History of English Language - Questions and Answers (5 Marks)

Literary Criticism and History of English Language

(Marks – 05)

Eng. (Hons.) – Semester –VI (DSE – 04)

01. Discuss the origin of English language.

Answer: English, a language having a place with the Germanic part of the Indo-European language family, is broadly spoken on six countries. The primary language of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and various Caribbean and Pacific islands, it is an official language of India, the Philippines and many sub-Saharan African countries. It is perhaps the most broadly communicated in dialects on the planet (about 1.5 billion speakers), the primary language of in excess of 350 million individuals, and the most generally taught foreign language. English basically relies on word order (usually subject-verb-object) to indicate the relationship between words (see syntax). Written in the Latin alphabet, it is most closely related to Phrygian, German and Dutch. Its history began in the 5th and 6th centuries with the migration of jute, corn and Saxons from Germany and Denmark to Britain. The Norman Conquest of 1066 brought many French words into English. Greek and Latin words started to enter the fifteenth century, and current English generally started during the 1500s. English effectively gets words from different dialects and has made many new words to mirror the headway of innovation.

2. What is the ‘semantic change’ in English? Give an example.

Answer: In semantics and authentic etymology, semantic change alludes to any adjustment of the importance of a word over the long run. It has also been called semantic transfer, lexical change, and lexical progression. Normal kinds of semantic changes incorporate improvement, porosity, extension, semantic narrowing, metaphor, and metonymy.

Semantic changes can likewise happen when local speakers of different dialects take on English articulations and apply them to exercises or conditions in their own social environment.

Examples and observations of semantic change

"There are two notable instances of semantic changes since the Vietnam War, when the falcon was habitually utilized for allies of the conflict and the pigeon for its adversaries. And bookmarks use Internet addresses. These new meanings do not replace the previous ones but increase the range of application of the words mouse and bookmark. "

"Like any etymological change, a lexical change isn't cultivated meanwhile by all people from a talk neighborhood. Advancement enters a language and spreads through the discourse local area in a socially characterized line. The first importance of a structure isn't quickly uprooted.

Furthermore, "Semantic change doesn't mean each difference in significance, yet the expansion of an importance to the semantic framework or the deficiency of significance from the semantic framework when the structure is fixed."

3. What is the role of metaphor in changing semantics?

Answer: "Metaphor asserts advancements to the meaning of a word that suggests a semantic equivalence or association between new resources and roots. Metaphor is considered a major cause of semantic change ... Understand semantic change" " One such leap can be seen, from the physical domain ('possession') to the mental domain ('understanding') ...: Dispose, do to someone, liquidate, terminate, take care of, eliminate, and others.”

4. What is 'standardization' of English language?

Answer: Language adaptation is the process by which conventional forms of a language are established and maintained. It occurs as the development of a language that occurs naturally within a speech community or as an effort by community members to impose dialect diversity as standard. Language adaptation is therefore the process of maintaining and establishing the conventional form of a language. Standardization is required to establish an agreed orthography through communication. Standardization is related to linguistic forms such as corpus planning, which means selection and codification as well as status planning such as implementation and dissemination of social and communicative functions of language. Standard languages are also controversial projects and the process of standardization is the development of specific discourse practices and these discourses provide a desire for uniformity and precision in the use of language.

5. Discuss the standardization process in English.

Answer: English is derived from the Roman alphabet which was brought by the Christian missionaries of England-Saxon England (in the 600s). Monks, written in Old English, have added new words that cannot be written to represent Anglo-Saxon words with the Roman alphabet. At the moment, there is no standard orthography or word spelling as the language changes rapidly. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, English was replaced by French and the language was used to write documents related to law and government. The Scribes were trained in French, and they used different spelling rules than in previous scripts in England-Saxon England. During this time writing was used not only for religious purposes but also for official purposes. With the improvement of printing in the 1400s, English became the language used for keeping financial and legal records and for bureaucracy. As the publishing industry has evolved, it has pushed for a series of spellings to simplify their process. The need for economic profit drives publishers to standardize language. The process of development of England as a Protestant country had an impact on the spelling and adaptation of English. Therefore, the national identity was the motivation behind the adoption of language. King James’ Bible became the standard Bible and its spellings set the standard for written English. The production of dictionaries in the eighteenth century further standardized the language.

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👉 Masculinity of the English language

👉 Semantic Changes in English Language