LANGUAGE CHANGE

Languages change for a variety of reasons. ― Large-scale shifts - response to social,

economic and political pressures.― History records - language change fueled by

invasions, colonization and migration.

Language can change dramatically if enough users alter the way they speak it.

How does language change?

Routes to language change.

Changes can take originate in:• Language learning.• Language contact.• Social differentiation.• Natural processes in usage.

Language learning: Language is transformed as it is transmitted from one generation to the next. Each individual must re-create a grammar and lexicon based on input received from parents, older siblings and other members of the speech community.

Language contact: Migration, conquest and trade bring speakers of one language into contact with speakers of another language

Social differentiation: Social groups adopt distinctive norms of dress, adornment, gesture and so forth. Linguistic distinctiveness - vocabulary (slang or jargon), pronunciation, morphological processes, syntactic constructions, and so on.

Natural processes in usage: Rapid or casual speech naturally

produces processes such as:  Assimilation, dissimilation, syncope and apocope.

Types of language change:

Language is always changing evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users…

– Space.– Social group.– Time.

Agents of Change

Before a language can change, speakers must adoptnew words, sentence structures and sounds, to spread

them through the community and transmit them tothe next generation.

David Lightfoo “CHILDREN”

Process of learning the language of previous generations, they internalize it differently and propagate a different variation of that language.

Types of change:

• Sound• Vocabulary • Semantic

Sound Change

– Change in phonological system – harder but interesting.

– “Great Vowel Shift” - 500 years ago - modified vowel pronunciation dramatically.

– This shift represents the biggest difference - Middle and Modern English.

Example: Great Vowel Shift altered the position of all the long vowels

"long i“ /i:/ "long u" /u:/

Nucleus started to drop and the high position was retained only in the off glide.

Eventually, the original /i:/ became /ai/ - so a "long i" vowel in Modern English is now pronounced /ai/ as in a word like 'bite' /bait/.

Similarly, the "long u" found its nucleus dropping all the way to /au/ the earlier 'house' /hu:s/ became /haus/.

Pronunciation of Schwa

The words adultery, century, cursory, delivery, desultory, elementary, every, factory, nursery, slavery.

All words which are spelt with -ary, -ery, -oryor ,-ury are pronounced somewhat as if they rhymed with furry.

The vowel preceding r is called schwa - a short indeterminate sound -

phonetically as [ə] - er (British English) or uh (American English).

In practice the schwa was not always pronounced. It was usually omitted in common words such as ev(e)ry, fact(o)ry, nurs(e)ry

- spelt evry, factry, nursry - two syllables only.

Changes in English Pronunciation

Old Middle Modren

Home Hääm Hôm Hōm

Stones stääˈnäs stôˈnəz stōnz

Name nääˈmä näˈmə nām

Tongue tŏngˈgə tŏngˈgə tŭng

The changes shown in the table are more radical than they appear, for Modern English ō and ā are diphthongs.

The words stones and name exemplify the fate of unaccented vowels which became ə, then ə disappeared.

Vocabulary Change The vocabulary people use depend on Area, age, education level, social status and other factors.

Teens and young adults use different words and phrases from their parents.

Some spread through the population and slowly change the language. New vocabulary is required for the latest inventions:– transport– domestic appliances – industrial equipment– sporting, entertainment and leisure pursuits.

Vocabulary can change quickly as new words are borrowed from other languages - words get combined or shortened.

14th Century – French - legal terms (such as judge, jury, tort, and assault) - words denoting social ranks and institutions (such as duke, baron, peer, countess, and parliament)

Greek - science and technology (e.g., conifer, cyclotron, intravenous, isotope, polymeric, and telephone)

English vocabulary - blending of existing words (e.g., smog from smoke and fog) back-formations (e.g., burgle from burglar)

Some words are even created by mistake. pea

400 years ago - pease referred to either a single pea or many peas.

– mistakenly assumed - pease was the plural form of pea, and a new word was born

vocabulary can change quickly: sentence structure—the order of words in a sentence—changes more slowly.

“Old English,” to “Middle English,” “Early Modern English,” to present day “Modern English.”

“Dude,”

– described a man who went slightly overboard with his fashion. – a way to show excitement.

– another way of communication - to accommodate technology - people have devised abbreviated versions.

– Textise - “Codex,” - express your emotions through digital characters as an alternative to conventional language.

Semantic Change Changes in word meanings - semantic shift. Four common types of change are broadening, narrowing,

amelioration, and pejoration. Broadening: (generalization or extension)

Broadening is the process by which a word's meaning becomes more inclusive than an earlier meaning.

In Old English dog referred to just one particular breed, and thing meant a public assembly.

In Contemporary English - dog can refer to any hairy, barking, four-legged creature.

Narrowing (specialization or restriction)The opposite of broadening is narrowing in which a word's meaning becomes less inclusive.

For example, in Middle English, deer could refer to any animal, and girl could mean a young person of either sex.

AmeliorationAmelioration refers to the upgrading or rise in status of a word's meaning.

For example, meticulous once meant "fearful or timid," and sensitive meant simply "capable of using one's senses.“

PejorationMore common than amelioration is the downgrading or depreciation of a word's meaning.

For example, the adjective silly, for instance, once meant "blessed" or "innocent," officious meant "hard working," and aggravate meant to "increase the weight" of something

Conclusion

– Frequently, the needs of speakers drive language change.

– New technologies, industries, products and experiences simply require new words.

– By using new and emerging terms, we all drive language change.

– But the unique way that individuals speak also fuels language change.

– That’s because no two individuals use a language in exactly the same way.