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Factors contributing to language change (Types of social classes of people…
Factors contributing to language change
Social status
Definition: the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society.
Education
Occupation
Income or wealth
Every social class has a different variety of the English Language
It is called socialect: the way a person speaks in a certai group
Ex: The London Cockney accent (commonly used in a particular social class)
How social status contributes to language change?
People with most social status tend to introduce changes into a speech community from neighbouring communities
Upper class London speech has prestige in the eyes of many people from outside London
-Ex: "Posh" (accent only spoken by people from outside London)
Pip pip (a posh way of saying goodbye)
Poppycock (means nonsense)
Spiffing (a posh way os saying excellent)
Middle-class people in Norwich who visit London regularly will be influenced with London pronounciations
Ex: The pronounciation of the vowel in top and dog, for instance, has changed in Norwich from [ta:p] and [da:g] to RP [top] and [dog]
RP: Received Pronounciations
Reference: p. 222 (Janet Holmes book)
Types of social classes of people
The working class
Minimally educated people who engage in "manual labor"
Unskilled workers: cashiers, maid and waitresses
Skilled workers: carpenters, plumbers and electricians
The middle class
The lower middle class: Less educated people with lower incomes
Ex: small business owners, secretaries and teachers
-The upper middle class: Highly educated people with high incomes
Ex: doctors
The lower class
Only a few of them finished high school
Lack of medical care, homeless ad do not have enough food
-Also known as the underclass.
The upper class
The lower upper class: People who made money from investments and business ventures
The upper-upper class:
People who have been rich for generations
-Ex: aristocrats
Interaction
Important for providing the channels of linguistic change
Ex: isolation affects language change in a speech community
-Ex: In tightly knit communities that have little connection with the outside world, linguistic change processes most slowly
-Example: Iceland
Reference: p.226 (Janet Holmes book)
Media affects language change.
-Ex: a whole host words originating from social media have become so commonplace
-Examples:
LOL (Laugh Out Loud)
OMG (Oh My God)
TTYL (Talk To You Later)
You may refer to the examples on Janet Holmes book (p.227)