Types of Changes causes of changes Levels Of Change

1. LANGUAGE
CHANGE

2. Language Change
 Studied by both historical linguists and sociolinguists
 Diachronic Change – Hstorical Linguists
the change of languages over time
e.g. Old English  Middle English  Modern English
 Synchronic Change - Sociolinguists
the origins or the causes of language changes
how language changes with society or in particular period
e.g. Punjabi in Pakistan and Punjabi in India

3.  According to Jean Aitchison, language change
occurs in three ways
- Progress
- Decay
- Neither
 Could be both Conscious and Unconscious
e.g. Loss of Rhotic ‘r’ – Unconscious
 Could be Natural or Social
e.g. /b/ sound lost in ‘thumb’ – natural

5. Incremental
 Used for inventions or items of knowledge
 Become standard
 e.g “Selfie”, “emoji” added in dictionaries
Native
 Laantain – lantern
 TV
 Mobile
 Picnic
 Park
 Menu

6. Decremental
 Words not used anymore because of the less usage
of the object
 E.g. words related to swordfighting are not used often
‘pary’ and ‘feint’
Native
 Zarra baktar
 Manjeek – pathar phainkne wali toop

7. Replacement
 - replacements of words or structures
 coexists in language
 correct both ways
 e.g
half – halfs – halves
thievery – theft
rise – rose – raised
NAtive
 Pistol – tamancha
 School – madrassa
 Train – gaari
 Kitaab – Kutab - Kitabain

9. Social Status
 people of higher status introduce changes
 later considered prestigious
Native
 Burger – bun kabab
 Fries - Chips
 pronunciation of ‘career’
 Baba/’Papa– Abu

10. Interaction / Contact
 Borrowing
 Isolation slows process of change
 Interaction increases influences on other languages
 Sushi – Japan
Native
 Gulluband – Farsi - Necklace
 Bandar gah – Farsi - seaport
 Mayuun – hindi

11. Dialectal Change
 Difference in vocabulary or pronunciation due to
difference in dialects
 e.g
Autumn – fall
lift – elevator
/r/ sound at the end and ‘schedule’
Native
 Shaljam – Thippar (Hazara) – Gongloo (Lahore)
 Bahaar – Basant (Lahore)
 Piyo(Lahore) – Lala (Hazara)

12. Gender
 Difference between speech of men and women
 Women introduce more standard
forms – beautiful, sweet
 Men introduce vernacular forms – cool, wicked
 Women categorize – married/teenager/mrs/miss
Native
 Gaari – Daala/car/totta/mazda/jeep
 Chacha – Uncle

13.  Women – picky
more accurate
terms
 Men – simplistic

14. Laziness
 Occurs mainly because of laziness
 Shortening or Combining
 Become widely accepted – Standard
 I am - I’m
 Going to – Gonna
Native
 Assalamoalikum – Salam
 Bismillah

15. Imperfect Learning
 Children learn adult forms imperfectly
 Majority usage - New strandard
Native
 Mehendi – Minhadi

16. Culture / Tradition
 New places, situations, objects
 Does not matter where they go
Native Examples
 Lassi
 Lacha
 Charkha
 Chahti

18. Levels of Changes
 Changes occur on the following levels
 Phonological (sounds)
 Syntactic (structure)
 Semantic (meaning)
 Lexical (words)

19. Phonological
 Complex
 Not sudden – happens over time
 Examples
Same vowel rule (~a rule)
pen ~ pin in some English dialects – not necessary
‘s’ sound at the end of Spanish words
como ehtas / ehtah
Native
 Sajjan – Sajan
 Minhadi – Mehendi
 Gojarwalan – Gujranwala
 Kilachi - Kirachi

20. Lexical Change
 Change in the words and vocabulary used
 Addition of suffixes/prefixes to make new words
breakable, thinkable, touchable, etc
 Addition of ‘s’ and ‘-es’
drink – drinks
box – boxes

Native
 Subh – Subhu – Subha
 Sabza – Sabzazar
 Deewankhana – Bethak – Drawing room

21. Syntactic Change
 Changes in word order
 Double negation – no longer part of English
Old English - ne aux – not never
 Contracted negatives – Old English
knew not – didn’t know
 Comparatives – Old English
most shamefullest, more happier
Native
 Phone karo – Phone lgao
 Film lagi hui he – Film chal rahi he

22. Semantic Change
 Changes related to meanings
 Broadening
Dogge -– specific breed - all dogs
 Narrowing
deer -– any beast - specific animal
 Opposite
Sick – Good
Native
 Bandar/gah – Bandargah
 Sikh – foolish
 Akhrot
 Bera tar jaye
 Bala (musibat) – Every bad thing

23. Conclusion
 Languages do change
 Follows certain processes