morphological patterns, e.g. snuck becoming sneaked.

View that language is defined by what people actually do with it. Studying usage of real people in a real-world context allows us to uncover principles of a language.

Trend for a language, particularly in written mode, to become more informal over time.

Lexical borrowing into English considered unnecessary or pretentious, especially during Renaissance.

Spread of a change, especially sound change, through a language.

‘passing on’ of linguistic characteristics. May be through contact between two communities, influence may be adstratum, substratum or superstratum. Cultural transmission refers to passing via social learning mechanisms such as imitation, teaching or language.

Pull theory: upper vowels moved first and ‘pulled’ the lower ones along. Push theory: lower vowels moved forward and up, pushing the others ahead.