MODERN ENGLISH1500-Present

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH (1500-1800)

Great Vowel Shift 15th-18th century Sound change affecting long vowels

Boats becomes boots Fate becomes feet Weep becomes wipe

Different pronunciation in different part of mouth Generational changes

MODERN ENGLISH INFLUENCES

1) British colonialism 2) Renaissance 3) Economic and technical development (the industrial

revolution and the development of modern science)

BRITISH COLONIALISM

The spread of English beyond UK English settlements in North America in the 17th and 18th centuries

By the early 19th century, Britain had firm control of a number of islands in the Caribbean: Antigua, Barbados, Jamaica, St Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago

British domination of the Indian subcontinent dates from the second half of the 18th century Economic interest in trading ports

In the late 18th century Britain began settlements in Australia In the 19th century, the British took control over South Africa from the

Dutch They also controlled Singapore, New Zealand and Hong Kong

A CLASS DIFFERENCE

The merchant class, who settled British territories didn’t belong to the aristocracy which spoke standard London dialect New England was settled largely by speakers of the

East Anglican dialect Social struggles between the two dialect groups

were an instrumental cause for the American revolution and may have contributed to the radical shift in the pronunciation of English in modern times

PRINTING AND STANDARDIZATION

A powerful force for standardization was the introduction of printing 1476 William Caxton established England’s first printing

press at Westminster Abbey Several publications Copies of Bible

By the middle of the sixteenth century, although there was still no standard system, there were quite a number of widely accepted conventions

THE RENAISSANCE (14TH-17TH CENTURY) Explosion in culture and

literature Greek and Latin influence During the peak, from

1580 to 1660, a flood of Latin loan words were borrowed into English

We owe the b in our modern spelling of debt and doubt to Renaissance etymologizing, for the earlier spellings were dette and doute

The b was inserted through the influence of Latin debitum and dubitare

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (18TH CENTURY)

By about 1700 Great Vowel Shift changes completed

Third person forms like loveth disappeared from ordinary speech

The pronouns thou and thee disappeared from standard usage

The language differed only slightly from present day English

Rapid technological changes

Addition of new vocabulary Train Engine Electricity Telegraph

EARLY MODERN ENGLISHSHAKESPEARE 1564-1616 Writers took language where

they wanted “You” was used by lower

class to talk to upper class “Thou” and “Thee” used by

lower class to one another and higher class to lower class and in addressing God and supernatural beings

Similar to Spanish tu vs. Ud.

WORDS SHAKESPEARE INVENTED

Invented about 1,700 words Accommodation Amazement Apostrophe Courtships Dwindle Generous Hurry Radiance “All that glitters isn’t gold” “The course of true love never did run smooth”

LATE MODERN ENGLISH (1800-PRESENT)

Proposal for Academy of English Language Standardization of grammar rules and

conventions Radio broadcasting – lessens differences in

social accents WWI and WWII

SPELLING

In Middle English and early Modern English, there had been no standard spelling

Spellings varied from writer to writer Even proper names were not fixed Shakespeare in the three signatures on his will

used two spellings of his own surname 1775 Samuel Johnson publicizes dictionary

AMERICAN ENGLISH

After the American Revolution, contact between two countries severed

Americans make a conscious effort to de-Anglicize English

We still understand each other, but there are noticeable differencesExamples?

MAIN DIALECTS IN THE U.S.

Western: Idaho, California, Oregon, Utah Northern: New England, New York, New Jersey Midland: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin Southern: Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!GENDERLECTS

Theory that type or style of speech pertains to gender Women talk vs. men talk? Descriptions

Women: Lavender, adorable, lovely, precious Men: Purple, cool, chill