Language Change Revision Features (AO1) and

Ideas (AO2)
(AO1
Languag
e
features
to look
out for
in any
text

LEXICAL: neologisms formed by

borrowings
affixing
compounding
blends
conversion
abbreviation
back formation
acronyms
coinages
clipping
words from names (eponyms)
archaisms
SEMANTIC:
broadening
narrowing
amelioration
pejoration
weakening
metaphor
metonymy
idioms
euphemisms
clich
political correctness
GRAMMATICAL:
inflections (plurals, verbs)
adjectives:
comparative/superlatives
pronouns
syntax complexity of sentence
minor sentences (no
subject/verb)
word order
negative constructions
contractions
conversion (eg, nouns to verbs
etc)
use of dummy auxiliary do
different use of auxiliary verb
(We are met instead of have
met)
different contracted forms

PUNCTUATION:
look for unusual punctuation usage:
excessive exclamation marks, etc
dashes instead of commas or
fullstops
simpler punctuation conventions
PHONOLOGICAL
spelling indicating non-standard
pronunciation:
h/g dropping
glottal stopping
th fronting
l vocalisation
upspeak
non-standard emphasis
diphthong shifts
yod omission (Toosday)
ORTHOGRAPHICAL
double consonants show short
vowel sound
double vowels
e on end signifying long vowel
sound
long s conventions
capitalisation rules different from
now
I and j interchangeable
u and v interchangeable
simplification of spelling
American spellings (color,
theater)
addition of silent letters to look
more Latin
phonetic spelling
letter/number homophones
other features of textese
GRAPHOLOGICAL:
visual sophistication
white space/print ratio
images, logos,
illustrations/photos
type face/font
type symbols, emoticons

General
Standard English or Non-standard English? (different conventions of this in
different eras)
Dialect levelling, Estuary English features evident in
spellings/representation of speech
American influences on spelling, pronunciation.
Shibboleths, slang to maintain group identity (covert prestige)
Semantic derogation, sexist, racist, homophobic terms or Politically Correct
euphemisms?

Language Change Revision Features (AO1) and

Ideas (AO2)

AO2
Ideas,
concepts
from
languag
e study
which
might be
relevant
to the
data

Contractions, informal register usage, less deference in dialogues etc

Omission of sounds/endings; change of sound, eg: handbag to hambag
Revise Technology topic but be aware of how older new technologies (eg
invention of printing press) contributed to the creation of modern
conventions
Pro/Anti-Latin/Greek terms (inkhorn terms)
Attitudes expressed such as: correct or incorrect; pleasant or ugly; socially
acceptable or socially unacceptable; morally acceptable or morally
unacceptable; appropriate or inappropriate in their context. (MacKinnon)
Evidence of such attitudes

Internal Change:
Any of the above observations about lexical, semantic, grammatical, punctuation,
phonological, orthographical or graphological change (detailed through AO1
comments)
Processes of lexical change: potential>implementation>diffusion>codification
External change - Key historical/social events/developments which have caused
language change:

Invasion/Immigration influence of other languages

New inventions/scientific developments, discoveries
Colonialism/Exploration/Travel
Education
Geographical Mobility /Urbanisation
Class and Social Mobility
Mass Media and Public Broadcasting (TV, Radio, Film)
Popular Culture (covert prestige/social bonding)
Youth Culture
Technology old eg printing and new digital
Legal and Moral change: Equal Opportunities/Rights Legislation
Globalisation technology, trade and commerce
World Englishes new & different varieties of English worldwide
Ideology changing attitudes to gender, class, race, homosexuality, religion

Specific concepts related to change:

Standardisation: Henry V/Chancery scribes, Caxton, Tyndale + 6 other Bibles

before King James Bible, Shakespeare, Johnson, Lowth, Murray, OED.
Conversationalism (Fairclough)
Informalisation (Sharon Goodman 1996)
Marketization (Fairclough)
Technology (printing, mass production, computers (see AS topic)
Centripetal and Centrifugal forces constantly competing (Heteroglossia
Bahktin)

Specific concepts related to attitudes to language change:

Prescriptivism and Descriptivism

Political Correctness positive prescriptivism?
Jean Aitchisons 3 metaphors: crumbling castle, infectious disease, damp spoon
MacKinnons categories for judging language (see previous page)
Progress or Decay?
Disintegration or Uniformity or Bidialectalism? (Crystal)

Other useful concepts:

Register increasing informalisation over time (Goodman)

Deference decreasing over time since 19th century causing increasing informalidsation?
Standardisation Increasing flexibility over SE according to context public or private
Ideology The values, attitudes and beliefs (of a culture, nation, society) about gender,
class, homosexuality, race religion etc
Power authoritarian mode of address to audience or conversational egalitarian tone;
hierarchical/patriarchal society revealed: deference to superiors or lack of respect (revise

Language Change Revision Features (AO1) and

Ideas (AO2)
AS)
Prestige and Covert Prestige slang and jargon to build group identity and membership
Gender representation of women, men and relationships reveals changing ideology:
patronising terms, semantic asymmetry, semantic derogation, gendered pronouns, men
active women passive in verb constructions etc. Attitudes towards gender difference
(deficit, dominance, difference or diversity) see AS
Class egalitarian mode of address or patronising; superior tone to inferiors
Mode emergence of mixed-mode texts and trend towards conversationalism (Fairclough)
due to CMC Technology language shortened and conversationalised by technology
chosen (revise AS)
Synthetic Personalisation pretence in mass media texts that text addresses reader as
an individual
Interpellation (Louis Althusser)The process by which ideology addresses (calls out to) the
individual thus effectively constructing him/her as ideal reader
Preferred, oppositional or negotiated readings (Stuart Hall 1981) The idea that not
everyone reading a text will take away from it the meanings intended by the author.
Appropriacy more important than correctness - is the right variety of English used in
right context? (Crystal)
Sociolect/Dialect/Idiolect dialect levelling, emergence of new urban dialects (MLE,
Estuary)
Hegemony (Antonio Gramsci) The process by which a culture reproduces the dominant
ideology of a society (eg through its language when a term seems neutral , it often
contains inbuilt loaded assumptions)

And dont forget AS AO2 Concepts and Theories

This still includes you carefully thinking
about

GASSP:

enre What conventions

do we expect to find in a
text like this today and
are these conventions the
same in the older text? Why might
this text be composed differently?
What does it suggest about the
world at the time it was produced?
What other sorts of genres would be
available in this society and what
does this suggest about the nature
of its intended audience?

udience Who is the

implied or intended
audience? Pinpoint the
textual evidence for
making your suggestions identify
their gender, class, way of life,
beliefs, attitudes and values (their
ideology ) etc. Would all people
have thought like this or might some
audiences have rejected implied
assumptions or values expressed in
the text? Would some contemporary
audiences have read this text
oppositionally (objected to implied
assumptions inferences in the text
and thus been critical of it) or
negotiated a reading of it?

ource/Sender Who is
the authority behind this
text and how would
they/he/she/it have
influenced the content, shape and
style of the text itself? What is the
intended or preferred reading they
want the implied audience to take
away from this text? What does this
reveal about the ideology of the

agency who created this text?

Would he/she/they have been a
representative member of the
dominant elite or a subversive
counter-culturalist?

ubject Matter Would

this subject matter be
relevant to todays
audiences? Is the content
dated and evidence of a past world?
What would be the equivalent for
audiences now? What does the
comparison tell you about how the
world has changed from the time
the earlier text was produced?

urpose What are the

purposes (intentional or
otherwise) of this text and
how does the language
used reveal this and help to achieve
its intended purpose? Is it likely to
have been effective for its targeted
audience? What evidence have you
to prove this?
But also add the following for
Language Change:

ider Historical and

Social contexts In
what ways does this
text give you clues
about the sort of society which
produced this text its technological
state, its understanding about
science and medicine, its attitude to
religion, its values and ideology, its
belief systems, its culture and mores
etc.? How do you know?
PS: If any of you can think up a
better mnemonic than GASSP, let us
know!

And dont forget AS AO2 Concepts and Theories

See the revision guide for Change on
English Edusites:
http://english.edusites.co.uk/categor
y/c/an-introduction-to-childlanguage-acquisition/

but be aware that we are not doing

syllabus ENGA3 so the specific exam
practices here are not relevant. We
are doing ENGB3
Username: ensfc
Password: ensfcedu