Just like any other language, English is changing – it borrows or creates new words and changes the meaning, spelling or pronunciation of old ones. These mostly occur in order to satisfy our society 's ever-changing needs, but some people label them as abnormal, impure or even damaging factors to the language while conveniently disregarding the fact that English as we know it is the result of centuries of cumulative variations and that picking a modern standard of perfect English is nothing short of arbitrariness that arose from their desire to keep rigid linguistic standards. Not only do we lack the grounds to label this type of change as bad, but by looking at the history of the language and by comparing their nature with the processes of …show more content…
However, what we are witnessing in recent years and the reason some people start opposing change is the emergence of the most powerful tool of linguistic contact we have ever seen: the Internet. Serving as an open market for ideas, new types of entertainment and creating new requirements for the language to fulfill, the Internet determined new words and forms to appear at an amazingly high rate – the FBI actually built a 3,000-word glossary of Internet slang, most of it, albeit, obsolete3. When seeing such a number, it seems reasonable to argue that introducing so many new words in the English language in such a short time span generates confusion and loss of mutual intelligibility. Furthermore, upon examining these words, we run into egregious abbreviations that are nothing short of pointless, such as BFFLTDDUP (best friends for life until death do us part). However, most of those words disappear after a short while and they rarely make it outside the Internet4. Those that make it simply managed to pass the scrutiny of large numbers of native speakers and thus they are eligible to be labeled as an improvement to the language in one way or another. Therefore, neither the volume nor the nature of …show more content…
Some, such as Norman Tebbit5 go even further and say that relaxing the standards is disrespectful to English and it can even corrupt people into dropping other standards, such as morals or hygiene. Besides the egregious slippery slope argument, they clearly confuse treating English respectfully with regarding it as a crumbling castle6 that must be protected and maintained as close to its original form as possible. This simply diminishes its ability to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing requirements of human society – new concepts, such as a computer or new means of communication, such as SMS or VoIP will keep appearing in society and English must have an elevated degree of freedom to be able to adapt, For instance, if in the future, self-driving cars become common, we are very likely to desire a shorter way to refer to it, such as autocar(recycling an old word), SDC (abbreviation) or even simply car (at a point where cars driven by humans become obsolete). There might be ways to work around those limitations, but that would require reshaping those new elements to fit the old patterns – we should let those elements develop freely and the language adapt when needed, not the other way
Kistner, A. L. and M. K. Kistner. “The Five Structures of ‘The Changeling’.” Modern Language Studies 11.2 (1981): 40-53. Accessed March 29, 2014.
Since it’s been a predominant topic of our discussion, let us talk about the infamous English language. We can be sure that it has painstakingly progressed throughout generations of reevaluation and modernization, and has thus become what it is today. It has gone in several directions to try and mesh with the various epochs of language, from the Shakespearean era to the common English slang we use now, we can all agree that English is a language that has been transcending and will continue to transcend into many
“Your Ability to Can Even: A Defense of Internet Linguistics” by Tia Baheri, is a great read. The article focuses on the new language that has been created among Internet users and how some critics think it is a negative impact on the English language and how others, such as Baheri herself, think that there is nothing wrong with the change what so ever. After reading the article, I agree with Tia Baheri, I also think that language is as she states, “Supposed to flex and shape itself to convey what we mean to say as directly and efficiently as possible”. Yes, some who do not spend a lot of time on the Internet may not understand some of the newly used phrases but for others it is the best way to express themselves.
The constant changing of technology and social norms makes difficult for different generations to understand one another and fully relate to each other. Diction and slang change as years pass and what is socially acceptable may have been prohibited in the previous generations.
how the English language has changed in the many years from then until now. The
In Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language, Johnson argues the importance of preserving language. Other dialects had a produced their own dictionaries, such as the French and Italians. Various writers of the eighteenth century were alarmed at the fact that there was no standard for the English language, since there was no standard it could easily become extinct. Johnson explored many points, such as how and why languages change as well as how many words are formed.
Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has permeated and become an integral part of our everyday lives. In fact, a life without technology seems almost impossible to imagine. Almost everyone, around the globe, has access to technology in one form or another. Consequently this type of technology has become ingrained into our culture. Its roots are so deep that it is now peculiar to see someone without a smartphone than with one. Consequently, smartphones and the Internet have radically changed the manner in which we communicate and how we communicate with one another. Our speech has metamorphosed so much from that of our grandparents that it almost seems like a foreign language due to the incorporation of slang and “text talk.” With the sudden surge of email, blogs, and instant messaging that occurred within the last couple of decades, the impact that technology has on our linguistics has become more pronounced. Technology has helped to bridge the gap between people by allowing us to communicate as easily as we breathe. On this note, one would think that the dawn of the Era of Technology would give birth to a renaissance of the English language but, instead, the converse is taking place. With such widespread prevalence of technology such as smartphones and computers, the degradation of the English language is a problem now more than ever.
Bibliography GRADDOL, D., LEITH, D., and SWANN, J., (eds) (1996) English: history, diversity and change, Routledge in association with The Open University (course book) University College of London Phonetics department website (www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/queen2.htm) entered on 23/3/03
The duration of Early Modern English took place during the English Renaissance, and hence the amazing evolutions that occurred within it (Myers 166). After the Renaissance came the Age of Reason, and it is during this time that the language becomes recognizable to today (Smith 9). The most common example of Early Modern English is the fact that Shakespeare wrote in it, and it poses the most similarities to Modern day; the language moved from a synthetic one to a more analytical one, and relied less on inflectional endings and more with word order to convey information (Durkin 1). Early Modern English is the premise for the ever-evolving language that millions speak
Contrary to what the early detractors of the American English language used to say, American English is not an offensive offshoot of real English, but has over the centuries made its own mark in the world of language and communication, and is also poised at this juncture in human history to actually slowly become the main dialect of English the world over due to the America-centric communication and technological advances made over the past few decades. It is hoped that this essay has given but a glimpse of not only what American English has become, but what it can yet become should America remain a social, cultural, and technological leader in years to come.
The settlement of the British Isles by north Europeans followed by Norman French paints the backdrop to this essay which will focus on the period between the early 15th and 17th centuries, when a 'standard' English evolved. It will show that modern-day English is very different to that first introduced to the British Isles, but by identifying changes through time, its continuity can be demonstrated. Finally, it will suggest that present day English is in a position analogous to that which existed before the Norman invasion, when there were many varieties and dialects, and that this may lead to its decline as a global language, due to decreasing intelligibility.
In the last twenty-five years, advancements in technology combined with the unbridled growth of social media, has dramatically altered not only the methods used to communicate but the linguistics as well. The meteoric rise in the use of new media sources have resulted in the creation of a type of shorthand English. With today’s social media, abbreviations such as LOL, OMG, BRB, and ROFL are easily recognizable by its followers yet remain a mystery to those not connected. The preference of the younger generation for social media such as texting, Twitter, and Facebook over face–to-face communication has not only had an effect on communication skills, but has also led to a further disconnect with the adult population. Twenty years ago, when a family went out to dinner it was considered family time; an opportunity for all the family members to get caught up with what was going on in each other’s life. Today, watching that same family outing, one is much more likely to see each of them sitting at the same table, looking down at a smart phone texting, and very little if any co...
It is interesting to see the way that the English languge has grown and changed.
It is one of the main languages in the world and it is the international language these days. English language is the language that faced many changes that affects in several things. For example, some changes occur in writing system, phonological system and other changes during many centuries. English language is about four stages: Old English, Middle English, Modern English, and Early Modern English. In each era, there is an affection of other tribe’s languages on English language. As an example, Germanic tribes who moved into Britain and have an impact on Old English language are (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes). In the same way, the effects of the tribes lead to have many changes in vowel system, which calls the Great Vowel Shift .In this paper, I will discuss the Great Vowel Shift and the the process of that huge change.
Baugh, A.C., & Cable, T. (2001). A history of the English language (5th ed.). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.