Development of the National Literary English

language

The formation of the National Literary English Language, or Standard English, is

considered to date from the period between the 15th and 17th centuries. Thus, it
covers the Early New English period (1475-1660). There were at least two major
external factors, which favored the rise of the national language and literary standards:
the unification of the country and the progress of culture.

Economic and political unification. Conditions for linguistic unity

Other historical events, such as increased foreign contacts, affected the language in a
general way. They influenced the growth of the vocabulary. The 15th and the 16th centuries
saw striking changes in the life of the country. While feudal relations were decaying,
bourgeois relations and the capitalist mode of production were developing rapidly. Trade had
extended beyond the local boundaries. In addition to farming and cattle-breeding an
important wool industry was carried on in the countryside. Britain began to export woolen
cloth produced by the first big enterprises, "the manufacturers". The new nobility, who traded
in wool, fused with the rich townspeople to form a new class, the bourgeoisie, while the
evicted farmers, the poor artisans and monastic servants turned into farm labourers, wage
workers and paupers.

The change in the economic and social conditions led to the intermixture of people
who came from different regions and to the strengthening of social ties between the various
parts of the country. Economic and social changes were accompanied by political unification.
In the last quarter of the 15th century England became a centralized state. The economic and
political unification played a decisive role in the development of the English language. All
over the world the victory of capitalism over feudalism was linked up with the consolidation
of people into nations, with the formation of national languages and the growth of super
dialect forms of language to be used as a national standard. The rise of capitalism helped to
knit together the people and to unify their language.

Progress of culture. Introduction of printing

The 15th and the 16th centuries in Western Europe are marked by a renewed interest in
classical art and literature and by a general efflorescence of culture. The rise of a new vigorous
social class – the bourgeoisie – proved an enormous stimulus to the progress of learning, science,
literature and art. The Universities at Oxford and Cambridge became the centers of new
humanistic learning. Education had ceased to be the privilege of the clergy. It spread to laymen
and people of lower social ranks. After the reformation teachers and tutors could be laymen as well
as clergymen. As before, the main subject in schools was Latin. The English language was labeled
as "a rude and barren tongue", fit only to serve as an instrument in teaching Latin. Scientific and
philosophical treatises were written in Latin. Latin was not only the language of the church but
also the language of philosophy and science. The influence of classical languages on English grew
and was reflected in the enrichment of the vocabulary. However, the acceptance of English as a
language of learning was not complete until the end of the seventeenth century. For example, in
1687, Sir Isaac Newton wrote his Principia in Latin, but fifteen years later he wrote Opticks in
English. Not everyone agreed with the practice of borrowing, particularly of Latin words. Some
thought that all the strange words were hard to understand and unnecessary. English could express
everything quite well without all the new words. The writers were only showing how much Latin
they knew. One man, Sir John Cheke, wrote in 1557: I am of this opinion that our tung shold be
written cleane ... unmixt with borowing of other tungs.

The invention of printing was one of the outstanding achievements of this great age. It had
the most immediate effect on the development of the language, its written form in particular.
Printing was then called "artificial writing". It was invented in Germany in 1438 by Johann
Gutenberg. The first printer of English books was William Caxton (1422-1491). William Caxton
was born in Kent. In 1441 he moved to Flanders, where he spent over three decades of his life.
During a visit to Cologne he learned the method of printing and in 1475 opened up his own
printing press in Bruges (Belgium). The first English book printed in Bruges in 1475 was Caxton's
translation of the story of Troy "Recuyell of the Histories of Troye". A few years later he brought
his press to England and set up in Westminster, not far outside the city of London. All in all about
one hundred books were issued by his press and about a score of them were either translated or
edited by Caxton. Among the earliest publications were the poems of Chaucer, still the most
popular poet in England, the poems of Gower, the compositions of Lydgate, the most voluminous
poet of the age, and others.

In essence, it is difficult to overestimate the influence of the first printers in fixing and
spreading the London literary English. The London literary English was established since "the age
of Chaucer" and slightly modified in accordance with the linguistic change that had taken place
during the intervening hundred years. Cheap printed books became available to a greater number
of readers and the London form of speech was carried to other written works produced all over
England.

Foreign contacts and expansion of English

The Tudors encouraged the development of trade inside and outside the country. The great
geographical discoveries (beginning with the discovery of the New World in 1492) gave a new
impetus to the progress of foreign trade. English set forth on daring journeys in search of gold and
treasures. Under the late Tudors England became one of the biggest trade and sea powers.

The main events of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) were connected with the rise
of merchant capital. Ousting their rivals from many markets England became involved in the
political struggle of the European countries for supremacy. The contacts of England with foreign
nations, although not necessarily friendly, became closer, which had an inevitable influence on the
growth of the vocabulary. As Britain consolidated into a single powerful state, it extended its
borders to include Wales, Scotland and part of Ireland. By the end of the Early New English period
the area of English had expanded to embrace the whole of the British Isles with the exception of
some mountainous parts of Wales and Scotland, the Isle of Man, Cornwall, and some parts of
Ireland, - though even in most of these regions the people were becoming bilingual.

Establishment of the Written Standards

Towards the end of Early New English, that is by the middle of the 17 th century, one of the
forms of the national literary language – its Written Standard – had probably been established. Its
growth and recognition as the correct or "prestige" form of the language of writing had been
brought about by the factors: the economic and political unification of the country, the progress of
culture and education and the flourishing of literature. In the 15 th and the 16th centuries the speech
of London became still more mixed owing to increased intermixture of the population. The capital
attracted newcomers from different regions of the country. Elements of various provincial dialects
were incorporated in the spoken and written forms of London speech. The written Standard of the
early 17th century was, however, far less stabilized and normalized than the literary standards of
later ages.

The writings of the Renaissance display a wide range of variations at all linguistic levels: in
spelling, in the sphere of grammatical forms and word-building devices, in syntactical patterns and
in choice and use of words. Variants are employed as equivalents or "near-equivalents" without
any noticeable dialectal or stylistic connotations, although they may have originated from different
localities, social groups or literary genres. This linguistic "freedom" is accounted for by the wide
social and geographical foundation of the literary language, by broad contacts of the literary
language with folklore and oral speech, and by the increased amount of written matter produced.
They were scientific and philosophical compositions, letters and diaries, poetry and literary prose,
drama and official papers.

Although printing had introduced some regularity in spelling, in the sixteenth century
spelling remained very varied, even for personal names. For example, there are six known
examples of Shakespeare's name that he wrote himself, and in each one he spelt his name
differently. People invented their own spellings, which usually showed their own pronunciation.
Other variations were introduced to show that words came from Latin. For example, the с was
added in scissors to follow the Latin spelling, cisorium. In the end, this freedom to change
spellings led to confusion. In the seventeenth century, the appearance of the first English
dictionaries slowly brought about more regularity in spelling. During the eighteenth century, ways
of spelling that differed from these dictionaries were seen to be incorrect and a sign of stupidity or
bad education. Even today, many people do not like making spelling mistakes, and often use the
spell-check tool on their computers. Dictionaries were not unknown in the seventeenth century, but
they were Latin-English ones. The first English-English dictionary, which appeared in 1604, was a
collection of about three thousand 'hard English words'. Similar collections followed, and in the
eighteenth century dictionary writers began trying to include more everyday words, not just
difficult ones. Guidance with vocabulary and spelling came from dictionaries; guidance with
grammar came from various 'grammars'. These grammar books first appeared in the seventeenth
century, and in the eighteenth century a huge number of them were produced. Many of them told
the reader how to write and speak 'correctly', which really meant how to use language in the same
way as in serious pieces of literature. They were widely used because people wanted to be seen as
educated, and so be socially acceptable. The grammarians writing these books considered the
grammar of much ordinary spoken language and of regional dialects (especially Scots) to be
wrong and believed that the grammar of English should be the same as that of Latin. For example,
they thought that a sentence should not end with a preposition because in Latin it did not. For
example, it would be correct to say I like the town in which I live, but not I like the town which I
live in.

The next stage in the growth of the national literary language was the development of the
spoken Standard. The earliest feasible date for the emergence of the Spoken Standard is the late
17th century. Some authors refer it to the end of the "normalization" period. The rules formulated
in the prescriptive grammars and dictionaries must have had their effect not only on the written but
also on the spoken forms of the language. The spoken forms, even when standardized, were never
as stable as the Written Standard. Oral speech changed under the influence of sub-standard forms
of the language, more easily than the written forms. Thus by the end of the 18 th century the
formation of the national literary English language may be regarded as complete, for now it
possessed both a Written and a Spoken Standards.

In conclusion, the formation of Standard English during the Early

New English period represents a convergence of historical,
cultural, and societal factors. This standardized language not only
served as a medium of communication but also became a symbol
of national identity and cultural achievement. The legacy of this
linguistic standardization endures, shaping the way we
communicate and understand the rich tapestry of the English
language today.

(SOURCE:
https://studfile.net/)