History of the English language

¶ … History of the English Language

The English language is one of the most interesting aspects of human history because it offers us a look into ourselves and our culture. We are not a people happy staying still in any generation. Instead, we would rather move, grow, and change and nothing demonstrates this more than the English language. One common understanding is that the English is a conglomeration of many other languages including Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit. Language was what Charles Champneys describes as "inflectual" (Champneys 52) in that it "marked the relation of words to each other" (52). Oliver Emerson agrees, noting that the English language is far from an "isolated language in any sense" (Emerson 1) and it is best to consider it as Indo-European when considering its heritage. This perspective allows us to see the English language as a vessel of change that represents who we are as a people.

The English language has a varied history and growth chart. This growth, because of its various influence, is difficult to trace. However, most critics agree that the Teutonic language is one that is "nearer to our own tongue" (Champneys 65). Champneys points out that English and German grammar have much in common as well as proverbs and idioms. He claims that English, German and Latin "all belong to the same great family of languages, but that English and German are members of the same brand of it" (66). Oliver Emerson notes that American English has had several influences, which are from within in with out. Many American English words have retained meanings which are no longer used in Great Britain and the has also been a "retention of an older pronunciation" (Emerson 72) than we find in England. This only adds to the complexity of the nature of language, for it seems to grow outside its limits in one regard but yet it seems to linger in the past in another regard and there seems to be no logical pattern for this behavior.

However, we must never look at the English language as something that is stagnant because it is not. With a society that is based upon a continuity of many factors, language becomes a victim, if you will of many of the things that we encounter in our daily lives. Language is best seen as a tool that evolves with man and the emergence of the technological age is just one example of how this occurs. Albert Baugh notes that the English language is "subject to growth and decay which characterize all forms of life" (Baugh 2). While it may be true that classical Latin is a dead language that cannot be said of English because it is alive and how we know this is through a simple observation of humanity. Baugh notes that language is important because it is connected to humanity in such a way that they "can scarcely be thought of apart" (3). In fact, he observes that a language lives "only so long as there are people who speak it" (3). This brings us to the interesting topic of why certain languages are more alive than others and, according to Baugh, it is because of the language's cultural importance. As far as the English language is concerned, its importance stems from the fact that it is spoken is so many countries, including, America and the United Kingdom.

In addition, Jack Rosenthal notes that language evolves almost stealthily, under cover and without recognition. Many of the factors that affect language are occurring before our proverbial eyes and because we are so involved with life, we fail to see how these impact language. One instance is the terror attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. Rosenthal, notes that while we never would have known it then, this event changed language. For example, security is one of the most affected elements of society and this bleeds into language as well. We do not think twice about having a photo I.D. And we would probably wonder why someone would not ask to see a photo I.D. rather than why they would. In addition, we do not consider it unusual for anyone to be suspicious of cybercrimes, the word would have baffled John Keats or Lord Byron, men who were considered masters of the English language.

Language is more than a tool used to communicate language, which is why it has proven to be beneficial for mankind to devise a universal language. Baugh notes that emotions play a large role in communication and work "against the establishment of a single foreign language" (Baugh) because none of these cultures is willing to subordinate their language to another. The technological age has only added to the problem as a universal language, thrusting English to the forefront, citing the communications industry as the major proponent. We cannot overlook the fact the society has an incredible impact on how language as a tool evolves.

William Safire captures this sentiment precisely in his article, "the Disappearing-ed," in which he points out how the English language is slowly slipping away from previous forms of usage. He points out how we, as a society have drifted from using the past participle of many verbs, using a common menu reference as an example. Denny's should offer a smaller-sized portion rather than a "smaller-size portion (Safire 30)," Safire contends. This brings us to the spelling of words, which seems to be another aspect of the English language. Ernest Classen notes that while the runic script was the earliest form of script for the English language, the Norman conquest had a profound "influence on the English vocabulary" (Classen 266), including spelling of English words. Example of their influence can be traced to the letter "y" and its interchangeability with the vowel "i." There can be no doubt that the English language is "extraordinarily irregular and capricious" (274) but this has already been established with the fact that we insist upon allowing the language room to breathe.