Language Change

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Words taken from another country eg. 'beef' taken from French 'boeuf'
Borrowed Words
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Reduction of a word to one of its parts eg. 'cos' from 'because'
Clipping
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Word made up from the letters of a phrase eg. NASA
Acronym
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Introduction of a word from one language to another. Changes in spelling and/or pronunciation. Eg. 'chocolate' from french 'chocolat'.
Anglicised
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Introduction of a word from one language to another. Similar in ters of spelling and/or pronunciation. Eg. Pundit from Hindi.
Non-Anglicised
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Two words combined into one eg. motel, skort, sexting.
Blended words
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Creation of a new word eg. SAT NAV,
Coinage/Neologism
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Two complete words put together eg. football.
Closed Compound
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Old fashioned word still in use today eg. damsel.
Archaic
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Word no longer in use, lost all usefulness. Eg. alienism, farmerette.
Obsolete
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Word takes on a more positive meaning eg. pretty, sick, nice.
Amelioration
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Word takes on a more negative meaning eg. awful, notorious, mistress.
Pejoration
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Narrowing of meaning eg. litter, girl.
Narrowing
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Widening of meaning eg. green, bird.
Broadening
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Wasn't a time when language was perfect. No 'Golden Age' proof. No sound evidence a decline has occured.
James Milroy
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Language change over time is a positive thing - language is evolving.
Descriptivist
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Language change over time is a negative thing, standard English should always be used. Language is declining.
Prescriptivism
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Language used reflects our way of thinking eg. using '****' reflects prejudice towards immigrants,
Reflectionism (Sapir-Whorf theory)
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People can be persuaded to alter their language to be more acceptable, leading to new ways of thinking. Forms basis for political correctness - eg. '******' to 'African-American'.
Determinism (Sapir-Whorf theory)
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English Language is beautiful and needs to be preserved. It is valuable due to its heritage and history and new words/phrases are an attack on this priceless architecture.
Aitchison - Crumbling Castle
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Queasy distaste towards new words, pronunciations and structures. Lazy act, degrading to English Language.
Aitchison - Damp Spoon
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We catch 'bad English' from other people, like a disease.
Aitchison - Infectious Disease Assumption
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Language change will have an original small group of users. Once it begins to catch on, growth will be rapid until reaching a plateau where everyone likely to pick up the change will have. Will create an 'S' curve on a graph.
Chen - The S Curve Model - 1972
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Language changes due to random errors and events that happen within a language system, as a response to the ever changing context of language use and its users. Language is as unpredictable as fashion.
Charles Hockett - Random Fluctuation - 1958
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New words arise if there is a need for them. Eg. new inventions will need new labels/shifts in meaning to accommodate them.
Michael Halliday - Functional Theory - 1960s
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Reduction of a word to one of its parts eg. 'cos' from 'because'

Back

Clipping

Card 3

Front

Word made up from the letters of a phrase eg. NASA

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Introduction of a word from one language to another. Changes in spelling and/or pronunciation. Eg. 'chocolate' from french 'chocolat'.

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Introduction of a word from one language to another. Similar in ters of spelling and/or pronunciation. Eg. Pundit from Hindi.

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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