STANDARDISATION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• Process by which conventional forms of language are established and maintained

• May occur through natural development of a language in a speech community

• May occur as an effort by members of a community to impose one dialect or variety as a standard

• Re-standardisation refers to the way a language may be re-shaped by its speakers and writers

WHAT IS STANDARDISATION?

• The standardisation of the English language happened as a natural means, over centuries, out of a consensus, due to a number of social factors

• The following slides take us through the process and factors of English standardisation

ENGLISH STANDARDISATION

• Old English originated in 500AD when West Germanic invaders settled in the British Isles

• Celtic speakers were pushed out to surrounding areas, leaving behind only a few Celtic words

• Also influencing English at this time were Vikings, which introduced new north Germanic words

• Old English survived until 1100AD when the most important event in the development and history of the English language occurred; The Norman Conquest

OLD ENGLISH

• Modern English now is generally derived from foreign words

• Only one sixth of Old English words have descendants in today’s language

• However, one half of the most commonly used words in our language today have old English roots

• For example• Water• Be• Strong

OLD ENGLISH TODAY

• Middle English originated in 1066AD when the Duke of Normandy invaded and conquered England

• This had a huge impact as the new overlords spoke a dialect of Old French with considerable Germanic roots in addition to basic Latin roots

• In 1204 AD, King John lost the province of Normandy to the king of France, estranging Norman nobles of England even further from their French cousins

• England became the chief concern of the nobility, as opposed to their estates in France

• Consequently, the nobility adopted a modified English as their native tongue

MIDDLE ENGLISH

• In 1349, the Black Death swept through England, killing about one third of its population

• As a result, the labouring and merchant classes became more important to the economy and society and thus English grew in importance too

• By 1362, the linguistic division between the nobility and commoners was largely over

• The statue of pleading was adopted, making English the language of the courts and began to be used in Parliament

• The most famous example of Middle English is Chaucer’s Canterbury tales

• While still difficult to read, it can be read by modern English speakers

MIDDLE ENGLISH

• Originated in 1500 through the revival of classical scholarship

• Brought many classical Latin and Greek words into the vocabulary

• Early modern English came to prominence due to two main factors• The Great Vowel Shift• Introduction of the printing press

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH

• Change in pronunciation • Began 1400 • Vowel sounds began to be made further to the front of the mouth • The letter ‘e’ at the end of words became silent • Linguistically, the shift was relatively sudden, the major changes occurring

within a century • Cannot say the shift is over yet, vowel sounds are still shortening – the

change has slowed to a more gradual pace• For example;• Life was pronounced “leef”• Name was pronounced “nam-a”• Five was pronounced “feef”• Down was pronounced “doon”

THE GREAT VOWEL SHIFT

• William Caxton brought the printing press to England in 1476• As a result books became more affordable and thus literacy

became more common • Publishing for the masses became a profitable enterprise, and

works in English, as opposed to Latin, became more popular• The printing press brought standardisation to the English

language • The dialect of London, where most publishing houses were

located• Spelling and grammar became fixed • The first dictionary was published in 1604

INTRODUCTION OF THE PRINTING PRESS

• Shakespeare wrote during early modern English times • Many familiar words and phrases were first recorded by him• Clichés that were ‘invented’ by Shakespeare include;• Vanish into thin air• Flesh and blood

• Words he bequeathed include • Critical• Majestic • Dwindle

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH AND SHAKESPEARE

• Originated in 1800 and the principal distinction between early and late modern English is vocabulary

• Pronunciation, spelling and grammar are relatively the same, but late modern English has a significantly larger vocabulary

• This phenomenon has occurred due to two reasons • Industrial revolution and rise of technological society • The British empire

LATE MODERN ENGLISH

• The industrial revolution (1760) and the rise of technological society necessitated a number of new words to suit ‘things’ and ideas that not previously existed

• Neologisms were needed for new creations and discoveries • English relied heavily on Latin and Greek for words such as

‘oxygen’, ‘protein’, ‘nuclear’ and ‘vaccine’ for their base meanings

• This still continues today – ‘cyber’, ‘microchip’, ‘hard-drive’, etc.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND RISE OF TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY

• At its height, Britain occupied a quarter of the world and as a result, English adopted many foreign words and made them its own

• The British Empire adopted the following words• Shampoo, pyjamas, juggernaut (Hindi)• Sauna (Finnish) • Tycoon (Japanese)• Bon voyage, vis-à-vis (French)

THE BRITISH EMPIRE