Friday 6 March 2015


Referring to text P in detail, and to relevant ideas from language study, analyse the ways language has changed overtime.

Within this text, it can be said that it is aimed at those of parents and who know the experience of having a teenage son/daughter who may have been influenced by the youth culture to use their articulation in a particular way to fit in with the youth group and reduce the feel of exclusion. Its genre is a newspaper article from the Mail online; therefore it would only be accessible to those who have some form of technological advancements.

It is evident within the text that there is a form of divergence within the text. The use of youth language 'phat' meaning cool or great, or 'bait' meaning something very obvious creates a form of divergence through moving away from a certain way of speaking, for example by using standard English to suit the needs of the parents, this is now drifted away and language has now become closer to youth culture and become closer to their way of language.

It is also useful to note that this text could be known as covertly prescriptive. It does not directly tell you what language features within the English language are incorrect, nor does it tell you what the correct way to speak is. It does, however create assumptions that all teenagers speak similarly, through the use of ''words commonly used by teenagers'' and advertising the website 'gotateenager.org.uk' suggests to us that if you have a teenager, they are more likely to become influenced by youth culture, however this can be argued in terms of socialisation, and how they are brought up as individuals. The use of ''remove the language barrier'' almost highlights the fact that youth culture and their language is categorised as a complete different language, which could be argued that this would make teenagers feel as if they are alienated by the rest of society, and isolated through categorising their culture as a complete different thing.

It is useful to note that the use of slang identified such as ‘rents’ rather than ‘parents’ could strongly support Aitchinson’s theory on the ease of articulation. For example, the noun ‘parents’, known as a polysyllabic noun has gradually taken a change, and turned to a monosyllabic term, in this case ‘rents’. Through the use of ease of articulation, this can demonstrate how people are now much lazier to say the full term, and this also includes the influence of technological advancement and the media. As text messages would normally be seen as ‘rents’ society has now therefore made it socially acceptable to realistically say the term face to face. As a result, this signifies my point on ease of articulation, where people now want things in a fast pace, quick with no effort – thus creating more satisfaction for us as human beings.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

LANGUAGE CHANGE TASK:

American English.
Americans are aware of their subconscious use of informality and slang in American English. Recent terms 'boy-toy' in which was populated by those of the powerful within the music industry. We therefore may create language through pop culture and influenced by the media.
Originally, it was used ironically. However, others began to use it on a regular basis
Boy toy - originally may have meant a toy for the male gender. Now can be used ambiguously by the media, singers, etc.

Grammar
Prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns all are cogwheels of the language that make everything else work
'need - verb - meaning to require
It was used first in the 15th century, became more of an auxillary verb as in 'she doesn't need to pay'
An error in grammar can have the ability to function as development within language.

New words
Charity shop - comes back from 1800s. In her station, to create a new word, words come through a wine basket, where people put in suggestions, and they can come from other colleagues, members of the public and she goes and investigates that particular word to see if it can become a new word. once this process is made, it is then published within the Oxford English Dictionary.

Selfie
Taking a photograph of yourself and posting it onto social media websites. However, this word has been challenged by some, as others have found evidence of its use as far back as 2002 in an Australian farm. However, this word has been blended with other words, only using the suffix 'ie'
For example, ''book shelfie'' self for books, 'selfie' was combined in this. Binge watch v. watching a lot of series in one big go.
Show rooming - visiting a shop to examine what they have before buying it at a cheaper price online.


Tuesday 27 January 2015

Recipe analysis:

How language has changed overtime within three different texts:

1: Hannah Glasse, The art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, 1747.

Contextually, this is the oldest piece of text written - as it is a recipe composed within the early 1700s, therefore we expect certain languages features to stand out and sound extremely archaic, and possibly some obsolete features. This is evident within the text, through the use of orthographic spelling. Within this text, it is clear to see that within the English language historically, they replace 's' with 'f', for example 'fmall' 'short' all in which is evident within the text. However, although it was highly common during the 1700s, it has now become obsolete, therefore we do not tend to see this orthographic spelling as the norm of society today. This contextually could be perhaps due to standardization taking place during the late 18th century early 1900s. As dictionaries had been established, we took a more different approach to language and have used the word 's' to describe small, as it may been as phonologically correct by prescriptivists.

Furthermore, it is evident that certain types of words, particularly noun phrases are highlighted in this text, as they all are capitalised. For instance, 'Pepper Corns, Rice, Brown, Coriander' almost demonstrates that there are no compound rules within the late 1700s, and therefore becomes a clear word with no hyphen separating it. However, as language has went through the standardization stage, english has changed significantly.

2: Charles Elme Francatelli, a Plain Cookery: Book for the working classes, 1852

As we look at this recipe, we can see that it was written in 1852. Therefore, standardization has taken place, and this is highly evident through the significant use of 'lessen' whereas in the previous text, this would have been written as 'leffen' however, as mentioned, standardization has removed this and therefore has become obsolete. Archaic words are also evident, such as 'broth' although this word is not frequently used, it is still relevant to the English language today.
Contextually, during the 18th century, the growth and evidence of extended families were highly common, therefore it is likely that this text was aimed for those who are planning to cook for individuala eating with a great amount of family members, in which was seen as traditional. It is evident that this is so due to words associated 'pot' 'fat pot'.
It is interesting to note that the language refers to the third person pronoun 'her' which may symbolize that it is suitable for only women to cook a liquor soup - automatically connects to the stereotypical expression claiming that 'all women belong in the kitchen'
Although cooking may still have connotations of a women producing foods in the kitchen, in modern society the term cooking may refer to any gender, rather than a female.

3: Ainsley Harriott, Meals in minutes, BBC worldwide, 1998.

This is seen as more recent type of recipe. As i look at this recipe, the layout of the recipe has changed significantly over the years, as it is now bullet points in what ingredients you need to buy in order to produce the food correctly.
This recipe is seen as more modern, and, more interestingly, it also states in where you can purchase the products from 'The curry paste  I use is available in most large supermarkets' and is further more specific in how many people is able to be served as well as the preparation in time. This could be that contextually, as people have busy jobs, and with the Equality act being introduced, both men and women now are legally able to maintain full-time jobs, however this can be time restricting and therefore may want to consume food in a much faster process, which is able to do as these new modern recipes allow the reader to be guided in how much time they need to spend.
furthermore, the nutritional scientific information noted below further signify that as a modern society, we may be influenced to look a certain way, and to do so we need to know how much nutrients we consume. By providing the nutritional information at the bottom, this gives clear guidance on the readers intake, which can then allow them to make a decision about whether this recipe is good for them, or not.


As a result of all three texts, the main reason for language changing so significantly is due to globalization taking place, our world is becoming smaller - this is more applicable to the third modern recipe.
LANGUAGE CHANGE TASK:

The following words I will be discussing are where certain words have come from. 

Anorak  -
The word anorak comes from the Kalaallisut word anoraq. It did not appear in English until 1924; an early definition is "gay beaded item worn by Greenland women or brides in the 1930s". 

Barbeque  -
Barbeque derives from the word barabicu found in the language of the Taíno people of Caribbean and the Timucua of Florida, and entered European languages in the form barbacoa. Specifically, the Oxford English Dictionary traces the word back to Haiti, that translates as a "framework of sticks set upon posts".

Barrack -
Barrack, the English word based on an old Catalan word "barraca" (hut), were originally temporary shelters or huts

Blizzard   -
The strongest source of origin was indicated to come from the early settlers of the mid west of the United States especially the states of Iowa and Virginia 
 
  
Bongo
Bongos originated in Cuba around the late 19th century and were created for Latin American dance bands. During this time, bongos were most prevalent in eastern Cuba in a style of Cuban music called Changui and Son. 


Bonsai -
- from Japanese, from bon ‘tray’ + sai ‘planting’.


Boomerang -
early 19th century: from Dharuk

Budgerigar 
  - mid 19th century: of Aboriginal origin, perhaps an alteration of Kamilaroi gijirrigaa 

Bungalow  -
The term originated in India, deriving from the Gujarati બંગલો baṅgalo, meaning "Bengali" and used elliptically for a "house in the Bengal style" 

Chipmunk -
-   alteration of earlier chitmunk, probably from Ojibwaačitamo·nʔ red squirrel
First Known Use: 1832 

Chutney -
The word "chutney" is derived from the Hindi word chatṭnī, meaning to lick. 

Dinghy -
Bengali origin


Accents:

My experience of different accents have been complicated. For instance, I came into the UK when i was 5 years old, and at that time, my mother described my accent as a strong Swedish accent - where I was born. But as I grew up my accent became more of a received pronunciation way of interacting. Possibly because I tend to socialize with many people who spoke in a received pronunciation, therefore my choice of speaking like this, and not choosing to speak in a Bristolian accent created a big effect on my social interaction. 
I would describe my accent as a general, received pronunciation - with the occasional glottal stop, however not frequently. I think this is because as I grew into a teenager, my surroundings were more involved with those who had a strong accent in which involved using the glottal stop frequently. However, as a person, I made a conscious decision to not have the accent of having a strong glottal stop.
I have not been judged because of how I speak. However, as I live in a city where the accent is quite different to mine, people have questioned whether I grew up in specific London areas, as I do not have the accent in which they speak with.
A received pronunciation is considered as the standard form of British English pronunciation, based on educated speech in southern England, widely accepted as a standard elsewhere. 
 

 Article - 'Yes, we are judged on our accents'

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/22/accents-altered-speak 

I have found an article, talking briefly on coming to a conclusion, stating that us, as people are judged on our accents, regardless of where we are born. If we were to have an interview with a institution such as Oxford University, the likely chances are that we would accomodate our speech and converge to the interviewer in order to portray yourself as a well-educated intelligent individual to receive a place. - the same thing the writer of the article had done, trying to conceal her Liverpool accent. 

Tuesday 20 January 2015

A2 LANGUAGE CHANGE

E.gs of words that have gone through semantic change/shifting.


  • 'Lean' (adj)
Etymologic meaning: "thin, spare, with little flesh or fat," c.1200, from Old English hlæne

Firstly, I explored the term 'lean' in which, historically means a person who is seen as thin, emanciated and is deprived of a certain amount of fat in the body - which may be considered unhealthy in today's society. As you look at this word and compare it with today's meaning, 'lean' has ameliorated its meaning completely by taking on to a more positive meaning, as lean now means someone who is considered as healthy, muscular and in some cases, the word has a contribution with the meat type of lean. In today's meaning, lean has taken on more positive connotations and could be a field-specific lexis in terms of healthy eating, dieting and variety of food specific words, whereas with the etymological meaning it was considered someone who was food deprived.

  • Novice
Original meaning: A member of religious  order who has not taken vows yet.
Broadening
Although this word is still used for the same meaning, the word has slightly broadened by using it for many different types of institution rather than religious institutions. for example, you may say that a person is very novice in the engineering industry, as they may have had little or no experience in that particular industry, therefore this word has broadened due to the usage for many other places rather than just religious orders. 
  • Revolutionary
Broadening and amelioration
in the etymology dictionary, the term revolutionary meant someone who favors overthrowing an argument, and in today's contemporary meaning, it means involving or causing a complete or dramatic change, therefore it has broadened. Also it has taken a more positive meaning because now it means starting a revolution for political reasons.

  • Lewd
Perjoration
original meaning: having an official position in the church
Now in todays meaning the term lewd means: crude and offensive in a sexual way. As you can see this term as perjorated as it has taken a more negative meaning through offense and insults in a sexual way, rather than having a position in a church, which may be seen as a type of positional power, rather than insults.