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
 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.
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 the characterizing the
Stage Used Languages new stage

After the Roman

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

Romans left England, Anglo Saxon Tribes

(Angles, Saxons & Jutes) were summoned by
King Vortigern to ward off the danger of the
Celts in the peripheral areas. Latin remains
Old Germanic Anglo- used because it is the language of the Roman
450 -- English, Saxon tribes Catholic Church- a very powerful institution
850 Latin, (mainly the in Europe; Anglo-Saxon borrows mainly place
names from Celtic and many vocabulary
A.D. influence Angles, the Saxons words from Latin(see some examples in
of Celtic & the Jutes) 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 write books in English. It was a first
Old English, Scandinavians step towards the standardization of English as
850 --
Scandinavian (Danes are a books started to be written mostly in one dialect,
1100 West Saxon. This dialect was chosen as the
languages, branch)/
A.D. standard language of England.
Latin Vikings King Alfred is also seen as a hero for his role in
fighting the Vikings.
 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
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 is found in place
names.
Old English, The Danes ruled until the West Saxon kings
850 - Scandinavians
Scandinavian reconquered the Danelaw in the 10th century.
1100 (Danes are a Scandinavian languages had great influence on
languages,
A.D. branch)/ Vikings English grammar, word order, inflectional
Latin system, vocabulary… especially that the two
languages came 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
Middle (Norman French/The Normans) then Central
English/ France / Paris (Central French). Strangely when the
Norman center was further the influence of French and its
1100 - 1450 Normans/ power increased.
French - Mixed feelings about the French Language; Some
A.D. French
Central referred to their effect as the Norman yoke (the
French/ obstacle in the development of the English language as
Latin 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 Americas, Australia, India. Slave
trade from Africa to Caribbean and America, giving rise to English
1450 - 1750 A.D.
creoles. Rise of printing. Many attempts to standardize and fix
English with dictionaries and grammars.
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 - 1750 3. Elaboration: the variety was elaborated to be fit to be used in a wide range of
A.D. domains, such as religion, science, law, literature,...

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 focusing. A focused
1450 --     linguistic community has a strong sense of norms. There are 4
1750 A.D. agencies for 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
1450 --     classical language – Latin), and French in the 16th, 18th, & 19th centuries.
Several social, economic, technological, historical, intellectual factors
1750 A.D. contributed to the standardization of 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. ariety.
 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 v
 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
1750 the Americas, Australia, Africa and Asia (mainly India) There are main reasons
--1950 A.D. for colonization and three steps towards it. There are three types of colonization
(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
retreats from empire. New standardized varieties of English
Britain
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 only language), ESL (English as a Second language: English is an
1950 -- official language used in public domains & in education. EFL (English
Present time as a foreign language, mostly learned individually or in private schools,
for a 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 cultures, but will also
impose its culture and identity through the mechanisms of
1950 -- Present
economic and cultural and technological power. Some celebrate
time
the variation as a natural result of the 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.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im2u_uuHlko
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e0wvPPQkFE
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc2PUmKKtng
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz8tEPXI25A