Chapter 2 (page 32-57) A Social History of English

The standardisation process Selection of the standard variety Acceptance of the standard Elaboration of function Codification

The nature of the writing system 18 th Century: The spellings we used today were largely fixed [Johnsson’s Dictionary of 1755 – spelling of words that influenced modern practice] Start with the introduction of printing in the 1470 where it is too expensive for compositors to keep changing spellings. 15 th Century: Certain spellings owe their continued existence to the convenience of the printers ** In many personal hand-written documents, spelling continued to vary enormously long after the time of Caxton. page 34

Although spelling may be fixed, pronunciation continues to vary and change – the relationship between sounds and spelling is indirect. Different pronunciation might be due to:- i.Different situation (formal or casual) ii.Amount of stressed placed upon it iii.Regional pronunciation/accent Spelling often usefully separates homophones (two words that sound alike) – e.g. (meat and meet)

There are 2 different traditions in our spelling: - Germanic: spelt in the French way eg. F: /s/ in grace was written ce  AS: grass (s retain) AS: cwic  F: quick (qu spelling adopted) - Romance: borrowed their letters from the Greeks (the principle of alphabetic writing had spread from Middle East) eg. - th sound  1. they use their ingenuity 2. adapted the signs from runic alphabet (th  Ϸ) Thus, alphabetic writing has always been characterised by a process of adaptation The scribal tradition page 37

2 developments in the scribal era i The establishing of a written standard based on the West Saxon dialect of the 10 th & 11 th centuries ii The growth of a class of scribes who were professional by the end of the 14 th century

Variety of spoken English used in London.London – Merchant-class – Lower-class Standard English is based on the merchant- class dialect. East Midland South Eastern Selection of the standard variety Acceptance of the standard Elaboration of function Codification page 38

*Merchant-class Lower-class

, Why East Midland dialect is widely adopted? 2. Printing 3. Oxford & Cambridge Universities 4. King’s dialect 1. Mixed dialect page 39

Middle of 15 th century: the east midland dialect had been accepted as a written standard by those who wrote official documents 16 th century: standard variety was well-established in the domain of literature -Before Shakespeare time – striking difference in language/dialect -Shakespeare time – language variation disappeared Selection of the standard variety Acceptance of the standard Elaboration of function Codification page 40

National literary standard also had established-not only for literature, but for fixing the sense of linguistic norm. Spoken standard was also raised (pronunciation) The standard is set in London - particularly at Court - referring to the London-Oxford Cambridge triangle End of 16 th century – we have an accepted written standard and prestigious speech forms that were being promoted by the elite.

A standardized language has to develop variations to suit its wide range of functions. The new standard had to function in several domains previously associated with Latin & French:  Law  Government  Literature  Religion  Scholarship  Education Selection of the standard variety Acceptance of the standard Elaboration of function Codification page 44

Law & Government  1362 – Although English was used first time in law & government, French was still used in written documents & persisted about a century after.  1731 – An Act was passed to limit the use of French & Latin in this domain.  Today, legal English still employs Law French & Law Latin phraseology. Example: fee simple & habeas corpus page 45

 English was felt to be ‘dull’ & ‘barbarous’, not suitable for literature; and it could not match the heights achieved by ancient Rome & Greece Writers.  1580s – English achieved a state of eloquence  1611 – the publication of the Authorized Version of the Bible – a landmark in English history  The air of dignity & distancing of the language of the Bible, was not achieved by French or Latin models of prose, but by archaism (old word that are no longer used) Literature Religion page 45 page 46

 Increased use of English in writing of a scientific & scholarly nature – inspired by the example of AV  Due to the developing interest in science & philosophy – people wrote political pamphlets, journal, essays, 1st newspapers in English  End of 17th century – expression in prose had expanded to cover fictional writing.  Such wide functional range engendered self consciousness among English writers & enhanced the status of the language. Scholarship page 47

 2 roles of language in education: - Languages that are taught - Languages that function as media of learning.  Latin: a taught language & medium of instruction in universities French: become the latter role in schools - Both were being challenged in the education system by English since 14th century.  Causes of changes: - The general reaction against French - The gradual loosening of the church’s hold on institutions of learning & literacy Education page 48

 The growth of secular education – increased the demand for learning in English  Protestant Reformation – promoted English as a medium for religious instruction.  The debate about the suitability of English led to massive translation of Latin into English  Standard variety became the medium of teaching.

Undertaken by small elite of scholars It has to do with prescription; they argued to justify only one variant in preference to another Codification involves 3 aspects: i.Vocab ii.Grammar iii.Pronunciation Selection of the standard variety Acceptance of the standard Elaboration of function Codification page 49

Codification of Vocab The most famous is the Dictionary by Dr. Samuel Johnson He listed the range of meanings for each word including the commonest Illustrated each strand of meaning with quotations Johnson’s Dictionary could be viewed constituting the language itself. page 50

Started from the second half of 18th century Certain grammatical forms & structures were judged as ‘correct’ while others were stigmatized as ‘vulgar’ Grammars of Latin : - had been available for centuries - all scholars knew & use them - 18 th century : Latin was usually found in written form – it was a fixed, regulated & invariant language Codification of Grammar page 51

KNOWLEDGE OF ETYMOLOGY IN LATIN LANGUAGE - grammarians hated variation & change - where the meanings of words are concerned, ‘etymological fallacy’ was applied to justify certain constructions. EXAMPLE : - different from was preferable to different to or different than * di part of the word originally means division or separateness page 52

EXAMPLE : - the most notorious example – pattern of negation in English - English, since Anglo-Saxon signaled negation by the cumulative use of negative particles * I don’t know nothing – was a traditional English pattern * by the end of 18th century - condemned illogical by applying the principle that ‘two negatives make a positive’.

Pronunciation is the most difficult aspect of language to codify. 16 th century: some scholars had already begun to consider the relationship between sounds & spelling. HART = Argued that spelling should be aligned with pronunciation MULCASTER = Rejected his idea because he claims that people pronounced differently THOMAS ELYOT = No letter should be omitted in pronunciations. Attempts to base pronunciations on spelling were not helped by the developments in the writing system.  Attempts to base pronunciations on spelling were not helped by the developments in the writing system. Codification of Pronunciation page 53

The early printers used spellings that had nothing to do with sounds. Example : ue  tongue s  island b  debt Example : ue  tongue s  island b  debt page 53

* Some spellings were to show where it originated DEBT – dette = Latin (debitum) * Nevertheless, the pronunciations are still left unaffected. * We are the ones left with the difficulty.

JOHNSON’S & WALKER’S DICTIONARY At the end of the 18th century: levels of codification led to the production of the pronouncing dictionary. JOHNSONS - This dictionary was much more easier and simple to understand because the spelling was fixed. JOHN WALKER – A critical pronouncing dictionary (1791) All letters in a word should be sounded. However, certain pronunciations were too firmly entrenched in the upper-class society to be changed. Some of the new spellings suited the pronunciation much better eg : cucumber - cowcumber page 54

In the early 19th century, codification was a weapon of class. According to walker, it is increasingly clear that the lower-class pronunciations that must be avoided. Codification of the standard wasn’t based on an informed & systematic analysis of language. The most depressing results of codification is that it has tended to elevate personal taste and perspectives. In the view of the social past, individual preference & understandings are not necessarily the same thing. CODIFICATION & SOCIAL CLASS page 56