Eduqas English Language A-Level: Language Change
Over Time
Key Terminology
Diachronic The study of how language changes over time, e.g. how
English has developed from Old English to 21 st century
English.
Synchronic The study of language at a specific point in time.
Archaism An old-fashioned word or phrase that is no longer used in
everyday language (e.g. ‘thou’, ‘thee’).
Neologism A newly invented or recently used word or expression (e.g.
‘selfie’).
Borrowing A word taken from another language and used in English,
e.g. ‘ballet’ (French).
Semantic When the meaning of a word changes over time.
change
Broadening When a word keeps its original meaning but gains
additional meanings.
Narrowing When a word’s meaning becomes more specific.
Amelioration When a word’s meaning becomes more positive.
Pejoration When a word’s meaning becomes more negative.
Obsolete A word that is no longer used at all.
Coinage The creation of entirely new words (e.g. ‘Google’ as a
verb).
Compounding Combining two full words to make a new one, e.g.
‘toothbrush’.
Blending Merging parts of two words to make a new one (e.g.
‘brunch’ from breakfast and lunch).
Clipping Shortening a longer word to create a new one (e.g. ‘phone’
from telephone).
Acronym A word formed from the first letters of a phrase,
pronounced as a word (e.g. ‘NASA’).
Initialism A set of initials pronounced as individual letters, e.g. ‘USA’.
Prescriptivism The belief that there is one ‘correct’, prestigious form of
language that should be taught and preserved through the
adherence to strict rules and that non-standard usage is
‘incorrect’.
Descriptivism The view that language should be described as it is used,
not judged. Descriptivists accept variation and change as
natural and believe that if a language can be understood,
no usage of it is wrong.
Standardisation The process by which one dialect becomes dominant over
others through the process of developing a uniform set of
rules to create a single standard variety that minimises
linguistic variation.
Informalisation The linguistic shift whereby professional and written
communication adopts features of private conversational
discourse previously reserved for private, informal
settings, making language less rigid and more familiar.
This blurs the line between formal and informal discourse,
using colloquialisms, contractions and direct address to
, make interactions feel more personal and natural.
Multimodality Texts that incorporate both words and images to
communicate and create meaning.
Cultural and Historical Influences on Language
The Printing The printing press was introduced to England in 1476
Press by William Caxton. For his printing press, Caxton
used the East Midlands dialect, specifically the
variation spoken and written in London.
This helped the initial standardisation of English, as
spelling was fixed in print and rapidly produced.
The mass production of books meant that literature
became more affordable, accessible and widespread,
helping to increase literacy rates amongst the lower
classes over time.
The Great The Great Vowel Shift (1400-1700) was a systematic
Vowel Shift change in the pronunciation of long vowels in
English.
Prior to the Great Vowel Shift (GVS), spelling more
closely aligned with pronunciation, particularly for
vowels; however, it was never fully phonetic due to
regional variation and French and Latin influences.
Even though the GVS changed the pronunciation of
words, spelling remained fixed, often reflecting pre-
shift patterns. Phonological change was happening
more quickly than orthographic standardisation,
which is why spellings still differ from pronunciation
today.
Although GVS did not directly change the word
classes, it did influence morphological patterns (word
formation and structure). Vowel changes affected
suffix pronunciations that signal word class changes
(e.g. the verb suffixes -ate and –en).
The The Renaissance (1500-1700) was a cultural
Renaissance movement that involved the rebirth of classical ideas
in art, literature, science and philosophy, fostering
humanism and a new spirit of inquiry.
It expanded the English language through major
borrowing from Latin, Greek and French. This
sparked controversy from prescriptivists who wanted
to keep English 'pure'.
It saw a shift towards more fixed word order and new
ways to express grammatical relationships subjects,
verbs and objects.
Over Time
Key Terminology
Diachronic The study of how language changes over time, e.g. how
English has developed from Old English to 21 st century
English.
Synchronic The study of language at a specific point in time.
Archaism An old-fashioned word or phrase that is no longer used in
everyday language (e.g. ‘thou’, ‘thee’).
Neologism A newly invented or recently used word or expression (e.g.
‘selfie’).
Borrowing A word taken from another language and used in English,
e.g. ‘ballet’ (French).
Semantic When the meaning of a word changes over time.
change
Broadening When a word keeps its original meaning but gains
additional meanings.
Narrowing When a word’s meaning becomes more specific.
Amelioration When a word’s meaning becomes more positive.
Pejoration When a word’s meaning becomes more negative.
Obsolete A word that is no longer used at all.
Coinage The creation of entirely new words (e.g. ‘Google’ as a
verb).
Compounding Combining two full words to make a new one, e.g.
‘toothbrush’.
Blending Merging parts of two words to make a new one (e.g.
‘brunch’ from breakfast and lunch).
Clipping Shortening a longer word to create a new one (e.g. ‘phone’
from telephone).
Acronym A word formed from the first letters of a phrase,
pronounced as a word (e.g. ‘NASA’).
Initialism A set of initials pronounced as individual letters, e.g. ‘USA’.
Prescriptivism The belief that there is one ‘correct’, prestigious form of
language that should be taught and preserved through the
adherence to strict rules and that non-standard usage is
‘incorrect’.
Descriptivism The view that language should be described as it is used,
not judged. Descriptivists accept variation and change as
natural and believe that if a language can be understood,
no usage of it is wrong.
Standardisation The process by which one dialect becomes dominant over
others through the process of developing a uniform set of
rules to create a single standard variety that minimises
linguistic variation.
Informalisation The linguistic shift whereby professional and written
communication adopts features of private conversational
discourse previously reserved for private, informal
settings, making language less rigid and more familiar.
This blurs the line between formal and informal discourse,
using colloquialisms, contractions and direct address to
, make interactions feel more personal and natural.
Multimodality Texts that incorporate both words and images to
communicate and create meaning.
Cultural and Historical Influences on Language
The Printing The printing press was introduced to England in 1476
Press by William Caxton. For his printing press, Caxton
used the East Midlands dialect, specifically the
variation spoken and written in London.
This helped the initial standardisation of English, as
spelling was fixed in print and rapidly produced.
The mass production of books meant that literature
became more affordable, accessible and widespread,
helping to increase literacy rates amongst the lower
classes over time.
The Great The Great Vowel Shift (1400-1700) was a systematic
Vowel Shift change in the pronunciation of long vowels in
English.
Prior to the Great Vowel Shift (GVS), spelling more
closely aligned with pronunciation, particularly for
vowels; however, it was never fully phonetic due to
regional variation and French and Latin influences.
Even though the GVS changed the pronunciation of
words, spelling remained fixed, often reflecting pre-
shift patterns. Phonological change was happening
more quickly than orthographic standardisation,
which is why spellings still differ from pronunciation
today.
Although GVS did not directly change the word
classes, it did influence morphological patterns (word
formation and structure). Vowel changes affected
suffix pronunciations that signal word class changes
(e.g. the verb suffixes -ate and –en).
The The Renaissance (1500-1700) was a cultural
Renaissance movement that involved the rebirth of classical ideas
in art, literature, science and philosophy, fostering
humanism and a new spirit of inquiry.
It expanded the English language through major
borrowing from Latin, Greek and French. This
sparked controversy from prescriptivists who wanted
to keep English 'pure'.
It saw a shift towards more fixed word order and new
ways to express grammatical relationships subjects,
verbs and objects.
