Language Change

Prescriptivism vs Descriptivism
What am I learning today?

• Know about the prescriptivism vs descriptivism debate

• Understand how the debate is relevant today
• Analyse your own position in the debate
How can I succeed today?

• A/A* - evaluate and challenge views, approaches and

interpretations of linguistic issues
• B - identify and comment on different views, approaches and
interpretations of linguistic issues
• C - show detailed knowledge of linguistic ideas, concepts and
research
Do you know what these words mean?

• Sozzled • Yonks
• Cad • Lush
• Bonk • Tosh
• Wally • Swot
• Betrothed • Brill
• Nincompoop • Kerfuffle
• Trollop • Randy
• Bounder • Disco
• Balderdash • Minted
• Henceforth
Do you know a nincompoop from a wally? The words that mean
nothing to under-30s including 'bounder', 'sozzled' and 'trollop' 

If you tell a drunk youngster they're 'sozzled' and get a puzzled look, refrain from
calling them a 'wally' or a 'nincompoop'.
They probably won't have a clue what any of those words mean.
In fact they might think you're talking 'balderdash', except they probably wouldn't
call it that... as it's yet another expression many young Britons wouldn't recognise.
If you tell a drunk youngster they're 'sozzled' and get a puzzled look, refrain from
calling them a 'wally' or a 'nincompoop'.
They probably won't have a clue what any of those words mean.
In fact they might think you're talking 'balderdash', except they probably wouldn't
call it that... as it's yet another expression many young Britons wouldn't recognise.
It found that 40 per cent of those aged 18 to 30 did not know what 'sozzled' meant. 
'Wally' was not know by 36 per cent of young people, while 'nincompoop' fell
outside the vocabulary of 28 per cent of respondents.
Around three in ten (32 per cent) of over 50s in the UK feel it is sad some of these
words are dying out.
Robert Lowth

1762 – Short Introduction to English Grammar

• ‘Who’, ‘which’ and ‘that’ should be used differently. (Who is for
people; which/that for things – which for nonessential clauses and
that for essential clauses)
• ‘Who’ and ‘whom’ should be used differently (Who for the
subject; whom for the object).
• Prepositions should come before the noun.
• The infinitive verb should not be split.
• Multiple negation and multiple comparison is illogical.

A/A* - evaluate and challenge

B - identify and comment
C - show detailed knowledge
 Standardisation
Elinar Haugen, an American linguist, came up with a model to show the four
stages of standardisation. These aren’t strictly chronological.

Selection – The variety selected is usually

prestigious.

Codification – Establishment of norms of

lexis, grammar and spelling.

Elaboration – The language is developed for

a variety of purposes.

Implementation – Texts are made available

in the standard language
A/A* - evaluate and challenge
B - identify and comment
Prescriptivism vs Descriptivism

• Prescriptivism – Looking at the past and seeing current

English usage as showing declining standards. Judgements
are made about regional dialect and sociolectal forms as
being inferior to Standard English.
• Descriptivism – Change is inevitable and necessary and
should be embraced instead of resisted. Variation is valued
and no form of language is seen as being inferior.
Lynn Truss

• Lynn Truss is a journalist

and novelist, who
published a very popular
book about the correct
use of punctuation in
2003.
Features of An Opinion Article

• Written in the first person

• Offer a personal viewpoint on an issue
• Relatively informal tone
• Often use anecdotes
• Often use persuasive devices
• Often explore counter-arguments
• Often use humour
Jean Aitchison

A descriptivist who used metaphors to describe the fears

prescriptivists have about language change:
• Damp-spoon syndrome: Language changes because
people are lazy, like leaving a damp spoon in the sugar
bowl.

• Crumbling castle view: Language is like a beautiful

castle that must be preserved.

• Infectious disease assumption: Bad/poor language is

caught like a disease.
David Crystal

“This is a lesson everyone who studies language

eventually learns. You cannot stop language change. You
may not like it ; you may regret the arrival of new forms
and the passing of old ones but there is not the slightest
thing you can do about it. Language change is as natural
as breathing. It is one of the linguistic facts of life.”
David Crystal

“Language changes and moves in a different

direction evolving all the time. Where a lot of people
see deterioration, I see expressive development.”
 Paper 2 Question 3

Analyse how language is used in Lynne Truss’ article to present

views about language change.
 Paper 2 Question 4

Write an opinion article about prescriptivism and

descriptivism in which you assess the ideas and issues
raised by Lynn Truss and David Crystal. You should refer to
ideas from language study and argue your own views.
[30 marks]