5.0 Language Change

• Prescriptivism


  The view that there is a right and a wrong way to speak a language and that there are certain correct forms that should be used.
• Descriptivism


  Belief that all types of language are acceptable - non judgemental and allows it to be changed.
• William Caxton 1476: 1


  Established the first printing press in England, following the success of the Gutenberg Press in Germany.
• William Caxton 1476: 2


  At the time, spellings varied depending on the region.

  
  

  Caxton wrote using spellings used in London Court and Cambridge University as it was already established and associated with political authority and prestige.

  
  

  First attempt at spelling standardisation.
• William Caxton 1476: 3


  Despite seeming like an attempt at standardisation, nothing was formally enshrined as 'language law', therefore variation was still present.
• Samuel Johnson 1755: 1


  'A dictionary of the English Language' - Johnson's first attempt at a dictionary, categorising 40,000 words.
• Samuel Johnson 1755: 2


  It was not the first, but was by far the biggest.

  
  

  It included to references like current literary greats like Milton and Shakespeare and provided the etymology of words.
• Samuel Johnson 1755: 3


  The dictionary was vital since it began to standardise the spelling and of words, which is still used today.

  
  

  Johnson was heavily prescriptivist, so it makes sense that he tried to standardise the language.
• Robert Lowth 1762: 1


  Wrote 'A Short Introduction to English Grammar', highlighting what he perceived to be the rules of English.
• Robert Lowth 1762: 2


  Many rules stemmed from Latin and Greek, which were considered noble languages and were 'dead' and unable to decay.
• Robert Lowth 1762: 3


  Many of Lowth's rules were deemed archaic over time, although some are still in use today.

  
  

  For example, Lowth wrote we shouldn't split infinitives on the basis it made the sentence clearer. 'I asked her to leave quietly' and 'I quietly asked her to leave' carries different meanings.
• Periods of Language Change: Old English (400 - 1150)


  - Developed from the speech of Angles, Saxons and the Jutes.

  
  

  - Many words stem from Anglo-Saxon origin (house, less)

  
  

  - Language was dictated by ruling parties, Celtic / German roots found since they ruled most of the period, but Old Norse also entered the language once the Vikings invaded the North.
• Periods of Language Change: Middle English (1150 - 1450)


  - Facilitated by French Invasions (1066).

  
  

  - English was still spoken, but was influenced heavily by French. (An estimated 10,000 words)

  
  

  - French grew connotations of prestige and power, so was used in government and by the wealthy.

  
  

  - 5 main dialects, most prestigious of which was the London / Cambridge dialect.
• Periods of Language Change: Early Modern English (1450 - 1700)


  - Following the Renaissance, Latin became popular and influential.

  
  

  - English was influenced by Latin words, which now make up 30% of total words (51,000)
• Periods of Language Change: Late Modern English (Present Day)


  - Less influence from invading parties, so language change has slowed down somewhat.

  
  

  - English became one of the most significant global languages during the Empire era.

  
  

  - English is beginning to be changed by countries that have been colonised by England, not through England being invaded.
• Inkhorn Contorversy


  - New words were coined from compounding and affixation with Latin origins.

  
  

  - Latin terms (Inkhorn) were considered pretentious and artificial. (commit, celebrate, dismiss).

  
  

  - They were mostly used by authors and playwrights, like Shakespeare, who added over 1700 words to the language.

  
  

  - Some argue English would be basic without Latin flair, others argue it was the perfect language before.
• Johnathan Swift (1712)


  - Swift published 'A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue'

  
  

  - He did this to resist changes that had been made to English over the last 100 years.

  
  

  - He proposed an 'Academy of English', inspired by the French 'Academie francaise'. THese are top-down approaches to language control since they would both be state run schemes.
• Neosemy


  The process whereby a new meaning develops for an existing word.

  
  

  Example: Fond originally meant 'foolish' or 'silly' from 'fonne', now means 'to like'.
• Amelioration


  When a word changes meaning in a positive way.
• Pejoration


  When a word meaning changes meaning in a negative way.
• CMC


  Computer Mediated Change
• Abbreviations


  A shortened form of a word or phrase, used is textspeak.

  
  

  'Too spenny' / 'xmas
• Initialisms


  An abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately.

  
  

  'WTF' / 'FAQ
• Acronyms


  Like an initialism, but pronounceable and commonly said as a word.

  
  

  'NASA' / 'FOMO
• Emoticons and Emojis


  Textual representations of facial expressions.

  
  

  >:( = Angry Face
• Non-standard Punctuation


  Common examples in textspeak are the use of slashes and overusage of exclamation marks.

  
  

  'b/c' for 'because' / 'No way!!!!
• Gary Ives Study


  Took place studying Instagram.

  
  

  8-11 year olds used abbreviated language like 'beaut' on Instagram.

  
  

  Older Children (12-18) did not find it 'cool' to use informal variants of language in online communication. (Especially teenagers)
• Thurlow (2004)


  Concluded roughly 18% of total texts were CMC.
• Tagliamonte (2003)


  Less than 3% of 71 studied teenagers used CMC and abbreviations.

  
  

  However, teenagers use more intensifiers.

  
  

  There is no evidence to suggest a decline in grammar.
• Carrington et al. (2007)


  Text Language is a form of linguistic compression.

  
  

  Some argue language is compressed in order to be quicker and more efficient.

  
  

  Others argue compression is down to laziness.
• Linguistic Compression


  Vowel Deletion, Phonetic Spelling, Initialisms.
• Christopher Werry (1996)


  In internet chat, people use more letters than required to imitate speech or semantic nuance.

  
  

  He likened texting and email to conversation, as turn-taking was present and it was mostly in informal register.

  
  

  'Noooooo
• David Crystal


  Believes texting is good for English Language.

  
  

  Stated that the idea of texting rendering teenagers illiterate was 'rubbish.'

  
  

  Only 10% of texts are abbreviated.

  
  

  Abbreviations were used many years before texting was introduced.

  
  

  Texting enriches the language as it encourages reading and writing in teenagers, who can transfer skills to formal language use.
• Wood (2011)


  Conducted many studies on texting and literacy, but mostly interested in grammatical factors.

  
  

  People of undergraduate age were the most likely to use text-style language in tests.

  
  

  Likely because school age children still had regular literacy lessons.
• Shortis (2001)


  The internet allows users to create a false identity.

  
  

  Argues against Werry, who says textspeak is used to present the users own personalities not to create a false one.
• Other relevant theorists


  Tagg: Words accidentally gained new meaning e.g. 'ducking' comes from autocorrect for 'f*cking'.

  
  

  Lee: The more intensive the texter, the smaller their vocabulary. (Due to linguistic compression?)

  
  

  Cingle and Sundar: Use of text language is linked to a lack of understanding in grammar.
• David Crystal 2


  Technology of all sorts allows for change in language such as printing press and telephones.

  
  

  Broadcasting was initially thought to be a disaster from what it could do to English, but ended up being a monumental success.
• Standardisation


  Making the language stable and consistent - done by introducing set rules.
• Hauger (1996)


  4 stage process:

  
  

  Selection - Language selected is usually a prestigious variant (Cambridge English)

  
  

  Codification - Reduction of internal variability, establishment of lexical, grammatical and spelling norms.

  
  

  Elaboration - The selected language is developed for a variety of purposes, could involve expansion of linguistic resources.

  
  

  Implementation - The language must be made current and widespread, using it in books and texts encourages users to develop pride and loyalty to it.
• Milroy and Milroy


  Elaborated on Haugen's 4 stage model with a 7 stage model:

  
  

  Selection - Language selected is usually prestigious.

  Acceptance - People have to agree with it and use it.

  Diffusion - It has to spread out and become widely used.

  Maintenance - People may then fix and adjust what they feel is necessary.

  Elaboration of Function - Used in many different contexts.

  Codification - Establishment of normal rules.

  Prescription - Rules are established and followed.