Lingo limbo

More new words are being created today than in any other period in the rich history of the English language. Keeping pace with the chaos of a living language has become a life-long passion for Monash linguist Professor Kate Burridge.

The English language is in constant motion according to Monash Chair of Linguistics, lecturer, author and ABC radio and television regular Professor Kate Burridge.

"You think you know where language is going and then it does this incredible about-face or does something completely different," Professor Burridge said.

"Ask a dictionary maker today and they'll say more new words are being produced than ever before.

"Grammar is evolving as well; we're not just losing words and gaining words, but we also lose and gain constructions."

A prime example is the ever-controversial "gonna", which Professor Burridge said would eventually push out the word "will", the same way that "will" is pushing out "shall".

One of the major forces behind such rapid language shift is not what is said, but what is left unsaid.

Taboos, the subject of Professor Burridge's 2006 book Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language co-authored with Monash colleague Professor Keith Allen, is responsible for some of the English language's most spectacular lexical gymnastics.

She said English speakers' unending attempts to avoid directly mentioning the unmentionable has stimulated language change and literally given new meaning to hundreds of words.

"English speakers get interested by the fact that certain languages have many words for snow or camel, but look at the lexical richness of English -- with around 2000 terms for a wanton woman," she said.

"We tiptoe around something linguistically and recruit another term that's maybe nearby."

Under such forces, general terms take on a new specific meaning, such as "insane" -- once a general term for poor physical health -- becoming a euphemism for mental illness. "Insane" has itself now become a taboo in some circumstances, its meaning too abrupt to describe mental illness.

Another example is the word "coffin", which once described a box, but is tainted by the taboo of death. Now the only time the word is used outside the funeral industry is by bakers, who maintain a tradition of using the word to describe a container.

Professor Burridge said that while some traditional taboos concerned with topics such as sex and violence were beginning to relax, others had risen to take their place.

"Since the 1980s English speakers have become queasy about how to talk to, and about, others," she said.

"This has resulted in a rise of '-ist' taboos -- sexist, racist, ageist, religionist language."

Professor Burridge has spread the word on the dynamics of the English language through regular appearances on ABC radio and ABC television's Can We Help?

She has a catalogue of more than 800 viewer questions to sift through, many of which stimulate her own research, even if the demands of television can sometimes restrict her responses.

"Television is weird because you've got such short time -- 60 seconds for each question and they're complicated," she said.

"I was once asked: 'If Harold had beaten William at the Battle of Hastings how different would English be?' I mean, answer that in 60 seconds! More like Dutch I suppose!"

Professor Burridge's media exposure has reinforced her belief that the personal connection people have with language means any linguistic change will regularly be met with fervent opposition.

"People love language, so if you suggest even a sensible reform like dropping the 'u' in 'honour' you're in danger of receiving some very grumpy letters and emails," she said.

"Or 'youse' the plural of 'you' which horrifies people but is gaining wider use -- these are the sorts of things that get up people's noses and are considered, as Samuel Johnson once termed them, 'barbarous corruptions'.

"But if they survive they will become the formal language of the future."

There is, however, some comfort for those who like their 'u's' and 'youse' to remain in the accustomed form.

Professor Burridge said that typically only around 10 per cent of slang terms survive beyond 15 years.

Visit Professor Burridge's profile.