Sociolinguistics : Language Change

HOLMES : CHAPTER 9LANGUAGE CHANGE

By SHARIFAH FATIN ATHIRA BT

SYED UZIR1218106

SECTION 1 GROUP 3

LANGUAGE

CHANGE

VARIATION AND

CHANGE

HOW DO LANGUAG

E CHANGES SPREAD

STUDYING LANGUAG

E CHANGE

REASONS BEHIND

LANGUAGE

CHANGES

Language changes over time. Changes occur in:

- Pronunciation eg: knight, knit

- Meaning eg: nice- Vocabulary eg: hie-hurry, stilly-softly

VARIATION AND CHANGE

Language varies in :- - Time - Physical space / setting - Social context Speaker innovation : changes of

language are done by the speakers.

New form Spread usage Replace

- Eg: Really good – cool, wicked, awesome Sounds change over time - Eg: in New zealand : new, nuclear These changes are usually proposed

people in higher social class Changes from above : changes in

language that people are aware of

Changes from below: changes in language that people are not aware of. Eg: changes in the vowel pronunciation. (beer, bear)

The spread of the vernacular forms - Imitating the speech that are considered prestigious - Expression of solidarity

HOW DO LANGUAGE CHANGE SPREAD?

1) From group to group2) From style to style3) From word to word

STUDYING LANGUAGE CHANGE

Apparent-time studies of language changes

- Comparing the speech of people of different age; younger speakers use more of the newer forms - Looking at the frequency of the increase and decrease of a form by age group

Language change in real time - Observing the changes that occur over a period of time - Known as real time studies - A very reliable method - Consider the social factors affecting the language use

REASONS FOR LANGUAGE CHANGE

Social status - People of higher social status in the community introduce changes from other communities which are considered prestigious. - Eg: Upper-class London - Lower class people spread less-conscious linguistic changes. - Eg: to express solidarity.

Gender - Differences in the speeches of men and women can cause linguistic change - It can be either of the two who introduce the change - Women tend to introduce changes associated with both prestigious and vernacular forms - Men introduce changes associated with vernacular forms

Interaction - Interaction among people is crucial in channeling linguistic change - Linguistic change in communities with little interaction with the outside world progress slowly - Isolation causes linguistic conservatism - Eg: Iceland