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.

Homework - comparative analysis.
What language differences are there of the transport cafe menu and the hotel menu?

The texts I have looked at are the Menu B, while discussing its lexical features, and text A (Wayfarer cafe)

Text B involves a menu in which its vocabulary tends to be in a more formal, and sophisticated context, therefore the audience could perhaps be those who are generally in formal situations and has experience in dealing sophisticated cuisine type of expressions due to its high level of vocabulary. Whereas in contrast text B could mainly be aimed at Looking at the menu, there happens to be a great number of noun phrases, such as 'peeled prawns' in which gives the reader a greater imagination of the food, as well as giving a type of impact that would allow them to read on further, We can see that the text involves a great amount of cuisines, therefore it is obvious that the text maintain the lexical field of food, similar to text B which also maintains the lexical field of food, however the different types of food advertised on the menu happen to be slightly contrasting. for example, text B maintains more northern traditional food in which a reader may arrive into a shop and generally take the food away and contextually may cost slightly cheaper, whereas within the Text A - it shows a more variety of complex filled foods in which have been described in a more sumptuous and elegant way, in which would generally be more expensive and be in a setting in which you may have to book seats formally. The graphological aspects are a key too within text A and B. In text A, it is seen that the use of capitalization have been utilized in order to perhaps attract the local readers, whereas in text B it has utilized a more formal, italic type in order for readers to receive a great first impression of the restaurant.

Homework.

Telegraphic speech: Sophie at 2 years and four months.
This is known, according to linguists, is the speech during the two word stage of child language acquisition in children, which is laconic and efficient, Within my transcript, it shows a girl called Sophie who begins within the telegraphic stage. This telegraphic stage contains many three or four word sentences, however, grammatically - this is seen as accurate as her syntactic structure is accurate. Examples include ''read that'' which contextually, could perhaps mean read a book, in which she is mentioning to her care-giver. Sometimes, during this stage, sophie begins to form links within the words. The consistent incorrect use of the possesive pronoun creates a sense that children who are at the age of two years and four months tend be more ego-centric.This is evident within the text as sophie utilises this through the use of the possesive pronoun 'me' rather than the pronoun 'I'.  During this stage, sophie is only using two words at a time, they are still able to put the words in an order that closely resembles the order in which the words should be in a fully-formed sentence.

As sophie is the age of two years, she is also learning to acquire speech Emergence. Similarly to the two word stage of language acquisition, sophie will display the ability to construct simple phrases and communicate basic ideas. Sophie's comprehension improves greatly, but production will still be low, and basic. This is the stage in which grammar errors occur frequently and sentences structure is not always accurate. Nevertheless, she will be able to communicate thoughts and ideas and she can therefore respond effectively to more advanced questions like “why…” and “how…”. 

Sophie begins to develop more complex phrases with multiple words which is much more evident by the age of three years and two months - this is also commonly known as the post-telegraphic stage. Sophie can therefore better define items and personal belongings by combining two words at a time, such as 'can I borrow your corder' For example, sophie may point to a car and say “mommy car”, communicating that either sophie thinks that is her mother’s car or it actually is.

Language investigation ideas:

My initial idea for my language investigation was to investigate the use of code switching, amongst my home which is mainly a multi-lingual environment. Because of this, it has given me the opportunity to record data of my mother code switching from English, to multiple of languages, as she is able to speak four fluent languages. Therefore, I have decided to investigate on how she code switches, what particular words she uses in English and what she translates this into, etc. It is also essential to focus on how particular words she uses gives us a different interpretation and meaning of its original meaning, and why is so. This will all be analysed within my investigation.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZatrvNDOiE&feature=related

This main clip contains a section of the Horizon documentary, talking about, in detail, how individuals and particularly children learn the way they stimulate their minds and use language. and most importantly, learn the way they utilize language within their speech. It takes thousands of thoughts and decisions every time a child begins to communicate, and this is because they maintain a unique ability (as we all do) that defines us as humans. Within this clip, Deb Roy successfully developed a Speech Home Project. The speech home project is an experiment to test Deb Roy's son's development of language, which was recorded for a great amount of time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsaqD9FVRsM&feature=relmfu

this clip explains brifely about how different children pick up language features, however in different stages within their life. According to the clip, children will be able to learn an incredible 3000 words every year, and this is due to the stimulation that children have during their times of learning language within the home, as well as communication from their care-givers. This process tends to be a more natural process, rather than being told what to do at a young age. Theorists say if we get told me to do something, we will never learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oimnxkEj4ns&feature=relmfu

This clips explains a man who suffered a stroke. which resulted in difficulties in speaking, as well as responding to certain questions. this is because during his stroke, a part of the man's brain had stopped functioning, which is vital for speech. He is told to describe a picture that contained general pictures. The man had the ability to do so, however he suffered some difficulties as he kept being asked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTbI-G42JoY&feature=relmfu 

This clip explains a man who has the ability to remember a variety of words, that means different things within different languages, and has the ability to remember words and sentences in different languages. He is given a set of words to memorize in a certain language and is then told to recap them speaking English, which shows that different people who may have speech difficulties are still able communication in an incredible way. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmsQJfyVrr0&feature=relmfu 

This clip explains how birds are able to communicate, in terms of sounds, however not in words. it has made a somewhat 'unattractive' noise. When the research is compared to the bird's sound and the generation, each new generation of birds didn't imitate the sounds of their fathers, they also improved it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqs-jKSdj8Y&feature=relmfu 

this clip also explains that we may have been physically be able to speak, but linguists believe that it is more likely that the birth of language is coincided with the proliferation of man made objects about 50,000 years ago.

Horizon Notes:

Name of particular gene:

FOX P2

The FOXP2 transcript was found to be expressed throughout the human body during early development, especially in the brain. The protein encoded by the FOX P2 gene has also been located in a number of species in addition to humans. 

Within this gene, our ability to speak is made up in our DNA. And as a result of this discovery, it shows as a great amount of evidence that can back up Chomski's theory, which shows that we are born with Language Acquisition Device. He further claims that children must be stimulated in order to speak, it is not nature, nor is it nurture, it is both.

In terms of corrections, a person must never say that a child's syntactic structure and grammatical sentences are incorrect or a mistake, you must always refer it as an error within the particular grammar. 

~This idea that language develops consciously happens over a period of time, according to certain theorists. Furthermore, language articulates unconsciously in a simple way.

Language and Power

Influential power: Influential Power – Is when the Person does not have power and they are trying to gain influence over you, an example would be an advertisement as they are trying to gain power over you to buy their product. 
A main theorist that would link to this would be Fairclough. He further claims that advertisements create the use of synthetic personalisation, which is a 'trick' to ensure that despite the fact that advertising is received en masse, readers feel that they are being addressed individually by a warm, and personable addresser, through the use if the second person pronoun 'you' in order to further establish a relationship between the reader and the writer. 
e.g - L'Oreal, 'Because you're worth it' the use of ' the second pronoun allows the reader to think in their minds that they are being addressed individually and therefore are more likely to buy it through the manipulation of the second person pronoun, as because once an individual gives in to buy this product, contextually L'Oreal will therefore earn more money to their company as people become more influenced and purchase it.

Instrumental power - 

Instrumental Power – When the Person already has power over usually due to authority or law, example would be a teacher in a classroom.

There are power structures in education, from nurseries to universities, but these are often concealed from those who are subject to them. Schools often produce codes or summaries or lists of rules, but these may have only a local or relative force, since the school itself is subject to laws that protect the interests of different groups.

In terms of CLA, parents tend to hold power over their children, as is the parents who have more knowledge (knowledge tends to be a form of power as a person may use this on another participant to make them feel subordinate/inferior) on the grammatical structure of sentences, as well as using verbs, nouns and determiners in the correct order, including interrogatives, imperatives, etc. 
However, influential power may not always work, for example. If a child had been asked to stop playing with certain toys, for their own safety in a subtle, warm voice through the use of a polite imperative, the child is likely to continue doing so. However, once this child has been told in a straightforward imperative through discipline, the child is likely to listen. 

BROWN AND LEVINSON - Face threatening act.
Positive politeness strategies are intended to avoid giving offense by highlighting friendliness. These strategies include juxtaposing criticism with compliments, establishing common ground, and using jokes, nicknames,honorifics, tag questions, special discourse markers(please), and in-group jargon and slang.