Language change theories

Language decay
1. Jean Aitchison
  1. Damp-spoon syndrome
    1. Laziness
    2. Language sloppier now
    3. similar to leaving damp spoon in sugar
  2. Crumbling castle
    1. Glottal stop
    2. Silent letters
      1. "Knight"
      2. "Government"
      3. "Receipt"
2. Lynne Truss
  1. Eats, shoots, and leaves
  2. Hypercorrect punctuation
  3. Prescriptivist
Social bonding theory
1. William Labov (USA)
  1. Social groups change words to create dialect
    1. "Youth" --> "Yoth"
Global English
1. David Crystal
  1. Polydialectalism
    1. Bi-dialectalism
      1. Speaking a local language and national
    2. Tri-dialectalism
Norman Fairclough
1. Conversationalism
  1. Modern English more 'chatty'
  2. Use of 'you'
  3. More relevant with TV/internet

Resource summary

	Created by iwillmason over 11 years ago