Language Change

• Diachronic Variation


  change throughout time
• Synchronic variation


  diversity at any given moment of time
• Speech communities


  any socially or regionally defined group in which its members share a number of linguistic characteristics.
• Brita Stenstorm (2014)


  (2014) Brita Stenstorm found teenagers define themselves by their language to distance themselves from other groups they might not want to associate with. Other groups also 'pull away' linguistically, creating further variation and change.
• Descriptivism


  An approach to language that seeks to describe language in use, variation and change, where no judgement or negative attitude is imposed on language.
• Prescriptivism


  the notion that language should be fixed, prescribing to a set standard for language usage, with any shift away from these rules being seen as incorrect
• Linguistic Purism


  defining or recognizing one variety of a language as being purer or of intrinsically higher quality than other varieties
• Quote from Jean Aitchison (2012)


  'Language change is an indication of progress rather than decline'
• Jean Aitchison (2012)


  Jean Aitchison (2012) suggested that once a new word has been identified, this can trigger the process of lexical diffusion (increased use of the word throughout an area over a period of time)
• Queens English Society


  The Queen's English Society is a group of predominantly older white men who aim to 'promote the maintenance, knowledge, understanding, development and appreciation of the English language' 'to educate the public in its correct and elegant usage; and to discourage anything detrimental to clarity or euphony.'

  They share a prescriptivism approach to language and try to control it.

   
• Plain English Campaign


  Since 1979 the plain English campaign has been working against 'jargon and misleading information' and believes everyone should have access to clear and concise information. They do this through staff training on producing clear texts and working with companies.
• Random Fluctuation theory


  Suggesting that language change occurs due to the unstable nature of language itself. The theory suggests that changes that occur within the language do so to the constantly changing context of the language and its users. Random events and errors lead to language change.
• S-curve model: changes in vocabulary


  
The S-curve model suggests new forms take off slowly but increase rapidly in usage until the curve flattens and innovation has diffused. The older form may still exist alongside but the new form is dominant.

  
• Wave Model


  Change occurs in stages, moving from one part of society (or the country) to another. This model suggests that the further away from the source of change a person is, geographically/socially, the less impact it would have on his or her language use.

  
• Quote from David Crystal on language change

  'Because people change all the time, their language changes too, to keep up with them. The only languages that don't change are dead ones' David Crystal 2011
• Linguistic change, disability


  There has been change in all areas, including surrounding disabilities. Terms that may not have been offensive 50 years ago are now seen as politically incorrect or offensive. However, it likely varies between individuals about their opinions on whether it offends them. For example, some people with autism prefer person first language 'a girl with autism' rather than 'autistic girl'. Further words like 'Cripple' that may have been used in the past, are mostly deemed offensive by people with disabilities.
• Americanisms


  some people such as Matthew Engel in his book 'The Way It Crumbles' (2017) view Americanisms as a 'corruptive force'

  • The use of vocal fry and Uptalk are associated with American origin.
• Diaspora


  the dispersal of people and their language to different parts of the world
• Polari and Language Change


  Polari was a language created as a way of speaking among gay people, popularised in the 1950-60s derived from sources including rhyming slang, circus back slang, Romany, Latin and Criminal Can't. It was created to communicate freely when being gay was hidden, however, it's a dying language as people are more freely able to be themselves in modern society, so there is less need for it.
• Origin of the word jeggings


  Jeggings are leggings that are made to look like skin-tight denim jeans. The word is a combination of jeans and leggings.
• Origin of 'Bae'


  a slang term used as a term of endearment. It came to use around 2013-2014 through social media and hip-hop and R&B lyrics. Originating from an abbreviation of the word baby or babe (might also be before anyone else)
• Possible factors in language change

  movement of people from one place to another

  Technological change

  Changing social attitudes e.g. towards homosexuality

  Education

  War

  Religion

  Youth Culture
• Old English (449-1100) Events

  Celtic language was invaded by Anglo Saxons bringing in Germanic languages, come to think of their language as English, pushing Celtic West

  567AD- Christian Missionaries from Rome bring the Latin and Roman alphabet replacing the Runic Alphabet

  Late 8th century Vikings from Denmark, Norway and Sweden came and divide England in two, Viking rules North and East, Anglo-Saxons rules South and West.
• Language in Old English (449-1100)

  • Close class grammatical language was largely the same 'he' 'is' 'on' 'and'
  • change was more seen in verbs and nouns
  • many letters were the same
  • some symbols used are now in the phonological alphabet
  • some variation in pronunciation of consonants and vowels
  • New words and synonyms were formed by compounding e.g bone+ house= body
• Middle English (1100-1500)

  • Norman invasion who spoke old Norse (version of French)
  • Old Norse gained Presige and old English was seen as low-status
  • Magna Carta (1215)- the transference of legal power to those who had none before
  • Hundreds Years War (1348) changed social status and social mobility
  • Passing of statute of pleading (1348) English to be the language of the court
  • Translation of the Bible to English by John Wycliffe (1384)
  • English to be the language of schools (1385)
  • Chaucer opted to write in English
• Middle English (1100-1500)


  • spelling is not standardised
  • OE symbols fell out of use
  • Writing system remained phonetic
  • French Words
  • Latin Words- including new affications
  • Simplification of syntax and grammar with droppings of endings, marked terms
  • Sentence order established (subject verb object)
• Early Modern English (1500-1800)

  • Standardisation
  • Shakespeare, John Donne, Andrew Marvell, John Milton all opted to use English. Shakespeare brought new words
  • Printing press- William Caxton 1476
  • Dictionary- 1604 Robert Cawdre published the first English Dictionary, 1755 Samuel Johnson's dictionary- 40,000 entries
  • Vowels shifted in articulation explaining why some of Shakespeares' rhymes seem not to work now
  • The use of the long 's' was discontinued in the 18th century, generally accredited to the invention of the printer and wishes to simplify their type-setting
• Late Modern English (1800-Now)

  • Industrial revolution
  • British Empire
  • New lexis and semantics- influx of borrowings
  • influence of new phonology of other languages on our own- linked to new lexis
  • Technology influences how we use out language
  • Accents and dialects are still retained showing both geographical and social identity
  • English used around the world
• Borrowing lexis


  Borrowing is the incorporation of one language vocabulary into another e.g. Sorbet (French) Ketchup (Chinese)
• Lexical Formation


  Words are created by

  • Compounding- e.g. ice-cream, lipstick
  • Clipping e.g. telephone- phone
  • Acronyms and initialisms e.g NHS
  • Blending e.g. Brunch, Brexit
  • Affixation e.g. Inter-net, sister-hood
  • Back-formation e.g. sculpting from sculptor
  • Conversation- where a word changes word class e.g. Snapchat (noun) to I'll Snap chat her later
• Semantic Change


  Semantic Bleaching- e.g. I'm literally dying (reduction in intensity)

  Narrowing e.g. deer vs meat used to refer to all types of livestock and food

  Amelioration e.g. queen as just a woman, but now a term of elevated status

  Pejoration e.g. spinster used to refer to a person who spins thread

  Metaphors e.g. 'head' 'headteacher' 'head of the table'

  Metonymy e.g. 'no.10' for the government or 'the crown' for the queen

  Taboo language and euphemisms e.g. i need the bathroom
• Phonological change


  connected speech- used when analysing how connected sounds in words affect one another

  Assimilation- where 2 sounds become more alike- repeat 'ten men'

  Lentheition- weakening of a sound 'butter' the 'er'

  Elision- more extreme Lenition- 'sixth form' to 'sixthform'

  Vowel Reduction- 'could have' 'could've' to could of

  Fortition- strengthening of a sound e.g plosives 'party'
• Sociophonetics


  when change occurs because of sociolinguistic reasons
• Grammatical Change


  Grammatical change is much slower than other types. Some have been seen in pronouns, case and inflections over time.
• Morphological change


  2 types

  • Reanalysisng e.g. hair (noun) cut (verb)- compund noun 'haircut'
  • Analogy or analogical change- where a new word takes on functions of existing words e.g. Brexit, to Brexit- Brexiting, Brexiteer (link to Wug test (Berko)
• Change from above- more formalised attempts 


  Plain English Campaign

  Laws

  Lexicographers

  Education

  Journalists

  Language reform and political correctness