HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS –

IG 577Week 7: Lexical Change

Lecturers: Dr. Dadang Sudana, M.A.

Ernie D.A. Imperiani, M.Ed.

LEXICAL CHANGE Another type of language change that

involves modifications to the words.

REASONS WHY LANGUAGES UNDERGO LEXICAL CHANGE Cultural practices such as the restriction

against the use of certain words in certain cultures

Changes in society, particularly in the case where the object or notion a word refers to has become obsolete or archaic

Contact with other cultures or the result of technological innovations that result in lexical gaps which can be filled by adding new words to the lexicon.

ACTIVITY1. Innovations in the lexicon can come from a

number of different sources. What are they?2. What is lexical copying/borrowing?3. What is the difference between cultural and core

vocabulary?4. What possible ways are there for a language to

fill lexical gaps?5. What is meant by lexical taboo? What is the

possible effect of lexical taboo in vocabulary change?

6. What is lexical compression? Try to give example of kinds of lexical compression.

7. What are word mixes/blends?

SOURCES OF NEW WORDS Lexical copying: the process by which

one language adopts words and phrases from another language.

The use of own linguistic resources in creating new words.

SOURCES OF NEW WORDS(CONT’D) Clipping or compression: the process of creating new

words by shortening parts of a longer word. (It only applies to a few words in a language and is not general)

Examples: phone from telephone

exam from examination

- In Australian and New Zealand English, there is additional syllable added to the compressed forms in order to express a kind of diminutive meaning (informal).

Examples: football→footie breakfast → brekkie

-A particular kind of compression: the use of initials (Acronym)

Examples: SIM, WHO, FO

SOURCES OF NEW WORDS(CONT’D) Word mixes or blends: process of

creating a new word by combining the parts of two different words, usually the beginning and the end of another. Examples: smog = smoke and fog

rudal = peluru kendalipermen = peraturan

pemerintah

REFERENCESChapter 7. Crowley, T. 1997. An Introduction to Historical Linguistics Third Edition. Oxford: OUP.

File 10.7.Cipollone, N. Keiser, S. and Vasishth, S. 1998. Language Files, pp.315-316. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.