English 209: Evolution vs. Decadence
Finish terminology discussion
Questions about terms, issues, or concepts from the reading for today?
Language Change: Decadence or Evolution?
· Neither; “change” is less judgmental
· Change is both inevitable and constant in living, natural languages
What do we mean by “language change”?
· Permanent alteration of one or more systems of a language
· These changes must be adopdted by a sizeable number of users (more or less) permanently
· In simplest terms, loss/gain/both in subsystems of language (substitution)
Are all changes systematic?
· No, some are sporadic, while others are systematic
What are the two types of systematic changes, and how are they different from each other?
· Conditioned—context sensitive (examples from book)
· Unconditioned—not context sensitive (examples from book)
Are all such changes irreversible?
· Most are (especially in phonology, morphology, and syntax)
· A few examples in book of reversed changes
What are the two “types” of history associated with language change?
· Internal history
· External history
Explain how the history of political change and/or literary change are related to, but distinct from, the history of linguistic change:
· Political history often has an enormous impact on the language (1066, etc.); but only a limited amount of linguistic change is attributable to external factors
· Ditto for literary history; however, written grammatical structures, vocabulary, and phrasology will have an important impact. Further, literacy gives rise to concepts of “correctness”, and tends to slow linguistic change a bit (or has in the past)
Why are there so many different languages?
· The capacity to learn language is innate, universal and unchanging, but absorbing any particular language is a learned process, and the language itself is volatile.
Why does language change?
· Principle of least effort
· Analogy
· Imperfect learning
What are some external pressures for language change?
· Foreign contacts
· Contact between dialects
What is the most common internal pressure for language change?
· Changes in one system impinging upon another system
What are some factors impeding change?
· If there are extensive changes going on in one subsystem,the others tend to remain fairly stable (otherwise all hell would break loose)
· Languages with graphic systems tend to be more conservative (permanence, opportunity for reference, desire for consistency)
· Colonial peoples are more conservative in their language use
Are there natural divisions between the periods demarcating the history of English which we study?
What are these periods and their rough dates?
· OE (450-1100)
· ME (1100-1500)
· EME (1500-1800)
· PDE (1800-Present)
What are the sources of information for our study?
· Descriptive statements
· Recordings
· Contemporary dialects
· Loanwords
· Contemporary spellings
· Texts
What are the primary sources for history prior to this century?
· Texts
Problems with historical texts?
· Not many
· Interpretation
· So many are translations of Latin and French
Friday, May 16, 2008
Dr. Fee's Background on Old English
English 209: Old English Background
“Medieval” England: ca. 400-1500 (ca.400-1000 often called “Dark Age” Britain)
OE literature ca. 700-1100
55 BC (or BCE) Caesar crosses to Britain
43 AD (or CE) Britain under Roman control (Claudius)
312 Conversion of Constantine (Battle of Milvian Bridge)
321 Christianity becomes the official religion of the empire
410 Aloric the Visigoth sacks Rome (first time)
449 Last of the Romans pull out of Britain (A-S start moving in)
476 Last of the puppet emperors deposed
500 (ca.) Battle of Mt Badon (Arthur)
597 Pope Gregory the Great sends Augustine to Canterbury (King Ethelbert of Kent’s wife Frankish and Christian
664 Synod of Whitby
731 Bede’s Ecclesiastical History
787 First recorded Viking raid
793 Sack of monastery at Lindisfarne (beginning of Viking Age, raids, light of British learning nearly extinguished, eventually Danelaw)
800 Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor
849 Alfred born
871 Alfred king of West Saxons
878 Treaty of Wedmore (Alfred/Guthrum-Danes: Danelaw)
899 Alfred dies (united most of the south, rallied back and contained the Danelaw to East Anglia and the north, promoted learning)
1016 Cnut ascends throne
1066 Hastings
Some key names, terms and topics for discussion:
· What were the three main tribes of Germanic invaders of Celtic Britain? Angles, Saxons, Jutes
· What do we mean by “Heptarchy of A-S kingdoms”? Kent, East Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia, Sussex, Essex, Wessex
· What is the most important dialect of OE in the terms of our study? West Saxon most important literary dialect of OE (but no direct descendant in PDE)
· Name the major OE dialects: West Saxon, Kentish, Northumbrian, Mercian (last 2=Anglian)
Waves of invaders (IE, Germanic) moving E to W throughout Northern Europe, into Britain (pre-Celts, Celts, Romans, A-S, Vikings, Normans) and finally out of Europe into Americas, Africa, Asia
Christianity and literacy
Celtic vs. Roman Christianity
Arthur
Alfred
Rise of West Saxon
Bede
ASC
Manuscripts
parchment
Orality
Alliteration vs. rhyme
Apposition
Kenning
Litotes
Normans
French/Anglo-Norman
Questions about the Old English Sound System? Go over the basics.
Introduction to the Concept of Inflections:
· What do we mean by the term “inflection”?
· “Case”?
· “Number”?
· “Gender”?
“Medieval” England: ca. 400-1500 (ca.400-1000 often called “Dark Age” Britain)
OE literature ca. 700-1100
55 BC (or BCE) Caesar crosses to Britain
43 AD (or CE) Britain under Roman control (Claudius)
312 Conversion of Constantine (Battle of Milvian Bridge)
321 Christianity becomes the official religion of the empire
410 Aloric the Visigoth sacks Rome (first time)
449 Last of the Romans pull out of Britain (A-S start moving in)
476 Last of the puppet emperors deposed
500 (ca.) Battle of Mt Badon (Arthur)
597 Pope Gregory the Great sends Augustine to Canterbury (King Ethelbert of Kent’s wife Frankish and Christian
664 Synod of Whitby
731 Bede’s Ecclesiastical History
787 First recorded Viking raid
793 Sack of monastery at Lindisfarne (beginning of Viking Age, raids, light of British learning nearly extinguished, eventually Danelaw)
800 Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor
849 Alfred born
871 Alfred king of West Saxons
878 Treaty of Wedmore (Alfred/Guthrum-Danes: Danelaw)
899 Alfred dies (united most of the south, rallied back and contained the Danelaw to East Anglia and the north, promoted learning)
1016 Cnut ascends throne
1066 Hastings
Some key names, terms and topics for discussion:
· What were the three main tribes of Germanic invaders of Celtic Britain? Angles, Saxons, Jutes
· What do we mean by “Heptarchy of A-S kingdoms”? Kent, East Anglia, Northumbria, Mercia, Sussex, Essex, Wessex
· What is the most important dialect of OE in the terms of our study? West Saxon most important literary dialect of OE (but no direct descendant in PDE)
· Name the major OE dialects: West Saxon, Kentish, Northumbrian, Mercian (last 2=Anglian)
Waves of invaders (IE, Germanic) moving E to W throughout Northern Europe, into Britain (pre-Celts, Celts, Romans, A-S, Vikings, Normans) and finally out of Europe into Americas, Africa, Asia
Christianity and literacy
Celtic vs. Roman Christianity
Arthur
Alfred
Rise of West Saxon
Bede
ASC
Manuscripts
parchment
Orality
Alliteration vs. rhyme
Apposition
Kenning
Litotes
Normans
French/Anglo-Norman
Questions about the Old English Sound System? Go over the basics.
Introduction to the Concept of Inflections:
· What do we mean by the term “inflection”?
· “Case”?
· “Number”?
· “Gender”?
Dr. Fee's Introduction for Present Day English
English 209: Introduction to Present Day English
What were some questions concerning vocabulary during the beginning of this period, and who were some major figures who raised such questions?
· Many early Americans were against borrowing, especially from French—Noah Webster
· Others supported “judicious neology”—Thomas Jefferson
· In the nineteenth century there was a movement to use ancient “Saxon” terms instead of Latinate equivalents—William Morris
· No concerted effort then or now to keepout foreign terms
What about spelling reform?
· Since the late EME period, interest has focused on consistency rather than reform
· Since the nineteenth century on, great emphasis has been placed on “correct” spelling—social and educational cue
· Spelling is now a regular and separate part of the grade-school curriculum
· Isaac Pitman and A.J. Ellis formulate 38-character Phonotype alphabet of 1870
· 1876—National Union of Elementary teachers urge commission on spelling reform
· 1879—The British Spelling Reform Association organized
· “Anglic” becomes New Spelling of 1941
· “Regularized Inglish”—both this and N.S. differed only slightly from standard
· George Bernard Shaw left a behest to fund a 40-character alphabet
· These groups were concerned with making learning to read easier for children and foreigners
· In early America spelling refom was associated with nationalism—Benjamin Franklin
· Noah Webster best known American reformer, reached middle ground in his 1828 dictionary
· 1876 Francis Marsh and American Spelling Reform Association
· 1906 Simplified Spelling Board—Carnegie and T. Roosevelt
What about dictionaries?
· The OED—Coleridge, Furnivall, Murray, Bradley, Craigie, and Onions; ¾ of a century for the first edition, six editors, Murray edited nearly half, and dedicated his life to the project
· What was the process for compiling the OED?
· Why is it considered so authoritative?
· As exhaustive as it is, why can it never be considered completely comprehensive?
What were some questions concerning vocabulary during the beginning of this period, and who were some major figures who raised such questions?
· Many early Americans were against borrowing, especially from French—Noah Webster
· Others supported “judicious neology”—Thomas Jefferson
· In the nineteenth century there was a movement to use ancient “Saxon” terms instead of Latinate equivalents—William Morris
· No concerted effort then or now to keepout foreign terms
What about spelling reform?
· Since the late EME period, interest has focused on consistency rather than reform
· Since the nineteenth century on, great emphasis has been placed on “correct” spelling—social and educational cue
· Spelling is now a regular and separate part of the grade-school curriculum
· Isaac Pitman and A.J. Ellis formulate 38-character Phonotype alphabet of 1870
· 1876—National Union of Elementary teachers urge commission on spelling reform
· 1879—The British Spelling Reform Association organized
· “Anglic” becomes New Spelling of 1941
· “Regularized Inglish”—both this and N.S. differed only slightly from standard
· George Bernard Shaw left a behest to fund a 40-character alphabet
· These groups were concerned with making learning to read easier for children and foreigners
· In early America spelling refom was associated with nationalism—Benjamin Franklin
· Noah Webster best known American reformer, reached middle ground in his 1828 dictionary
· 1876 Francis Marsh and American Spelling Reform Association
· 1906 Simplified Spelling Board—Carnegie and T. Roosevelt
What about dictionaries?
· The OED—Coleridge, Furnivall, Murray, Bradley, Craigie, and Onions; ¾ of a century for the first edition, six editors, Murray edited nearly half, and dedicated his life to the project
· What was the process for compiling the OED?
· Why is it considered so authoritative?
· As exhaustive as it is, why can it never be considered completely comprehensive?
Dr. Fee's Introduction to Middle English
English 209: Introduction to Middle English
Middle English period: mid-eleventh to early-sixteenth centuries
Three suddivisions:
· Sudden decline of English after Norman Conquest (1066-1204) English in decline:
1. Politically and linguistically NC=French conquest of England/ethnically, NC=last great Germanic invasion/migration
2. William was descendant of Rollo the Dane who was granted Normandy in 911 by Charles the Simple to end viking raids/ “Norman”=“northman”
3. Norman French was heavily Germanic, which becomes important in the reemergence of English
4. Within 10 years William subdued all of England; AS nobility mostly dead or displaced; he was accepted as a stern but just ruler who brought stability
5. Norman French take over all important state and church offices: French becomes the language of the ruling classes, government, etc.
6. William brought feudalism: the English farmers were now serfs, tied to the land, and couldn’t move; dialects dicerged rapidly, with no written forms or dominant dialect to act as brake
7. French-speaking court, French-speaking kings who took French-speaking wives, French literature
8. French language of few thousand rulers; bulk of population (with no prestige or power) spoke English, Norse in Danelaw, Latin in Church and Unis, Celtic on fringes
9. A good deal of bilingualism must have prevailed: many nobility took English wives, etc. Many loanwords from this period (tax, estate, trouble, duty, pay—interaction with landlords; table, boil, serve, roast, wine—interaction with masters; religion, savior, pray, trinity—interaction with clerics)
· Gradual reemergence of English as the national language (1204-1348) English in the ascendant:
1. 1204 John loses all of Normandy save Channel Islands; lords had to choose English or French possessions
2. France becomes less of object of interest, often object of scorn or resenment
3. Anglo-French considered uncouth—Parisian French=prestige dialect
4. Henry III brings unpopular French bureaucrats in mid 1200s
5. More mixing and social rising of English speakers smoothed over dialectical differences
6. By 1200 and 1300s, English is native language of nobility; they learn French as 2nd language
7. By late 1300s, English normal language of schools
8. French books for learning the language and rules for the use of French in some contexts suggest its decline
· Rise of a standard form of the language superimposed upon the many English dialects (1348-1509) English triumphs:
1. 1348 Black Death kills 1/3 of English population
2. 1337-1453 Hundred Years War; loss of French possessions, of need to know French, +animosity
3. 1362 English becomes official language of law
4. Acceptance of English as official language was not a policy decision, but a recognition of fact
5. Rise of London English as prestige dialect and model for standard written form; did not supplant dialects, but existed in concert; it is the basis of the prestige dialects today throughout the world
6. London was commercial, literary, and political capital—the ascendancy of this dialect was a natural progression, not a decision; printing industry set up in London seals this fate
7. 1509 Henry VIII takes throne, end of Middle English period
Middle English period: mid-eleventh to early-sixteenth centuries
Three suddivisions:
· Sudden decline of English after Norman Conquest (1066-1204) English in decline:
1. Politically and linguistically NC=French conquest of England/ethnically, NC=last great Germanic invasion/migration
2. William was descendant of Rollo the Dane who was granted Normandy in 911 by Charles the Simple to end viking raids/ “Norman”=“northman”
3. Norman French was heavily Germanic, which becomes important in the reemergence of English
4. Within 10 years William subdued all of England; AS nobility mostly dead or displaced; he was accepted as a stern but just ruler who brought stability
5. Norman French take over all important state and church offices: French becomes the language of the ruling classes, government, etc.
6. William brought feudalism: the English farmers were now serfs, tied to the land, and couldn’t move; dialects dicerged rapidly, with no written forms or dominant dialect to act as brake
7. French-speaking court, French-speaking kings who took French-speaking wives, French literature
8. French language of few thousand rulers; bulk of population (with no prestige or power) spoke English, Norse in Danelaw, Latin in Church and Unis, Celtic on fringes
9. A good deal of bilingualism must have prevailed: many nobility took English wives, etc. Many loanwords from this period (tax, estate, trouble, duty, pay—interaction with landlords; table, boil, serve, roast, wine—interaction with masters; religion, savior, pray, trinity—interaction with clerics)
· Gradual reemergence of English as the national language (1204-1348) English in the ascendant:
1. 1204 John loses all of Normandy save Channel Islands; lords had to choose English or French possessions
2. France becomes less of object of interest, often object of scorn or resenment
3. Anglo-French considered uncouth—Parisian French=prestige dialect
4. Henry III brings unpopular French bureaucrats in mid 1200s
5. More mixing and social rising of English speakers smoothed over dialectical differences
6. By 1200 and 1300s, English is native language of nobility; they learn French as 2nd language
7. By late 1300s, English normal language of schools
8. French books for learning the language and rules for the use of French in some contexts suggest its decline
· Rise of a standard form of the language superimposed upon the many English dialects (1348-1509) English triumphs:
1. 1348 Black Death kills 1/3 of English population
2. 1337-1453 Hundred Years War; loss of French possessions, of need to know French, +animosity
3. 1362 English becomes official language of law
4. Acceptance of English as official language was not a policy decision, but a recognition of fact
5. Rise of London English as prestige dialect and model for standard written form; did not supplant dialects, but existed in concert; it is the basis of the prestige dialects today throughout the world
6. London was commercial, literary, and political capital—the ascendancy of this dialect was a natural progression, not a decision; printing industry set up in London seals this fate
7. 1509 Henry VIII takes throne, end of Middle English period
Dr. Fee's Introduction to Indo-European
English 209: Introduction to Indo-European
· What do we mean by “language family”? Languages which display significant evidence of having descended from a common ancestor; problems with this definition,but we’ll use it with the caveat that a biological model is an imperfect analogy for language
· Define stammbaum theory (family tree)
· Define wellentheorie (waves of innovation; concentric ripples model)
· What is another major model for classifying languages into categories (besides the genetic “family” model)?
· One based on morpheme or word formation (three divisions):
· Inflectional languages (inseperable inflections are fused with lexical stems to carry grammatical information) [Greek,Latin]
· Agglutinative languages (grammatical morphemes are combined with lexical stems; these affixes are discrete, relatively unchanged fromword to word,and strung onto the stem one after the other) [Swahili, Turkish]
· Isolating languages (every morpheme forms a separate word; individual particles are used to convey grammatical information) [Chinese, Vietnamese]
· How useful is this system for our study of the history English? (Limited: we’re studying the “life history” of English, and so are interested in genetic relationships; English is a mixed language, according to this system)
· How do we decide that two languages are related to each other by a common origin?
· Patterned, consistent relationships between the two
· Concentrate on basic, essential words; these are less likely to be borrowed from other languages
· Define native word
· Define loanword
· Define dialect
· How many major language families are there in the world? (100-several hundred)
· How many distinct languages within these families? (several thousand)
· What were some major theories, dates, and people associated with the development of historical linguistics in Europe?
· Medieval/Renaissance: Adamic theory of language (Hebrew)
· First Grammarian of Iceland (12th century; Icelandic and English)
· Dante (14th century; Greek,Latin, Germanic subfamilies, descent of Romance languages from Latin, origin of dialects in single source language)
· Scaliger (late 16th century; refuted Adamic language; divided European languages into 11 “mother tongues”)
· Leibniz (17th century; Hebrew/Arabic, Finnish/Hungarian relationships)
· ***Sir William Jones (1786; reaffirms relationship between Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Germanic,Celtic; postulates all of them derived from a lost Indo-European parent language)***
· How early are the earliest written records of any IE tongue? (ca. 1500 BC)
· Are there any records left from the original IE tongue?
· Then how are we able to reconstruct it? (Extrapolation backwards)
· When was the IE language spoken? (ca. 5000-3000 BC)
· What do we know about the lives of the IE peoples?
· Original home was inland, relatively cool, probable eastern Europe/western Asia
· Late Stone Age, perhaps seminomadic
· Domesticated animals, some agriculture
· Religious
· How could we possibly gather all of this information about people the language of whom is entirely lost?
· Surviving IE tongues share a number of telling words
· List some of these words
· Words for cold, winter, honey, wolf, snow, beech, pine
· Not conclusive evidence (people often use an existing word for a new phenomenon—Robin, etc.--, once common words may be lost—sky, etc.--,, but a large sample of common roots tend to substantiate these assumptions
· When did the IE parent group begin to split up? (Migrations began ca. 3000 BC)
· Who went first? Who was last? (Hittites/Germanic amongst last)
· What are the recognized subdivisions of IE? (10, some extinct):
· Indo-Iranian
· Tocharian
· Armenian
· Anatolian
· Balto-Slavic
· Hellenic
· Albanian
· Celtic
· Italic
· Germanic
· Define satem/centum (roughly east/west: “100” in Avestan and Latin,respectively)
· What do we mean by “language family”? Languages which display significant evidence of having descended from a common ancestor; problems with this definition,but we’ll use it with the caveat that a biological model is an imperfect analogy for language
· Define stammbaum theory (family tree)
· Define wellentheorie (waves of innovation; concentric ripples model)
· What is another major model for classifying languages into categories (besides the genetic “family” model)?
· One based on morpheme or word formation (three divisions):
· Inflectional languages (inseperable inflections are fused with lexical stems to carry grammatical information) [Greek,Latin]
· Agglutinative languages (grammatical morphemes are combined with lexical stems; these affixes are discrete, relatively unchanged fromword to word,and strung onto the stem one after the other) [Swahili, Turkish]
· Isolating languages (every morpheme forms a separate word; individual particles are used to convey grammatical information) [Chinese, Vietnamese]
· How useful is this system for our study of the history English? (Limited: we’re studying the “life history” of English, and so are interested in genetic relationships; English is a mixed language, according to this system)
· How do we decide that two languages are related to each other by a common origin?
· Patterned, consistent relationships between the two
· Concentrate on basic, essential words; these are less likely to be borrowed from other languages
· Define native word
· Define loanword
· Define dialect
· How many major language families are there in the world? (100-several hundred)
· How many distinct languages within these families? (several thousand)
· What were some major theories, dates, and people associated with the development of historical linguistics in Europe?
· Medieval/Renaissance: Adamic theory of language (Hebrew)
· First Grammarian of Iceland (12th century; Icelandic and English)
· Dante (14th century; Greek,Latin, Germanic subfamilies, descent of Romance languages from Latin, origin of dialects in single source language)
· Scaliger (late 16th century; refuted Adamic language; divided European languages into 11 “mother tongues”)
· Leibniz (17th century; Hebrew/Arabic, Finnish/Hungarian relationships)
· ***Sir William Jones (1786; reaffirms relationship between Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Germanic,Celtic; postulates all of them derived from a lost Indo-European parent language)***
· How early are the earliest written records of any IE tongue? (ca. 1500 BC)
· Are there any records left from the original IE tongue?
· Then how are we able to reconstruct it? (Extrapolation backwards)
· When was the IE language spoken? (ca. 5000-3000 BC)
· What do we know about the lives of the IE peoples?
· Original home was inland, relatively cool, probable eastern Europe/western Asia
· Late Stone Age, perhaps seminomadic
· Domesticated animals, some agriculture
· Religious
· How could we possibly gather all of this information about people the language of whom is entirely lost?
· Surviving IE tongues share a number of telling words
· List some of these words
· Words for cold, winter, honey, wolf, snow, beech, pine
· Not conclusive evidence (people often use an existing word for a new phenomenon—Robin, etc.--, once common words may be lost—sky, etc.--,, but a large sample of common roots tend to substantiate these assumptions
· When did the IE parent group begin to split up? (Migrations began ca. 3000 BC)
· Who went first? Who was last? (Hittites/Germanic amongst last)
· What are the recognized subdivisions of IE? (10, some extinct):
· Indo-Iranian
· Tocharian
· Armenian
· Anatolian
· Balto-Slavic
· Hellenic
· Albanian
· Celtic
· Italic
· Germanic
· Define satem/centum (roughly east/west: “100” in Avestan and Latin,respectively)
Dr. Fee's Introduction to Germanic
English 209: Introduction to Germanic
· Define prosody (rhythmic alterations of strong/weak accented syllables, differences in stress or pitch, or both; CIE=accent based on pitch differences/Germanic=strong stress accent based on loudness rather than pitch)
· What do we mean by Germanic “fixed stress”? (Stress accent on initial syllable, unless weak prefix, then on following syllable)
· Grimm’s law:
· IE voiceless stops > Gmc voiceless fricatives
· IE voiced stops > Gmc voiceless stops
· IE voiced aspirated stops > Gmc voiced stops
· Verner’ law: worked on the series of unvoiced fricatives which were the output of Grimm’s law, but ONLY when the immediately preceding vowel did not carry principle stress, and NOT on initial consonants
· Define “First Consonant Shift” (G+V)
· Define Ablaut (changes in the vowels of roots indicates tense, number, part of speech, etc.; sing, sang, sung/song; location of stress example: catastrophe vs. catastophic)
· Nouns: number, case, gender
· Stong and weak adjectives
· Three persons in pronouns
· Verbs: aspect (tense), voice, mood
· Define prosody (rhythmic alterations of strong/weak accented syllables, differences in stress or pitch, or both; CIE=accent based on pitch differences/Germanic=strong stress accent based on loudness rather than pitch)
· What do we mean by Germanic “fixed stress”? (Stress accent on initial syllable, unless weak prefix, then on following syllable)
· Grimm’s law:
· IE voiceless stops > Gmc voiceless fricatives
· IE voiced stops > Gmc voiceless stops
· IE voiced aspirated stops > Gmc voiced stops
· Verner’ law: worked on the series of unvoiced fricatives which were the output of Grimm’s law, but ONLY when the immediately preceding vowel did not carry principle stress, and NOT on initial consonants
· Define “First Consonant Shift” (G+V)
· Define Ablaut (changes in the vowels of roots indicates tense, number, part of speech, etc.; sing, sang, sung/song; location of stress example: catastrophe vs. catastophic)
· Nouns: number, case, gender
· Stong and weak adjectives
· Three persons in pronouns
· Verbs: aspect (tense), voice, mood
Dr. Fee's Introduction to Early Modern English
English 209: Introduction to Early Modern English
What are the most significant cultural, political, and technological influences on the English language during the Early Modern English period?
· Printing
· The Renaissance
· The Reformation
· Nationalism
· The Enclosures
· Exploration and Colonization
· The Industrial Revolution
· The American Revolution
When did printing come to England, and who brought it?
· 1476
· Caxton
What were the major impacts of printing upon the language?
· Began to freeze spelling (just in time for the GVS!)
· Books became much cheaper; literacy became desirable and attainable for the masses
· As a result of this, the demand for books in English rose, and many loanwords from Latin and Greek came into the language through translations of classical texts
· End of patronage; and author could earn a living from publishing
· Printing center was London; the London dialect becomes dominant
How did the Renaissance impact the language?
· Revival of interest in the Classics led to translations into English, and therefore many loanwords and Classical compositional styles to be emulated
How did the Reformation impact the language?
· Protestants believed that every Christian should read the Bible for him/herself; translations of the Bible into vernacular were very influential: KJV 1611
· Broke the Catholic monopoly on education, and English replaced Latin as the primary language of instruction
How did the rise of nationalism impact the language?
· In England, nationalism was closely allied with Protestantism; the move away from Latin to English reflects that to a certain extent
· Nationhood is traditionally related to literature; as a national literature devlops, the perception of and pride in that language grows concurrently
How did the enclosures impact the language?
· Forced urbanization; meltingpots level dialectical differences
· Urbanization also fosters upward mobility of middle class; these are insecure language users who want rulebooks to instruct them, and help them rise still further; these rulebooks tend to be aurthoritative, and these rules calcify over time
How did the age of exploration and colonization impact the language?
· 1000s of new loanwords from non-IE languages
· Spread of English and eventual international importance
How did the Industrial Revolution impact the language?
· Intensive urbanization: dialects continue to level, continued rise of middle class
· Growth of massive technical vocabulary based upon Latin and Greek roots
· Temporarily decreased literacy levels because of child labor
How did the American Revolution impact the language?
· First (of many to come) new national English
Latin was still an important literary language in England during the EME period; Newton, Milton, and Bacon all wrote volumes in Latin. French was the prestige vernacular. What were three arguments against the development of English as a learned/literary language?
· English insular, isolated, and only spoken on a tiny island
· English constantly changing, and so future generations would find such literature inaccessible
· English lacked the necessary vocabulary to express the complex concepts of the Renaissance
Why might EME be termed “The Age of Linguistic Anxiety”?
· Flood of new ideas and complex intellectual constructions during Renaissance
· English vocabulary was not sufficient to cope with these elegantly and economically
· Debates about “purity” of the language, and when, how much, and from where to borrow
What was significant about the flood of loanwords during the EME period?
· Most were from Latin and NOT another vernacular
· The sheer numbers—much greater than ever before
· For the first time this borrowing was conscious, often by specifc individuals with a deliberate desire to improve the language
What are “inkhorn terms”?
· Pretentious, excessive and unintelligible neologisms
· Ususally from Classical roots, and often unintellible
· Inkhorn=writer
· Pistated for “baked”; homogalact for “foster brother”
What are the most significant cultural, political, and technological influences on the English language during the Early Modern English period?
· Printing
· The Renaissance
· The Reformation
· Nationalism
· The Enclosures
· Exploration and Colonization
· The Industrial Revolution
· The American Revolution
When did printing come to England, and who brought it?
· 1476
· Caxton
What were the major impacts of printing upon the language?
· Began to freeze spelling (just in time for the GVS!)
· Books became much cheaper; literacy became desirable and attainable for the masses
· As a result of this, the demand for books in English rose, and many loanwords from Latin and Greek came into the language through translations of classical texts
· End of patronage; and author could earn a living from publishing
· Printing center was London; the London dialect becomes dominant
How did the Renaissance impact the language?
· Revival of interest in the Classics led to translations into English, and therefore many loanwords and Classical compositional styles to be emulated
How did the Reformation impact the language?
· Protestants believed that every Christian should read the Bible for him/herself; translations of the Bible into vernacular were very influential: KJV 1611
· Broke the Catholic monopoly on education, and English replaced Latin as the primary language of instruction
How did the rise of nationalism impact the language?
· In England, nationalism was closely allied with Protestantism; the move away from Latin to English reflects that to a certain extent
· Nationhood is traditionally related to literature; as a national literature devlops, the perception of and pride in that language grows concurrently
How did the enclosures impact the language?
· Forced urbanization; meltingpots level dialectical differences
· Urbanization also fosters upward mobility of middle class; these are insecure language users who want rulebooks to instruct them, and help them rise still further; these rulebooks tend to be aurthoritative, and these rules calcify over time
How did the age of exploration and colonization impact the language?
· 1000s of new loanwords from non-IE languages
· Spread of English and eventual international importance
How did the Industrial Revolution impact the language?
· Intensive urbanization: dialects continue to level, continued rise of middle class
· Growth of massive technical vocabulary based upon Latin and Greek roots
· Temporarily decreased literacy levels because of child labor
How did the American Revolution impact the language?
· First (of many to come) new national English
Latin was still an important literary language in England during the EME period; Newton, Milton, and Bacon all wrote volumes in Latin. French was the prestige vernacular. What were three arguments against the development of English as a learned/literary language?
· English insular, isolated, and only spoken on a tiny island
· English constantly changing, and so future generations would find such literature inaccessible
· English lacked the necessary vocabulary to express the complex concepts of the Renaissance
Why might EME be termed “The Age of Linguistic Anxiety”?
· Flood of new ideas and complex intellectual constructions during Renaissance
· English vocabulary was not sufficient to cope with these elegantly and economically
· Debates about “purity” of the language, and when, how much, and from where to borrow
What was significant about the flood of loanwords during the EME period?
· Most were from Latin and NOT another vernacular
· The sheer numbers—much greater than ever before
· For the first time this borrowing was conscious, often by specifc individuals with a deliberate desire to improve the language
What are “inkhorn terms”?
· Pretentious, excessive and unintelligible neologisms
· Ususally from Classical roots, and often unintellible
· Inkhorn=writer
· Pistated for “baked”; homogalact for “foster brother”
Dr. Fee's Fruitful Thoughts to Engage You
English 209: History of the English Language
Initial Discussion Topics:
By beginning our examination of the history of English by asking a few questions about its value, we may illuminate some of the larger issues which will occupy our attention this term:
Who would be interested in the history of English?
1) Those with an interest in studying English literature, especially literature before 1800 or post-colonial Anglophone literature.
2) Those with an interest in teaching English language or literature at any level.
3) Those with an interest in Northern European history, English history, North American history, the history of European colonization, the history of particular ethnic or cultural groups affected by European colonization, or the relationship between social history and linguistic change.
4) Those with an interest in linguistics, especially comparative linguistics or socio-linguistics.
5) Those with an interest in German, Dutch, or the Scandinavian languages and literatures.
6) Those with an interest in the Classical languages and their relationship to the Modern languages.
7) Those with an interest in the Romance languages and their relationship to English.
What sorts of things will we study in this course?
1) The nature of language as a dynamic, constantly changing human activity, and the reasons for and consequences of our constant attempts to halt this change.
2) The development of Present Day English from its earliest (pre-historical) ancestors--Indo-European and Proto-Germanic--through the historical changes of the Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English periods, and across the wide and vibrant spectrum of American, British, and post-colonial Present Day English.
3) The relationship between language and culture, and between cultural change and linguistic change.
4) The relationship between spoken and written English.
5) Fact and fiction concerning such concepts as “dialect”, “accent”, “pronunciation”, and “grammar”.
6) The relationship of a “pidgin” to a “creole”, and what both have to tell us about linguistic development, the history of trade, and the legacy of colonialism.
7) The relationship between factors such as region, class, and background, and various spoken varieties of Present Day English.
8) The relationship between language and national, cultural, and ethnic identity.
What about practical benefits?
1) You will leave this course with skills designed to allow you to analyze language in a descriptive (rather than prescriptive) manner.
2) You will gain from this course an understanding of language as a dynamic and fluid, rather than static and monolithic, aspect of culture, and you will develop an appreciation of language as an integral part of culture, and language change as necessarily linked to cultural change.
3) Learning about the historical development of English will provide you with a much deeper knowledge of the way English is structured; this knowledge will be based upon a realization of why the language came to be structured the way it is, and how it came to be structured in that way. Many seemingly arbitrary and illogical facets of the language will begin to make sense to you, and you therefore will gain greater confidence and ability in the use and appreciation of Present Day English (and especially Standard Written English) through your understanding of the historical and cultural context of the language.
4) In this course you will learn a great deal about the relationship between English and other languages, and between various dialects and linguistic groups. It is my hope that such insight will foster a greater appreciation and respect for cultural diversity and autonomy--over time and geographical area, and across ethnic and socio-economic groups-- as such diversity and autonomy is reflected in language. Diversity in language (and specifically in English) is not, by any means, new.
5) You will gain a greater awareness of patterns of historical change in English; these patterns form the “big picture”, a context within which current concerns about “the state of the language”, linguistic change, and diversity in the language begin to make sense.
6) Finally, it is my hope that this course will instill in you an interest in further study of the English language, its history and literature, while also providing you with the tools necessary to proceed with such further study on your own.
Initial Discussion Topics:
By beginning our examination of the history of English by asking a few questions about its value, we may illuminate some of the larger issues which will occupy our attention this term:
Who would be interested in the history of English?
1) Those with an interest in studying English literature, especially literature before 1800 or post-colonial Anglophone literature.
2) Those with an interest in teaching English language or literature at any level.
3) Those with an interest in Northern European history, English history, North American history, the history of European colonization, the history of particular ethnic or cultural groups affected by European colonization, or the relationship between social history and linguistic change.
4) Those with an interest in linguistics, especially comparative linguistics or socio-linguistics.
5) Those with an interest in German, Dutch, or the Scandinavian languages and literatures.
6) Those with an interest in the Classical languages and their relationship to the Modern languages.
7) Those with an interest in the Romance languages and their relationship to English.
What sorts of things will we study in this course?
1) The nature of language as a dynamic, constantly changing human activity, and the reasons for and consequences of our constant attempts to halt this change.
2) The development of Present Day English from its earliest (pre-historical) ancestors--Indo-European and Proto-Germanic--through the historical changes of the Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English periods, and across the wide and vibrant spectrum of American, British, and post-colonial Present Day English.
3) The relationship between language and culture, and between cultural change and linguistic change.
4) The relationship between spoken and written English.
5) Fact and fiction concerning such concepts as “dialect”, “accent”, “pronunciation”, and “grammar”.
6) The relationship of a “pidgin” to a “creole”, and what both have to tell us about linguistic development, the history of trade, and the legacy of colonialism.
7) The relationship between factors such as region, class, and background, and various spoken varieties of Present Day English.
8) The relationship between language and national, cultural, and ethnic identity.
What about practical benefits?
1) You will leave this course with skills designed to allow you to analyze language in a descriptive (rather than prescriptive) manner.
2) You will gain from this course an understanding of language as a dynamic and fluid, rather than static and monolithic, aspect of culture, and you will develop an appreciation of language as an integral part of culture, and language change as necessarily linked to cultural change.
3) Learning about the historical development of English will provide you with a much deeper knowledge of the way English is structured; this knowledge will be based upon a realization of why the language came to be structured the way it is, and how it came to be structured in that way. Many seemingly arbitrary and illogical facets of the language will begin to make sense to you, and you therefore will gain greater confidence and ability in the use and appreciation of Present Day English (and especially Standard Written English) through your understanding of the historical and cultural context of the language.
4) In this course you will learn a great deal about the relationship between English and other languages, and between various dialects and linguistic groups. It is my hope that such insight will foster a greater appreciation and respect for cultural diversity and autonomy--over time and geographical area, and across ethnic and socio-economic groups-- as such diversity and autonomy is reflected in language. Diversity in language (and specifically in English) is not, by any means, new.
5) You will gain a greater awareness of patterns of historical change in English; these patterns form the “big picture”, a context within which current concerns about “the state of the language”, linguistic change, and diversity in the language begin to make sense.
6) Finally, it is my hope that this course will instill in you an interest in further study of the English language, its history and literature, while also providing you with the tools necessary to proceed with such further study on your own.
Tips from Dr. Fee
Background Discussion of Terminology
What do I mean when I say that English (and all other languages) is systematic?
· Series of interrelated systems
· These systems are governed by rules
· Languages are highly structured (recurring patterns and rules which impose these patterns)
· Native speakers learn these rules and patterns (seemingly) intuitively; the exceptions are harder
What does an asterisk before a word, phrase, or linguistic form mean?
· Ungrammatical (or)
· Hypothetical
What are the interrelated systems which every language includes?
· Phonology
· Morphology
· Syntax
· Lexicon
· Semantics
· *Graphics* (in those languages which have a written system
Someone please define:
· Phonology: the sounds of a language/the study of these sounds
· Phonetics: the study of speech sounds independent of any system
· Phonemics: the study of the sounds of a given language as they significantly differ from one another
· Phonemes: the members of a phonemic system
· Morphology: study of the relationships between smallest meaningful units in any language
· Morphemes: these minimum units (base words, affixes: prefixes and suffixes)
· Free vs. Bound Morphemes: independent word or not
· Inflectional vs. Derivational Affixes (grammatical (-s; -ed) vs. meaning or pos (un-; trans-; -ness)
· Syntax: arrangement/word order
· Lexicon: list of all morphemes in a language (includes independent words, bound morphemes, etc.
· Semantics: study of meanings expressed by a language
· Denotation: root meaning
· Connotation: all possible associations related to a word
We’ve talked about how it is the nature of language to change, and we will discuss this concept in greater depth next time. In the meantime, what are some examples of Semantic change?
· Generalization vs. Narrowing
· Amelioration vs. Pejoration
· Strengthening vs. Weakening
· Abstraction vs. Concretization
· Denotative shift
· Connotative shift
What do I mean when I say that all languages are:
· Conventional
· Arbitrary
· Redundant
There were some hypothetical examples of individual “events” in the history of the changing nature of English. What were they?
· Him vs. Hine
· City
· Stillare
Even if we could reconstruct the history of the language in this way, we might lose the forest for the trees; what are we looking for instead?
· Changes in overall patterns or rules which are adopted by a significant portion of speakers of a language
What surprising information did the text offer about the development of metaphors across various languages?
· Same metaphors over and over
What might this suggest to you about the connection between culture and language, and between various cultures? What is common?
What examples were offered?
· The foot of the bed
· Lighthearted
· “Doublets”: formal Latin vs. colloquial Native English (a pattern we will notice from OE through PDE)
What do I mean when I say that English (and all other languages) is systematic?
· Series of interrelated systems
· These systems are governed by rules
· Languages are highly structured (recurring patterns and rules which impose these patterns)
· Native speakers learn these rules and patterns (seemingly) intuitively; the exceptions are harder
What does an asterisk before a word, phrase, or linguistic form mean?
· Ungrammatical (or)
· Hypothetical
What are the interrelated systems which every language includes?
· Phonology
· Morphology
· Syntax
· Lexicon
· Semantics
· *Graphics* (in those languages which have a written system
Someone please define:
· Phonology: the sounds of a language/the study of these sounds
· Phonetics: the study of speech sounds independent of any system
· Phonemics: the study of the sounds of a given language as they significantly differ from one another
· Phonemes: the members of a phonemic system
· Morphology: study of the relationships between smallest meaningful units in any language
· Morphemes: these minimum units (base words, affixes: prefixes and suffixes)
· Free vs. Bound Morphemes: independent word or not
· Inflectional vs. Derivational Affixes (grammatical (-s; -ed) vs. meaning or pos (un-; trans-; -ness)
· Syntax: arrangement/word order
· Lexicon: list of all morphemes in a language (includes independent words, bound morphemes, etc.
· Semantics: study of meanings expressed by a language
· Denotation: root meaning
· Connotation: all possible associations related to a word
We’ve talked about how it is the nature of language to change, and we will discuss this concept in greater depth next time. In the meantime, what are some examples of Semantic change?
· Generalization vs. Narrowing
· Amelioration vs. Pejoration
· Strengthening vs. Weakening
· Abstraction vs. Concretization
· Denotative shift
· Connotative shift
What do I mean when I say that all languages are:
· Conventional
· Arbitrary
· Redundant
There were some hypothetical examples of individual “events” in the history of the changing nature of English. What were they?
· Him vs. Hine
· City
· Stillare
Even if we could reconstruct the history of the language in this way, we might lose the forest for the trees; what are we looking for instead?
· Changes in overall patterns or rules which are adopted by a significant portion of speakers of a language
What surprising information did the text offer about the development of metaphors across various languages?
· Same metaphors over and over
What might this suggest to you about the connection between culture and language, and between various cultures? What is common?
What examples were offered?
· The foot of the bed
· Lighthearted
· “Doublets”: formal Latin vs. colloquial Native English (a pattern we will notice from OE through PDE)
Welcome!
I hope this dreary day in Gettysburg finds you warm and cozy with a great book - maybe Lynne Truss' Eats, Shoots, and Leaves???? :)
Seriously, I look forward to your creative interpretations of Lynne's work when I view your scrapblogs later this month!
Don't forget:
By 5.29.08 - Create a blog and give all classmates, Professor Fee, and Professor Stebick access to your blog. Include a welcome statement and your expectations/personal goals for this course.
By 6.13.08 - Create scrapblog - highlighting what you learned and reflected upon during/after reading Lynne Trusse’s text “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves.” Share your scrapblog URL with all members of class.
By 6.20.08 Share peer feedback via blog pages regarding one another’s scrapblogs.
By 6.6.08 Share reflective thoughts from Chapters 1-4 of Millward’s text on your blog. Read and respond to peers’ comments by 6.13.08.
By 7.3.08 Share reflective thoughts from Chapters 5-7 of Millward’s text on your blog. Read and respond to peers’ comments by 7.10.08.
By 7.18.08 Share reflective thoughts from Chapters 8-9 of Millward’s text on your blog. Read and respond to peers’ comments by 7.25.08.
Seriously, I look forward to your creative interpretations of Lynne's work when I view your scrapblogs later this month!
Don't forget:
By 5.29.08 - Create a blog and give all classmates, Professor Fee, and Professor Stebick access to your blog. Include a welcome statement and your expectations/personal goals for this course.
By 6.13.08 - Create scrapblog - highlighting what you learned and reflected upon during/after reading Lynne Trusse’s text “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves.” Share your scrapblog URL with all members of class.
By 6.20.08 Share peer feedback via blog pages regarding one another’s scrapblogs.
By 6.6.08 Share reflective thoughts from Chapters 1-4 of Millward’s text on your blog. Read and respond to peers’ comments by 6.13.08.
By 7.3.08 Share reflective thoughts from Chapters 5-7 of Millward’s text on your blog. Read and respond to peers’ comments by 7.10.08.
By 7.18.08 Share reflective thoughts from Chapters 8-9 of Millward’s text on your blog. Read and respond to peers’ comments by 7.25.08.
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