Language Change List of Things to Look For

Discourse

• How is cohesion created?
• Is there evidence of contrasting registers?
• Is there evidence of dialogue or narrative structures? Are there any interpersonal features?
• Is there evidence of different discourse conventions?
• Is there one general viewpoint or several?
• Is the register formal or informal?
• Is there a difference in purpose between the texts or in an older text compared to your knowledge of modern texts?

Pragmatics

• Is the reader expected to recognise and identify with specific societal roles?
• Is the reader expected to share social codes and values?
• Is the reader expected to accept particular roles and responsibilities?
• Is the reader expected to accept particular social attitudes/ cultural assumptions?
• What attitude is expressed about language: prescriptive or descriptive?
• Are assumptions made about the readers’ knowledge and understanding?
• Is there evidence of changing values or ideologies?

Lexis

• Is there obsolete lexis or for old roles and practices?
• Is there archaic language or archaic slang?
• Is the lexis Latinate, or of classical derivation, or polysyllabic or formal? Are the collocations archaic or unfamiliar?
• Are there unusual allusions e.g. classical or religious?
• Are there any unexplained references?
• Are there differing specialist terms?
• Is there evidence of borrowing, clippings conversion, neologisms or coinages?
• Does lexis suggest technological development?
• Are there any emotive overtones to the lexis?
• Is there evidence of colloquial or slang lexis? Is the lexis of Old English origin or short words or informal? *Is it largely intelligible and familiar?
• What influence has technology had?

Semantics

• Identify the semantic fields
• Are there specific connotations, metaphors, innuendo or figurative language?
• Is there evidence of semantic shifts or changes
• Is there any pejoration or amelioration?
• Is there anything significant in the terms of address, are there politeness markers?
• Is there any difference between the texts in the degree of implicitness?
• Is the text accessible and easy to understand?
• Is there any relevance in how much authority the text has?
• Are there examples of special collocations or metaphors?

Grammar

• Are grammar choices formal or informal?
• Does syntax seem outdated? Does it suggest a classical style? Are there any complex or Latinate grammatical structures? Is there any unfamiliar syntax?
• Comment on the verb forms, adverbs, pre-modification.
• Are prepositions used differently?
• Are there differences in conjunctions/punctuation?
• Do the texts use modal auxiliaries? What do they convey?
• Does the text use pronouns for immediacy of address
• Are any questions used without auxiliary verbs?
• Are minor sentences used?
• Are there any variations in sentence length and complexity?
• Is there use of syntactic parallelism or repeated sentence structures?
• Do the texts use the forms of informal speech?
• Does the text use a lot of imperative, declarative, exclamative or interrogative sentences?
• Orthography
• Are capital letters used differently?
• Do texts use different letter forms e.g. the long s
• Are words abbreviated in a familiar way?
• Are there any differences in spelling or punctuation?
• Are there competing or unusual spellings?
• Are spellings similar to modern English?
• Are there approximations of foreign spellings or unusual letter strings for English spelling?
• Are plurals formed differently?
• Does the spelling in the texts relate to your knowledge of standardization?
• Are conventions related to technology?

Graphology

• How are fonts used, for example - to assist discourse structure/for emphasis?
• How are illustrations used?
• Are there different design or layout conventions, for example - bar code, price and logo slogans?
• Is there a greater use of graphological devices to signal text structure, for example - space-shifting, textboxes, bullet points; or systematic, colour coded layout, headings.

Context

• What sort of societal roles are implied?
• How does the text position the reader?
• What are the shared social values?
• What attitudes to the text are assumed?
• Is there an authoritative tone?
• Is there a religious context assumed?
• Is there an assumption about the reader’s education?
• Is there evidence of a prescriptivist attitude?
• What principles are assumed to be self evident, true or desirable?
• What stage of language development is exemplified in the text?
• Is the use of language very specific to this type of text or can you generalise?

Other Issues

• Situational as well as temporal variation.
• What can be assumed about the audience and how the text is read e.g. is the text intended to be read aloud?
• What is the social and linguistic context?
• Can you find any relationship to key/landmark texts you are aware of? (e.g. Lowth’s grammar; Johnson’s dictionary)
• What evidence does it supply about attitudes to language change?
• What evidence is there of attitudes to gender, class and ethnicity?
• What evidence is there of the society’s different technologies and priorities?
• What sort of situation produced this text? What are the genre conventions of this text?
• What sort of priorities is does the author/audience seem to have?
• Can you make connections with other texts you have seen?
• Does it reflect specific economic or scientific priorities of the time?
• What comparisons can you make to modern texts/use of language?
• Does the text represent the views of a particular section of society?

Research coverage

• Stronger answers will place the text within a sociolinguistic and socio-cultural perspective.
• Some students will be able to make connections between this text and other texts they have encountered.
• There may be references to other developments relevant to language change including those in education, economic development and popular culture.
• Can you show differences in situational as well as temporal variation- you are aware of how the situation in which this text is produced influences the language as well as when it was produced.

Temporal variation

• Technological context e.g. relatively unsophisticated print methods of older texts.
• The more Informal and conversation style of modern texts.
• Change in attitudes towards language: grammatical preoccupations of previous years, compared with communicative competence model of modern texts.