Language Change
• Are computer applications changing our language? • Why do some people reject technology? • Are adults willing to change their language? • Do other cultures want to borrow English computing terms? • Is our knowledge of word meanings out of date? . . . In this chapter on language change, we address these questions first by examining the reasons for change and looking at the various types of change that can occur. We then focus on developments in the language of adults (life-long language learning) and on how language is organized in the minds of speakers. We consider people’s expectations with regard to meanings as well as the process of acquiring new words and meanings. The final part of the chapter deals with the issue of borrowing words from other languages. No one really knows why languages change over time, though a number of possible explanations have been put forward concerning specific instances of change. Historical events can sometimes provide explanations, when new contact or loss of contact between groups of people is eventually reflected in the word stock or sounds of a language. It is interesting to speculate whether electronic contact (e.g., through the Internet) might have the same degree of power to change languages over time. Certainly, in that environment, as in the “real world,” social forces can be observed: Borrowing words from another language and integrating them into one’s own can be part of a process of wanting to imitate another culture—especially one that is seen to be more fashionable or more technologically advanced. If new objects, ideas, and processes have to be named, new words will appear; similarly, old ones will fall out of use. Technological advancements contribute to these needs. They also create new human communication environments, which require new forms of text or speech, which in turn have an effect on the language to be used.