Transcript LATE MODERN ENGLISH - Serwis Informacyjny WSJO
LATE MODERN ENGLISH 1700 - PRESENT
LANGUAGE IS THE MIRROR OF THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN CIVILISATION • Late Modern English ( ± 1700-1900) • • English in the 20th and 21st c. = Contemporary English ( = Present Day English) Numerous factors in the development of the English language in the 18th & 19th c.: • • The technological advances = faster travels People start visiting different parts of Britain more often >> the dialects blended
LME – GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • The division between BrE and AmE US dictionaries provide deliberately distinct spelling norms to make the US variety more distinguishable Many new words from the British colonies: new concepts, inventions customs and scientific discoveries.
The LME grammatical features = 2 types: 1) EME syntactic changes continue: ‘do’ in questions and negatives >> standard; the rules for the use of wh relatives: who, whom, whose, which >> standardized and more stable 2) totally new 18th-c. aspects: ‘be + -ing’ construction in both Present Continuous tense and in passives. 2 schools of grammar: 1) Grammars only describe the language as actually used >> DESCRIPTIVISM 2) Grammars introduce rules to be obeyed in the ‘correct’ English >> PRESCRIPTIVISM Received Pronunciation (RP) - the standard of pronunciation aimed at by all the contemporary EFL learners RP = a standard for the nobility & the upper-classes in GB from then on.
the LME RP phoneme
the major sources of lexis << Latin and Greek = 2/3 LME loanword have either Latin or Greek etymology.
LME MAJOR EVENTS #1 1642-60 – THE BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION #2 1689 – WILLIAM OF ORANGE >> the King of England • • The beginning: the Augustain Age (after the reign Augustus (63 BC - AD 14, a period of peace and imperial grandeur) + the end of the Restoration (1660-1690) The end: the mid-18th c. the death of the poets Alexander Pope (1688-1744) & Jonathan Swift (1670-1745). J. Swift = ‘ascertaining’ and ‘fixing’ English to prevent it from future change (Wo)men write English grammars: Bishop Robert Lowth (1710-1787) – his grammar is published in 1762.
18th c. grammarians >> the codification of English >> an 18th-19th c. prescriptive standard. Prescriptive writers >> condemnation of ‘incorrect’ usage >> pronouncing dictionaries and rhetorical grammars >> Thomas Sheridan and John Walker.
LME GENERAL TENDENCIES – THE AGE OF REASON #1 THE FINAL REMOVAL OF FEUDAL BURDENS #2 PROFOUND CHANGES IN ENGLAND’S CULTURAL LIFE Esteem for rules & regularity Disciplining the media of artistic, literary, and linguistic expression Strict form & classical models in vogue Language structure to be regularised on the basis of logical standard Latin grammars = models for English grammar = simplicity & fluency Standardisation, fixing, & refinement of English - strengthened
PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR – ORDER & REGULARITY The 1760’s – a rising interest in English grammar; Latin grammars are ideal models to follow 3 aims of prescriptivists: #1 language codification by reducing it to rules #2 elimination of cases of divided usage #3 error indication & removal from English Prescriptive grammarians’ main goal is to prescribe & proscribe Arbitrary decisions depend on reason, etymology, & classical examples Some eminent prescriptivists: Robert Lowth -1762 – Short Introduction to English Grammar Noah Webster – 1784 – A Grammatical Institute of the English Language Lindley Murray – 1795 – English Grammar
SOME PRESCRIPTIVE RULES
#1 no prepositions at the end #2 between = 2 people; among = more #3 no double negative #4 no split infinitive
LME VOCABULARY • The main difference between EME & LME = vocabulary - LME = many more words - 2 principal factors: >> 1) the Industrial Revolution and technology >> a need for new words >> 2) the British Empire at its height = 1/4 of the earth's surface >>>> English adopts foreign words from many countries.
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH • • -
Varieties of English
C. 1600 - the English colonization of North America >> the creation of a distinct American variety of English.
Some English pronunciations and words freeze American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some "Americanisms“ << original British expressions preserved in the colonies, while temporarily lost in Britain: trash = rubbish, loan = lend, fall = autumn, frame-up >> re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster films Spanish (the American West) also has an influence on American English >> British English: canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante West African words (slave trade) American English is particularly influential today = the USA's dominance in cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology (+ the Internet). Many other varieties of English around the world: Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.
THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH 1.
Spread of the British Empire worldwide colonies with legacies following.
2. Use of English in Science & Technology the Computer and IT technology in the last 2 /3 decades.
3. The USA’s global influence Hollywood music industry with different genre of music.
4. Spread of English-speaking diaspora from the former colonies >> (India!) contribution in many fields & in many parts of the world.
THE EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 18th c. – further expansion North America – south-/westward expansion 1790 – English extends from Florida’s border (the south) to the Mississippi (the West) 1803 – Louisiana (beyond the Mississippi) 1713 – Canada >> Nova Scotia
1759 – the Battle of Quebec
Manitoba & Ontario: settlers from the present-day USA India – 1600 – the West India Company trade & settlement in Madras, Calcutta & Bombay (1639 - 1686) 1761 – India becomes a British colony the spread of English results from the new political and military situation English language education 19th c. – English is the well-established official & educational language in India
THE FURTHER SPREAD OF ENGLISH
1819
1846 – the US-Canadian border on the 49th parallel
1846-48
California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Utah, parts of Colorado 1815-1875 – the English-speaking populations grows considerably in Canada
1769-77
1769-77 – Australia & New Zealand
1795 1899-1902
1899-1902 – the Boer War 19th c. – British expeditions into West & East Africa The the 18th-19th c. expansions laid fundations for the present global role of English
THE PLANTING OF ENGLISH • Contacts with other languages: #1 the Indian languages: bungalow, nirvana, polo #2 the American Indian languages: moccasin, squash, moose #3 the African languages >> Dutch & Portuguese: chimpanzee, voodoo, zebra #5 Aborigine: boomerang, kangaroo, wombat
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH – POLITICAL, SOCIAL, SCIENTIFIC & CULTURAL FACTORS • SOCIAL & EDUCATIONAL REFORMS Larger masses participate in the period’s economic & cultural achievements
THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH • • Standard English gradually losing its monopoly in various walks of life Influx of substandard forms into the standard SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: the quantum theory, chain reaction, sputnik TRANSPORTATION: horsepower, lorry, starter POLITICS , IDEOLOGY & REVOLUTIONS: abolitionist, civil service, iron curtain CINEMA: scenario, close-up, fade out JOURNALISM: egghead, pacifist, hop the Atlantic WWII: blackout, blitz, task force BRITISH & AMERICAN SLANG: fag, giglamps, lift one’s elbow; plastered, dame, jane