History of language change

Periods of English

Old English: 600-1100s

Middle English: 1100-1500s

Early Modern English: 1500-1700s

Late Modern English: 1700-present day

The Great Vowel Shift

• Took place from 1400 - 1600s. So, occurred during the late middle English period. The GVS was one of the major components that marked the shift of middle English into early modern English.

• A process which had a profound influence on English spelling and phonology, where pronunciation of vowels shifted, with vowels being raised and longer leading them to be pronounced more. eg. mouse was originally pronounced as moose.

• The ‘oo’ sound became an ‘ow’ sound, the ‘ah’ sound became an ‘eh’, and the ‘ee’ sound became an ‘ai’ sound.

• The reason for this shift in pronunciation is not entirely known but it could be due to the movement of people due to the black death, leading to regional accents blending with other accents from differnent communities through integration and migration.

• What to look out for to spot the effects of the great vowel shift:

  • Spelling variations eg ‘meete’ from ‘meet’ relfects the phonological pronunciations at the time pronunciations were shifting, although because of this process, not all pronunciations had shifted. ‘Meet’ reflects how this had shifted from an ‘eh’ sound to an ‘ee’ sound for example.

Caxton’s Printing press

• Contributed to the standardisation of English orthography.

• Alongside the great vowel shift, Caxton’s printing press was another significant event that marked the change of middle English to early modern English.

• Around 1440, Caxton invented the printing press in Germany, and within 100 years, it had spread throughout Europe. However, the printing press arrived in England in 1476 which meant that England’s spellings had to become standardised right at the time pronunciations were shifting (the great vowel shift), so scholars who wanted to update the English spelling system to match pronunciations could no longer do so. So, because of the printing press, England was stuck with a spelling system dating back to the Anglo-Saxons.

• Those who standardised English did not have the best best reasons eg. Dutch type setters changed some spellings to match their Flemish conventions eg. adding ‘h’ to ‘ghost’ and ‘ghastly.’ Furthermore, because ‘dumb’ ended with a ‘b’ some writers mistakenly added bs to ‘limb, crumb, and numb.’

The renaissance

• Occurred roughly between the 1300s-1600s.

• Another key event that marked the shift of middle english to early modern english.

• A period of European cultural movement, with art and literature coming popular as well as ideas of humanism.

• Scholars began importing inkhorn (named after ink horn pots kept on desks) words from different languages including Greek, Latin and French. eg. celebration, fertile, capacity, encyclopaedia, Skellington, enthusiasm, imaginary, juvenile, pernicious, sophisticated etc.

• Inkhorn controversy - a debate that inkhorn words are unnecessary and pretentious. language purists believed the texts should be written in English so that the new learning could be “brought within the reach of the English public. So, its arguing in a way that instead of inkhorn words enriching english vocab, its invading it. During the Tudor period, inkhorn words was considered ‘rude’ and ‘barbarous,’ lacking the appropriate words to express learned ideas, making english complicated, however while others embraced inkhorn words, adding interest and depth to the english language, claiming that it enriches english. Prescriptivists would be against inkhorn words.

• Renaissance scholars also changed the spelling of existing English words in order to ay tribute to their etymological roots. eg. adding ‘h’ to chronical and chaos. and also substituting ‘ph’ for ‘f’ eg. physics, pharmacy phlegm etc. and furthermore letters added to words such as ‘g’ in sign and ‘b’ in debt and doubt.

• Standardisation of english - due to the an increase in widespread education and literature, this led to a standardised form of english emerging (early modern english) compared to before the renaissance where usage of english varied (important to mention if you see varied spelling.)

• Literacy influence - notable literacy writers such as Shakespeare eg ‘in a pickle, wild goose chase, hot and cold blood, green eyed monster.’ and John Milton eg. fragrance, enjoyable, terrific, space etc. became popular as they coined new words, idioms and phrases which led to the development and evolution of the english language

• Influence on Grammar and syntax - English scholars were in spired by Latin’s rules of grammatical structure and as a result adopted these rules to refine english, for it to appear more sophisticated, elegant. eg. Latin syntax usually follows: subject, object verb, compared todays syntax structure which is typical of: subject, verb, object. (good to mention if you can see the Latin influences in sentence structure.

Noah Webster

• An American writer, attempted to modernise English spelling in the early 1800s by suggesting a range of phonetically corrective spellings in which some stuck eg. color, center, plow, draft, jail etc. However, some of them did not stick eg. ‘soop’ for ‘soup.’ Some of the spellings that stuck became part of the American spelling system, which signify the differences in spelling between America and Biritan eg. Color - colour.

• Furthermore, after America broke off from England as a colony in 1783 after the American revolutionary war, gained their own independence which led to American english being a distinct form of english to represent their identity and culture that differed from Englands. Noah Webster therefore, published his own dictionary of American english (in 1806) through his interest in patriotic nationalism, which aimed to simply spelling (as formally described), standardise American spelling eg. spelling, vocab, punctuation etc. and to codify specific lexis of American culture that related to its geography and institutions, which emphasises the difference between American and British english.

The Hundurad years’ war

• A war conflict between England and France that lasted from 1337-1453 that had a significant impact on the English language.

• Removing the French influence - due to the Norman conquest, the French language was the official language of the monarch, the court and of the government. However, during the war, monarchs such as Edward III and Henry V emphasized their English identity which led to english regaining its prestige and significance, displacing the French languages significance in government and literature.

• Standardisation of English - as English rulers sought to establish their authority, this promoted the use of English to be used in official documents, law courts and administration, which led to the standardisation of English. eg. Chancery Standard, a type of English, emerged as a standard written form during this time.

• Vocab enrichment - Despite English’s standardisation, the French influence continued to filter into english. eg. as the French and English armies interacted, english speakers adopted French vocabulary relating to warfare, chivalry, diplomacy, law etc. These borrowed terms expanded the English language and enriched it.

  • Military words: troop, guard, lieutenant, siege

  • Chivalric culture: court, noble, courage, honor

  • Administration terms: parliament, justice, revenue

The Norman Conquest

• In 1066, William the Conquer invaded England from Normandy, allowing French speakers to rule England. As a result, English became the lower class language whereas French became the language of the monarch, the court and the government including official documents.

• As a result of their invasion, they brought over a range of loanwords which were added to the english language eg. royalty, leisure, salary, comfort, liberty, grief, court, justice, feast, castle etc. also, the names of meat were french eg. pork, beef etc whereas the actual animals eg. pig, cow were from old english.

• Not only were new words added to the english language, but French scripters changed the spelling of some english words in order for English to look more familiar to French readers. eg. runic letters were removed and letters were added such as ‘gh’ to ‘niht’ (night).

King James’s bible

• First published in 1611

• Contributed to the standardisation of english in regards to orthography and punctuation.

• Charlton Heston “The King James bible has been an enormous force in shaping the development of the english language” - spoken by linguist David Crystal .

• “Without the king James Bible there would be no modern english.” - David crystal

• This bible would of been read out and integrated into the minds of people, particularly through its use of idioms which are still used throughout contemporary society. eg. ‘skin of my teeth’ ‘apple of my eye’, ‘thief in the night’, ‘tomorrow will take care of itself’,' ‘eye for an eye’ etc. Throughout contemporary society these idioms have been toyed with, played around with and manipulated eg. some use idioms in a literal manner, and some people combine idioms from the bible into one eg.‘eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.’

• Crystal also talked about how in King James bible, the word ‘and’ is used as a sentence starter numerous times compared to todays society where gramatitions books (made around 1762), had a profound influence on the language rules we use today in which grammar books specifically state that you must not start a sentence with a conjunction eg.' ‘and', ‘but’, ‘because.’ (followed a Hebrew structure that was grammatically acceptable at the time, could link this to substratum theory) During 1611, it is assumed that starting a sentence with a conjunction became standard throughout society compared to what grammar books were previously suggesting. This change signifies how language is always changing and evolving to meet the needs of its users.

Samuel Jhonson’s dictionary

• One of the first english dictionaries, published 1755. This was one of the most successful dictionaries that a ‘true lexicon’ was fully written down.

• Contributed to the standardisation of the english language orthography, with varied english spelling becoming consistent throughout society.

• Samuel Johnson began as a prescriptivist and then converted to being a descriptivist. His aim within his years of writing was to essentially ‘fix’ the english language through his dictionary: “This, my Lord, is my idea of an English dictionary, a dictionary by which the pronunciation of our language may be fixed, and its attainment facilitated; by which its purity may be preserved” - Samuels proposal of his dictionary.

• However, within the 8 years of his proposal being made, he came to recognise that language was continuously subject to change, and that the former goal of ‘fixing’ the language altered to rather ‘registering’ the language. He compared reforming english to “trying to rope in a river.” - essentially an impossible task for not just him, but for anyone.

Grammar Books

• Frist publications appeared around 1762.

• Contributed to the standardisation of english grammar

  and syntax. Before grammar books were wrote, just like english orthography, english grammar varied across the country with no consistency between speakers, but although this was not a problem before the rise of perscripivism which acted as a catalyst for change.

• Prescriptivist in nature (well, used for a prescriptivist purpose in regards of manipulation of Lowrths work), gramatitions set out to codify the

  grammatical rules of english, writing books guiding english speakers on how to correctly use english. However, when grammatitions had a gap in knowledge or was unsure of what rule to use, they would use whatever necessary rule Latin used (help??)

• As a result from the development of grammar books, these were used in schools, standardizing english grammar.

• Robert Lowth - "A Short Introduction to English Grammar", published in 1762, contributed significantly to the standardisation of english. His grammar book influenced influenced various grammar books and language teaching methods, providing authoritative insight on how to properly use english eg. promoted the use of proper syntax, sentence structure, and punctuation to convey meaning effectively. His emphasis on how english should be used with clarity, precision, and elegance had a lasting impact on the study and usage of english. Lowth never actually intended to write a prescriptive grammar, but rather a descriptivist peice of work that was wrote for his son who was about to enter school and study Latin. He thought that by describing the rules of English, he would give his son a foundation for learning Latin grammar (It was natural that the grammar was written using Latin terminology.) Lowth’s publisher then promoted and marketed the book, causing it to become enormously popular. One main reason for its popularity was when people were climbing the socio-economic ladder during the Industrial Revolution who put great value on speaking ‘correct’ and ‘polite’ English, thereby distinguishing themselves from the lower classes. The prescriptive use of Lowth’s work instigated a long line of prescriptive grammars up to the present day.

• Lindlay Murray - "“English Grammar Adapted to the Different Classes of Learners”, published in 1795, influenced the study of english grammar and was used in a variety of educational resources. He copied extensively from Lowth, but phrased the rules and strictures in such a way as to make them prescriptive in nature, rather than descriptive as Lowth intended.

• Joseph Priestly - “The Rudiments of English Grammar", published in 1761 followed by another publication at around 1768 of the same grammar book but with alterations, set out the basic rules and conventions of the english language. Priestly felt that his grammar book had become supressed by Lowth: “ Lowth’s is much better, but I question whether it will signify much to teach any English Grammar” - Priestly 1766 from a letter to his friend expressing his doubts about teaching the value of english grammar. It can be assumed that Priestly’’s second publication was a more sophisticated alteration to somewhat meet up the standards of Lowth work, making his grammar book have more of a valuable contribution to the teaching of english grammar.

Scientific/technological revolutions

Industrial revolution:

• Began during the 1800s where the development of technology and machinery created lexical gaps in knowledge so therefore, neologisms needed to be coined, or existing words needed to be borrowed/recycled in order to name new discoveries/inventions. machinery was either named after the inventors or of their own choice eg, trains, engine, pulleys, combustion, electricity, telephone, telegraph, camera were all examples of developed machinery during the industrial revolution.

• The industrial revolution also created the economic necessity for the mass movement of the working classes (where wages were low and environments were unhygienic, working conditions were horrifying.) Its also important to note that children of the working class were also involved in hard manual labour, being put in dangerous conditions handling large machines. This mixing of the working class from different areas allowed accents and dialects to mix, and even other languages, which expanded english vocabulary.

• The industrial revolution coupled with the Great Potato Famine in 1845, also saw the mass migration of Irish people moving to England for better lives. The closest port across from Ireland was Liverpool. Before this, most people in Liverpool spoke with a Lancashire dialect. However, with the introduction of the Irish accent, the Lancashire dialect modified into Scouse, making Scouse a relatively young dialect. 

Since then:

• Since the industrial revolution, the advancement of technology and inventions has continued to rapidly develop, with for example the radio being invented around the 1880s which essentially exposed a variety of different english’s, accents and dialects, which led to the influence of new lexis and terminology to be adopted by other people of different dialects. This is the same process as the invention of TV in 1927 which unlike radio, allows people to actually see whats being introduced, so different cultures and traditions can be dysplayed visually to the public, creating further interest and influence.

Colonisation

• Colonisation allowed people to move between countries, bring over new foods, traditions and culture that carried new names and meaning to the opposing country, which expanded english vocab as others began to adopt a sense of awareness of different cultures, and even may adopt new traditions. This is due to the mixing and interaction of native and non-native speakers of english, which led to the creation of creole languages (a language thats a mix of different languages), borrowing or even the creation of new ‘english’s.’ For example, when the British colonised Hong Kong, a range of words and phrases relating to foods and cultures were borrowed such as: Wok (cooking pan), chow mein, dim sum (dishes) etc. Also, the creation of Hong Kong english.

• An example of this can be seen when Britain colonised Ireland during the 12th century. Words that were borrowed from Irish and adopted into the english language since interaction include: gob, whisky, slob, clock etc.

• process of decolonisation led to former colonies of Britain developing their own varieties of english, making it one of the official languages in their countries, increasing the number of standard english’s globally. eg. Hong Kong was a former colony of Britain that to this day, english is one of its official languages alongside Chinese.

War and the commonwealth

• World war 1 and 2, created the need for more lexical terminology to be coined or borrowed due to the invention of new advancing technology and weapons eg. tank, air traffic control etc.

• Also the integration of the english and German armies led to new words and phrases being adopted by one another, further extending both languages. eg. the term ‘strafe’ was adopted by English speakers from German speakers. The German phrase "Gott strafe England!" ("God punish England!") was widely used in German propaganda, and jocularly modified by English-speakers, as in this 1915 example: "Chocolate does not promote sociability. 'Gott strafe chocolate,'

• The wars also led to social and political upheaval as the working classes and the upper classes blurred together, and also the involvement of women during the war, demanding equal rights and more opportunities (for social class as well), which pressured society to reflect a new language that was more inclusive.

• Furthermore, worker shortages during the war led to citizens from a range of Britian’s colonies traveling to work bringing with them new customs, foods, music and words that became assimilated into the language.

• A variety of english, American english, due to the countries global status and super power, has heavily contributed to the rise and dominance of english as a global language.

Modern influences of language change

• Marketing/branding - Further theories, discoveries and developments of technology have increased lexical gaps in knowledge which has resulted in coining new neologisms eg. ‘Google’,’twitter’ and further highlighting the power of modern neologisms by the ability to convert them into verbs eg. ‘to google something’ or ‘to tweet something.’

• Political correctness - involves having society respect other people, groups and cultures through careful use of terminology. eg. the adaptation of using pronounse such as ‘they/them’ to create a more friendly, inclusive society for those who do not identity neither male or female. These approaches reflect societies broad shift to a more equal, respectable world.

• Social media - adoption of new phrases relating to modern TV eg. binge watching and also hashtags (“ThrowBackThursday), slang terms (‘brat’,’slay’, ‘girlpop.’) Furthermore, the development of acronyms eg. DM for ‘direct messages.’ All of these elements reflect the rapid acceleration of modern terminology including slang which are spread internationally - perscriptivist’s would strongly disagree whereas descriptivist’s would celebrate this change as a significant aspect to study.