Activities of Chapter 3: Wars of words, the roles of language in eighteenth-century Britain. (Language in History: Theory and Texts by Tony Crowley, ed Routledge page 54-98)*
1. What does "elocution" mean? What are elocution lessons? Do they exist in Spanish? (page 54) (Oxford Advanced Learner's Compass)
Elocution is the correct use of language according to the rules of society. Hence elocution lessons consist of the correct use of spelling, grammar and pronunciation of a language.
2. What do "polyglossia" and "monoglossia" mean? (page 55)
Polyglossia is when from one language like Latin many other languages appear with some differences until they end up as independent, vernacular languages. Each of those vernacular languages became a case of monoglossia acquiring and defining their own characteristics like for example the differences between French, English and Spanish.
3. What kind of English does Puttenham recommend? (page 55)
G. Puttenham recommended to use the English of London, especially the one used by the court.
4. What does "copious" mean? Look up pronunciation. (page 56, paragraph 2) (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
Copious, \kō-pē-əs\, means full of something. In the case of language it means that it is exuberant of words, expression or style.
5. What does "trope" mean? (page 57, para. 2) (Oxford Advanced Learner's Compass)
Trope is the use of language in order to give subjective meaning to a word or phrase. Cases of trope would be metaphors and similes.
6. Why does Crowley call the standardization process a war? (page 57)
Using this metaphor Crowley explains how in the 18th century Britain there was not only political conflicts (colonies, war with France) but also an emergence of a middle class that wanted to fit in society. Therefore, English was used as a nationalistic element of representation and as a vehicle to participate in different social classes.
7. What does "encomium" mean? (page 58, para. 2) (Oxford Advanced Learner's Compass)
Encomium refers to a speech or a piece of writing that causes a positive impression in people.
8. Who wrote the "Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue" (1712)? (page 59)
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745).
9. Do Johnson and Swift agree that the English language has degenerated? (page 60)
Johnson in his Preface to the Dictionary and Swift in his Proposal agree that a reform must be done as soon as possible to avoid more degeneration of the language as an effect mainly because of the civil war. Only by elaborating a standard English people will be able to communicate to each other effectively.
10. Swift proposed an academy. Who else? (page 61)
Dryden, Defoe, Addison, Wilson and George Harris.
11. Why were the Whigs (See Whigs and Tories in Wikipaedia) against an academy? (page 61, bottom of page)
The Whigs didn't support to create an academy because it was linked by French origins and with the catholic figure of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)
12. What does Sheridan mean by "the genius of our people"? (page 62, para. 4)
Thomas Sheridan (1719-1788) explains that the English people are independent and individualistic. An academy will be seen as an absolutist institution which will be rejected due to the current war with France.
13. What reason does Swift give for the "decay of Latin" (page 63, bottom)
Latin became obsolete when an heteroglossia emerged as a consequence of an independence of the different countries of the empire like Spain, Germany and Gaul along with the external invasion of Goths and Vandals.
14. What does "suffer" in line 2 of page 66 mean?
T. Sheridan claimed that within time the English used by authors like Shakespeare or Milton will disappear due to the continuous transformations of language. Therefore, historians will have a hard time trying to discover what these authors said.
15. Who was the first person, involved in German cultural nationalism, to make the link between language and nation? (page 67 para. 2)
Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803).
16. What was Sheridan's solution to the problem of divergence in pronunciation? (page 69, bottom)
T. Sheridan proposed that the clergy should speak standard English so that everyone who goes to church learn their pronunciation and spread it throughout England.
17. How did several authors describe other European languages? Do you agree with this kind of classification? (page 71)
These authors made stereotypes of each language according to the personal view of each respective country (for example French being delicate and Dutch manlike). However, each language has got good and bad things so their conclusion of English being the best language would be the same conclusion that anybody else would have of their own language.
18. In which novel did Daniel Defoe capture the "colonial fantasy"? (page 72, top)
Robinson Crusoe.
19. Locke thought that learning Latin was not necessary for which group of people? (page 77 -also 75)
Locke claimed that the mercantile class didn't need Latin because with their own language it was enough for their business.
20. How did learning to speak English using standard English empower people? (page 78)
According to Withers, if you had a correct use of English you would have more opportunities to enter in important business of the high social class.
21. What kind of English is deemed to be "proper" English? (page 80, bottom-page 81, top)
At the beginning it was considered as proper English the one used in London and in the court but with time this distinction became of a social class rather than a geographical one. Proper English was being used in many parts of England by the middle class or bourgeois.
22. How was the inculcation of linguistic patterns carried out with middle-class children? (page 84, bottom, page 85, top)
Middle class children were taught the same as nowadays with a reward or punishment. In their case, as comment by Fenning, children were given pennies or sheets of good paper if they knew how to spell right.
23. What was the purpose of training women linguistically in the 18th century according to Crowley? (page 90, middle)
Women had to know the standard so that they could be a good example to their children's education. Also the women who spoke a standard English were better consider by society.
24. Why did Locke warn against children talking to servants? (page 93, top)
Children could imitate the servant's dialect without knowing that it would ruin their standard English and hence their position in society.
25. What was the difference between the mistakes made by the working classes and those made by the gentry according to Sheridan? (page 96, bottom)
Working class made structural mistakes in grammar and spelling while the gentry only did occasional mistakes in pronunciation.
*Activities corrected in class 26/5/09.
Academic year 2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
Barry Pennock Speck
© Carolina Cody Aldaz
cacodyal@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de Valčncia Press