English Language Change

• Creation of a new word = 'coinage', new words themselves = 'neologisms'
• Sometimes words can disappear - known as 'archaisms'
• The many different sounds for '-ough' = 'idiosyncrasies' 

• Different ways of forming new words:
  • Borrowing = to 'borrow' a word from another language e.g. barbecue from Spain 
  • Scientific Progress = advances in medicine, science, and technology 
  • Affixation = new prefixes or suffixes are added to existing words e.g. hyperactive 
  • Compounding = joining two separate words e.g. laptop 
  • Blending = two words merged together e.g. Oxbridge 
  • Conversion = when words change class e.g. from noun to verb --> Google/to Google 
• New words can be formed through forms of shortening:
  • Clipping = drop one or more syllable to create an abbreviation e.g. demo for demonstration
  • Initialism = first letter of a word stands for the word itself e.g. FBI
  • Acronyms = initial letters of words combined to create completely new word e.g. WAGS for wives and girlfriends of footballers 
  • Back-formation = when suffixes are removed to make new words e.g. babysitter to babysit 

- Words that remain part of a language for many years often change meaning (semantic change)

• Amelioration = a word develops a more positive meaning e.g 'nice' used to mean foolish
• Pejoration = a word develops a more negative meaning e.g 'notorious' meant well known
• Broadening/generalisation/expansion/extension = a word's meaning broadening over time 
• Narrowing/specialisation/restriction = a word's meaning narrowing over time 

- Political correctness can cause semantic change, by removing words that have negative connotations e.g. 'old people' --> 'senior citizens'
- Slangs and colloquialisms give new meaning to established words e.g. 'mint' being positive

• Figurative expressions give new meanings to old words:
  • Metaphor = describes things as if they were actually something else 
  • Metonymy = when we use a word associated with an object instead of the object's name 
  • Idiom = sayings that don't make sense if you literally interpret the meaning
  • Euphemism = use of alternative words or phrases to avoid offending someone
  • Cliche = overused phrases which fail to excite the imagination  

• Nouns used to be capitalised in the 18th century 
• The definite article is now used less e.g. The Russians would mean Russians in general, now we'd just say Russians 
• Syntax used to be more complicated:
  • Since 1700 - trend towards sentences being shorter with less complicated syntax
  • Sentences used to contain more subordinate clauses
  • Present day English - more simple punctuation - fewer commas/semicolons - less formal 
• Due to the increase of auxiliary verbs like 'do', 'have', 'be', the word order has changed e.g. 'not' is now placed before the verb rather than after --> "I do not deny" / "I deny not"
• Contractions have gone in and out of fashion:
  • Early 18th century poetry used it to make sure words fit the metre of the verse 
  • Printers contracted words to make them fit on the line, so were inconsistent within a text
    • Proclitic contractions = at the beginning of words e.g. 'twas
    • Enclitic contractions = at the end of words e.g. it's 
  • Past participles used to be contracted to show not to pronounce the syllable e.g. disturb'd 
  • 18th century - Jonathan Swift said contractions corrupted English - went out of fashion
  • Late 20th century - they became more frequent, like present day usage 
• Double negatives were common until c18th prescriptive grammar books said it was wrong

• Letters have changed over time due to handwriting - the use of the long S instead of S 
• Abstract nouns and words the writer wanted to emphasise were capitalised 
• Fonts have changed bc modern print material and more font options - serif less popular now

• Newspaper layout has changed:
  • Black and white, no illustration, text was small 
• Magazine layout has changed:
  • Font on top of glossy picture is now overlaid, different font types and colours 
  • Sometimes presented in strange angles and styles 
• Graphology of modern books is varied:
  • Earliest books had 2 columns per page, and big margins for notes 
  • Modern books can show lots of variety in terms of layout, typeface, and colour 
• Electrionic media has changed the appearance of written communication:
  • Can be more creative with graphology 
  • No need to think about printing costs
  • Modern day can incorporate animated text and images
  • Can choose style of font depending on purpose
  • Similar to the changes in graphology with mobile phones

• Biggest change = language is more standardised
• Printing Press helped to standardise English:
  • 1476 - William Caxton established first Printing Press - produced identical copies so everyone could read the same thing, written in the same way
  • Tricky bc different authors used different spellings, so Caxton had to decide what to use 
  • Chose English used in courts/unis/London - became standardised, but still variation 
  • 18th century - state of language became a concern (worry over decay) - made dictionaries
• Dictionaries/grammar books told people how to use English 'properly' - had strong influence:
  • Samuel Johnson's 'A Dictionary of the English Language' laid out rules and meanings of words, creating a standard reference point for all - a prescriptivist's view to 'register' Eng
• Grammar books changed grammar:
  • Popular in 18th century - prescriptivists assumed there are 'correct' linguistic rules 
  • Robert Lowth 'A Short Introduction to English Grammar' 
• Lexis continued to grow:
  • Expansion of British Empire led to words being borrowed from other countries 1780-1810
  • New advances in science and medicine e.g. antibiotic 1894
  • New inventions e.g. radio 1907
  • Social, cultural and political developments e.g. credit crunch 2008
  • International conflict and war e.g. blitz 1939

• Language change can be internal or external:
  • External = language that is a result of outside influences, invasions, immigration & media 
  • Internal = need for simplification and ease of articulation e.g. inflection like -eth 
• Phonological change to make pronunciation easier:
  • Omission = sounds are gradually lost e.g. 'tune' was originally pronounced 'tyune'
  • Assimilation = a sound in a word is affected by an adjacent sound e.g. "what do you want?" --> "wha'ju want?"
• Technology has influenced language change:
  • Industrialisation in 18th & 19th century introduced new words/phrases relating to labour e.g. productivity, shift work, clocking on 
  • Scientific advancement, new inventions, and brand names e.g. MSN, PC email 
• Other languages also influences language change:
  • 8th-11th centuries invasions: Scandanavian 'skirt', 'cog', 'skip' / French 'accompany', 'tax'
  • 16th-17th centuries writings: Latin 'prefixes', 'sub', 'trans' / Greek 'affixes', 'auto', 'pan'
  • 18th-19th centuries expansion of British Empire: Malay 'amok' / Hindi ' shampoo'
  • 20th century immigration: Cantonese 'wok'