Language Change Key Terms 0.0 / 5 ? English LanguageLanguage ChangeA2/A-levelAQA Created by: AmyCreated on: 24-02-15 13:43 Affixation The general name for adding morphemes to existing words. 1 of 31 Suffixes The addition of a morpheme to the end of a root word. eg. -tion or -ing 2 of 31 Prefixes The addition of a morpheme to the beginning of a root word. eg. -un 3 of 31 Borrowing / Loan Word The introduction of a word from a foreign language with little modification. eg. café 4 of 31 Clipping / Abbreviation When a new word is made by shortening an existing one. eg. 'lab' 5 of 31 Compounding Combining two words together. eg. 'lifetime' 6 of 31 Conversion Changing the word class of a word. eg. 'a gossip' changes to 'gossiping' 7 of 31 Initialism An abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately. eg. BBC 8 of 31 Acronym An abbreviation formed using the first letters of other words and pronounced as a word. eg. ASBO 9 of 31 Blend When two words are merged together to form a new word. eg. 'Oxbridge' 10 of 31 Neologism A new word. eg. 'pyjama' 11 of 31 Archaic lexis An old word that is no longer used in standard language. eg. 'bedlam' used to mean an asylum 12 of 31 Old-fashioned lexis An old word that is used rarely in standard language now. eg. 'frock' 13 of 31 Obsolete lexis A word that is no longer used anywhere. 14 of 31 Amelioration When the meaning of a word changes from negative to positive. eg. 'nice' used to mean foolish 15 of 31 Pejoration When the meaning of a word changes from positive to negative. eg. 'gay' 16 of 31 Weakening When the meaning of a word loses strength over time. eg. 'soon' 17 of 31 Narrowing When a word becomes more specific in its meaning. eg. 'mete' used to mean all food 18 of 31 Broadening When the meaning of a word broaden to take on new meanings. eg. 'mouse' 19 of 31 Standardisation Making all variations of language conform to the standard language. 20 of 31 Descriptivism An attitude to language use that seeks to describe it without making judgements. 21 of 31 Prescriptivism An attitude to language use that makes judgements about what is right and what is wrong and thinks a standard should be kept. 22 of 31 Synchronic study Studies language at a point in time without considering the historical context. 23 of 31 Diachronic study Studies language change over a span of time in history. 24 of 31 Orthography The spelling of a word. 25 of 31 Etymology The historical origin of a word. 26 of 31 Morphology The process of changing a word. 27 of 31 Eponyms A word that has been formed using the name if a company or a person that nvented or popularised something. eg. 'casanova' 28 of 31 Facsimile An exact copy of a written or printed material. 29 of 31 Impersonal verbs When a verb has no one specific subject. eg. 'It rains' 30 of 31 Medial s A form of the letter 's' which was formerly used where 's' occurred in the middle or beginning of a word. It had lost use by the early 1800s. 31 of 31
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