Language Change Revision-Synchronic Change

Synchronic Change-This is where language is being analysed at a certain moment in time.
Diachronic Change-This is where language is being analysed over several moments in time.

Political Correctness:
This is a modern term used to describe something which can be seen as offensive. For example, it can describe language, policies or certain measure which are designed not to offend of disadvantage any group of people. This has been used since around the early to mid 20th century  and is still being used to this day. Whereas in the 20th century is was used to mean giving correct political positions within certain matters now in modern language it can be applied to many things. A key example of this would be looking at things such as a person's sexuality and where it was deemed appropriate for people to call a gay man a 'faggot' where political correctness deem this inappropriate as the correct term would be to call the man a 'homosexual'. This can also be applied to race where the word 'half-caste' is becoming less common as describing someone of two races would now be someone of 'dual-heritage' or 'multi-national'.

Plain English Language:
This is referred to as 'layman's terms' which means writing in a way in which all people can easily understand what is being said without the use of specific topic jargon for example 'parent and sister companies' when discussing multiple establishments who are owned by one big company. It was often seen to contain more Germanic and Anglo-Saxon words rather than applying more words which derived from Latin or Greek. A famous example of this is George Orwell's 'Politics and the English Language' essay in which he wrote to parliament saying how the language was 'in danger' of the 'ugly and inaccurate' contemporary written English especially in politics. However, as language become more modern and more varied in terms of words which were 'borrowed' from other languages coupled with things such as 'broadening' and 'weakening' Plain English Language was no longer seen as the way forwards.

The Crystal Mark:
This puts a clear stamp on all documents, especially in the USA and the UK, to communicate clearly with the public. This stamp means that the document has been approved at understandable for those who read it and will know how to act upon the given information. If this is not the case, the stamp will not be approved and is currently being used by around 1600 organisations. There is a certain criteria in which The Crystal Mark looks for before deeming a document applicable to obtain the stamp. The things they initially look for are as followed:

• a good average sentence length (about 15 to 20 words)
• plenty of 'active' verbs (instead of 'passive' ones)
• everyday English
• words like 'we' and 'you' instead of 'the insured', 'the applicant', 'the society' and so on
• conciseness
• clear, helpful headings with consistent and suitable ways of making them stand out from the text
• a good type size and clear typeface
• plenty of answer space and a logical flow (on forms)

Not only is The Crystal Mark used as a way of analyzing documents but they can also be applied to things such as websites, magazines, long books and computer software. They can do this by having specific stamps for specific items meaning that almost anything which may require this can obtain it. 

Dog Whistle Politics:

This is a way of making language carry more than the one given or perceived meaning. This means that an organisation or person can use coded language to mean one thing for the general population but have the additional, different or more specific meaning which can be understood by a targeted sub-group. An example of the term 'dog whistle' would be the subtle tweak in question-wording which can have a major effect on results when giving those listening the slightly differing questions. An Australian politician named Robert E. Goodin says that this is a problem because 'it undermines democracy, because if voters have different understandings of what they were supporting during a campaign, the fact that they were seeming to support the same thing is democratically meaningless'.

World Englishes:

This is a term used to signify the expansion of different countries developing the English language. These are seen a localized or indigenized varieties of English which are more common to be found in territories which have had influences on them from the USA or the UK. There are three main groups in which English is used by other groups.

1. A native language-This is the main language that a country uses ans is seen as the majority way of communication throughout the population i.e.USA, UK, Australia
2. A second language-This is seen as an additional language that can be spoken over a group's first tongue. They're seen as multi-lingual and can use this as a way of international communication i.e.India, Nigeria and Singapore. This is a result of imperial expansions in which the language was brought to multiple parts of the world.
3. A foreign language-Used primarily for international communication and will not commonly be used in a group's home country i.e.Japan

Why Does Language Change?

Factors that makes language change:

External Factors-Cultural changes/technological innovations/social conventions

Changing Social Ideas-LGBT to replace terms that could be seen as derogative

Cultural Changes-Losing the words original significance 'Guy' to mean any man replacing the word 'fellow'

Internal Factors-Can effect semantic change for example an actual virus can be likened to a computer virus

Simon Heffer language article:
https://elevate.cambridge.org/elevate/Reader/viewer.aspx#book/151/Ch16_04/pos_48.357478065700874
What processes of change does Heffer make reference to in some of his examples?

'Rubbish' becoming an adjective i.e. 'a rubbish football team'/'a rubbish film' and he goes onto say that this isn't needed as the English Language has multiple way sin describing something which is of low quality or inadequacy

In this article, Heffer adopts a strongly prescriptivist stance. What words or phrases does he use to illustrate his opinions?
(SEE LINK)

What other attitude towards language change can be identified?
(SEE LINK)

Language Change Notes

Language Timeline:

• Old English-5th Century
• Middle English-11th Century
• Early Modern English-15th Century
• Modern English-18th Century
• Present Day English-20th Century

https://elevate.cambridge.org/elevate/Reader/viewer.aspx#book/151/Ch16_02

Lexical Change:
Links to the creation and disappearance of words in language.
Lexical change is frequent and noticeable

Neologism-New words i.e. selfie and unfriend

Borrowing-Where a language 'borrows' a word from another language i.e. yoghurt(Turkish) Ukulele(Hawaiian)

Compounding-Combining two words to create one new word i.e. smartphone and stir-fry

Clipping-Shortening a word i.e. omnibus>bus and perambulator>pram

Blending-Similar to compounding however words are combined to make a new word i.e. motor+pedal=moped and spoon+fork=spork

Acronyms-Takes the first letter of a series of word to make one word i.e. NATO and AIDS

Initialisms-Similar to acronyms however pronounced as separate letters i.e. BBC and OMG

Descriptivist-Someone who welcomes language change and is not opposed to it i.e.David Crystal

Prescriptivist-Someone who doesn't welcome language change and is opposed to it i.e. John Humphries.

Do not confuse lexical change for semantical change as lexical change is a new form of language whereas semantical change is where words take on new and different meanings.

Textisms Then and Now

What are Textisms?

Textisms are words or abbreviations that are commonly used in texting.

Popular examples of modern textisms are LOL, LMAO and ROFL.

Some common examples of past textisms are TTFN (ta ta for now) and Swalk (sealed with a loving kiss)

Textisms are a relatively new concept due to the advance of technology however, textisms were also used before the this advance and is totally dependent on the generation in which you’re talking to or analysing.

Textisms Then:

Although platforms such as texting and social media were either not around or as popular as they are now, textisms were still used. 

Although the textisms are still similar on how words are cut and chopped to make them simpler to read and write it depended on the generation of people to show how this happened.

As a common modern textism is ‘LOL’, one that was used in a 50’s radio show was ‘TTFN’ meaning ‘ta ta for now’. This shows that despite the lack of platforms to promote textisms, they were still being used by earlier generations.

What is also different is that they have been used to simplify phrases rather than actions with ‘LOL’ being an action a person may do and ‘TTFN’ being something a person would say rather than do as it is not an action.

Textisms Now:

In modern day language textisms have become very common and not just in texting. Some words or abbreviations have become so popular that some have been entered into the OED. Words such as ‘selfie’ have become so popular due to texting and social media that it is being recognised as part of the modern English language.

Abbreviations such as ‘LOL’ have also been included in the OED but as an ‘interjection used mainly in electronic communication’.

Due to the increase in the amount of people using mobile phones and social media, textisms are becoming more and more popular and can even been seen as easier to type out then standard English

Jean Aitchison Metaphors

Jean Aitchison is a professor in communication and language and has devised three metaphors in which she thinks that language change occurs and if it is a positive or negative thing.

The Infectious Disease Model:
This model looks at how language is changing. She looks at language change happening in terms of people 'catching' it from other then spreading that language 'like a disease'. It continues to change through social contact and people pick it up from others and then apply it to their own speech. This model has a descriptive approach and the language change is not seen as negative.

The Damp Spoon Model:
This model looks at language change being 'distasteful' and 'lazy' and described it as putting a damp spoon into a sugar bowl due to peoples laziness of not finding another spoon to use. An example of this would be dropping an apostrophe and contracting words incorrectly. This model is seen to have a prescriptive approach and is seen as negative due to language being used incorrectly.

The Crumbling Castle Model:
This model treats language as an old beautiful castle and presumes that at some point in time the language was perfect. This model looks at how the language needs to be preserved to prevent more language change from occurring. Overtime, some words or phrases may fall out of use due to those not doing anything to evolve language. This model has prescriptive approach and is seen as negative because of the fact that the language at some point in time was seen as perfect and is now not.

Language Change Comparison

When looking at the lexis used with the description of London in 1827 we can see that the lexis used is much different than what it would be today. For example, there is use of pejoration within this text with the word 'gay'. Back in 1827, the noun 'gay' would have been used in a positive fashion meaning 'happy' or 'carefree' which would've been a common association when describing people back in the 1800's. However,due to language change the noun 'gay' now has a much more negative connotation meaning 'a gay man' which in more modern times is used as a negative slur.

We can also see the language change due to the surroundings in which people were used to in the 1800's. For example, the quote 'commended a piece of music' shows what was the norm back then as in more modern days someone would not play a piece of music to signify a coach arriving. Due to the advances of technology coaches are not seen as a common mode of transport, and a coach guard will not be playing music as people now have technology such as phones which can play music for one person. This means that a guard playing music is now obsolete.

Language Change Module

Task 1:
Autotune-a device or facility for tuning something automatically, especially a piece of computer software which enables the correction of an out-of-tune vocal performance
Birdhouse-North American term for nest box
Comedy of errors-A comedy of errors is a narrative work (often a play) that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone, in which the action usually features a series of comic instances of mistaken identity, and which typically culminates in a happy resolution of the thematic conflict
Dartboard-a circular board marked with numbered segments, used as a target in the game of darts
E-cigarette-another term for electronic cigarette.
Forensic Science-Forensic Science is any science used for the purposes of the law, and therefore provides impartial scientific evidence for use in the courts of law, e.g. in a criminal investigation and trial
Go-fish- card game in which each player in turn asks an opponent for a particular card and is told to “go fish” from the undealt deck if denied. Matthew and Gordon had started another game of cards, this time go fish. We played another game of war, and then some go fish.
H20-Chemical symbol for water
Jeggings-tight-fitting stretch trousers for women, styled to resemble a pair of denim jeans
Kettlebell-a large cast-iron ball-shaped weight with a single handle
Marco Polo-Italian explorer of the late thirteenth century
Photobomb-spoil a photograph of (a person or thing) by unexpectedly appearing in the camera's field of view as the picture is taken, typically as a prank or practical joke.
Retweet-(on the social media website Twitter) repost or forward (a message posted by another user)
Skort-a pair of shorts with a flap across the front (and sometimes also the back) to give the appearance of a skirt.
Tweeting-make a posting on the social media website Twitter
Uber-denoting an outstanding or supreme example of a particular kind of person or thing.
Vape-inhale and exhale the vapour produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device
Webisode-an original episode derived from a television series, made for online viewing.

• an online video that presents an original short film or promotes a product, film, or television series.

Young gun-a young man regarded as assertive and aggressively self-confident

Task 2:

• Prescriptivism-Linguistic prescription (or prescriptivism) is the practice of elevating one variety or manner of language use over another. It may imply some forms are incorrect, improper, illogical, lack communicative effect, or are of low aesthetic value.
• Descriptivism-In the study of language, description or descriptive linguistics is the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is actually used (or how it was used in the past) by a group of people in a speech community.
• Synchronic change-The study of a language at one period in time (usually the present).

Task 3:

TED Talk-Descriptivism as he is analyzing how language has changed over a number of years as well as analyzing how certain parts of lanaguage has been chnaged to mean different things than they would've done in the past.

John Humphreys article- Prescriptivisim as he is showing how certain forms of speech is being used over others (text speak). He is also looking at how these types of language may effective the use of language in the future and currently in the present.