External factors play a significant role in language change. As society develops, the language needs to adapt to keep up with these changes.
The changing social climate:
- From the time of the Norman Conquest, England followed a strictly feudal system
- From the late 15th century, feudalism began to decline but clear division of class remained
- The industrial revolution saw increased urbanisation and the emergence of a new middle class
- The middle classes were conscious of their language. Many dictionaries, pronunciation guides and grammar guides were published during the 18th and 19th centuries, advising members of this new social group of ‘correct’ language usage
- The Elementary Education Act of 1870 was passed, providing compulsory education for all children aged between 5 and 12; thus literacy greatly improve
Additional external factors-
- Increased contact with a worldwide community:
- the 20th century has seen two world wars, both of which exposed the language to contact with countries from around the world, including America and colonial and post-colonial countries such as Australia, Canada, India.
- Post- war affluence has led to rise in travel and increased contact with other cultures and experiences, resulting in extensive borrowing
- The rise in technology has resulted in communication on a global scale
Why do words change meaning?
External factors-
- Such as cultural changes, technological innovation or social convention may affect how a word is used. E.g the rise of technology has seen development in words such as: virus, bug, crash, windows
- Changing social ideas can mean that a need for a new term arises, such as LGBT (lesbian, gender, bisexual and transgender) to replace words that are no longer acceptable
- Cultural changes can result in the broadening or bleaching of a word as the original usage loses significance
Internal factors can also affect semantic change-
- The basic meaning of a word can be linked to some similarity, either a specific attribute or an abstract concept. E.g. an actual virus can be likened to a computer virus.
What are the ways in which language changes?
- Shifting meanings (semantic shift)- word changes meaning over time
- e.g. The meaning of ‘fond’ has ameliorated (become more positive over time), moving from fairly negative semantics to more positive.
- Neosemy: the process whereby a new meaning develops for an existing word
Processes involved with neosemy:
- Generalisation/broadening- The meaning of a word broadens so that it retains its old meaning but also has new meanings
- Specialising/narrowing-The opposite of broadening – a word becomes more specific in meaning:
- Meat- the Old English ‘mete’ used to mean food in general but now refers to a specific type of food
- Amelioration-Over time a word acquires a more pleasant or more positive meaning;
- Pretty- used to mean sly or cunning
- Pejoration- The opposite of amelioration – over time a word becomes less favourable:
- Villain- used to mean farm worker
- Weakening/bleaching-The loss of reduction of the force of meaning of a word:
- Euphemism- polite form of expressions for things that may be considered unpleasant
- E.g. he passed away instead of ‘he died’
- Polysemy- words acquire many possible meanings, which coexist with the original: Milk/milking it: where ‘milking it’ has evolved from the verb ‘to milk’ in its original sense
What are they key influential factors on the development of English as accessible to all?
What is the difference between a prescriptive and descriptive attitude to language use?
Prescriptive- the notion that language should be fixed, prescribing to a set standard of rules for language uses, with any shift away from these rules or standards being seen as incorrect
Descriptive- where no judgement or negative attitude is imposed on language change, but an examination of language as it is and how it is used
John Humphrys 'I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483511/I-h8-txt-msgs-How-texting-wrecking-language.html
Jean Aitcheson:
3 Metaphors:
Damp Spoon
Crumbling Castle
Infectious disease
What did Johnson think were the problems with his dictionary? Are these problems still evident in dictionaries today?