The English Language
Jeremiah Koczan
The English language has evolved over many years and is still evolving. It
constantly changes as our society changes, and will always change because society is
always changing. "The history of our language begins a little after A.D. 600"
(Roberts, 89). [this is the sort of thing you don't have to quote,
but can paraphrase--save your quotes for ideas that are specific to a given writer, or for
statistics, facts, etc., that are not part of common knowledge] This was when
the first signs of English appeared. We can not [cannot is one
word] prove its existence much before that. It started with the nomads of
northern Europe, and [lose the 'and'] whose language began as
part of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family. The English language
progressed from here, and was organized into the dialect of Low German by the Anglos [Angles, not Anglos], Saxons, and Jutes, or Anglo-Saxons for
short. This was about the time the Anglo-Saxons had converted to Christianity and
had learned the Latin alphabet. The Anglo-Saxons interacted with the Romans, and
started borrowing words from Latin. So even as the English language was in its
youngest stages, it was already started [was already starting, or
had already started] to become influenced by other languages and dialects, and thus
was the beginning of the corruption and homogenization of the English language [how can it be becoming corrupt AND homogenized at the same
time...clarify what you mean by this]. Latin had already mixed in some terms
from the Celtic language, and since Latin had been mixed with English, Celtic had
distantly influenced English [awkward syntax--clarify] .
The Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Celts continued to mingle and by about 550 A.D. the
Anglo-Saxons were firmly established, and English had spread to England [eh?]. English progressed through Old English (600 A.D.-1100
A.D.) to Middle English (1100 A.D.-1450 or 1500 A.D.) to Early Modern English (1500
A.D.-1700A.D.) to Late Modern English (1700A.D.-Present). And [lose
the conjunction at the beginning of this sentence--it's always awkward to start with
'and'] one can see the drastic difference between Old English and Late Modern
English. A passage from The Bible in Old English shown in Roberts' essay, was
impossible at best for me to read [quote some of it and translate it
for me--it's the Lord's prayer--our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name--show
me the differences there--you might actually make this point into an entire paragraph, as
there's a lot to say on it]. According to Roberts, between Middle English and
Early Modern English, the development of printing and the spread of literacy to the
average person caused further development in the English language, but also helped to
standardize it a little, [in areas] such as spelling [what did it do for it grammatically?]. Then [insert a comma] during the period of Early Modern English was
also the English Renaissance, when people were interested in the past, as well as a daring
and imaginative future [awkward syntax]. As people had
new and creative ideas, this meant changes and creations in English
[would it stand to reason that these changes have never stopped? what does that say
about language in general?]. From the 1700s on, there were many more attempts
to regulate and standardize English. This included the invention of the dictionary [insert a comma] an attempt to open an academy that focused on
standardization of English, but the academy never came into being
[why is that, do you think, when the academies of other cultures flourished?].
English has continued to change since. No matter what attempts have been made, as
more and more people come into contact with English, and technology grows, the English
language will continue to change. [is this your thesis? if so,
then introduce the next paragraph, not with a quote, but with a sentence that develops the
first associated idea of this paper--never start a paragraph with a quote, as quotes are
generally new information and evidence and therefore have to have something to prove--if
this is not the end of your first paragraph, then this paragraph has meandered WAY too
long]
"[in long quote form, you lose the quotation marks before and
after the quote--the fact that it's set apart signifies it's a quote] Now it is
perhaps the greatest language of the world, spoken natively by over a quarter of a billion
people and as a
Second language by many billions more. When we speak of English now, we must specify
whether we mean American English, British English, Australian English, Indian
English, or what, since the differences are considerable" (Roberts, [omit the comma between the author and the page number] 98).
Some people [who? get specific--avoid vague pronouns] view
this change as good, that English is growing, expanding, and adapting like mankind.
This change is slow and small enough that it does not cause problems
[then why is there such a controversy about dialects?]. "The parts of
language which are changing at any given time are tiny, in comparison to the vast
unchanging areas of language" (Crystal, [omit the comma between
the author and the page number] 105). But[don't begin a
sentence with the conjunction 'but'...this is an awkward transition anyway, as the
difference between these two sentences isn't contrast so much as it is emphasis] language
change is inevitable, because society is constantly changing. Technology today
allows faster communication over any distance. "It is only because
communication has become fast and easy that English in this period of its expansion has
not broken into a dozen mutually unintelligible languages" (Roberts, [omit the comma between the author and the page number] 98).
We can communicate our changes in English fast enough that whatever concept has been
changed in English quickly becomes known by multitudes of people in any location [you reckon?]. Now [insert a comma] of
course [insert a comma] when we speak English, we must
specify which type; American, British, Australian, or whatever dialect or accent, since
there are many differences between any type. [redundant--you
mentioned this earlier--why should be specify a type, though? isn't our accent
enough of a give-away?] "The American cannot go to England or the Englishman
to America confident that he will always understand and be understood" (Roberts, [omit the comma between the author and the page number] 98).
Different cultures in society have dialects, dependent on a [lose
the indefinite article] that culture's race or origin. Even within a country
like America.[fragment] People from different cities,
for example New York and Dallas, have different accents and different
colloquialisms. There are even differences within cities. For example,
Black English is "a dialect characteristic of many inner-city Negroes"
(Seymour, [omit the comma between the author and the page number] 122).
Most people see it as bad English, poor grammar or just plain being lazy with
pronunciation. I [eh?] actuality it has to do with when
slaves were brought over from Africa, and the mixing that occurred as they learned
English. [how so? clarify--so is it just in inner cities,
then, or all over America? don't close a paragraph on a new idea--this paragraph
actually has two or three strong ideas in it, and each of those should be developed into a
separate paragraph--bring closure by telling me why this associated idea is relevant to
the thesis]
Many say that communication through English has deteriorated significantly.
"Older people observe the casual speech of the young, and conclude that standards
have fallen markedly" (Crystal, [omit the comma between the
author and the page number] 104). They believe that there is no longer a
feeling of importance in learning proper English. This is backed by the fact that
average test scores among students have gone down in language arts, English, and
communication skills [are test scores an adequate indication of
language change, you think?]. Also, if one has ever learned another language,
there are many more rules that are straight forward, with very few exceptions in most
other languages [awkward, I imagine this might be true regardless of
whether one ever learned a foreign language]. For example [insert a comma] Spanish is somewhat easier than English because it
is more formal [formal, or consistent?] with its sentence
structure and grammar rules. I think there is a middle ground [insert a comma] though. I think people should relax a
little and allow small changes in language, and tolerate dialects. I am not
advocating the total abandonment of any semblance of rules in the English language,
because there need to be some rules to make communication work. But I do think we
should be tolerant of the different dialects that have cropped up here in America, as a
result of culture mixing. Culture mixing is what has made English the language it is
today. [nice closure]
[Annotated] Bibliography
Crystal, David. "The Prescriptive Tradition." Language Awareness.
Ed. By Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. New York, New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1994: 102-106.
This essay discussed the disintegration of the English language.
[how specifically does that discussion point help your thesis? answer that with all
of these annotations]
Naylor, Gloria. "The Meanings of a Word." Language Awareness.
Ed. By Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. New York, New York: St.
Martin's Press, 1994: 305-307.
A brief essay on Black speech, and the uses of different colloquialisms in Black English. [give me a complete sentence--is it about colloquialisms or dialectical
variances?]
Roberts, Paul. "The Brief History of English." Language Awareness.
Ed. By Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. New York, New York:
St. Martin's Press, 1994: 89-98.
This essay discussed the beginnings of the English language, how it has progressed through
time, and how people have attempted to give it definite structure.
Seymour, Dorothy Z. "Black Children, Black Speech." Language
Awareness. Ed. By Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. New York,
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994: 122-128.
A further in depth essay about the same topic as Naylor [is it
really? read it more closely--it talks about something completely different--Naylor
focuses on the semantic meaning of a slang term, while Seymour tries to prove that Black
English itself is not a slang]. Black English and its colloquialisms,
pronunciations and grammar. [use complete sentences here]
REVISION. Grade: C-.
The English language has evolved over many years and is still evolving. It
constantly changes as our society changes, and will always change because society is
always changing. The history of our language begins a little after A.D. 600. This
was when the first signs of English appeared. We can not prove its existence much before
that. It started with the nomads of northern Europe, whose language began as part of the
Germanic branch of the Indo-European family. The English language progressed from here,
and was organized into the dialect of Low German by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, or
Anglo-Saxons for short. This was about the time the Anglo-Saxons had converted to
Christianity and had learned the Latin alphabet. The Anglo-Saxons interacted with the
Romans, and started borrowing words from Latin. So even as the English language was in its
youngest stages, it had already started to become influenced by other languages and
dialects, and thus was the beginning of the corruption of the English language.
Latin had already mixed in some terms from the Celtic language, and since Latin had
been mixed with English, so the Celtic had distantly influenced English. The Romans, the
Anglo-Saxons, and the Celts continued to mingle and by about 550 A.D. the Anglo-Saxons
were firmly established, and English had spread to England. English progressed through Old
English (600 A.D.-1100 A.D.) to Middle English (1100 A.D.-1450 or 1500 A.D.) to Early
Modern English (1500 A.D.-1700A.D.) to Late Modern English (1700A.D.-Present). One
can see the drastic difference between Old English and Late Modern English. According to
Roberts, between Middle English and Early Modern English, the development of printing and
the spread of literacy to the average person caused further development in the English
language, but also helped to standardize it a
little, in some areas such as spelling and grammar. Then, during the period of Early
Modern English was also the English Renaissance, when people were interested in the past,
as well as a daring and imaginative future. As people had new and creative ideas, this
meant changes and creations in English. This has never stopped. This shows how
natural it is for our language to change and grow. From the 1700s on, there were many more
attempts to regulate and standardize English. This included the invention of the
dictionary, an attempt to open an academy that focused on standardization of English, but
the academy never came into being. The reason why it failed, was because English is
such a diverse and changing language. Languages, like Spanish for example, which are
more structured would condone an academy, and allow it to flourish. English has
continued to change since. No matter what attempts have been made, as more and more people
come into contact with English, and technology grows, the English language will continue
to change.
The English language has spread and changed rapidly.
Now it is perhaps the
greatest language of the world, spoken
natively by over a
quarter of a billion people and as a Second
language by many
billions more. When we speak of English now,
we must specify whether
we mean American English, British
English, Australian
English, Indian English, or what, since the
differences are
considerable (Roberts 98).
There are people who view this change as good, that English is growing, expanding, and
adapting like mankind. They see this change is slow and small enough that it does not
cause problems. "The parts of language which are changing at any given time are
tiny, in comparison to the vast unchanging areas of language" (Crystal 105).
Language change is inevitable, because society is constantly changing. Technology
today allows faster communication over any distance. "It is only because
communication has become fast and easy that English in this period of its expansion has
not broken into a dozen mutually unintelligible languages" (Roberts 98). We can
communicate our changes in English fast enough that whatever concept has been changed in
English quickly becomes known by multitudes of people in any location. "The
American cannot go to England or the Englishman to America confident that he will always
understand and be understood" (Roberts 98). Different cultures in society have
dialects, dependent on that culture's race or origin. This can be found right here in
America. People from different cities, for example
New York and Dallas, have different accents and different colloquialisms. There are even
differences within cities. For example, Black English is "a dialect characteristic of
many inner-city Negroes" (Seymour 122). Most people see it as bad English, poor
grammar or just plain being lazy with pronunciation. I actuality think it has to do
with when slaves were brought
over from Africa, and the mixing that occurred as they learned English. Much in the
way that the Celts affected the English language a long time ago in Europe, Africans were
then affecting the English language in the United States. This is yet another change
to the English language.
Many say that communication through English has deteriorated significantly. "Older
people observe the casual speech of the young, and conclude that standards have fallen
markedly" (Crystal 104). They believe that there is no longer a feeling of importance
in learning proper English. This is backed by the fact that average test scores among
students have gone down in language arts, English, and communication skills. But
then again, test scores are not always an accurate representation of the general public.
Also, if one has ever learned another language, there are many more rules that are
straight forward, with very few exceptions compared to English. For example, Spanish
is somewhat easier than English because it is more formal and consistent with its sentence
structure and grammar rules. I think there is a middle ground, though. I think people
should relax a little and allow small changes in language, and tolerate dialects. I am not
advocating the total abandonment of any semblance of rules in the English language,
because there need to be some rules to make communication work. But I do think we should
be tolerant of the different dialects that have cropped up here in America, as a result of
culture mixing. Culture mixing is what has made English the language it is today.
Annotated Bibliography
Crystal, David. "The Prescriptive Tradition." Language Awareness. Ed. By Paul
Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. New
York, New York: St. Martin's
Press, 1994: 102-106.
This essay discussed the disintegration of the English language. This essay proves one
path the English language can be seen as taking.
Naylor, Gloria. "The Meanings of a Word." Language Awareness. Ed. By Paul
Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. New
York, New York: St. Martin's
Press, 1994: 305-307.
This is a brief essay on Black speech, and the uses of different colloquialisms and
dialectical variances in Black English. It shows examples of some of these
variations of common phrases in the English language, which is proof of the English
language's changes over the many years.
Roberts, Paul. "The Brief History of English." Language Awareness. Ed. By
Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark.
New York, New York: St.
Martin's Press, 1994: 89-98.
This essay discussed the beginnings of the English language, how it has progressed through
time, and how people have attempted to give it definite structure. This is more
proof of how the English language has changed, and how there are people attempting to stop
this change.
Seymour, Dorothy Z. "Black Children, Black Speech." Language Awareness. Ed.
By Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia
Clark. New York, New York: St.
Martin's Press, 1994: 122-128.
This essay discusses how Black English is its own branch of English, such as American
English or Australian English. It contains some of the colloquialisms,
pronunciations and grammar found in Black English.
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