Paper 3 - Language Change, Historical Context Flashcards

Caxton’s Printing Press

Introduced to England in 1476, helped to standardise spelling, punctuation and the system of writing through increasing the availability of written material

Great Vowel Shift (GVS)

A phonological development of the English Language whereby there was an upward shift in the pronunciation of vowels in the English Language which occurred between the 1400 and 1500s

Influence of French Scribes

French scribes started to introduce their spelling patters into English: ‘qu’ replaced ‘cw’ (‘cween’ to ‘queen’), reversed word order of letters (e.g. ‘hw’ to ‘wh’, ‘hwere’ to ‘where’), GU added to words like guide, guise and guard

Old English Time Period

Before c. 1100

Middle English Time Period

c. 1100 - 1500

Early Modern English Time period

c. 1500 - 1700

Late Modern English Time period

c. 1700 onwards

Impact of black death

Lead to the death of many priests and thus the loss of latin, writers were concerned about change and wanted to stabilise language

Pronoun change from Early Modern to Late Modern English

In early modern English ‘you’ was used to address someone of a higher rank whereas ‘thou’ was used to address someone of lower rank or intimacy. By late modern English, 'you' became the standard form of address for all.

Inkhorn debate

First formal dispute on English language where people objected to long and obscure Latin terms and the notion that English should not be ‘polluted’ by other languages was reached

Renaissance Interrogative

In 15th-16th century, interrogative without auxiliary is accepted, e.g. ‘think you I am handsome’ rather than ‘do you think I am handsome’

Renaissance Negative

Double negative perfectly accepted, used for emphasis, stronger negative and intensive

Renaissance Spelling Reforms

Many scholar who revered Latin and Ancient Greek became spelling reformers and tried to remodel English spelling based on classical spelling patterns. (E.g. ‘h’ inserted into words like ‘throne’ and ‘author’ as it was recognised that they came from Greek.

Early Modern English significance

Marks the rise of a written and spoken standard, it also saw a substantial growth of literacy throughout the population, and the vernacular was extended to practically all contexts of speech and writing

Late Modern English significance

In the early 18th century, British and American societies began to see a change from predominantly rural industry into an industrialised society. This had a profound impact on the English language and led to new terms being invented in order to accommodate the new technology being used.