A History of English Language

Recommendations

Info

A history of the english language 196 WILLIAM BULLOKAR’S BOOKE AT LARGE (1580) (see § 156) This was clearly perceived by Richard Mulcaster, the teacher of Spenser, whose Elementarie (1582), “which entreateth chefelie of the right writing of our English tung,” is the most extensive and the most important treatise on English spelling in the sixteenth
The renaissance, 1500-1650 197 century. Mulcaster’s great virtue is his moderation. He saw the futility of trying to make English spelling phonetic in any scientific sense. He was therefore willing to compromise between the ideal and the practical. He did not believe that the faults of English spelling were so desperate that they could be removed only by desperate remedies. The way to correct an existing difftculty was not to substitute a new and greater one. This seemed to him to be the effect of all those proposals that took into consideration only the sound of words. Even at its best, he did not think that spelling could ever perfectly represent sound. The differences between one sound and another were often too subtle. “Letters,” he says, “can expresse sounds withall their joynts & properties no fuller then the pencill can the form & lineaments of the face.” It was inevitable, he thought, that the same letter must sometimes be used for different sounds, but this was no worse than to use the same word, as we often do, in very different senses. Another difficulty that he saw was that pronunciation constantly changes. These were his theoretical reasons for refusing to go along with the phonetic reformers. His practical reason was that their systems were too cumbersome ever to be accepted. “But sure I take the thing to be to combersom and inconvenient,…where no likeliehood of anie profit at all doth appear in sight.” Every attempt to force people against established custom “hath alwaie mist, with losse of labor where it offered service.” The basis of his reform, therefore, was custom or usage. This he defines not as the practice of the ignorant, but that “wherein the skilfull and best learned do agre.” “The use & custom of our cuntrie hath allredie chosen a kinde of penning wherein she hath set down hir relligion, hir lawes, hir privat and publik dealings.” This cannot now be completely changed, although it can be pruned “so that the substance maie remain, and the change take place in such points onelie as maie please without noveltie and profit without forcing.” “I will therefor do my best,” he says, “to confirm our custom in his own right, which will be easilie obtained where men be acquainted with the matter allredie and wold be verie glad to se wherein the right of their writing standeth.” In making usage his point of departure he does not ignore sound; he merely insists that it shall not be given an undue share of attention. We must use common sense and try to remove defects in the existing system, not substitute a new one. He thinks ease and convenience in writing should be considered, for popular approval is the final authority. Only a general goodness, not perfection in each detail, can be expected. No set of rules can cover all points; some things must be left to observation and daily practice. We cannot enter into the details of his system here but must be content with a statement of his general aims. He would first of all get rid of superfluous letters. There is no use in writing putt, grubb, ledd for put, grub, led, “and a thowsand such ignorant superfluities.” On the other hand, we must not omit necessary letters such as the t in fetch or scratch. He allows double consonants only where they belong to separate syllables (wit-ting), and almost never at the end of a word except in the case of ll (tall, generall). Words ending in -ss he writes -sse (glasse, confesse). Otherwise final -e is used regularly to indicate a preceding long vowel, distinguishing made from mad, stripe from strip, and at the end of words ending in the sound of v or z (deceive, love, wise). An e is added to words that end in a lightly pronounced i: daie, maie, trewlie, safetie; but when the i is sounded “loud and sharp” it is spelled y: deny, cry, defy. Analogy, or as he calls it, “proportion,” plays a justly important part in his system. Since we write hear, we should therefore write fear and dear. This principle, he admits, is subject to exceptions that must
Page 2 and 3:
A History of the English Language F
Page 4 and 5:
A History of the English Language F
Page 6 and 7:
Contents Preface viii 1 English Pre
Page 9 and 10:
Preface Before the present author e
Page 11 and 12:
PHONETIC SYMBOLS [a] in father [a]
Page 13 and 14:
1 English Present and Future 1. The
Page 15 and 16:
English present and future 3 4. The
Page 17 and 18:
English present and future 5 increa
Page 19 and 20:
English present and future 7 French
Page 21 and 22:
English present and future 9 learne
Page 23 and 24:
English present and future 11 words
Page 25 and 26:
English present and future 13 our t
Page 27 and 28:
English present and future 15 World
Page 29 and 30:
The Indo-European family of languag
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Old english 39 extended beyond a pr
Page 53 and 54:
Old english 41 hundred towns, with
Page 55 and 56:
Old english 43 whom almost certainl
Page 57 and 58:
Old english 45 36. The Names “Eng
Page 59 and 60:
Old english 47 39. The Dialects of
Page 61 and 62:
Old english 49 fæger (fair), or s
Page 63 and 64:
Old english 51 present the inflecti
Page 65 and 66:
Old english 53 While the ordinary m
Page 67 and 68:
Old english 55 The origin of the de
Page 69 and 70:
Old english 57
Page 71 and 72:
Old english 59 ‘proudly’, and t
Page 73 and 74:
Old english 61 a saddle, the shield
Page 75 and 76:
Old english 63 people. The literatu
Page 77 and 78:
Old english 65 history of the rest
Page 79 and 80:
4 Foreign Influences on Old English
Page 81 and 82:
Foreign influences on old english 6
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
The norman conquest and the subject
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
The reestablishment of english, 120
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158: The reestablishment of english, 120
Page 159 and 160: Middle english 147 and adjective ma
Page 161 and 162: Middle english 149 is clear that th
Page 163 and 164: Middle english 151 While an occasio
Page 165 and 166: Middle english 153 mations has been
Page 167 and 168: Middle english 155 the reality of M
Page 169 and 170: Middle english 157 the French words
Page 171 and 172: Middle english 159 brandish, vanqui
Page 173 and 174: Middle english 161 all the words in
Page 175 and 176: Middle english 163 whether found in
Page 177 and 178: Middle english 165 English vocabula
Page 179 and 180: Middle english 167 English word occ
Page 181 and 182: Middle english 169 French: forcover
Page 183 and 184: Middle english 171 142. Latin Borro
Page 185 and 186: Middle english 173 far this affecta
Page 187 and 188: Middle english 175 native populatio
Page 189 and 190: Middle english 177 the Middle Engli
Page 191 and 192: Middle english 179 148. The Rise of
Page 193 and 194: Middle english 181 the precise form
Page 195 and 196: Middle english 183 leef or tweyne,
Page 197 and 198: Middle english 185 phonology and mo
Page 199 and 200: 8 The Renaissance, 1500-1650 152. C
Page 201 and 202: The renaissance, 1500-1650 189 bein
Page 203 and 204: The renaissance, 1500-1650 191 disc
Page 205 and 206: The renaissance, 1500-1650 193 well
Page 207: The renaissance, 1500-1650 195 That
Page 211 and 212: The renaissance, 1500-1650 199 I la
Page 213 and 214: The renaissance, 1500-1650 201 expr
Page 215 and 216: The renaissance, 1500-1650 203 they
Page 217 and 218: The renaissance, 1500-1650 205 your
Page 219 and 220: The renaissance, 1500-1650 207 160.
Page 221 and 222: The renaissance, 1500-1650 209 anac
Page 223 and 224: The renaissance, 1500-1650 211 word
Page 225 and 226: The renaissance, 1500-1650 213 seve
Page 227 and 228: The renaissance, 1500-1650 215 of t
Page 229 and 230: The renaissance, 1500-1650 217 rein
Page 231 and 232: The renaissance, 1500-1650 219 heap
Page 233 and 234: The renaissance, 1500-1650 221 occu
Page 235 and 236: The renaissance, 1500-1650 223 Such
Page 239 and 240: The renaissance, 1500-1650 227 sugg
Page 241 and 242: The renaissance, 1500-1650 229 It m
Page 243 and 244: The renaissance, 1500-1650 231 spea
Page 247 and 248: The renaissance, 1500-1650 235 good
Page 249 and 250: The renaissance, 1500-1650 237 Sixt
Page 251 and 252: The appeal to authority, 1650-1800
Page 259 and 260:
The appeal to authority, 1650-1800
Page 261 and 262:
Page 263 and 264:
Page 265 and 266:
Page 267 and 268:
Page 269 and 270:
Page 271 and 272:
Page 273 and 274:
Page 275 and 276:
Page 277 and 278:
Page 279 and 280:
Page 281 and 282:
Page 283 and 284:
Page 285 and 286:
Page 287 and 288:
Page 289 and 290:
Page 291 and 292:
10 The Nineteenth Century and After
Page 293 and 294:
The nineteenth century and after 28
Page 295 and 296:
Page 297 and 298:
Page 299 and 300:
Page 301 and 302:
Page 303 and 304:
Page 305 and 306:
Page 307 and 308:
Page 309 and 310:
Page 311 and 312:
Page 313 and 314:
Page 315 and 316:
Page 317 and 318:
Page 319 and 320:
Page 321 and 322:
Page 323 and 324:
Page 325 and 326:
Page 327 and 328:
Page 329 and 330:
Page 331 and 332:
Page 333 and 334:
Page 335 and 336:
Page 337 and 338:
Page 339 and 340:
Page 341 and 342:
Page 343 and 344:
11 The English Language in America
Page 345 and 346:
The english language in america 333
Page 347 and 348:
Page 349 and 350:
Page 351 and 352:
Page 353 and 354:
Page 355 and 356:
Page 357 and 358:
Page 359 and 360:
Page 361 and 362:
Page 363 and 364:
Page 365 and 366:
Page 367 and 368:
Page 369 and 370:
Page 371 and 372:
Page 373 and 374:
Page 375 and 376:
Page 377 and 378:
Page 379 and 380:
Page 381 and 382:
Page 383 and 384:
Page 385 and 386:
Page 387 and 388:
Page 389 and 390:
Page 391 and 392:
Page 393 and 394:
Page 395 and 396:
Page 397 and 398:
Page 399 and 400:
APPENDIX A Specimens of the Middle
Page 401 and 402:
Appendix A 389 East Midland The Bes
Page 403 and 404:
Appendix A 391 down to the ground a
Page 405 and 406:
Appendix A 393 Ac ich alle blisse m
Page 407 and 408:
Appendix A 395 Characteristic of th
Page 409 and 410:
Appendix A 397 Of Engelond, to Caun
Page 411 and 412:
APPENDIX B English Spelling The fol
Page 413 and 414:
Appendix B 401 straunge wordes as l
Page 415 and 416:
Appendix B 403 more he tooke God so
Page 417 and 418:
Appendix B 405 words, whose Etymolo
Page 419 and 420:
Index 407 Alabama, 354 Albanian bra
Page 421 and 422:
Index 409 Bacon, Francis, 261 Bacon
Page 423 and 424:
Brakelond, Jocelyn de, 122, 124 Bra
Page 425 and 426:
Index 413 Chamberlain, John, 209, 4
Page 427 and 428:
Index 415 words from, 303 Dalby, D.
Page 429 and 430:
Index 417 East Africa, English lang
Page 431 and 432:
Index 419 Flügel, Ewald, 286 Folio
Page 433 and 434:
Index 421 Goodenough, Ward H., 40 G
Page 435 and 436:
Hill, A.A., 402 Hill, David, 72-73
Page 437 and 438:
Index 425 Jackson, Kenneth, 72 Jaes
Page 439 and 440:
Index 427 Lance, Donald M., 407 Lan
Page 441 and 442:
Index 429 Lycian, 26 Lydgate, John,
Page 443 and 444:
Index 431 Milton, John, 183, 224, 2
Page 445 and 446:
Index 433 Nunnally, Thomas, 407 Nyn
Page 447 and 448:
Peterborough Chronicle, 166 Peterho
Page 449 and 450:
Index 437 Quirk, Randolph, 56, 316
Page 451 and 452:
St. Mary’s Abbey, York, 147 Sallu
Page 453 and 454:
Index 441 Society of Antiquaries, 2
Page 455 and 456:
Index 443 Scandinavian, influence o
Page 457 and 458:
Index 445 Verb-adverb combinations,
Page 459:
Index 447 Woodbine, George E., 157
show all

A History of English Language

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?