Unit 7.4: Language Change Theories

This theory theory focuses on the changes to English that result from the influence of different Englishes

Focuses on the globalisation of the language as one variety of English is influenced by another through contact.

This theory suggests that language change occurs due to the unstable nature of language itself and its users

What is a lexical gap?

‘Dribble’ is a word and ‘Drobble’ is not. Unlike ‘Drrbblle’ which would be a difficult sound. This is an example of...

the word ‘like ’ has been used to mean a comparison between things . However it is used as a filler in American English

People pronounce words in a particular style which spreads and becomes seen as the desirable form of discourse.

Change starts in a limited way and accelerates more as people begin to adopt these changes,before leveling off over time

This graph is an illustration of...

According to the wave model, many languages in existence can be traced back to a smaller number, or protolanguage.

The spread of misspelled words on social media is an example of random fluctuation theory.

A theory is an An educated guess based on research

Adapting one's language for social gain can be considered an example of...

The wave model proposes that language features gets weaker(more slowly adopted) as they moves away from its origin.

The word 'cassette' falling out of use is an example of...