CAXTON’S PRINTING PRESS 1476
Upper case and lower case characters
came from the position they were on the board before they were took out to
print. Printing press inspired the pursuit of globalization and helped make our
language a global language. “Because he couldn’t hope to print in all of the
different dialect from geographical locations, he was the driving force of standardization” – Stephen Fry.
DAVID CRYSTAL ‘LINGUISTIC ECONOMY’
Older newspapers had more language
with more complicated syntax and low frequency lexis, whereas language now is
to get the point across so the maximum number of people can understand it. A
key example of this is twitter and its 160 character limit, which will bring in
more abbreviations than before or on Facebook, where there isn’t a limit.
LATINATE LEXIS
Religious, medical and language
related to law all are mostly Latinate lexis. This is explained by the high
level of power that was associated with them and the high level of education
that they received.
ANGLO-SAXON LEXIS
Anglo-Saxon lexis has a lot of
monosyllabic lexis, and this is often associated with the lack of education
they had. However the Anglo-Saxon community communicated mainly for things they
needed therefore all that were needed was simple language. Today the majority
of our high frequency lexis is Anglo-Saxon and the majority of low frequency
lexis is Latinate.
PRESCRIPTIVISM
Believes that language should be
‘pure’ and therefore would be against language change. It rejects non-standard
language such as slang and local dialect.
DESCRIPTIVISM
Describes the nature of language
change without judgement. Language change is seen as part of the progress of
language and that language is worthy of study and recognition wherever it is
used. “Language must either evolve or wither away” – Sarah Churchwell, The
Guardian.
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