Language Change

• External Factors of Language Change

  1. War
  2. Migration
  3. Trade
  4. Colonisation
  5. Technology
  6. Social Media
  7. Scientific Advancements
• Internal Factors of Language Change

  1. Age
  2. Social Group
  3. Hobbies/Interests
  4. Occupation
  5. Location
• Neologisms 


  A newly coined word/expression.
• Diachronic Change


  The historical development/evolution of language.
• Synchronic Change


  Language changes at a particular moment in time.
• Archaisms 


  A word that has since fallen out of use.
• Language Change Overtime: Pre 43AD

  Common Brythonic Language was commonly spoken by this time over Great Britain. Common Brythonic borrowed a large lexicon of Latin words like fish. Some of the characteristics of the language include:

  Lenition - Voiceless plosives become voiced plosives in intervocalic position.

  Nasal Assimilation - Voiced stops that are assimilated to a preceding Nasal.

  Retention of the proto-Celtic sequences -am and -an
• Language Change Overtime: 43-410AD

  Britain was occupied by Rome during this time. Catholic Priests were sent from Rome to convert the British natives to Christianity. Later, the invading Roman soldiers established settlements, built roads and left words behind during their occupation of the country. Latin has long been considered a language of science, religion and education. Therefore, using Latin lexis can be seen as the language of expertise. Examples include:

  Ambiguous

  Colossal

  Intellect
• Language Change Overtime: 410-789AD

  The Anglo-Saxons occupied England during his time. The language was very monosyllabic compared to the Latin Language. During 591AD, Christianity was spreading across the country.

  410-591AD Examples

  House

  Wolf

  591-789AD Examples

  Martyr

  Bishop
• Language Change Overtime: 789-1066AD

  The Vikings left us many useful everyday words as they were a practical everyday people. However, our language gained some emotive words related to fighting and war. Vikings also gave us many place names ending in -by and -ton. It total, they gave around 2000 words that we still use in our vocabulary today. Examples include:

  Die

  Weak

  Mistake
• Language Change Overtime: 1066-1400AD

  In 1066, the Norman conquest took place, led by William the Conqueror. It brought along the French language and the Latin language was still commonly used in the church. England absolved around 10000 words during this time and using this Lexis is still shown to bring with it a level of sophistication. Examples include: Audience. Government. Amusement.
• Language Change Overtime: 1400-1700AD

  During this time, William Shakespeare gave us about 2000 new words/phrases. However, some do argue that people were using these terms before he did. In 1611AD, a new translation of the Bible (King James Bible) was written. In 1660AD, the Royal Society of Science was formed when they realised science was easier to understand in English. Shakespeare Examples:

  Dauntless

  Alligator

  Lacklustre

  The Royal Society of Science Examples:

  Gravity

  Electricity

  Acid
• Language Change Overtime: 1700-1900S

  In 1747, Samuel Johnson began work on his dictionary which he finished in 1755. It was the first attempt to standardise spelling. In 1857, a team began working on the Oxford Dictionary but took 70 years to be completed.
• Lexical Change


  How individual words changed overtime.
• Types of Lexical Change: Borrowing 


  Many of the words we use in our everyday Language today is of the result of borrowing from other languages. Sometimes, when we borrow a word, it goes through a period of anglicisation which is when a word is borrowed, it gradually changes to sound more “English.” Examples include:

  Bungalow: Bangolo - Indian (One-Storey House)

  Skeleton: Skeletos - Greek (Dried-Up)

  Penguin: Pengwyn - Welsh (White-Head)
• Types of Lexical Change: Scientific Progress


  Advances is medicine, science and technology can bring with it new words/phrases to be coined. Examples include:

  Nanotechnology

  Stem Cells
• Types of Lexical Change: Affixation


  Words can be coined by combing a new prefix/suffix to an existing word. Examples include:

  Hyperactive

  Hypersensitive
• Types of Lexical Change: Compounding 


  Words can be coined by combining two separate words to form one new one. Examples include:

  Ceasefire

  Bypass

  Toothbrush
• Types of Lexical Change: Blending


  When two separate words are merged together. Examples include:

  Heliport

  Oxbridge

  Brunch
• Types of Lexical Change: Conversion


  Changing one word class to another. Examples include:

  Text - To Text

  Google - To Google

  To be Mobile - Mobile (Phone)
• Types of Lexical Change: Eponym 


  When words are named after the inventor. Examples include:

  Hoover

  Saxophone

  Nicotine
• The Inkhorn Debate - Theorists Involved and What it Was

  For Inkhorn Terms - Thomas Elyot and George Pettie

  Against Inkhorn Terms - Thomas Wilson and John Cheke

  The Inkhorn Debate was the first time in the history of the English Language that speakers actively debated over language use as a result of the language revolution taking place during the 16th and 17th Centuries in England.
• The Inkhorn Debate - Thomas Elyot and George Pettie


  They were both enthusiastic borrowers/neologisers. Pettie believed we needed to borrow these Inkhorn Terms, otherwise, “Our mouths would be full of ink.” This means that people wouldn’t have the vocabulary they needs to accurately express what they truly wanted to say. Both believed such practices would enrich the English Language. Elyot wrote his own dictionary in 1538 and was considered the most influential text of the time as it helped readers aid in their understanding.
• The Inkhorn Debate - Thomas Wilson and John Cheke


  Both were against Inkhorn Terms believing that such terms would “corrupt” the English Language and clog it with unnecessary/unusable words. Cheke said “Our own young should be written cleane.” Indeed, thousand of Inkhorn Terms like “exsufficate“ have fallen out of use but others like “impede“ are still used today.
• Phonological Change


  A change in the way we sound out words. Examples include:

  Great Vowel Shift

  Vocal Fry

  Decline in RP
• Grammatical Change 


  Changes in the way that words in a sentence ate ordered as awl as changes in use of things like tenses. It occurs more slowly than lexical/semantic change. Examples include:

  Use of Double Negatives

  Multiple Comparatives

  Lost Superlatives
• Orthography


  The accepted/standardised way of spelling/writing. Examples include: Drop Caps and The Long S