Jean Aitchison Part 1

The Danish linguist Otto Jespersen argued that … (p. 7)

	the history of all Aryan languages is nothing but decay
	the loss of word endings in English may be a sign of streamlining and sophistication
	progress in language is impossible
	language changes just like tadpoles turn into frogs

… is the author of a famous 18th century dictionary in which he intended to codify the English language (p. 10).

	Otto Jespersen
	Samuel Johnson
	Edward Sapir
	Jonathan Swift

Double negatives were objected to because they … (p. 11)

	cancelled each other out
	did not occur in Middle English
	did not occur in Latin
	were used by social climbers predominantly

The purist tradition objects to prepositions … (p. 11)

	occurring at the end of a sentence
	occurring in front of a relative pronoun
	being doubled
	being left out

The earlier development of the word … is comparable to the present development of the word media. (p. 13)

	tongue
	queen
	master
	chicken

The comprehensive scope of the word grammar is often misunderstood, and this has led to the strange claim that … (p. 16)

	language change cannot be observed
	grammar must be learnt subconsciously
	we ought to have clear standards as to what is right and wrong
	English practically has no grammar at all

JA quotes Robin Lakoff discussing the word … as an example of a change of meaning which is due to changing social circumstances (p. 17).

	media
	mistress
	motherhood
	mouse