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Linguistics 310
Final Flashcards
39
Language - English
Undergraduate 2
05/07/2013

Additional Language - English Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
FINAL REVIEW:
List at least 3 language developments that separate Middle English from Modern English.
Definition
* The Great Vowel Shift
* Thou (informal) v. You (formal)
* “Do” and different uses as time passes
* Possessive marker (‘stones’ and ‘stone his’), Plural Marker, 3rd person singular
* inflection (-s)
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Description of the Great Vowel Shift:
Definition
* When it took place: 1500-1700 Modern English period
* Time Span:
* Changes: A shift up and affects long vowels
i:----- dipthongs
\
e:
\
E:
\
a:
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
The approximate span of the early modern English period:
Definition
1500-1700 (200 years)
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
What are inkhorn terms? What does their use suggest about early modern English speakers’attitudes toward their native language?
Definition
* Inkhorn terms are newly coined words that are anglicised.
* They were French & Latin words that were being transformed.
* This suggests that educated & higher class people used them.
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Describe the thou/you distinction during the early modern English period.
Definition
Thou (infromal) was used for the social inferior but was dropped & you (formal) took over.
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Briefly describe the prestige (or lack thereof) of each of the following early modern English dialects:
North
South
West
Definition
* North: Shepherd’s Calendar & Spencer. Archaic. ROMANTICISED & Old words used in a POETIC DIALECT.
* South: Standard & the language of court, it was the most sophisticated.
* West: For the ignorant and clown figures. NO EDUCATION. Negative.
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Describe the linguistic nature of 18th century correspondences. What are the benefits of the letters to historical linguists? What difficulties do they pose?
Definition
* Letters were written formally because people thought everyone would see it.
* The nature is artistic.
* Difficulties: Rhetorical strategy, linguists can’t get an idea of what informal language looked like
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Describe spelling standardization and practice during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Definition
* Spelling is not standardized.
* The difference between formal, public, printed documents, and letters to friends was casual. Printers created a more standardized spelling for words.
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
What is a linguistic “shibboleth”? Give at least one example of a 19th century English shibboleth.
Definition
* A word or pronounciation that sets you apart from the standard

ex: Dropping the 'h' at the beginning of the word made you look ignorant
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Explain how technological advances during the 19th century give rise to greater standardization of the English language.
Definition
* Telegraphs
* voice recordings
* telephones
* steam powered printing press (allowed more people to afford papers)
* 1870 reform: education available to everyone so more people learned how to read and write.
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
What shift in the general attitude of English speakers around 1700 can be used to distinguish between early modern and contemporary English?
Definition
Contacts with other countries, exploration, and colonialism, decrease in insecurity towards English because it was now seen as THE language.
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Describe the historical and social circumstances that result in word-borrowing from such places as Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, and the Americas from the 16th century onward.
Definition
Trading and England colonized. Spread of the empire. Words were needed to describe the items that they were not familiar with so they were borrowed.
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Discuss the occasions which give rise to pidgins and creoles, as well as the difference between the two.
Definition
Pidgin: when two people meet and they use a simplified language; Preliminary needed to communicate. When two people have a need to communicate doing the best they can.
Creole: native language of pidgin. A language in its own right.
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Which 20th century events lead to the development of English as an important world language?
Definition
* The Great Wars: WWI & WWII.
England, America, & Allies were victorious.
* Globalization.-international organizations conducted in English
* Cold War: Capitalist v Communists
* English was dominant after the crash of the Soviet Union
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Give three categories that can be used to describe different “Englishes” in use around the world.
Definition
* Professional: i.e. legal, medical, religious
* Geographical: i.e. Indian English, American English, British English
* Ethnic: English Stand
* Hybrid: Combos: i.e. Spanglish
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
What late 20th and 21st century technological and social developments continue to influence the development of the English language?
Definition
* Computers
* Internet
* Icons
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
List at least three characteristics of the southern American dialect.
Definition
* Monophthongization of Dipthongs
* Dropping the “g”
* Cot/Caught merge
* Pin/Pen merge
* Double modals
Term
FINAL REVIEW:
Describe the pin/pen merger.
Definition
* ONLY in the South
* NOT in the north, northeast, or appalachia.
* Pronounces the word the same
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
List the case, number, and gender designations thought to have existed in Proto Indo-European (PIE) nouns/adjectives/pronouns.
Definition
Case:
* Nominative - Subject
* Dative - Indirect Object
* Accusative - Direct Object
* Instrumental - has "by"
* Genitive - possessive
* Vocative - talking to directly
* Locative - place
* Ablative - out of/away from

Number:
*Singular
* Dual (2)
*Plural

Gender:
* Masculine
* Feminine
* Neuter
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
List three qualities of the Germanic branch of languages that set it apart from other Indo-European language families.
Definition
* Stress on first syllable
* Past & Present tense
* Grimm’s Law- sound change (b,d,g---> p,t,k)
* Weak/Strong Verbs
- Weak - walk/walked
- Strong - sing/sang/song (internal vowel shift
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Explain why related words for “bee” and “beech” among the Indo-European languages suggest that PIE could not have originated in Asia, as previously believed.
Definition
These words suggest that Proto-Indo European could not have originated in Asia because there are no bees or beech trees on that continent.
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Describe the difference between internal and external causes of language change
Definition
* Internal change example: Grimm’s Law- grammatical w/ the internal vowel shift
* External change: the Hundred Years’ War, Viking Invasions, the Norman Conquest. Mainly caused by contact with others borrowing of words and picking up new pronunciations.
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Give the approximate date ranges for Old English and Middle English use.
Definition
* Old English: 450-1150 AD
* Middle English: 1150-1500
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
List the four cases of Old English. What sentence function does each case represent?
Definition
* Nominative- subject
* Accusative- direct subject identifier
* Dative- indirect subject identifier
* Genative- possesion
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Explain the difference between weak and strong Old English verbs.
Definition
* Strong: A vowel inside the verb is changed to mark the tenses. (swim, swam)
* Weak: preterite is formed by adding a termination (danced, to dance)
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Is Old English a synthetic or an analytic language? Explain why.
Definition
Synthetic Language because its grammatical function is primarily derived from inflections rather than word order.
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
List the three languages whose impact on the English language has been the greatest. Explain approximately when and how each language came into contact with English.
Definition
Latin:
* Continental Contact (Pre 5th-century contact with Latin in Europe)
* Germanic invasion of England (5th century contact with Latin speaking Celts)
* Augustine's mission (798; brings the roman alphabet

Norse:
* Viking Invasions (897-11th century)

French:
* 1066 Norman Conquest
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Describe how lexical borrowings can indicate the relationship between two peoples with different native languages. Give examples of English words with French, Latin, or Norse roots to demonstrate.
Definition
* They spoke about everyday topics and started to borrow common words
* French borrowings- political, food words, fashion, venison, government
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
What was King Alfred’s influence on the use of the vernacular in pre-Conquest England?
Definition
Educational reforms translated into vernacular
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Explain why the standardization of written language was not possible during the Old English period and most of the Middle English period.
Definition
* With lack of communication and very slow communication due to slow postings
* Lack of education, different styles of writing for scribes
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Explain how linguists have reconstructed the dialectical situation during both the Old and Middle English periods of England. Describe any limitations on the data used.
Definition
Look at manuscripts and study the spelling- dialects are closer to the way words are spelt
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Is Middle English a synthetic or an analytic language? Explain why.
Definition
Analytic- grammatical change due to syntax, word order matters
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
List three changes that mark the transition from Old English to Middle English. What events or situations brought about these changes?
Definition
1. loss of inflection
2. printing press
3. New inflections>”s”> pluralization, 3rd person singular
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
List three differences between Northern and Southern Middle English dialects.
Definition
North:
* Plural = s/es
* 3rd Person Singular -s
* She

South:
* Plural = -en
* 3rd Person singular = -e(d) <-- phonetically pronounced "eth"
-Heo
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Describe the presence of French in England after the Norman Conquest. Who spoke it? In which social contexts was it used?
Definition
* First class speaks French:
* social context-> court, government, church
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Describe at least three factors that motivated the English language’s development into a language of prestige after the Norman Conquest.(1417)
Definition
* Hundred Year Wars- French as enemies
* Nobles- raised in English
* Chaucer-authoritative user of language- writes in English
* people begin to become embarrassed about French pronunciation
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Name at least three historical events that led to the rise of the middle class during the late medieval period.
Definition
* Plague
* peasants revolt
* protestants/Lollard movement
* printing press
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
How did the introduction of movable type to England affect the process of standardization in the fifteenth century?
Definition
More people accessing written works/externalize
Term
MIDTERM REVIEW:
Caxton's Story!
Definition
* about “eggs” and “eyren” and what it reveals about language practices & attitudes during the medieval period.
* Each came from a different English dialect.
* Someone was asking for “eggs”, but the person could not understand them until they said “eyren”
* This has more to do with the different dialects and anxiety over problems of communication
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