[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
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.
Eagleton, Terry. "Literature and the Rise of English" Literature in the Modern World. Dennis Walder, ed. Oxford University Press, N.Y., 1990. 21-27.
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.
In his 1946 essay, “Politics and the English Language”, George Orwell asserts that the words, common discussions, and collective literary works, in English encompass less coherency, innovation, and power than ever before; the English language is on a decline. Using strong evidence from quoted figures to justify his claim, Orwell’s argument begins in a strong way and continues at this pace until the end. He stumbles over a contradiction when it comes to the idea that foreign words should be eliminated, yet the argument is overall successful, clearly making a valid point by the end of the essay.
As we mentioned above, one of influences that has made changes in English language over time is foreign
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.”
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.
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.
...to make an assessment of literature written in English. It is remarkable to note that these theories are more important than their counterparts i.e. the western theories.
George Orwell’s essay, “Politics and the English Language” discusses the effect that political and economic changes have on the language of a society. Orwell’s essay is based largely on his opinion that the English language has declined as a result of the economic and political changes that the world experienced. He explains how simple English is more effective for telling someone what you want to say instead of using large, confusing and foreign words that will only make you sound smart. Orwell argues that these words are useless and that they fill our essays with words that take away the meaning of the essay and have no value. Orwell creates a tone of dominance over his writing. He makes readers feel that he is in charge of his writing and
Language as a dynamic structure is exposed to constant development, transformation and alteration. Media, society, culture, science, technology and politics are the core factors that contribute towards language evolution. Due to numerous linguistic and extra linguistic factors, newly coined units in the language are in the process of entering and influencing the English language. These new units, known as neologisms, serve as our guidance in understanding the never-ending evolution in the English language. Furthermore, neologisms ease each individual’s process of coping with changes by creating mental bridges between the old and the contemporary. The English language vocabulary is facing constant change, as neologisms enter in a blink of an eye through the media. The mass media being the major source and ground on which English neologisms are coined, plays a significant role of intermediary between the English population as active consumers and the language itself.
The development of the English language was a combination of cultural, political, social and religious events that each playing their own part shaping the modern English language spoken today as a first language by 400 million people . As Baugh and Cable convey to us in A History of the English Language; ‘It understates matters to say that political, economic, and social forces influence a language’. Although it cannot be identified exactly when the inhabitants of Britain began to speak English, there are some sources that give an insight into the nature of the forces that played a role in its foundation such as: the four medieval manuscripts;
Baugh, A.C., & Cable, T. (2001). A history of the English language (5th ed.). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
These ways can include, but are not limited to, cultural influences, other languages mixing in and even due to the social context (British Council Serbia, 2013). We know languages can change and evolve this way because it’s how every language began, including the English language. The English language was born over multiple centuries, through different cultures mixing, multiple languages influencing and taking dominance, and even through a class divide (Gardoqui, 2012). Languages change rapidly and the English language is no different. Even still, the English language evolves today.
Have you ever wondered where the names of the different items you use daily came from? Or listened to people talk and find a particular word interesting or odd and wonder why it has become part of our English language? The English language that we speak today has developed as a result of many different influences and changes over thousands of years. The resulting changes to the English language can be split into three time periods that include, Old English or Anglo-Saxon, Middle English and Modern English which is commonly used today