Is language change good?

Today, I found a short article on someone point of view on Language change. The title suggests that all: that language will change whether we like it or not so it gives is the impression that the attitude towards it is that we are just going to have to get use to it. It may change so fast that sometimes it will be hard to keep up but actually the writer explores some examples of how this has happen like through new technology of facebook. But whatever happens, it seems that just keeping up to it, is what we are going to have to deal with though it can be argues in reality, it doesn't change with fast speed at all. What do you think?

Link: http: //www.edmondsun.com/news/language-will-change-whether-you-can-keep-up-with-it/article_eb4a0672-9de1-11e4-9041-7fe057ad5099.html

An article on CLA

This article published today, looks at how to build up a childs vocabulary. The writer, Fiona Barry, talks about how learning vocabulary is an imporant way of children devloping language and she gives a set of tips that caregivers can follow to help be part of that process. she then also argues that they can also be followed by adults too. Studies have shown that children witha s small vocaburalry are more likely to struggle with literacy and adults are shown to have this too!

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/11330218/How-to-build-vocabulary.html

An article on language change

This article was published on the 5th January 2015. 3 days ago and there is still news about how technology is changing are language and therefore how we think about the world around us! It talks about how "to google" became a verb and what effect that had on how we think like how easy it is now for solving problems and how it has govern us a "transactive memory", which means the art of storing information in the people around us! It gives an argument that is dramatically changes how we achieve things due to that fact we can rely on googling to tell us the answer!

There is also something called "uberiszing", which is confusing to understand by as this article puts it: "it has taken the general meaning of disrupting any industry through the use of technology to circumvent unnecessary bureaucracy and legislation" so basically industry is modernising to the time. There are conflictions of this is about is this true? Does industry need to change to catch up with the time? Also, as the article point out: "As a new term, it is an interesting example however of how a term that was supposed to have a specific meaning has been turned into something completely different through popular usage."

It fonally goes onto to talk about change and how in 2005, these new terms would have been nonsence to the people on the time but now context has changed and language is fastly changing with it.

Link: http://theconversation.com/how-technology-is-changing-language-and-the-way-we-think-about-the-world-35856

A TED Talk in how to make up new words!

A recent talk by Erin McKean as been added to the many language talks on TED. It is called "Go ahead, make up new words!". The speaker is lexicographer and her job is about adding words to the dictionary. In her talk, she encourages her audience that making up new words is important as it makes her job fun! She gives a guide to how new words are created:

• First way is by "borrowing" words from other countries like caramel from French

• A second way is by compounding words, which is putting to words together to create a new word, like bookworm

• A final way is by blending words, which is were twos words are put together but some of the letter fall off, like brunch = breakfast and lunch

This part of the talk looks into how language changes and in this case, Erin welcomes it. As we know, some people don't welcome the change but it all links back to whether you have a prescriptive or a descriptive attitude to language.

She also mentions Jean Berko-Gleeson and her Wug Test, which is about CLA and how children automatically know how to pluralise words. This is relevant reminder on how this supports the nature debate in CLA as children haven't been taught this, they just seem to know!

This is an interresting talk to watch as it gives a mixrute of both topics that the exam is covering and its a good reminder for the debates that are going on in each.

Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/erin_mckean_go_ahead_make_up_new_words?language=en#t-249956

Language Change task

So first part of this task is to identify where I am from. So I was born in bath hospital and have always lived in a town close to Bristol. However my family come from all over the country, as shown here:

However, there is a certain idea that my family may even originate back from Poland on my dads side!

The second task, is to identify English speaking cultures that I know of. Here is a list from Wikipedia of some of the most common ones:

Which most I reconise, apart from one in Africa or Sierra Leone which I didn't realise was English speaking was dominant!

The final task was to smack the etymology of my surname. My surname is Trueman and what I found is quite interesting!

"This surname is of early medieval English origin, and is an interesting example of that sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. These nicknames were given with reference to a variety of personal characteristics, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, or to habits of dress and occupation. The derivation, in this instance, is from the Middle English "trew(e)", faithful, steadfast, from the Olde English pre 7th century "treowe", with "man", man; hence, "true, trustworthy or faithful man", perhaps the soubriquet of some herald or messenger. Trueman was also apparently used as a given name during the Middle Ages, and some instances of the surname may derive from this use. One Thomas Treweman was noted in the 1273 Hundred Rolls of Worcestershire, and a William Trueman appears in the 1279 Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire. In the modern idiom the name is spelt: Trueman, Turman, Trewman and Tro(w)man, all forms being most widespread in the West Midlands, especially in Staffordshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Treweman, which was dated circa 1215, in the "Cartulary of the Priory of St. Gregory", Kent, during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling."

Read more:  http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Trueman#ixzz3Nru19LCB