...Language Change Shawntell M. Warr English 380 August 5, 2013 Dr. Jean LeGrand Language Change Over years cultures evolve. One aspect of a culture is how people communicate. Language is a part of how people communicate and words change over time. Language provides another means for people express themselves. The words used people and so are their meanings. As children, people learn to talk and which words to use to get their ideas across. As they mature they learn more complex ways of expressing thought. As language changes over time people have to adapt. Words not only change locally, but also learned some words take on an international meaning. Many words’ meanings has spread internationally and become a part of another culture’s language. As time progresses the meaning of certain words changes. Today the word “dude” is slang for a male. In the 1800s “dude” “referred to a dandy-ish sort of doofus” (Peters, 2010). It mocked a man for the way he dressed or spoke. The term began as a way to make fun of a person, but later took a different form in the west. It referred to “a non-westerner or city dweller who tours of stays in the west of the United States” (Peters, 2010). . In the 20th century, “dude” took on another meaning. The African American community turned the word into slang. It meant cool, or simply “the boys” or “fellas.” As the sixties approached the term became associated with a cool person and embraced by surfers. Many people can see...
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...Norse verb nigla = "to fuss about small matters". It is cognate with "niggling", meaning "petty" or "unimportant", as in "the niggling details". 'Niggardly' is sometimes thought to be related to 'nigger', with unfortunate consequences. This is despite the fact that “Niggardly” means parsimonious or stingy and is derived from the Old Norse language. “Niggardly,” as you will thankfully already know or will doubtless be relieved to hear, is not related to the Latin word for black “niger” and thus is in no way connected to the deeply pernicious, pejorative racial epithet known in common parlance as the n-word. The fact that from the 1950s onwards the word usage has dramatically declined would suggest that it corresponds with the ever increasing use of “political correctness”, the idea that the first five letters of such a word would be deemed a racial slur, often deters the use of it and so it and it’s noun “niggard” rarely exists in written literature nowadays. The word homosexual brings about not only a change in language but a change in views, opinions and outlooks. Prior to the 19tyh century, no official word existed in the English language to describe a homosexual orientation. Indeed, the whole concept of 'heterosexual bisexual and homosexual' is a relatively new one, because of this, the word wouldn’t have been used often, due to its connotations and the idea that homosexuality, in those times, was something to be condemned. However, nowadays homosexuality is widely viewed...
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...Introduction to Language Structure Lecturer: Ms. Hurlock 25 November 2015 The Process of Language Change How complicated and confusing it would be if you were to go to a different country that speaks a different language and you tried to buy something. Would the price of the item be clear to you, perhaps not? May be you would be able to figure it out with gestures, however it would still be challenging. We are able to go to a country that speaks a different language and still get through because of familiarity with the language, using gestures or simply having someone there having knowledge of both languages to interpret and lower the barrier. Language changes overtime and it can be a good thing; as it helps us to exchange business and services with other countries and even within our own. If language did not change through out the ages there would have been a greater language barrier than the present one. The process of language change occurs, so that people may communicate effectively in spite of their different understanding and pronunciation of a language. For example, the free variation associated with ‘tomato’; some pronounce it as [ ] and others voice it as [ ]. Though in different countries the word(tomato) may be spelt the same way, it may also have its own unique pronunciation of the word. For this reason the process of language change is important, in order to understand different languages, adapt to languages, pronunciations...
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...Psychology Project 1 The Change of The English Language Dmitry Shkolnik Tesst College of Technology In the course of human language, it becomes necessary for people to create or redefine, words or phrases to express an object or an action; and to assume, among society, the acceptance and usage of these words and their definitions, in one’s own language, or idiolect. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind, requires that Americans should recognize slang adopted into language. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that language is expression of thought, in the form of speech or written symbols, that have agreed-upon meanings. That, many large speaking languages contain dialects, or other versions of languages within a community, that are different in some aspects of grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary. That, because language is a form of one’s own ideas and expression, everyone possesses his or her own individual language, or idiolect. That, not only does perception change language, but that language changes perception. That, through the course of history, idiolects have shaped dialects, which have shaped language, which in turn, have shaped concepts. Conservatives, indeed, will dictate that languages will follow a narrow path toward a standard language. And accordingly, expression will follow the rules and guidelines that limit thought, rather than the ability to rethink old vocabulary and enrich new ones. When we speak, write...
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...modern day audience would consider non-standard. However, to an 18th century audience, the grammar used is evidently standardised as there is clear pattern throughout. One example of how language has changed is through the implementation of standard capitalisation. Whilst it is now used for the onset of sentences and proper nouns, the text shows it being used for both proper and abstract nouns, an example of this being “Blow”, in the declarative, “having received a sever Blow”. The capitalisation here is used to add emphasis and focus the reader’s attention on the lexeme. The focus works as a persuasive device in Preston’s favour as it adds to the severity of the action, making him seem like the victim in the situation. This links to the mode of the text as it is a transcribed version of his spoken testimony, intended to persuade the reader of his innocence. A further grammatical change is the use of irregular past tense verbs. The newspaper article, written using a narrative style uses both directed and reported speech. Reported speech indicates that the author must be telling the story in past tense. However, the article states how “two soldiers were attacked and beat”. The past participle nowadays would be “beaten”, indicating how the standardisation of language has resulted in a change of suffix’s in order to indicate the tense. Furthermore, in terms of grammar, the article is written wholly using compound and complex sentence structures. This is due to the purpose of the...
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...Do languages help mould the way we think? Language, according to number of researches, is the main means of communication, and while people regard themselves as social beings, it is essential to cooperate properly in the society. It is general knowledge that every single culture has its own, characteristic for this particular society customs as well as language. The language of every society reflects its, individual features. Therefore, the way in which language is used and the entire context depends on the society, again. The question that arises is whether it is the lingo that changes our way of thinking or maybe our way of thinking changes the language we use? Every human being’s way of thinking and behaviour stems from the society one lives in. it all has its beginning in a family a person lives with. A child repeats sounds, words and observes certain patters of behaviour. All those elements become obvious for the child to be used in particular situations. The infant starts using different phrases in situations he or she noticed them. While observing their family members and other people, the child encounters different social situations and learns in what way one should react or behave. Another vital aspect to be mentioned is the fact that language is only a tool to communicate in the world we live in. Every single world’s language is used for the same purpose; to exchange some information. The aim of using language is unchanged in each culture, however...
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...Sexism, Language and Society In this paper, I will write about my point of view of how society changes language in order to become sexist refers to discrimination against women. Since a long time ago, women were treated with discrimination by men and society because of their attitudes. In society, it is possible to say that women are known as the weaker sex, men are the stronger sex. Sometimes sexist language can offend people but the issue is that people, especially men, are free to use language in an inadequate way. Besides, society is the responsible of how men treat verbally women because if society permits this kind of behavior in men, it cannot not be avoid for women or other people against that. For instance, we realize about this when a girl is growing up and her parents tell her that she cannot do the same things or jobs as men, and also she is being educated to be a mother and a wife. Women are not maids, women are also part of the society and they can do and say whatever they want. Another example of how language is being changed by society is when men say uncomfortable phrases or words to a woman. There are many men that used animal words to refer a women or a kind of food to say bad things. Women are treated as sex symbol evenmore when a woman has beautiful attributes. Men use offensive words to say that this woman is beautiful; they think this is the way to love or pretend a woman. Language sometimes is seen an art of communication but not at all, because...
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...understanding of yourself, of individual, and of the world? Peter Skrzynecki’s Immigrant Chronicle, Gail Tsukiyama’s Night of Many Dreams and the website www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au broaden the understanding of individuals and of the world through exploring the notion of time, experience and change in differing perspectives. This is evident through the way language techniques and visual features are manipulated to create meanings. The presentation of time as a fundamental component of a physical journey has greatly extended the perception of individuals and the world. In Immigrants at Central Station, 1951, time predetermines an individual’s fate and future. “While time ran ahead along glistening tracks of steel” supports this idea. “Tracks of steel” is a metaphor for the journey that the immigrants are about to undertake. Time is personified and because it is ahead of the immigrants, they have no control over their future journey, and are forced to follow the tracks. In Crossing the Red Sea, Skrzynecki uses different time periods of the day to contrast the monotonous reality of the immigrants’ dreams. “The day break took away the magic of dreams” depicts this idea through different language techniques. “The magic of dreams” implies their wonderful hopes which appear in their unreal visions at night. “Daybreak” is a metonymy for reality and it is personified to create an imagery of the immigrants’ dreams being snatched away by veracity and daylight. In the genuine world, they...
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...Soc 105 Sunday Oct 5 2014 “The Real Eve” “The Real Eve” was the documentary, which was about the root of human, the ancestors, which was explain where we came from, and why people all over the world like African, Asian, or European were so different from skin, hair color, or our appearances. Based on the evidences –hand drawings, human bones –which were found by the researchers, they predicted that Africa might the place where human was first discovered. About 150,000 years ago, before B.C, people knew how to hunting and picking fruits to survived. Due to the weather changed and other external factors, they had moved to other places around the world where they found new ways to adapt to the new changes and environment. For example, because of the reasons such as not having food or weather changing, people from Africa moved to Yemen and India later. The scientists believed that it was the first immigration in our history of human based on what they found on the cave through pictures of hand drawings and stoned tools. People continued to immigrant to another places because of the harsh conditions and lacking of food. Scientists found that because of the sea level was at really low, people from Yemen and Africa could be able to walk across the sea and moved to the new continent. At there, they had to faced with natural disasters such as volcano, earthquake, new animal attacked like snake cobra, they had developed the new ways to survive by catching fish at the ocean. By...
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...Change is both a vital and inevitable part of our lives, and has a powerful effect on people, their perspectives, and the world around them. Through their experiences, many characters in texts such as Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, and the film, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, directed by Mark Herman, undergo various changes and transformations, not only physically, emotionally and intellectually, but also in their understanding and perspectives of the world around them. Studying texts such as these provides the audience with valuable insight into the aspects of changing worlds, perspectives, relationships and selves, which they are then able to relate to their own lives. Characters in both To Kill A Mockingbird and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (hereafter referred to as Mockingbird and Pyjamas respectively) change their attitude to society’s notions of the superiority of certain races and religions over others, creating a valuable moral imperative through the historical nature of the texts. Harper Lee’s Mockingbird is set in the small American town of Maycomb amidst the 1930s civil rights movement, and is centred on Scout’s moral struggle when questioning the racism and discrimination present. At the start of the novel, Scout blindly follows the discriminatory beliefs of society, although as she experiences more of the world for herself, she begins to question the hypocrisy of society, “How can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks...
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...Professional Knowledge and Abilities Rachel Thomas GEN/200 April 11, 2010 Lisa Kempton The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association or ASHA is the professional, scientific and credentialing association for speech and language pathologists, audiologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists in the United States and internationally. ASHA’s vision is to make effective communication, a human right, assessable, achievable for all. ASHA’s mission is to empower and support speech- language pathologist’s audiologists, and speech, language, hearing scientists by: Advocating on behalf of persons with communication and related disorders. Advancing communication science and promoting effective human communication. ASHA started in 1925 under the name national association of teachers of speech. The members of this group became interested in the field of speech correction and wanted to establish an organization to promote scientific, organized work in the field of speech correction. In December 1925 the national association of teachers of speech changed the name of the organization to American Academy of Speech Correction. Since then the organization has had many name changes, but in 1987 they changed the name to American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The organization is still called American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. ASHA can contribute to my professional knowledge and abilities because on their website they have plenty of helpful information. A section...
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...status: 1. Current Family and Significant Relationships (Include strengths, stressors, problems, recent changes, changes desired, and comments on family and relationship circumstances.) 2. Childhood/Adolescent History (Include developmental milestones, past behavioral concerns, environment, abuse, school, social, and mental health) 3. Social Relationships (Include strengths, stressors, problems, recent changes, changes desired, and comments on current circumstances.) 4. Cultural/Ethnic (Include strengths, stressors, problems, recent changes, changes desired, and comments on current circumstances.) 5. Spiritual/Religious (Include strengths, stressors, problems, recent changes, changes desired, and beliefs/practices to incorporate into therapy.) 6. Legal (Include current and previous legal concerns and their impact on behavior, affect, and relationship.) 7. Education (Include strengths, stressors, problems, recent changes, changes desired, and comments on current circumstances.) 8. Employment/Vocational (Include strengths, stressors, problems, recent changes, changes desired, and comments on current circumstances.) 9. Military (Include current...
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...payee line and he endorsed the check. Herrera’s argument was that he did not change the legal efficacy of the check by adding his name to it. The charge against Herrera was forgery. According to the textbook, forgery is defined as falsely making or altering any signature or any writing purporting to have any legal efficacy with the intent to injure or defraud. The portion that applies to this case is that it is also considered forgery when changing a genuine document so that its effect was different from the original. When the check was made payable to cash it makes it a bearer instrument. This makes it payable to anyone possessing the instrument and it is negotiable by transfer alone; the only requirement is delivery. However, when a check is made out to a particular person, it is an order instrument which allows only the intended party to be able to cash it. A key deciding factor in this case depends on whether Herrera changed the efficacy of the instrument through the addition of his name. The textbook states that an instrument cannot be both bearer and order. It is decided that if both are stated it is payable to the bearer aside from certain circumstances. A special endorsement is one of these circumstances; yet, the check did not include the specific language needed to make the check payable to a specific person. Therefore, it is seen that since by adding his name, Herrera did not change the legal efficacy of the check which would make it fraudulent. For this reason...
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...uncertainty that Dharker may feel about identity and the uncertainty that she feels about labelling these people. The lack of rhyme and rhythm may suggest Dharker arguing back and forth the identity of these people and how they are seen by others. Lastly as the author directly links her opinion with the reader and this makes it more to relevant to us and society. Another way Dharker presents her feelings about identity is with the language in the poem. Dharker begins with a blunt image of a terrorist, ‘lurking in the shadows is a terrorist’ this suggests that Dharker feels the same way about these people as the rest of the world and therefore labels them as ‘terrorists’. Dharker further presents her feelings about identity with a question, ‘Is that the wrong description’. This can be seen as Dharker second guessing or asking herself whether her identification was right. Dharker then uses a range of names to describe the changing ideas of these people, ‘guerilla warrior’ ’hostile militant’ ’martyr’. This suggests that the identity of these people may change depending on the situation and the context, Dharker may be trying to show her feelings on identity through this as she refers to them with a different name in each stanza. The word shadows help to present Dharker’s feeling about identity as it has two main connotations. One being a cloud of deceit and lies that people may be told in order to believe the names...
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...Name: Course: Date: Instructor: Societal Norms vs. Change People tend to stick to what they know, what has been normal and passed down to them from generations and apply these things to their own lives. Communities are simply afraid of change and afraid of the way it may affect their ways of living for the worst. Change will always affect different people and communities differently, whether it is positively or negatively. Following old traditions within small communities has both costs and benefits. The question is whether or not change could overcome both the benefits and costs of following old traditions within the community. According to Nancy Scheper-Hughes, an anthropologist and the author of The Anthropological Looking Glass, communities, such as small villages from Ireland like Ballybran, need to accept change to be able to learn the more modern ways of looking at situations. Scheper-Hughes critiques the Irish villager’s ways of living and, whether or not she actually noticed, compares this village to American way of living. Villages such as Ballybran may have a different way of living, but this does not necessarily mean it should be looked at as uncivilized or the wrong way, though change may have been a wise choice for the villagers, which Scheper-Hughes was trying to imply. Furthermore, Maxine Hong Kingston, the author of No Name Woman, emphasizes on the risks and effects of change when born into such a strict community such as a woman born into Chinese customs...
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