5. The verb-adverb is that construction in which the verb joins with
a primary adverb for a more complete verb idea, the adverb portion of
the unit serving to give a situational, directional, or intensive
force. While there are also degrees of proximity between the component
parts of the verb-adverb.
7. While the Anglo-Saxons had used their own language,
which we call Old English, for all manner of things, the
Normans replaced it with Latin first, then Anglo-Norman
as the official language for all forms of documentation and
literature. One effect of the Norman Conquest was the
eclipse of the English vernacular as the language of
literature, law, and administration in Britain. Superseded
in official documents and other records by Latin and then
increasingly in all areas by Anglo-Norman, written
English hardly reappeared until the 13th century . The
following image 1 is the style of English writing before the
Anglo-Norman period. The image 2 shows the English
writing after the Anglo Norman period .
8. Old English (450-1150 AD): Middle English (1150-1500
AD):
Early forms of English featured a more
inflected structure, and adverbs were often
created by altering adjectives.
The use of prepositions and adverbs to
modify verbs was present but less
standardized compared to modern English,
for example In Old English, adverbs come in
two main types: those that are formed from
other words and standalone adverbs. For
example, the sentence: 'Se hund gæþ
hrædlice forþ to þæm hose - The dog goes
quickly forth to the house' has two adverbs
modifying the verb: 'hrædlice - quickly' and
'forþ - forwards'.
The Norman Conquest brought French
influences, contributing to changes in word
order and the use of adverbs.
The use of adverbs to modify verbs became
more systematic, reflecting a gradual shift
towards the structure of modern English.
Most Middle English adverbs are formed by
adding -e to an adjective (faire, faste, hoote,
lowe). Words borrowed from the French add -
ly, -li (playnly); and words of Germanic
origins add -liche (rudeliche).
9. Early Modern English (1500-1700 AD): 18th Century
The Renaissance period witnessed
significant changes in language,
influenced by the revival of classical
literature.
Verb-adverb combinations became more
established, with a growing emphasis on
precision in expression.
The 18th century saw the standardization
of the English language, with the
publication of dictionaries and grammars.
Verb-adverb combinations were becoming
more nuanced, and there was a conscious
effort to regulate and refine language
usage. Eighteenth-century grammarians
didn't even identify flat adverbs as adverbs;
they considered them adjectives and the
adverbial use to be a mistake. It's because
of these grammarians that flat adverbs in
phrases like "drive safe" and "go slow" are
often disparaged today.
10. 19th Century: 20th Century: 21st Century
The 19th century marked a
period of tremendous linguistic
and societal changes, driven by
industrialization, urbanization,
and technological
advancements.
Verb-adverb combinations
evolved to reflect the cultural
and technological shifts of the
time.
The emergence of influential
literary works played a crucial
role in shaping and
popularizing certain
combinations.
Modern English continued
to see the refinement and
expansion of verb-adverb
combinations.
The influence of mass
media, globalization, and
technological advancements
led to the incorporation of
new adverbs and the
adaptation of existing
combinations.
The digital age has brought about a
rapid transformation in language
use, with the advent of the internet
and social media.
Verb-adverb combinations have
adapted to the fast-paced, informal
nature of online communication,
giving rise to new linguistic trends
and expressions.
Throughout these historical periods,
the development of verb-adverb
combinations reflects not only
linguistic changes but also societal,
cultural, and technological
influences. They serve as linguistic
artifacts that mirror the dynamic
evolution of the English language.
11. • The term dictionary was invented by an Englishman called Joan of Garland in
1220.He had written a book dictionarius to help with Latin diction.
• But the actual process of origin of English Dictionary can be traced back in
the early modern English during the 15th 16thand 17th century
What is a Dictionary?
12. Lexicography is the practice of compiling,writing,
and editing dictionares.It involves the study of
words,their meanings,origins,usage and the
structure of language.
• The period of 19th century as Lexical
Renaissance.The 19th century saw a Lexical
Renaissance, innovating language through literature,
scientific progress, and cultural shifts. Dickens and
Austen contributed creatively, while standardization
efforts and societal changes enriched and expanded
the English lexicon.
13.
14. 1. The origin of the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED)
can be traced back to a
decision by the Philological
Society of London in 1857 to
create a comprehensive
dictionary of the English
language. The project aimed
to encompass the entire
English vocabulary, past
and present, and to
illustrate the history and
development of each word.
2.James Murray became the
first editor of the OED in 1879,
and he played a crucial role in
overseeing the dictionary’s
production. The project,
however, proved to be much
more extensive and time-
consuming than initially
anticipated. It involved
gathering quotations from a
wide range of English-
language sources to illustrate
the usage and meanings of
words throughout history.
3.Over the decades, numerous
contributors and scholars collaborated
on the dictionary, contributing to its
wealth of linguistic and historical
information. The first edition of the
OED was published in parts between
1884 and 1928. The dictionary has
since undergone revisions, and its
ongoing updates reflect the evolution
of the English language. The OED
stands as a monumental achievement
in lexicography, providing a
comprehensive and detailed record of
the English language’s rich history
and development.
15. • Noah Webster's standardized American speech, since Americans in
different parts of the country used different languages. They also
spelled, pronounced, and used English words differently.
• One of his achievements is "Blue-Backed speller" whose more than
100 million copies were sold and five generations of Americans
learned a consistent way to read, spell and pronounce English
words.
• Before that people spelled phonetically.
• In 1806, Webster published a dictionary, "A Compendious
Dictionary of the English Language".
• It was the first dictionary to describe English as it was spoken in
North America and contained 30,000 entries.
16. • In 1807 Webster began compiling an expanded and fully
comprehensive dictionary, "An American Dictionary of the
English Language"; first published in 1828 when Webster
was 70 years old.
Did you know?
• To evaluate the etymology of words, Webster learned over
twenty-five languages, including Old English (Anglo-
Saxon), Gothic, German, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish,
French, Dutch, Welsh, Russian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Persian,
Arabic and Sanskrit.
• Holidays are declared: 16 October is Dictionary Day
honoring the birth of Noah Webster while 18 January is
Thesaurus Day in honor of Peter Roget on his birthday.
17. • English language spelling reforms
• In the end of nineteenth century, interest was apparent in the issues of English spellings,
and the questions were raised for reforms aggressively.
• For almost four hundred years, English have struggled with spellings of English language.
• It was one of the main issues that was present in the Shakespearean time to the language,
and it continued from seventeenth century till some part of eighteenth century.
• Some spelling reforms proposals were made for a short time or temporarily. Many of the
spellings preferred by Noah Webster made standard in United State but had not been
adopted everywhere.
A movement to modify conventional spelling to lessen or remove the differences between
the orthography and the pronunciation of words.
18. Modern English spelling developed from about 1350 onwards,
after three centuries of Norman French rule, English
gradually became the official language of England again,
although very different from before 1066, having incorporated
many words of French origin (battle, beef, button, etc.). Early
writers of this new English, such as Geoffrey Chaucer, gave it
a consistent spelling system, but this was soon diluted by
Chancery clerks who re-spelled words based on French
orthography.
Examples include the silent h in ghost (to match Dutch
gheest, which later became geest), aghast, ghastly and
gherkin. The silent h in other words such as ghospel,
ghossip and ghizzard was later removed.
19. The second part was started in the 19th century and appears to agree with the development of phonetics as a
science.
Noah Webster’s 1st dictionary:
• In 1806, Noah Webster published his first dictionary named as A Compendious Dictionary of the
English Language. He included an essay on oddities of modern orthography and made his reform
proposals. Many spellings such as color and center used by him would become hallmarks in American
English.
• In 1807, Webster began compiling an expanded dictionary.
• An American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828. Although it drew some
protest, the reformed spellings were slowly adopted all over the United States.
• The system of phonetic shorthand was published by Isaac Pitman in 1837.
• In 1848, A Plea for Phonetic Spelling was published by Alexandar John Ellis. These were proposals for
a new phonetic alphabet. Although it was unsuccessful, they drew widespread interest.
20. • The philological societies of Great Britain and America chose to consider the matter in the
1870s.
• In August 1876, after the "International Convention for the Amendment of English
Orthography" that was held in Philadelphia. The societies were founded such as the English
Spelling Reform Association and the American Spelling Reform Association. That year, a list
of eleven reformed spellings was adopted by the American Philological Society for
immediate use. These were are→ar, give→giv, have→hav, live→liv, though→tho,
through→thru, guard→gard, catalogue→catalog, (in)definite→(in)definit, wished→wisht.
One major American newspaper that began using reformed spellings was the Chicago
Tribune, whose editor and owner, Joseph Medill, sat on the Council of the Spelling Reform
Association.
• In 1883, the American Philological Society and American Philological Association worked
together to produce 24 spelling reform rules, which were published that year.
• In 1898, the American National Education Association adopted its list of 12 words to be used in
all writings: tho, altho, thoro, thorofare, thru, thruout, catalog, decalog, demagog, pedagog,
prolog, program.
21. • It is argued that spelling reform
would make English easier to learn to
read (decode), to spell, and to
pronounce, making it more useful for
international communication, reducing
educational budgets (reducing literacy
teachers, remediation costs, and
literacy programs) and/or enabling
teachers and learners to spend more
time on more important subjects or
expanding subjects.
• Another argument is the complete
number of resources that are wasted
using the current spelling. For
example, the Cutting Spelling system
of spelling reforms uses up to 15%
less than current spelling. It
conserves resources such as paper
and ink.
22. • It is noted that spelling reforms have
taken place before, slowly and may not
in an organized way. There are many
words which were at first not spelled
properly. For example: music was
spelled musick until the 1880s, and
fantasy was spelled phantasy until the
1920s. For a time, almost all words with
the -or ending (such as error) were once
spelled -our (errour), and almost all
words with the -er ending (such as
member) were once spelled -re
(membre). In American spelling, most of
them now use -or and - er, but in British
spelling, only some have been reformed.
• The way vowel letters are used in
English spelling vastly contradicts
their usual meanings. For example,
⟨o⟩, expected to represent [əʊ] or [oʊ],
may stand for [ʌ], while ⟨u⟩, expected
to represent [ʌ], may represent [juː].
This makes English spelling even less
intuitive for foreign learners than it is
for native speakers, which is of
importance for an international
auxiliary language.
23. Spelling reform faces many arguments against the development and
implementation of a reformed orthography for English. Public
acceptance to spelling reform has been consistently low, at least since
the early 19th century, when spelling was codified by the influential
English dictionaries of Samuel Johnson (1755) and Noah Webster
(1806). The irregular spelling of very common words, such as are,
have, done, of, would makes it difficult to fix them without
introducing a noticeable change to the appearance of English text.
English is a West Germanic language that has borrowed many words
from non-Germanic languages, and the spelling of a word often
reflects its origin. This sometimes gives a clue as to the meaning of
the word. Even if their pronunciation has strayed from the original
pronunciation, the spelling is a record of the phoneme. The same is
true for words of Germanic origin whose current spelling still
resembles their cognates in other Germanic languages. Examples
include light, German Licht; knight, German Knecht; ocean, French
océan; occasion, French occasion. Critics argue that re-spelling such
words could hide those links, although not all spelling reforms
necessarily require significantly re-spelling them.
24. Most spelling reforms attempt to improve phonemic representation,
but some attempt genuine phonetic spelling, usually by changing
the basic English alphabet or making a new one. All spelling
reforms aim for greater regularity in spelling.
Using the basic English alphabet:
• Cut Spelling
• Handbook of Simplified Spelling
• SoundSpel
• Spelling Reform 1 (SR1)
• Traditional Spelling Revised
• Wijk’s Regularized Inglish
25. These proposals seek to eliminate the extensive use of digraphs (such
as "ch", "gh", "kn-", "-ng", "ph", "qu", "sh", voiced and voiceless "th",
and "wh-") by introducing new letters and/or diacritics. Each letter
would then represent a single sound. In a digraph, the two letters
represent not their individual sounds but instead an entirely different
and discrete sound, which can lengthen words and lead to mishaps in
pronunciation.
Notable proposals include:
• Benjamin Franklin’s phonetic
alphabet
• Deseret alphabet
• Interspel
• Shavian alphabet
• SaypU
• Unifon
