Language Change Studies language change from 1700 eighteenth

Language Change • Studies language change from 1700 (eighteenth century) to present. . . • The “Late Modern” period, when there is a concerted effort at standardization

• Standardization: the fixing of norms/standards to English (grammar, spelling, lexis etc. ) and its variations • Synchronic change: change occurring at a fixed “point” or “moment” in time (this moment, though, is theoretical or imaginary – we might be taking “the eighteenth century” as our “moment”) • Diachronic change: Change occurring across historical time

“Drivers” of Change: Science & Technology • New words (often Greek/Latin in derivation) borrowed or coined as needed • Scientific innovation during the Renaissance (roughly C 16 -mid C 17) and the Enlightenment (roughly mid C 17 – C 18) required expansion of the lexicon; no language for the new discoveries • New inventions require new words (e. g. , a machine that washes the dishes is called. . . um. . . a dishwasher [neologism; compound])

“Drivers” of Change: Travel • Travel – because of trade and tourism/leisure industry – brings different languages and cultures into contact with one another • More borrowings/loan words (e. g. , “curry”; in C 18 “currey, ” when it was a neologism without standard spelling)

“Drivers” of Change: Social, Political, Ideological • Changes in public attitudes (e. g. , towards gender/race) make certain lexical choices more/less acceptable • Political correctness exerts a pressure: – some words undergo pejoration, & fall out of use; – Coinages/neologisms replace older, now archaic terms; – changing attitudes can affect which registers will be adopted in certain contexts

“Drivers” of Change: Media • Might affect attitudes (& therefore register – journalism more/less formal today that 100 years ago? ) • Introduce coinages, initialisms, acronyms • Slang/colloquialisms become part of “standard” lexicon (e. g. , “Gotcha”) • Hyperbole [“hy-per-b(u)lly”] and abbreviation (initialisms, acronyms, clippings) typical of “journalese”

Change through abbreviation • Initialism (e. g. , HQ) • Acronym (e. g. , SCUBA) • Clipping (also “truncation” & “shortening”): Reduction of a word by dropping one or more syllables; specific to lexical/semantic field (e. g. , from School: exam(ination), math(ematic)s) Reasons/Effects: • Make specialist/expert language more accessible/common knowledge (e. g. , DNA & BSE) • Save time and space – important in commercial publishing and some specialist/academic writing (avoids clumsy repetition of long noun phrases) • Humorous (can affect tenor) – e. g. , WAG

How new words enter the lexicon • • Coinages/neologisms Borrowings/loan words Compounds Portmanteaus/Blends Back formation Conversion Affixation

Back Formation • Removal of imagined affix from an existing word. E. g. , “edit” (C 18) from “editor” • “Editor” actually the root/base word

Conversion • When a word is “converted” to another word class, without any morphological change. • Produce (verb & noun) • Google (verb & noun)

Affixation • Prefixing – E. g. , “mega-”; “super-” (Pinker calls it “promiscuous” because. . . ) • Suffixing (especially verbing & nominalization) – E. g. , -ization & -ize (radicalize/radicalization)

• Backformation, conversion, affixation often reflect significant cultural shift • E. g. , “radicalization”/“radicalizing” – common since so-called “War on Terror” • “Edit” as back-formation of “editor” – from late C 18, reflecting spread of literacy, standardization, book production etc.

Semantic Shift/Drift • Amelioration • Pejoration • Weakening: lessening of intensity of a word (e. g. , “soon”: used to mean “straightaway”) • Strengthening: increasing intensity of word (e. g. , “appalled”: feeble, pale; now deeply dismayed) • Broadening/Generalization: expansion of meanings/connotations of a word • Narrowing/Specialization: Opposite of broadening

Semantic Shift through metaphor • Broadening can occur because of figurative/metaphorical uses of words: • Metaphor • Euphemism: A mild figure of speech, designed to mitigate • Idiom

• • • Amelioration Pejoration Weakening Narrowing/specialization Broadening/generalization Polysemy Connotation Denotation Metaphor Euphemism Idiom • • • Lexicon Political correctness: Archaism Register Slang/Colloquialism Journalese Overt Prestige Covert Prestige Antonomasia Eponym Trademark Erosion/Proprietary Name

Playdough!!

Define • Standardization • Synchronic change • Diachronic change

“Drivers” of Change: Science & Technology • New words (often Greek/Latin in derivation) borrowed or coined as needed • Scientific innovation during the Renaissance (roughly C 16 -mid C 17) and the Enlightenment (roughly mid C 17 – C 18) required expansion of the lexicon; no language for the new discoveries • New inventions require new words (e. g. , a machine that washes the dishes is called. . . um. . . a dishwasher [neologism; compound])

“Drivers” of Change: Travel • Travel – because of trade and tourism/leisure industry – brings different languages and cultures into contact with one another • More borrowings/loan words (e. g. , “curry”; in C 18 “currey, ” when it was a neologism without standard spelling)

“Drivers” of Change: Social, Political, Ideological • Changes in public attitudes (e. g. , towards gender/race) make certain lexical choices more/less acceptable • Political correctness exerts a pressure: – some words undergo pejoration, & fall out of use; – Coinages/neologisms replace older, now archaic terms; – changing attitudes can affect which registers will be adopted in certain contexts

“Drivers” of Change: Media • Might affect attitudes (& therefore register – journalism more/less formal today that 100 years ago? ) • Introduce coinages, initialisms, acronyms • Slang/colloquialisms become part of “standard” lexicon (e. g. , “Gotcha”) • Hyperbole [“hy-per-b(u)lly”] and abbreviation (initialisms, acronyms, clippings) typical of “journalese”

Change through abbreviation Types of abbreviation and their effects • Initialism (e. g. , HQ) • Acronym (e. g. , SCUBA) • Clipping (also “truncation” & “shortening”): Reduction of a word by dropping one or more syllables; specific to lexical/semantic field (e. g. , from School: exam(ination), math(ematic)s) Reasons/Effects: • Make specialist/expert language more accessible/common knowledge (e. g. , DNA & BSE) • Save time and space – important in commercial publishing and some specialist/academic writing (avoids clumsy repetition of long noun phrases) • Humorous (can affect tenor) – e. g. , WAG

How do new words enter the lexicon? • • Coinages/neologisms Borrowings/loan words Compounds Portmanteaus/Blends Back formation Conversion Affixation

Back Formation • Removal of imagined affix from an existing word. E. g. , “edit” (C 18) from “editor” • “Editor” actually the root/base word

Conversion • When a word is “converted” to another word class, without any morphological change. • Produce (verb & noun) • Google (verb & noun)

• Backformation, conversion, affixation often reflect significant cultural shift • E. g. , “radicalization”/“radicalizing” – common since so-calledof “War on Terror” Effects backformation, • “Edit” as back-formation of “editor” – from conversion, & affixation late C 18, reflecting spread of literacy, standardization, book production etc.

Semantic Shift/Drift • Amelioration • Pejoration • Weakening: lessening of intensity of a word (e. g. , “soon”: used to mean “straightaway”) • Strengthening: increasing intensity of word (e. g. , “appalled”: feeble, pale; now deeply dismayed) • Broadening/Generalization: expansion of meanings/connotations of a word • Narrowing/Specialization: Opposite of broadening Processes of semantic shift