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LATE MODERN ENGLISH

LATE MODERN ENGLISH. 1700 - PRESENT. LANGUAGE IS THE MIRROR OF THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN CIVILISATION. Late Modern English ( ± 1700-1900) English in the 20 th and 21st c . = Contemporary English ( = Present Day English )

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LATE MODERN ENGLISH

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  1. LATE MODERN ENGLISH 1700 - PRESENT

  2. LANGUAGE IS THE MIRROR OF THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN CIVILISATION • Late Modern English (±1700-1900) • Englishin the 20th and 21st c. = Contemporary English ( = Present Day English) • Numerous factors in the development of the English language in the 18th&19th c.: • The technological advances = faster travels • People start visiting different parts of Britain more often >> the dialects blended

  3. LME – GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS • The division between BrE and AmE • US dictionaries provide deliberately distinct spellingnorms to make the US variety more distinguishable • Many new words fromthe British colonies: new concepts, inventions customs and scientific discoveries. • The LMEgrammaticalfeatures = 2 types: • 1) EME syntacticchanges continue: ‘do’ in questions and negatives >> standard; the rules for the use of wh- • relatives: who, whom, whose, which >> standardized and more stable • 2) totally new 18th-c. aspects: ‘be + -ing’ construction inboth Present Continuous tense and in passives. • 2 schools of grammar: • 1) Grammarsonly describe the language as actually used >> DESCRIPTIVISM • 2)Grammarsintroduce rules to be obeyed in the ‘correct’ English >> PRESCRIPTIVISM • Received Pronunciation (RP) - the standard of pronunciation aimed at by all the contemporary EFL learners • RP = a standard for thenobility &theupper-classes in GBfromthen on. • the LME RP phoneme <r> was pronounced in all positions • EME loanwords - the Englishmen oppose the influx of French words!!! • the major sources of lexis << Latin and Greek = 2/3 LME loanword have either Latin or Greek etymology.

  4. LME MAJOR EVENTS #1 1642-60 – THE BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION #2 1689 – WILLIAM OF ORANGE >> the King of England • Thebeginning: the Augustain Age (after the reign Augustus (63 BC - AD 14, a period of peace and imperial grandeur) + the end of the Restoration (1660-1690) • Theend: the mid-18th c. • the death of the poets Alexander Pope (1688-1744) & Jonathan Swift (1670-1745). • J. Swift = ‘ascertaining’ and ‘fixing’ English to prevent it from future change (Wo)men writeEnglishgrammars: Bishop Robert Lowth (1710-1787) – his grammaris published in 1762. - 18th c. grammarians >> the codification of English >> an 18th-19th c. prescriptive standard. • Prescriptivewriters >> condemnation of ‘incorrect’ usage >> pronouncing dictionaries and rhetorical grammars >> Thomas Sheridan and John Walker.

  5. LME GENERAL TENDENCIES – THE AGE OF REASON #1 THE FINAL REMOVAL OF FEUDAL BURDENS #2 PROFOUND CHANGES IN ENGLAND’S CULTURAL LIFE • Esteem for rules & regularity • Discipliningthe media of artistic, literary, and linguisticexpression • Strict form & classicalmodelsinvogue • Languagestructure to be regularised on thebasis of logical standard • Latingrammars = models for Englishgrammar = simplicity & fluency • Standardisation, fixing, & refinement of English - strengthened

  6. PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR – ORDER & REGULARITY The 1760’s – a risinginterestinEnglishgrammar; Latingrammarsareidealmodels to follow • 3 aims of prescriptivists: #1 languagecodification by reducingit to rules #2 elimination of cases of dividedusage #3 errorindication & removalfromEnglish Prescriptivegrammarians’ maingoalis to prescribe & proscribe Arbitrarydecisionsdepend on reason, etymology, & classicalexamples Someeminentprescriptivists: Robert Lowth -1762 – ShortIntroduction to EnglishGrammar Noah Webster – 1784 – A GrammaticalInstitute of theEnglishLanguage Lindley Murray – 1795 – EnglishGrammar

  7. SOME PRESCRIPTIVE RULES #1 no prepositionsattheend #2 between = 2 people; among = more #3 no double negative #4 no splitinfinitive

  8. LME VOCABULARY • The main difference between EME & LME = vocabulary • LME = many more words • 2 principal factors: >> 1) the Industrial Revolution and technology >> a need for new words >> 2) the British Empire at its height =1/4 of the earth's surface >>>> English adopts foreign words from many countries.

  9. VARIETIES OF ENGLISH • Varieties of English • C. 1600 - the English colonization of North America >> the creation of a distinct American variety of English. • Some English pronunciations and words freeze • American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. • Some "Americanisms“ << original British expressions preserved in the colonies, whiletemporarily lostin Britain: trash= rubbish, loan= lend, fall = autumn, frame-up >> re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster films • Spanish(the American West) also has an influence on American English >> British English: canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante • West African words (slave trade) • American English is particularly influentialtoday = the USA's dominance in cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology (+ the Internet). • Many other varieties of English around the world: Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.

  10. THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH • Spread of the British Empire - worldwide colonies with legacies following. 2. Use of English in Science & Technology - the Computer and IT technologyin the last 2 /3 decades. 3. TheUSA’s global influence • Hollywood • music industry with different genre of music. 4. Spread of English-speaking diaspora from the former colonies >> (India!) - contribution in many fields & in many parts of the world.

  11. THE EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 18th c. – furtherexpansion North America – south-/westwardexpansion 1790 – EnglishextendsfromFlorida’sborder (thesouth) to theMississippi (the West) 1803 – Louisiana(beyond theMississippi) 1713 – Canada >> Nova Scotia 1759 – theBattle of Quebec • Manitoba & Ontario: settlersfromthepresent-day USA India – 1600 – the West India Company • trade & settlementin Madras, Calcutta & Bombay (1639 - 1686) 1761 – India becomes a British colony • thespread of Englishresultsfromthenewpolitical and militarysituation • Englishlanguageeducation 19th c. – Englishisthewell-establishedofficial & educationallanguagein India

  12. THE FURTHER SPREAD OF ENGLISH 1819 - Florida 1846 – theUS-Canadianborder on the 49th parallel 1846-48 – theAmerican-Mexican War: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Utah, parts of Colorado 1849 – theGoldRushin California 1815-1875 – theEnglish-speakingpopulationsgrowsconsiderablyin Canada (Winnipeg) 1769-77 – Australia & New Zealand • 1851 - theGoldRushin Australia 1795 – Cape Town 1899-1902 – theBoer War 19th c. – British expeditionsinto West & East Africa • Thethe 18th-19th c. expansionslaidfundations for thepresent global role of English 1819 1846-48 1815-1875 1769-77 1795 1899-1902

  13. THE PLANTING OF ENGLISH • Contactswithotherlanguages: #1 the Indian languages: bungalow, nirvana, polo #2 the American Indian languages: moccasin, squash, moose #3 theAfricanlanguages >> Dutch & Portuguese: chimpanzee, voodoo, zebra #5 Aborigine: boomerang, kangaroo, wombat

  14. THEDEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH – POLITICAL, SOCIAL, SCIENTIFIC & CULTURAL FACTORS • SOCIAL & EDUCATIONAL REFORMS • Largermassesparticipateintheperiod’seconomic & culturalachievements

  15. THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH • Standard Englishgraduallylosingitsmonopolyinvariouswalks of life • Influx of substandardformsintothe standard SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: the quantum theory, chainreaction, sputnik TRANSPORTATION: horsepower, lorry, starter POLITICS , IDEOLOGY & REVOLUTIONS: abolitionist, civil service, iron curtain CINEMA: scenario, close-up, fade out JOURNALISM: egghead, pacifist, hop theAtlantic WWII: blackout, blitz, taskforce BRITISH & AMERICAN SLANG: fag, giglamps, lift one’selbow; plastered, dame, jane

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