Language change and the development of American English

Language is the system of communication through which humans send messages. Scholars theorize that the earliest language came into existence 80,000 years ago when humans used hand signals to communicate while hunting to avoid scaring off the hunted animal. These scholars also believe that the use of gestures evolved into a form of vocalization with sounds symbolizing specific gestures.

It is unknown how humans invented words, but educated guesses can be made as to the reasons they did. These reasons include identifying people in their groups, naming objects, such as animals and plants, expressing the ideas of time, and communicating needs such as "I am hungry."

Humans gradually built a storehouse of language symbols that represented objects and actions in the outside world. As civilization progressed, language changed to reflect new knowledge and a more complex society. Language continued to change throughout time for a variety of reasons.

How a language evolves can be traced in the development of the English language and what came to be the American language. An early dialect of English was brought to England at the beginning of the 5th century by wandering Germanic tribes called Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. The language of that period, now called Anglo-Saxon or Old English, became the basis of the English language. Hundreds of common words still in use today have their roots in Anglo-Saxon. Examples include man, wife, child, house, good, strong, full, bones, big, king, and queen. Later when Scandinavian tribes conquered England, they contributed words like husband, call, gate, egg, and many other common words. When Christianity was brought to England, many church-related Latin words were added to Anglo-Saxon, such as candle, shrine, priest, monk, angel, and sabbath. Latin also added such everyday words as cap, cook, school, and circle. Later classic literary works of the Romans and Greeks contributed such words a bonus, logic, pedestrian, and diagram.

Although the Scandinavian and Latin influences on the English language were great, the most significant foreign influence on English came from French after the French-Norman occupation of England in 1066. In the years that followed, thousand of French words were added to the English language. While English dominated as the language of the common people, the language of the ruling upper class was French.

Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the newly added words reflected the superior position of the upper class: government, tax, judge, prison, soldier, battle, and guard are just a few. Others are luxury, gown, jewel, diamond, chair, leisure, dance, music, marriage, medicine, and physician.

The foreign influences on English, particularly the influence of French, are responsible for the richness of synonymous words in English. Smell and stench, for example, were supplemented by French words like aroma, odor, scent, perfume, and fragrance. Still more synonyms come from Latin, and their tone is often more "bookish" than those of English and French. In the following sets of words, the first is English, the second French, and the third Latin: ask/question/interrogate, /ast/firm/secure, fear/terror/trepidation, and time/age/epoch.

The French-Norman conquest not only led to the addition of thousands of new words to the English language, but it also influenced existing English words. An example of the French influence on English can be seen in the spelling and pronunciation changes of the Anglo-Saxon word house. The Old English word was spelled hus and pronounced [hoos]; the French changed the spelling to hous. In the Middle English period, the spelling became house, possibly to reflect the pronunciation of the final ‘ e’ at that time [housa]. Today the word is spelled with a final ‘ e’ even though that letter is no longer pronounced.

The fact that English spelling is not always in harmony with English pronunciation can be partially explained by describing language changes. Historically, the sounds within some words have changed, but the spelling of these words has not. For example, in Chaucer's time (late 14th century), the word name would have been pronounced [nama]. In Shakespeare's time (1564-1616), seam was pronunced [sam] and did not rhyme with dream, as it does now. The ‘k’ in knife was pronounced, as were the ‘g’ in gnaw and ‘gh’ in night. Another reason for the inconsistency between the spelling and pronunciation of English is related to the invention of the printing press in England around 1476. The printed forms of the word tended to be standardized, while the pronunciation varied and continued to change.

Language change also helps account for irregular forms in English, such as some plurals, like children and mice, and past tense verb forms, like bought and went. The past tense of many common verbs of Old English was indicated by vowel change, such as sing/sang, drive/drove, and get/got, rather than by adding the standard past tense suffix -ed as in walk/walked. Many of these verbs have retained their old forms to this day. We now consider them "irregular" verbs.

American English had its beginning when Great Britain colonized America in the 17th century. Although 90 percent of the population were descendants of British colonists, settlers from other countries made the nation a multilingual society much like it is today.

As the new nation grew and the pioneers settled their new land, the American language developed. Many words were borrowed from the languages of the native Indians to describe natural objects that had no counterparts in England. Examples included the names of animals: raccoon, opossum, and moose. In addition to the Indian words, words were adopted from other languages, such as pretzel, spook, depot, and canyon from German, Dutch, French, and Spanish, respectively. Early American settlers made up words that were added to the language, such as lengthy, calculate, seaboard, bookstore, and presidential. Thomas Jefferson, the drafter of the Declaration of Independence, invented the word belittle, and in his time the words cent and dollar were added to American English.

Over time, differences in pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar developed between British and American English. A spirit of independence that followed the American Revolution was accompanied by the desire to form a language that was separate from British English. As a result, Americans such as Benjamin Franklin and Noah Webster made it a personal crusade to reform the American English spelling system. Thus, we now have spelling differences such as color for the British colour, wagon for waggon, defense for defence, honor for honour, theater for theatre, and tire for tyre.

As a champion of American English, Webster attempted to standardize the pronunciation and spelling of American English by writing the first American dictionary. Until then there had been a tendency to spell words as they were spoken, such as "sartinly" (certainly) and "byled" (boiled), and to spell them differently in different regions. Webster's influence helped overcome the inconsistencies of spelling and pronunciation in America.

As English changes, dictionaries reflect the changes. Not only do words change in meaning, but new words are constantly added to a language. The enormous growth of English is reflected in the 315,000 entries in the 1988 edition of Random House Dictionary, 50,000 more than in the 1966 edition. Most new words today come from science and technology. Words that deal with computers such as printout, software, input, and high-tech have been added. American business and advertising have influenced the vocabulary, especially with brand names (like Coca-Cola and Kleenex, which have become generic terms for cola and tissue). Politics has made an impact on the language: the suffix -gate, which came from Watergate in the Nixon era, has become associated with political scandal. Even the language of adolescents has influenced dictionary entries. Old words like punk, cool, and boss, for example, have been given new meanings.

Modern English is still expanding by borrowing words from other languages. Americans run marathons, learn algebra, sleep in pajamas, live in patio homes, and eat in sushi bars or at smorgasbord buffets. Just as English has borrowed many words from other languages, many English words have been borrowed by other countries.

French now has le drugstore, le weekend, and le playboy. Germans wear die Jeans and listen to die soundtrack. In Hong Kong, dancers visit a dixie-go. The Japanese have formed new words like man-shon (condominium), mai-kaa, and mai-town.

English has become a global language, used in communications, in technical and scientific journals, and in technology. In fact, nearly 80 percent of the information stored in the world's computers is in English. English, the official language of the Olympics, is used internationally in sports, in beauty contests, in transportation (airlines and ships), and in religious and secular broadcasting.

As the United States continues its tradition of being a society of mixed cultures, American English will continue to change as the world around us changes.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16