Evolución Histórica De la Lengua Inglesa
VI semester
Teacher: Jesus Ricardo Muñoz Ovalle
Student: Carolina Calderòn Salazar.
Lecture Thirteen
The Return of English as a Standard
Essay
In these days, English has become the world-wide spoken language. Either is
spoken in the American continent or in European countries, English is now a
topic of interest to those who study languages around the world. Moreover,
the studies about this language go from the origins of the Germanic
languages, through the literary and cultural documents of its 1,500-year
period, to the state of American speech of the present day (Lerer, Seth). As
well as many other languages, English has its own history which includes, in
case of the return of English as a Standard, one of the best poets, widely
regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist, Shakespeare.
First of all, It is necessary to define the central topic of this question-answer
essay which is “Standard English”, that means “ The English with a respect to
spelling, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary is substantially uniform
though no devoid of regional differences, that is well established by usage in
the formal and informal speech and writing of the educated and there is
widely
recognized
as
acceptable
wherever
English
spoken
and
understood”(Rosina Lippi- Green, English with and Accent ,1997). This gives us
a wide repertoire of the basis of English and how it has changed through the
Evolución Histórica De la Lengua Inglesa
VI semester
Teacher: Jesus Ricardo Muñoz Ovalle
Student: Carolina Calderòn Salazar.
years as well as the importance in aspects such as spelling, grammar,
pronunciation, syntax and morphology. Let`s look at some of the major points
of this topic of study.
How English reasserted itself after the decline of French in the late middle
Ages, and what is different about English in its reemergence?
According to Lerer, English did not disappear after the Norman Conquest.
Even though French became the official language of court and commerce
and Latin was used in the church and university, English remained the vehicle
for imaginative expression. Throughout the middle Ages, there were three
languages used in the British Isles, with Latin and French as the prestige
languages of court and culture, education, and economy. Nonetheless,
there are some data about the use of these old languages used in many of
the most important documents, which are vestiges of its use through History.
English used many loan words that were not the first Latin words to be
borrowed by it. Some examples of it is mint, street and wine that were
borrowed while the English were still on the continent, and words like bishop
and minster during the Old English period. A few Latin words were borrowed
into Middle English: they include religious terms, like gloria and requiem; words
from the law courts, like client, conviction and memorandum; medical and
scientific words, like dissolve, distillation, equator and recipe; and numbers of
abstract words, like conflict, dissent, imaginary and implication. There are a
Evolución Histórica De la Lengua Inglesa
VI semester
Teacher: Jesus Ricardo Muñoz Ovalle
Student: Carolina Calderòn Salazar.
number of Latin loans in Old and Middle English, but in Early Modern English
this increases considerably, and by 1600 Latin is the greatest source of
loanwords in English (Charles Barber, Joan C. Beal, and Phillip A. Shaw).
The evidence for change and development in Middle English, before the first
printing press was set up by William Caxton in 1476, lies in written manuscripts
just as for Old English. (Blake, N.F. 1996).Geoffrey Chaucer was the best
English writer on his period. It is believed that he was born in 1340, during the
medieval ages. Chaucer wrote in his native tongue, rather than in Latin,
which was the convention of his time. His work is in Middle English, which
differs significantly from modern English.
Therefore, changes in spelling, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary were
applied for instance: Changes in spelling conventions, letter forms and the
alphabet used ; these are our only guide in Old English and Middle English
text to the pronunciation of the language ; Changes on Pronunciation,
inferred from the written forms ; changes in word structures, suffixes and
prefixes ; changes in the grammar and word order, changes in the wordstock or vocabulary (new words to appear , old ones are no longer used)
(Blake, N. F. 1996. "A History of the English Language").
Evolución Histórica De la Lengua Inglesa
VI semester
Teacher: Jesus Ricardo Muñoz Ovalle
Student: Carolina Calderòn Salazar.
How did it return as the language of official proclamation, economic control,
and political and social order?
Throughout the Middle Ages, there were three languages used in the British
Isles, with Latin and French as the prestige languages of court and culture,
education, and economy. The first “official” use of English after the conquest
was in the proclamation of Henry III from 18 October 1258, in which he swears
to observe the dictates of the “Magna Carta” in 1215; this document was
also issued in French and Latin (Lerer, Seth). Henry felt the need to prepare a
text in English, but that the English text is obviously a translation of the French
one. French was Henry’s native language and still the official language of the
court. There is a comparison of the French and Middle English versions of the
document that the translator used archaic-sounding English words and
phrases for political effect.
Some people spoke in English because certain speeches were introduced in
the Rotuli Parlementorum (The Rolls of Parliament) with the phrase Monstre en
Englois “announced in English.” In the beginnings of the 15th century, English
predominate as official language. By 1423, Parliament`s were virtually in
English. During 1413-1422 Henry V established English as an official language.
Most of the documents such as statutes went from Latin to French in 1485 and
English until 1489The London Brewer’s Guild adopted English as its official
language of record in 1422. In 1397, the Earl of Kent made what we believe
Evolución Histórica De la Lengua Inglesa
VI semester
Teacher: Jesus Ricardo Muñoz Ovalle
Student: Carolina Calderòn Salazar.
was the first major noble English will after the Norman Conquest. In 1438, the
Countess of Stafford made her will in English. The wills of kings Henry IV, Henry
V, and Henry VI were all in English.
What the relationships were between literary English and “official” English.
Shakespeare presented to Henry V as not even conversant in French. As he
was an amazing expositor of English poetry and literature, the English
language took place and French underwent a decline. There is a growing
body of evidence that by the end of the 15th century, French became less
and less the language of culture and social prestige. However a standard
form of English arose of the institution known as “Chancery” . Regarding to
the explanation of Lerer, author of “The History of the English Language, 2nd
Edition “ It comes from the word chancel, or chapel of the king, where the
chaplains of the court originally spent their time between services, writing the
king’s letters. Chancery was the production house for official government
documents and established special forms of spelling and handwriting that
were taught to scribes for the production of official documents. Chancery
English contributed to the development of a form of writing that was a
standard, irrespective of the speech or dialect of the writer.
English became one of the most spoken languages, just after French
decreased when politics, laws, religion took advantage of the influent
Modern English. It started go over borders once the new printed texts were
Evolución Histórica De la Lengua Inglesa
VI semester
Teacher: Jesus Ricardo Muñoz Ovalle
Student: Carolina Calderòn Salazar.
displayed around the world and authors such as Shakespeare and Chaucer
were known because of their works. The English as a standard contributed to
a unification and well understanding of the Modern English which suffered
more changes, although with the label “standard” it started to be the English
we know.
Bibliography:
The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition Parts I–III ,Professor Seth Lerer
"A History of the English Language" Blake, N. F. 1996.
http://www.wisegeek.com/who-was-chaucer.htm
“The English Language, The Historical Introduction” Charles Barber, Joan C.
Beal, and Phillip A. Shaw. Cambidge.