Download Language Change and Linguistic Methods AO1

Grandiloquent Dictionary
• This is the result of an ongoing project to collect and distribute
the most obscure and rare words in the English language. It also
contains a few words which do not have equivalent words in
English. At present, the dictionary contains approximately 2700
words, though it is constantly growing.
Your task is to look at the small selection of
words and see if you can use one of these
words in the course of today’s lesson. Make
a note of the one(s) you want to use.
Grandiloquent Dictionary
bacillophobia - ( )
A fear of germs
barathrum - ( )
A person who eats like they
were a bottomless pit
battology - ( )
Tiresome and repetitive
talking
beldam - ( )
A foul old woman
maledicent - ( )
One who is addicted to
abusive speech
maledictaphobia - ( )
Fear of bad words
misosophist - ( )
One who hates all
wisdom or learning
saponaceous - ( )
2. Being very nice and
ingratiating
schadenfreude - ( )
Taking pleasure in the
misfortunes of others
simphobia - ( )
The fear of speaking
straight forwardly and in
simple terms
Language Change and Linguistic Methods AO1: what we
need to consider
• English Lexicon as words enter and leave the language
This is our focus today!
or change meanings
• Syntax between earlier and later forms of English
• Phonology of spoken English and its representation in
written texts
• Graphology (including typography and orthography);
how texts are arranged on a page, font styles and their
punctuation and spelling
• Discourse structure and the organisation of texts
Lexical Change
There are 10 examples of how new words can
be created. How many of the 10 can you
identify / remember? Please fill in your ideas
on the table.
Lexical Change
Term
Definition
Example
Coinage
The creation of
completely new
words. Very few
words enter the
language like this.
?
Borrowing
When words are
taken from other
languages
Soprano (italian),
prince (french), lager
(german), alcohol
(arabic)
Affixing
Prefixing and
suffixing
When existing words
are used to create
new words, e.g.
Prefixes include
‘micro’ and ‘multi’
Examples of affixes
include ‘-ism’
Lexical Change
Term
Definition
Example
Compounding
When words are
combined to form a
new larger word or
expression.
Blackbird, laptop,
blue-eyed, head
waiter, happy hour,
size zero, carbon
footprint
Blending
Two words are fused
to create one
Smog, motel,
wannabes
Conversion
When the word class Noun to verb: ‘bottle’
of an existing word
to ‘to bottle’
changes creating a
Verb to noun ‘a
new use for a word
‘contest’
Lexical Change
Term
Definition
Example
Abbreviation
A new word is
formed by
shortening an
existing word
Ad rather than
advert
Burger rather than
hamburger
Back formation
Creating a new word
by removing affixes
Editor becomes edit
Burglar becomes
burgle
adj. "couth" from
"uncouth"
Acronyms
Words are created
from the initial
letters of existing
words
NATO – North
Atlantic Treaty
Organisation
Lexical Change
Term
Definition
Example
Initialisms
Words are shortened
using their initial
letters. However,
words are not
formed.
BBC –British
Broadcasting
Company
CD – compact disc
Words from names Eponyms
Some words are
created based on
names of people or
places
Sandwich – the Earl
of Sandwich
created the
sandwich
Hoover
So what is Lexical Change?
Imagine that you are chatting to a Year 11 student
who is currently writing their Spoken Language
Controlled Assessment.
How would you explain Lexical Change to them?
Write down in no more than 100 words what you
would tell them.
Classification of word formation
• Using the diagram (circles), the headings and
the words, decide which categories you would
place each example in.
•
One term you might not be sure of …. a functional shift occurs
when a word that is already identified and used extensively in
one manner begins to acquire a second use that is of a
completely different nature in both the spoken and the written
word.
Looking more closely at borrowings
1. What countries do you think the underlined words
have come from? (there are 19 different countries
represented)
2. Group the words into semantic fields to help you
consider:
3. Why do you think English needed to borrow these
particular words?
4. Can you make any connections with the reasons for
language change we looked at in previous lessons?
Looking more closely at borrowings
Should I wear a poncho, an anorak or my favourite parka when
I went out on the ski slope? I packed some clothing and
chocolate in my knapsack. My enjoyment of tobogganing was
curtailed after I kamikazed into the igloo which was obstructing
my path. The anonymous owner was absent but his tattooed
neighbour suggested a pow-wow. Fearing he was a cannibal or
an assassin, I fled. I trekked back to my hotel and as zero hour
approached, I decided some food would cheer me up greatly.
What should I choose? If it had been breakfast I would have
chosen marmalade and coffee, but it was evening and my
mouth watered for sushi, tortilla, moussaka or a shish kebab.
Strangely I also fancied a cup of tea and some sherbert. I
changed into my dungarees and went to where the barbeque
was being held. Next holiday I will go on a safari or kayak down
a river, or go on a cruise. I thought about lying on a hammock
in the sun, although I don’t like mosquitoes. After eating I
changed into my pyjamas and strummed on my guitar.
Source for the words used: David Crystal ‘The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the
English Language 2003
Poncho, hammock,
mosquito, guitar,
tortilla
Spain or South
America
marmalade
Portugal
Anorak, parka, igloo,
kayak
Artic region / Inuit
Shish kebab, sherbert
Turkey
Dungarees, pyjamas
India
Sushi, kamikaze
Japan
Ski
Norway
Tea
China
Chocolate
France
Safari, trekked
Africa
Knapsack, cruise
Holland
Barbeque, cannibal
Caribbean
Tobogganing
Canada
Tattooed
Polynesia
Anonymous,
Moussaka
Greece
Assassin
Eygpt
Pow-wow
North America
Zero, coffee
Arabic origin
But as words enter the English
Language….
Others become archaic or obsolete
Twerp
chump
nitwit
bird-brain
twit
clot
barmpot
peabrain
Wally
What would you call someone ‘thick’ when you were at
first school? Would you use the same word / phrase
now? What is your current word?
What word must we preserve?
Last lesson we thought about words that we would
love to see disappear from the English Language.
Today I would like you to identify the word that
you would hate to see leave the English Language.
Please consider and be ready to share your
answer with the rest of the class.
Good newspaper articles
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/201
3/jul/17/thank-you-fell-out-of-fashion
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturene
ws/8850281/Drat-Spiffing-old-words-dyingout-soz.html