Language Change Theories:
Suzanne Romaine (1998): Internal and External Change!
She believed language change may occur in two ways:
Internal changes: The factors ‘within’ the language. For example: the influence of dictionaries promoting new
words and meanings; the omission of certain sounds due to the economic principle of language.
External changes: Changing social contexts, ideologies, technology & inventions. For example, political
correctness has come about due to ideological changes.
Michael Halliday: Functional Theory!
The theory is that language changes according to the needs of its users.
It is an overarching theory; many other theories provided in this document take this general concept and apply
it more specifically.
Functional theory can be used to explain archaisms as many of them occur because technology has moved on.
Words such as ‘cassettes’ and ‘LPs’ are becoming archaic because the technology/concepts they refer to is
archaic!
The theory also supports new words that arise (‘MP3’, ‘Blu-Ray’ and ‘USB’ have come about because there is a
need to label this new technology).
As well as new inventions, technology and discoveries, the theory can also explain the use of slang.
Charles Hockett (1958): Random Fluctuation!
Hockett’s theory of random fluctuation centres on the belief that random events and errors lead to language
change.
He believes changes in language result from ever-changing contextual factors.
The word ‘book’ has come to be synonymous with the word ‘cool’ due to the fact that typing ‘cool’ into
predictive text autocorrects into ‘book’.
The word ‘pease’ referred to a single pea in Middle English, but people mistakenly thought it referred to more
than one. They therefore used the word ‘pea’ to refer to the singular form and it entered the lexicon.
Substratum Theory!
Suzanne Romaine (1998): Internal and External Change!
She believed language change may occur in two ways:
Internal changes: The factors ‘within’ the language. For example: the influence of dictionaries promoting new
words and meanings; the omission of certain sounds due to the economic principle of language.
External changes: Changing social contexts, ideologies, technology & inventions. For example, political
correctness has come about due to ideological changes.
Michael Halliday: Functional Theory!
The theory is that language changes according to the needs of its users.
It is an overarching theory; many other theories provided in this document take this general concept and apply
it more specifically.
Functional theory can be used to explain archaisms as many of them occur because technology has moved on.
Words such as ‘cassettes’ and ‘LPs’ are becoming archaic because the technology/concepts they refer to is
archaic!
The theory also supports new words that arise (‘MP3’, ‘Blu-Ray’ and ‘USB’ have come about because there is a
need to label this new technology).
As well as new inventions, technology and discoveries, the theory can also explain the use of slang.
Charles Hockett (1958): Random Fluctuation!
Hockett’s theory of random fluctuation centres on the belief that random events and errors lead to language
change.
He believes changes in language result from ever-changing contextual factors.
The word ‘book’ has come to be synonymous with the word ‘cool’ due to the fact that typing ‘cool’ into
predictive text autocorrects into ‘book’.
The word ‘pease’ referred to a single pea in Middle English, but people mistakenly thought it referred to more
than one. They therefore used the word ‘pea’ to refer to the singular form and it entered the lexicon.
Substratum Theory!
