Middle and Early Modern English Exam 3

Elyot's Castle of Helth

a text documenting various ailments that can afflict the body and means of remedying them; discussed the humours of the body using borrowed language from French

learned loanword

a word borrowed through educated channels and often preserving foreign spelling, pronunciation, meaning, inflections, or associations

popular loanword

a word borrowed through everyday communication and often adapted to native forms of spelling, pronunciation, meaning, inflection, and associations

compound

a word formed by combining two or more based (lunchbox or Webcast)

acronym

a word formed from the initial letters of other words (or syllables) pronounced by the normal rules of orthoepy (ex: AIDS 'acquired immune deficiency syndrome')

alphabetism

a word formed from the initial letters of other words (or syllables) pronounced with the names of the letters of the alphabet (HIV)

initialism

a word formed from the initial letters of other words or syllables, whether pronounced as an acronym like AIDS or an alphabetism like HIV

inkhorn terms

a word introduced into the English language during the early Modern English period but used primarily in writing rather than speech; more generally, a pompous expression

loanword

a word made by imitating the form of a word in another language

back-formation

a word made by omitting from a longer word what is thought to be an affix or other morpheme (ex: burgle from burglar)

unmarked word

a word that is unmarked for sex

specialization

a word's literal meaning that contracts to include fewer referents than it formerly had

generalization

a word's literal meaning that expands to include more referents than it formerly had

Holinshed's Chronicles

comprehensive description for England's history - feels strongly that his form of pronunciation is best, making assumptions about related languages to English

Northern Dialect, UK

considered to be a less-posh dialect, considered to be uneducated and less proper (Them & Uz)

hyperbole

exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally

printing press

first English printer in England in 1476, which allowed for the widespread dissemination of the English language and the stabilization of a written standard

subjective meaning

how people interpret their situation in life

-ly affix

if you cannot add the -ly, it is a flat adverb -- originally came from adding lic to the end of adjectives to make adverbs but eventually collapsed

pejoration

shift of words' meanings/associations over time from neutral or positive to negative

functional shift

shifting a word from one grammatical use to another

amelioration

shifts of words' meanings/associations over time from neutral/negative to positive

pronunciation

the accepted standard of how a word sounds when spoken

great vowel shift

A change in the pronunciation of the long vowels of English, which happened in the centuries around 1500. Most long vowels were raised, but the high vowels became diphthongs.

social dialect

A dialect which is shaped by factors such as the socio-economic class, gender, age, education, and occupation of the speakers.

commonization

A functional shift from proper to common noun or other part of speech (ex Shanghai 'to cohere' from the port city)

hypercorrect

A non-standard feature that results from the over-application of a rule of grammar. A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes that the form is correct through misunderstanding of these rules, often combined with a desire to appear formal or educated (ex: pronunciation of unstressed -ing changes based on perceptions of correctness)

transfer of meaning

A semantic change altering the kinds of referents of a word as by metaphor, metonymy, etc.

register

A variety of language that is used for a particular purpose (reflects circumstances)

intensifier

A word that strengthens or weakens another word without changing its meaning. → It's very hot out! (very) → Last week's test was insanely easy. (insanely)

semantics

Meaning of words and sentences

objective meaning

Meaning that is independent of what particular individuals think

Literary Dialect

The deliberate misspelling of words to reflect the way a character speaks (Sometimes this reflects where a character lives, and sometimes it reflects a character's level of education.)

Received Pronunciation

The dialect of English associated with upper-class Britons living in London and now considered standard in the United Kingdom.

etymological sense

The meaning of a word at earlier times in its history, especially of the word's etymon

inflections

Variations, turns and slides in pitch to achieve meaning

regional dialect

a distinct form of a language spoken in a particular geographical area

metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.

euphemism

a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

neologism

a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses

amalgamated compound

a originally compounded word whose form not longer represents its origin (not from na + whit 'no whit')

etymological respelling

a respelling a word to reflect the spelling of a etymon, also a word so respelled, eg. "debt" for "deete," because of latin "debitum" -- trying to make a work more similar to Latin

etymon

a source word from which a later word is derived

King James Bible

an English translation of the Bible published in 1611

hybrid formation

an expression made by combining parts whose etyma are from more than one language

semantic contamination

change of meaning through the influence of a similar-sounding word, in the same or foreign language

affixation

making words by combining an affix with a base or stem (ex: mispronounce)

blending

making words by combining two or more existing expressions and shortening at least one of them (brunch from breakfast + lunch)

concrete meaning

meaning that refers to something that can be perceived with one of the senses

abstract meaning

meaning that refers to something that cannot be perceived or experienced with one of the senses

doublet

one of two or more words in a language derived from them same etymon but by different channels (antique/attic, chattel/cattle)

ultimate source

the earliest etymon known for a word

direct source

the form from which another form is most closely derived (language from which a word entered into English)

semantic change

the process of words changing meaning, including the following: narrowing, broadening, amelioration, pejoration, semantic reclamation.

clang associations

the stringing together of words that rhyme but have no other apparent link

etymology

the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history

clipped formation

to form a word by shortening a longer expression (soap from soap opera)

shortening

to form a word by shortening a longer expression (soap from soap opera)

borrowing

to make a word by imitating a foreign word

marked word

words that are marked for maleness or femaleness (ram vs ewe)

Preface to the Eneydos

written by Caxton, discussed the perceived supremacy of the English and their language

Lindley Murray

wrote the first American English grammar book in 1794, (prescriptive)