So - does language matter?

During the time we've been studying language change there have been some well-publicised controversies about the language and attitudes of media presenters. You can look up the examples of the Sky Sports presenters Grey and Keys or the Top Gear team. You should explore the ensuing debates about 'PC language' to find out the arguments which are being used to criticise and to defend the language used. You have probably expressed an opinion on this yourself!

You could look up previous examples of similar controversies - for example Carol Thatcher or Chris Moyles. If Politically Correct language is about choosing terms which do not insult, marginalise or ignore groups in society, why do some people see complaints about 'non-PC' language in use as a restriction of freedom of speech? Are there restrictions we should be prepared to accept for the sake of other people's freedoms?

'It's a history thing' is often offered as a way of explaining why there still is implicit sexism, racism, ableism in the lexis of English. The Reflecionist model can explain why we have so many negative slang terms for women or no positive slang terms for a lesbian. The Dominant and Muted group theory can illuminate why words which were accepted as 'neutral' in the past have now been challenged as negative or marginalising. The debate is more about whether people should be satisfied to use language which maintains social attitudes that we now consider outdated or unkind.

In your wider reading look for examples of vocabulary that carry value judgements about diferent groups in society. Can we continue to use these words without implying the old values that have become attached to them?

Changing Language - timelines and wordlists

We've now looked at a number of ways new words are formed, why words come into English from other languages and also why some words develop new meanings over time. The Language Timeline on the British Library Learning website gives a short overview of the variety of influences on English vocabulary with lots of examples through our history. You can also follow the link to their new interactive time line which shows our language changing through a huge variety of texts held by the Library. This will be especially useful when preparing for exams as you can see actual texts from 1600 onwards.

If you look under 'Activities' you can get to other very useful word lists - for example 20th Century loanwords which gives a detailed list of borrowings both cultural and social under topic headings.


To help you think about your own input to language change, explore the Cutting Edge section to find examples of slang, jargon and fashionable buzzwords - which may even be outdated by the time you read this!

Recent Language Change

Last term we began to explore some of the recent changes in English, with traditional dialects fading and 'newcomers' such as Estuary English and the youth dialect 'Jafaican' becoming significant and the subject of academic research.

There are also many recent changes in vocabulary with new words and changed meanings for existing words. It is useful to consider four aspects when we study changes:
1 Reasons for language change
2 Examples
3 Processes
4 Attitudes to language change

To help you when you come to revision it is a good idea to build your own list of examples of new words, which you can arrange under topic headings such as technology or fashion, or according to the way the new words have been formed.

Keep aware of the sometimes heated debates about language change in the media as well as the calmer responses from academics such as David Crystal and Jean Aitchison. Radio programmes can be helpful if you can get Listen Again or a new series - check out Fry's English Delight and Word of Mouth. The Word of Mouth discussion board often has some lively expression of opinions about language change and can be useful for examples.