Responding to the article 'Is language like fashion, or the weather?'

This article explains how language change effects society, its comparing how much of a statement fashion makes no matter the strangeness of it and explores how the smallest change in our language can have an even larger and possibly threatening impact on the whole of society.

David Shariatmadari also says that similar to fashion, large social groups often influence the general public into saying specific language 'trends'. Ultimately, language is a social expression of who we are and where we come from as well as a tool, so we are encouraged to think of it practically. When speaking there are a few things that grammatically make sense to use, but aren't essential when communicating; this is called 'Redundancy' it's deeply rooted in language and one can and many redundancy features within grammar, syntax and other aspects of language. We propose a new classification of linguistic redundancy into what we call `contex-tual redundancy' and `grammatical redundancy'. Changing our language and the common words we say has to come from someone of a very influential status for it to be able to become recognised, someone who isn't very influential will have little impact on changing and reshaping our language e.g. Simon Heffer waging war against the use of the word "gay" to mean homosexual.

The argument that linguistic changes are just like changes in style and taste is a serious one; The "tailfin interpretation", as it's been labelled says "there is no more reason for languages to change than there is for automobiles to add fins one year and remove them the next, for jackets to have three buttons one year and two the next" said Paul Postal in 1968. So is this the new way in which language evolves now, whatever's trending or in fashion adds a new word into the dictionary? But its not just words that this has an influence on, its also our pronunciation (glottal stops- not pronouncing the 't' in football) and intonation (like 'uptalk', when our pitch rises at the end of our sentence).

Diachronic linguistics is the same thing as historical linguistics and is the study of the changes in language over time. Synchronic linguistics is the study of the linguistic elements and usage of a language at a particular moment.

Changes in fashion have positive responses and usually become trending (this is called having a 'descriptive attitude' which involves deducing new languages rules and analysing why the word was created), however changes in language are sometimes treated with negative responses. These people have a 'prescriptive' attitude, an attitude that doesn't welcome new language if it doesn't stick to the grammatical rules. It has also become noticed that unlike fashion, trends in language from decades ago don't usually come back and aren't repeated in modern society. Fashion trends however do come back, including patterns from post war and trainers from the 70's.

We can apply the Language module theory which refers to a hypothesized structure in the human brain (anatomical module) or cognitive system (functional module) that some psycholinguists such as Steven Pinker claim contains innate capacities for language.

The 'Chaos Theory' discusses how chaotic the world really is, they explain how the smallest change can have an huge impact on something else and something much larger. It also explains how unpredictable language is, depending on the happenings in society, language can change and impact the social movement.

Resources:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/sep/21/referenceandlanguages.mattseaton
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/06/language-fashion-weather-speak
http://www.math.rug.nl/~ernst/linguistics/redundancy3.pdf

Exploring the etymology and the stages of semantic development of the word 'Wicked'

Wicked

adjective: wicked; comparative adjective: wickeder; superlative adjective: wickedest

Origin

 

The word originated from the Middle English word wicca ‘witch’ + -ed. Its middle English meaning was something evil and usually was associated with witches.

Overtime the word has been used less frequently and has changed it meaning to something 'cool' and 'exiting'.

Use in language and literature:

In literature and formally it has kept its original meaning of 'cruel' but in speech it has the more urban meaning of 'cool'. The Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners defines the principal meaning of wicked as "morally wrong and deliberately intending to hurt people". The word wicked is believed to derive from the Old English word wicca meaning wizard. The female equivalent of wicca was wicce and this has given us the word witch. Wicked and witch are closely related in origin and it is interesting that the words are often used together in fairy tales.

In modern English, wicked can be used in an positive way in expressions like a wicked sense of humour or a wicked smile, where it has the meaning of being slightly cruel without intending to upset anyone. If you say someone has a wicked sense of humour there is almost a note of admiration in what you say and this is also evident in examples in a sporting context such as "He has a wicked left hook". Perhaps it was this latter use that gave rise to the informal use of wicked, particularly by young people, to mean very good, as in "Have you heard this song? It's really wicked." However, wicked is also a contronym, a word that has two opposite meanings because on one hand wicked means cool and on the other it means 'cruel'. It still has some of its old meaning of evil but its now reduced its intensity of the word.

The meaning may have changed because now we don't believe in witches or evil creatures, therefor we have developed the word into something that we can use.

In modern day, 'wicked' has also become a very popular brand name. As well as the play there is also wicked the: clothing brand, web design company, chocolate company and a brand culture shop.

'Wicked' synonyms:

1. 1.

   evil or morally wrong.

   
   

   "a wicked and unscrupulous politician"

   
   

   synonyms:

   evil, sinful, immoral, wrong, morally wrong, wrongful, bad, iniquitous, corrupt, black-hearted, ungodly, unholy, irreligious, unrighteous, sacrilegious, profane, blasphemous, impious, base, mean, vile; More irreverent, villainous, nefarious, erring, fallen, impure, sullied, tainted, foul, monstrous, shocking, outrageous, atrocious, abominable, reprehensible, hateful, detestable, despicable, odious, contemptible, horrible, heinous, execrable, godless, diabolical, diabolic, fiendish, vicious, murderous, barbarous, black, dark, rotten; criminal, illicit, unlawful, illegal, illegitimate, lawless, felonious, indictable; perverted, reprobate, sordid, depraved, degenerate, dissolute, dishonourable, dishonest, unscrupulous, unprincipled, underhand, roguish; informalcrooked, warped, low-down, stinking, dirty, shady, rascally, scoundrelly; informalbeastly, bent, not cricket; malfeasant; archaicdastardly; Use over time for: wicked rarepeccable, egregious, flagitious "a wicked man"

   antonyms:

   virtuous

   • intended to or capable of harming someone or something.

     
     

     "he pulled the long, wicked-looking dagger from its sheath"
   • informal

     extremely unpleasant.

     
     

     "despite the sun, the wind outside was wicked"

     
     

     disagreeable, unpleasant, foul, fierce, bad, nasty, irksome, troublesome, annoying, irritating, vexatious, displeasing, uncomfortable, distressing, hateful, detestable, miserable, abominable, execrable, odious, invidious, objectionable "the wind outside was wicked"
2. 2.

   playfully mischievous.

   
   

   
   

   
   

   synonyms:

   mischievous, playful, naughty, impish, roguish, arch, rascally, rakish, puckish, waggish, devilish, tricksy, cheeky, raffish, teasing "a wicked sense of humour"

3. 3.

   informal

   excellent; wonderful.

   
   

   "Sophie makes wicked cakes"

   
   

   synonyms:

   excellent, superb, superlative, first-rate, first-class, superior, outstanding, remarkable, dazzling, marvellous, magnificent, wonderful, splendid, admirable, noteworthy, impressive, fine, exquisite, exceptional, glorious, sublime, peerless, perfect, of the first water; More informalsuper, great, fantastic, fabulous, terrific, awesome, heavenly, stellar, ace, smashing, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, A1, tip-top, top-notch, neat, mega, cool, banging, cracking, crucial; informalbrilliant, brill, bosting; badass; informaldivine "Sophie makes wicked cakes"