Modern English has changed significantly since 1800 due to a large increase in vocabulary from fields like science, the combination of old words, changes to word meanings, and influences from other languages. The Oxford English Dictionary was the first to document all English words, including obsolete ones, and helped understanding of the language. Pronunciation standards became less rigid over time as well, and the rise of technologies like radio, television, and the internet further drove changes by popularizing new words and expressions and making regional accents more widely accepted.

1. The History Of
The English
Language
Chapt er 8:
Modern English

2. Changes in the
Language
English changed a lot since 1800 and
nowadays, in a way t hat people f rom
t hat t ime wouldn’t be able t o
underst and us f or basic reasons:

3. • Because of t he huge amount of words
added t o t he vocabulary:
* I n science: new ideas, machines,
mat erials, plant s, animals, st ars,
diesieses and medecines
• Because of t he j unct ion of t wo old
words t oget her (about 65% of t he
canges)
E.g.: Fingerprint = f inger + print
Airport = air + port

4. • Because of old words t hat had t heir
meanings changed.
E.g.: Casset e = f rom small box t o elet ronic
t hat reads VHS
• Because of words t hat came f rom
f oregin languages.
E.g. : Disco (f rench)
Pizza (it alian)

5. • Because beginnins or endings, or bot h,
had been added in old words:
E.g. : Desinf ormat ion
Heart less
Unput downable
• Because some words had been short ned:
E.g. : PHOTO f rom phot ograph
T.V. f rom t elevision

6. • Because some words were creat ed by
t he addit ion of sounds of t wo ot her
words:
E.g. : Mot el = f orm mot or and hot el

7. Oxford English Dictionary
(OED)
The OED creat ed by J ames Murray
was t he f irst dict onary in english t hat
cont ained all t he English words, even t he
ones t hat are no longer used, and t heir
meanins, explanat ions, hist ory, examples,
exprassions and usage.

8. • I t also cont ained some scient if ic wor ds and
wor ds f r om Nort h Amer ica, Aust ralia, New
Zeland, Sout h Af r ica, The Caribbeans, I ndia
and Pakist an, but not all of t he scient if or
regional wor ds.
• This dict ionar y was impor t ant because it
helped a lot in t he under st anding of t he
English language in t he past and nowadays. As
t he sociat y evolut ed and so didi English, t his
dict ionar y was t r ansf ered t o t he digit al
wor ld, so people can use t he int er net t o
search words. Also, because now inf or mat ion
about inf ormal words and slangs is now easier
t o f ind because of t he int er net .

9. New words were able t o t ravel
f ast er around t he English-speaking
world, because of t he communicat ion
t hrough t elephone, newspaper, radio,
t elevision, f ilms, music and t he int ernet ,
and t his had also inf luenced t he
pronunciat ion.

10. Accent and
Pronunciation
Anot her change in t he language, pr esent in
t he moder n English is t he accent and
pr onunciat ion. I n 1920, The Br it ish
Br oadcast ing Company (BBC) chose na accent
f or all t he English speaker s t o use on t he
radio. THis was t he accent of t he educat ed
people: gover ment , t he Church, t he
universit ies and army.I t was known as
“r eceived pronunciat ion”, “RP” or “King’s
English”.

11. Wit h t he use of RP in t he radios and ways
of communicat ion, mor e and more people
t hought it was t he pr onunciat ion used by
import ant people, so t hey st art ed t o use it .
I t was not accept ed t o use st r ong regional
accent on t elevision or r adio, or in t eaching
and gover ment .
I n 1960, st r ong accent s wer e st ar t ed t o
be accept ed ever ywher e because of t he
Br it ain break down in regions.
Nowadays, RP is not import ant and no
longer used, people in England speak a kind of
RP but , wit h a regional accent .

12. Influence Of The Internet
In The English
As we all know, t he I nt ernet is a
revolut ionary way of comunicat ion t hat
connect s t he whole world. Besides
communicat ion, it also changes t he
english, because of t he new t ecnologies,
t hat describe t he int ernet it self and it s
act ivit ies, like cyber-space, blog,
websit e and e-mail.

13. Also, new meanings had been giving t o new
wor ds, like sur f , link, virt ual and chat .
English also changed by t he int ernet
because people st ar t ed t o invent new
expr essions and ways of wr it ing t o make
communicat ion easier and f ast er.
E.g. : *r u alr yt – ar e you alr ight ?
*duz ne1 know how 2 make carr ot cake –
does anyone how t o make carr ot cake?
* t hx 4 ur msg, c u @ wor k – t hanks f or
your massage see you at work.