Question and answers for language change

Language Change questions:

What are the main causes for language change?

Technology, migration, political like wars, trade, work and urbanisation, popular culture, globalisation/travel, religion, gender, science and technology, transport and communication.

What are the ways in which language changes?

Semantic shifts and narrowing, broadening, euphemism and cliché, lexical changes like borrowing, affixation, compounds, blends and jargon, pragmatics of the implication of language become shared knowledge, spellings being irregular, discourse of how the text is laid out in relation to purpose and audience, phonetics like accents, dialect, vowel shift and Estuary English and finally graphology looking at fonts, images, colours and layouts for formality, moods and feelings and how to capture the audience’s attention.

 What are the key influential factors on the development of the English as accessible to all?

The invention of the printing press by William Caxton so therefore a mass audience for texts, Samuel Johnsons OE dictionary,  Prescriptive and descriptive attitudes, the need for Standard English, the increase in the written word, the idea of disintegration  by Robert Burchfield (1978), the invention of the internet and it being able to be quickly updated like news articles.

What is the difference between prescriptive and descriptive attitude to language use?

Prescriptive – wants language to stay standard and keep grammar and punctuation the same. It rejects non-standard terms like slang. Language change is seen as decay for language. “ [Prescriptivism is the] policy of describing languages as we would like them to be, rather than as we find them. Typical examples of prescriptivist attitudes are the condemnation of preposition stranding and of the split infinitive and a demand for It's I in place of the normal It's me."

Descriptive – where language changes without a judgement and recognises the importance of a standard and a non-standard form. It is part of how language changes and is worth studying wherever it is used. Supported by David Crystal and him saying: “you can’t go into a garden and say that one flower is better that the other” 

What did Johnson think his problems were with his dictionary? Are these problems still evident in dictionaries today?

The problems with his dictionary is that even though he tried to keep the prescriptive approach is in idea to “fix” the English Language, it couldn’t keep up with the ever changing use of lexis and semantics (the nature of the language itself). Dictionaries defiantly going through the same problems today as language is changing every year. However, they are more accepting of this and try to include as many new words as possible which have become popular and even non-standard like selfie and vape.

 What is a “lingua franca” and to what extent was/is English one?

Definition from the OED: A language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.

To some extent this is true as the English has many word borrowed from languages around the world like Latin and French, countries that used to belong to the empire, however from the beginning it started as basic anglo-saxon and lots of conquering has developed the English Language ever since. English has a West Germanic language.

What are the prestigious forms of English now?

They are known as covert and overt and are linked to dialects. Overt prestige is when a dialect is widely recognised as being used by a culturally dominated group like RP for England. Covert is when a dialect is used by a culturally known group but is seen as inferior and is used to belong to a community like the idea of “street cred”.

How has politically correct language and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis influenced modern English usages?

Political Correctness - a term used to describe language, ideas, policies, or behavior seen as seeking to minimize offence to gender, racial, cultural, disabled, aged or other identity groups.

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - the theory that an individual's thoughts and actions are determined by the language or languages that individual speaks.

These two things are interlinked and are influential because they seem to control language use and if thoughts or actions are negative then they should be corrected. Example: you can’t sing “baa baa black sheep” anymore due to racist connotations. There are some suggested that could be taken too far but in the past you could consider this idea as important for the English language as it helped to improve social progress.

Three examples of obsolete English grammar that you can make a reference to in the exam.

1. "Thou", "thee", "thine" and "thy" - pronouns that have dropped out of the main dialects of Modern English.

2. “Start’d” – contractions to show the past

3. Use of the medial s in words

Find three features of modern punctuation that take advantage of a lessening of prescriptivism.

1.'In order to protect your computer, you should do the following: run a trustworthy anti-virus system such as AVG and keep it updated.' - colon usage

2.The use of multiple '?!' as expression and shock

3. ':-)' use of punctuation to create faces and expression 

Find three neologisms from the past five years.

Oversharers, digital detox and tweet cred

Do an internet search to find an article that interests you on language uses. Find a key quote to memorize. How does that writer communicate their ideas?    
“This is not the first time this has happened in history but certainly the increase in the pace of change has resulted in our language changing equally rapidly, and with it, our thoughts.” – From http://theconversation.com/how-technology-is-changing-language-and-the-way-we-think-about-the-world-35856.The author uses technology as an example for how language has changed over time and affected ho we know language today.

  

 Read at least one chapter from a book from a library about language change; identify how the attitudes expressed in it are a product of when it was written.  
'Language Change' by Adrian Beard. Page 49-51 - Text Messaging. Published in 2004.                                                                                        
Descriptive. - Although gives examples of how it would be prescriptive. Doesn't seem to take sides. 'emoticons are the sketch of imagination, iconic representations of an action or emotion'. There are reasons for the conventions; the limit of words, 60 characters, to be playful and inventive, privacy - silly, sexual, informative. 'ideal for criminals, stalkers and bullies'. When text language is used in a GCSE exam, is it really wrong? Should it be marked as incorrect? If people can understand what is meant, and that’s how people in reality speak, why should it be any different in an exam?

What does gender theory reveal about English use through the ages?  
Stereotypical language use for females has changed e.g lots of adjectives and attributes that make women seem inferior and looked down on by men have been challenged and made women as equal as men. Also, language that women could use has changed. For example in Tudor times women weren’t allowed to use colloquial and offensive terms against men whereas today they can.

Grammar Quiz!

On the Guardians website, there is a Grammar and Punctuation quiz, which are what today's Year 6's have to know! This gives a good example of how the government are bringing in prescriptive attitudes back for learning how to use the English Language. Click the link to test knowledge and see how well you remember your punctuation and grammar!

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/quiz/2013/feb/04/grammar-punctuation-quiz-test

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