Morphological and syntactic changes also take place in progress, for example, change in “agreement” rule, in negation rule, process of simplification, loss of inflections, etc.
4.    Vocabulary Change 词汇变化
Vocabulary change can include: addition of new words, loss of words and changes in the meaning of words.
4.1    Addition of New Words 增加新词
a)    Coinage 创新词
A new word can be coined or invented outright to fit some purpose, e.g.
   dacron       koda       xerox
b)    Clipped Words 缩略词
Clipping refers to the abbreviation of longer words or phrases, e.g.
  gym (gymnastics)    fridge (refrigerator)   disco (discotheque)
c)    Blending 紧缩法
A blend is a word formed by combining parts of other words, e.g.
   smog (smoke+fog)   motel (motor+hotel)   flurry (flutter+hurry)
d)    Acronyms 词首字母缩略词
Acronyms are words derived from the initials of several words, e.g.
 Radar (Radio detecting and ranging)   U.S.A (the United States of America)
e)    Back-formation 逆生成法
New words may be coined from already existing words by “subtracting” an affix thought to be part of the old word, e.g.
  Edit (derived from editor)
f)    Functional Shift 功能转移
Words may shift from one part of speech to another without the addition of affixes, e.g.
g)    Borrowing 借用
When cultures come into contact, words are often “borrowed” from one language to another, e.g.
education (from Latin)   cycle (from Greek)    question (from French)
4.2    Loss of Words 词的消失
The loss of words takes place gradually over the course of several generations. One of the most common causes for the loss of lexical items is the discontinuation of the object they name.
4.3    Widening of Meaning 词义的扩大
When the meaning of a word becomes broader, that word means everything it used to mean, and then some more, e.g.
  holiday     holy day [specific]           any rest day [general]
  tail        the tail of a horse [specific]    the tail of any animal [general]
4.4    Narrowing of Meaning 词义的缩小
In the course of several generations, semantic change has narrowed the meaning of a word to what it is in Modern English, e.g.
  deer        any animal [general]         a particular species [specific]
  meat        food [general]             edible part of an animal [specific]
5.    Some Recent Trends 最近变化的趋势
5.1    Moving towards Greater Informality 倾向非正式化
Since the last war there has been a trend towards much greater informality of expression. Most people will agree that this trend towards greater informality in the use of the written word is to be welcomed rather than deplored.
5.2    The Influence of American English 美国英语的影响
For many years American English has been assaulting the British Isles with ever-increasing weight and persistence, through films, magazines, radio and television.
5.3    The Influence of Science and Technology 科学与技术的影响
As science and technology develop, they use new words to express new concepts and new techniques as well as new inventions; and they have developed more rapidly during the last 30 years.


Exercises
I.    Match each of the following terms in column A with one of the appropriate definitions in column B:
    Column A                        Column B
1.    Coinage                A. New words may be coined from already existing words by
                           “subtracting” an affix thought to be part of the old word
2.    Blending                B. Clipping refers to the abbreviation of longer words or phrases.
3.    back-formation           C. Acronyms are words derived from the initials of several words.
4.    borrowing               D. When cultures come into contact, words are often “borrowed” from
                            one language to another.
5.    clipping                 E. A new word can be coined or invented outright to fit some purpose.
6.    acronyms               F. A blend is a word formed by combining parts of other words.
7.    functional shift           G. Words may shift from one part of speech to another without the
                            addition of affixes
II.    Explain each of the following terms in no more than 50 words:
1. semantic change          2. Sound change         3. Vocabulary change
III.Develop the topic into a 200-word essay:
1. Some recent trends of language change

VIII. Language and Society 语言与社会

本章的学习目标要求

   本章学习的中心内容是社会语境中的语言主。全章含语言变异与语用情景、方言及方言的社会功能、双言与双语现象、少数民族方言、社会方言等部分。
   本章的学习目的是弄清语言与社会的关系。通过对本章的学习，要求学生认识语言使用的社会属性，了解语言在社会语境中作为一种交际工具的多样性，明确交际场境中各种社会因素对语言使用所产生的影响。

语言与社会基本知识
1.    The Scope of Sociolinguistics 社会语言学的范围
1.1    Indications of Relatedness between Language and Society 语言与社会关系的标示
Certain linguistic phenomena cannot be accounted for unless they are related to society. In other words, social factors cannot be excluded in our description of language.
An obvious indication of the inter-relationship between language and society is the fact that language is not always used to exchange information as is generally assumed, but rather it is sometimes used to fulfil an important social function-to maintain social relationship between people.
Another indication is that users of the same language in a sense all speak differently. The kind of language each of them chooses to use is in part determined by his social background.
To some extent, language, especially the structure of its lexicon, reflects both the physical and the social environments of a society.
As a social phenomenon language is closely related to the structure of the society in which it is used, and the evaluation of a linguistic form is entirely social.
1.2    Sociolinguistics vs. Traditional Linguistic Studies 社会语言学与传统语言学研究
Sociolinguistics relates linguistics study to society.
Traditionally linguistic study emphasizes the study of the rules which govern the formation of language. Its aim is to discover the structure of language.
Saussure proposed the classic distinction between langue and parole. “Parole” is the realization of the language system in speech.
Chomsky proposed the theory of competence and performance. Competence is an ideal language user’s knowledge of his language, and performance is the actual realization of this knowledge in utterances.
1.3    Two Approaches in Sociolinguistics 社会语言学的两种研究方法
a)    Macro-sociolinguistics 宏观社会语言学
We can look at society as a whole and consider how language functions in it and how it reflects the social differentiations.
b)    Micro-sociolinguistics 微观社会语言学
   The other approach is to look at society from the point of view of an individual member within it.
2.    Varieties of Language 语言的变体
It is an obvious fact that people who claim to be users of the same language do not speak the language in the same manner. The language used by the same individual varies as circumstances vary. The varieties of a language are actual manifestations of the general notion of the language and they are assumed to be related both to the language user and to the use to which language is put. Varieties related to the user are known as dialects and varieties related to use as registers.