language does not 'delay' it changes. Regularisation is natural and makes language more efficient. Key fallacies of prescriptivists are: crumbling castle (language=degrading), damp spoon (distaste for incorrect) & infectious disease ('bad' catching)
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Naomi Baron
move in modern times away from the 'well-scrubbed face'. Writers are less self-conscious, more spontaneous, less cautious. Errors in SPG are less important and being formal="stiff" or "uncool"
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Darwin
he saw his 'survival of the fittest' theory being able to apply to a natural selection in language.
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Gresham's Law
a 'rude' meaning will replace a 'clean' one
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Rudi Keller
the invisible hand: in order to avoid misunderstandings speakers use familar, unambiguous synonyms and avoid difficult expressions. The ambiguous form falls into disuse and thus is not acquired by the following generation.
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Prescriptivism/Descriptivism
the key job of the linguist is to describe. Put simply, the general public likes to be Prescriptivist - there are 'wrongs' and 'rights' and if you make a mistake you are 'thick'
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Zipf
monosyllables rule: people prefer to use monosyllables as it is easier to communicate, we even shorten words that are polysyllabic e.g. 'disrespect' to 'dis'
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
move in modern times away from the 'well-scrubbed face'. Writers are less self-conscious, more spontaneous, less cautious. Errors in SPG are less important and being formal="stiff" or "uncool"
Back
Naomi Baron
Card 3
Front
he saw his 'survival of the fittest' theory being able to apply to a natural selection in language.
Back
Card 4
Front
a 'rude' meaning will replace a 'clean' one
Back
Card 5
Front
the invisible hand: in order to avoid misunderstandings speakers use familar, unambiguous synonyms and avoid difficult expressions. The ambiguous form falls into disuse and thus is not acquired by the following generation.
I really like these flashcards but was just wondering if you could please clarify as to what you mean by Darwins take on language... Im unsure if he agrees with language being altered as time goes on or if he disagrees with it? and if you could give an example of the Greshams law, that would be fab?
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