Causes of Changes in the English Language
Background and Origin of English
English as a language originated by the Germanic tribes, who were three in number. The tribes were the Saxons, the Jutes, and the Angles. They all came from the present land Denmark and Northern Germany. Angles originated from “Englaland,” their linguistic was known as “Englisc” where the word “England” and “English” are derived. The three who invaded present-day Britain were speaking similar languages. These would later be transformed into old English.
For many years, spoken English language has dramatically evolved from the first spoken till now. This has been mainly attributed to several factors which some are known to us, and various linguists also discuss some. They took their time to look at the multiple patterns to help them understand the factors causing these changes in spoken English from the original English spoken in the 4th and 5th centuries.
Variation and alteration of the language feature over time are known as a Language change. Below are some reasons that led to a change in the English spoken from the old to the new:
- Environmental factors: words and how they are constructed are generally borrowed from different languages. The environment contributes immensely to the change in spoken English. Exposures the society get automatically influence their diction and choice of words to be used and added into their daily vocabulary.
- Education level: we have various forms of English which are taught in schools, be it American or British English. These affect the way English will be spoken mainly when it comes to the pronunciation of the vowel letters hence making the two differ from each other and, in a way, distorts the English diction.
- Cultural Environment: some cultures feel English is Colonial and Racial, so they tend to reject it on that basis altogether. For instance, the Afrikaners and the Nigerians have their way of speaking English, which is different from the original and modern English.
- Migration and Movement: as people move from one place to another, they are continually mingling with new tribes and language speaking communities, which in turn affect their vocabulary. They usually tend to pick some of the spoken words by other tribes and add them to their vocabulary. With time, this becomes their part of speech and, as a result, leads to change in spoken English.
- Social prestige: talking of this state, we can focus on the chat mates and see how they relate. Some of the groups have a specific unique vocabulary for easy identification from the other groups. These unique vocabularies are also purported to be English. As a result, there is an infusion of the “Slung” into spoken English, leading to a more significant change.
These are the major causes of the change in Spoken English in modern settings. Some consider the old form of spoken English to be monotonous. Hence, a new way of English needs to be introduced to add the flavor into spoken English.
References
Bernadine Racoma. (2013). Reasons and Motivations for Change in the English Language.
Lewis, G. (1999), The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wardhaugh, R. (1986). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Oxford/New York.