EARLY MODERN ENGLISH FROM 16TH CENTURY TOWARDS A STANDARD

• By the 17^th century most of the major changes took place = gradual
• Standards are not real, they are abstractions.

· cultural nationalism: the most imporant thing is the language

· identity: somewhere to belong

• 1250: most English people feel English [not much to do with Norman --> probably an illusion]

Þ Victorian period made the English feel different. There had been a
certain amount of stability.

v Henry VIII [ r. 1509-1547] establishment of church of England incorporation of Wales [cut ties with catholic europe]

Ø Great Bible: Emphatic on English [different from Rome]

- Elizabeth 1^st [ r. 1558-1603]

- Defeat of the Armada 1588. National pride including the English language.

Relationship between language and politics: is it possible to divorce language from politics? It’s not. Language IS politics because of history, economy...there’s no concensus. In many countries, language is a political decision.

Ex: scots/scottish English? Is scottish intelligible? It is different than anything.

** English became the standard through national pride. And nationalism accentuates the differences --> language.

v RENAISSANCE: classical influence --> loanwords. English style is affected, attempts to improve English [ needs polishing]

Ø Beginning of colonial expansion:

Bermuda, Jamaica, Bahaman, Honduras, Canada, American colonies Plymouth --> from Plymouth England to Plymouth USA [1620], India, Gambia, Gold Coast, Australia, New Zeland.

Ø Words from non-indo-european languages

Ø Spread of English around the world.

v James I [VI of Scotland] r. 1603-1625, patron of King James Bible 1661 [ never authorized, just a name]

Ø Translating comittees in Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster

Ø Called the Authorized Version but never specifically approved to replace other bibles.

Ø The Book of Common Prayer [1559] significant part of standarization.

“A proclamation for the authorizing and uniformity of the Book of Common Prayer so to be used throughout the Realm”

v 17^th century scholarly writing still mostly in Latin. Newton Bacon [writing in English wasn’t serious].

Ø Some in favour of borrowing from Latin and Greek to enrich English

Ø Monosyllabic anglosaxon

Ø Many new loanwords. Greek and Latin technical vocab. Further borrowing from French [comrade, duel] also Spanish [armada,bravado], Italian [cupola, piazza]

Ø Sir Thomas Elyot [spelling reform (new words coming in)]

Ø Shakespeare’s character Holofernes in Loves Labor lost is a satire of a schoolmaster who is too keen on Latin terms.

v Critics of classical borrowings called them INKHORN termns= used to criticize those who used latin words. Seen as superfluous.

Thomas Wilson, Roger Aschan, Sir John Cheke (translate New Testament using only English words).

Ø Reviving of Older English words; Edmund Spenser [1552-1599]

Ø Compounding of English technical vocabulary: endsay (conclusion), saywhat (definition), drymock(irony)

Þ Sarcasm: lowest form of wit.

v SPELLING REFORM

§ John Cheke (1569) proposed removing silent letters. EX: fire

§ Sir Thomas (1568) elimination of c and q, reintroduce vowel length marked with diacritics. (more anglosaxon).

§ John Hart (1569-70) eliminate y w l

§ William Bullokar (1580) diacritics and new symbols

§ Public spelling standarized by mid 1700’s influenced by printers, scribes of chaucery

Þ Chaucery scribes: influential. They wrote king’s letters. Caxton worried about it since he was bussiness man.

Important for internal and external use of English--> make English a phonetic language--> describing the language.

v ENGLISH ACADEMY MOVEMENT ( 17^th-18^th c.)

§ To regulate excesses of Renaissance [Shakespeare: if a word didn’t exist he’d make it up; changed verbs into nouns& viceversa]

§ Based on Académie Française (1635)

§ Proponents: Scientist & philosophers

§ Robert Hooke (1660), curator of experiments of Royal Society [wanted to regularize the writing]
Daniel Defoe (1697); Joseph Addison (1711); Johnathan Swift (1712)

Þ Political battle between wigs & tory’s

v Middle class use English as scholarly language during 18^th c.

§ Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of English Language 1755 (by himself, it was idiosyncratic)

40,000 entries, illustrative quotations, model of OED.

v ACT OF UNION (1707) England and Scotland united to form GREAT BRIT

§ George I (1714-1727) Hanover dynasty could not speak Ensglish.

§ George II (1727-1760) born in Germany. Never learnt how to speak English properly

** Invited to be kings. Not catholics.