Sunday, June 24, 2012

What is that change in language that took place during the British colonial era? At the British colonial era, the British mix with their colonies....

I am not permitted to provide you with answers to all of
your questions. Each specific question must be posted separately. However, I can give
you an overview of how the English language changed between the late 1400s through the
1700s, which appears to encompass most of the British colonial
period.


To start, English—until the arrival of the Norman
French with the invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066—was mainly made up of
Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and language brought by the Jutes. With this early invasion, the
language in the British Isles was a melting pot. When William arrived, the language of
the noblemen was French, and the language of the common man was English. Over several
hundred years, the two languages merged. English remained dominant in a sense because
the working classes were those in charge of building this new nation William and his
followers had created. However, it is at this point that a great deal of French became a
permanent part of the English language as a whole (i.e.,
rendezvous).


At the end of the medieval period, with an
emerging middle class (sheep farming allowed peasants to leave the feudal manors and
make money), more people could afford to be taught to read. This type of English had
become what we would refer to today as Middle English, having developed from Old
English. However, we would not be able to understand either version
today.


Between 1500-1800, there was something happening
with the language that is now referred to as the Great Vowel Shift. Words were changing
in that the pronunciation became shorter and shorter.  As your question originally
alluded to, during expanded British colonization, words were now entering the common
usage of the English language from countries England had "brought
into the British Empire."


With the advent of the printing
press, more printed materials were produced, which over time became more affordable to
the growing middle class. It also meant that a standard form of English was being put
into print which slowed the constant "morphing" of the language. More people were able
to read now than ever before. Even grammar and spelling solidified, and in 1604, the
first dictionary was published.


Language has changed since
then, but it happens more gradually. The Industrial Revolution (beginning in England
before arriving in America almost 100 years later), for instance, introduced new words
into English. Even today, with the advent of the Internet and new forms of technology,
old words have taken on new meaning ("surfing the web"), and new words have been created
("blogging").


The English language is a living, evolving
thing. It continues to grow and change.

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