2. CHANGES IN PHONETICS &
PHONOLOGY
Sound change: speech is fast and spontaneous
therefore our language undergoes changes when it is
spoken for a variety of reasons such as; ease of
pronunciation, emphasis and increase in speed of
speech.
• Reduction of sounds:
Deletion of unstressed vowels. i.e. desperate, several, interesting, scenery.
Deletion of consonants: i.e library.
Complete ‘Schwa Task’ worksheet.
3. CHANGES IN PHONETICS &
PHONOLOGY
Addition of sounds: segments in words appear where they previously didn’t
exist. This is less common than word loss.
Examples:
ath-e-lete = athlete
fillum = film
um-ba-rella = umbrella (thanks Rihanna!)
The addition of vowels for ease of pronunciation often occurs in words to
create a pronunciation pattern with –cular, such as in binocular and particular.
So nuclear becomes nucular when spoken.
4. CHANGES IN PHONETICS &
PHONOLOGY
Modification of Sounds: sounds will change depending on the company
they keep. This is known as assimilation.
Assimilation is the change in one or more of the parameters to describe
consonants (state of vocal cords – voiced or voiceless, place of articulation,
manner of articulation).
Examples:
Describe what changes take place in the following lexemes:
Handbag = hambag
Latter = ladder
5. LEXICAL CHANGES
Vocabulary is particulary unstable and dictionary makers constantly have
to redraw the admission/exclusion boundary for marginal vocabulary
items.
Yeah-no is a new discourse marker in English…when will it appear in all
dictionaries?
What words can you think of that are new to the English vocabulary?
What words can you think of that are no longer in the English vocabulary?
6. LEXICAL CHANGES
Word Loss: classification of words as archaic or obsolete or the complete
exclusion of words from dictionaries is the formal recognition of word loss.
Some words we have lost:
Mirthful, blithe, jocunal, jovial, gay (in its earlier meaning).
Can you think of any other words? Perhaps words you grandparents use?
7. LEXICAL CHANGES
Causes of word loss:
1. Obsolescence: when objects, ideas or institutions are no longer important
to us then neither are their words. Think fashion: codpiece – decorative
appendage attached to the front of men’s close-fitting breeches.
2. Societal Change: changes in society influence word use. i.e. moral
vocabulary resulted in words such as: honour, virtue, temperance,
modesty, chastity, virginity.
3. Weakening: speakers are always on the lookout for new & exciting ways
to express themselves, and inevitable many expressions simply fall by
the wayside.
Think of ways we verbally insult each other: terms such as fondling fop, flouting milksop,
scoffing scoundrel, ruffian rogue are no longer effective insults.
4. Taboo: Sometimes words disappear because they sound too much like
other words. We have lost many single syllable words starting with ‘f’
and ending in ‘k’. During the Victorian era we lost feck (efficiency) and
feckless (although this one lasted a little longer).
8. LEXICAL CHANGES
Word addition: there are a number of ways we can expand our vocabulary.
We can also ‘borrow’ words from other languages.
The Internet has provided us with a platform to add words to the English Language.
Neologisms is the term used to describe the creation of new words in English.
Neologisms take place in different forms. Can you list neologisms under the following
categories from the past 20 years?
Names – brand names, place names, personal names.
Acronyms – words formed from the initials of other words.
Compounding – combination of two or more free morphemes (black+board).
Affixation – specifically derivation. Combination of bound morphemes with free morphemes. For
example –e as a shortening for electronic now appears in many items: email, e-commerce.
Blends – the contraction of two or more exisiting words. Eg. Web Log = Blog. Internet etiquette =
netiquette.
Conversion – a word converts to another part of speech without affixaion. Google as the name,
also google as the verb.
9. SEMANTIC CHANGES
Semantic changes occur in three different ways:
1. Broadening – expansion of contexts in which a word can appear. Eg.
Bludger used to refer specifically to those living off the earnings of a
prostitute. It has broadened to someone who lives off the efforts of others.
2. Narrowing – when a word comes to mean only a part of what it originally
meant. Hound meant any sort of dog but has now narrowed to mean
hunting dog.
3. Shift – total alteration of the contexts. A word comes to mean something
completely different from what it once meant. Wicked at one time meant
something evil, it then shifted to an simile for ‘cool’.
Editor's Notes
Solutions:
Hambag: the [d] of handbag drops off and the [n] is anticipating the followin bilabial [b] and assimilating to it in place of articulation; therefore, it becomes bilabial too.
Latter= the pronunciation of a fast [d] instead of a slower [t]. This is called flapping because what we are actually doing s flapping the tongue against the alveolar ridge.
