The Perpetually Changing English
Language
Gary Garich
This is only 2 1/2 standard pages of text--you'll want to develop it another half page, at least. This is a really good paper, Gary--you might find a way to incorporate the article on prescriptivism in here, as it seems to go with your theme--you could argue against the implications of the prescriptivist movement. You might also find a way to include the Gloria Naylor article on the semantic nature of words--how different words have different meanings depending upon how they are used, and whether those meanings change over time--for instance, when 'nigger' was first used, it was used as a label, not as a derogatory term--that fits right into the point of your thesis. Also, don't be afraid to quote these articles directly, and make sure you use parenthetical citation even when you don't directly quote, but are still using someone else's ideas or facts. Your paper is mostly original, but when you quote specifics, like Seymour's ideas on the Gullah language, you have to give her credit for them. Good luck with the rewrite. I look forward to giving this paper an A+ when I receive it.
English is a constantly changing language. Like all languages in the past [insert a comma here] English was influenced by the incorporation of parts of other languages. At first [insert a comma here] it was mostly due to invaders concurring [spelling] other civilizations and combining the languages. More recently [insert a comma here] the language has changed because of the spread of slang terms throughout society. In the past [insert a comma here] some people have tried to stop languages from evolving by creating a strict set of guidelines that are not to be deviated from. This will never happen. The vocabulary of the English language has been evolving since its beginning and will most likely continue to evolve in the future. [good thesis--now all you have to do is prove it]
The English language has been changing since it began about fourteen hundred years ago. English began as a Germanic branch of the Indo-European Family that was spoken by the Anglo-Saxons living along the coast of northern Europe. Their first encounters with civilization were with the Romans where they began incorporating Latin words into the language. Around 600 AD [insert a comma here] they learned the Latin alphabet when they were converted to Christianity. Over the next 300 years [insert a comma here] most literature was translated into the West-Saxon dialect. In 866 [insert a comma here] the Norsemen invaded on the eastern coast of England, and eleven years later a treaty was reached that divided England from the northwest to the southeast. At the time the Norse language was similar to English and made it fairly easy for communication between the two peoples. This caused a significant borrowing of words from the Norse. Around a hundred years [later?] [insert a comma here] these borrowed words had made there way into general English. In the early tenth century [insert a comma here] the Normans settled in northern France and adopted French as their language. In 1066 [insert a comma here] the[y] concurred [spelling] England. The effect was that for the next few hundred years the rulers of the land spoke French while the common people spoke English. When a person could work French words into their [pronoun/antecedent disagreement--a person/their] vocabulary this [it, not this] was a sign that that person was well bred. This is where French words became introduced into the English language. Between 1100 and 1500 [insert a comma here] so many French words were incorporated into the English language that most people knew more of the French vocabulary than the English vocabulary. This shows how language changes because of the influences of one language on another due to the converging of separate cultures.
There are still changes happening to the English language today. An example of this is Ebonics. This form of English has mostly developed in the inner-cities. Some people think that the differences in pronunciation of words by some inner-city youths are because of carelessness. In fact these differences in pronunciation are because of carry[insert a hyphen here]overs of dialect from a persons [insert an apostrophe] native language or from their [pronoun/antecedent disagreement--a person/their] immigrant parents. One example of this is the sound of "f" being substituted for the unvoiced "th" sound, like in birfday for birthday. This sound substitution is common with the Gullah language in the Carolina Sea Islands. Another difference in the language is omission of consonant sounds at the end of words. This is similar to Italian, Japanese, and West African words that usually end in vowel sounds. There is also a tendency not to use more than one final consonant sound, like pronouncing just as jus’. This could be because West African languages [insert a comma here] like Japanese [insert a comma here] use almost no groups of consonants. These differences are not a part of proper [clarify 'proper'--you mean, modern standard?] English. However [insert a comma here] they are still present, and [are] able to influence the English language as a whole. This is a further example of how other languages are still having influences on the English language. If Ebonics is thought of as its own language, its influences on English could be related to the way Norse or French has changed English in the past. [which would result in what? strengthen your closure here]
The English language has been changing over time because of influences from languages of other cultures. The development of technology has allowed us to conveniently travel the world and more recently the development of the internet has let us communicate with the world more quickly and easily than ever before. We now have more of an opportunity for influences on our culture and language than at any other time in history. This could cause an increase in the number of multilingual people who could bring more parts of other languages into English. The English language of the future could one-day be part of one unified global language that results from the incorporation of all languages into one [insert a comma here] or at least be significantly changed for the same reasons.[nice closure]The Perpetually Changing English Language
Annotated Bibliography
Thesis Statement: The vocabulary of the English language has been evolving since its beginning and will most likely continue to evolve in the future.
Roberts, Paul. "A Brief History of English." Language Awareness. Ed. by Alfred Rosa, Paul Eschholz, Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994: 89-98.
This article explains how the English language has developed since it began because of influences from other languages. Seymour, Dorothy Z. "Black Children, Black Speech." Language Awareness. Ed. by Alfred Rosa, Paul Eschholz, Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994: 122-128. This article discusses how carry[insert a hyphen]overs from other languages affect the English language of people in inner-cities.The Perpetually Changing English Language
Gary Garich
English is a constantly changing language. Like all languages in the past,
English was influenced by the incorporation of parts of other languages. At first, it was
mostly due to invaders conquering other civilizations and combining the languages. More
recently, the language has changed because of the spread of slang terms throughout
society. In the past, some people have tried to stop languages from evolving by creating a
strict set of guidelines that are not to be deviated from. This will never happen. The
vocabulary of the English language has been evolving since its beginning and will
most likely continue to evolve in the future.
The English language has been changing since it began about fourteen hundred years ago.
English began as a Germanic branch of the Indo-European Family that was spoken by the
Anglo-Saxons living along the coast of northern Europe. Their first encounters with
civilization were with the Romans where they began incorporating Latin words into the
language. Around 600 AD, they learned the Latin alphabet when they were converted to
Christianity. Over the next 300 years, most literature was translated into the West-Saxon
dialect. In 866, the Norsemen invaded on the eastern coast of England, and eleven years
later a treaty was reached that divided England from the northwest to the southeast. At
the time the Norse language was similar to English and made it fairly easy for
communication between the two peoples. This caused a significant borrowing of words from
the Norse. Around a hundred years later, these borrowed words had made there way into
general English. In the early tenth century, the Normans settled in northern France and
adopted French as their language. In 1066, they conquered England. The effect was that for
the next few hundred years the rulers of the land spoke French while the common people
spoke English. When a person could work French words into his vocabulary it was a sign
that that person was well bred. This is where French words became introduced into the
English language. Between 1100 and 1500, so many French words were incorporated into the
English language that most people knew more of the French vocabulary than the English
vocabulary. This shows how language changes because of the influences of one language on
another due to the converging of separate cultures.
In the past there have been people who have tried to stop languages from changing without
success. These people are known as "prescriptivists". Countries have
founded academies whose purpose was to set definite guidelines for their language.
The first of these academies was founded over 400 years ago and there is still not a
language that does not change along with the society that uses it (Crystal 105). The
prescriptivist goal is to set rules for language rather than explore the ways language is
already used. The problem with setting rules for a language is that while people
may learn the rules it doesn't mean they will use them in their day to day lives.
On the other side are the "descriptivists". Descriptivist have a more
logical point of view. Instead of deciding that one way of using a language is the
right and only way, they allow language to change and evolve as society changes. Language
is not only a way to exchange information it is also a way to express ones self in new and
creative ways. If individuals can not have variations in the way they use language
compared to others it takes away from the uniqueness and creativity of each
individual. Music and Poetry would be lost arts if it were decided that there was
only one write way phrase a sentence or to express an idea.
There are still changes happening to the English language today. An example of this is
Ebonics. This form of English has mostly developed in the inner-cities. Some people think
that the differences in pronunciation of words by some inner-city youths are because of
carelessness. In fact these differences in pronunciation are because of carry-overs of
dialect from a persons' native language or from his immigrant parents (Seymour 123). One
example of this is the sound of "f" being substituted for the unvoiced
"th" sound, like in birfday for birthday. This sound substitution is common with
the Gullah language in the Carolina Sea Islands. Another difference in the language is
omission of consonant sounds at the end of words. This is similar to Italian, Japanese,
and West African words that usually end in vowel sounds. There is also a tendency not to
use more than one final consonant sound, like pronouncing just as jus'. This could be
because West African languages, like Japanese, use almost no groups of consonants (Seymour
124). These differences are not a part of Standard English. However, they are still
present, and are able to influence the English language as a whole. This is a further
example of how other languages are still having influences on the English language. If
Ebonics is thought of as its own language, its influences on English could be related to
the way Norse or French has changed English in the past. If Ebonics does eventually effect
the English language in such a way, it could result in a permanent change of vocabulary,
spelling, and grammar in Standard English. This could eventually unify what is now
mostly an isolated version of the English language in the inner-city into the main stream
of the Standard English language.
The meanings of words can also change over time. An example of this is the word
"nigger". This is a word that was originally use as a label that turned
into a racial slur and eventually was used as a positive word by those who it is used as a
derogatory comment against. As Gloria Naylor explains she had herd the word
"nigger" used many times before by friends and relatives but it wasn't until a
boy in her class used it in a derogatory way that it took on a totally different meaning
for her (Naylor). Also The word "cool" is used in Standard English to describe
something that is slightly cold but as the slang usage of the word has become popular it
also often refers to something as being good or excellent. Another example is the
word "phat". "Phat" is also used to describe something as being good
or great. Since it is pronounced the same way as "fat" it can cause at the least
some confusion if a person is unfamiliar with the use of the word. An example would be
"Hey, your look'n phat today!" Even though the person making the comment means
it in a complementary way it would most likely be taken as an insult. With language
changing the way it does people have to be careful how, when, and where they use certain
words. What might be a perfectly clear and understandable statement to one person
may not make any sense or even be offensive to another person. Still even with these
kinds of problems we continue to change and expand our vocabularies to have new meanings
to add variety to our language.
The English language has been changing over time because of influences from languages of
other cultures. The development of technology has allowed us to conveniently travel the
world and more recently the development of the internet has let us communicate with the
world more quickly and easily than ever before. We now have more of an opportunity for
influences on our culture and language than at any other time in history. This could cause
an increase in the number of multilingual people who could bring more parts of other
languages into English. The English language of the future could one-day be part of one
unified global language that results from the incorporation of all languages into one, or
at least be significantly changed for the same reasons.
The Perpetually Changing English Language
Annotated Bibliography
Thesis Statement: The vocabulary of the English language has been evolving since its
beginning and will most likely continue to evolve in the future.
Crystal, David. "The Prescriptive Tradition." Language Awareness. Ed. by Alfred
Rosa, Paul Eschholz, Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994: 101-106.
This article shows how in the past people have tried to stop languages from changing
without success.
Naylor, Gloria. "The Meanings of a Word." Language Awareness. Ed. by Alfred
Rosa, Paul Eschholz, Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994: 305-307.
This article shows how a word can have different meanings depending on how, where, and who
uses it.
Roberts, Paul. "A Brief History of English." Language Awareness. Ed. by Alfred
Rosa, Paul Eschholz, Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994: 89-98.
This article explains how the English language has developed since it began because of
influences from other languages.
Seymour, Dorothy Z. "Black Children, Black Speech." Language Awareness. Ed. by
Alfred Rosa, Paul Eschholz, Virginia Clark. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994: 122-128.
This article discusses how carry-overs from other languages affect the English language of
people in inner-cities.