The Transformation of Old, Middle, and Modern English

“Authority and American Usage” written by David Foster Wallace, poses an argument about the English language, and the different beliefs of its usage. This essay was written in defense of Bryan A. Garner’s, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. His argument in “Authority and American Usage” is the difference the between prescriptivism perception and the descriptivism perception (Linguistic terms that could easily be made into smaller, more understandable words for people like me). Since the beginning of time, language has evolved. From biblical times, to Shakespearean times, to present day; the English language has been continuously changing since it’s birth and has no intentions on stopping.

Shakespeare is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest writers. His plays can give lessons to the audiences about human nature and to enrich their knowledge of literature. However, understanding his language appears to be challenging in varying degree since people presently use Modern English. Therefore, appropriate skills and strategies became extremely important of contributing a better understand.

Shakespeare’s language is extremely complicated to read, it is vital in education to teach the art of this literature to understand the depth and meaning. Although Shakespeare may be difficult for the modern generation to understand, it’s because of the sophistication of his work. 21st century’s English has been so simplified to the point where we are unfamiliar of this classic form of English used in his playwrights.

Simon states “some people are pleased to call linguistic evolution was almost always a matter of ignorance prevailing over knowledge” (209). This statement shows the opposing view of the liberal -linguist. On the other hand, the other group of people the opposition of the liberal-linguist mentioned by Simon believe that “there is such thing as Standard English” (208). This makes the works of this article balanced and truthful. As a conservative, Simon wants individuals to preserve the English language and not just go with any fad that may come upon us. Henceforth, Simon wants us to teach ourselves and he stresses training yourself. Though Simon presents favoritism toward what he describes as the minority or the conservatives. “we are here… to arrest unnecessary change” (209). He accurately reveals the two viewpoints regarding good English usage.

Fromkin, Victoria & Rodman, Robert. An Introduction to Language, 6th edition. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace, 1998

He begins with examples from Early Modern Language. Haussamen explains how changes from”every one” to “everyone” affected the use of “he” and caused a loss in singleness. Furthermore, English has moved away from the use of “man” to favor other generic nouns such as “person.” These changes helped “they” thrive in informal settings. Haussamen then moves away from examples from Early Modern English to Spoken English. These examples, he says, display the differences between “they” and “he” even more clearly. He adds more examples to fully illustrate the differences of “he” and “they” citing works of literature and student writing. In most examples, the reason for picking one pronoun over another is clear and follows the nuances Haussamen previously

Speaking English in earlier centuries compared to now in the 21st century, you will find a harsh difference. Why is that? Many reasons, some which have varied over the years, have been pivotal to that point of English staying mature and proper or careless and slang. Three reasons explain clearly how the English spoken today is different from the English spoken in earlier centuries. The first is how the needs of people are changing.

Shakespeare wrote over 400 years ago and the English language has changed drastically. Over the years, grammar and vocabulary have been altered to be simpler and mundane. By studying Macbeth at the start of high school, students will explore the ever-so-popular complex Shakespearean writing, but at the same time enjoy a dark and mysterious story (Robshaw). Today, correct grammar includes the placement of each word -- the subject, verb, object -- in a sentence. However, Shakespeare didn’t like to play by the rules; he often shifted his sentence structure to create an ideal rhythm.

Finally, Why teach us about language in the “olden days” when kids in school are already having a hard time with today’s present language? When William Shakespeare was making

The English language is no different than it was a century ago; however, it has been culturally changing over the past few decades. It is common knowledge to humans that each ethnicity has their own formal language they speak and that they perceive various styles of language in different manners. Language style is the choice of words used by a specific group of people when they speak. Although we have the ability to speak to everyone in the same proper way, naturally we, including myself, tend to change our speech depending on where we are, who we are associated with, and the situation we are encountered in.

English went on a long and vigorous adventure to have become the vast language that we know, speak and read today. In this essay, the differences and similarities between Old English and Modern English will be discussed by referring to an extract of Matthew 2: 4-10 from The Gospel of Saint Matthew in West Saxon: edited from the manuscripts by James Wilson Bright (1910:5-6). In the discussion there will be referred to the differences and similarities in orthography, spelling, vocabulary and syntax. Conclusions will also be made about the nature of these chances as they occurred in the adventure from Old English to Modern English.

Think of things that morph over time. What comes to mind? People may think about a music artist’s change from YouTube videos recorded on iPhones to sold-out concerts. Or, they may think about the changes an athlete makes from childhood to becoming a professional athlete. However, did you think about how much a language changes over a couple of years? Every year words are added to and taken from the dictionary. Words are formed and forgotten. Language changes because of a person’s vocabulary and location, but what happens to a language, like the English language, that is spread across the whole world?

In the third part, three pedagogical implications will be presented. In addition, a grammar activity and its theoretical rationale will be respectively reported in the fourth and fifth part before the final conclusion is displayed.

Specialists in descriptive grammar (linguists) examine the principles and patterns that underlie the use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. In contrast, prescriptive

Specification – Edexcel IGCSE in - Exemplar Coursework Edexcel IGCSE EnglishEnglish Language (Specification A) (4EA0) – Issue 1 – September 2008 © Edexcel Limited 2008