History of the English Language--Fall 2024

Every langauge has...

phonology: a sound system
lexis: vocabulary
morphosyntax: grammar
phonology: pronunciation

Sir William Jones

(1746-1794)
-noticied similarities between Sanskrit and many European Languages

Sanskrit

Ancient Indian language; preserves features of the common language, much older than Greek, Latin, or German; has a full system of declensions and conjugations

Grimm's Law

A set of sound rules that explains the relationship between consonants in Germanic languages (German, English) and those in non-Germanic Indo-European Languages (Sanskrit, Greek, Latin

Centum languages

Germanic, Italic, Celtic, Hellenic

philology

the study of language on historical and scientific principles

Satem languages

Slavic, Indo-Iranian, Baltic, Armenian

Kurgan Hypothesis

-theory about the origin of the Indo-European people
-homeland somewhere north of the Caspian sea
-map shows dispersal of Indo-European languages from 4000-1000 BCE

The Celts

First people in England about whose language we have definite knowledge
-subjugated by the Romans during the Roman conquest of Britain

Names of the Three principal Germanic tribes that invaded the British Isles in the 5th century CE

Jutes, Saxons, Angles

Origin of the term "English"

derived from the name "Angles" (Engle); England was ["Englaland"= land of the angles]

History of English Periods

Old English (450-1150)
Middle English (1150-1500)
Modern English (1500-present)

synthetic language

a language where meanings are largely based off of inflections (spelling of a word reflects its grammatical meaning)

analytic language

based off of prepositions, word order (relationship between words)

Old English nouns

Declension-inflection of nouns to indicate singular/plural
4 vowels--> a, o(with hat), i, u

Old English verbs

Strong: change in tense by modifying vowel (sing, sang, sung)
Weak: change in tense with addition of a 'dental'/ extra syllable (walk, walked, had walked)

King Alfred the Great

(871-899)
responsible for having many important books translated into English (translated some himself) thus building an impressive body of English prose

Beowulf

regarded as single greatest work of OE literature

Treaty of Wedmore

A treaty in 878 between King Alfred and the Vikings established an area of the British Isles that would be governed by the Scandinavian invaders.

the Danelaw

The area in which King Alfred and the Vikings gave to the Scandinavian invaders.

Zero Period

Continental Borrowing

Contact between Roman and Germanic tribes
-war words ['camp'=battle]
-trade words ['ceap'=cheap]
explain relations

First Period

Celtic Transmission

English place names (Chester, Lancaster, Glocuster)

Second Period

Christianization of Britain
Conversion of Britain to Roman Christianity (597)
Augustine (Pope Gregory the Great)

Benedictine Reform

Decline in the Church due to the Danes (end 8th cent.)
Alfred saw learning decay-->restored churches/education.

The Vikings

Early raids (787) attacked monasteries/east coast of British Isles

Foreign Influences on OE

(1) Celtic-relatively minor, pushed to the outskirts
(2) Latin
(3) Scandinavian- Norse/Danish

Loss of Normandy (Key Factor in the Re-establishment of English)

1204; Conflict between the French and English (England lost nobility) King John lost Normandy, and the French confiscated his territory. Resulted in the decline of French speaking in England for the following centuries

Hundred Years' War (Key Factor in the Re-establishment of English)

French interference in England's efforts to control Scotland (one of the causes of the disuse of French)

Rise of Middle Class (Key Factor in the Re-establishment of English)

conditions for labor class imrpoving; restoration of prestige/importance to English through Middle Class

Statue of Pleading

(1362) enacted by Parliament to change the official language of court business in England from French to English.

Principle of Analogy

tendency of a language to adopt a less common linguistic form to a more familiar one

Plural Noun changes in ME (strong and weak)

Strong nouns: end in S (cards)
Weak nouns: end in en (oxen)

Pronoun changes in ME

-demonstratives (this that)
-personal pronouns (his hers)
-loss of dual pronouns

Verb changes in ME

-loss of strong verbs
-new verbs treated as weak (French) [arrest-->arrested]

leveling of forms

the loss of distinction between different forms (case endings on nouns and pronouns)

ME Lexical changes

-French borrowing
-loss of Native words
-loss of traditional O.E word formations (suffixes, prefixes, compounds)
-aureate terms: pretentious language for gilded style
-Dutch and French influences

Geoffery Chaucer

-aided in the rise of the London Standard
-wrote his most popular works in East Midlands dialect

William Caxton

-used London forms of English (Chancery English) when typesetting their works
-set up the first printing press in England

The Great Vowel Shift

a change in the pronunciation of English language that took place between 1400 and 1600
- short vowel 'bit'
-long vowel 'beet'
['stan'--> 'stone]

monophthong

Single vowel sound "sheep"

diphthong

double blended sound "die"

Classicism

defended use of Latin--> wanted to protect Theology/Medicine

Humanism

English regarded as popular/practical

Renaissance

-huge lexical changes, minor grammatical changes
-due to globalization--English is very good at taking words from other languages

Vernacular

the language of the common people

Oversea language

'outlandish' foreign words
-especially Italian

Chaucerisms

words, pronunciations, idioms, or grammatical constructions, from an earlier stage of the language, reintroduced

Language Purism

Led by John Cheke (1514-1557)
-England was becoming established as a global power-wanted to protect their language

Ascertainment

18th century attempts to (1)reduce the language to rule (standard for correctness) (2) remove 'deficits' and introduce improvements (3) 'fix' to a permanently desired form

prescriptivism

the idea that there are right and wrong ways to use language, and language books should provide rules to follow

conservative grammarians

(1) codify language; reduce it to a rule (2) settle usage disputes (3) improve the language by pointing out errors

Johnathan Swift

(1712)
-Conservative linguist
-didn't like abbreviations, slang, contractions
-wanted to create an English Academy

Doctrine of Usage

the most important criterion of language is usage
Good usage must be:
(1) Present (in active use)
(2) National (in widespread use)
(3) reputable

Joseph Priestly

grammarian
Author of "Grammar" (1761)
-believed that grammar needed rules, but English was a living thing
-rules should be based off of usage

Descriptivism

Belief that all types of language are acceptable - non judgemental

Self-explaining compounds

combination of two words that are self-explanatory. ex. skydiving, lipstick

coinages

Newly invented words (Kleenex, Kodak)

portmanteau word

a word formed by combining the sounds and meanings of two different words (brunch)

extension

widening. word's significance ('lovely' used to mean 'worthy to be loved;' now it can mean anything really good or really beautiful)

Narrowing

acquire a more restricted sense ('Doctor' used to apply to a learned person in any field of study, now just pertains to medicine)

Degeneration

gradual extension to so many senses that the meaning gets lost ('awful' used to mean worthy of awe or respect; now means really bad)

Regeneration

passed into the standard of speech ('sturdy' used to mean harsh or rough now it means strong or solid)

Received Pronunciation

The dialect of English associated with upper-class Britons living in London and now considered standard in the United Kingdom.

Cockney

working-class london accent, characterized by dropping the [h] sound at the start of words; deemed unprofessional/lower class speech

slang

a peculiar kind of vagabond language, always hanging on the outskirts of legitimate speech, but continually straying or forcing its way into the most respectable company