Language, Society, and Culture 4 pages

Standard English

Standard English

"Standard English is that variety of English which is usually used in print, and which is normally taught in schools and to non-native speakers learning the language. It is also the variety which is normally spoken by educated people and used in news broadcasts and other similar situations." (Trudgill, Sociolinguistics)

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

There are regional standards in lexical items:

American British

gas, elevator, truck petrol, lift, lorry

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

There are regional standards in spelling:

American British

color, jail, colour, gaol, generalization generalisation

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

There are regional standards in pronunciation:

American British

far, bird, tune “fah”, “buhd”, “tyune”

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

There are regional standards in pronunciation:

American British

far, bird, tune “fah”, “buhd”, “tyune”

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

Much is not codified! The most codified: spelling. But for pronunciation and grammar there is much variability within the “standard”.

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

There are disagreements. Who decides?

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

There are disagreements. Who decides?

Star Trek: “To boldly go where no man (1960s)/one (1980s) has gone before.”

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

There are disagreements. Who decides?

Is it OK to (boldly) split infinitives?

Some say yes, some no.

Ditto for who/whom, hopefully, “It is I”.

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

There are disagreements. Who decides?

Is it OK to (boldly) split infinitives?

Some say yes, some no.

Ditto for who/whom, hopefully, “It is I”.

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

Languages, including the standard, are constantly changing. Those interested in preserving a standard struggle to keep up.

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion…

Languages, including the standard, are constantly changing. Those interested in preserving a standard struggle to keep up.

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion.

• For most languages, for most of history, there is no standard. There are only dialects.

This does not mean people made no judgments about the speech of others. But there was no standard that was generally agreed on and imposed from 'above'.

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion.

• For most languages, for most of history, there is no standard. There are only dialects.

This does not mean people made no judgments about the speech of others. But there was no standard that was generally agreed on and imposed from 'above'.

Standard English

• Standard English is not a simple notion.

• For most languages, for most of history, there is no standard. There are only dialects.

• Dialects happen 'naturally', unconsciously; standards are consciously chosen or developed.

How a standard comes about

1) A dialect is “chosen”, or much less often, “created”.

It is most likely a previously existing dialect. But it might be a 'mix' of existing dialects not spoken by anybody!

How a standard comes about

1) A dialect is “chosen”.

English: London

French: Parisian

Italian: Tuscan

Russian: Moscow/St. Petersburg

What do you notice about all of these?

How a standard comes about

1) A dialect is “created”.

Norwegian:

Two standards, each one an amalgam of regional dialects.

How a standard comes about

1) A dialect is “chosen” or “created”.

2) Aspects of the dialect are codified: dictionaries and grammars. This is done by national academies, or by a mishmash of authorities, appointed or self-appointed.

French: Language Academy

How a standard comes about

1) A dialect is “chosen” or “created”.

2) Aspects of the dialect are codified: dictionaries and grammars. This is done by national academies, or by a mishmash of authorities, appointed or self-appointed.

Italian: Dante

How a standard comes about

1) A dialect is “chosen” or “created”.

2) Aspects of the dialect are codified: dictionaries and grammars. This is done by national academies, or by a mishmash of authorities, appointed or self-appointed.

Russian: Pushkin, Academy of Sciences

The Rise of Standard English

The Rise of Standard English

• English has never had an academy. Codification of a standard has been the gradual work of self-appointed people writing dictionaries and grammar books.

The Rise of Standard English

• Before the 15th century, English was a collection of dialects with no real standard. (Now it’s a collection of dialects with some standardization.)

The Rise of Standard English

• There was a cultural and political capital, though: London. Culture and political power mean prestige. Therefore, prestige was associated with London English.

The Rise of Standard English

• The rise of typeset printing meant literature could be disseminated to a degree never before seen. More than ever before, this begged the question of a standard.

Typeset printing in England

Brought to English by William Caxton, who printed the frst book in English around 1475.

Typeset printing in England

Brought to English by William Caxton, who printed the frst book in English around 1475.

Caxton struggled with...

Typeset printing in England

Brought to English by William Caxton, who printed the frst book in English around 1475.

Caxton struggled with...

1) Spelling. There was no standard of spelling. People often spelled as they pronounced.

Typeset printing in England

Brought to English by William Caxton, who printed the frst book in English around 1475.

Caxton struggled with...

1) Spelling. There was no standard of spelling. People often spelled as they pronounced.

2) Vocabulary. With much dialectal variation, it was hard to choose words that would be understood by everyone. Also, English lacked words for some technical, literary, cultural ideas.

Typeset printing in England

Brought to English by William Caxton, who printed the frst book in English around 1475.

Caxton struggled with...

3) Changing English.

The Rise of Standard English

• The 18th century was an important time in the standardization of English.

-Samuel Johnson's dictionary, a first

-Various grammars begin appearing A favorite: Bishop Robert Lowth's A Short Introduction to English Grammar

The Rise of Standard English

• Why the 18th century? -Colonialism (standards "across distance and time")

-Nationalism (standard English as a national symbol)

-Spread of literacy and printing

-Increasing rise of the middle class

The Rise of Standard English

An ever-emerging middle class becomes a market for grammars: essentially, guides to speaking "better” and hence upward mobility.

The sources of Standard English

1) Properties of London English

2) Grammar writers like Bishop Robert Lowth, who wrote A Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762).

3) Rules of Latin

Why Latin?

-Impressive and infuential literature.

-A literary language, and even a dead one, so less variability.

-Used throughout the Middle Ages for scholarly work.

-A rich system of word formation: cases, conjugations, etc., and a tradition of grammatical terminology that came with it.

Some Examples…

Don’t strand prepositions!

Wrong: That’s the house I live in. Right: That’s the house in which I live.

(where)

Source: Bishop Lowth and other grammar writers.

Why? Probably because they weren’t stranded in Latin.

Some Examples…

But English had been stranding prepositions for centuries before this.

I am a fool to weep at what I am glad of. (Shakespeare, The Tempest)

Some Examples…

But English had been stranding prepositions for centuries before this.

Famous quote by Winston Churchill, who saw that not stranding often leads to awkward prose: “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.”

Some Examples…

Don't split infnitives!

Wrong: to boldly go Right: to go boldly

Source: Grammars of the 19th century.

Why? Probably because it isn’t split in Latin. (Do you know why?)

Some Examples…

English had been splitting infnitives for centuries too.

…without permitting himself to actually mention the name (Matthew Arnold, cited in Who cares about English Usage, Trudgill.

Some Examples…

Not splitting them can lead to ambiguity:

a. Fred clearly hoped to signal him. b. Fred hoped to clearly signal him. c. Fred hoped clearly to signal him.

Some Examples…

No double negatives!

Wrong: I didn’t do nothin’. Right: I didn’t do anything.

Source: 18th century grammars, such as Lowth’s.

Why? Latin didn’t do it. It’s “illogical”?

Possible reasons to prescribe

• Standardization: efficient communication

• Clarity; logic. • Etymology; tradition. • Beauty • Elitism?