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The Rise Of English Language
The birth of the english language
The birth of the english language
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Prior to the Norman Invasion of England, the language of England was West Saxon. Later, after the Norman Conquest; French became the National language of England. However, Latin was the language still used in official correspondence and documentation in both English and French territories, because of its prestigious status. By 14th and 15th century; there was a rise in the use of English in all context and; as English successfully challenged French and Latin for primacy in England, there commenced to be seen the necessity of a more standardized and unified form of the language (Thomas, 2010). We often associate specific items or events with standardization, for example translations of the Bible into English, Caxton’s printing press in England, Chancery English in government documents, Establishment of BBC, and Dr Johnsons’s dictionary of English, …show more content…
BBC Manging Dirctor reconginzed the power of radio with respect to language standardization issues and insisted; announcer should only speak correct english without any affectioin; which means “Public School Pronunciation” – eventually relabeled “Recived Pronunciation” . In 1926, Reith’s Advisory Committee on Spoken English; to recommend to broadcasters a standard pronunciation for uncommon words or words with alternative pronunciations, was important step in the standardization of RP: Implementation. Later they published Broadcast English I and BBC Handbook which elaborate the function of RP (Bergs, 1996). Lloyd James mentioned in the BBC Handbook (1929) that implementing certain pronunciations to announcers does not mean that other pronunciation are low prestige; the norm is to achieve the uniformity. However, many people accepted RP as more prestigious one as it associates with power, money and influence (Mcarthur,
Prof. Richard Ho, being the most iconic and enthusiastic campaigner, suggested that we should refer to Guangyun (《廣韻》). For example芥蘭should be pronounced as gaai3 laan4 instead of gaai3 laan2, which is a more common practice among native Cantonese users. Beside academic areas, this standard was also adopted by social media companies such as TVB and ATV in 2000s. Numerous programmes were made and aired promoting PCP by identifying “wrong” pronunciations among the streets of Hong Kong.
When speech-language pathology first came to America there was no certification needed in order to practice. Instead, the first speech pathologists were educators and other professionals who wanted to help others who had problems with their speech. Numerous of the first speech-language pathologists became interested in the upcoming field after they had overcome problems with speech themselves, or people they were close to. Because the first speech pathologists were people in respectable positions, many of their names have been seen elsewhere in history. For example, Alexander Melville Bell, and his son Alexander Graham Bell were both respected clinicians in the times of the first speech-language pathologists. In fact, Alexander Melville Bell invented what is known as visible speech. (Duchan). According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, visible speech is “a set of phonetic symbols based on symbols for articulatory position” (“Visible speech” def. 1). Another example of a famous first speech-language pathologist is the respected schoolmaster from Boston, Elijah Corlet. Corlet helped Cotton Mather, author and participant in the Salem Witch Trials, overcome a stuttering issue. (Duchan).
Britian is an island, which atributed to its isolation from the rest of the world for centuries. Britian before the Romans was Celtic in nature had ties to France, which was called Gaul at the time. There is also evidence that Britian had Germanic ties in terms of trading. The island is discribed as “...”. Before the introduction of Latin by the Romans there is thought to be four main languages spoken, British, Engl...
On the 24th of April 1998, at Bracken Library I issued a ‘Regional Standard Dialect Questionnaire’. The outcome of the survey was quite interesting and insightful when considering the issue at hand. The survey consisted of fifty random students entering the Bracken Library. These students were split into two basic categories by gender. The two groups answered multiple questions in reference to the notion of, "You hear what I’m saying" and "You know what I mean?".
There are several dialects found within the United States and these dialects are heard in classrooms throughout the country. It is important for acceptance of different dialects to be taught within these classrooms. While it is important to teach with the Standard English dialect, the dialects and language skills that a student possesses when they enter the classroom should not be ignored. Instead, they should be embraced and used to teach about different cultures that are within the classroom and the community. Not only is it important to teach the acceptance of the multitude of dialects, but it is also critical to help students understand why there are different dialects and that we can learn from the different people they come from.
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.
It is interesting at this point to note that the Normans were actually kin to the English, having left England to "carve out" a duchy from the kingdom of France, eventually adopting the French language and achieving the status of Frenchmen (Smith, Anderson & Anderson, 1899, p. 16). Even more, England's King Edward the Confessor was a Norman on his mother's side and was known for filling his court with Normans who, along...
Mollin, S., 2006. “English as a Lingua Franca: A New Variety in the New Expanding Circle?”, The Nordic Journal of English Studies 5(2), pp. 41-57. Available from
Both English and Norman commoners learned some each-others language. As a result, the English nobility was not really an Anglo-French aristocracy. William himself made an effort at the age of forty-three to learn some English to settle disputes between his subjects. William considered banishing English so that the English and the French might speak the same language.
In a sociolinguist perspective “the idea of a spoken standardized language is a hypothetical construct” (Lippi-Green, 2012, pp. 57). They are the form of Britain English and American English that are used in textbooks and on broadcasting. Giles and Coupland observe that “A standard variety is the one that is most often associated with high socioeconomic status, power and media usage in a particular community” (1991, p. 38). Both native speakers and learners of English, where English is taught as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL/EFL), speak dialect of English in everyday conversation (Kachru, 2006, pp. 10-11; Owens 2012, p.
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 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 language 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. The beginnings of English can be found in the occupation of England from the 5th century by north and west German ethnic groups who brought their 'indigenous dialects' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 1). The Oxford English Dictionary defines English as 'Of or related to the West Germanic language spoken in England and used in many varieties throughout the world' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 7).
SeargentPhilip, and Joan Swam. English in the world: History, diversity, change. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2012.
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 free-for-all spelling 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 and writing. The part of England that contributed most to the formation of this standard was the East Midlands type of English that became its basis, particularly the dialect of the metropolis, London.
To understand how English became the lingua franca for the world one must begin by understanding the colonization influence of the British Empire, beginning with the Americas in the early 1600’s. Once the language itself had been somewhat established in Great Britain, although not necessarily agreed upon, the next obvious step was to take the language and the culture to new parts of the world and colonize. The British Empire set out to the Americas in two vastly different manners, yet both had major influences on the language of what soon would become America.