A History of English Language

10
The Nineteenth Century and After
211. Influences Affecting the Language.
The events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries affecting the English-speaking
countries have been of great political and social importance, but in their effect on the
language they have not been revolutionary. The success of the British on the sea in the
course of the Napoleonic Wars, culminating in Nelson’s famous victory at Trafalgar in
1805, left England in a position of undisputed naval supremacy and gave it control over
most of the world’s commerce. The war against Russia in the Crimea (1854–1856) and
the contests with princes in India had the effect of again turning English attention to the
East. The great reform measures—the reorganization of parliament, the revision of the
penal code and the poor laws, the restrictions placed on child labor, and the other
industrial reforms—were important factors in establishing English society on a more
democratic basis. They lessened the distance between the upper and the lower classes and
greatly increased the opportunities for the mass of the population to share in the
economic and cultural advantages that became available in the course of the century. The
establishment of the first cheap newspaper (1816) and of cheap postage (1840) and the
improved means of travel and communication brought about by the railroad, the
steamboat, and the telegraph had the effect of uniting more closely the different parts of
Britain and of spreading the influence of the standard speech. During the first half of the
twentieth century the world wars and the troubled periods following them affected the
life of almost everyone and left their mark on the language. At the same time, the growth
in importance of some of England’s larger colonies, their eventual in-dependence, and the
rapid development of the United States have given increased significance to the forms of
English spoken in these territories and have led their populations to the belief that their
use of the language is as entitled to be considered a standard as that of Great Britain.
Some of these events and changes are reflected in the English vocabulary. But more
influential in this respect are the great developments in science and the rapid progress that
has been made in every field of intellectual activity in the last 200 years. Periods of great
enterprise and activity seem generally to be accompanied by a corresponding increase in
new words. This is the more true when all classes of the people participate in such
activity, both in work and play, and share in its benefits. Accordingly, the great
developments in industry, the increased public interest in sports and amusements, and the
many improvements in the mode of living, in which even the humblest worker has
shared, have all contributed to the vocabulary. The last two centuries offer an excellent
opportunity to observe the relation between a civilization and the language which is an
expression of it.