English in the World

Chapter two: A National Language

 Main Themes
Unit 2: A National Language
 How contact with other languages and
cultures shaped the development of
English.
 The changing status of English during Old
and Middle English periods.
 How processes of ‘Standardisation’
influenced both the form of and attitudes
towards English.
 The history of how English has been
‘codified’ in dictionaries and grammar
books.
 Unit 2: A National Language
Contents
 2.1 Introduction
 2.2 The beginnings of English
 2.3 Foreign influence
 2.4 Standardisation
 Reading A: Shakespeare and the English
Language
 Reading B: Johnson among the Early
Modern grammarians
 DVD1: Clips 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
 Unit 2: A National Language
2.1 Introduction
 How English became a national language
 Original native language of England was Celtic. Few traces of
Celtic remains now in some dialects of English.
 Arrival of Anglo-Saxons (400s) and introduction of English.
 Norman Conquest (1066)- French language of ruling class. For
centuries, French, Latin and English co-existed. English was the
language of everyday life and of the lower classes.
 In 14th Century, English became the language of government. A
sense of a national, standard variety of English emerged.
 1300s standardization of English and its political and social
nature. Codification in dictionaries and grammars, prescribed in
schools and promoted by the media.
 Variation still exists in English even within England.
 English continues to shift and develop within England itself.
 Extent to which English in the different historical period up till
now is considered a national language.
 The seven Stages of English. (See historical timeline:
Appendix 1: pp. 331-343)
 The Seven Stages of
English Development
The Seven Stages of English
 The history of the English language has been
divided into seven different stages that
witnessed internal/ linguistic changes &
external/ socio-economic & political
changes . It is mainly a history of contact
between English and other languages, in
England itself, and outside of England (mainly
through colonization and global media &
trade)
 These stages can be summarized as follows:
 Stage 1 :Pre-English
Main People who Factors
Dates of Languages Introduced characterizing
Stage Used the the new stage
Languages

After the Roman

Celts invasion 55BC,
- c. until Celtic , Latin becomes
(Britons),
450 A.D. Latin dominant language.
Romans bilinguals Celtic-
Latin. Island known
as Britannia
(Britain)
 Stage 2: Early Old English

Romans left England, Anglo Saxon

Old Germanic Tribes (Angles, Saxons & Jutes) were
English, Anglo-Saxon summoned by King Vortigern to ward
450 - off the danger of the Celts in the
Latin, tribes (mainly
- 850 peripheral areas. Latin remains used
influenc the Angles, because it is the language of the Roman
A.D. Catholic Church- a very powerful
e of the Saxons & institution in Europe; Anglo-Saxon
Celtic the Jutes) borrows mainly place names from Celtic
and many vocabulary words from
Latin(see some examples in chapter 2)

+ Latin Alphabet & bookhands with

additions of letters from the Futhorc
alphabet to represent sounds not found
in the Latin Alphabet).
 STAGE 3
Later Old English

King Alfred (849- 899): revival of

learning, commissioned people to
translate Latin texts into English and
Old Scandinav
write books in English. It was a first
English, ians step towards the standardization of
850 --
Scandinavi (Danes English as books started to be written
1100
an are a mostly in one dialect, West Saxon. This
A.D. dialect was chosen as the standard
languages, branch)/
language of England.
Latin Vikings King Alfred is also seen as a hero for
his role in fighting the Vikings.

Stage 3: Later Old English

 King Alfred
 He commissioned translation of Latin texts into West
Saxon dialect of OE. Overcame the
Vikings=dominance of Wessex and West Saxon
dialect in late Anglo-Saxon period. Standardization in
the sense that texts written in other OE dialects were
translated into the West Saxon dialect so this dialect
became the standard in Old English. He was
considered a national hero for promoting one dialect
and one district over the others. The word ‘Englisc’
was used to denote both the language and people
under his rule.
 King Alfred has been given credit for the promotion of
English and Englishness, learning and writing.
However, it is important to note that this credit
originated in the nineteenth century and therefore
may be colored by the aforementioned nationalism of
that period.
 STAGE 3
Later Old English (cont’d)
Viking first came to England from
Scandinavia in 783. They stole, killed
and burnt monasteries. They settled in
the North and East.
In 878 the Danelaw treaty was signed
acknowledging the rule of the Danish
king Guthrum in an area from London
to Chester (fig. 2.4). Evidence of Norse
Old Scandinav is found in place names.
English, ians The Danes ruled until the West Saxon
850 - kings reconquered the Danelaw in the
Scandinavi (Danes
1100 10th century.
an are a Scandinavian languages had great
A.D.
languages, branch)/ influence on English grammar, word
Latin Vikings order, inflectional system, vocabulary…
especially that the two languages came

Stage 3: Later Old English from the same ancestors/ Germanic

origin. The legacy of the Scandinavian
settlers in England can be found today
in the regional dialects and in the
standard language e .g. pronouns they,
them and their.
 Stage 4: Middle English
French was the language of prestige; English
was mainly a spoken language. Latin made a
come back. Some people were trilingual.
People wanted to speak French because until
1399 (King Henry IV) the kings of England
spoke French as a Mother tongue.
At first the center of the French rule was
Normandy (Norman French/The Normans)
Middle then Central France / Paris (Central
English/ French). Strangely when the center was
further the influence of French and its power
1100 - Norman
Normans/ increased.
1450 French - Mixed feelings about the French Language;
French
A.D. Central Some referred to their effect as the Norman
French/ yoke (the obstacle in the development of the
Latin English language as it promised to flourish after
the basis set in King Alfred’s time). 100 year
war between England and France. King John
and the Lost of Normandy.
There were many borrowings from French-
influence of French on vocabulary, spelling,
pronunciation, alliteration. 10,000 French
words came into English . . See examples of
loan words from French p. 64
 Words borrowed from French
(10,000 words) p. 64
 The words borrowed from French into English at this time bear
witness to this difference in status. Although Old English ‘earl’,
‘king’ and ‘queen’ were retained, words for other ranks of nobility
came from French: ‘baron’, ‘count’, ‘duke’, ‘duchess’, ‘prince’.
 Words relating to government, such as ‘chancellor’, ‘council’,
‘government’ itself, ‘nation’ and ‘parliament’, and legal terms
such as ‘accuse’, ‘court’, ‘crime’, ‘judge’, ‘justice’, ‘prison’ and
‘sentence’, were all borrowed from French (although ‘law’ itself
had been taken from Norse).
 Words describing refinements of cuisine and fashion: ‘apparel’,
‘costume’, ‘dress’, ‘fashion’ and ‘robe’.
 When animals were in the fields, they retained their English
names ‘calf ’, ‘ox’, ‘sheep’, ‘swine’, but when served up at table
they were given the French names ‘veal’, ‘beef ’, ‘mutton’, ‘pork’.
 Warfare and castle building; the words ‘war’ and ‘castle’ It was
not until 1204, when King John lost his lands in Normandy
and the nobility consequently had to decide whether to
keep their lands in England or France, that there was any
real incentive for the ruling classes to learn English.
 The influence of French on English
vocabulary

 English adopted from French words that already existed in English

but are more related to the lord and master's table (e.g. swine
(pig) OE and pork (F)).
 English also adopted inflated polysyllabic words from French, e.g.
proletariat, salvation; unlike simple monosyllabic OE words, e.g.
hope, love and work. Other borrowing reflected the dominance of
the French and conquest, e.g. duke, countess, court, war, peace.
By the 14th century, 21% of English vocabulary was French in
origin (more than 10,000 words). However, most, if not all of
these words already existed in English. The result was more than
one word to describe the same thing, for example, 'pig' and
'pork'.
 The French words had a more effeminate connotation, as
described by Sir Walter Scott. French borrowed words belonged
to the specialist discourses of church, law, chivalry and the
running of country estates. By far the most frequently occurring
words were still of Germanic origin.
 Attitudes to French and France can be characterized as mixed;
hostility and admiration at the same time. French became
associated with upward social mobility.
 Stage 5: Early Modern English

Includes the Renaissance, the Elizabethan era and Shakespeare. The role
of the Church, Latin and French declines and English becomes a language
of science and government. Growth of colonies. English taken to the
1450 - Americas, Australia, India. Slave trade from Africa to Caribbean and
1750 America, giving rise to English creoles. Rise of printing. Many attempts to
standardize and fix English with dictionaries and grammars.
A.D. This was the age of Standardization of English. The processes of
standardization (selection, codification, elaboration &
implementation)
 Stage 5: Early Modern English

1. Selection & establishment of a National Standard prestigious variety

with agreed norms and conventions. (Chancery Standard)

2. Codification in dictionaries and grammar books, to be later used as a

model for education.
1450 -
3. Elaboration: the variety was elaborated to be fit to be used in a wide
1750 range of domains, such as religion, science, law, literature,...
A.D.
4. Implementation: It was implemented in public domains (encouraged by
King Henry VIII & later Queen Elizabeth as symbol of national
identity/imposed in the colonies, especially in Ireland : “any true citizen of
the monarchy should speak English”, translation of the Bible into English,
writing new science in English as Newton did with his second book)
 Stage 5: Early Modern English
(cont’d)

Focusing Agencies helped in the standardization of the

language into a variety characterized by "minimal
variation in form and maximal variation in
function" (Einer Haugen). Le Page and Tabouret-
Keller (1985) introduced the phenomenon called
1450 -- focusing. A focused linguistic community has a
1750 strong sense of norms. There are 4 agencies for
A.D. focusing: daily interaction, education, loyalty of a
group to the language, and having a powerful
model, e.g. a leader, poet, prestige group or a
religious source.
 Stage 5: Early Modern English
(cont’d)
The role of the Puritans & the rise of natural sciences,
the industrial Revolution, colonization) See
chapter 2: to elaborate on any of these factors
including attitudes towards variation in English and the
origins of the language, as well as attitudes towards
using other languages(mainly the classical language –
1450 -- Latin), and French in the 16th, 18th, & 19th centuries.
1750 Several social, economic, technological, historical,
intellectual factors contributed to the standardization of
A.D. English including (printing, the Renaissance, the rise
of humanist sciences, the Reformation, the pro-
intellectual and literary climate of the Elizabethan
age (the role of Shakespeare & other authors and
poets of the time)
 Standardization and attitudes towards it
End of Middle English to Modern English
period)

Chapter 2 shows how English became a national standardized language of

England, Britain and then the world.
SELECTION:
Caxton had a great role in the election of Chancery dialect (London + northern features) as
language of printing which made it available to people.
 Attitudes towards its standardization and the necessity for it started as early
as the 14th century (esp. when people were no longer forced to learn French in
school.

 Through the 15th century (Caxton’s efforts at printing and selling his books, resulting in
the dissemination (spreading) of the variety of the English language he wrote in pp. 69-
70 – generated by the necessity to find a solution to the dialect diversity and a
functional standard to ‘please every man’.

 From 1430 English became the language of the government (Henry IV). It thus needs
to be consistent and uniform. See pp. 70-71 for basis for selection of Chancery dialect
(London + northern features) as language of government documents)
 Standardization and attitudes towards it
End of Middle English to Modern English
period)

ELABORATION:
 There was a belief that English lacked ‘eloquence’ and lacked vocabulary.
Problem of ‘bareness’. Instrumental role of literary figures in overcoming this
problem. Due to their efforts English became the cause of NATIONAL PRIDE rather than
the previous attitude of being a cause of apology.
 It was becoming very strong during the 16th century that English was a ‘crude
medium,’ not comparable to the ‘ Latin and Greek tongue, (where) everything is
so excellently done in them, that none could do better, and everything (in English) in
a manner so meanly, both for the matter and handling that no man can do worse’
(Puttenham quoted p.73).

 So English needed to be developed to rise up to the classical languages and to

measure up to the Romance vernaculars such as Italian and French, which had
preceded it because the Renaissance had reached these countries earlier.

 Reading A: Shakespeare’s role in increasing eloquence of English: word coinage:

expansion of vocabulary, increase word collocates and idiom, use of puns and unusual
syntax.
More on Standardization and attitudes towards
it
End of Middle English to Modern English period
 English was ‘base’ ,‘mean, ‘barren’ and ‘barbarous’ which led to
elaboration (See p.73)

 There was also the political dimension to the upsurge of pride (in
English). The Reformation, when newly established Protestantism with
the Catholic Church in the early fifteenth century, also provided a political
and religious impetus (force) to favoring English over ….(Latin): Some
texts praise the ‘plainneess’ and ‘honesty’ of English (See the role of
English and Latin in Science and discuss the need for elaboration of
English to be fit for Science pp. 75-7). Growth of Nationalism and
imperial expansion.
 Publication of King’s James Bible in 1611 was a milestone in
elaboration of function, written in vernacular English. By 18th C.
Newton (science) wrote in English, thus, elaboration of function
was almost complete.

 Through the 16th and 17th centuries, texts printed in English used the
standard variety.
More on Standardization and attitudes towards
it
End of Middle English to Modern English period
Codification:
 In the process of Standardization it was necessary to
guarantee that the Standard variety would have:
i. variation of function
ii. Minimal variation in form
The latter involved reduction in variability and this happened
through codification. This begun in early 17th century.

 The first monolingual English dictionary, which was used

as a guide to the hard words brought from Latin and the
grammars of English appeared but were mainly used as
guides for teaching rather as prescriptive guides to correct
usage. READING B
 More on Standardization and attitudes towards
it
End of Middle English to Modern English period
Codification:

 In the 18th century, mainly Dr. Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary (published in

1755) (prescriptive and aiming to preserve language against disintegration in
face of the tide of linguistic change, and Walker’s attempts to codify
pronunciation of the language in the forms of educated Englishmen rather
than the Scottish, Irish, Welsh…. , then … Great Britain and the Union…. The
need to teach the Scots to ‘speak properly and intelligibly as if they had been
born and bred in London’ (See pp.79-80).
 Expansion of English to become the national language of UK was related to
political attempts to consolidate the new boundaries of the nation.
 In the 19th century, expansion of the British Empire and need to learn and
propagate ‘correct’ English to set an example to the rest of the Empire.
 19th century saw the dawn of descriptive linguistics yet abundance of cheap
prescriptive handbooks and manuals for those who wanted to avoid mistakes
and social embarrassment (p.80)
 Prescriptive view to codify one variety that has reduced variability= inhibit
change and increase linguistic intolerance, VERSUS, descriptive approach that
encourages innovations and expressions of national identity (Englishes).
Read the conclusion section pp. 81-82.
 Stage 6: Modern English

Industrial Revolution – consolidating imperial powers, introducing English medium

education in many parts of the world. English becomes the international language
of advertising and consumerism.

English is the language of the British Empire: Colonization & The Industrial
Revolution are key titles of the period. English spread outside the British Isles to
the Americas, Australia, Africa and Asia (mainly India) There are main reasons for
1750 --1950 colonization and three steps towards it. There are three types of colonization
A.D. (Displacement, Subjugation & Replacement -- See Chapter 3) and different
attitudes towards English & and its origins; there were cases of political
incorporation, of displacing the native inhabitants and their
language and there were nationalist reactions, and therefore, influence
of the substrates & internal differentiation or dialect leveling.
 Stage 6: Modern English

The different linguistic consequences included new forms of English in

England, in Britain and around the world (Standard English(es), non-
standard varieties(ESL, EFL) & pidgins and creoles) .
Review Schneider’s stages for the formation of a variety in Chapter 3 &
Kachru’s three Circles of English speakers -- mainly inner & outer circle
1750 --1950 people(Chapter 1)
A.D.
Elementary Education became compulsory and available for both boys
and girls in Britain and in the colonies off-shore, introducing new
requirements for the standardization (mainly the implementation) of one
form of English, fit to be used as a teaching model .
Stage 7: Late Modern English
Britain retreats from empire. New standardized varieties of
English emerge in newly independent countries. English becomes
the international language of communications technology.

It has many varieties. There are 2 main types of speakers of English:

Native & Non-native speakers. There are 3 main categories identified by
David Crystal: EMT (English as a mother tongue, mainly their first and
1950 -- only language), ESL (English as a Second language: English is an official
language used in public domains & in education. EFL (English as a
Present foreign language, mostly learned individually or in private schools, for a
time variety of reasons like international trade, higher education, tourism,
etc.
There are different attitudes towards variation. Some embrace the
pluricentric existence of English in the post-modern period
(Michael Clyne, Jenny Cheshire); it has multicultural identities and it
might be time to talk about “Englishes not one English (Kachru). It
has been suggested to change its name into “Global” instead of English
(Michael Toolan).
 Stage 7: Late Modern English
(cont’d)

Some fear the cultural homogeneity and the killer/

linguicide role of English, as the global language for all
purposes and all cultures; they worry about linguistic
imperialism (Philipson) (the fact that English as a powerful
language will not only impose itself as a language on other
1950 -- cultures, but will also impose its culture and identity through
Present the mechanisms of economic and cultural and technological
power. Some celebrate the variation as a natural result of the
time various cultures and the influence of the local languages
(Verma: ‘my English is both Indian and English and is not any
less efficient; it is not corrupt but different’, and some are more
conservative about the definition of English and what counts as
English (see Quirk), mainly to say that there is a "core
grammar" of English that governs language use "irrespective of
frontiers" . It is the modern English of educated native
speakers. )
 Types of Evidence
 History is based on two types of evidence:
 Internal evidence: linguistic (pertaining to the nature of
the grammar and vocabulary at different points in time.
This is examined from texts and documents. (direct
evidence)
 External evidence: non-linguistic historical information;
pertaining to an account of who spoke the language, where
and when. This comes from archaeological sites or
contemporary written histories. (indirect evidence)

 There is no evidence of English before the 7th century.

When Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity. When
ecclesiastical texts began to be written by the Church.
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