1. 156. Changing Conditions in The Modern Period 157
156. Changing Conditions in The Modern Period 157. Effects upon Grammar and Vocabulary 158. The Problems of the Vernaculars
Mohd Izwan bin Misly

2. Changing Conditions in The Modern Period
In the Modern English period (1500), certain conditions that had not existed before or were present in only a limited way came into play.
The new factors were the printing press, the rapid spread of popular education, the increased communication and means of communication, the growth of specialized knowledge, and the emergence of various forms of self-consciousness about language.

3. The invention of the process of printing from movable type, which occurred in Germany about the middle of the 15th century had a far reaching influence on all the vernacular languages of Europe.
Printing was introduced into England in 1476 by William Caxton.
Printing made such rapid progress that not yet a century later, manuscript books were seldom seen and almost never used.

4. Education was making rapid progress among the people and the literacy was becoming more common.
In the later Middle Ages, a surprising number of the people of the middle class could read and write.
The different parts of the world have been brought together through commerce, transportation and the rapid means of communication.

5. In the early modern period, Latin became less and less the vehicle for learned discourse, thus the growth of specialized knowledge by the creation of new words for many different fields of knowledge.
People and language experts were becoming more self conscious about the language than ever before.

6. Effects upon Grammar and Vocabulary
There were radical forces to vocabulary, but conservative forces to grammar.
The printing press, the reading habit, the advances of learning and science, and all forms of communication provided the growth in the vocabulary.
In grammar and usage, a standard was promoted and maintained.

7. The Problems of the Vernaculars
In the Middle Ages, because of Norman Conquest, the development of English were largely peculiar to England.
But, by the end of the Middle English period, English had made a remarkable recovery.

8. In the 16th century, the modern languages faced three great problems:
1. recognition in the fields where Latin had for centuries been supreme.
2. The establishment of a more uniform orthography.
3. The enrichment of vocabulary.