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The development of american english
The development of american english
Language and society
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Alexis de Tocqueville, a French aristocrat, traveled to the United States in 1831 to study the American democratic system (“Democracy in America”). While in America, Tocqueville developed a perceptive interest in the sentiments and mechanisms behind American practices, which he documented in his two-part book Democracy in America. One particular observance Tocqueville chronicled was American literature and language. A quote from Tocqueville in Democracy in America that consolidates his research into American language states, “Little by little enlightenment spreads; one sees the taste for literature and the arts awaken…. and literature becomes an arsenal open to all, from which the weak and the poor came each day to seek arms” (4-5). Because …show more content…
Regarding the motion of the English language, Tocqueville states, “Democratic nations, moreover, like movement for itself. This is seen in language as well as in politics. Even when they do not have the need to change words, they sometimes feel the desire to do it” (453). In analyzing current American English, one can see that a need really does not exist to create words or give old words new meaning, yet words like “hype” develop new meanings. The word “hype” formally meant to “intensify,” but now it is used in everyday speech to mean “excited.” Even though the word “excited” was sufficient enough to cover the subject, younger Americans sought to transform the word anyway. Tocqueville also notes that Americans “sometimes placed together words that in the language of the mother country were customarily kept separate” (453). One cannot deny that the English language often combines words for convenience and efficiency of speech. This phenomenon especially exists in “text speak” with words such as “chillax” and “brunch.” The word “chillax” combines the separate words “chill” and “relax,” and the word “brunch” fuses the distinct words “breakfast” and “lunch.” The notion of making words more efficient developed from America’s taste for industry. Tocqueville remarks, “the heart of democracy tends, on the contrary, to renew constantly the face of language like that of business” (453). Americans are preoccupied with industry, so their language serves as a reflection of their habits and even provides a means of promoting business. Though the English language seems to be increasingly adding words and phrases to the dictionary, some words and concepts are actually falling into disuse. On this subject, Tocqueville writes, “The language will constantly stretch in that direction [towards industry], whereas on the contrary it will abandon little by little
In the book, “How Democratic Is the American Constitution”, Robert A. Dahl takes us deeper into the complexities of demonstration of American majority rule government were surrounded. An intriguing part of this book is the examination with different popular governments as far and wide as possible. His tables and graphs in the book are helpful for the situation. The book also given an idea of majority rules system in the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.
Tocqueville was a Frenchman who was interested in America and its democratic design. He spoke of his observations about America in his book, Democracy in America. Tocqueville’s attitudes towards Americans seem to be very appreciative. He saw democracy as a perfect balance between freedom and equality. Yet, while he is appreciative, he is also quite critical of some of the effects of democracy in America. Tocqueville believed that there were some faults with democracy and states them in his book.
Democracy in America has been a guiding principle since the foundation of the country. Many over the years have commented on the structure and formation of democracy but more importantly the implementation and daily function within the democratic parameters that have been set. Alexis de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian born July 29, 1805. He is most famously known for his work Democracy in America. Democracy in America has been an evolving social and economic reform, and has continually changed since it’s founding.
Tocqueville (rather bizarrely in retrospect) conceived of America as having “an almost complete equality of conditions”. While in respect to the French alone, Tocqueville argues, “the taste and the idea of freedom began to exist and to be developed only at the time when social conditions were tending to equality and as a consequence of that very equality.” Tocqueville draws the first stirrings of equality to the “political power of the clergy,” which upon being consolidated began to spread and upon its ranks to “all classes, to rich and poor, commoner, and noble.” Thus “through the Church, equality penetrates into the government, and he who as a serf must have vegetated in perpetual bondage could, as a priest, take his place in the midst of nobles, and would often sit above kings.” Tocqueville continues to trace the ascent of equality and descent of aristocracy to the financial demise of kings “ruining themselves by their great enterprises; the nobles exhausting their resources by private wars, [while] the lower orders enriching themselves by commerce”. And with the advent and spread of education, the “value attached to high birth declines just as fast as new avenues to power are
In this excerpt from Democracy in America Alexis Tocqueville expresses his sentiments about the United States democratic government. Tocqueville believes the government's nature exists in the absolute supremacy of the majority, meaning that those citizens of the United States who are of legal age control legislation passed by the government. However, the power of the majority can exceed its limits. Tocqueville believed that the United States was a land of equality, liberty, and political wisdom. He considered it be a land where the government only served as the voice of the its citizens. He compares the government of the US to that of European systems. To him, European governments were still constricted by aristocratic privilege, the people had no hand in the formation of their government, let alone, there every day lives. He held up the American system as a successful model of what aristocratic European systems would inevitably become, systems of democracy and social equality. Although he held the American democratic system in high regards, he did have his concerns about the systems shortcomings. Tocqueville feared that the virtues he honored, such as creativity, freedom, civic participation, and taste, would be endangered by "the tyranny of the majority." In the United States the majority rules, but whose their to rule the majority. Tocqueville believed that the majority, with its unlimited power, would unavoidably turn into a tyranny. He felt that the moral beliefs of the majority would interfere with the quality of the elected legislators. The idea was that in a great number of men there was more intelligence, than in one individual, thus lacking quality in legislation. Another disadvantage of the majority was that the interests of the majority always were preferred to that of the minority. Therefore, giving the minority no chance to voice concerns.
Every country today differentiates each other through having a unique identity of which the elements are cultures, tradition and religion. Even a country like America was once under the rule of the British. However this did not last as long as it did in India as the people fought back and won what is today called “The War of Independence.” During the time the British ruled various countries they had taught the people under them their ways of conducting every activity in life. In America even after the British were gone the way people lived their lives were still the way they had learned from the British. One such ways of conduct was vividly observable in written literature. Then began the argument that the literature in America should be written differently from how the British would. In 1837 Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered a speech called The American Scholar at Cambridge, Massachusetts to criticize how the Americans still kept alive what they had learned from the British and to remind people the real American culture in every aspect of their lives. Emerson stated that every citizen in America has the right to freedom and to display their own culture. In literature he suggested that scholars can form a new way of writing through nature than memorizing the writings of other authors. The writings of the other authors were present before young scholars in books that limited new ideas. Such history had occurred because of the actions gone wrong by the people in accepting the influences of the Europeans. Emerson was therefore a transcendentalist.
Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. Abridged by Sanford Kessler. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. 2000.
In the late 1800’s, Henry Adams wrote Democracy An American Novel, in which he portrayed Washington society through the eyes of a wealthy young widow, Mrs. Madeline Lee, who is looking for the basis of American governmental power. In her search for the basis of power, Mrs. Lee encounters many facets of Washington society, such as the types of people who control the government. The novel moves beyond a simple plot and story and includes portrayals of the basic Washington types of people, Washington society, and Adams’ assumptions about American democracy. Adams’ main assumption was that a respectable government is practically impossible. Next, he believed the US political system naturally tended towards corruption and finally, he thought that politics and power inevitably tend to sap a person’s morals.
Tocqueville points out the inevitable transition into democratic society. Progressing through time, man has developed certain desires fostered by the idea of equality. In writing Democracy in America, Tocqueville undertook an ambition project, which expo...
"United States can be seen as the first liberal democracy. The United States Constitution, adopted in 1788, provided for an elected government and protected civil rights and liberties. On the American frontier, democracy became a way of life, with widespread social, economic and political equality. The system gradually evolved, from Jeffersonian Democracy or the First Party System to Jacksonian Democracy or the Second Party System and later to the Third Party System. In Reconstruction after the Civil War (late 1860s) the newly freed slaves became citizens, and they were given the vote as well." (Web, 1)
The literary history of the US ought to be represented not by 'the American' and
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.
The English language has lately become the world’s lingua franca, making it one of the most spoken languages worldwide. An important feature that gives it a sustainable advantage over other languages is its ability to easily adapt to changes. It is spoken in many dialects across multiple countries and continues to welcome new words while other words change meaning or are slowly abandoned. For instance, the word “abandoned” wouldn’t have made sense in the last sentence if an English man from the 14th century read it, because back then, it meant “to subjugate.” On the other hand, there are many English words that are added to official dictionaries on a yearly basis such as “tweep”, “selfie” and “hashtag”.
In essence, American literature refers to literature that was written as well as produced, in the United States of America and any other preceding colonies. In the early history of the United States, the country was a series of the many British colonies. In this case, early literary tradition begins with the broader tradition of English literature. However, there have been unique American characteristics as well as the breadth of the production, which has usually made it essential to consider it separately. In essence, New England colonies were involved in early American Literature. In particular, the revolutionary period was characterized by political writings by politicians like Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams. In the era after the War
[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...