How Thou Language Hast Changed : Language Over Time
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| Alamy/Telegraph Edit |
So how did “thou” change into becoming “you?” Well language as itself is a creative form of expression that people use daily. Just like art and music which has also changed significantly over time, language can have the ability to change in many ways and forms. Many of these changes can occur in language learning, language contact, social differentiation or natural processes in usage. The way in which language is transformed and transmitted from one generation after the other is how language can change significantly, especially in the way words are inputted into a specific generation. Language can also be changed quite a lot between bilingual people or families. Certain words in another language can be used between bilingual people to make sense of what they are talking about.
According to Erin Mckean, a lexicographer, “The first way in which you can make new words in English is basically stealing them from other languages. Linguists call this borrowing, but we never give the words back.” Mckean goes into depth by describing how we use words from other languages to describe things that we like or find interesting that we must use another word to describe it. Over time, people from other countries that came to America brought with them a new generation of language that would later shape the way in which we describe things we like or are interesting in. And it does not just have to come from other languages in order to create new words. English compounding is another way in which language has changed. Going back to Shakespeare, particularly in the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare and others during his time did not bind themselves to the strict rules of grammar and modern times and created words from combining words together such as bi-fold or out-cept. From there, new words became appearing over time and becoming words we continue to use to this day.
In a way, language is just as creative and free forming as art or music. Since then, language has changed significantly resulting in new ways to express oneself with others. Language will continue to change and new words will be formed or discovered to communicate better with others around the world.
Shakespeare! Definitely one example of the more challenging authors of old-aged writings that we still study today. I agree that the influence between changes in the English language are definitely comprised of social changes. We do not experience the same everyday happenings as in the 1800s so the way we communicate would of course have to change. I also think it has to do with the proximity that we had to other languages meaning that root words of languages that are grouped together would sound more similar than different. Your last paragraph is more of an inference but it one that I can also see happening. Who knows, maybe one day our way of speaking will be the Shakespearean dialect of the future.
ReplyDeleteHm. I wonder who you're talking about in paragraph 1. Who thinks that Shakespeare didn't know what he was talking about? He's known to have been perceptive about the human experience, witty, and expert about writing about politics and now it can corrupt. I think what you mean is that modern, 21st century readers struggle with his phrasing because it sounds archaic?
ReplyDeleteYou're right that Shakespeare didn't have to follow perfect rules of an ever-changing language (esp. for someone known to have "coined" hundreds of words). If you think about drama and playwriting, and how language for performance was often lyrical, his decisions in his plays and poems makes brilliant, creative sense.
Just see how we adopt his work for today's audience. Romeo and Juliet has been done and redone for modern readers and audience. The Taming of the Shrew became "10 Things I Hate about You," and so forth.
Shakespeare is definitely a great example on how language has change over time. And I totally agree how language is similar to music and arts because of its creative form that is easy to manipulate. Social differentiation is a big reason on how language has changed over time. For example, there’s plenty of words in English that comes from Latin. In your last paragraph I do agree that language is creative and that sometime in the future the language will change, but how much will it change? Meaning will it be to a point where it’s not a “English” anymore or will it be downgrading to an informal language of English?
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