1
Inhoudsopgave
General information...............................................................................................................................4
Time periods.......................................................................................................................................4
Stages of the Standardisation Processes............................................................................................4
Week 1...................................................................................................................................................5
Before English.....................................................................................................................................5
Standard Language.............................................................................................................................5
Hornbooks..........................................................................................................................................6
Orthography.......................................................................................................................................6
Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight (14th century)...............................................................................6
The Ormulum......................................................................................................................................7
Week 2...................................................................................................................................................7
Style....................................................................................................................................................7
Text types...........................................................................................................................................7
Alfred’s Will (C880).........................................................................................................................7
Aelfric’s Colloquy (C1000)...............................................................................................................8
Sumer is icomen in (C1250).............................................................................................................8
Jane Austen’s letter (1811).............................................................................................................8
Word order.........................................................................................................................................8
Week 3...................................................................................................................................................8
Domains of loanwords........................................................................................................................8
Danelaw..............................................................................................................................................9
Four different dictionaries..................................................................................................................9
Dictionary audiences..........................................................................................................................9
Oxford English Dictionary.................................................................................................................10
Advertisements................................................................................................................................11
Robert Cawdrey: A Table Alphabeticall (1604).................................................................................11
Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the English Language (1755)........................................................11
John Walker: Pronunciation Dictionary (1774-91)............................................................................11
Week 4.................................................................................................................................................12
Dialects.............................................................................................................................................12
U versus V.........................................................................................................................................13
English makes a come-back ME........................................................................................................13
Paston letters/Margery Brews: Letter to a Lover (1477)...................................................................13
Dan Michael: Ayenbite of Inwit (1340).............................................................................................14
1
, 2
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Reeve’s Tale (14th century)...........................................................................14
Verb ending changes........................................................................................................................15
Week 5..............................................................................................................................................15
Linguistic situation in England late ME.............................................................................................15
John of Trevisa: Polychronicon (1387)..............................................................................................15
Henry V: Letter (c1419).....................................................................................................................16
John Wycliffe: Bible (1382-1388)......................................................................................................16
King John “Lackland” (1166-1216)....................................................................................................16
East Midland dialect.........................................................................................................................17
Statute of Pleading (1326)................................................................................................................17
Middling sorts (1348 ) .......................................................................................................................17
Week 6.................................................................................................................................................17
Chancery...........................................................................................................................................17
House Style/Hand.............................................................................................................................18
Chancery House Style and Hand.......................................................................................................18
Geoffrey Chaucer: Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (14th century)................................................18
Great Vowel Shift (1400-1600).........................................................................................................19
East Midlands Dialect/Migration......................................................................................................19
Late medieval London......................................................................................................................19
Week 8.................................................................................................................................................20
William Caxton (1422-1491).............................................................................................................20
William Caxton: Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (1471)...............................................................20
Printing Press (1476).........................................................................................................................21
Doublets...........................................................................................................................................21
Week 9.................................................................................................................................................22
The Early Modern Period..................................................................................................................22
Elementarie/Richard Mulcaster (1582; 1531-1611).........................................................................22
H-dropping/insertion........................................................................................................................22
Inkhorn.............................................................................................................................................22
Ways of Enriching the language........................................................................................................23
Survival of words..............................................................................................................................23
Cant (slang)/Canting Academy (1673)..............................................................................................23
Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy (1759-67)...................................................................................24
Robert Hooke: Micrographia (1665).................................................................................................24
John Ray, A Collection of English Words (1674)................................................................................24
William Tyndale (1494-1563)............................................................................................................25
2
, 3
the Royal Society (1660)...................................................................................................................25
You/thou...........................................................................................................................................25
Week 10...............................................................................................................................................26
Preposition stranding.......................................................................................................................26
Late Modern Period: Political and cultural rebellion (1640-18 th C)...................................................26
Complaint tradition..........................................................................................................................26
Jonathan Swift’s A Proposal (1712)...................................................................................................27
Jonathan Swift: Polite Conversation (1738)......................................................................................27
Codification and prescriptivism........................................................................................................27
Robert Lowth: English Grammar (1762)...........................................................................................28
Lindley Murray: English Grammar (1795).........................................................................................28
Week 11...............................................................................................................................................28
BBC...................................................................................................................................................28
19th Century Stereotypes..................................................................................................................29
Hypercorrection................................................................................................................................29
Henry Alford: A Plea for the Queen’s English (1860).........................................................................29
Usage Guides (20th century)..............................................................................................................30
Week 12...............................................................................................................................................31
Webster’s dictionary.........................................................................................................................31
Differences between American and British English..........................................................................31
Collecting linguistic information.......................................................................................................31
The spread of English........................................................................................................................32
Loans in American English................................................................................................................32
African American English..................................................................................................................32
Other varieties of English..................................................................................................................32
Second person plural pronoun.........................................................................................................33
Week 13...............................................................................................................................................33
Estuary English (1980s).....................................................................................................................33
Multicultural London English (MLE)..................................................................................................33
Characteristics of New Online Englishes...........................................................................................33
Requirements of a language.............................................................................................................34
Netspeak/Internet............................................................................................................................34
List of literary works and dates.............................................................................................................34
Chancery hand key...........................................................................................................................36
Broadcast English (BBC)....................................................................................................................36
3
, 4
General information
Time periods
Old English – until 1100
Middle English – 1100 – 1500
Early Modern English – 1500 – 1700
Late Modern English 1700 – 1900
Present Day English 2000 – now
Stages of the Standardisation Processes
Selection: late ME. Mostly unconscious. English
instead of French because after the Norman Conquest
English was largely a spoken language while French was the
language of the ruling class. After King John Lackland, the
seed for English nationhood was planted and the hostility
between France and England grows, making French the
language of the enemy.
Acceptance: late ME. Statute of Pleading 1362, parliament opened in English. Trevisa’s
Polychronicon 1387; French is no longer taught in school. Chaucer pokes fun of the Prioress’s use of
French. Decline of Norman French because its loss of status. Rise of commerce and middling sorts;
oral tradition record keeping; social shift in literacy; English speaking population got more political
importance. French no longer a “career language” French loanwords. One English has to be picked
out of a pool of Englishes. There were four incipient written standards: Lollards (Wycliffe), MSS from
Greater London area (Auchinlek MS), MSS of Chaucer (Hengwrt MS, Ellesmere MS), Chancery
standard (midland and London elements). The standard that was eventually selected was East
Midlands.
Diffusion: late ME/early ModE. Geographical and social diffusion. Northern forms became
a part of the standard while the basis of the standard emerged in the South because there was
immigration from north to south. Dense multiplex networks have a limited range of contacts but
strong bonds with others in different roles, “everyone knows everyone else”; an in-group dialect;
limited variability, “linguistic dresscodes”; is typical of upper-class and working-class. Loose uniplex
networks have a wide range of contacts but weaker bonds with others; a strong orientation to
standard language; great variability, “linguistic dresscodes”; is typical of social-mobile middle class.
Bridges between networks generate language contact. The London population was geographically
diverse and population growth was massive from the 16 th century onwards, most adult Londoners
were born elsewhere.
Maintenance: early ModE. The printing press.
Elaboration of function: early ModE. Ever-increasing use of the vernacular. Influx of
words. The renaissance gave rise to diversification of text-types. English took over more high
functions. King James bible translation in 1611. Science texts: anatomy, biology and medicine.
Cookbooks, almanacs and how-to books. Glossaries compiles by translators on alchemy, architecture,
fencing, heraldry and hunting. Plays written by Shakespeare, Marlowe and Spenser. Consequences of
elaboration: complaint tradition. English becomes a language worth commenting on and so word lists
of difficult words came into being. A renewed interest in classical language drew attention to
‘inadequacies’ of the vernacular. English had inadequate terminology for many new subjects. This
problem was solved with borrowing, affixation, compounding and conversion (words changing class
without changing form).
Codification: early ModE. Fixing language. Standard ideology is born. ‘a bias toward an
abstracted, idealized, homogeneous spoken language which is imposed and maintained by dominant
bloc institutions and which names as its model the written language, but which is drawn primarily
4
Inhoudsopgave
General information...............................................................................................................................4
Time periods.......................................................................................................................................4
Stages of the Standardisation Processes............................................................................................4
Week 1...................................................................................................................................................5
Before English.....................................................................................................................................5
Standard Language.............................................................................................................................5
Hornbooks..........................................................................................................................................6
Orthography.......................................................................................................................................6
Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight (14th century)...............................................................................6
The Ormulum......................................................................................................................................7
Week 2...................................................................................................................................................7
Style....................................................................................................................................................7
Text types...........................................................................................................................................7
Alfred’s Will (C880).........................................................................................................................7
Aelfric’s Colloquy (C1000)...............................................................................................................8
Sumer is icomen in (C1250).............................................................................................................8
Jane Austen’s letter (1811).............................................................................................................8
Word order.........................................................................................................................................8
Week 3...................................................................................................................................................8
Domains of loanwords........................................................................................................................8
Danelaw..............................................................................................................................................9
Four different dictionaries..................................................................................................................9
Dictionary audiences..........................................................................................................................9
Oxford English Dictionary.................................................................................................................10
Advertisements................................................................................................................................11
Robert Cawdrey: A Table Alphabeticall (1604).................................................................................11
Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the English Language (1755)........................................................11
John Walker: Pronunciation Dictionary (1774-91)............................................................................11
Week 4.................................................................................................................................................12
Dialects.............................................................................................................................................12
U versus V.........................................................................................................................................13
English makes a come-back ME........................................................................................................13
Paston letters/Margery Brews: Letter to a Lover (1477)...................................................................13
Dan Michael: Ayenbite of Inwit (1340).............................................................................................14
1
, 2
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Reeve’s Tale (14th century)...........................................................................14
Verb ending changes........................................................................................................................15
Week 5..............................................................................................................................................15
Linguistic situation in England late ME.............................................................................................15
John of Trevisa: Polychronicon (1387)..............................................................................................15
Henry V: Letter (c1419).....................................................................................................................16
John Wycliffe: Bible (1382-1388)......................................................................................................16
King John “Lackland” (1166-1216)....................................................................................................16
East Midland dialect.........................................................................................................................17
Statute of Pleading (1326)................................................................................................................17
Middling sorts (1348 ) .......................................................................................................................17
Week 6.................................................................................................................................................17
Chancery...........................................................................................................................................17
House Style/Hand.............................................................................................................................18
Chancery House Style and Hand.......................................................................................................18
Geoffrey Chaucer: Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (14th century)................................................18
Great Vowel Shift (1400-1600).........................................................................................................19
East Midlands Dialect/Migration......................................................................................................19
Late medieval London......................................................................................................................19
Week 8.................................................................................................................................................20
William Caxton (1422-1491).............................................................................................................20
William Caxton: Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (1471)...............................................................20
Printing Press (1476).........................................................................................................................21
Doublets...........................................................................................................................................21
Week 9.................................................................................................................................................22
The Early Modern Period..................................................................................................................22
Elementarie/Richard Mulcaster (1582; 1531-1611).........................................................................22
H-dropping/insertion........................................................................................................................22
Inkhorn.............................................................................................................................................22
Ways of Enriching the language........................................................................................................23
Survival of words..............................................................................................................................23
Cant (slang)/Canting Academy (1673)..............................................................................................23
Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy (1759-67)...................................................................................24
Robert Hooke: Micrographia (1665).................................................................................................24
John Ray, A Collection of English Words (1674)................................................................................24
William Tyndale (1494-1563)............................................................................................................25
2
, 3
the Royal Society (1660)...................................................................................................................25
You/thou...........................................................................................................................................25
Week 10...............................................................................................................................................26
Preposition stranding.......................................................................................................................26
Late Modern Period: Political and cultural rebellion (1640-18 th C)...................................................26
Complaint tradition..........................................................................................................................26
Jonathan Swift’s A Proposal (1712)...................................................................................................27
Jonathan Swift: Polite Conversation (1738)......................................................................................27
Codification and prescriptivism........................................................................................................27
Robert Lowth: English Grammar (1762)...........................................................................................28
Lindley Murray: English Grammar (1795).........................................................................................28
Week 11...............................................................................................................................................28
BBC...................................................................................................................................................28
19th Century Stereotypes..................................................................................................................29
Hypercorrection................................................................................................................................29
Henry Alford: A Plea for the Queen’s English (1860).........................................................................29
Usage Guides (20th century)..............................................................................................................30
Week 12...............................................................................................................................................31
Webster’s dictionary.........................................................................................................................31
Differences between American and British English..........................................................................31
Collecting linguistic information.......................................................................................................31
The spread of English........................................................................................................................32
Loans in American English................................................................................................................32
African American English..................................................................................................................32
Other varieties of English..................................................................................................................32
Second person plural pronoun.........................................................................................................33
Week 13...............................................................................................................................................33
Estuary English (1980s).....................................................................................................................33
Multicultural London English (MLE)..................................................................................................33
Characteristics of New Online Englishes...........................................................................................33
Requirements of a language.............................................................................................................34
Netspeak/Internet............................................................................................................................34
List of literary works and dates.............................................................................................................34
Chancery hand key...........................................................................................................................36
Broadcast English (BBC)....................................................................................................................36
3
, 4
General information
Time periods
Old English – until 1100
Middle English – 1100 – 1500
Early Modern English – 1500 – 1700
Late Modern English 1700 – 1900
Present Day English 2000 – now
Stages of the Standardisation Processes
Selection: late ME. Mostly unconscious. English
instead of French because after the Norman Conquest
English was largely a spoken language while French was the
language of the ruling class. After King John Lackland, the
seed for English nationhood was planted and the hostility
between France and England grows, making French the
language of the enemy.
Acceptance: late ME. Statute of Pleading 1362, parliament opened in English. Trevisa’s
Polychronicon 1387; French is no longer taught in school. Chaucer pokes fun of the Prioress’s use of
French. Decline of Norman French because its loss of status. Rise of commerce and middling sorts;
oral tradition record keeping; social shift in literacy; English speaking population got more political
importance. French no longer a “career language” French loanwords. One English has to be picked
out of a pool of Englishes. There were four incipient written standards: Lollards (Wycliffe), MSS from
Greater London area (Auchinlek MS), MSS of Chaucer (Hengwrt MS, Ellesmere MS), Chancery
standard (midland and London elements). The standard that was eventually selected was East
Midlands.
Diffusion: late ME/early ModE. Geographical and social diffusion. Northern forms became
a part of the standard while the basis of the standard emerged in the South because there was
immigration from north to south. Dense multiplex networks have a limited range of contacts but
strong bonds with others in different roles, “everyone knows everyone else”; an in-group dialect;
limited variability, “linguistic dresscodes”; is typical of upper-class and working-class. Loose uniplex
networks have a wide range of contacts but weaker bonds with others; a strong orientation to
standard language; great variability, “linguistic dresscodes”; is typical of social-mobile middle class.
Bridges between networks generate language contact. The London population was geographically
diverse and population growth was massive from the 16 th century onwards, most adult Londoners
were born elsewhere.
Maintenance: early ModE. The printing press.
Elaboration of function: early ModE. Ever-increasing use of the vernacular. Influx of
words. The renaissance gave rise to diversification of text-types. English took over more high
functions. King James bible translation in 1611. Science texts: anatomy, biology and medicine.
Cookbooks, almanacs and how-to books. Glossaries compiles by translators on alchemy, architecture,
fencing, heraldry and hunting. Plays written by Shakespeare, Marlowe and Spenser. Consequences of
elaboration: complaint tradition. English becomes a language worth commenting on and so word lists
of difficult words came into being. A renewed interest in classical language drew attention to
‘inadequacies’ of the vernacular. English had inadequate terminology for many new subjects. This
problem was solved with borrowing, affixation, compounding and conversion (words changing class
without changing form).
Codification: early ModE. Fixing language. Standard ideology is born. ‘a bias toward an
abstracted, idealized, homogeneous spoken language which is imposed and maintained by dominant
bloc institutions and which names as its model the written language, but which is drawn primarily
4
