Standardization of the English Language
There are several important events before 1500 that when listed together show a series of steps in the struggle for English language supremacy. These steps are mainly governmental, legal and official events that pushed English usage. In
1356 The Sheriff's Court in London and Middlesex were conducted in English for the first time. When Parliament opened in 1362 the Statute of Pleading was issued declaring English as a language of the courts as well as of Parliament, but it was not until 1413 that English became the official language of the courts everywhere. Thirteen years later in 1423, Parliament records start being written in English. 1400 marks date that English is used in writing wills, a seemingly small step, but one that impacted many people and began a legacy of record keeping in English. In 1450 English became the language used in writing town laws and finally 1489 saw all statutes written in English. But it was not until 1649 that English became the language of legal documents in place of Latin.
The formal rules intended to keep the use of French in official capacities were not enough to combat the effects of the Black Death and the Hundred Years War between France and England, which both contributed greatly to the rise of
English and fall of French. By the fourteenth century, English was again known by most people, although French was not forgotten, and the people who spoke
French were generally bilingual. The Statute of Pleading made it law that
English and not French would be used in the courts. However, it needs to be emphasized that at the end of this statement, it says that after the pleadings, debates, etc. in English were finished, they should be entered and enrolled in
Latin. English became the official language of the court in 1413, but French was permitted until the eighteenth century.
More than the official bureaucratic changes in rules and law were the changes in the use of the language by the everyday speakers. The changes that distinguish
Early Modern English from Middle English are substantial. The rules for spelling were set down for the first time. The key is the new consistency used by teachers, printers and eventually by the general populace. The sign of maturity for English was the agreement on one set of rules replacing the spelling free- for-all that had existed.
Out of the variety of local dialects there emerged toward the end of the fourteenth century a written language that in course of the fifteenth century won general recognition and has since become the recognized standard in speech
There were quite a few public health measures in 1665 – the time of the plague. However, how many of these measures worked?
To begin, in the early 15th century England was still healing the problem of the black plague. The plague took an estimated seventy five million lives all around Europe and the Mediterranean ("History.com"). The death rate from the plague was so high because of how fast it could kill and how easily transmitted it
When the Black Death had finally ran it’s course on Western Europe in 1350, the population had been diminished by a great margin. The plague has reduced the whole worlds population from an approximate 450 million to about 370 million in the 14th century. Death was something that was very normal and expected at this point in time. There were hundreds upon thousands of ...
The English language has been in constant transition throughout its history, but the most significant transformation in modern English can be credited to William Shakespeare. With Shakespeare’s invention of commonly used expressions, his creation of new words, and his use of iambic pentameter, he was able to affect the language in a way that no person since has. Shakespeare’s influence on modern English is not only visible in everyday speech, but also in the fact that his work has survived over four hundred years and it continues to be performed and read worldwide.
-Common Law: the “law of the land”(Pool 127), which was built up over many centuries
how the English language has changed in the many years from then until now. The
Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has permeated and become an integral part of our everyday lives. In fact, a life without technology seems almost impossible to imagine. Almost everyone, around the globe, has access to technology in one form or another. Consequently this type of technology has become ingrained into our culture. Its roots are so deep that it is now peculiar to see someone without a smartphone than with one. Consequently, smartphones and the Internet have radically changed the manner in which we communicate and how we communicate with one another. Our speech has metamorphosed so much from that of our grandparents that it almost seems like a foreign language due to the incorporation of slang and “text talk.” With the sudden surge of email, blogs, and instant messaging that occurred within the last couple of decades, the impact that technology has on our linguistics has become more pronounced. Technology has helped to bridge the gap between people by allowing us to communicate as easily as we breathe. On this note, one would think that the dawn of the Era of Technology would give birth to a renaissance of the English language but, instead, the converse is taking place. With such widespread prevalence of technology such as smartphones and computers, the degradation of the English language is a problem now more than ever.
After all, at the time of printing, there were five major dialect divisions within England (Northern, Southern, Kentish, West Midlands and East Midlands) with huge variations in spellings.
Bibliography GRADDOL, D., LEITH, D., and SWANN, J., (eds) (1996) English: history, diversity and change, Routledge in association with The Open University (course book) University College of London Phonetics department website (www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/queen2.htm) entered on 23/3/03
As its name suggests, Middle English is the language that was spoken in the country of England around the 12th to 15th centuries. Middle English became the prominent language in England near the end of the 11th century shortly after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror in 1066. Unlike England's preceding language, Old English, Middle English evolved into much more of a written language. There were many writers and educated English scholars who worked to translate Old English texts into the new Middle English language. There were also writers, such as Geoffrey Chaucer, who used the Middle English language to write new works which employed new and creative literary techniques. One such work, The Canterbury Tales, is a work that has been recognized as having an extreme significance on the development of the Middle English language. This work is argued to be the greatest literary contribution to the Middle English language and is credited with popularizing the language among literary scholars. However, despite its historical influence on the Middle English language, the significance of the work is less seen today because of the evolution of Modern English. As a result, it is important to investigate the origins of this work and in so doing, make an effort to realize the overall importance of reading the text in its original Middle English language.
The duration of Early Modern English took place during the English Renaissance, and hence the amazing evolutions that occurred within it (Myers 166). After the Renaissance came the Age of Reason, and it is during this time that the language becomes recognizable to today (Smith 9). The most common example of Early Modern English is the fact that Shakespeare wrote in it, and it poses the most similarities to Modern day; the language moved from a synthetic one to a more analytical one, and relied less on inflectional endings and more with word order to convey information (Durkin 1). Early Modern English is the premise for the ever-evolving language that millions speak
The English language arose from the early Anglo Saxon inhabitants in ancient England and spread to Scotland and other European countries via the British Empire and later to the United States through colonial political and economical influences. It later dispersed to other parts of the world through these same influences to become one of the leading languages of the world. It has over the years developed by adopting different dialects to create a language, which is the standard lingual Franca in many countries. The rapid growth of the English language and its adoption by different cultures across the globe is sufficient ground to make it the global language.
... language. The earliest forms of French was called Old French and lasted until the fifteenth century. Modern day French was developed from the dominant dialect in the twelfth and thirteenth century in central France, around Paris. Norman French, located in northern France, spread to England in the eleventh century and became known as Anglo-Norman as it developed in England but English eventually dominated and wiped it out. Occitan was spoken in the South and developed greatly during the Middle Ages until the North overtook them in the early thirteenth century. Occitan can still be found in southern France today (Fortson 258). Spanish
It can be seen that English has become a global language, which is determined by lots of factors like history, culture and daily usefulness. Because of these factors, the number of people who speak English is still increasing now. English, as a significant part of social life gradually exerted profound impacts on education, job hunting and international communication. Also, it provides the whole world with a chance to share ideas and communicate freely. We are quite curious to see the further development of English as a lingua franca in the
Over the years English inarguably has reached a status of a global language and commonly is characterized as a lingua franca. It has become the language that is spoken by millions of people all over the world; as the mother tongue, as the language used for international communication and as the language learned in the millions of schools.