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The word 'robot' was first used in 1922!

Language Change

English changes over time. Explore how words, spellings, and meanings shift, from dictionaries and printing to slang, technology, and global English.

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Fascinating Fact:

Johnson’s Dictionary in 1755 encouraged standard spellings. Writers had a shared reference for thousands of words.

In GCSE English, you study how language evolves. You learn about standardisation, new words from science and culture, shifting meanings, and how technology and media speed up change across English varieties.

Key Terms

Standardisation: The process of agreeing common spellings, grammar, and usage across a language.
Borrowing: When a language takes a word from another language, such as ballet or emoji.
Semantic shift: A change in a word’s meaning over time, for example sick meaning excellent.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What is language change in English?

Language change is the gradual shift in pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. It happens through contact with other languages, technology, fashion, and changing social attitudes.

What helped English spelling become more standard?

Printing presses, school education, and influential dictionaries encouraged shared spellings. When readers and writers used the same references, variations reduced over time.

Can you give examples of words that changed meaning?

Awful once meant full of awe, while nice meant precise. Today, awful is negative and nice usually means pleasant. This is called semantic shift.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Which of the following words has come into the English language from the world of I.T.?

App

Robot

Virus

Automaton

The word 'robot' was first used in 1922! 'App' is short for 'application' and originally meant a computer function - the abbreviation was first used in 1985

2 .

'A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, and mounch'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'd: "Give me," quoth I: -- "Aroint thee, witch!" the rump-fed ronyon cries. Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger: But in a sieve I'll thither sail...' These lines from Macbeth are an example of...

Old English

Middle English

Early Modern English

Modern English

3 .

In the 18th century, this writer compiled his famous dictionary.

Samuel Johnson

William Shakespeare

William Caxton

Charles Dickens

4 .

Which of the following is an example of gender-neutral language?

Everyone should put his books under the table

All men were created to be equal

A good driver learns to recognise when he is too tired to drive safely

Studying law will equip students with the skills necessary for a future legal career

In the past, 'men' was taken to mean 'people' sometimes and '(only) men' at other times. In the last half-century, language has responded to social change, including that brought about by feminism, and 'men' is not often used to mean 'people' any longer. Other examples of gendered language appear frequently (such as always choosing 'him' and 'his'), making it important to learn to recognise them

5 .

Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is written in...

Old English

Middle English

Early Modern English

Modern English

6 .

Which of the following is written in Old English?

The Canterbury Tales

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Beowulf

The Lord of the Rings

Beowulf was written at least a thousand years ago

7 .

Words which are no longer commonly used are referred to as...

jargon

slang

archaic

pointless

8 .

Which one of the following English words comes from French, rather than Old English?

Who

Justice

How

What

In Old English, ‘who’ was ‘hw?’, ‘how’ was ‘hú’ and ‘what’ was ‘hwæt’. Of the 100 most commonly used words in the English language, the majority are from Old English

9 .

Which of these is NOT a reason why language changes over time?

New inventions and technologies require new words

Language changes through contact with other cultures

Changes in social conventions over time influence changes in language

Language changes because the government controls the 'official' version of a language

Governments often do try to control language, such as when Welsh was banned from use in courts and schools, but language change is a natural process which cannot be controlled by anyone - it can only be influenced

10 .

Which would be the modern equivalent of 'thine'?

You

You're

Your

Yours

Over time, 'thou', 'thee', 'thy' and 'thine' have fallen out of use. If you have studied French or German, you will know that these languages distinguish between the formal 'you' and the familiar 'you'. In the past, an English speaker would call friends and family members 'thou', rather than 'you' ('you' was formal)

Author: Sheri Smith (PhD English Literature, English Teacher & Quiz Writer)