Category Archives: language change

Go and Went

Posted on September 27, 2010 by achouston

If you hear someone say ‘I goed’ and you are a fluent speaker of English, you probably assume it’s a child in the midst of learning their native tongue, albeit with a few over-generalizations of word-formation rules, or an adult … Continue reading →

Posted in language change, Semantics | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Awesome

Posted on August 25, 2010 by achouston

The word awesome is extending its usage to function as a noun, not just an adjective, although the nominal usage isn’t showing up in dictionaries. Yet. Here are two recent real-life examples of awesome I have witnessed where awesome is … Continue reading →

Posted in language change, Word Usage | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Sportaholics and Sexavores

Posted on August 10, 2010 by achouston

Just back from travels, so a short post today. There is a nice case of a newly productive suffix in English worth noting: –vore.  In the past there was a limited set that includes the well-known carnivore, herbivore, omnivore.  Recently … Continue reading →

Posted in language change, Word Formation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Among and Amongst

Posted on August 4, 2010 by achouston

English usage seems to be getting hipper and leaner.  We’ve nearly lost our subjunctive mood (how many American English speakers even recognize this construction on the printed page?)  and whom should certainly be on the List of Endangered Words. (Is … Continue reading →

Posted in history of language, language change, social context of language | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

What’s up with up

Posted on July 19, 2010 by achouston

The word ‘up’ in English has many uses and functions: it occurs as an adverb  (we need to liven up our presentation),  a preposition  (the mouse crawled up the drainpipe), an adjective (the mood was definitely up at the meeting), … Continue reading →

Posted in language change, Word Formation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments