Modern English: Evolution, Variations, and Influences

Posted on Jul 8, 2024 in Music

Modern English (ModE): 18th, 19th, 20th Centuries

Modern English’s effect on language has not been revolutionary in terms of grammar. However, there has been significant growth in vocabulary due to advancements in science and technology.

1. Sources of New Words

a. Borrowing

Words are borrowed directly from other languages:

  • French: aperitif, chauffeur, consommé
  • Italian: ciao, confetti
  • Spanish: bonanza, canyon, patio, rodeo, barrio
  • Mexican Spanish: chili (dates back to Early Modern English), enchilada, fajita, taco
  • Asia: Karma (India), pyjamas (Persia), yin-yang (China), samurai

b. Self-Explaining Compounds

One of the oldest methods in English (especially in Old English):

  • Fire extinguisher
  • Lipstick
  • Jet propulsion
  • Jet lag
  • Greenhouse effect
  • Acid rain
  • Junk food

c. Latin and Greek Compounds

Especially prevalent in science and medicine (highly used in Early Modern English):

  • Telescope: Greek ‘tele’ (far) and ‘skopos’ (watch)
  • Television: Greek ‘tele’ (far) and Latin ‘vision’
  • Periscope: Greek ‘peri’ (around) and ‘skopos’ (watch)

d. Prefixation and Suffixation

Adding prefixes and suffixes to existing words (especially Latin prefixes):

  • TRANS ‘beyond’ → Transoceanic, trans-Siberian, transliterate, transformer
  • POST ‘after’ → Postclassical, postgraduate
  • PRE ‘before’ → Prenatal, preschool, prehistoric, preheat
  • COUNTER (from Latin ‘contra’ via French) → Counterintelligence

e. Coinage

When a new word is created or invented:

  • Kodak (used to refer to any type of camera, cf. Spanish ‘Danone’, any type of yogurt)
  • Kleenex (it’s a brand, but refers to any element of its kind)

f. Acronyms

Combining the initial letters of words:

  • Radar (Radio Detecting And Ranging)
  • Scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus)

g. Blends

Acronyms created by analogy to existing words:

  • Brunch (Breakfast + Lunch)
  • Electrocute (electricity + execute)
  • Dictaphone (dictate + telephone)

h. Common Words from Proper Names

The names of places and people become common nouns:

  • Sandwich: the Earl of Sandwich, on one occasion, put slices of meat between pieces of bread.
  • Tabasco: sauce from the Tabasco River in Mexico
  • Camembert (from a village in France)

2. Semantic Change

Extension

Widening of a word’s meaning, covering more than the original, core meaning:

  • Lovely: originally ‘worthy to be loved’, nowadays used to express approval: ‘beautiful, charming’
  • Great: originally ‘great in size’, nowadays used to express approval: ‘fantastic’

Narrowing

The word gradually acquires a restricted and specialized meaning:

  • Doctor: originally a learned person in any discipline (law, theology, medicine…), but nowadays applies to medicine.
  • Tank: originally a container for liquid, but after WWII, a war machine.
  • Gas: any type of gas, but currently used for gas in the kitchen/cars.
  • Prohibition: any kind of prohibition, but in the USA it has the meaning of the prohibition of alcohol during the 1920s.

Degeneration

Gradual extension to so many meanings that the original meaning is lost:

  • Lovely, great (see Extension)
  • Awful: originally ‘full of awe’ [imponente, sobrecogedor], but currently ‘horrible’ and also as an intensifier ‘he is an awful snob’.
  • Terrible: originally ‘causing terror, terrifying’ but currently ‘horrible’ and also as an intensifier ‘he is a terrible snob’.

Regeneration

Sometimes, slang and negative meanings get a new, positive meaning and become standard:

  • Sturdy: originally ‘harsh, rough’, but currently ‘robust’.

ModE: American English

1. Settlement of America

  • 17th century onwards: Colonists from England settled along the Atlantic seaboard.
  • Language spoken in England: Shakespeare’s England (Great Vowel Shift had taken place)
  • Early settlements: New England area (ENE: Eastern New England dialect)
  • 19th century: Settlers from Ireland and Germany
  • End of the 19th century: From Norway and Sweden, also Southern Europe and Slavic countries
  • Early 20th century: Italy
  • 17th – 19th centuries: Slave trade from Africa (AAVE: African American Vernacular English)
  • Mid 20th century: Hispanic (HAE: Hispanic American English)

2. “Archaic” Features of AmE

AmE has retained some features of BrE brought by the 17th-century settlers.

Phonology

  • Preservation of “r” in General American: car, start
  • Flat “a”: fast, path

Morphology

  • AmE gotten (cf. BrE regularized got)

Lexicon

  • AmE mad “angry” (as in Shakespeare) vs. BrE “crazy”
  • AmE sick “ill” vs. BrE “nausea, vomiting”
  • AmE fall, BrE autumn

3. Noah Webster and AmE

Webster (1758-1843): influence on AmE. After the War of Independence (1775-1783): nationalistic feeling about Webster’s ‘A Grammatical Institute of the English Language’ (1783) and ‘An American Dictionary of the English Language’ (1828).

Webster’s Influence on Spelling

  • -or (vs. -our): honor, color
  • -er (vs. -re): center, theater, fiber, favor
  • -se (vs. -ce) spelling: defense, offense, practise (BrE practice vs. practise)
  • Other differences in spelling: -ize (vs. -ise): organize, recognize, realize

4. Pronunciation of ‘a’

  • BrE and New England AmE: broad ‘a’ /a:/
  • General American: flat ‘a’ /æ/ fast, path, grass, dance, can’t, half

5. Pronunciation of ‘r’: Rhotacism

6. Labov and Rhotic Varieties

  • NY dialect, similar to New England’s dialect, is non-rhotic.
  • Higher classes will show rhotacism.
  • Lower classes will NOT show rhotacism.

7. Pronunciation of ‘o’

Examples: not, lot, hot, top.

  • BrE and New England AmE: /ɒ/ : open ‘o’ pronounced with the lips rounded.
  • General American: /ɑ/: unrounding, the short equivalent of the ‘a’ in father.

ModE: British English; Varieties

2. Modern Dialects of England

  • Trudgill (1999) The Dialects of England
  • 16 types of dialects in England
  • But 2 major splits: North vs. South

North

  • Central
  • Northern

South

  • Southwest: rhotic arm /ɑːrm/
  • Southeast: non-rhotic arm /ɑːm/