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Jean Aitchison's Metaphors[edit]
 Image of a crumbling castle | |
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sociolinguistics |
Publication date | 1997 |
| Theory from The Language Web: The Power and Problem of Words-The 1996 BCC Reith Lectures. | |
Introduction[edit]
On the topic of Language Change , Linguist, Jean Aitchison highlights its prescriptivist (a person whom is against the idea of language change) views, using a metaphorical perspective.
The Crumbling Castle[edit]
The Crumbling Castle metaphor refers to the notion and image of an ancient, beautiful and finite structure of a castle, crumbling over a slow period of time. Consequently with language (The English Language in particular), the notion of language change reflects a crumbling castle. Therefore, loosing its beauty that was difficult to create, and as a result, the efforts and detail are not noticeable, since the castle/language is crumbling. However as Aitchison explored, this idea can be disproved;
'It implies that the castle of English was gradually and lovingly assembled until it reached a point of maximum splendour at some unspecified time in the past. Yet no year can be found when language achieved some peak of perfection, like a vintage wine.'
The Damp Spoon[edit]
Contrasting ideas slightly, but not completely, Damp Spoon Syndrome, refers to the notion of laziness- the "vulgar" image of a damp spoon dipped in the sugar bowl. It is implied that "sloppiness and laziness cause much of language change" [2] The idea of laziness is the pinnacle of this metaphor; it places blame upon the users of non-standard forms.
There is a strong link to conconscious language which can be explored through William Labov's New York Department Store study.
He chose stores catering to different classes of customers: Saks for the upper class, Macy’s for the middle class, and S. Klein’s for the working class. He developed an innovative procedure for gathering examples of natural speech. Posing as a customer he entered each store and approached the staff to ask where he would find a department he knew to be on the fourth floor. When the employee answered “fourth floor,” Labov pretended not to hear which elicited a repetition of the phrase. In this way, he collected tokens of the /r/ variable in two different phonological environments (pre-consonantal in fourth and word-final in floor) and two stylistic contexts (the initial utterance and the more careful repetition).
The results showed the middle class store had the highest frequency of hypercorrection. Therefore, proving that conscious language is not always apparent.
It would be thought that laziness is a conscious state of mind. However, in regard to language change, it's proven to not always be the case. Furthermore, reflecting the ideologies of Aitchison's Damp Spoon Syndrome, is 'laziness' a conscious state? - language is not being disrespected by its change occurring. Rather, the change is constant, and the notion of linguistic laziness is but a prescriptive opinion.
The Infectious Disease[edit]
The Infectious Disease assumption was put forward by Douglas Bush- Polluting our Language. [4] The notion refers to the hyperbolic idea of non-standard or 'incorrect' language use spreading quickly, like a virus, causing mayhem; and sickness; and that we ought to combat language change as if it were an infectious disease.
However, famous Swiss linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure displayed a more descriptivist view:
"Time changes all things: there is no reason why language should escape this universal law."
Bibliography[edit]
- Aitchison, J., 1997. The Language Web: The Power and Problem of Words-The 1996 BBC Reith Lectures. Cambridge University Press[1]
- Aitchison, J., 2001. Language change: Progress or decay?. Cambridge university press.[2]
- Gordon, M.J., 2017. William Labov. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics.[3]