Establishment of the literary norm

As we have said, in New English there emerged one nation and one national language. But the English literary norm was formed only at the end of the 17* century, when there appeared the first scientific English dictionaries and the first scientific English grammar. In the 17* and 18* centuries there appeared a great number of grammar books whose authors tried to stabilize the use of the language. Thus Samuel Johnson, the author of the famous Dictionary (1755), wrote that he preferred the use of"regular and solemn" pronunciation to the "cursory and

colloquial." Many famous writers also greatly contributed to the formation of English, and among them, first and foremost, thegreat Shakespeare.Early New English (15* — beginning of the 18* century) —the establishment of the literary norm. The language that was used in England at that time is reflected in the famous translation of the Bible called the King James Bible (published in 16И).Although the language of the Bible is Early Modern English, the authors tried to use a more solemn and grand style and more archaic expressions.A great influence was also connected with the magazine published by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele called The Spectator (1711—1714), the authors of which discussed various questions of the language, including its syntax and the use of words.Late New English — since the 18 century.If the gradual acceptance of a virtually uniform dialect by all

writers is the most important event in the emergence of Modern English, it must be recognised that this had already gone a considerable way before 1500, and it was undoubtedly helped by Caxton's introduction of printing in 1477. The fact that the London dialect was used by him in his translations and prefaces,and that Chaucer's works were among the books he published,led to its rapid diffusion throughout the country. But the adoption

of a standard of spoken English was a slower process. It was not until Elizabeth's time that the language of the court came to be generally recognised as the best form of spoken English; and as ate as the 18*, and even the early 19* century country gentlemen in their occasional visits to polite society in London were no

ashamed to use dialect.Nevertheless, despite the persistence of wide varieties in pronunciation, the basic phonetic changes that distinguish Modern English from Middle English are profound, though they are not reflected in a similar modification of spelling. The early printers, whose practice was to prove of decisive importance for

the future, derived their spelling from the Middle English scribes(a fact that largely accounts for the difficulty of English spelling today). The most important of these changes was that affecting the sound of vowels and diphthongs, with the result that the"continental values" of Middle English were finally replaced by an approximation to modern pronunciation. Lesser changes also occurred in the pronunciation of consonants, though some these have since been restored by conscious, and often mistaken,attempts to adapt pronunciation more closely to the received spelling.1.3. Geographical expansion of English in the 17th—20^th centuries and its effect on the language.Up to the 17l century the English language was spoken by the people who lived only on the British Isles (at the time of William the Conqueror there were about 2 million people), but even there in the far-away mountainous parts of the country the people preserved their own Celtic dialects very long into the New English period. Thus in Cornwall the local dialect, Cornish died out in the 18th century. In Wales there arose a tendency to revive the local Celtic language. In 1893 the Welsh University was founded, and in 1961 the number of those speaking Welsh amounted to 650 thousand. In Ireland through centuries a struggle against English was fought. It reached its climax in 1916 with the Irish rebellion. In 1922 the Irish free state was formed and in

1949 the new state — Eire — left the Commonwealth of Nations.Now Eire occupies the whole but the Northern part of Ireland,which is a part of Britain. The number of people rose from 300 thousand to over 600 thousand, but the majority speak English.The penetration of the English language to other parts of the globe mainly began in the 16 century together with the expansion of British colonialism. The 16' century was an age of great adventurers, and England's progress in the discovery and colonising field was tremendous. The first Virginian colony was

founded; Drake circumnavigated the globe; the East India Company was established and English seamen left their mark in many parts of the world. In 1620 the famous ship The Mayflower reached North America in the region which is now the state of Massachusetts. This marked the beginning of English in the New World.

The 18 century witnessed the coming of English to India, where nowadays the language is widely spread, although its sphere is limited to large cities and a certain social layer, and in today's India English is a state language together with the native languages of Hindi and Urdu.,th In the 18 ' century England conquered Canada. During the19ft century the colonisation of Australia took place. In the 20 century English penetrated into South Africa.

11.New English. Inner history. Phonetics. Grammar. Vocabulary.2. Inner history

The speed of the development of the language was lesser than in Middle English. The language developed quickly at the beginning of the period and slowly — at the end (with the exception of the word-stock which develops equally quickly during the whole period). When the literary norm was formed, it, being always very conservative, prevented the change of the language, that is why the speed of the development slowed down.

Phonetics The system of stress In native words the stress is fixed and falls on the first root syllable (as in Old English and Middle English). Some of the borrowed words were not fully assimilated phonetically, that

is why the stress falls on another syllable, those fully assimilated have the stress on the first root syllable, like in native words.Native English words are short — they have one or two syllables, that is why it is a norm, a rhythmic tendency of the language to have one stressed syllable and one unstressed one =»in borrowed words there developed a system of two stresses.Sometimes the stress is used to differentiate the words formed from the same root by the process called conversion (to pro'duce— 'produce).2.1.2. Consonants a) A new [3] was introduced in borrowed words. Otherwise the changes were not so great as in Middle English.b) Vocalisation of consonants (some consonants in some positions were vocalised — they disappeared, influencing the preceding vowel).Ex.: [r] disappeared at the end of the words and before consonants changing the quantity of the vowel immediately preceding it: Middle EnglishNew English for[for][fo:] form[form][fo:m]2.1.3. Vowels a) In the unstressed position the vowels that were levelled in Middle English generally disappeared at the end of the words.

Some of them were preserved for phonetic reasons only, where the pronunciation without a vowel was impossible.Compare, for example, the plural forms of nouns:Old EnglishMiddle EnglishNew English -as-es[z] dogs [s] cats[iz] dresses b) All Middle English long vowels underwent the Great Vowel'Shift (in early New English, 15th—18th century). They became more narrow and more front. Some of them remained monophthongs, others developed into diphthongs.Middle EnglishNew English he [he:][hi:]e: => i:name[na:me][neim]a: => ei

GrammarIn New English it did not change fundamentally. The main changes are the strengthening of analytical features of the language: a) In many more cases empty grammatical words are used

(form-words);b) Analytical forms of the Middle English are preserved, and in addition to them in New English non-finite analytical forms appear (in Middle English only finite forms could be analytical);c) A fixed word-order is established. Word-stockThe vocabulary is changing quickly. Many new words are formed to express new notions, which are numerous.Ways of enriching the vocabulary:1. inner means (conversion: hand => to hand);

2, outer means. The sources here are numberless, as the English have not only direct, but also indirect (through books,later — TV, radio, films) contacts with all the world.In the beginning of the Early New English (15 th —16 th century) — the epoch of the Renaissance — there are many borrowings from Greek, Italian, Latin.

The ,17th century is the period of Restoration =>.borrowings come to the English language from French (a considerable number of these words being brought by Charles II and his court). In the 17th century the English appear in America =>borrowings from the Indians' languages are registered.In the 18"1 century the English appear in India => borrowings from this source come to the English language (but these words

are not very frequent, for they denote some particular reality of India, ex.: curry). In the 19* century the English colonisers appear in Australia and New Zealand => new borrowings follow (kangaroo). At the end of the 19th—beginning of the 20th century the English appear in Africa, coming to the regions formerly colonised by the Dutch => borrowings from Afrikaans and Dutch appear. Old English and Middle English Russian borrowings are scarce — the contacts between the countries and their peoples were difficult. In New English there are more borrowings: sable (very dark), astrakhan, mammoth; in the 20lh century — soviet, kolkhoz, perestroika, etc.

12.Old English Phonetics. Origin of Old English vowel phonemes. Changes in Old English vowel phonemes. Breaking. Palatal mutation. Effect of palatal mutation upon grammar and word-stock.

1. Origin of Old English.vowel phonemes.All Old English vowel phonemes can be traced back to Common

Germanic vowel phonemes. Old English monophthongs are, as a rule,a further development of some Common Germanic monophthongs.

For example:

Old English from Common Germanic

[i] bindan (bind) [i] bindan

[o] coren (chosen) [u] cusans, etc.

Some Old English monophthongs developed from Common

Germanic diphthongs:

Old English from Common Germanic

[a] [ai]

ras (wrote) rais

Old English long diphthongs are a result of some further development of Common Germanic diphthongs, though in the course of history the quality of the diphthong may have undergone a change:

Old English from Common Germanic (Gothic)

ceosan (choose) kiusan

ceas (chose) kaus

Old English short diphthongs originated from monophthongs:

Old English from Common Germanic

eald (old) *ald

heorte (heart) *herte

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 2217