Language Change - AQA A-level English
Language questions and answers
Reasons for language change - Technology, social changes, travel, science
Political correctness - refraining from causing emotional harm
Prescriptivism - Belief that one type of language is acceptable - judgemental
Descriptivism - Belief that all types of language are acceptable - non judgemental
Borrowing - taking words from other languages
example of borrowing - Judge - France, Opera - Latin
Affixation - adding a prefix or suffix to a word
Compouding - two-words combined together
blending - two words moulded together (smog = smoke and fog)
, Language Change - AQA A-level English
Language questions and answers
functional shift - the conversion of one word class to another
Neosemic shift - Gaining a new meaning (gay used to mean joyful)
Clipping - clipping part of a word (omnibus to bus)
Pejoration - the process by which a word gains a negative meaning (AWFUL)
Amelioration - a word gains a more positive meaning (pretty - cunning to
beautiful)
Euphemism - An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is
considered unpleasant
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary - 1755
Samuel Johnson - created the first dictionary of the English language, took 9 years
and was written by hand
Language questions and answers
Reasons for language change - Technology, social changes, travel, science
Political correctness - refraining from causing emotional harm
Prescriptivism - Belief that one type of language is acceptable - judgemental
Descriptivism - Belief that all types of language are acceptable - non judgemental
Borrowing - taking words from other languages
example of borrowing - Judge - France, Opera - Latin
Affixation - adding a prefix or suffix to a word
Compouding - two-words combined together
blending - two words moulded together (smog = smoke and fog)
, Language Change - AQA A-level English
Language questions and answers
functional shift - the conversion of one word class to another
Neosemic shift - Gaining a new meaning (gay used to mean joyful)
Clipping - clipping part of a word (omnibus to bus)
Pejoration - the process by which a word gains a negative meaning (AWFUL)
Amelioration - a word gains a more positive meaning (pretty - cunning to
beautiful)
Euphemism - An indirect, less offensive way of saying something that is
considered unpleasant
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary - 1755
Samuel Johnson - created the first dictionary of the English language, took 9 years
and was written by hand
