Language change

Progress or Decay?

Bibliographic Data

ID24246132
AuthorsJean Aitchison
Year1991
Pages258
Publication date1991-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
Reviewed byLanguage Change: Progress or Decay, Philip Baldi, 1983
VenueLanguage change (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER)
ISBN9780521411011
Open LibraryOL1868142M
LanguageEN
Citations received81

This book attempts to answer such questions by giving a lucid and up-to-date overview of language change. Why do people sometimes leave off the ends of words when they speak? Is it sloppiness, progress, or inevitable erosion? This book attempts to answer such questions by giving a lucid and up-to-date overview of language change. It discusses where our evidence about language change comes from, how and why changes happen, and how and why languages begin and end. It considers not only changes which occurred many years ago, but also those currently in progress. It does this within the framework of one central question - is language change a symptom of progress or decay? It concludes that language is neither progressing nor decaying, but that an understanding of the factors causing change is essential for anyone involved with language alteration. For this substantially revised and enlarged second edition Jean Aitchison has included details of recent research on a number of key topics, and also discusses data from a wider variety of languages: but the work remains non-technical in style and accessible to the reader with no previous knowledge of linguistics. -- Publisher description.

Ancient Languages · Changement linguistique · Foreign Language Study · Historical & Comparative · Language Arts · Language Arts & Disciplines · Linguistic change · Linguistica · Linguistics · Nonfiction · Sociolinguistics · Sprachverfall · Sprachwandel · Taalverandering · Variation (Linguistique)