There are a number of common threads running through language change. Describe the most important ones and illustrate with examples using your knowledge of systematic frameworks.

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There are a number of common threads running through language change.

Describe the most important ones and illustrate with examples using your knowledge of systematic frameworks. (400)

Changes in the language that we use arouse strong emotions, with examples of change often seized upon as confirmation that standards in society are falling.  Others argue that change is inevitable, and that we should focus on how language is changing rather than make judgements about how good or how bad these changes are.

Hostility to language change is not surprising.  Each generation tends to regard its tastes, habits, and values superior to those of succeeding generations.

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Prescriptivism became firmly established in the 18th Century, when there were strenuous efforts to standardise the language.  Books of grammar set out numerous rules and sought to define correct and incorrect usage.  The rules of the 18th Century grammarians found their way into school textbooks, and may are still taught today.  In fact, many of the complaints about defining standards of grammar in present day English are concerned with breaches in these rules.

For example, the use of double infinitives in ‘I don’t know nothing about that’.  These were once perfectly acceptable in English (Chaucer/Shakespeare) and sentences containing them are ...

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