4. Expression of New Meanings
A need to express new meanings in
languages
http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/linguistics/change.jsp
‘’ English language evolves rapidly in
just a few centuries ‘’
Speakers adopt new words, sentence structures and
sounds, spread them through the community and
transmit them to the next generation.
5. NEW THINGS
• Differences between generations and the era
• New technologies, industries, products and
experiences simply require new words
Examples :
Technology # PC – personal computer
CPU – central processing units
Disease # Bird flu
AIDS
6. NEW EVENT
• Common and spectacular events
• Acknowledged by others
Examples :
SUMMIT # Meeting between heads of state
SUPERBOWL # Spectacular sports events
GRANDPRIX #
7. IDEAS THAT EVOLVE
•Words for new ideas
Examples :
# Edutainment (education + entertainment)
# Smog (smoke + fog )
# Sitcom ( situation + comedy )
• Adopted ideas from other societies along with words
that name them
8. Borrowed words
- borrowed words soon to cease as borrowings once it
becomes common in use.
Examples :
# French words in use in English
# French words
Discotheque
Amateur Unique
Double Entendre
A la carte
10. JARGON
• Special words and phrases which are used
by particular groups of people, especially in
their work
• An outlandish, technical language of a
particular profession, group, or trade
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/1914-/language/jargon.htm
11. LINGUISTIC ROLE OF JARGON
Examples
1. Medical profession :
Agonal – used to describe a major negative
change in a person’s condition, usually
preceding immediate death
2. Computer programmers:
Bug- a mistake or problem in a computer
program
http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/1914-/language/jargon.htm
13. SOCIAL ROLES OF JARGON
1. ARGOT
Words and expressions which are used by small groups
of people and which are not easily understood by other
people
A specialized vocabulary or set of idioms used by a
particular social class or groups, especially one that
functions outside the law
Jargon may play the roll of an argot to keep others
from understanding
http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/argoterm.htm
14. SOCIAL ROLES OF JARGON
2. EUPHEMISM
A word or phrase used to avoid saying unpleasant or
offensive word
Jargon may be intended to make objectionable
meanings less objectionable
Examples:
• senior citizen for old person
• preowned car for used car
• pass away for die
15. SOCIAL ROLES OF
JARGON
3. IN-GROUP MARKERS
Enabling members of the occupational
group to announce themselves as such, and
to recognise each other by how they talk.
24. • Child learners favor the more regular form of
words
• dreamt – dreamed, lit – lighted, fish – fishes
• Adult too, cannot be expected to know their
language perfectly
• They extend the general rule:
strived, lighted (past participle)
morphology
26. Regularisation
• Replacing irregular forms with regular ones.
• E.g. (a) gooses instead of geese
(b) cow/kine with cows
• Erronous regularisation also known as
overregularisation.
27. A. Leveling
• Lexicon - vocabulary
• Loss of secondary form as a result
of extending productive rules.
• Contrast between different form
are levelled
28. Leveling
Basic form
• Wake
• Strive
• Sow
Irregular form & leveled form
• Woken Waked
• Striven Strived
• Sown Sowed
29. B. Syntax
• Sentence structure
a) Hopefully, the train will be on time.
b) They waited hopefully for the train.
c) Hopefully, they waited for the train.
