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List and explain three major ways that words in a language change over time.

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Answer: Semantic shift: This is the process by which the meaning of a word changes over time. For example, the word "gay" used to mean "happy" but now primarily refers to someone who is homosexual. This change in meaning can occur as a result of cultural, social, and political shifts.

Sound change: This is the process by which the pronunciation of a word changes over time. For example, the word "knight" used to be pronounced as "k-night" but is now pronounced as "n-ight". Sound changes can happen gradually over time and can be influenced by factors such as dialect, accent, and social class.

Syntactic change: This is the process by which the grammatical structure of a word changes over time. For example, the word "ain't" used to be considered non-standard English but is now more commonly accepted in informal speech. Syntactic changes can occur as a result of changes in the way people use language, and can be influenced by factors such as regional dialects, socio-economic status, and historical context.

In summary, words in a language change over time through semantic shift, sound change, and syntactic change. These changes are influenced by a variety of factors such as cultural, social, political, regional, and historical context.

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