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!