Language is always changing — in vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and use. Language change is one of the most reliably assessed topics in A-Level English Language, partly because the data for it (historical texts, etymological records, contemporary usage) is so rich, and partly because it raises genuinely interesting questions about how and why language evolves. Here’s what you need to know.
How Language Changes
Language changes across several dimensions simultaneously:
- Lexical change: New words enter the language (neologisms — “selfie”, “ghosting”, “deepfake”); old words fall out of use (archaisms — “thou”, “forsooth”); existing words shift meaning (semantic change)
- Semantic change: Words shift in meaning over time. Broadening (a word acquires wider meaning — “dog” once referred to a specific breed, now any dog); narrowing (a word becomes more specific — “meat” once meant food in general); amelioration (a word gains more positive connotations — “nice” originally meant “foolish”); pejoration (a word gains more negative connotations)
- Grammatical change: Grammatical structures shift — the loss of inflections in English over centuries, the changing use of “they” as a singular pronoun, the spread of progressive verb forms
- Phonological change: Pronunciation shifts — the Great Vowel Shift of the 15th–17th centuries transformed how English vowels were pronounced, which is why “bite” and “beet” are spelled with vowel letters that no longer match their sounds
Why Does Language Change?
The main drivers of language change: contact with other languages (borrowing — English has borrowed from Latin, French, Norse, Arabic, Hindi, and many others); social change (new concepts need new words); technology (new technologies create new vocabulary and new modes of communication); prestige and social influence (forms used by high-status groups often spread); and language internal pressures (regularisation of irregular forms, ease of articulation).
The Prescriptivism vs Descriptivism Debate
Prescriptivism is the view that language should conform to established rules and that change represents deterioration — this is the view behind complaints about “incorrect” grammar, split infinitives, the use of “literally” to mean “figuratively”, and so on. Descriptivism is the view that linguistics should describe how language is actually used, not prescribe how it should be used — change is natural, inevitable, and not inherently good or bad.
Most professional linguists are descriptivists. Most newspaper columnists and language commentators are prescriptivists. In exam responses, demonstrate awareness of both positions and evaluate them rather than simply taking one side.
Key Theorists
- Jean Aitchison — described language change through three metaphors: damp spoon (lazy speakers corrupting language), crumbling castle (loss of a golden age), and infectious disease (change spreading through contact). She argued all three are misconceptions and that change is natural and value-neutral.
- David Crystal — linguist who has written extensively on English in the digital age, language change, and the richness of linguistic variation. Generally optimistic about language change.
Language change is covered alongside all the other major A-Level English Language topics at Thorogood English. Join the waiting list for January 2027.
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