[Writer Name] [Supervisor Name] [Subject] [Date] History of the English Language and some of the many Factors that have influenced its Evolution Language is surely the most influential form of communication. It is the most powerful instrument an individual can have. By definition, language is the use voice sounds by human beings, organized in order to express and communicate thoughts and feelings. It is what has shaped our society into what it has become today, what has allowed our civilization to excel and progress into what is now modern day. Language has allowed the individual to communicate within a group as well as within him in order to accomplish many goals. Language gives us a means by which we can organize our ideas and thoughts into rational, logical actions. It is also a vehicle by which we can gather, analyze, and learn from information. The main components of any language are a sender, a receiver, a message, and a medium. Noise and feedback come afterwards. The sender encodes a message and through the medium sends it to the receiver who decodes it to understand it. This is how any language works. The encoding is done in words, or vocabulary, which the receiver interprets according to his perception and context. During the last few centuries, the vocabulary of English has evolved at a very rapid speed (Wheeler 17). The usage of vocabulary also depends upon whether it is being used in English language or English literature. Literature basically means writings in prose or verse; especially the writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest. Stories, dramas, novels, novelettes, poetry, etc. or ideas related to these come under literature (Peck and Coyle 13). I...
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...ost common ways to produce new words is the process called borrowing, which is the taking over of words from other languages. The English language has always been adopting so-called loanwords from other languages. Some examples are elephant (Arabic origin), croissant (French origin), yogurt (Turkish origin), pretzel and kindergarten (both German origin). A language or languages evolve just as individuals evolve, nations evolve, and humans evolve. And evolution means that the only permanent thing is change. Works Cited Baugh, Albert. A History of the English Language. Routledge. 1963 Wheeler, Rebecca. The Workings of Language: From Prescriptions to Perspectives. Praeger. 1999 Peck, John; Coyle, Martin. A Brief History of English Literature. Palgrave Macmillan. 2002 Naomi, Baron. Alphabet to Email: How Written English Evolved and Where It’s Heading. Routledge. 2001
Since it’s been a predominant topic of our discussion, let us talk about the infamous English language. We can be sure that it has painstakingly progressed throughout generations of reevaluation and modernization, and has thus become what it is today. It has gone in several directions to try and mesh with the various epochs of language, from the Shakespearean era to the common English slang we use now, we can all agree that English is a language that has been transcending and will continue to transcend into many
Lowe, Peter J. Texas Studies in Literature & Language; Spring2007, Vol. 49 Issue 1, p21-44, 24p Academic Search Complete Ebesco. Web. 23 July 2011
Eagleton, Terry. "Literature and the Rise of English" Literature in the Modern World. Dennis Walder, ed. Oxford University Press, N.Y., 1990. 21-27.
George Orwell’s essay, the Politics and the English Language, portrays inaccuracies associated with writing. He explores examples of poorly written sentences. He appeals, “Language as an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought” (Orwell). The main points of his essay consist of writing clearly and honestly in order to accurately represent what the writer is intending their audience to understand. Orwell focuses on the reasoning for the decline of the language due to political and economic reasons. This reaffirms the necessity to simplifying language as opposed to complicating it in an effort to appear intellectual, respectable, or powerful. Outdated metaphors, extra or pretentious words added for the sake
Language and literature lead parallel lives. What changes most often and most dramatically is the language we use to describe events and feelings that are common to all times. Language shifts, stretches, adopts, and absorbs -- it drops antiquated terms and picks up a few new ones, and you don't have to look far to find novels and short stories grown stale from shaky, outdated prose, from too many neo-tropisms, catch-phrases, and slang with a short shelf-life. Literature, though inseparable from language, endures. Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio encapsulates both the changes that have swept up language from 1919 till the present, and the endurance of certain themes.
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.
In the essay “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell, the author states his opinion of the decline of the English language. Orwell discusses both its causes and what he foresees as its consequences. He states there is less innovation and coherency, which dilutes the power of the language. Orwell felt that people were using the English language inaccurately, relying on metaphors which are meaningless and used so the writer does not have to bother with creating their phrases. Orwell asserted “It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.”
Although these words may have one meaning in another language, to English often their meaning changes after importation. In Bill Bryson’s book “Where words come from”, we are given five categories in which words come about. According to Bryson, words are created, words are created in error, words are changed by doing nothing, words are created by adding or subtracting something, and words are adopted. I feel that the easiest way words come about is by adoption. I think it is interesting how we can apply words from different countries into our everyday dialogue. According to Wikipedia.com, 30% of all English words have a French origin.
As we mentioned above, one of influences that has made changes in English language over time is foreign
The legacy of humankind is over two million years old and counting, but the history of literature is only a few thousand years old at most. As humans, we have needed time to create new ideas and evolve into our current world that is filled with wisdom. The amount of literature is diminutive compared to the amount of history because a large storage of background knowledge is necessary to construct the basis and inspiration for English works.
how the English language has changed in the many years from then until now. The
In Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language, Johnson argues the importance of preserving language. Other dialects had a produced their own dictionaries, such as the French and Italians. Various writers of the eighteenth century were alarmed at the fact that there was no standard for the English language, since there was no standard it could easily become extinct. Johnson explored many points, such as how and why languages change as well as how many words are formed.
During the 16th century, developments in the arts, literature, medicine, science and renewed interest in classical languages, flooded the English language with new words. According to The British Library Board (2015), Cawdrey described that well-to-do gentleman decorated sentences with fancy phrases and complicated words from abroad. As a result, Cawdrey felt that by creating and publishing the ‘A Table Alphabeticall’, the English language would be better organised and help readers understand challenging
Literary history is timeless. Writing works began as orals to be scribed long after they were created. These were later passed down through generations as stories, rhymes, poems, etc. After paper was invented by the Chinese, a new revelation was triggered. Around 1440, a man by the name of Johannes Gutenberg, invented the printing press. This mechanization of bookmaking drastically influenced society then and even till this day. Through this journey of English language and through its stages of development, many differences and similarities can be noticed within its topics, themes, and writing styles. Commencing with the Anglo-Saxon period (the nearly incomprehensible language of Beowulf), to the Medieval period (mixed with French and Latin, the language of Chaucer), to the English Renaissance (Humanism language), and leading up to the seventeenth century (Cavaliers versus Puritans), it has sure been a long ride of literary excellence.
The settlement of the British Isles by north Europeans followed by Norman French paints the backdrop to this essay which will focus on the period between the early 15th and 17th centuries, when a 'standard' English evolved. It will show that modern-day English is very different to that first introduced to the British Isles, but by identifying changes through time, its continuity can be demonstrated. Finally, it will suggest that present day English is in a position analogous to that which existed before the Norman invasion, when there were many varieties and dialects, and that this may lead to its decline as a global language, due to decreasing intelligibility.