Language change theories

• wave model: bailey, 1973:


  geographical distance has an impact on language change spread - the further away you are from the epicentre of the change, the less likely you are too pick up the change.
• lexical gaps


  a word that could exist but doesn't (may be present in another language)

  when a word enters our language, there is a gap for naming it.

  e.g. there is no word for when a parent loses a child when we have ‘orphan’ for when a child loses a parent
• substratum theory


  states that language changes primarily through contact with other countries (trade, invasion)

  however, this cannot account for all changes
• travel and loan words


  loan words are borrowed from other languages

  8th-11th century - invasions

  Scandinavian - skirt, cog, skirt

  french - accompany, department, tax

  16th-17th century - latin and Greek writers

  latin - benefit, temperature, sub- and trans- prefixes

  reek - catastrophe, pneumonia, sub- and trans- prefixes

  18th-19th century - British empire

  Malaysia - amok

  India - shampoo

  20th century - immigration

  china - wok

  post war affluences led to a rise in travel and contact with other countries
• streamlining and efficiency


  many linguists believe that the creation of a more streamlined and efficient language is the most motivating force behind language change.

  assimilation - when sounds next to each other a pronounced differently to make hem easier to say e.g. ‘hanbag’ instead o ‘handbag’

  omission - when sounds are left out from words- not lazy or sloppy but makes language more fluent e.g. omission of /t/ phoneme is ‘whistle’’

  neatening - language becomes more consistent over time e.g. ‘shoes’ replaced ‘shooen’ as a plural for shoe
• societal change and attitudes

  The 1950s saw the emergence of the teenager, prior to this children left school at 14, going to work in the trade straight after.

  the youth began to become open to change and linguistic creativity

  increase acceptance and discussion around gender neutrality - led to new terms such as ’Mx‘ as an alternative to miss, ms and mr and ’they’ for he and she.

  in 2015, Mx was included in the oxford english dictionary, making it a codified term.
• technology

  development of communication systems all influence our lexicon (e-mail, telephone, internet, telegram)

  particular words are needed to refer to the hardware we use (chat room, MSN, email, SMS)

  technology brings about word conversion (e.g. ‘text is no longer only a noun, bu a verb too)
• politeness and political correctness


  has been used to remove language with negative connotations to avoid people taking offence.

  e.g. ’senior citizens’ - old people

  e.g. ‘disabled people’ - people with disabilities

  e.g. ‘half caste’ - mixed race people

  diminutive suffixes are no longer used when referring to women in occupation e.g. ‘actress’ is becoming a redundant term

  Deborah Cameron: coined the term verbal hygiene t describe the way we re ‘cleaning up our language’
• What was the period of the British Industrial Revolution?

  1760-1840
• What was a significant change during the British Industrial Revolution?

  Tasks done by hand were gradually replaced with automated machinery
• What was a consequence of new inventions and ways of working during the British Industrial Revolution?

  New language needs to be invented
• Which medical terms were introduced during the British Industrial Revolution?

  Cholera, oxygen, vaccine
• Which transport-related terms emerged during the British Industrial Revolution?

  Train, engine, piston
• What was a further consequence of urbanization during the British Industrial Revolution?

  More people moved from city to city to work
• How did urbanization encourage language contact during the British Industrial Revolution?

  It increased the movement of people between cities
• What did the British Empire bring back between the 16th and 20th centuries?

  Foreign words
• What percentage of the world did the British Empire colonize?

  25%
• How do speakers of English perceive their position in the linguistic hierarchy?

  They see themselves as at the top of the hierarchical linguistic ladder
• What term describes the belief of English speakers regarding their language's superiority?

  Linguistic imperialism