Growth and Change in the English Language

issue and Change in the English quarrelEnglish is a full-bodied and colorful wording that is never-endingly in flux. The English row has evolved everywhere time, the way all wordss do. As members of a society grow and perplex, so too must the tools they design to go along with each other. As Coulmas points turn out, lyrics ar often said to reflect the social realities of their voice communication communities (1989, p. 2). Since social realities argon constantly shifting, the linguistic communication that reflects them must replace as well. This is particularly real of English. One reason for this is that there are so many variations of the spoken communication itself. In addition, it is such a widely speak language, and it is spoken by batch in all parts of the world. Non-native emiters of English now amount native speakers 3 to1, according to a recent Newsweek report (Power, 2006, par. 4). In addition, non-native speakers of English not unless learn the l anguage, they change it the novel English-speakers arent meet passively absorbing the language theyre shaping it (Power, 2006, par. 5).Changes in Grammar and diction even off among native speakers of English, the language constantly evolves. Language itself leave al iodins the seeds of change, and social circumstances provide fertile ground for their harvest-home and spread (Wolfram,2005, par. 3). We can see this in the grammar and syntax of the language, as well as in the vocabulary. Grammar, for eccentric, has changed gradually over the years. A recent example of this is the need to reflect a juvenile awareness of gender compare. In contemporary usage, instead of al ways utilise the male pronoun, speakers and writers employ a variety of ways to acknowledge the equality between the genders. At times, he or she is used. As an alternative,many times multitude will simply use the plural forms, since they refer to both males and females.Vocabulary changes because new things a re constantly invented, and we need ways to name them, and to put across about them. When new inventions,or new concepts, engender part of our lives, we need to father run-in for them. For example, with the invention of the Internet, new words had to be coined so that people would bring a way of discussing it. And since the influence of the Internet lapses to grow, new words are continually invented, or borrowed, to categorize the many concepts that have be perform pertinent to our lives. Innovation in language is necessary because there is a constant need to name novel objects, processes, and relations, asserts Coulmas (1989, p. 15). The options available to a speech community when it needs a new word for a new idea or invention are limited, however. Coulmas breaks it d receive as follows When a speech community wants to express a concept for which there is no word in its language it can either borrow virtuoso from another language or coin a new one it can, in other words, bo rrow the form and the core or the meaning only(1989, p. 15).English Language from a Linguistic PerspectiveLinguists explain that language, by its very definition, must change and develop overtime in night club to meet the needs of an increasingly complex society. Language is seen by lingual experts as a fluid and constantly evolving tool, one that must adapt in order to continue to meet the needs of the individuals who use it. Occasionally, a language whitethorn suffer a period of stagnation, or it may even go done a period of deterioration. Coulmas discusses this, and explains that languages tend to have a basic resiliency that allows them to get past these periods and continue to develop In the course of history, languages have been known to adapt successfully, thus recovering their full communicative potential after a period of retardation or degeneration (Coulmas, 1989, p. 4).Aitchison explains that human language is a communication musical arrangement used by humans, bu t that it is hardly the only system that exists. different life history forms communicate, too,although their medium is not words. The methods these other life forms use to communicate shift over time to accommodate changes in the needs of those who use it. Human language is no different. Human language is not unequaled among animal communication systems in its tendency to alter itself continuallyasserts Aitchison (2001, p. 95). However, she swiftly points out that it is only recently in the twentieth century that linguists have come to develop plausible theories about the ways in which language changes, and the reasons those changes materialise (Aitchison, 2001, p. 95).One of the pioneers of linguistic research is Labov, whose years of research in the welkin have provided a basic framework for later investigation by other linguists. Labovs studies on language and language change have been enormously influential. His basic premise is that one cannot understand the development o f a language change apart from the social life of the community in which it cash in ones chipss (Labov, 1972, p. 3). This centre that the study of language alone is insufficient the language must be studied deep down the larger framework of the culture it reflects. The conditions of that culture, historically, socially,economically all turn a role in the evolution of that cultures language.In keeping with Labovs theory, Aitchison suggests that language developments happen as a direct consequence of events that occur with in a cultural setting. According to Aitchison, a social trigger is need to ignite a change (2001, p. 98). She then goes on to explain that these changes do not happen at random, but that there are deeper causes at work. She separates these causes as being either natural tendencies or therapeutic changes (p. 98). life corresponding tendencies, she explains, are part of a normal and expected linguistic process. An example of this is the tendency for members of a speech community to drop the final consonants of their words. This has happened in other languages, and it is now happening in English as well(Aitchison, 2001, p. 99). therapeutic changes, on the other hand, are forged by speakers of the language for purposes that may not be initially evident. An example of this is politeness, and the desire to avoid confrontation. military man learn to create constructions that will be less likely to assert up unpleasant interactions (Aitchison, 2001, p. 100).Some changes have overt prestige speakers image certain pronunciations as classy, and they want to talk that way themselves (Aitchison, 2001, p. 96). Speakers of a language consciously and unconsciously become aware of certain levels of speech within their language.In order to advance socially, then, some people adopt the words that are spoken by individuals they perceive to be on a high social level. In so doing, they believe that they will improve their own status. This may work to grea ter or lesser degrees. However, this can also result in other consequences, such as hyper correction Hyper correction, Aitchison explains, tends to occur in fairly formal styles, when people are trying to speak in a careful way,especially if they are insecure, and want to impress those virtually (Aitchison,2001, p. 96).Once a language is no longer capable of growth and change, it dies out. Languages that are no longer used, then, are no longer growing. Languages like Ancient Greek and Latin are examples of this. They are alive only in the sense that they area key to past civilizations, but they are no longer used as a means of communicatory communication. One linguist writes, change is one of the inevitable facts in the life of any language. The only language not in a eternal state of flux isa dead language (Wolfram, 2005, par. 3).English, clearly,is alive and thriving, and it continues to change in ways that were never thought possible. As Power notes, all languages are works i n progress. ButEnglishs globalization, unprecedented in the history of languages, will urge it in ways we can only begin to imagine (2006, par. 6). terminusAs this paper has demonstrated, English is a rich language that is spoken all over the world, by natives and non-natives alike. As such, it is in a constant state of evolution. As members of a speech community grow and develop, their language must grow and adapt along with them. Social realities constantly shift, and language clearly reflects that shift, through grammar and syntax as well as through the vocabulary itself. Linguists describe and explain these changes in a number of ways the discipline of linguistics, much like language itself, is continually evolving and developing as new researchers and new theories come along. English is unique in its ubiquitousness and in its ability to adapt and reinvent itself, and will certainly continue to change and thrive in years to come.Reference ListAitchison, Jean.2001. Language Cha nge. Pps. 95-104 in The Routledge Companion to Semiotics and Linguistics, ed. Cobley, Paul. capital of the United Kingdom Routledge.Cobley, Paul, ed.2001. The Routledge Companion to Semiotics and Linguistics. London Routledge.Coulmas, Florian.1989. Language Adaptation. Pps. 1-25 in Language Adaptation, ed. Coulmas, Florian. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.Labov, William. 1972.Socioloinguistic Patterns. Philadelphia University ofPennsylvania Press.Power, Carla.2006. Not the Queens English. Newsweek internationalist Edition.Accessedon February 14, 2006, fromhttp//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7038031/site/newsweek/Wolfram, Walt. 2005.The Truth About Change. Accessed February 14, 2006, fromhttp//www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/change/change/change