How Language Changes
🗓️: 2025-04-11
🏷️: 🕰️ How has English Changed 9093 Language Change Diary ELA04 ELA05 9093 A2 English
Language Diary Derivation Coinage Telescoping Borrowing Etymology Social Media and
Language Change Archaisms Prescriptivism Descriptivism Language Change Glossary
Table of Language Change
Glossary of Change📔 Event/Reasoning⌚ Application/Theory✍️
Lexis: (The Exploration Cultural Transmission
word/alphabet) Mixture of Culture in the Theory
Renaissance "Some cultures may view
- Archaism (is the word Poetry, Literature language as offensive or
archaic/old?) Shakespeare have an existing
- Etymology (Origin of Samuel Johnson's alternative to it, which
the Word, e.g Greek, Dictionary of the English they may pass down from
Latin) Language (1755) one generation to the next"
- Number of Lexical Items Wars Halliday's Functions of
- How was word brought Technological Language
in? Advancement Neologisms made to fit
.:. Borrowing/Loanwords Better Trade/International the functions that the user
.:. Derivation Relations will employ e.g new
- Telescoping (the Colonisation function or invention
contraction of a phrase, Fashion Random Fluctuation
word or part of a word) Industrial Revolution Theory (Charles Hockett)
> Compounding (putting Invention and Innovation Words may come into the
two words together e.g Social Media lexis by accident, typo,
notebook) Internet mispronunciation or
> Clipping (shortening Digital media coincidence
longer words) The Unfolding of
> Blending ( joining the Language (Guy Deutscher)
beginning of one word Lexis made/used for ease
Glossary of Change📔 Event/Reasoning⌚ Application/Theory✍️
to the end of another) of use or for expressivenes.
> Acronym (Mixture of Language(lexis) made for
initials) the mind's need to have
> Backformation order and communication
(decreasing the length of with regular pattern
words to form a new Jean Aitchision Progress
word, usually from a or Decay (1991)
noun to a verb) Slang terminology is not
> Coalescense making language "fall
- Coinage (Creation of apart, as per prescriptivist
new words) views may influence
> Neologism (Creating people to believe
word from nothing, e.g Theory of Lexical Gaps
for advertising) There exists gaps in lexis
> Eponyms (Words that that urge to be fulfilled or
take on the name of the may simply be nonsensical
creator of a new thing) to exist, but it may initiate
the coining of a neologism
Wave Model
The S-Curve Model (Chen,
1968)
The use, the start, the
trending, and the
obsolescense of a lexis
Substratum Theory
Borrowing via interaction
with other cultures, as
William Labov's study of
Jewish Immigrants in New
York (1950) suggests
Semantics (Meaning of Social, Political, Technical, Cultural Transmission
the words) Cultural Changes Theory
Industrial Revolution Pejoration due to historic
- Did the meanings get significance connected to
Narrower? certain words towards
Glossary of Change📔 Event/Reasoning⌚ Application/Theory✍️
- Did the meanings get certain cultures, which
Broader? may pass down from
- Semantic change generation to generation.
- Did the meanings get May also result in
better or more positive ? Narrowing.
(Amelioration) Halliday's Functions of
- Did the meanings get Language
worse or take on a Connotation according to
negative connotation the function of its user.
overtime? (Pejoration) Meant to also change
- Connotation vs through changes in
Denotation societal needs
Lexical Gap Theory
The need for a word that
has a specific semantic
value
Substratum Theory
Pejoration in certain
cultures may come in
contact with other cultures
to spread that specific
semantic
Wave Model
Due to certain geosocial
event, the weight or
semantic value of a word
has shifted in its epicenter,
slowly spreading
throughout. E.g Negro
meaning black in Spanish
but an offensive term for
African American
Populations in USA, then
UK
Glossary of Change📔 Event/Reasoning⌚ Application/Theory✍️
Orthography (Spelling of The Great Vowel Shift The Unfolding of
the Words) (Late 1400s) Language (Guy Deutscher)
The First Printing Press by Substratum Theory
- How does the archaic William Caxton (1476) Progress or Decay (Jean
spelling affect the then Aitchison, 1991)
phonology and the The S-Curve Model (Chen,
current phonology? 1968)
- Standardisation of
spelling and words
Morphology Theory of Lexical Gaps
(Structure/parts of words) Halliday's Functions of
Language
Morphemes (Prefixes,
suffixes, base)
Archaic Inflection
-est (2nd Person), -eth
(3rd Person)
- Cometh, Goeth
Archaic Elision
Pragmatics
Syntax Prescriptivism,
Descriptivism
- Is the syntax Progress or Decay (Jean
Prescriptive? (Strict to Aitchison)
adhering to the expected Unfolding of Language
rules of word structure in (Guy Deutscher)
a sentence)
- Is the sentence
Descriptive? (Open &
Glossary of Change📔 Event/Reasoning⌚ Application/Theory✍️
Creative in exploring
new methodologies of
word structure in a
sentence)
Phonology The Great Vowel Shift Use Models
(Late 1400s) Substratum Theory
- How words are The Black Death (Late The S-Curve Model
pronounced now vs 14th Century) when (Chen,1968)
before people were moving to Cultural Transmission
- Differences in accents Southeast England Theory
- Different World Wave Model (Johanness
Englishes Schmidt, 1872) Geosocial
- Regional English Influence of the
Accents in England dissentment of RP
- The downfall of RP Tree Model
(Received Pronunciation) Pidgins and Creoles
due to a resentment of
the Ruling class, and
wanting to sound
different to them
- Influence of graphology
on pronunciation
Grammar: (The 16th Century Prescriptivism vs
appropriate rules system Standardization of Descriptivism
of a Language) Language via Printing "Appropriate Rules"~
Press (William Caxton, Progress or Decay (Jean
- Noun to Verb 1476) Aitchison, 1991)
- Do replacing inverted Comparisons over time
verb "-est thou" S-Curve Model (Chen,
- Nouns other than 1968) (Usage Time)
specific gender terms Wave Model (Geosocial
became neuter over time Influence, French, Norman)
- Word order vs inflection Tree Model (Start of
Glossary of Change📔 Event/Reasoning⌚ Application/Theory✍️
Standardization vs Other
Germanic)
Graphology: (How the The Great Vowel Shift Cultural Transmission
Words Look) (Late 1400s) Theory
Standardization of Wave + Tree Model
- Use of capitalization. Language via Printing (Graphology and
Archaic examples of Press (William Caxton, Formatting
capitalization may have 1476) Standardization)
inconsistent or an Invention of Smartphones
arbitrary use of Emojis
capitalization, instead of Printed Imagery
the prescriptive aproach
today.
- Italics
- Bold lettering
- Change in font &
handwriting due to
efficiency or potential
improvements to writing
technology
- /""/-type Graphology