Language Over Time

Language Over Time

1. Modern English

   • West African languages introduced through the slave trade (America)
   • The "Age of Reason/Enlightenment" had begun
     • leading to an impact on religious language
   • S. Johnson Dictionary - 1755
   • Industrial Revolution
     • fundamental changes were made
     • neologisms because of: science & tech, cities & factories, new inventions
       • fashion
       • food
       • leisure
       • medicine
       • chemistry
       • psychology
   • Prescriptivism
     • a strict set of rules that identify correct & incorrect use of language
   • Romanticism movement
     • Artistic, literary & intellectual movement
     • A reaction to the Industrial Revolution. Also a revolt against the social & political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and against the scientific rationalism of nature
     • Major impact on historiography, education and natural sciences
     • POLITICS: Associated with LIBERALISM & RADICALISM
     • Emphasis on emotions like APPREHENSION, HORROR & TERROR
     • Elevated folk art and ancient customs to a noble status
     • Gothic romance
       • Edgar Allan Poe (US)
       • Mary Shelley
       • Charlotte/Emily Bronte
   • Classic movement (Neoclassicism)
     • Decorative & visual arts, literature, theatre, music AND architecture
       • Drew inspiration from "classical" art of Ancient Greece and/or Rome
     • Competed with romanticism
   • GRAMMAR
     • non-finite clauses added to formality
     • Transitive constructions
     • "SO" was an intensifier(?)
     • Lots of semantic shifts

2. Early Modern English

   • RENAISSANCE
     • voyages of discovery (chocolate)
     • discoveries of science (pneumonia, vacuum)
     • new inventions (thermometer)
     • development in philosophy and politics (chaos, argument, probability, critic)
     • between 10,000 & 12,000 new words appeared (from alligator to yoghurt)
   • CAXTON'S PRINTING PRESS, 1476
     • Words were starting to become standardised because of national printing
   • LEXIS
     • Many words were "rejected" (e.g. illecebrous, unconsellable)
     • Word order is still varied
     • narrowing, broadening, amelioration and pejoration
   • GRAMMMAR
     • Only regular noun inflection -s
     • modal auxiliary 'shall' used for all people (instead of 'will')
     • Double superlatives/comparatives
     • thou/thee/thy use is discontinued
     • "its" was introduced as the possessive of "it"
     • Multiple negative
     • adverbs precede verbs
     • adjectives follow nouns
     • no past tense do construction (I walked not)
   • 1611: KING JAMES I BIBLE
     • Monumental religious work
     • We still get a lot of phrases from the bible
       • The apple of my eye
       • a labour of love
       • by the skin of his teeth
   • TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS
     • Hangover -e from ME
     • i/y and i/j interchangeable
     • u/v used differently (u in the middle of words)
     • introduction of TH
     • Apostrophes used on plurals (e.g. jelly's)
     • PRONOUN DIFFERENCES
       • EME: YOU ME: THOU (subject), THEE (object)
         • THY - possessive determiner THINE - passive pronoun
           • Plural - YE, YOU, YOURS
         • In the late 16th and 17th century, "YOU" replaced "THOU" and "THEE"
     • Long 's' found in the middle of words
   • SHAKESPEARE
     • Introduced almost 3,000 new words
       • "lonely"
       • "majestic"
       • "bloody"
       • "assassination"
     • MORE/MOST used as intensifiers
     • PHRASES
       • "All that glitters isn't gold"
       • "Fair play"
       • "Green eyed monster"
       • "Wear one's heart on one's sleeve"

3. Late Modern English

   • more awareness and PC terms
   • English has become more of a global language
     • Black English
     • Americanisms
       • AMERICAN ENGLISH
         • Ethnic group influences
           • JEWS
             • kosher
             • spiel
             • "I should know already"
           • US BUSINESS
             • downtime
             • ball-park figure
             • my/your people
           • SHOWBIZ TALK
             • deadpan
             • slapstick
             • one-night stand
           • PSYCHIATRIST
             • psychobabble
             • shrink
             • stressed out
           • CRIMINAL
             • mugging
             • whack
             • junkie
     • Creoles/pidgins
     • Much more borrowings/loan words
       • sushi
       • sarong
       • burrito
   • Introduction of a TEEN CULTURE
     • Tendency to raise intonation at end of declarative AS IF IT IS AN INTERROGATIVE
       • Blamed on shows like "Neighbours"
     • Links such as "YOU KNOW" or "SORT OF" been replaced by "LIKE"
     • More prone to Americanisms
       • "BAD" to mean "GOOD, EXCELLENT"
     • A desire to "tone down" privileged origins
     • Black street culture, a strong influence? - WIGGER SPEAK?
       • Blinglish (A Jamaican patois)
       • Adults find black music and culture inaccessible and shocking
       • "BUFF", "MAMPI", "COTCH", "HENCH", "STANDARD"
     • Influence from celebrities
     • Cultures WITHIN Teen Culture
       • Goths
       • Homies
       • Punks
       • Skaters
       • Hippies
   • New Technologies
     • influx of new words because of new developments in technology
     • iPhone, iPad etc
     • Text Speak
       • Abbreviations
       • Clippings
       • Relaxed attitude to grammar
     • Internet & cyberspace
       • eMail
   • Television Programmes introduce more words
     • "GEEZER" used to mean a man but also someone who is admired for breaking the rulers
   • More dictionaries!
     • Oxford English Dictionary
     • Urbandictionary
   • Reasons for language changes?
     • Blurring of class structure
     • Education
     • Public broadcasting
     • Film & video
       • New accents
       • Less social stigma
     • American influence
     • Rise of urbanisation
     • Global communications (internet, telegraph)

4. Middle English

   • Language not standardised
   • hangover -e
   • fixed word order
   • prepositions instead of inflections
   • large influx of French words which limit effect on grammar (words narrow in meaning, for instance 'apple'
   • By 1325, everyone knows English. Some know Latin/French
   • 1362: English is used for court business and other high powered-things
   • CHAUCER
     • Canterbury tales written at the end of 14th century
     • Writings influence by antiquity (Oid & Virgil) and Italian and French poetry (Dante)
   • a.k.a. Anglo-Norman
   • 1382: Wycliffe's Bible