Write an informative essay explaining what has caused the English spoken today to be different from the
English spoken in earlier centuries.
Old English is the foundation of our modern day English. It has come down from many
variations of other languages but it’s roots came from the West-Germanic language. The old
English language had many variations occur from the fifth century to the mid twelfth century.
This was due to all the wars in Europe over land and the struggle for power. The language
spoken was, for the most part, a result of whoever had power. Most people in modern day
America would not be able to understand the language and writings of this time. Beowulf was
one novel written in the old English language during the year 1066 and is just one example of
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the complex forms of old English. Written towards the end of old English and the start of middle
English, there were many centuries before and after Beowulf where the old English language
was still evolving.
In addition, middle English has evolved a great deal since the beginning of its time into
forming the language we speak today. Middle English started around the twelfth century and
evolved into modern English at the beginning of the sixteenth century. In the beginning of this
era, language was used as a barrier to define one’s social class. Generally the wealthy would
speak French and people of a lower socioeconomic class would speak a little more advanced
form of old English. Then in the fourteenth century the English language became more
dominant again, but this time some of the French language was added into the mix. During this
time period the first dictionary was written. This would supply the English language with more
structure. Now there was a correct and incorrect spelling of a word and now the word had it’s
absolute meaning. To get a better understanding of how much language has changed from
middle English to modern English, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is an ideal example. “Whan that
Aprille with his shoures soote. The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote. And bathed
every veyne in swich licour. Of which vertu engendred is the flour.” This frame tale is extremely
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difficult for modern day English speakers to understand due to it’s awkward sentence structure
and spelling. After being translated into present day English it would be, “When April with its
showers sweet. Has pierced the drought of March to the root. And bathed every vein in that
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liquid. By whose power is produced the flower.” This frame tale becomes much easier to
understand. People that originally migrated to America would have spoken middle English which
was the same as other cultures of Europe, but in modern times our much of our English
language has changed just recently. When comparing the United States to the United Kingdom
there are a few minor changes. Both English speaking countries pronounce words similarly, but
have different accents and spelling.
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Similarly, modern English has made many advancements in changing our modern day
language. Modern English started in the early sixteenth century, but this language breaks down
into two groups, early modern English and late modern English. Early modern English lasted
three centuries and only had small scale changes to the English language. The largest change
was the Great Vowel Shift, which caused vowels pronunciation to get shorter and shorter. The
beginning of the printing press started in this time period and mass publishing resulted in
catching on to new words and phrases.
Consequently, the late modern English era was created. Late modern English started in
the nineteenth century and goes all the way up to present day. The biggest boom in language
reform has occurred just recently. The main factor behind this is the new improvements in
technology. One of the easiest ways to communicate with people in modern times is to send a
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quick text. Generally speaking, a person will change the spelling of words, drop vowels or a
repeated letter, replace words with numbers, and even use made up acronyms while texting to
make things quick and simple. Another form of language change involved with advancements of
technology would be the use of computers.
Language is always evolving and the English language might have gone through the
quickest phase of evolution which can be seen through examples of old English, middle English,
and modern English. These changes may be subtle or drastic as verbal and written methods of
communication change with cultures and societies. Language reform has occurred for centuries
now and as long as societies and cultures evolve, language will continue to change to meet the
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needs of communication.
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