By the end of the 15th century, English was the language of state and was carrying its messages in an increasingly uniform spelling. But it was during the 16th century that English would become the language that we know today.
In 1524, William Tyndale, an Oxford scholar, going against the Roman Catholic church and the king, printed a bible in English. We still use many of the powerful expressions that first appeared in this bible: “the powers that be”, “the apple of his eye”, “a man after his own heart”, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”, “broken-hearted”, “stumbling block”, “eat, drink and be merry”.
His bible is considered one of the finest examples of English writing and had an enormous influence on the 1611 “Authorised” or King James Bible.
After 1588, the country began to trade more with the outside world and another 10,000-12,000 words came into the language this way, including “bamboo” (from Malay), “curry” (from Tamil), “guru” (from Hindi).
Medical knowledge was growing in leaps and bounds at this time and once again Latin made an impact on English. Medical scholars went back to Latin to name their discoveries. “Thermometer”, “capsule”, “tonic” and “virus” made their appearance at this time.
Even today we go back to Latin words for medicine and technology: “insulin”, “internet”, “audio”, and “video” are all Latin words.
Shakespeare’s contribution
Over 2,000 of our words today were first recorded in Shakespeare’s plays and poems. Some words were obviously in general use, but he was the first person to write them down. He also invented a lot of words. He had a vocabulary of over 21,000 words; an educated person today would have maybe 10,000.
We have to thank Shakespeare for some expressions which are still useful today: to refuse to “budge an inch”, “in one fell swoop”, vanish into “thin air”, “mind’s eye”, “cruel only to be kind”, “more in sorrow than in anger”, “to be in a pickle”, “play fast and loose”, “flesh and blood”, “tower of strength”, “a foregone conclusion”, “there are more things in heaven and earth”, to list just a few.
To America
Escaping religious persecution in Britain, the protestant Pilgrim Fathers escaped to America in 1620. English began to take root on another continent.
The language was surprisingly not much influenced by the Native American languages that it came into contact with. Native words were sometimes retained for place names and for animals like “moose”, “raccoon” and “skunk”. More words entered English from the Spanish settlers – “barbecue”, “chocolate”, “plaza”.
American English slowly but surely began to develop its own character. The meanings of words changed: the word “lumber” for instance meant “rubbish” in London, but meant “wood” in America.
There was a great pride in the language and The American Declaration of Independence (1776) is considered one of the masterpieces of English: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
Unfortunately, not all men were equal at this time, as the institution of slavery still existed. However, English was immeasurably enriched by its interactions with the African slaves. We have them and their descendants to thank for ‘cool’ words like “samba”, “nitty gritty”, “badmouth”, “jazz”, “rap” (the music), “hip” (trendy), “chick” (girl).
After English had been in America for 200 years, Noah Webster, a schoolteacher and spelling fanatic, was determined to make its spelling more logical. He published his famous dictionary in 1828 and got rid of the “u” in “colour” and “honour”; “plough” became “plow”; “theatre” and “centre” became “theater” and “center”.
Not all American English modernises British English. Americans say “fall” for autumn, just as the English used to, and they use “gotten” which was changed over time in Britain to “got”. Americans use “I guess” – just as Chaucer did.
Nowadays, it is estimated that 4,000 words are used differently in British and American English: lift/elevator, dustbin/garbage can, biscuit/cookie, cot/crib, skive/loaf, full stop/period. A good dictionary will indicate the differences by putting (AmE) or (BrE) in brackets after the word.
Julie Ho is a training consultant at the British Council’s Professional Development Unit at British Council Malaysia. The PDU offers a range of courses to help you with your English such as “Say it Clearly”, a pronunciation course, and “Business Writing Essentials’’. For more information, contact the British Council or visit www.britishcouncil.org.my
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