Why does language change over time? - BBC Bitesize (2024)

• Language is constantly adapting and changing to reflect our changing lives, experiences and cultures.

• Language change enables us to accommodate new ideas, inventions and technologies.

• It's not just the words themselves which change; the way in which we use them can shift too.

Language isn’t fixed; it is always evolving. The English language has changed dramatically over the last millennium.

There are many different ways that this evolution happens. Here are some of the primary ways:

As cultures interact, mix and trade, language shifts to accommodate these changes.

English, for example, often borrows from other languages. These are called loanwords.

Avatar, tsunami and sudoku are good examples of more recent loanwords.

Can you guess which languages we have ‘borrowed’ these words from?

New words and phrases are also invented to describe things that didn’t exist before.

A few years ago we weren’t lured by clickbait and didn’t worry about our carbon footprint. It is only recently that we have taken selfies or listened to podcasts.

Sometimes these invented words are the fusion of two words that existed before.

These are known as portmanteau words. For example, blog comes from the combination of web and log.

Nice is often given as an example of a word shift.

Over seven hundred years it has changed its meaning from 'foolish' to 'shy', then to 'dainty', from there to 'delightful' and to our modern meaning of 'giving pleasure or satisfaction'. Some shift!

The internet has been responsible for a number of more recent word shifts: mouse, surf and web are obvious examples.

Think about the English-speaking world today. We are experiencing an exceptional amount of international trade, migration and technological change.

Just as the world is quickly changing around us, so is the language we use.

Have you noticed the way you use language changing recently?