THE FORMATION OF

THE NATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND LINGUISTIC
SITUATION IN NEW ENGLISH

ЛЕКЦИЯ 10
MIDDLE ENGLISH 12th – 14th cc.
New economic relations began to take
shape within the feudal system.
The crafts of the town became separated
from agriculture and new social groups
came into being:
• the poor townspeople,
• the town middle class and rich
merchants,
• money lenders,
• owners of workshops.
 end of ME & beginning of NE

А most important condition for the development of

capitalist relations was
THE UNITY OF THE LANGUAGE.

Existence of
ALL THE PREREQUISITES for the formation of
the national English language.
 Political Situation
in Early New English

the consolidation of the English

people into a nation

formation of the English national state as

the political expression of the English nation

a need for a national language

The Formation of
the National English Language
a standard language The formation is
understood and considered to date
mainly used back to the period
throughout the between the 15-17th cc.
country

formed on the basis

of the London dialect,
predominant over
the other ME dialects
THE LONDON DIALECT
the superdialectal national form
In the 12th-13th cc., the inhabitants of London were
from the south-western districts.
In the middle of the 14th c., as a result of the plague
(the Black Death) 1/3 of the London population
perished.
Most of the new arrivals came from
the East Midlands.
THE LONDON DIALECT
the superdialectal national form

In late 14th c.
the London dialect becomes
largely
EAST MIDLAND
in character.
The London Dialect was predominant over other
ME dialects due to the POLITICAL, ECONOMIC,
GEOGRAPHICAL and LINGUISTIC POSITION of
London.
• The CANTERBURY TALES by Geoffrey Chaucer
(1340-1400) was written in the London dialect.
• William Caxton edited manuscripts to bring them
into conformity with the London form of English.
The importance of the London dialect as the basis
for the national language grew.
The End Of The ME Period

the
the
national
London
dialect English
Southern languag
and East e
Midland
dialects
the National English Language

Superdialectal
National Form

Local Social
Dialects varieties
2. NEW ENGLISH
REGIONAL DIALECTS
1. Southern dialects 1.1 South Eastern
1.2South Western

2. Midland dialects 2.1 East Midland

2.2 Central Midland
2.3 West Midland
3. Northern dialects
4. Scottish dialects
the 15th c.
the beginning of the formation
of
the national English language
Formation of the Literary Norm
of the National English Language
the progress of literature in
the 16th – 17th cc.
Elizabethan literature
the Golden age
the age of Shakespeare and
his contemporaries
the Age of Shakespeare and his
contemporaries

William Shakespeare,
Christopher Marlowe,
Edmund Spenser,
John Fletcher,
Ben Johnson, etc.
filled the theatres with their
exciting new plays.
 Formation of the Literary Norm

a tendency to codify and correct the language, which is

seen in
 the famous translation of
The King James Bible 1611
 the magazine The Spectator 1711-1714, where
Joseph Addison and Richard Steel discussed various
problems of the language, including its syntax and the
use of words
 early prescriptive grammars 16th-17th cc.
 works of great lexicographers 17th-18th cc.
THE FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The WRITTEN FORM of the

language became standardized
earlier than its SPOKEN NORM,
which was formed much later
(end of the 17th c. – beginning of
the 18th c.), when the
pronunciation was fixed.
The social source of the
written norm of English
was the speech of
LEARNED MEN
(educated people of
London, Oxford, and
Cambridge).
The social source of the spoken
standard was the tongue of the
MIDDLE CLASS OF LONDON,
which in the 17thc.,
the age of the English revolution,
had become closer to the tongue
of common people.
3. LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN NE

a wondrous flowering of regional dialects

many variations

confusion
because texts reflected
local sounds, words and grammar
A conversation in Kent
described by William Caxton
between a farmer’s wife and some sailors from
London (about 80 km away)
The sailors asked for some EGGYS but she did not
know this word.
In her dialect EGGS were EYREN.
Thinking that they must be speaking a foreign
language, she told them
SHE ‘COUDE SPEKE NO FRENSHE’.
LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN
NE
A linguistically or dialectally
diverse nation needed
STANDARD LANGUAGE to permit
mutual intelligibility.
LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN
NE
It was a long process
as the language was very rapidly changing
in all aspects, especially the vocabulary.

OE 50 thousand words
ME 100 thousand words
By 1700 – 200 thousand words
LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN
NE
arrival of growth of
Renaissance international
exploration and
15th – 17thcc. trade

hundreds of loan
words from over a
dozen languages with
their alien spelling
It took 4 centuries
(until 1800)
for the English spelling
to reach a kind of
steady state.
Vocabulary 16th c.
native ~ foreign opposition
influx of
Latin and Greek words

‘inkpot (inkhorn)
terms’

lengthy words of those who overused

Latin words in their
Latin and Greek origin writing
Vocabulary 17th c.

The fact that English contained a

mixture of words from other
languages began to be seen as
a strength rather than
a weakness.
 requirements to language
17th c.

proportion harmony

order naturalness vitality

4. THE ENGLISH LITERARY RENAISSANCE
end of the 16th c. – 17th c.
the Age of Shakespeare or the Elizabethan Age
for it coincided roughly with the reign of Queen
Elizabeth.
The Age was famous for its drama and poetry.
Such playwrights as
Christopher Marlowe, John Fletcher,
Ben Johnson filled the theatres with
exciting new plays.
Edmund Spenser’s and Ben Johnson’s
poetry contributed to the remarkable
character of the Elizabethan age.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
26 April 1564  – 23 April 1616
The chief of Elizabethan dramatists wrote in all
genres of drama and poetry: comedies, historical
plays, tragedies and sonnets.
Shakespeare’s plays were popular with both
educated and uneducated people.
SHAKESPEARE ‘S MASTERY
OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

His vast vocabulary,

freedom in creating new words
and new meanings, various
grammatical constructions
reflect the main features of the
language of the period.
SHAKESPEARE ‘S MASTERY
OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
He made about 2,000 new words and a large
number of expressions which are now part of
Modern English.
it’s early days – it’s too soon to know
what will happen
the long and the short of it –
all that needs to be said about smth
Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, | To dig the dust
enclosed here. | Blessed be the man that spares these
stones, | And cursed be he that moves my bones.
 5. AGE OF
CORRECTNESS:
DICTIONARIES AND
PRESCRIPTIVE
GRAMMARS
17th – 18th cc.
LINGUISTIC FREEDOM
IN THE WRITINGS OF THE RENAISSANCE

a wide range of variation at all

linguistic levels:
 in spelling,
 grammatical forms and word-
building devices,
 in the choice and use of words.
In the 18th c. the language of
Shakespeare and his contemporaries
was regarded
as RUDE AND UNPOLISHED.

ALL LINGUISTIC CHANGE was thought

of as corruption that
OUGHT TO BE CORRECTED.
The need
for correctness and order in
language

1. Introduction of 2. People wanted to

printing required speak and write
standardization of correctly as it was a
language matter of prestige
A new focus on standards of
behaviour and politeness

extended to speech and

writing
THE AGE OF
CORRECTNESS
The 18th c. is remarkable for
deliberate attempts to fix the
language and interfere with its
evolution.
What could be the source of the
possible correctness?

DICTIONARIES

GRAMMAR BOOKS

spelling books
A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
1755

The 2-volume dictionary included quotations from the

authors of the 17th and 18th cc.
The entries (it explained more than 42, 000 words)
contained pronunciation, definitions of meanings,
illustrations of usage, etymologies and stylistic
comments.
His definitions were more precise than in the
previous dictionaries.
PRESCRIPTIVE
GRAMMARS
A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR
produced in 1762
by Robert Lowth, a professor of Oxford.
He believed in a universal logical grammar and
composed his grammar on logical grounds as a system
of strict rules.
The grammars and
dictionaries of the 18th c.
formulated the rules of
usage and laid them down
as norms to be taught as
patterns of correct English.
6. LITERATURE AND NEWSPAPERS
18th c.

the rise of the novel and other

types of printed entertainment
and information
NEWSPAPERS
 circulating from before the time
of Civil War
 growing in number:
in 1712 there were
12 newspapers in London
The Daily Courant plaque,
London
JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES
The word ‘magasine’
before the 18th c. meant a place of
storage for arms and ammunitions.
By 1713, it acquired the modern
definition
a publication for the general reader.
XVII Storehouse of information
XVIII Periodical publication
THE TATLER and THE
SPECTATOR
The new journals issued at regular
intervals.
Tattle –
XV falter, stammer;
XVI talk idly or without
reticence
THE SPECTATOR
a daily publication founded by J.
Addison and R. Steele in England,
lasting from 1711 to 1712
Novels by
JOHNATHAN SWIFT,
DANIEL DEFOE and
JOHN FIELDING
mark the development of the
English literature of the 18th c.
 7.
LITERATURE AND NEW DICTIONARIES
19th c.
The Oxford English Dictionary

Noah Webster’s Dictionary
What was meant by
purity and clarity?

primitiv shortness clarity

epurity

words rhythm
correct rules
of usage grammar discourse
REQUIREMENTS TO
LANGUAGE

19 th
•POLITENESS
c.

20th c.
•EDUCATED
The 19th c. was the heyday
of British imperial power.

era of new great

inventions and expansion in
technologies reading matter
19th c. LITERATURE
The appetite for reading passed from big
novels to cheap and sensational
publications.
Charles Dickens, Elisabeth Gaskell, William
Wilkie Collins
issued their books as serials in magazines.
19th c. LITERATURE
There was a growth in genre fiction,
from mystery to romance
to science fiction
to Wild West Stories (in the USA).
Stories by HERBERT GEORGE WELLS and
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE were not only
immensely popular but also familiarized
their audience with authentic scientific
terminology.
The new inventions and
technologies gave rise to new
words.

Dr. Johnson’s dictionary was not

good enough.

A new dictionary was

needed.
In the 19th c., the English language was
researched and codified as never before.
The Philological Society was founded in London
and the year 1882 was the beginning of the
OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY.
It contained words, their meanings and roots,
illustrations from all styles of writing.
It took 80 years to compile it.
OED is still the most influential dictionary in the
English speaking world.
OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
OED
With descriptions for approximately
750,000 words,
the OED is the world's most comprehensive
single-language print dictionary according
to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Geographical Expansion of English
in the 17th – 20th cc.
In the last 3 hundred years
the English language has extended to all the
continents of the world and in the course British
expansion overseas, colonization and emigration to
other continents the number of English speakers
increased so much that by 1900 it had reached 123
mln. people.
Geographical Expansion
in the 17th – 20th cc.
1620 the Mayflower reached North America
18th c. India, conquest of Canada
19th c. colonization of Australia
20th c. South Africa

≈ 300 mln speak English as their national

language.
England’s colonial expansion to the New
World (America) began in the late 16th c.
But the actual settlement of the English
people in America came later.
The colonists spoke different dialects of
English.
In North America those dialects gradually
blended into a new type of language,
AMERICAN ENGLISH.
 AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
by Noah Webster
N. Webster was the first to proclaim
American English an independent
language.
In his Dictionary (1828) he showed
the differences in vocabulary and
pronunciation between the English in
Britain and North America.
in Noah Webster opinion
a pure uncorrupted
AmE descendant of
Chaucer and
Shakespeare

BrE
spoiled by
linguistic change
But Noah Webster admitted
that the two types were
basically identical.
Now we regard British English
and American English
as two national varieties of
the English language.
 20th century
Great Britain lost the greatest part of its
possessions overseas.
Yet the list of countries with an English speaking
population outside the British Isles includes the
USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the
South African Republic.
In Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and New
Zealand
English will remain the first language of most
people, but will continue to change.
2001-2005
330 mln- 380 mln
native speakers
250 – 1.4 billion
speak English as their second
language.
DISPUTES OVER THE
DEVELOPMENT OF
ENGLISH
ARE NOT LIKELY
TO EVER END UP.