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
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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.
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The LME grammatical features = 2 types:
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1) EME syntactic changes continue: ‘do’ in questions and negatives >> standard; the rules for the use of whrelatives: 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.
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2 schools of grammar:
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1) Grammars only describe the language as actually used >> DESCRIPTIVISM
2) Grammars introduce rules to be obeyed in the ‘correct’ English >> PRESCRIPTIVISM
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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 <r> was pronounced in all positions
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EME loanwords - the Englishmen oppose the influx of French words!!!
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
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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.
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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
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Esteem for rules & regularity
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Disciplining the media of artistic, literary, and linguistic expression
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Strict form & classical models in vogue
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Language structure to be regularised on the basis of logical standard
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Latin grammars = models for English grammar = simplicity & fluency
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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
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Varieties of English
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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:
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trash = rubbish, loan = lend, fall = autumn, frame-up >> re-imported into Britain through
Hollywood gangster films
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Spanish (the American West) also has an influence on American English >> British English:
canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante
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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.
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THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH
1.
Spread of the British Empire
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worldwide colonies with legacies following.
2. Use of English in Science & Technology
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the Computer and IT technology in the last 2 /3 decades.
3. The USA’s global influence
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Hollywood
music industry with different genre of music.
4. Spread of English-speaking diaspora from the former colonies >> (India!)
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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 - Florida
1819
1846 – the US-Canadian border on the 49th parallel
1846-48 – the American-Mexican War: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas,
1846-48
Nevada, Utah, parts of Colorado
1849 – the Gold Rush in California
1815-1875
1815-1875 – the English-speaking populations grows considerably in Canada
(Winnipeg)
1769-77
1769-77 – Australia & New Zealand
1795
1851 - the Gold Rush in Australia
1795 – Cape Town
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
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SOCIAL & EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
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Larger masses participate in the period’s economic & cultural achievements
THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH
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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