Language Change

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

2. 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

3. “Drivers” of Change: Science & Technology • New words (often Greek/Latin in derivation) borrowed or coined as needed • Scientific innovation during the Renaissance (roughly C16-mid C17) and the Enlightenment(roughly mid C17 – C18) 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])

4. “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 C18 “currey,” when it was a neologism without standard spelling)

5. “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/neologismsreplace older, now archaicterms; • changing attitudes can affect which registers will be adopted in certain contexts

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

7. 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

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

9. Back Formation • Removal of imagined affix from an existing word. E.g., “edit” (C18) from “editor” • “Editor” actually the root/base word

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

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

12. 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 C18, reflecting spread of literacy, standardization, book production etc.

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Playdough!!

17. Define • Standardization • Synchronic change • Diachronic change

18. “Drivers” of Change: Science & Technology • New words (often Greek/Latin in derivation) borrowed or coined as needed • Scientific innovation during the Renaissance (roughly C16-mid C17) and the Enlightenment(roughly mid C17 – C18) 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])

19. “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 C18 “currey,” when it was a neologism without standard spelling)

20. “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/neologismsreplace older, now archaicterms; • changing attitudes can affect which registers will be adopted in certain contexts

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

22. 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

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

24. Back Formation • Removal of imagined affix from an existing word. E.g., “edit” (C18) from “editor” • “Editor” actually the root/base word

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

26. Effects of backformation, conversion, & affixation • 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 C18, reflecting spread of literacy, standardization, book production etc.

27. Semantic Shift/Drift Processes of semantic shift • 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