LANGUAGE CHANGE OVER TIME EXPLAINED! | ENGLISH LANGUAGE A LEVEL REVISION | NARRATOR: BARBARA NJAU

Summary

This video explores the evolution of the English language from its Celtic roots to modern times. It covers the impact of Roman invasion, Anglo-Saxon influences, Norman conquest, and the Renaissance on the language's development. Key events like the Great Vowel Shift and the invention of the printing press are highlighted. The video also discusses the contributions of historical figures like Shakespeare and the influence of the King James Bible. It touches on the debate between prescriptivists and descriptivists regarding language change and concludes with the ongoing impact of technology and globalization on English.

Takeaways

• 🏛️ The early English language was influenced by Celtic tribes and Latin after the Roman invasion in 55 BC.
• 📜 Old English emerged between 450 AD and 1066, primarily influenced by Anglo-Saxons from North Germany.
• 🏰 Middle English (1066-1485) saw significant lexical expansion after the Norman Conquest, with French becoming the language of government.
• 👑 In 1362, English was established as the official language of the UK for law and state business, replacing French and Latin.
• 📚 The Great Vowel Shift (1300-1500) marked a radical change in pronunciation, distinguishing Middle English from Modern English.
• 🎭 The Tudor period (1485-1603) experienced a revival of classic scholarship, influencing English vocabulary with Greek and Latin imports.
• 🌐 The 17th century brought Puritan and scientific influences, simplifying English and standardizing spelling through dictionaries like Samuel Johnson's.
• 🌐 The 18th century's Age of Reason furthered the standardization of English, with dictionaries becoming the authority on correct spelling.
• 🌎 The 19th and 20th centuries witnessed English's global spread, influenced by Americanization, technology, and the British Empire.
• 🔠 Language change occurs through various mechanisms like borrowing, blending, and semantic shifts, reflecting cultural and societal evolution.

Q & A

What was the primary language influence on English before the Roman invasion in 55 BC?

Before the Roman invasion, the primary language influence on what would become English was Celtic, with languages related to what we now identify as modern Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish.

How did the Romans impact the English language after their invasion in 55 BC?

The Romans introduced Latin, which left a mark on the English language. Latin was officially introduced after the invasion and influenced the lexicon and place names.

What significant linguistic change occurred during the period from 450 AD to 1066 AD?

During this period, the Anglos and Saxons arrived from North Germany, leading to the emergence of Old English. The writing system transitioned from runes to a form influenced by Latin-speaking monks who used the Roman alphabet with new letters.

Why did the spelling of 'Queen' change from 'cwe en' to 'qu een' during the Middle English period?

The spelling change was due to French scribes introducing new spelling patterns after the Norman Conquest in 1066, which replaced the Old English 'cw' with the French-derived 'qu'.

What major event in the 14th century had a significant impact on the English language?

The Black Death from 1347 to 1352, which killed a large portion of the population, including many educated monks who knew Latin. This contributed to the gradual loss of Latin's influence on the English language.

How did the Great Vowel Shift affect the pronunciation of English words?

The Great Vowel Shift, occurring during the 15th to 17th centuries, was a radical change in pronunciation where long vowel sounds began to be made higher and further forward in the mouth, while short vowel sounds remained largely unchanged.

What was the role of the Renaissance in the evolution of the English language during the Tudor period?

The Renaissance led to a revival of classic scholarship and a desire for more expressive language, resulting in an influx of vocabulary from Greek and Latin, as well as the expansion of the lexicon through travel and discovery.

How did the printing press contribute to the standardization of English?

The printing press, introduced by Caxton in 1475, enabled some standardization of spelling to begin, although there was no widespread standard form of spelling or punctuation. It provided the technical means to guarantee the standardization of spelling over time.

What factors influenced the English language during the 17th century?

In the 17th century, influences on English included Puritanism and Catholicism, science, and the King James Version of the Bible, which had a significant impact on vocabulary and grammar.

Who was Robert Cawdrey and why is he significant in the history of the English language?

Robert Cawdrey was an English school teacher who published the first English dictionary, 'A Table Alphabeticall,' in 1604. It contained 2,543 'hard words,' particularly those borrowed from Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French, marking an important step in the standardization of English.

How did the 18th century, known as the Age of Reason, affect the English language?

The Age of Reason brought a desire to standardize spelling and grammar, with Samuel Johnson producing the 'Dictionary of the English Language' in 1755, which became the preeminent English dictionary until the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Outlines

00:00

🏛 Early English Language Influences

The video begins by exploring the early stages of the English language, dating back to before 450 AD when Celtic tribes dominated and the language was closely related to modern Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish. The Roman invasion in 55 BC introduced Latin, which left a lasting impact. The period from 450 to 1066 AD saw the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, leading to the emergence of Old English. During this time, runes were used, and Latin-speaking monks adapted the Roman alphabet, contributing significantly to the modern English vocabulary. The video also discusses the transition to Middle English after the Norman Conquest in 1066, which expanded the lexicon and introduced French influences.

05:00

📜 The Evolution of Middle English

This section delves into the Middle English period from 1066 to 1485, highlighting the Norman Conquest's influence on language. The language of governance shifted towards medieval French, and French scribes altered spelling patterns, such as replacing 'cw' with 'qu'. The Black Death from 1347 to 1352, which killed a significant portion of the population including Latin-educated monks, contributed to the gradual loss of Latin. The video also covers the introduction of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1458 and its arrival in England in 1475, which initiated the standardization of spelling, although a widespread standard form took much longer to develop.

10:02

🌊 The Great Vowel Shift and Tudor English

The video discusses the Great Vowel Shift from 1300 to 1500, a period that overlaps with the Tudor era (1485-1603). This shift marked a significant change in pronunciation, with long vowel sounds moving higher and further forward in the mouth. The causes of this shift are debated, but it's suggested that the influx of loanwords from Romance languages might have played a role. The video also covers the Renaissance's impact on the English vocabulary, with a revival of classic scholarship and a desire for a more expressive language, leading to an increase in words borrowed from Greek and Latin. The period also saw the introduction of new words related to travel and discovery, and the emergence of 'inkhorn terms', which were criticized for being overly complex and obscure.

15:04

📖 Standardization and the Influence of Key Figures

This segment covers the 17th century, a time when Puritanism and Catholicism, along with scientific advancements, influenced the English language. The King James Version of the Bible, published in 1611, had a significant impact on the language's development. The video also discusses the publication of the first English dictionary by Robert Cawdrey in 1604 and the linguistic contributions of William Shakespeare, who is known for coining numerous words and manipulating grammatical rules. The 18th century is marked by the Age of Reason, with Samuel Johnson's dictionary setting a standard for English language, and the 19th century sees the American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster, introducing American English variations.

20:07

🌐 20th Century English and Global Influences

The final part of the video examines the 20th century and beyond, where English continues to evolve due to global influences, particularly American English. The video discusses the Americanization of the language and the impact of technology, such as computer spell checkers, on standardizing spelling. It also addresses the ongoing debate between prescriptivists, who believe in fixed language rules, and descriptivists, who accept language change as inevitable. The video concludes by outlining the various ways language changes, including borrowing, compounding, blending, conversion, abbreviation, and semantic shifts, and it touches on attitudes towards language change, emphasizing that change is a natural and continuous process.

Keywords

💡Old English

Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon, was the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons in England and later in England and southern Scotland, from the mid 5th century to the mid 12th century. It is the earliest form of the English language and is the direct ancestor of Modern English. In the video, Old English is mentioned as emerging during the period of 450 AD to 1066, significantly influencing modern English vocabulary, with about half of common vocabulary terms originating from this era.

💡Middle English

Middle English spanned from 1066 to 1485 and was the form of the English language spoken after the Norman conquest of England until the late 15th century. It is a transitional language between Old English and Modern English and saw significant changes due to the influence of the Norman French language. The video discusses how Middle English expanded its lexicon after the Norman Conquest and how French scribes introduced new spelling patterns, which affected the language's development.

💡Great Vowel Shift

The Great Vowel Shift was a series of changes in the pronunciation of the long vowels in English that began in the 15th century and lasted into the 17th century. It marked a significant shift in the pronunciation of long vowel sounds, which moved to a higher and more forward position in the mouth, while short vowels remained largely unchanged. The video explains that this shift is a major factor separating Middle English from Modern English and was possibly influenced by the influx of loanwords from Romance languages.

💡Tudor Period

The Tudor Period, ranging from 1485 to 1603, is known for the Renaissance and a revival of classic scholarship. It was a time of significant vocabulary expansion in English due to the influence of Latin and Greek, as well as exploration and colonization. The video highlights how this era saw the introduction of many new words into English, either directly from Latin and Greek or altered to fit English phonetics.

💡Puritanism

Puritanism, a religious and cultural movement that arose within Protestant Christianity in the late 16th century, had a profound impact on the English language during the 17th century. The video mentions how Puritan ideas of clarity and simplicity influenced writing, leading to a shift from the verbose and flowery language of the Tudor/Renaissance period to a more straightforward and simple style.

💡King James Bible

The King James Version of the Bible, published in 1611, is one of the most influential works in the history of the English language. It was a significant effort to standardize the English Bible and had a lasting impact on English vocabulary and grammar. The video notes that the King James Bible was compiled by a committee of scholars and clerics and was deliberately conservative in its vocabulary and grammar, thus influencing the language's development.

💡Standardization

Standardization in the context of the English language refers to the process of establishing and promoting a uniform set of rules for spelling, grammar, and pronunciation. The video discusses how efforts to standardize English began with the introduction of the printing press but took several centuries to fully develop. Standardization is crucial for language clarity and communication.

💡Prescriptivism

Prescriptivism is the practice of promoting a specific variety of language as the correct or standard form, often based on historical or traditional usage. It is contrasted with descriptivism, which focuses on describing how language is used without making value judgments. The video touches on the debate between prescriptivists, who believe in maintaining traditional language rules, and descriptivists, who accept language change as natural and inevitable.

💡Globalization

Globalization refers to the increasing interconnectedness of the world, particularly through trade, culture, and communication. The video explains how globalization has influenced the English language, making it a global language for computing, communications, and entertainment. It has also led to the borrowing of words from various cultures and the spread of English to different parts of the world.

💡Lexical Change

Lexical change refers to the evolution of a language's vocabulary over time. The video outlines several mechanisms of lexical change, including borrowing from foreign languages, the creation of new words through affixation, compounding, blending, and conversion, as well as semantic shifts in word meanings. These changes contribute to the dynamic nature of the English language and its ability to adapt to new concepts and cultural influences.

Highlights

English's early roots are found in Celtic tribes' languages, related to modern Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish.

The Roman invasion in 55 BC introduced Latin, influencing English lexis and place names.

Old English emerged between 450 AD and 1066, influenced by Anglo-Saxons from North Germany.

Runes were the first written form, later replaced by the Roman alphabet modified by Latin monks.

Half of modern English's common vocabulary originates from Old English.

Middle English period saw a lexis expansion post-Norman Conquest, with French influence on spelling and grammar.

English was established as the language for law and state business in 1362 under Edward II.

The Black Death (1347-1352) contributed to the loss of Latin and the rise of English.

Gutenberg's printing press standardized spelling but did not create a universal spelling system.

The Great Vowel Shift (1300-1500) marked a radical change in pronunciation, differentiating Middle English from modern English.

The Tudor period (1485-1603) saw an influx of vocabulary from the revival of classic scholarship and travel.

The King James Bible (1611) significantly influenced English grammar and vocabulary.

Shakespeare's works contributed around 2,000 neologisms and flexible grammar usage to English.

The 18th century Age of Reason saw efforts to standardize spelling, with Samuel Johnson's dictionary.

19th-century American English developed distinct spellings due to Noah Webster's dictionary.

The 20th century brought Americanization of English and the rise of global English due to technology and media.

Language change occurs through borrowing, fixation, compounding, blending, conversion, and other mechanisms.

Prescriptivists and descriptivists have differing views on language change, with the latter seeing it as inevitable and natural.

Transcripts

hello and welcome to our video

summarizing all you need to know about

language change over time and especially

in this video we'll be looking at the

evolution of English throughout the

different millennia since its conception

so let's begin with the period when

English began technically up to 450 ad

so this is really really early on and

essentially it was a time dominated by

Celtic tribes and language really was

essentially related to what we would

today identify as modern Welsh Scottish

Gaelic and Irish and really at this time

period the only real connection that

we'll find today with modern English is

in terms of lexis and mainly place names

now in 55 BC the Romans invaded and

Latin was officially introduced after

this invasion and it really left a mark

on the English language if we moved to

the period 450 ad to 1066 the major

events that had an impact on the

evolution of language is number one the

Anglos and the Saxons who arrived from

North Germany and Old English really

emerged during this period and the only

writing from this time is runes which is

a mystical alphabet and written form of

language comes from Latin speaking monks

who used the Roman alphabet with new

letters and about half of common

vocabulary terms of modern English

really come from this period so from Old

English now transitioning into the

Middle English period which is

essentially between 1066 and 1485 there

was a general expansion of lexis after

the norman conquest this of course was

in 1066 and the language of government

became more medieval French and French

scribes started to introduce a spelling

patterns Saku replaced core which is qu

so Queen was changed from cwe en to qu e

en and there's also reversed word order

of letters for example HW - WH so from

where to where and GU was added towards

like guide guys and God and in 1362

under Edward the second English becomes

the

your language in the UK and it's

acknowledged as a language for law and

state business rather than French or

Latin

another major aventure in this period of

course is the black death which is from

1347 to 1352 killed about a quarter to a

third of the population of britain so

many monks who are educated in latin

died and this had a huge impact

contributing to the gradual loss of

latin also the first concerns about

English emerged during this period and

writers are concerned about language

change in the want to stabilize language

also in 1458 Gutenberg invented the

printing press and in 1475 Caxton

introduced the printing press to England

and the press enabled some standardizing

to begin however there was no widespread

standard form of spelling or punctuation

some publishers attempted in-house

consistency however this was far from

university accepted also for some time

after the invention of printing many

books were written by hand and printing

is at first reserved for books likely to

justify the time taking the setup type

and the printing press provided the

technical means to guarantee the

standardization of spelling but this

will still take a further 300 years now

the next period is essentially from 1300

to 1500 and this was essentially what is

termed as the great vowel shift so of

course this period overlaps the Tudor

period which lasted between 1485 and

1603 we are going to look at this period

later on and a major factor going back

to the great vowel shift separating

Middle English from modern English is

this essential period and it's a radical

change in pronunciation during the 15th

16th and 17th century as a result of

which long vowel sounds began to be made

higher and further forward in the mouth

whilst short vowel sounds were largely

unchanged and the causes of the shift

are still highly debated although an

important factor may have been the very

large intake of loanwords from the

Romance language of Europe during the

time which required a different kind of

pronunciation in Middle English for

example in the time of Chaucer then long

vowels are generally pronounced very

much like the Latin derived Romance

language of Europe it's a sheep would

have been pronounced more like shape

me as may mine as mean and flower as

floor however after the great vowel

shift the pronunciations of these

similar words would have been much more

like they are spoken today the shift

comprises a series of connected changes

with changes in one vowel pushing

another to change in order to keep its

distance although there is some dispute

as to the order of these movements and

the changes also proceeded at different

times and speeds in different parts of

the country so if you find in this

useful we would really appreciate it if

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give it a like because this would enable

other students to find this video which

would equally be useful to their studies

so carrying on into the Tudor period and

of course this is 1485 to 1603 this is

also known as the Renaissance and this

is when there was the next wave of

innovation in English vocabulary which

came with the revival of classic

scholarship who known as the Renaissance

and those arising nationalism which was

linked to a desire for more expressive

language however Latin was perceived by

many to be a superior language at this

time and there's a flowering of

literature and experimentation in style

and this is in line of the preference

for elevated diction and vocabulary was

enlarged by imports from Greek and Latin

so ideas sleeped

into maths and science words from Latin

or Greek often by Latin were also

imported whole soldier in this period

either intact for example genius species

militia radius specimen critter and

squalor

apparatus but also commonly some of

these words were altered so for example

horrid pathetic pungent illicit frugal

anonymous and so on have roots in Latin

or Greek but as we know them today they

have been altered somewhat also a whole

category of words ending with Greek

based suffixes eyes and ism were also

introduced at this time and lexis

expanded by travel to the new world so

English settlers who went to colonies in

North America essentially expanded lexis

and trade and discovery brought about

rapid change especially in the lexicon

while some such thing down or spelling

may appear at this stage is still far

from being standardized

furthermore another huge issue emerged

because some scholars adopted Latin

terms so excessively and awkwardly that

a derogatory term called in corn was

coined to describe pedantic writers he

borrowed the classics but essentially

created very obscure and opulent flowery

terms many of which have not survived

the examples of these terms include

revoluta ng ancient devil gate attempt

eight obstinate and so on and Sydney

Smith was one writer of this period with

a particular penchant for such in corn

terms including for Javaris and perma

Goris the in corn controversy was the

first of several such ongoing arguments

over languages which began to erupt in

the salons of England and later on

America and among those strongly in

favor of the use of such foreign terms

were English men Thomas Eliot George PT

but also just as strongly opposed to

such opulent and obscure terms were

Thomas Wilson and John check also

spelling known as orthography

essentially was interesting to the

capture in this period because those no

generally accepted system in the

sixteenth century and most writers wrote

very phonetically so according to the

accent that is what would determine how

they spelt and other common features of

language during this period were the use

of interpret interrogative form without

an auxilary for example thank you I am

handsome instead of do you think also

double negatives were used excessively

and many scholars who revered Latin and

ancient Greek became spelling reformers

and tried to remodel English spelling on

classical patterns so H was inserted

into words like throne and author

because it was recognized that they came

from Greek by a Latin in other words

that receipt in direct and rain and

Parliament also had letters added to

give them a Latin look and by the end of

the sixteenth century

Latin was still used but hundreds of

Latin words had fallen out of use now

shifting into the 17th century the

influences of Puritanism and catholicism

as well as science had a huge impact on

english now Puritan ideas of clarity and

simplicity really influenced writing and

what you essentially see is almost a

reversal from previously the very

verbose very flowery language of the

tudor / renaissance period - now the

Puritan concepts of making language far

more simple as simple also English was

preferred to Dutch as the official

language of the new world so this is of

course in North America as well as the

Caribbean and the Bible had a huge

influence on English so although the

first English translation of the Bible

was produced as early as 13 84 by John

Wycliffe and in 1549 there was the Book

of Common Prayer that was created really

the major biblical translation that was

created at this time and that still is

very influential today is the King James

Version of the Bible which was written

in 1611 and it was the combination of

more than two centuries of efforts to

produce a Bible in the native language

of the people of England so the King

James Bible was compiled by a committee

of 54 scholars and clerics and published

in 1611 in an attempt to standardize the

plethora of new Bibles that had sprung

up over the preceding four 70 years and

it appears to be deliberately

conservative both in its vocabulary and

its grandma and it presents many forms

of which have already largely fallen out

of use or at least in the process of

dying out so for example you find

spellings of digg'd

instead of dug gapped instead of gotten

bare forbore speak for spoke and so on

also the F ending is used throughout for

third-person singular verbs

even though s was becoming much more

common in the early 17th century and ye

is used for the second person plural

pronoun rather than the more common view

the first english dictionary which is

called a table alphabetical was also

published during this time but English

school teacher Robert Corddry in 1604 so

this was of course eight years before

the first italian dictionary and 35

years before the first french dictionary

however do bear in mind that the English

dictionary wasn't the first

comprehensive and concise dictionary of

languages to be produced because it

admittedly came 800 years after the

first Arabic dictionary in nearly 1,000

years after the first sanskrit

dictionary so Corey's little book

contained 2543 of what he called hard

words

especially those borrowed from Hebrew

Greek Latin and French although it's not

actually a very reliable resource

another really key individual during

this time is Shakespeare and he had

essentially single-handedly a massive

influence in the English language so

Shakespeare took advantage of the

relative freedom and flexibility as well

as the protean nature of English at the

time and he played with the reliable

grammatical rules for example his use of

nouns as verbs adverbs adjectives and

substantive and an early instance of

this verb the fication of nouns is

phrases such as he pageants us it outs

her at harrods Herod dogged them at the

hills the good Brutus ghosted and so on

and Shakespeare had a vast vocabulary so

thirty-four thousand words by some

counts in the personally coined an

estimated two thousand neologisms some

of his neologisms include the words

leapfrog monumental castigate majestic

obscene frugal aerial brittle radiance

and so on and by some counts almost one

in ten of the words used by Shakespeare

was his own invention however not all of

these words were necessarily personally

invented by Shakespeare himself they

merely appear for the first time in many

of his published works now shifting into

the 18th century this is the period

known as the age of reason as ideas of

order and priority prevailed and

language acquired a great deal of

prestige and there was a great desire to

standardize spelling and from this time

on dictionaries came to regarded as the

arbiters of correct spelling and so

Samuel Johnson produced the dictionary

of the english language which was

published in 1755 150 years after Cory's

own dictionary and it was seen as an

impressive academic achievement on its

own white with 43,000 words and it

remained the preeminent English

dictionary until the much more

comprehensive off oxford english

dictionary was created over 150 years

later

shifting to the 19th century they grew

and renewed interest in the past and a

keen interest in the use of archaic

words and no Webster published American

Dictionary of the English language in

1828 and differences from Johnson's are

relatively few but

still notorious the most familiar of

variants on the affixes our and our e so

Webster has aw

or for example color labor theater

Center which is spelt different

differently of course we know this to be

the American spelling and there's a huge

lexical growth in this period as a

result of the British Empire's expansion

so English really travels to other

countries but equally it imports many

loanwords from these different countries

and James Murray begins to compile the

new English dictionary in 1875 however

he takes five years to reach completion

now looking at the 20th century and

beyond so English is still evolving and

it still continued to evolve so this is

due to influence from overseas so for

example the US and international English

became very dominant English also

becomes by this stage a global language

for example and computing communications

and entertainment computer technology

provides a powerful means for the

encouragement of standard written forms

with spell checking and grammar checking

and spellings today and now generally

fixed and very highly resistant to

change and even even still you'll still

sometimes find a great degree of

uncertainty and minor disagreement on

how to spell some words and most

susceptible and release resistance to

change is pronunciation which is far

more flexible however there's also

greater tolerance of regional accent in

areas where it would earlier have been a

social stigma language is also still

constantly changing but this is deplored

will rather criticized for

prescriptivists who tried to prevent

these changes however descriptivists

like david crystal and Junaid concerned

argue language change isn't really a bad

thing and crystal and his own word says

there's a widely held belief that change

must mean deterioration and decay and

standards have fallen however he

believes that change in language and

more specifically in English is

inevitable also what we're seeing in the

20th century is an American ization of

English language which is really

prevalent so for examples expression

likes 24/7 collateral damage and war

links in the UK around 3% of the

population speak in RP which is called

received pronunciation and we'll look at

this in another video where we look at

accents and dialects

now going into the reasons for language

change so that as you've seen in the

previous slides there's several reasons

which you can summarize contribute to

the evolution of English over millennia

so of course firstly it's down to

individuals such as Geoffrey Chaucer and

middle English and shakes in the 17th

century technology and the internet

which has brought a lot of neologisms

societies of course cultural changes and

shifts and attitudes requiring new lexus

for example political correctness

foreign influence so lots of loanwords

lots of words being imported but of

course also America has been hugely

influential and Hollywood specifically

through film science and new inventions

have caused new Lexus to come into

language travel trade and colonization

has brought in more new Lexus and of

course globalization and English

becoming the official language of trade

and business has contributed to this

language change so the different ways in

which language changes it's interesting

to look at how Lexus changes and we're

going to look at some definitions and

really clarify how these contribute to

English change so of course

borrowing which means loans taken from

foreign languages for example judges

come from French and opera from Latin

this of course changes English a

fixation which means adding in effects

either prefix or suffix to an existing

word for example racism and sexism

compounding as this is when two words

are combined in the entirety to make a

new word for example laptop happy hour

when it comes to social media Facebook

blending means when two words am older

together to form a new word usually by

adding the start of one word and the end

of another for example smoke mixing

smoke and fog and motel motor and hotel

conversion which means the change of

avoid class sufferings on port and

mountain a verb so for example text used

to be a noun and now it's a verb to text

when you're texting somebody on your

phone shortening or abbreviation which

means clip in part of a word for

instance omnibus has gone down to bus

and public houses being shortened to pub

acronyms which means taking initial

letters of words and making them into a

combination of pronounceable words such

as nato

NASA aides wag initialisms some words

abbreviated to initial letters for

example BBC FBI USA words also from

proper names so which words which have

been derived from names or places

synonymous with the product for example

denim which is what we identify as jeans

actually comes from the name of a place

in France and sandwich which has been

named after the Earl of Sandwich

semantic change has also been one way

that language has changed and different

things kind of contribute to semantic

change some broadening or generalization

which means the meaning of a word has

broadened so it retains its old meaning

but it takes on new meaning so for

example a mouse historically was really

referring to a tiny little animal also

frequently knows and is a pest but of

course today it's broadened to mean

computer equipment narrowing the

specialization is another term that you

need to be aware of and this is of

course the opposite of broadening so it

implies when a word becomes more

specific in its meaning but it can also

retain its original meaning for example

meat historically used to mean or food

but today it specifically means the

flesh of animals also the term girl in

the Middle Ages meant all young people

but today it refers specifically to

younger women this means the term has

been narrowed in its meaning

amelioration is another way language has

changed semantically so the word has

taken on a more pleasant or positive

meaning that then it originally held so

for example pretty in the Middle Ages

meant sly or cunning but today it means

beautiful or attractive Federations of

course the opposite of amelioration so

this is when a word takes on a negative

meaning so for instance awful means not

worthy of all meant actually worthy of

all but of course today means

exceedingly bad another term that

underwent federation gay historically

used to mean happy but now depending of

course in the cultural context you are

to the word it means homosexual and in

some cultures is the same very

negatively metaphor so this is another

way words change semantically and of

course words take on new meanings when

they began to be used metaphorically so

for example the word cow it

metaphorically means

a woman okatee means a mean-spirited

comment idioms which are words formed

from existing words but they assume a

new meaning in the specific context used

it can only be properly interpreted by

learning the context so for example in

the dog house means being in trouble and

over the moon means being overjoyed

euphemisms are also important and this

means a polite way of describing

something unpleasant embarrassing or

socially undesirable in a more

politically correct way so for example

when you say somebody's not the sharpest

tool in the box it refers to someone

who's unintelligent or the ladies room

refers to the toilet and this term is

especially used by women so now going

into attitudes towards language change

so as was mentioned before language has

evolved over millennia

however there people throughout the ages

who have expressed either as support for

this language change or who've expressed

fears that this language change has

somehow diminished the power of English

and is somehow corrupting English so

let's first start with the

prescriptivists view and now essentially

the general take of a prescriptivists is

that there are rules in language that

define how language should be used and

that mistakes result when those rules

are broken

you might hear this idea of prescriptive

the slang linguists described as

normative which means that the rules are

based on normal usage and they determine

the way things are so spelling grammar

etc and how they ought to be on the

other hand descriptivism since she

refers to the idea behind descriptive

linguists that a language is defined but

what people do with it

so descriptivists describe how language

is used systematically recording and

analyzing the endlessly change in ways

that people speak and write and they

accept that language change is

inevitable and they also accept that

it's going to change that's all if you

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