English linguistics history

4. Changing condition in the Modern Period:
• The development of languages is affected
by some events. The beginning of Modern
English period which is marked at 1500
was a result of certain conditions among
which the printing press ,the rapid spread
of popular education ,the increased
communication and means of communication
, and the growth of what may be called
social consciousness .

9. The invention of printing in Germany
about the middle of the 15th
century created a powerful force for
promoting a standard ,uniform language .
It also helped to spread that language
throughout the country. The influence of
printing was activated by the rapid
progress of education which eliminate
literacy . In the later Middle Ages
almost half of the people could
at least read.

10. Moreover as a result of popular
education the printing press has been
able to exert its influence upon
language as upon thought. A third
factor of great importance to language
in modern time is that of commerce,
transportation and the rapid means of
communication which brought the
different parts of the world together.

11. Social consciousness:
People have a tendency to identify
themselves with a certain social or
economic group. Consequently a man
would speak the language of his class.
 However ,due to the democratic
conditions that prevail today a man
became able to lift himself into
a different economic or intellectual
or social level.

12.  He is probably would try to
adopt the standards of grammar and
pronunciation of the people with
whom he has identified himself with.
Awareness that there
are standards of language is a part of
his social consciousness.

13. Effect upon grammar and vocabulary :
Such mentioned forces could be
described as both radical and
conservative.
Radical means anything that promotes
change in language whereas
conservative force means to preserve
the exiting status.

14.  Thus the printing press ,the reading
habit and all forms of communication
advocate change and stimulate the
Growth of vocabulary. Semantainiously
these forces together with social
consciousness promote and are likely
to encourage the maintenance of
standard specially the in grammar
and usage.

15. The Problem of the Vernaculars:
In the Middle Ages the development
of English took place as a result of
Norman conquest which was peculiar
to England other than the other
languages of Europe as mentioned,
the conquest imposed a foreign tongue
upon the dominant social class and
left the native speech in the hands
of the un cultivated.

16. However ,by the end of the Middle
English period English had made a
remarkable recovery. In the 16th
century the modern language faced three
great problems.
1.Recognition in the fields where Latin
had for centuries been supreme.
2.The establishment of a more uniform
orthography .

17. 3.The enrichment of the vocabulary so
that it would be adequate to meet
the demands that would be made it
upon in its wide use .
 The struggle for recognition :
Although English had established a
position as the language of popular
literature ,there was a strong tendency
towards the use of Latin in all fields of
knowledge.

18. The real force behind the use of
English was a popular demand ,the
demand of all sorts of men in
practical life to share in the fruits of
Renaissance.
In order to spread their knowledge such
knowledge has to be expressed in the
language that everybody read.
The demand was met by translations
and original works.
e.g. the great works of Homer.

19. • From a commercial point of view,
the market for English books was
naturally greater than for Latin.
• English one of the languages of learning
around the world at that time.
By the end of the century English has
won recognition as a language
of serious thought.

20. The Problem of Orthography:
Spelling or ‘right writing ’for the
English and other Europeans in the
16th century was important .
 some confusion as they tried
to write a language which
they imperfectly know and carried over
habits which they had formed in writing
French. In some cases there was a
difference between inserted in words
where they were not pronounced.

21. •

22. The Problem of Enrichment:
There was an effort to enrich
the language. The Renaissance was a
period of increased activity in almost every
field.The language was enriched as a result
of some consequences and efforts.
The rediscovery of Latin and Greek Literature
drew the attention to them as the medium
of literary expression.

23. The scholarly dominance of Latin have
had left vernaculars un developed,however,
at the Renaissance this
dominancy was broken And consequently
the deficiency of English was revealed.
The act of translation made the translator
borrow from other languages (du
to the limitation of his language ).This
way many foreign words were introduced
Words borrowed were mainly in particularly
needed in various technical
fields (military terms )

24. English acquired in the 16th and
early 17th century thousands
of new words. The greatest
number of words were borrowed
from Latin .Some from Greek
great many from French and
some from Italian and Spanish.