The English Language
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Transcript of The English Language
The English LanguageA Historical
Analysisby Claudia Andretta
(Karen Watson, 2013)
My proposal was…
How has the English
language changed over
time?
I am a
linguistics major
with a love for
history. I am
also bilingual
and enjoy
learning about
languages in
general.
Why?
(Karen Watson, 2013)
Let’s start at the beginning…
• 4 invasions and a cultural revolution• Romans: brought roads, education,
government, civil values– Latin = Main language
• Anglo- Saxons: easier to understand language, simple everyday terms for jobs, emotions, and things– People preferred this over Latin because of
it’s usefulness(McCrum, 2010)
Let’s start at the beginning…
• Cultural revolution!• Christianity arrived: people liked the religion,
monasteries taught people new subjects (i.e. astronomy)– Gave new words (bishop, angel, martyr, apostle)
• Vikings: slowly eliminated Old English words, added new vocab; simple, flexible words– Nouns verbs; vice versa– Adopted foreign words
(McCrum, 2010)
Let’s start at the beginning…
• The Norman Conquest–William of Normandy was crowned king 1066– Brought to England the French language– French used for gov’t, Latin in church,
common person spoke English– 10,00 French-derived words added to
English!– 100 Years war ended against France• England = official language of Britain
(McCrum, 2010)
The spread of the language…• Shakespeare: added around 800- 1700 words to English (no
one exact amount)– Huge accomplishment!– Many words we still use today
• i.e. accommodation, mountaineer, assassination(Crystal, 2004)
• King James Bible– 1476: William Caxton introduced printing to England– Reformation of English language in church
• Gave need for a new bible– King James Bible was born
– Was elegant, sophisticated, showed the word English w/spread of Christianity
(Scott & Machan, 1992)
Many different dialects…• English has many different dialects
– Australian, Scottish, Irish, Canadian, American• English absorbed new terms from each place it
traveled to• Slowly transformed and adjusted to each place it
arrived at according to people– English: absorbed “Danish and Norman French,
Latin and Greek”– US, Canada, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa: “plants, animals, foodstuffs, clothing, housing, and other items from native and immigrant languages”
– How different dialects came to be (Boeree, 2004)
English is still changing today!• Shift from “to” to an “–ing” ending
– “They started running” “They started to run”– Began in the 1950’s and 60’s
• More progressive– Verbs are in progressive form (“-ing” form; something is
proceeding)– “They’re laughing ” “They laugh”
• Increase in, “going to, have to, need to, want to”– Helping verbs used more often – “I want to eat” “I shall eat”
• More passive– Passive = “to be” with a verb– Increased in last 50 yrs– “They got tired” “They were tired”
(Okrent, 2013)
Walt Whitman & Slang
• Walt Whitman’s article, “Slang in America”– To him slang was lowest element of language– Some of words we use today come from old slang
• right, wrong, integrity, spirit – He argued that even though it’s lowest form of
English, has contributing factors• English was never original• Whitman admired the chaos and the melting
pot that English is, including slang
• Interesting viewpoint!(Whitman, 2003)
My own research• Analyzed Shakespeare’s sonnet 18• Compared it to English we speak today• Knowledge = taking class on SP’s plays at OU– I changed key words and phrases within the
sonnet to make more sense– Replaced “thou,” “thee,” and “thy” with “you,”
and “your”– Replaced “nor,” “hath,” and “art,” with “or,”
“have” and “are” – Replaced “ow’st,” “wand’rest,” and “grow’st• “Ow’st” means “ownest,” or to possess,
“Wand’rest” means to wander, and “grow’st” means to grow
– Replaced “his” and “this” with “summer” and “poem”
Primary research
Main theme: Summer comes and goes, “its lease has too short a date,”• Beauty is here for a
short time“Nature's changing course untrimmed” • It’s up to nature when it
comes or goes“Your eternal summer,” • your beauty will not
fade“So long lives this poem, and this gives life to you” • As long as this poem
lives your beauty will always stay
What does this mean?Results & Analysis
• Interesting experiment!• In class I did learn a bit of the
dialogue but always about his plays
• I discovered a beautiful and interesting sonnet
• Also discovered a unique way to translate any old English work into something understandable
• Replacing nouns, adjectives, and pronouns = it easier to understand, gives it a different view of the context
Discussion• Analyzing this type of language =
Something worth doing• Understanding it’s evolvement
can be useful• Communicating with a person
who could be learning English• If teaching it to someone
– It can be a groundwork where both you and the other person can fall back on
• Would be good to do research on global scale– Find literature new English
speakers are learning– Connect to modern day
English
ReferencesBoeree, G. (2004). Dialects of English. Retrieved from
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/dialectsofenglish.htmlCystal, D. (2004). The stories of English. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook PressKaren Watson. (2013). Royalty Free Images – Books – Unusual [Electronic image]. Retrieved
March 26th, 2013, from http://thegraphicsfairy.com/royalty-free-images-books-unusual/McCrum, R. (2010). Globish: How the English language became the world’s language.
N.p: Robert McCrumOkrent, A. (June 27th, 2013). 4 changes to English so subtle we hardly notice they’re
happening. Retrieved from http://theweek.com/article/index/246098/4-changes-to-english-so-subtle-we-hardly-notice-theyre-happeningScott, C.T. & Machan, T.W. (1992). English in its social contexts: Essays in historical
sociolinguistics. New York, NY: Oxford University PressWhitman, W. (2003). The portable Walt Whitman. M. Warner (Ed.). N.p: Penguin
Classics
Thank you!