The Rise and Growth of Standard English

THE RISE AND GROWTH OF STANDARD ENGLISH
Introduction
It is not easy to define what Standard English is but it is easy to understand that Standard English
is from 'Standardized English'. The former is the kind of model to be followed while the latter will be
unnatural without scope for creativity. No language can be standardised if it has to enjoy a free
existence. But there are certain standards to distinguish superior and inferior varieties of English.
In the growth of the English language, there has always been the race to reach the prominent
place among the dialects of various regions. In such a race from among the Anglo-Saxon dialects, we
have found the West Saxon or Wessex dialect in the region governed by the Great King Albert winning.
This was because of a stable government there and because it enjoyed the privilege of being the
language of prolific literary output. During the Middle English period, the East Midland dialect became
popular for various reasons. This was because it was spoken around London, the centre of English life.
Oxford and Cambridge used it making it the language of scholarship. Chaucer and other writers
employed it, establishing it as a literary dialect; and finally, Caxton used it for printing his books.
The interactions of people of different regions and sections of the society led to the awareness of
the language being used by each section or class of people. Naturally there arose the comparison of the
types of languages used in order to follow a model or Standard English to get social recognition. This
social consciousness gave rise to the concept of Standard English.
Language is a medium of communication whose primary concern is on what is being
communicated. After all every language is capable of conveying what is to be communicated. The
question of standard comes up only when we consider how something is conveyed and which is the
right way of communication to be accepted as having 'good quality'.
What is Standard English?
In his Short History of English Professor H. C. Wyld defined Standard English as the language
spoken within certain social boundaries, with an extraordinary degree of uniformity, all over the
country. This definition established the fact that the distinction between those who spoke Standard
English and those who did not was originally a social one just as it remains day also. Though the social
barriers are breaking down, the speaking of non-Standard English definitely places a person outside the
social class of Standard English speakers.
Professor Daniel Jones presents a more explicit definition; it (Standard English) is the most
usually heard in every day speech in the families of Southern England whose men-folk have been
educated at the great public schools. Professor Jones definition clearly states what the social class is
with additional information of the locality of the class. However, Standard English not confined today to
England alone but is distributed all over the world. But Jones definition reveals two significant facts
about the nature of the emergence of Standard English.
(i) It is the English of Southern England.
(ii) It is the language of the cultured and educated classes.
Standards are set in spelling, pronunciation, grammar and the right choice of words. Dictionaries
and grammar books have to identify and learn the right spelling, right accent, the correct use and
appropriate words. All these criteria of orthography, phonetics, syntax and grammar and the appropriate
choice of vocabulary go into the composition of acceptable on Standard language.
Development of Standard English

There had been several forces that had gone into the making of Standard English. Standard
English has emerged as a natural product of certain historical, cultural and social factors. The dialects of
Old English and Middle English were subjected to vast changes in pronunciation and grammar because
there were mostly spoken forms. Even when they were written the reading was much limited with low
circulation of manuscripts.
At the advent of Modern English the language of the East Midland rose to prominence and it got
more or less fixed with reference to its spelling and subsequently pronunciation and in grammar also
by the aid of the printed books. Books printed in large numbers made it possible to follow the language
used in them in amore or less uniform way by many. At this stage of the early development of Modern
English the language was still undergoing changes in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and to some
extent in spelling as well. But the accelerating forces of changes were curbed to a great extent by the use
of the printed medium which multiplied copies of writing in great speed. When changes did occur they
occurred uniformly through this medium.
The contribution of the Authorised Version of the Bible is monolithic in setting a standard for
English. This was the single book used every day at home and in the church and its diction and a very
strong hold on the users of the English language. The commonwealth period cultivated a dignified mode
of speech and helped to mould the character of the language for the next two hundred years.
The Renaissance no doubt enriched the language, but it gave room for the emergence of an
artificial pseudo-classical style. This was largely checked by the Puritans who maintained a standard of
their own which had a long standing influence on developing Standard English.
Dr Johnsons Dictionary in the eighteenth century made a double service towards the formation
of Standard English.
(i) It reduced the chaotic system of spelling and got the English spelling fixed and
(ii) It made a distinction of reputable and low words and thereby established the cleavage between
good English and not so good English
Towards the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of eighteenth century, many of the English
writers felt the need for an Academy of Letters as in France so that there could be an authoritative body
to fix some standard for the language and its vocabulary. Even Dr Johnson in compiling his dictionary
had a prescriptive attitude towards the use of English language. Though in the beginning he shared the
opinion of the other writers to form an Academy he soon became convinced that it was not feasible and
that it was against the spirit of English liberty and opposed the idea stoutly. However, the eighteenth
century dictionaries held it as their mission to distinguish between correct and not correct expressions.
The dictum of the eighteenth century was that use should be made to conform to the precept. This
fundamentally unsound and scientific attitude contributed very little to the development of Standard
English. The flaw was in trying to standardise English on the false assumption that Greek and Latin
literature had vitality and immortality through the standardised or methodised language.
The following century was the age of individualism which developed the theories of evolution
and a scientific quest. The idea of setting and Academy never gained sympathy during this time.
However, Matthew Arnold was in favour of influential centres of correct information. This great
period of English expansion, Empire building and commercial development exerted both broadening
and restrictive effects on the language.
On the one hand the vocabulary was considerably enlarged
through foreign contacts and on the other hand the development of science and social theory led to new
recourse to classical tongues for the formation of words of an academic and technical nature. The latter
tendency encountered a reaction. The national consciousness gave rise to a movement for the
purification of the language by excluding foreign terms and replacing them by words of native origin.
This is markedly found in Tennyson. He attempted how to give currency to some of the good old
English words that had become archaic. Eg. brand (sword), boon, purblind, spate, behave, deem, etc.
William Morris was another purist. He wanted the well-established words omnibus and
dictionary to be replaced by folkwain and word-book respectively. The purist movement helped to
preserve the predominance of native elements and checked the unnecessary recourse to foreign style.
But the drastic reforms of Morris met with failure while Tennysons new words such as handbook (in
the place of older manual) and foreword (instead of preface) have survived without ousting their
alternative terms.
Of the four distinct aspects of language, namely (i) vocabulary (ii) spelling (iii) grammar and (iv)
pronunciation, the first three had been the focus of attention in the earliest move towards
standardization. Pronunciation has become more or less uniform only comparatively recently.
It must be remembered that there are always two opposing tendencies towards language. One is
the conservative tendency to preserve the language in its original form and the other is the liberalized
progressive view to allow the language to grow with the various influences on it. In English, it is the
second tendency which actually preserves the spirit and tradition of the past. The English tongue has
reached its present position because its ancestors were open to change and were ready to accept and
naturalise foreign elements. They had tolerance to new tendencies in style, grammar and pronunciation.
The present age has adopted a common sense attitude of compromise. It admits that precept is
determined by practice; grammar by usage and in an enlightened sense retains its conservative position.
This healthy outlook preserves the originality of the language, by not allowing passing whims and
fancies or arbitrary departures from long accepted correct usage to gain currency. But at the same time
allows novelty by recognising as legitimate English any innovation which has come to say. Obviously,
there are intermediate stages when the old and the new are regarded as equally acceptable. That is how
we get the alternative spellings judgement and judgement and the alternative pronunciation of
controversy, respite, etc. at the present time.

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THE RISE AND GROWTH OF STANDARD ENGLISH

Development of Standard English

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