Academic Vocab
A missing word or concept within a language's vocabulary. It essentially represents a "hole" in the lexicon, where a specific meaning or concept lacks a corresponding word, even if other related words exist. This was essential during the Industrial Revolution.
What is a lexical gap?
This theory proposes that language changes are due to instability in the language system caused by random errors and events, responding to the ever-changing context of language use. These errors, while seemingly random, can be standardized and become part of the language. An example is autocorrect in texting.
What is the Random Fluction Theory?
Spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word boundaries, emphasis, and punctuation. It also involves understanding the relationships between sounds (phonemes) and their written representations (graphemes).
What is orthography?
A West Germanic language that evolved from dialects spoken by Germanic tribes who settled in England in the 5th century. It's considered the ancestor of modern English and was spoken until around 1150.
What is Old English?
An approach that focuses on objectively describing how language is actually used by speakers, without imposing any judgments about what is "right" or "wrong".
What is descriptivism?
A name or noun formed after a person. Examples include Kleenex, Chapstick, Fahrenheit, Google
What is an eponym?
The process by which languages and cultural norms are passed down from one generation to the next through social learning, rather than biological inheritance. This process, involves imitation, teaching, and other forms of social interaction. It can occur horizontally, vertically, or obliquely.
What is Cultural Transmission Theory?
The structural elements and processes involved in forming words. This includes morphemes (smallest units of meaning), word formation through affixation, and the ways words are inflected or varied to express grammatical information.
What is morphology?
Significant changes in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation compared to Old English. It saw the incorporation of many French and Latin words, simplification of grammatical inflections, and alterations in vowel sounds, notably the Great Vowel Shift.
What is Middle English?
This model describes how linguistic changes, like the adoption of a new word or phrase, progress over time. It's a visual representation of the change that starts slowly, accelerates, and then eventually slows down, resembling the letter "S".
What is the "S-Curve" model.
A contemporary variety of British English spoken in the Southeast of England, particularly around the Thames area and London. It's considered a blend of non-regional standard English with features from London English. Think of it as a "middle ground" accent between Received Pronunciation (RP) and Cockney.
What is Eustary English?
This theory explains language change by proposing that innovations spread from a central point like ripples on water, influencing neighboring languages and dialects. It is particularly useful for understanding the diffusion of linguistic features across unrelated languages and regions.
What is the Wave Model?
The study of language sounds can be broken down into several key components: phonemes, allophones, syllable structure, stress, intonation, and phonological processes. These components work together to create the distinctive sound systems of different languages.
What is phonology?
Key elements include the Great Vowel Shift, the printing press influence, and Shakespeare's impact on vocabulary and style. Pronunciation, spelling, and grammar all saw considerable shifts and standardization during this period, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
What is Early Modern English?
The debate about whether language change represents an improvement or deterioration of a language. Some argue that language change is a natural process of adaptation and evolution, while others view it as a sign of decline or simplification.
What is the Progress or Decay model?
This refers to a sound change where two or more distinct segments merge into a single, new sound. This can happen with consonants, vowels, or both. For example, the "dj" sound in words like "education" might fuse into a single, new sound like "dʒ".
What is coalesence?
This theory has examples of the following:
What is the Functional Theory?
This focuses on how language is used in context to achieve communicative purposes, going beyond literal meaning and considering factors like implied meaning, social rules, and speaker intentions
What is pragmatics?
New vocabulary was introduced through scientific and technological advancements, loanwords from various languages due to the British Empire's reach, and the standardization and documentation of the language. Additionally, social shifts, urbanization, and the emergence of new dialects also impacted the language.
What is Late Modern English?
A simplified language that develops as a means of communication between people who do not share a common language. It is often used in situations like trade, colonization, or other environments where different linguistic groups come into contact
What is a pidgin?
The idea that there is a "correct" or "proper" way to use language and that certain grammatical structures, vocabulary, and pronunciation are better than others. It emphasizes rules and guidelines for language use, often emphasizing a standard form or dialect as the most acceptable.
What is prescriptivism?
This theory posits that a language's features can be influenced by an earlier language, a substrate language, particularly during language contact and shift. This influence can affect various aspects of language, including phonetics, phonology, syntax, and lexicon.
What is the Substratum Theory?
The rules that govern how words are combined to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. It focuses on sentence structure, including word order, grammatical relationships, and how expressions combine to form larger structures.
What is syntax?
Visual language (images, videos), written language (text), and communication in digital spaces. It also involves understanding and engaging with digital technologies, information, and communication in a way that is both effective and ethical.
What is Digital English?
A way to display the words that frequently appear in close proximity to a specific word or phrase, known as the node. It essentially shows which words are likely to be found with a given word within a text corpus.
What is a collocation table?