Diachronic change - Change over time, Synchronic change - Variation at any given time, Coinage - Creation of new words, Conversion - Changing of word class, Archaisms - Words falling out of use, Semantic change - Changes in meaning, Eponym (example) - Kleenex, Amelioration - Becoming more positive over time, Pejoration - Becoming less positive over time, Orthography - Changes in spelling, Prescriptivism - Trying to enforce the rules of English, Descriptivism - The idea that language is always changing, William Caxton - Introduced the printing press into England, Clipping - Examples are flu/exam, Compounding - Cupboard is an example of this, Blending - Smog is an example of this, Euphemism - Collateral damage is an example, Jargon - Technical language, Lexical gap theory - A word missing in one language but present in another,

Historical Language Change

Leaderboard

Visual style

Options

Switch template

Continue editing: ?