Chapter 8 of 11 · 1392 words · ~7 min read

CHAPTER III

=Changes in Modern English.=

1. =FORMATION OF MODERN ENGLISH.=--We have seen that the substance of the living English tongue was brought from Germany to this island by our Teutonic ancestors. We have seen also that it has undergone a great variety of influences, the greatest and strongest of which was the Norman Conquest. For a long time after the Conquest, the English language was the tongue of a subject and humiliated race; it ceased to be fashionable, and almost ceased to be literary. In the thirteenth century it began to revive, but with very important changes; the inflections, and many of the old English words, being lost, and a multitude of new words being introduced. In Chaucer’s time it regained its old position as the language of the court, of fashion, and of literature. In 1485 we find the language in all important respects fixed as we have it now. Every intelligent Englishman is able to understand all that has since been written.

Modern English, then, dates from 1485, the year when the Wars of the Roses ended with the battle of Bosworth, and the Tudor line ascended the throne. It was the time also when the art of printing was introduced by Caxton; and about the time when the two great events, the Revival of Learning and the Reformation, took place.

2. =CONTINUED HISTORY OF OUR LANGUAGE.=--It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the language has no history after 1485. Language is the expression and embodiment of thought; and as thought varies with the varying experience of man, language must change accordingly. Since 1485 the English people have gone through marvellous changes--changes in political and social life, in science, in art, and industry. They have planted extensive colonies, they carry on trade in every part of the world, and have dealings with every nation. In all this widening and progressive life, we have got to know far more than we did in 1485, and thus require to use a multitude of words unknown to the people of that period. The result has been a large addition to our vocabulary.

3. =BORROWING FROM SPANISH AND ITALIAN.=--Under the heading ‘Latin of the Fourth Period,’ we have noted the number of words borrowed from the Latin during the sixteenth century. We are now to observe that about the same time there was a considerable borrowing of words from the Spanish and Italian. Of course, as Italian and Spanish are offshoots from Latin, these words also are mostly of Latin origin.

(i) =Italian.=--During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Italian literature was very extensively studied by English writers. For some centuries the Italians were the most cultivated people in Europe. Italy was the home of music, painting, and sculpture. Her poets served as models to those of other nations. The earliest poets of modern England, such as Wyatt and Surrey, were inspired by them; Spenser and Milton were ardent students of their works. During this period, consequently, we introduced from the Italian language many important words, among which may be mentioned _sonnet_, _opera_, _cupola_, _balcony_, _palette_.

(ii) =Spanish.=--At the same time we had even more intimate relations with Spain, though of a different kind. In the sixteenth century Spain was the leading nation of Europe. She had the best soldiers, the first generals and statesmen; her ships discovered America; and her kings aimed at universal dominion. As both friend and enemy, England was brought into close connection with the Spaniards. Under these circumstances we naturally adopted many words from them. While most of these were of Latin origin, not a few related to the new countries discovered and conquered by Spain in America. Among the Spanish words may be mentioned _buffalo_, _alligator_, _don_, _armada_, _indigo_, _potato_, _tobacco_. The last two are of American origin. The rest are Latin. _Alligator_ is of Latin origin, but is the name of an American animal.

4. =DUTCH WORDS.=--We have borrowed very few words from the Germans; but from the people of the Netherlands, who have always been near neighbours to us, we have derived not a few. Long ago, Flemings (or people of Flanders) were settled in Wales and Norfolk. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, thousands of Protestant refugees from Antwerp and other places in the Netherlands found an asylum in England. Since the rise of Holland we have had many dealings, both warlike and commercial, with the Dutch. All this accounts for the goodly number of Dutch words which we now find in the English language, such as _burgomaster_, _ballast_, _holster_, _trigger_, _yacht_, _yawl_.

5. It will have been clearly seen that there are two main elements in the English language--the Teutonic element, which is by far the most important; and the Latin element. It is interesting to trace the relative proportion of these two elements as used by the great English writers. In the seventeenth century, especially in such writers as Milton and Sir Thomas Browne, we find a large use of the Latin element, accompanied by a Latin or complex and involved structure of sentence. Towards the end of the century, and especially in the beginning of the eighteenth, during the period of Queen Anne, a simpler style prevailed, the classical element being more sparingly used. But as we proceed into the eighteenth century, the Latin part of the language is again more largely employed by such writers as Johnson, Gibbon, and Hume; and it is again accompanied by a more formal and elaborate structure of sentence. But before the century closes, there is a return to simplicity and naturalness.

6. In the present century there are many influences specially worth noting as affecting the language:

(i) =Social and Political Causes.=--Society is a complex thing, continually growing. New facts and ideas are perpetually making themselves felt, necessitating new words, or a more extending meaning in old words. In this province, then, changes in language are incessantly required. Hence the need for such new words as _extradition_, _neutralisation_, _secularisation_; even for such unhappy coinages as _burke_. On occasion of the great volunteer reviews of 1881, words like _entrain_ and _detrain_, applied to troops, could be noticed creeping in. _Closure_ and _clôture_ were rivals for currency during the debates of 1882; and _Boycott_ began to present serious claims to permanent citizenship in the English tongue.

(ii) =Popularising of Technical and Scientific Terms.=--One of the most marked features of the nineteenth century is the great diffusion of scientific knowledge, and the application of it to the uses of practical life. The highest scientific results are becoming common property; and the discoveries of science have been made to satisfy the common needs of men. The result is that terms once unknown or exclusively technical have gained the widest currency in the popular speech. There is no need to mention such familiar words as _telegraph_, _photograph_, or even _telephone_ or _photophone_. The old noun _wire_ has now established its right to be used as a verb. In other spheres such terms as _objective_, _subjective_, _æsthetics_, now fulfil important functions; _æsthete_ also seems too useful a word to be dispensed with.

(iii) =Revival of Archaisms.=--In many of our recent poets there has been a tendency to revive some of the old Spenserian or Shaksperian words. But as these are purely literary terms, with no currency in the common speech, they need not be dwelt on.

(iv) =Introduction of Scotticisms and Americanisms.=--The right of the Scottish tongue to be considered one of the worthiest varieties of the genuine old English or Saxon tongue is now generally recognised. But apart from that, the intrinsic merit of such words as _eerie_, _glamour_, _sough_, _bonnie_, _douce_ (both of which last, however, are of French origin), will probably secure them a permanent place in our language. The influence of America will also be more and more felt on the common English language, whether through its stock of old Saxon phrases which have been preserved in America, through the innovations made by its humorists, or the new experiences in its social and political life.

(v) =Further borrowing from Foreign Languages.=--Even the most remote and unlikely make important and familiar contributions to our tongue. From the Malays we have (along with the thing) borrowed the words _bamboo_, _gong_, _sago_; from the Australians we have _boomerang_ and _kangaroo_; and from South African tongues, _gnu_, _quagga_, _kraal_.