Summary of "A History of the English Language"
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Transcript of Summary of "A History of the English Language"
History of the English Language
The Importance of the Language:
It is the means by which man communicates his thoughts and feeling to the others . It is the tool with which he conducts his business or manage the government affairs.
It is the vehicle by which science and literature are transmitted from generation to another.
It is assumed that every educated person knows something about the structure of his language ,its position in the world and its relation to the other languages ,the source of its vocabulary and the prominent political ,social and cultural influences which have affected the language . 2. Influences at Work on Language: English today reflects centuries of development .It has been mainly affected by the social and political events. Some
of such events are:
•The Christianizing of Britain in 597 which caused the contact between the two civilization Latin and Britain and
consequently resulted in the increase of the English vocabulary.
•Other events are the Scandinavian invasion, the Norman ,the hundred years war , the expansion of the British
empire and other factors .
In short ,the English language results in its entire development from the political ,social and cultural history of the
English people.
Growth and Decay: Do languages change? English as well as other languages are subject to growth and decay . When a language ceases to change ,we call it a dead language .( Latin 2000 years) . The change in the language that could be observed is mainly in the vocabulary . Old word die out ,new words are added and existing words change their meanings. What causes the introduction of new words into the language ? To meet the new conditions of life e.g. for the change in meaning Shakespeare's nice = foolish Change in pronunciation OE stan= stone cu=cow The changes are controlled by ‘ sound low’ Changes in the grammatical forms (could be a result of the gradual phonetic modification) It coul be the result of unconditioned analogy(e.g.) knowed* This process may affect the sound and meaning as well. The Importance of a Language: Is the relation between the language and the people’s who speak it very strong? A language lives only if there are people who speak it. Do you think that learning about the historical background of the language is limited to English students? All educated people . Why is the English language important ? A language is important if the people who speak it are important politically, economically and culturally. Give examples of important languages ( English , French and German) some languages are important due to the cultural value of ethnic group. classical Greek,for instance is important for it represents a great civilization. Importance of English: It is spoken by great number of people, approximately 500 million 2012 late statistics . Is it the largest language in the world ? India 300 million china 880 million . The importance is not limited to numbers of speakers .It depends on the importance of the people who speak it . The political role of its nation and their influence in the international commerce , their role in art and literature , in science , invention. In short, it depends on their contribution to the progress of the world. It is important as a “ lingua franca “ = common means of communication among people of diverse tongues. The Future of English: Growth of population: Most native speakers of English live in the developed countries which constitutes smaller proportion of the world’s
population .However , English is widely used as a second language throughout the world. In India which is one of the
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developing countries English is one of the official languages.( Philippins and Nigeria) In some countries English is a
neutral language among various languages. Available textbooks in English grant it supremacy over the other
vernaculars .
Will English become a world language? Positive consequences: 1. Travel communication 2. business conduction 3. observation and spread of science and knowledge. 4. world peace More scientific research is probably published in English than any other language. Moreover the preminence of
English in commercial use is obvious . The revolution in communication helped the spread of English. Could the world enforce an international language? It is the effect of economic and cultural forces. which may determine such a language .Since world war II English was the official language of one fourth of the
population of the world . Even after the independent of the British colonies English continued to be used alongside the vernaculars either as
the primary language or a necessary second in school, court and business. Assets and Liabilities: There are some features of great advantage in facilitating the acquisition of English by foreigners . The ability to express the multiplicity of ideas and refinements of thoughts . Is it easy to learn English? 1.Cosmopolitan vocabulary : One of the assets of English is its vocabulary. * It is classified as Germanic language (same group to which belong German ,Dutch ,Flemish … * More than half of its vocabulary is derived directly or indirectly from Latin ,French and other Romance languages .Thus it shares a lot of the vocabulary with such European languages which are derived from Latin ,French , Italian… *It has the capacity of assimilating word from other languages e.g Italy balcony ,piano ,Spanish alligator, mosquito . "2.Inflectional Simplicity:
It is an inflected language however inflection in the noun as spoken have been reduced to a sign of the plural and a
form for the possessive. The Germanic inflection of the adjective has been reduced to the indication of the
comparative degree. The verb has been simplified by the loss of personal endings singular and plural.
3.Natural Gender :
Unlike other European languages English has adopted natural gender in place of grammatical gender . Gender in
English is determined by meaning . All nouns naming living creatures are masculine or feminine . According to the sex
of the individual , and all other nouns are neuter .
Liabilities:
There are some difficulties in learning English . Idioms are forms of expression peculiar to one language . All languages have their own way of saying things . Another difficulty for foreigners is spelling and the frequent lack of correlation between spelling and pronunciation .e.g. the vowel sound in believe, receive,leave,see,be is in each case represented by a different spelling .In the case of consonants for example we have fourteen spellings for the sound of sh shoe, sugar, issue, manssion ,mission, nation, suspicious, ocean, nauseous, conscious,chaperon ,schist,fuchsia, pshaw. The causes of such diversity: One cannot tell how to spell an English word by its pronunciation or how to pronounce it by its spelling. " "
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Chapter 2 The Indo-‐European Family of Languages
A Language is constantly changing .Usually people associate language with writing although writing is only a
conventional device for recording sounds and it is primarily speech . As long as the language lives and in actual use it
is in constant change . The language of any district or country is merely the sum total of the individual speech habits .
Dialect Differences: How? Separating one community from another for a considerable time may cause differences between them. The differences may be slight if the separation is slight . The result would be merely local dialects. However , the differences may become considerable as to render the language of one district unintelligible to the speakers of another. In spite of the differences ,languages preserve some common features that indicate their mutual origin. Since English is a Germanic language notice a close relationship e.g. milch and milk brot and bread ,wass and water …..There are some common words among different languages .Although sometimes the differences in the initial consonants may obsecure the relationship . Thus the languages of a large part of Europe and part of Asia were at one time identical. The Discovery of Sanskrit: What? Sanskrit is the language of ancient India. In addition to the vocabulary sanskrit preserved an unusually full system of declensions and conjunctions by which it became clear that the inflections of these languages could be traced to a common origin . (table p.18) In fact the hindu grammarian traced the roots and classified the formative elements ,and worked out the rules according to which certain sound changes occurred. "Grimm’s Law: Who? German philologist called Jacob Grimm. He formulated an explanation which systematically accounted for the correspondences between certain consonants in the Germanic languages and those found for example in sanskrit , Greek, and Latin e.g. according to Grimm a / p/ in Indo –European ,preserved as such in Latin and Greek was changed to an /f/ in Germanic languages . Latin piscis pes English fish foot ""The original voicless stops / p,t,k/ were changed to spirants/f,p,h/ The cause of such change is not known .It must have taken place sometimes after the segregation of the Germanic from nighbuoring dialects of the parent language .The formulation of these correspondences of sounds among languages is known as Grimm’s Law. It could have resulted from a contact between Germanic and non Germanic population . The shifting was still occurring as late as about the fifteenth century . The Germanic sound-‐shift is the most distinctive feature marking of the Germanic languages from the languages to which the y are related. The Indo European Family: The languages brought into relationship by descent or progressive differentiation from a parent speech are conveniently called a family of languages. Philologist named this family different names ( Indo-‐Germanic, Indo-‐Teutonic..) but a most widely term used is the Indo –European family which indicates the geographical extent of the family. The parent tongue from which the Indo –European languages have sprung have already become divided and scattered long time ago. The surviving languages show various degrees of similarity to one another which indicates more or less direct relationship to their geographical distribution. They are mainly divided into eleven groups :Indian , Iranian , Armenian , Hellenic , Albanian ,Italic , Balto-‐slavic,Germanic ,Celtic , Hittite and Tocharian. 1.Indian: The old literary texts preserved in any Indo-‐European language are the old books of Indian . The language in which they were written is called Sanskrit. It was first restricted to religious writings and later it was extended to other types of writings. Sanskrit was given a fixed ,literary form . In this form it is known as classical Sanskrit which is the medium of an extensive indian literature. For a certain period of time it was looked upon as a learned language and held a place in India similar to that occupied by Latin in medieval Europe . Later it ceased to be a spoken language . Alongside Sanskrit there existed a large number of local dialects. From these dialects descended the present languages of India ,Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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(Hindi, Urdu, Bengali) .Thus urdu is by origin and present structure is closely related to Hindi. However.It differs mainly in its considerable mixture of Persian and Arabic and in its perso-‐Arabic script instead of sanskrit characters. 2.Iranian: The Indo-‐European population which settled this region had lived and probably traveled for a considerable time in company with the members of the Indian branch .Thus there are a number of linguistic features which the two groups have in common. The region where those people settled has been subjected to semitic influence and many of the early texts are preserved in semitic scripts. In this region, since the 9th century ,persian has been the language of an important culture and an extensive literature .Persian contains a large Arabic admixture so that today its vocabulary seems almost as much as Arabic as Iranian. Other related languages in the near territory are Afghan or Pushtu and Beluchi Kurdish in kurdistan 3. Armanian: Armanian is found in a small area south of the caucasus Mountains. It lacks the grammatical gender and it shows a shifting of certain consonants (Grimm’s Law). It is known from the fifth century since the Armanian were under persian domination for several centuries ,the vocabulary shows such strong Iranian influence to the extent that it was classified as an Iranian language . 4. Hellenic: Represented in Greek and other dialects . The conquest of Alexander established the language in as in Syria and as well as Egypt and other coutries 5.Albanian: In the northwest of Greece. It is probably the descendant of Illyrian. A language spoken in the Northwestern Balkans. The vocabulary of the Albanian is mixed with Latin ,Greek,Turkish.. As a consequent of the constant conquests. It was first classed with the Hellenic group but since the beginning of the 20th century it was recognized as an independent member of the family. 6. Italic : It has its center in Italy. Italy in ancient times suggest Rome and the language of Rome ,Latin. However Latin was only one of a number of languages found in that area. In fact , the various languages that represent the survival of Latin in the different parts of the Roman Empire are known as the Romance or Romanic languages. Examples of such languages are French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. These languages did not descend from classical Latin which was a literary language with elaborate and artificial grammar . They descended from vulgar Latin of the common people which is simpler in inflection and syntax. 7.Balto-‐Slavic: It covers a vast area in the eastern part of Europe and it is divided in groups , the Baltic and the Slavic. The Baltic languages are three in number :Prussian , Lettish and Lithuanian. The latter is spoken by 3million people in the Baltic state of lithuania . It is important among the Indo-‐European languages because of its conservatism.(a lithuanian fesant can understand simple phrases in Sanskrit ) . Lithuanian preserves some very old features which have disappeared from practically all the other languages of the family . Slavic languages cover Russia ,Poland ,Czechoslo vakia ,Bulgaria ,Serbo-‐croatian. 8.Germanic: The language descending from Germanic fall into three groups East Germanic , North Germanic and west Germanic the principal language of East Germanic is gothic. North Germanic is found in Scandinavia and Denmark. West Germanic is of interest to us as the group to which English belong particularly to the low Germanic branch. 9. Celtic: The celtic languages are consider the most extensive groups in the Indo-‐European . Beside these languages there are two :Hittite and Tocharian. The Home of the Indo-‐Europian Family: "The indo-‐European languages are spoken today in many cultures which until recently have had completely unrelated heritages. Considering the language variety of people who have spoken these languages from early times, it is quite possible that the people of the original Indo-‐European community already represented a wide ethnic diversity. It is assumed that the original home of this family was in that part of the world in which the language of the family are chiefly to be found today. Thus we may exclude Africa ,Australia and the American continents since we know that the extension of Indo-‐ European languages in these areas has occurred in historical times. In general we could say that the only regions in which it is reasonable to seek the original home of the Indo-‐European family are the mainland of Europe and western part of Asia. Observation about the Indo-‐European language, show that they have a common word for ‘winter’ and for ‘snow’ which indicate that the original home of the family was in a climate which at certain seasons at least was fairly cold. On the other hand it is not certain that there was a common word for the sea. The original community was apparently an inland one, but not necessarily situated at a great distance from the coast.
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Chapter 3 Old English
1.The Languages in England before English: English is always associated with people , however English was introduced to England about the middle of the fifth century . Since that time a number of races inhabited the island (England). The first people in England about whose language recognized are the Celts (the last group of the immegrants to settle in Britain before the arrival of the Anglo-‐Saxons ). Celtic was the first Indo-‐European tongue spoken in Englang and it is still spoken by a considerable number of people . Another language was Latin which was introduced when Britain became a province of the Roman Empire and it was used for about four centuries. 2.The Romans in Britain and the Roman ConquestThe Roman attempts to conquer Britain were at the reign of Ceaser 55BC. Then it was promoted at the reign of Claudius 43AD. "3. Romanization of the Island
The conquest of England under the Roman Empire resulted in the adoption of various Roman habits and life style. The Roman conquest in fact developed England. By the third century christianity had made some progress in the Island. 4.The Latin language Among the evidences of Romanization of England is the use of Latin . It didn’t replace Celtic . It was confined upon occasions to the upper class and inhabitants of the cities and towns . Thus its use wasn’t widespread to the extent that cause it to survive. 5. The Germanic Conquest About the year 449 began the invasion of certain Germanic tribes to Britain . These tribes for more than a hundred years migrated from Denmark and settled in Britain specially in the south and the east. The Germanic tribes are called Juts ,Saxons, Angles and Frisians. 6.Anglo-‐Saxon Civilization: In some districts the Anglo –Saxons probably settled down beside the Celts in more or less peaceful contact. In others however they met resistance (the impact on the language) 7. The Names ‘English’ and ‘England: The Celts called their Germanic Conqueror ‘Saxons’ probably because had their first contact with through the Saxons .Soon the name’ Anglia ‘ occurred beside ‘Saxons’. From the beginning writers called their language Englisc (English ) which is derived from Angles and it was used to describe the language of all the invading tribes . From about the year 1000 ‘England’ (land of the Angles) began to take its place. The name English is thus older than the name ‘England’ .English belongs to the low west Germanic branch of the Indo-‐European family which means that it shares certain characteristics common to all Germanic languages e.g shifting consonants “Grimms Law”. Although English belongs to the Germanic languages ,it was affected by other languages for it has some features in common with them which enable us to distinguish a west Germanic group as contrasted with Scandinavian languages (North Germanic) and Gothic (East Germanic). 8. The Periods in the History of English: The fifteen hundred years of the existence of English in England could be divided into three main periods. The dividing lines between them purely arbitrary. The period from 450 to 1150 is known as Old English . It is described as the period of full inflections. From 1150 to 1500 the language is known as Middle English. During this period the inflections, which had begun to break down towards the end of old English period, became greatly reduced .It was known as the period of leveled inflections. The language since 1500 is called Modern English. Since then a large part of the original inflectional system has disappeared and therefore it is called the period of lost inflection. 9. THE Dialects of English: Old English has four distinctive dialects .Northumbrian , Mercian ,West Saxon , and Kentish 10. Some Characteristics of Old English: The differences between OE and Modern English concern spelling and pronunciation , vocabulary and grammar.Examples of such differences in pronunciation are the long vowels in particular have undergone considerable modification. /stan/=/stone/ ,/rap /= /rope/, /bat/= /boat/ Some of the first look of strangeness which old English has to the modern reader is the differences of spelling e.g. Old English made use of two characteristics to represent the sound of /th/ :/p/ and /ð/ as in the word /wip/=with or /ða/ =then,
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/ sh / represented by /sc/ sceap= sheep , scip=ship A second feature of Old English would distinguish it from modern English is the absence of words derived from Latin and French which form so large a part of our present vocabulary . The vocabulary of old English is almost purely Germanic. Studies show that about 85% of old English vocabulary no longer in use. The old English vocabulary which survived are basic elements of the language such as pronouns ,prepositions, conjunctions ,auxiliary verbs and words that express fundamental concepts e.g. man , wife, child, house, leaf, bird.. Another feature that distinguish Old English from the English today is grammar . Inflectional languages fall into two classes : synthetic and analytic . A synthetic language :is one which indicates the relation of words in a sentence largely by means of inflections (OE) An analytic language: is one which make extensive use of prepositions and auxiliary verbs and depend s upon word order to show other relationships and modern English is an analytic one. 11. The Resourcefulness of the Old English Vocabulary: It might seem that Old English a language which lacked the large number of words borrowed from Latin and French would be limited in resources. However , Old English had its own way to enrich its vocabulary through affixes and self –explaining compounds. Old English had great flexibility, a capacity for bending old words to new uses by means of prefixes and suffixes a single root is made to yield a variety of derivatives . In fact Old English showed remarkable capacity for derivation and word formation . It was more resourceful in utilizing its native material than modern English . Part of the flexibility of the vocabulary of Old English is that it comes from the generous use of prefixes and suffixes to form new words from old words e.g. suffixes :full , ness , dom etc….and e.g. prefixes :fore, mis , un ,under Compounds consist of two or more native words whose meaning is combination is either self-‐evident or has been rendered clear by association and usage : steamboat ,railroad ,sewing machine , one –way street. 12. Old English Literature: The language of the past time is known by the quality of its literature. It is in literature that a language displays its full power ,its ability to convey in vivid and memorable form the thoughts and emotions of people. The literature of the Anglo Saxons is one of the richest and most significant of any preserved among the early Germanic people . Old English literature is of two sorts .One is that which was brought to England by the Germanic conquerors and represent the pagan stream whereas the other stream is the christian which was evolved by the introduction of christianity into the island at the end of the 6th century. The greatest work of Old English literature is the Bewolf a poem of some 3000 lines known as the folk epic. In the development of literature ,prose comes late and vers is more effective for oral delivery and more easily retained in the memory. " "
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Chapter. 4 1.Foreign Influences on Old English
The basis of Old English goes back to the Germanic tribes. However, it was brought into contact with three other languages . At early times when it was introduced into the island (during the first seven hundred years of its existence in England ). The language of the Celts ,the Romans ,and the Scandinavian . The apparent influence was the addition to its vocabulary . A. The Celtic Influence : The conquest of the Celts by the Anglo-‐Saxsons resulted in mixture of their languages which is natural consequences.
The adoption of the native language was not equal in all regions . A1. Celtic place names : The language showed evidence of Celtic place-‐names e.g the kingdom of Kent owes its name to the Celtic word
(canti) . Many districts today specially in the west and southwest preserve their original Celts names. The name London although the origin of the word is somewhat uncertain most likely goes back to Celtic . The
Thames is a Celtic river name. A2 . Other Celtic Loan Words : Other than place names Celtic words in English were of two groups 1. Those which the Anglo-‐Saxson learned through everyday contact with the natives (orally trnasmitted and of popular character) 2. Those which were introduced by the Irish missionaries in the north. (connected with religious activities and were more or less learned . Generally speaking the influence of the Celts upon the Anglo-‐Saxons was slight because the relation of the Celts to the Anglo-‐Saxsons was that of a submerged race and they were not in a position to make any contribution to Anglo-‐Saxson’s civilization. B. Three Latin Influence s on Old English: The second great influence upon English was Latin . Latin had great influence on OE because It was the language of a higher Civlization . The Germanic tribes who became the English ,had various relations later with the Romans through which they acquired a considerable number of Latin words. When they came to England ,they saw the evidence of the long Roman rule in the Island and learned from the Celts a few additional Latin words. Generally speaking the character of the words sometimes give some clue to its date. Common words among English and other Germanic languages indicate that these words were not borrowed after the settlement in the Island(e.g. copper) B1. Contenental Borrowing (Latin influence of the zero period: The first Latin words to find their way into the English language owe their adoption to the early contact between the Romans and the Germanic tribes in the continent e.g. of the borrowed Latin words :kitchen, cup ,cheese ,wheat pepper ,butter etc…. The Romans contributions to the building arts are evident: tile, chalk… The great number of Latin words adopted by the Germanic language indicated the relationship between the two people. B2. Latin through Celtic transmission (Latin influence of the first period) The use of Latin as a spoken language didn’t long survive the end of Roman rule in the island and even the minimum portion of the language which survived was lost in the disorders that accompanied the Germanic invasions. There was no opportunity for direct contact between Latin and Old English in England . Such Latin words in English would have come through Celtic transmission. B3. Latin influence of the second period (the chrisianizing of Britain) The greatest influence of Latin upon OE was occasioned by introduction of Christianity into Britain in 597 . B4. Effect of Christianity on English civilization : Schools were established . Were they taught different fields of knowledge (poetry, astronomy , etc…. B5.The Earlier Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary During the five hundred year since the introduction of Christianity to the close of old English ,Latin words must have been making their way gradually into English Language. Vocabulary of this period were those related to religion and its organization . B6. Bendictine Reforms Influence on English : The influence of Latin upon the English language rose and fell with the state of the church and learning at this period started to borrow and describe less popular words expressing ideas of a scientific and learned character. B7. The Application of Native Words to New Concepts: English didn’t always adopt a foreign word to express a new concept .Often an old word was applied to anew thing and by a slight adoption made to express a new meaning . Anglo-‐Saxon God instead of Latin Deus.
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B 8. The Extent of the Influence: The influence on the language is seen in the number of words borrowed as a result of Christianizing of Britain about 450 Latin words appear in English writings without the derivatives and the proper names .The Latin influence of the second period was thorough and makes the beginning of the English habit of incorporating foreign elements into its vocabulary. C.The Scandinavian Influence –The Viking Age: Near the end of the Old English ,English underwent a third foreign influence as a result of the contact with another important language ,the Scandinavian. Scandinavian peninsula and Denmark were one time neighbours of the Anglo-‐ Saxsons and closely related in blood and language . In the eighth century they began to attack the island . In fact from the middle of the eighth century to the beginning of the eleventh century it was known as the Viking Age. C 1.The Scandinavian Invasion of England: The Scandinavian attacks upon England have three well recognized stages. The first is the period of early raids in 787 . The second stage which is marked by the extensive settlement in 850.The third stage cover the period of political adjustment and assimilation from 878 to 1042. C 2. The Settlement of the Dans in England : The Scandinavian settlement in the island was evident from the 1,400 Places in England bear Scaninavian names specially in the north and east. "C 3.The Amalgamation of the Two People : There was a close kinship between the Anglo-‐Saxon and the Scandinavians . Those groups who settled peacefully in Britain . "C 4 .The Relation of the Two languages : There was an extensive interaction of the two languages upon each other. This interaction is evident in the number of Scandinavian elements found in English . C 5. The Test of Borowed Words: The similarity between Old English and the Scandinavian language makes it at times very difficult to decide whether a given word in modern English is a native or a borrowed one. e.g the development of the sound / sk / in old English was early palatalized to / sh /written sc . Whereas in the Scandinavian countries it retained its hard / sk / sound . Consequently , while native word like ship ,shall, fish have /sh/ sound in modern English words borrowed from the Scandinavian are still pronounced with /sk/: sky, skill, scrub ,bask. C 6 . Scandinavian Place Names: Among the most notable evidences of the extensive Scandinavian Settlement in England is the large number of places that bear Scandinavian names (more than 600 places e.g Derby, Rugby etc..) C 7.The Earlier Borrowing: At the early stage of Scandinavian invasion words borrowed were limited to those associated with sea-‐roving and predatory people e.g: cnearr( small warship) lip (fleat) dreng (worrior) "C 8. Scandinavian loan –Words and Their Character: It was after the Danes had begun to settle in the Island and enter into the ordinary relations of life with the English that Scandinavian words commenced to enter in numbers into the language . Their settlement brought the English in contact with a civilization very much like the English . The words borrowed have the character of everyday use. e.g: die ,egg ,dirt , leg ,kid ,loan ,race , root.. C 9.The Relation of Borrowed and Native Words: The borrowed Scandinavian words may not supply real need in English vocabulary. It resulted as a consequent of the mixture of the people . The Scandinavian and the English word were used side by side and the survival of one or the other must often have been a matter of chance. C 10. Form Words: The Scandinavian words that made their way into English were not confined to nouns ,adjectives , and verbs, but they were extended to pronouns ,prepositions ,adverbs and even a part of verb to be . Such parts of speech are not often transferred from one language to another and this is an evidence of the intimate relationship that existed between the two languages. C 10.Scandinavian Influence Outside the Standard Sspeech : Scandinavian elements were used in dialects too.
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C 11. Effects on Grammar and Syntax : The Scandinavian influence not only affected the vocabulary but extended to matters of grammar and syntax as well . Inflections are seldom transformed from one language to another . A number of inflectional elements peculiar to the Northumbrian dialect have been attributed to Scandinavian influence , among others -‐s of the third person singular ,present indicative of verbs. In many words the English and Scandinavian languages differed chiefly in their inflectional elements . Such ending may create some obstacles in the way of mutual understanding. Syntax however was less affected than vocabulary . The probability of such influence naturally varies with the degree of intimacy that exist between the speakers of two languages. C 12. Period of Extent of the Influence: The number of borrowed Scandinavian words that exist in standard English may reach nine hundred . Such words represent common everyday things and fundamental concepts. The English Dialect Dictionary contains 1154 simple words beginning with sc-‐ (sk) which is a characteristic of Scandinavian Language. The Scandinavian influence is one of the most interesting of the foreign influences that have contributed to the English language. " "
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Chapter five The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of English 1066-‐1200
1.The Norman Conquest: Towards the end of the old English period an event occurred which had a greater effect on the English
language than any other in the course of history. This event was the Norman conquest in 1066.Such event resulted in the reduction of inflection and the loss of a great number of Germanic vocabulary. It also resulted in the adoption of enormous number of French words to the extent that makes English almost as much as Romance languages as Germanic language.
2.The Origin of Normandy: Normandy is a district in the northern coast of France directly across the channel. It became in 1000 one of the districts of the kingdom of France. The Normans soon absorbed the most important elements of French civilization . They adopted the important features of Frankish law , including the idea of jury. It was at that time one of the outstanding legal systems of the world. Most important event is that they have gave up their own language and learned French. Before the Norman conquest the relations between England and Normandy had been fairly close.
Illustration The relation between Normandy and England 1002 AEthelred the Unready married a Norman lady. He was exiled by the Danes and took refuge with his brother –in-‐law in France. His son Edward the Confessor(who was brought up in France) was restored to the throne in 1042 from which his father was driven . 3.The year 1066 : At the beginning of 1066,after the reign of twenty-‐four of Edward the Confessor who died childless , England was faced again with the choice of a successor. They elected Harold earl of the West Saxon. Before his death Edward assured his second cousin William the duke of Normandy that he should succeed him .In early manhood Edward had had to face a number of crucial contests with rebellious barons, powerful neighbors ,and even his overlord the French King. In 1066 the Normans under the leadership of William won the battle of Hastings and then they had burnt and pillaged the southeast of England . By the end of 1066 William was crowned the king of England. 4. The Norman Settlment: Many of the English higher class had been killed on the field of Hastings.Thus William brought his Norman followers to replace such class . This process took place for the next four years . In 1072 only one of the twelve earls in England was an Englishman .At the reign of William as well as the reign of his sons the important positions were mostly held by Normans or men of foreign blood. 5. The use of French by the Upper Class: The numbers of the new ruling class were sufficiently predominant to continue to use their own language ( French) For two hundred years after the conquest French remained the language of the upper class in England .The distinction between those who spoke French and those who spoke English was not ethnic but largely social. 6.Cicumstances Promoting the Continued Use of French: The most important factor in the continued use of French by the English upper class until the beginning of the thirteenth century was the close connection that existed through all these years between England and the continent . 7.The Attitude Toward English: English become uncultivated tongue ,it was the language of a socially inferior class but there was an evidence of mutual respect and peaceful cooperation. During the period up to 1200 the attitude of the king and the upper class towards the English language may be characterized as one of simple indifference . They didn’t cultivate English because their activities in England did not necessitate it and their constant concern with continental affairs make French for them more useful. 8. French Literature at the English Court: Literature played an important part in the lives of the leisured class. Thus a considerable body of French literature being produced in England from the beginning of the 12th century. 9.Fusion of the Two People: After a few years of the conquest people accepted the new order as a fact and adjusted themselves to it. All the inhabitance of England were described as English . This early fusion between French and English was evident in the marriage of the Normans to English women. It is evident from the way in which the English gave their support to their rulers. 10. The Disfusion of French and English: French was the language of the court and the upper classes, English was the speech of the mass of the people. The relation of two folds:
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a) knowledge of English among the upper class: French was not confined to persons of foreign extraction , but all those who were associated with the governing
class soon acquired a command of it. It was a mark of social distinction. Since English was the language of the largest part of the population ,many of the upper class would acquire some familiarity with it. Most of them could understand the language but could not speak it .English survived for a considerable time in some Monastries for some bishops could not speak English.
b) Knowledge of French among the middle class: By the end of the 12th century a knowledge of English was not unusual among the upper class, and French was also found among the lower social scale . knights as well as the middle class cultivated French. In the period preceding the loss of Normandy in 1204 there were some who spoke only French and many more who spoke only English and there was a considerable number of bilinguals.
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Chapter 6 The Re-‐establishment of English 1200-‐1500 Changing conditions after 1200: As long as England held its conditional territory and the nobility of England were united to the continent by ties of property and kinder, a real reason existed for the continued use of French among the governing class in the island . After 1200 conditions changed England lost an important part of its possessions abroad . The nobility gradually relinquished their continental states. Consequently new feelings developed such as rivalry between the two countries accompanied by an anti foreign movement in England. Therefore the maintenance became artificial .Due to social and economic changes in the 14th century English won its way back to universal use. In the 15th century French almost disappeared . The Facts that Caused the Disappearance of French: The loss of Normandy: in 1204 king John lost Normandy which was binding England to the continent . (the bridge of England to the continent ). He married Isabel who was betrothed engaged(in marriage contract) to a head of powerful and ambitious family. John attacked this family which complained to the king of France Philip. The latter summoned john 1202 to appear before his court at Paris . John thought that since he was the king of England he wasn’t subject to the French law . On the day of the trial John did not appear, therefore the court declared his territory (Normandy)confiscated . Thus Philip carried out the decision of the court and invaded Normandy. After loosing Normandy ,john lost his supporters one after another. He lost his popularity after the death of his nephew who was married to Philip’s daughter who was murdered too. The loss of Normandy was beneficial to the English language as well as to the other aspects .The King and nobels started to look upon England as their priority . The island king soon had his own political and economic goals which were not the same of those of France. Separation of the French and the English Nobilty: After the Norman conquest a large number of the nobility held lands in both countries ( England and France)Thus existed a kind of interlocking aristocracy and it was difficult for some of the English nobility to say whether they belonged to England or to the continent. In 1204 the king of France announced that he had confiscated the lands of several great barons. The families who had estates on both sides where forced to give up one or the other. Some nobles preferd their larger holdings in England and gave up their Norman lands .After 1250 all the nobility of England consider themselves English. France Reinforcements: With the separation of French and English Nobility ,the Norman nobility was forced to identify itself with England. Consequently the country witnessed the invasion of foreigners mainly from south of France at the reign of king john . It increased at the time of his son Henry III (his mother and wife were French) During king Henry’s reign all the native officials of the court were dismissed from their offices and replaced by foreigners . Those foreigners were placed in charge of everything and they oppress the English subjects and nobles and accused them of treachery to the king. In 1236 Henry was married to Eleanor . Many of the relatives came to England and the king rewarded them with lands possessions and money. e.g (one of her uncles was appointed earl of Richmond)Henry III 1216-‐1272 during his long reign the country was eaten up by strangers who were not only French but of other nations such as Romans and Spanish. The Reaction Against Foreigners and Growth of National Feeling: in 1234 started the policy of (England for the English) A number of bishops told the king that the situation was not wise or safe but rather dangerous to the whole country because these aliens hate the English people. Upon this threat the king dismissed the foreigners from offices. Those foreigners didn’t understand the English tongue , they lacked faith and cause the country to be poor. The reaction against foreigners caused some wars “Baron’s” was in (1258-‐1265) during which the foreigners were driven from England when peace was finally restored and Edward I(1272-‐1307) came to the throne we enter upon a period in which England became conscious of its unity when the governmental officials are for most part English. Thus the foreign attack in the thirteenth century undoubtedly delayed the natural spread of the use of English by the upper class. French Cultural Ascendency in Europe: The stimulus given to the use of French in England by foreign additions to the upper class coincides with the wide popularity that the French language enjoyed all over Europe during the thirteenth century .Even some books were translated into French because it was common to all people. The prestige of French civilization was carried out by the greatest
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medieval literature By the fame of the university of France and by the Normans themselves. These were the reasons for the continued use of French among political circle in England. English and French in the Thirteenth Century : The thirteenth century was described as a period of shifting emphasis upon the two languages spoken in England. The upper class continued to use French as was the case in the 12the century however, the reasons for doing so were not the same . French became a cultivated tongue supported by social custom and by business and administrative conventions .At the same time English was restoring its recognition when the separation of the English nobles from their interest in France had been completed (English) it was becoming generally used by the upper classes .It was at this time the adoption of the French words into the English language took place on a large scale. Their French words occurs when those who know French and have been accustomed to use it try to express themselves in English. Moreover the literature intended for polite circles begin to be made over from French into English . By the end of the century the young generation of nobility started to speak English as their mother tongue and had to be taught French with English glosses. French was used by the upper class as well as in parliament, in the low court, public negotiations. French was read by the educated . As the use of French declined French appeared as either in court or peculiar(example :mistaken in gender by some writers using La before a man’s name and Le before a wonan’s name . Compare to the decline of the use of French the use of English spread among the upper . Evidence of the spread of English is little treaties to teach children French when French was treated as a foreign language. Latin was the language of record. To sum up the situation in the latter part of 13th century , English was widely known among all classes ,though not recognized by everyone. Attempts to Arrest the Decline of French: After the close of 13th century it was clear that the use of French was very weak. The people had a strong tendency to speak English specially in church and university. The 100 years war: During he 12th century the connection of England with the contenint have been broken. It caused a hostile atmosphere. One of the causes of such conflect between England and France was the interference of France in England’s efforts to control Scotland. This led to Edward III invasion of France.These wars lasted from 1337-‐1453. The 100 was no doubt one of the causes of the disuse of French. The Rise of the Middle Class: One of the main reasons for the restoration of the English prestige was the improvement of the conditions of the majority of people and the rise of the middle class. The importance of a language is largely determined by the importance of the people who speak it. What gives importance to the language ? During the last part of the middle English period the condition of the laboring class was rapidly improving. (e.g. fixed money payment)The reason for the change ? In the year 1348 appeared in the southeast of England the first case of a disease, which spread fast for it was contagious once it hits in two or three days the victim either died or showed signs of recovery. The death rate approximated 30%. Therefore it was called “The Black Death’ Plague. This calamity affected the poor more than the rich. The loss of great number of the poor caused shortage of labor which consequently caused the rise in wages. The black death increased the economic importance of the laboring class along with the importance of the English language which they spoke .What caused the rise of the importance of the English language. After the black death ( the rise of the importance of laboring class who spoke English witnessed the rise of another group The Craftsmen and the Merchants class. As the towns fold were engaged in trade and or in manufacturing craft and they were unified for their mutual protection and advantages . Thus ocurred In each town an independent wealthy and powerful class between rural peasants and the aristocracy .Such changes in the social and economic life benefited particularly the English –speaking part of the population. General Adoption of English in the Fourteenth century: At the beginning of the 14th century English was once more known by everyone . So learned and unlearned understand English.This situation was proved by texts from that age. More over it was even spoken by many nobles. However French still was used at the court. Some writings indicated that French was the language of two groups , the educated class and the French , church, low court (educated people include legal profession) up to 1362In fact people who could speak French in the 14th century were billingulals.( e.g Edward III knew English.) In 1362 for the first time English was used in the parliament .
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The best description to the situation is to say that in the 14th century English became again the mother tongue of all England. As for schools it was after 1349 that English began to be used in the schools. Increasing Ignorance of the French in the Fifteeth Century: By the 15th century the ability to speak French fluently was an accomplishment . Even the ability to write it was becoming less general among people of position. French was a language of culture and fashion. When French went out of use as a spoken language in England the reasons for using French has changed . They stated three reasons for learning French : first it was the need to communicate with their French neighbors in France. Second, the laws are largely in French. And finally sofesticated letters were written in French. The first of course is valid today. But the other two disappeared by the time. The Use of English in Writing: Latin was the language of writing for along time because people who could write Latin could do so because of its international character and the feeling that it was a language that had become fixed while the languages seemed to be variable, unregulated and in a constant state of change. It was in the 15thcentury that English succeed in displacing both Latin and French in writing .It was the reign of Henry V( 1413-‐1422) that marked the turning point in the use of English in writing. 1425 represents the time at which English begins to be generally adopted in writing . Middle English Literature: The literature written in England during the middle English period reflects the changes in the use and neglect of English . The time French was the language of the upper class , the books they read were in French.From 1150-‐1250 English was the language of the middle and lower class. After the separation of the English nobility from France shift towards the use of English began and that affected its literature started to have romantic literature and translations and adoptions, from French begin to be made. The general adoption of English by all classes in the latter half of the 14th century , gave rise to a body of literature which represents the high point in English literary achievement in the middle ages. 1340-‐ 1400 period of great individual writers. Chauser greatest English poet before Shakespeare. The literature at the latter 14th century form an outstanding period in Middle English literature. They present proof of the Secure position of the English language had attained. 15th century is known as imitative period because much of the poetry written was written in emulation of Chaucer. And also called transition period because it covers a large part of the interval between the age of Chaucer and the age of Shakespeare .Middle English literature throw interesting lights on the fortunes of the English language. " "
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Chapter 7 Middle English 1150-‐1500: Middle English is a period of great change. This period has witnessed drastic change in the English language more than any time. The causes of such changes: 1. The Norman conquest. 2. Conditions that followed the conquest. 3. Tendencies to manifest themselves in old English. Do you think changes would have happened in the language if the Norman conquest didn’t occur? Due to the conquest the changes took place rapidly. The changes of this period affected English in both its grammar and vocabulary. Regarding the grammar it reduced English from a highly inflected language to analytic one. As for the vocabulary large part of the old English word-‐stock was lost and thousands of French and Latin were borrowed. Decay of Inflectional English: The distinctive changes in grammar was marked by the reduction of inflectional endings of the noun and adjective , making distinctions in number, case or gender were altered in pronunciation that they lost their distinctive form and hens their usefulness. The loss of inflection appeared also in verbs. The reasons for the loss of inflectional endings: 1.The phonetic changes. 2. The operation of analogy. The earliest was the change of final-‐m to -‐n either for plural nouns or adjectives e.g. the muðum (mouths) muðun .Such –n of inflectional ending was later dropped (muðu ) The vowels (a,o,u,e) in inflectional endings were transferred to a sound called “indeterminate vowel” which came to be written “e” and rarely (I,y,u). Consequently a number of originally distinct endings (-‐a,-‐u,-‐e, -‐an ,-‐um) were reduced to a uniform –e. Such changes have been found in the old English 10th century. Though the pronunciation has changed the letters were preserved in writing due to the tendency of the (conservatives) scribes to preserve the traditional spelling. The Noun: The most distinctive ending(suffix) is the –s of the possessive singular and of the nominative and accusative plural. Since these two cases of the plural , were those most frequently used. The –s came to be thought of as the sign of the plural and was extended to all plural forms.(which is identical to what is used today).In early Middle English only two methods of indicating the plural remained : the –s or –es (from the strong declension and –en (oxen)from the weak declension. In fact –s has become the universal sign of the plural . The Adjectives: Changes in the forms of adjectives as the nouns were partly a result of the sound changes and partly a result of the extensive working of analogy. 1 distinction between plural and singular disappeared both forms ended with –e blinda ,blindan = blinde The only ending which remained to the adjectives was often without distinctive grammatical meaning. In the fourteenth century final –e ceased to be pronounced yet it was maintained in writing . Thus the adjective became uninflected word by the end of the middle period. The Pronouns: Due to the decay of inflections the language depend less upon formal indications of gender , case and number(as in adjectives). It depends on word order and the prepositions to indicate the relation of words in a sentence. The reduction of inflection was apparent in the demonstratives which used to have different forms for number , gender and case that disappeared and they were reduced to what are known today :this ,that ,those and these. However regarding personal pronouns there was a need for separate forms for the different genders and cases, thus most of the distinctions that existed in old English were retained. The changes happened earlier were the combination of the dative and accusative cases under that of the dative (him, her, them) For the nuter the form of the accusative ( he , it) became the objective case because it was like the nominative and because the dative would (him) be confused with corresponding case of the masculine. One of the changes (simplification) was the loss of the dual number. The change was gradual and both the strong and weak forms were used side by side .e.g the verbs which changes to the weak form have the old strong form preserved as in ( climb-‐clomb) The Verbs: The prominent changes in the verbs during the Middle English period were the loss of strong conjugation (inflection of verbs)
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Few verbs survived as strong forms where as others have changed over the course of time to the weak inflection. 1/3 of the old English strong verbs died out early in the Middle English. Some were preserved in spoken English but not recorded (dialects). A few of the old English verbs were recorded in the literary works. Moore than 200 of the old English strong verbs were lost at the beginning of the middle English period and continued. The great number of loss of strong verbs occured at the beginning of the Middle English. Verbs either passed to the weak conjucation or had developed weak forms. Today more than half of the old English strong verbs have disappeared from the standard language. Since English was at that time the language of the lower class and it was removed from the restraining influences of education and literary standard, it was natural that many speakers wrongly apply the pattern of weak verbs to some which have been strong . The tendency of the verbs change to the weak form existed in old English but was very limited ,then it was extended to the previous mentioned conditions. Towards the end of the Middle English period such movement slowed down due to the rise of English in the social scale. And the standarizing effect of printing. Grammatical Gender: One of the consequences of the decay of inflections was the elimination of the grammatical gender. Generally the decay of the inflection started in the north and later in the south . The gender of old English nouns was not often determined by meaning sometimes it contradicts the meaning e.g. woman in OE was masculine . Wife and child were neuter but some genders in OE were determined according to their neutral gender. By the time the disappearance of grammatical gender the idea of sex became the only factor in determining the gender of English nouns Grammatical Changes and the Norman Conquest: Languages usually borrow words but do not borrow grammatical structures. Thus the effect of the Norman conquest on the grammatical changes was indirect. Some idioms and syntactical usage that appear in middle English were the result of the contact with the French .Whereas the decay of inflections and other development in the middle English grammar were the result of the conditions created by the Norman Conquest (by making English the language of uneducated people which caused the grammatical changes to go forward unchecked. French Influence on the Vocabulary: French influence was apparent with respect to vocabulary . French and English lived side by side for along time (and the relations between people were intimate). Thus considerable transference of words from one language to the other was inevitable. The interchange was mutual. However the number of the English words that entered French was not as large as that of the French words introduced into English. Why were there more word borrowed from French into English ? Because English represented an inferior culture,had more to learn from French. The number of French words into English were the greatest in number in the whole history of the English language . This effect was the result of political and social consequences of the conquest. This change started slow and continued for along time. Borrowing from French at that era made it easy to borrow from other languages. There were two distinct phases for French borrowing (early and late) 1. The borrowing of this stage was less numerous. 2. It showed the peculiarities of Anglo-‐Norman phonology. 3. A bout 900 words were the result of the contact of the lower class with a French speaking nobility (baron , nobles servant messengers) After1250 the Conditions Changed: 1.Those who used to speak French started to use English . So they used the French words either to supply deficiency in the English vocabulary or to cover their own imperfect command of English. People transferred much of their governmental and administrative vocabulary ,their escleiastical ,legal and military terms, their familiar words of fashion ,food and social life the vocabulary of learning and medicine. Army and Navy : e.g.p: 170 During the Middle ages the control of the army was in the hands of the those who spoke French. Fashion ,meals and social life p:171
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Art , learning and medicine p:172 Breadth of the French Influence: The contribution of French vocabulary into English covered all important departments , it included thousands of all types of vocabulary nouns ,adjectives , verbs and phrases and expresions . Anglo-‐Norman and Central French: The French words introduced into English as a result of the Norman conquest have different appearance from that which they have in modern French . Such difference is a result of the subsequent developments which have taken place in the two languages. e.g.: OE ME MOE MF Fest feste feast fete Forest forest foret The difference is not always revealed by the spelling but is apparent in the pronunciation. The English word judge and chant preserve the early French pronunciation of j and ch which was softened in French in the 13th century to /ʒ/ and/ʃ/. Thus words such as ; change, charge , chamber, just , jewl , majesty and many others are considered from early borrowing . While words like chaperon ,chiffon , rouge show by their pronunciation that they have came into the language at a later date. "The second reason for the difference between French and English words is that the Anglo Norman or Anglo –French dialect spoken in England differed from the language of Paris (central French) Popular and Literary Borrowing: Although most of the French borrowed words were those of everyday popular words , much of Middle English literature was based directly on French originals (adopting many popular speech paved the way for the entrance of literary words) The number of words in the 15th century were less than those in the former century yet they were more prominent because the adoption of popular words nearly disappeared with the disappearance of French as a spoken language in England. The Period of Great Influence: The years from 1250-‐1400 mark the period of influence where English was everywhere replacing French .During these 150 years 40% of all the French words in the language came in. Some statistics showed that the number of French words adopted during the Middle English period was slightly over ten thousand.15% of which are still in current use. Assimilation: Adopted French words were assimilated rapidly e.g. English challing were added to them as was the case with English words. Gentle was later compounded gentlewoman , gentleman , gentlness and gently . Apparently the adverbial endings –ly seems to have been added to sn adjectives . Loss of Native Words: It is known that there are no exact synonyms in English . There are usually certain peculiarity of meaning or use that distinguish a word from terms with which it has much in common. There is always a tendency towards economic usage of words which lead people to get red of a word when its function is fully performed by some other word .After the Norman conquest duplications resulted . In such cases one of two words was lost or if both survived they were differentiated in meaning . In most cases the old English words were lost. Differenciation in Meaning: Where both the English and the French words survived they were generally differentiated in meaning . The discrimination between them has been a matter of gradual growth but it justifies the retention of both words in the language .e.g. English (represents living animals) French (meat) ox beef sheep mutton calf veal The Curtailment of O.E Processes of Derivation: As a form of human activity language always displays (shows) tendencies which one recognize as characteristic of the speech of a given people at a given time. Such habits may be altered by circumstances .e.g. old English enlarged its vocabulary by the use of prefixes and suffixes. After the Norman conquest there was a decline in the use of these methods of word-‐formation . Prefixes: many of the OE prefixes gradually lost their vitality .e.g. for-‐ used to intensify the meaning of a verb or to add the idea of destructive. In MOE it is preserved in verbs such as forget , forgive .
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" Suffixes: the decline in suffixes was less noticeable than prefixes because some important ending have remained active e.g. –ness , -‐ful , -‐less ,-‐some, -‐ish . Generally there was a gradual change in English habits of word formation resulting from the available supply of French words with which to fill the needs of everyday need by the native resources of the language. Self-‐explaining compounds: E.g. bookhouse declined Because French word could have been borrowed instead of compounding words from the native language to create new meaning. The Language Still English: In spite of the extensive modification of the English language the language retained its characteristics as English language .p: 188 Latin Borrowing in Middle English: The Norman conquest is called the Latin influence. Latin was a spoken language among religious men and men of learning . The number of words entered the language through this path is less than that entered through literature . English had some Latin terms relating to law, medicine , science, theology and literature. Among them , several with endings like –able, -‐ible , -‐ent ,-‐dl ,-‐ous, -‐ive…which became familiar in English and reinforced by French. In addition unusual words from Latin by writers of prose (stylistic) were borrowed. The borrowing from Latin, French and Native dialects made English rich in synonyms. English was also influenced by (Romance) the languages of the low countries ; Flemish ,Dutch and low German which were similar to English. It was difficult to realize whether a word has been adopted from one of these languages or of native origin. Dialectal Diversity of Middle English: Middle English has great variety in the different parts of England. This variety included the spoken language as well as written literature. With absence of literary standard writers naturally wrote in their dialects. The Middle English Dialects: We can distinguish four principal dialects of Middle English Northern, East Midland , West Midland and southern . These dialects differ in respect of pronunciation, vocabulary and inflection. The Rise of Standard English : Out of this variety of local dialects emerged toward the end of 14th century a written language which became recognized as the standard in speech and writing. This dialect was very close to the East Midland dialect of London . What were the causes for the standarization of East Midland dialect ? 1. The English of this region occupied a middle position. Less conservative than the southern dialect and less
radical than the Northern. 2. 2. The East Midland dialect district was the largest and most populous(inhabitance). 3. 3. The presence of the universities Oxford , Cambridge in this region. The importance of London English: The most influential factor in the rise of standard English was the importance of
London as the capital of England. London was the political and commercial center of England. The Spread of the London Standard: In the latter part of the 15th century London standard had been accepted at least in writing in most parts of the country. The standarization of London dialect promoted by the introduction of printing in 1476. ""
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Chapter 8 The Renaissance 1500-‐1650
Changing condition in the Modern Period: The development of languages is affected by some events. The beginning of Modern English period which is marked at 1500 was a result of certain conditions among which the printing press ,the rapid spread of popular education ,the increased communication and means of communication , and the growth of what may be called social consciousness . The invention of printing in Germany about the middle of the 15th century created a powerful force for promoting a standard ,uniform language .It also helped to spread that language throughout the country. The influence of printing was activated by the rapid progress of education which eliminate literacy . In the later Middle Ages almost half of the people could at least read. Moreover as a result of popular education the printing press has been able to exert its influence upon language as upon thought. A third factor of great importance to language in modern time is that of commerce ,transportation and the rapid means of communication which brought the different parts of the world together . Social consciousness: People have a tendency to identify themselves with a certain social or economic group. Consequently a man would speak the language of his class. However ,due to the democratic conditions that prevail today a man became able to lift himself into a different economic or intellectual or social level. He is probably would try to adopt the standards of grammar and pronunciation of the people with whom he has identified himself with. Awareness that there are standards of language is a part of his social consciousness. Effect upon grammar and vocabulary : Such mentioned forces could be described as both radical and conservative. Radical means anything that promotes change in language whereas conservative force means conservative force mean to preserve the exiting status. Thus the printing press ,the reading habit and all forms of communication advocate change and stimulate the growth of vocabulary. Semantainiously these forces together with social consciousness promote and are likely to encourage the maintenance of standard specially the in grammar and usage. The Problem of the Vernaculars: In the Middle Ages the development of English took place as a result of Norman conquest which was peculiar to England other than the other languages of Europe as mentioned, the conquest imposed a foreign tongue upon the dominant social class and left the native speech in the hands of the un cultivated. However ,by the end of the Middle English period English had made a remarkable recovery. In the 16th century the modern language faced three great problems. 1. Recognition in the fields where Latin had for centuries been supreme. 2. The establishment of a more uniform orthography . 3. The enrichment of the vocabulary so that it would be adequate to meet the demands that would be made
upon it in its wide use . Elaboration : The struggle for recognition : Although English had established a position as the language of popular literature ,there was a strong tendency towards the use of Latin in all fields of knowledge. Tendency was strengthen by the revival of learning (words of Greek and Latin ). Latin and Greek were the keys to world’s knowledge. Much of highly sophisticated literature was read in such languages . Moreover Latin enjoyed universal currency . contrary to the former opinion there were supporters of the modern languages .p: 203 quotations .(Italian French and English writers) The real force behind the use of English was a popular demand ,the demand of all sorts of men in practical life to share in the fruits of Renaissance. The revival of learning had revealed the richness of the civilization of Greece and Rome. In order to learn from their knowledge in all fields (military, political and government ). In order to spread their knowledge such knowledge has to be expressed in the language that everybody read. The demand was met by translations and original works . e.g. the great works of Homer p;204 From a commercial point of view , the market for English books was naturally greater than for Latin. Arabic p:206 mentioned as one of the languages of learning around the world at that time. By the end of the century English has won recognition as a language of serious thought. (Sir Philip Sidney quotations p;207in 1583. ""The Problem of Orthography: Spelling or ‘right writing ’for the English and other Europeans in the 16th century was important .The problem was that there was generally not accepted system that everyone could conform to. The spelling of modern languages in the Middle Ages had attempted successfully to represent the pronunciation of words although some Norman scribes
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introduced some confusion as they tried to write a language which they imperfectly know and carried over habits which they had formed in writing French. In some cases there was a difference between inserted in words where they were not pronounced (like the b in debt and doubt). Because the corresponding word in Latin was so spelled (detium , jubitare ) light ,night where the gh had formerly represented actual sound The variability of English spelling was an important part of the instability which people felt characterized the English language in the 16th century as compared with Latin. In spite of the Variety in Elizabethan spelling ,by 1550 many of the features of English spelling today were becoming established. There was a problem of spelling which was that pronunciation constantly changes. Richard Mulcaster pp.211-‐212 spent efforts to stabilize spelling through a book which included the recommended spelling for about 7,000 of the most common words. The influence of his book was obvious on certain later writers . During the first half of the 17th century the tendency towards uniformity increased. The fixation of English spelling is associated in most people’s minds with Dr. Johnson (Dictionary) . The problem of orthography was settled during the period 1500-‐1650 . The Problem of Enrichment: There was an effort to enrich the language. The Renaissance was a period of increased activity in almost every field. The language was enriched as a result of some consequences and efforts. The rediscovery of Latin and Greek Literature drew the attention to them as the medium of literary expression. The scholarly dominance of Latin have had left vernaculars un developed, however, at the Renaissance this dominancy was broken . And consequently the deficiency of English was revealed. The act of translation made the translator borrow from other languages (du to the limitation of his language ).This way many foreign words were introduced . Words borrowed were mainly in particularly needed in various technical fields (military terms ) English acquired in the 16th and early 17th century thousands of new words . The greatest number of words were borrowed from Latin .Some from Greek great many from French and some from Italian and Spanish. " "
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Chapter 9 The Appeal to Authority 1650-‐800: The Temper of the Eighteenth century: The first half of the eighteenth century is commonly known as the Augustan Age in England this period has some features : A strong sense of order and the value of regulation which involves conformity to a standard that the consensus recognizes as good . The most important consideration in the foundation of this standard is reason . A great satisfaction was felt in things that could be logically explained and justified . Reason was often supported by the force of authoritative example if possible. The spirit of scientific rationalism reflected in many other demands of thought . Not only in literature but in language Latin was looked up as a model. Generally precedence was to classical production. The 18th century ,like many other period in history ,was quietly conscious of its own superiority. "Its reflection on the Attitude toward the language: The intellectual tendencies in the 18th century represented in the efforts to standardize , refine and fix the English Language . At this age (18th century) the focus was on grammar, it was discovered that English grammar was un codified or un systematic. The ancient languages had been reduced to rule, one would know what was right and what was wrong, but in English everything was uncertain. In many matters of grammatical usage there was much variation even among men of education. This was un pleasant to an age that was looked upon as an orderly universe by all nations around them. The respect for Authoritative example, especially for classical example, took the form of appeals to the analogy of Latin. Generally it was the desire of the 18th century to give the English language a position. Ascertainment: The procedure of reforming English in the 18th century focus on three purposes: 1. To reduce the language to rule and set up a standard of correct usage. 2. To refine it through removing supposed defects and introduce certain improvement . 3. To fix it permanently in the desired form . One of the main noticeable defects of English in the end of the 17th century was the absence of a standard which
means that the language did not posses certain rules . In the 18th century the need for standardization and regulation was expressed in the word “ ascertainment” Dr.
Johnson defined this word as “a settled rule ,an established standard” The need was for a dictionary to record the proper use of words, and a grammar which should settle authoritatively
the correct usage in matter of construction. The problem of refining the language: During the 18th century English had some defects: 1. uncertainty. 2. The lack of a standard to which all might conform ,caused some corruptions. The case resulted in a lament for the various periods in the past which were supposed to represent the highest
perfection of English .For Swift the Elizabethan age was the golden age. Regarding language Swift was a conservative . He opposed the tendency to innovations : 1.Tendency to clip and shorten words which should retain their full polysyllabic form . 2. The tendency to contract verbs such as drug’d , fled 3. Some new words used in religious contexts. "The Desire to fix the Language : One of the most ambitious hops of the eighteenth century was to establish it in a permanent form. The Example of Italy and France: In an attempt to solve the problem of standardizing , refining and fixing ,those who are concerned about the language had to look at the experience of other countries. Since Italy and France were a model of inspiration for a long time. In Italy they had an academy and it had the objective of purification of the Italian language . It published for this purpose in 1612 a dictionary which was modified in several editions. In France they established The French Academy which started with six men and increased to forty. They used to meet once a week to talk about books and to exchange views of literature . The purpose of that Academy was to set definite rules to their language (French). To achieve their goals they compiled a dictionary.
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Thus at the time England was lamenting the lack of an adequate dictionary, Italy and France had both achieved this object through agency of academies . "An English Academy : Following the example of Italy and France the suggestion of an academy occurred early in the 17th century . Learned societies had been known in England since 1572 . They were concerned with the study of antiquity and history . It was composed of men famous in politics ,law ,science ,literature ,history and the like. In 1664 on word there was a call for a committee for improving the English language and Dryden was one of its advocates. Besides Dryden another famous figure was Roscommon. Thus in 1697 the idea of an academy was published by Defoe where he advocated an academy for England ,which he recommended as the authority that would be consulted by writers. Swift ‘s Proposal 1712: By the beginning of the eighteenth century the ground had been prepared for an academy . Swift addressed a letter to the earl of Oxford under the title: A proposal for correcting , improving and ascertaining the English tongue. The Effect of Swift’s proposal: The publication of his proposal marked the beginning towards the movement for an English Academy. However Swifts proposal was opposed by John Oldmixon .In spite of Swifts attempts no serious effort was made to accomplish the purpose . Thus other thought that it would be useless to try again. His proposal in fact directed the pubic and authoritative attention to the problem of language. Objection to an Academy: Though the idea of an academy died hard , the 18th century showed a growing tendency toward it. The objection to the academy was the result of the spirit of personal liberty in the use of language. Substitutes for an Academy: As the proposal of Swift Failed , some of those advocated the establishment of an academy brought about the reforms the reforms which they believed necessary and sat standard . Writers such as Cooke published “ Proposals for Perfecting the English Language “ He extended the reforms to changing of all strong verbs to week , the formation of all plurals of nouns by means of -‐s or –es , the comparison of adjectives only with only more and most . There was a belief that a standard was to be brought about by general consent rather than autherative edict. There was a need for a dictionary and grammatical rules. without these there would be no certainty in diction and no standard of correct construction . The first was supplied by Johnson’s dictionary in 1755 the latter however, was met by some grammarians . Johnson’s Dictionary: Publishing the dictionary in 1755 “ A Dictionary of the English Language “ was a great accomplishment . It represent s the effort of one man over seven years . It supplied thousands of questions examples illustrating the use of words. Johnson praised his dictionary as having the same function as the dictionary of an academy. He was described as the founder of reformation and his dictionary as the corner stone. “the man who had great conferred stability on the language of his country” (Boswell) The Eighteenth-‐century Grammarians and Rhetoricians: As early as the 16th century treaties on English grammar had appeared and in the 17th were compiled by even such men as Ben Johnson and Milton . These works were written for the purpose of teaching foreigners the language or providing a basis for the study of Latin grammar. It was only in the 18th century that English grammar viewed as a subject worth studying . The decade beginning 1760 witnessed a striking interest in grammar . Consequently many books of grammar were published . ""The Aims of the Grammarians: The aims of the 18th century grammarians were 1. To codify the principles of the language and reduce it to rules. 2. To settle disputed points and decide cases of divided usage. 3. To point out the common errors or what were supposed to be errors, and thus correct and improve the
language. The Beginning of Prescriptive Grammar: To prescribe and to proscribe were the aims of the grammarians. Prescribe = advise or order the use of . Proscribe = restrict the use of
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Grammarians had settled up many disputed matters of usage . Many of the conventions now accepted and held up as preferable in our handbooks were first introduced in the second half of the 18th century.
e.g. you were (was) Different from (different than or to) "With regard to pronouns Lowth expressed the view that has since been accepted ,that the pronoun is determined by the construction to be supplied or understood 278. e.g. he is older than she He likes you better than me . Grammarians opposed the use of double negative. Why? Because as Lowth stated two negatives in English destroy one another or are equivalent to an affirmative . (They haven’t done nothing) . Methods of Approach: The consideration by which the questions of usage were settled were three: reason (logic), etymology and the example of Latin and Greek. 1. Reason : Lowth objected to I am mistaken Since it should properly mean: “ I am misunderstood and not ( I
am wrong) 2. Etymology : Johnson and Lowth stated “ when the etymology is from an ancient or foreign language or from
obsolete roots in our language ,or when it is obscure or doubtful, no regard should be had to it .the case is different , when the root either are ,or strongly appear to be ,English , are in present use , and clearly suggest another meaning. Beholden for obliged or indebted ..” p:280 "
3.The example of Latin : according to Johnson it wasn’t commonly cited “ every language must be servility formed after the model of some one of the ancient ,if we wish to give durability to our works.” Such an attitude derived in part from concerns with universal grammar (that grammar which only respects those principles , that are essential to al languages) .Most of the ideas of universal grammar were derived from the literary traditions of Latin and Greek. The Doctrine of Usage: In the latter half of the 18th century appeared the beginnings of the modern doctrine that the most important criterion of language is usage. Campbell inquire what constituted the body of usage which he recognized as so authoritative and redefined it as present ,national and reputable use. Such a definition so reasonable and sound that it has been accepted ever since. "Results : Results of the 18th century that grammarians had achieved: The grammarians were attempting to “ascertain” the language and give definiteness and order to a body of uncodified practice in order to avoid the description of English as a language without rules. Consequently a considerable number of disputed points, rightly or wrongly ,were settled and have since became established . Thus with the settlement of many matters which were in disputed much of the uncertainty was removed . For this and other reasons English escaped the artificial restraints and in the influence of an academy . "Weakness of the Early Grammarians : Though the efforts of the 18th grammarians are acknowledged , yet there were some limitations ; 1. The failure to recognize the importance of usage as sole arbiter in linguistic matter. 2. They didn’t realize that changes in language often appear to be un reasonable. 3. Their ignorance of the process of linguistic change. "Attempts to Reform the Vocabulary : Weaknesses characterized the attempts to reform the vocabulary every one felt competent to purify the language by proscribing words and expressions because they were too old or too new. Individual objection to particular expression was not limited to the 18th century. In fact most of the words criticized are still in use and the efforts to abandon them failed because they interfere with the natural course of linguistic history . "Objection to Foreign Borrowing: One of the main concerns of the 18th century for the purity of the language was to purify English from foreign words.
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Dryden objection “ a turning English into French” and many other writers objected to foreign words. It is not difficult to see how French was in a strong position to influence English. French was at the height of its prestige. Travel to France was necessary part of one’s education Latin (middle Ages = French 18th century. The number of French words admitted to the language in the period from 1650-‐1800 was not that large. Many of them were useful . The expansion of the British Empire. "The expansion of the British Empire: In this period the foundations were being laid for that wide extension of English in the world which has resulted in its use throughout more than quarter of the earth’s surface. The beginning of colonization started as early as 1492 when Columbus discovered America and Vasco De Gama reached India 1498. Their achievements were due to Spanish and Portuguese enterprise. When the wealth of America and Canada started pouring into Spanish and Portuguese lands, the other countries envy and ambitions were aroused. The English settlements began at the Atlantic boarders and spread to different areas. "Although the American Revolution deprived England of one of her most promising colonies , it didn’t prevent the language of this region from remaining English. Meanwhile England was getting foothold in India . By the Middle of the 18th century the two great rivals in India as in America were England and France . The beginning of the English occupation of Australia also. Occurred in the 18th century. After the American Revolution they decided to exile criminals to Australia. "Some Effect of Expansion of the language: The most obvious effects of English Expansion are to be seen in the vocabulary. New territories mean new experience, activities , new products all of which are reflected in the language. Trade was an important way for transmission of ideas . In America contact with the Indians resulted in number of words and contact with other people in America ,Spanish partly used added words to the languagep:290 = different words from different origins. "Development of Progressive verb forms: One important characteristic in this century in English grammar is that English is distinctly more varied and flexible in some of its verbal expressions than other languages . The development of the progressive is attributed to the 16th century The progressive passive : The extension of such form to the passive was a latter development (the house is being built – the car is being stolen) Such structures appeared at the end of 18th century . The history of the progressive passive shows that English is a living and growing thing that its grammar is not fixed. " "
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Chapter 10 The Nineteenth Century and After: Influences Affecting the Language: The century witnessed tow great reform in the Parliament that led to establishing English society on a more democratic basis. Such reform lessened the distance between the upper and lower class. The establishment of the first cheap newspaper (1816) and of cheap postage(1840) and the improved means of travel and communication brought about by the railroad ,the steamboat and the telegraph had the effect of uniting more closely the different parts of England and of spreading the influence of the standard speech. During the first half of the 19th century the world war and the troubled period following them affected the people and the language . In the 20th century some events and changes are reflected in the English vocabulary .The contribution came from the great developments in science and the rapid progress in every field. The Growth of Science : Due to the revolution in science and scientific discovery there has been need for thousands of new terms in different fields (medicine , chemistry .One of the most prominent events of the 1060’s and 1970’s were the achievements of scientific and engineering in the exploration of space. These decades reflect the interest of the country. Autombile,Film and Broadcasting: The importance of the new word depended on the usefulness of such invention in the life of the public. The World Wars: Between 1914and 1918 as a direct consequence of world war I ,the language was affected by the introduction of many words that were military specific representing warfare. World war II was less productive of words .it made its contribution to the language in the form of certain new words. Language as a Mirror of Progress: Since words are symbols by means of which a man expresses his ideas ,they are an accurate measure of the range of his thought at any given time. The date when a new word enter the language is in general the date when the object ,experience .observation or whatever it is that calls it forth has entered his consciousness. From the history of words one may realize history of civilization. The appearance of words like railway , locomotive about 1835 indicated that That was the time of introducing steam railways. Sources of the New Words: Borrowing: Most of the words that entered the English language since 1800 have been derived from the same source have long been familiar. Self Explaining Compounds: Self explaining compound is a second source of new words. Its an old method of word formation . The old compounds became familiar so that they no longer look newly coined . The new word s are distinct by a hyphen or as separate words. Compounds Formed From Greek and Latin Elements: The method of compounding from elements derived from Latin and Greek also were popular. Some roots may entre into more than a word: Auto(self) prefixes and suffixes : It is a method of expanding the vocabulary by appending prefixes and suffixes to existing words. Coinage: great number of new words were attributed to deliberate inventions some trade marks had been treated as common nouns to refer to certain items of all brands e.g. zerox, Kleenex . Words are formed by combining the initial or first few letters of two or more words are known as acronyms e.g. radar =radio detecting and ranging . Opec= organization of petroleum exporting countries . Common Words from Proper Names: Another source from which many English words have been derived in the past is the name of persons and places e.g.: Sandwich = the earl of Sandwich once put slices of meat between slices of bread. A limousine = from the name of a province in France. More than 500 common words in English have been traced to proper names and they must be considered as illustrating one of the sources from which new words are still being derived . Old Words with New Meanings: The resources of the vocabulary are some times extended from within by employment of an old word in a new sense e.g. = Skyline = horizon but now it is common in such an expression as the New York skyline . Broadcast =seeds ( radio)
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With each word we can convey a specific often technical meaning quite different from the sense which these which expressions previously had . The Influence of Journalism: Journalism and magazine played an important role in increasing and spreading importance ( import) of the new words. In the 19th century journalism was a new force affecting language and it had the tendency constantly to renew the vocabulary and its ability to bring about the adoption of new words. Changing of Meaning : Some words may gradually change their meaning . This is a common tendency of any language at any time e.g. lovely =worthy to be loved She is lovely=kind nice A box of candy might be lovely. Cultural Levels and Functional Verities: There were different types of languages according to the type of people using them. There were local and class dialects technical and occupational vocabularies ,slang and other forms of speech less reputable. There were the literary standard ,the spoken standard and vulgar speech. Such varieties differ in their social implications. Thus the difference between the spoken standard and vulgar speech is in their association with broadly different class. The Standard Speech: The spoken standard or as it is sometimes called the received standard varies in different parts of the English speaking world . In England it is the type of speech used by educated people in great public schools as well as by cultivated people. It is a class rather than a regional dialect. It is not the same spoken standard of the United States or Canada or Australia. The spread of English all over the world has changed the concept towards a standard English . The speech of England can no longer be considered the norm by which all others must be judge. English Dialects: In addition to the educated standard in each English speaking country there are local forms of the language known as regional dialects. The United States has many different dialects however the improvement in transportation and communication have reduced such differences . However in Great Britain the difference between dialects is great . The dialect of Scotland and Ireland are distinct from the standard English of England. Scotch dialect have preserved so many old words. English in the Empire: In the various parts of the former English Empire as in the USA , the English language has developed differences which distinguish it from the language of England. The differences were mainly apparent in pronunciation and vocabulary. In Australia the constant movement of the convict from place to another brought the development of a mixed dialect which became homogeneous throughout the settled territory and distinct from any of the British dialects. In the Republic of South Arica it has been occupied by many countries before England among which Dutch. Some old English words are preserved in the dialects while it is lost To standard English e.g. Africa . . Other African colonies some has retain their African language however English was used as the official language of the country. It was chosen in order to avoid ethnic jealousy which would arise from the selection of one of the African languages. In India , the Indian constitution of 1950 recognized 14 Indian languages ,of which Hindi was to be the first national language. English was to serve as a transitional language with Hindi until 1965 but it has continued to be used as an official language . English is spoken by the influential Indian population, including leaders in government, education, and the press. The variety recognized as standard in India and in Pakistan will be distinctively South Asian variety in its pronunciation , syntax and vocabulary. It is affected by the culture and native languages of south Asia and it will affect those languages .
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