LVOT glossary

• standardisation


  making all variations of language conform to the standard language
• diachronic change


  the historical study of language change over a large span of time
• synchronic change


  The study of language change at a particular moment in time.
• initialism


  using the first letter of each word to form an abbreviation (e.g. omg)
• inflections

  morphemes (usually word endings) added onto words to indicate grammatical functions (e.g. the suffix -s at the end of nouns indicates a change from singular to plural) (e.g. 'eth' in 'seeketh')
• inverted syntax


  where there is non-standard word order
• semantic shift


  the process of the meanings of words changing over time
• Latinate lexis


  words that derive from Latin
• compounding


  when two or more free morphemes are put together to create a new word (e.g. greenhouse)
• loan word


  when a word is borrowed from another language
• broadening


  where the meaning of a word has expanded to mean multiple things (e.g. mouse has been broadened to mean both the animal and keyboard mouse)
• narrowing


  where the meaning of a word has narrowed and has become more specific (e.g. meat used to be used in a more general sense but now solely refers to the flesh of an animal)
• amelioration


  where a word has become more positive (e.g. nice used to mean 'foolish' or 'ignorant')
• pejoration


  where a word has become more negative (e.g. 'silly' used to mean 'happy' or 'blessed')
• weakening


  refers to words losing some of their original force or strength over time (e.g. soon used to mean 'immediately')
• lexical change

  where new words are added to our vocabulary or where old words fall out of use
• Initial position


  refers to the start of a word
• medial position


  refers to the middle of a word
• terminal position


  refers to the end of the word
• collocation


  two or more words that are often placed together (e.g. fish and chips)
• Covert prestige: refers to the status speakers get from a social group when they choose not to adopt a standard dialect
• Overt prestige: refers to the status speakers get from using the most official and standardized form of language
• Mixed mode: features of printed text mixed with features of spoken language
• Political correctness: words or phrases used to replace those that are deemed offensive
• Obsolete: No longer having any use
• Emoticons: the online means of showing facial expressions and gestures
• Omission: the leaving out of a phoneme in a group of phonemes clustered together
• Eye-dialect: a way of spelling words that suggests a regional or social way of talking
• Borrowing/loan words: Introduction of words from one language to another
• Clipping: A new word made from shortening an existing one
• Initialism: A word made from initial letters each being pronounced
• Unpack the question in the introduction
• Use the magic three frameworks: lexis & semantics, grammar, and discourse
• Do a quick FACT check to ensure links to theories are not missed
• Make links to theories
• Brief conclusion
• Consider contextual information for texts in Section B
• Identify links between the texts
• Compare the ways both writers use language to convey personal and social identity
• Analyse and compare how both texts demonstrate language change over time