SECOND EDITIO

ge En"cyclopedi of the Engtish Languge is one of the publishing phenomena of recent times.
ot t pu.t ed with u..rriat" and welt researched factual information been so widely read and
aimed. it has ptayed a key role in the spread of general interest in language matters, generating
:ations and bioadcasting events for an avid audience. Its First Edition appeared in hardback
revised paperback in tggZ. There have been numerous subsequent updated reprintings; but
ldition ,ri* pr"r"nts an overhaul of the subject for a new generation of language'lovers and
:rs, studentsnd professional English-users concerned with their own linguistic legacy.

ers a unique experience of the English language, exp loring its past, present and future.
:ystal systematically explains the histor structure, variety and range of uses of English
lrldwide, employing a rich apparatus of text, pictures, tables, maps and graphics.

of the Second Edition has increased by 16 pages and there arc 44 new illustrations, a nev/
Ktensive new material on world English and Internet English, and a complete updating of
itatistics, further reading suggestions and other references throughout the book.

6 I have been unable to think of a question this book cannot ans\Mer... I will risk
redicting that Professor Crystal will not be superseded much before the message
nt into answ et ) )
"i,';::: tr:;I;'{iii,an
.. a superb work that manages to be both scholarly and vastly entertaining-.' This is
a deep impressive book, for it packs between t\Mo covers virtually everything
any normal person might care to know about English' ) )
The Washington Post BoohWorld

66 n detight and a rreasure... David Crystal does a brilliant job of satisfying our
curiositybout our mother tongue while illuminating the deepest questions of
who we are and where \ile come from. A magnificent achievement. r,
Steven Pinker

Crystal ib phenomenal... This is a prodigious achievement... The book contains breadth of

lgiative iris'igt, understanding... It is pervasively readable and stimulating. ? )
'\'..and deep
Professor the Lord Quirk' FBA

of the world's foremost authorities on language. ln addition to

topedia of the English Language he has authored the hugely
Encyclopedia Language (1 987; Second Edition 1 997), English as
of
997; Second Edition 2003), Language Death (2000) and Language
1), among scores of other books. An internationally renowned writer,
rrand broadcaster, he received an 0BE in 1 995 for his services to
rg of the English language and is an honorary professor of linguistics
/ales, Bangor. David Crystal lives in Holyhead,Wales, and regularly
ts to different countries around the world'
 SECOND EDITIO
The Cambrid.ge Encyclopedia, of the English Language is one of the publishing phenomena of recenr rimes.
Rarely has a book so packed with accurate and well researched factual information been so widely read and
popularly acclaimed. It has played a key role in the spread of general interest in language matters, generating
further publications and broadcasting events for an avid audience. Its First Edition appeared in hardback
in 1995 and a revised paperback in 1997. There have been numerous subsequent updated reprintings; but
this Second Edition now presents an overhaul of the subject for a new generation of language-lovers and
of teachers, students and professional English-users concerned with their own linguistic legacy.

The book offers a unique experience of the English language, exploring its past, present and future.
David Crystal systematically explains the histor structure, variety and range of uses of English
worldwide, employing a rich apparatus of text, pictures, tables, maps and graphics.

The length of the Second Edition has increased by 16 pages and there are 44 new illtistrations, a new
chapter, extensive ne\/ material on world English and Internet English, and a complete updating of
statistics, further reading suggestions and other references throughout the book.

6 6 I have been unable to think of a question this book cannot answer... I will risk
predicting that Professor Crystal will not be superseded much before the message
sent into space on Voyager I... receives an ans$eL))
The Times Literary Supplement

C( ...a superb work t\at manages to be both scholarly and vastly entertaining... This is
a deeply impressive book, for it packs between t\Mo covers virtually everything
any normal person might care to know about English' ))
The Washington Post Booh World

cc brilliant job of satisfying our

e, delight and a treasure. .. David Crystal does a
curiosity about our mother tongue while illuminating the deepest cfuestions of
who we are and where \Me come from. A magnificent achievement. t,
Steven Pinker

6 6 David Crystal of
.. This is a prodigious achievement... The book contains breadth
range, imaginative and deep understanding... It is pervasively readable and stimulating. ??
Professor the Lord Quirk, FBA

David Crystal is one of the world's foremost authorities on language' ln addition to

The cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language he has authored
the hugely
1997), Englh as
successful Cimbridge Encyclopedia of Language 987; Second Edition
(1

(1997; Edition 2003), Language Death (2000) and language

a Global Language Second
ISBN 0-52 1 -823118-X
among scores of other books. An internationally renowned writef
and the lnternet(2001 ),
journal edito lecturer and broadcaster, he received an 0BE in 1 995 for his services
to

ih. strdy.nd teaching of the.English language and is an honorary professor of linguistics

at the University of Wales, Bangor. David Crystal lives in
travels and broadcasts to different countries around the
Holyhead' Wales' and regularly
world'
9 llil ![! [ tlllllul]lllllll
#
 THE CAMBRIDGE
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF

THE ENGLISH
i,i
LANGUAGE
Second Edition
 THE CAMBRIDGE
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF

THE EI\GLISH
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS S\I.IDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Tiumpington Street, Carnbridge CB2 IRR United Kingdom

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

40 $lest 20th Street, New York, NY l00l l -421 I ' USA
477 \illiamstown Road, Melbourne VIC 3207 ' Atstralia
Ruiz de Alarcn 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
'Waterfront, Cape Town 8001 , South Africa
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http: /hvwwcambridge. org

@ Cambridge University Press 1995' 2003

This book is in copyright. Subject ro sratutory exception and to the provisions ofrelevant
collective licensing agreemenrs, no reproduction on any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge Universiry Press.
DAVTD CRYSTAL
First published in 1995
Second Edition
Reprinted in 1996
First paperback printing 1997
Reprinted with corrections 1999, 2000' 2001
Second Edition 2003
RePrinted 2004

Printed in Italy at Rotolito Lombarda

Typeset in Adobe Garamond and Frutiger

A catalogue rccordfor this booh is auailablef'om the British Librnrl

'.\!\ilnt rt,

tr--l r
z'---
Tt*rg'-

ISBN 0 521 82348 Xhardback

ISBN 0 521 53033 4 paperback

Librarl of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publiction data I'

c ,i/
.t(
t
\TI
 CONTENTS

CONTENTS
PART IV SPOKEN AND \RITTEN ENGLISH 234
22 Personalvaration
I Modelling English 2 10 Etymology r36 394
Lexical history 136 ' Semantic change 138 17 Thesoundsystem 236 Individual diffelences 394 r Deviance 395
PART I THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 4 Folk erymology 139 o Place names 140 Surnames 148 o Phoneticsandphonology236 . Vocal organs236 o Word games 396 o Rule-breaking varieties 400
First names 150 Nicknames 152 t Object names 154 o Yowe\s237 . Consonants 242 . Syllables 246 . The edges oflanguage 403 o Jokes and puns 404
2 The origins of English 6
Connectedspeech24T r Prosody24S Comicalphabets4OT o Varieryhumour4l0
Eponyms 155
'
3 English 8 o Sound symbolism 250 Pronunciitio ninpractice25| o Literary freedom4L2 o Phonetics and phonology 414
"Old 11 The structure of the lexicon 156
. Early borrowings 8 Runes 9 . The Old English corpus 10 Semantic structure 156 r Semantic fields 157 18 The writing system 256
. Graphetics and graphology 416 ' Grammar and lexicon 418
Literary texts 12 t The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 14 Discourseandvariety 420 o SqtIometry423
Dictionary and thesaurus 158 Collocations 160 . Graphetics andgraphology25T o Typograpl'ry257
. Spelling 16 Sounds 18 Grammar 20 t Yocabulary 22
o Lexical predictabiliry 162 o Idioms 163 ' Synonyms 164 The alphabet25S . Properties ofletters 265 23 Electronic variation 424
Lateborrowings2 Dialects28 Netspeak and its properties 424 Lexical distinctiveness 429
. Antonyms 165 'Hyponyms 166 Incompatibility16T r Letterfrequency265 Letterdistribuion266
4 Middle English 30 r Other sense relations 168 r Letter symbolism 268 o Analysing handwriting 269 . Graphetic distinctiveness 430 . Graphologicai distinctiveness 431
o French and English 30 o The transition from Old English 32 . . Spelling272 Grammatical distinctiveness 432 . Discourse distinctiveness 433
12 Lexical dimensions l7o Grapheticvariery2T0
. The Middle English corpus 34 Literary texts 36 o Sources ofirregularity 274 . Spelling reform276
LoadedvocabularylT0 Tabool72 o SwearinglT3
Chaucer 38 t Spelling 40 t Sounds 42 c Grummar 44 o Punctuation 278 o The development of the writing system 280 PART VI LEARNING ABOUT ENGLISH 434
c Jaryonl74 . Doublespeak 176 Political correctness 177
o Vocabulary 46 t Latin borrowings 48 o Dialects 50
. Middle Scots 52 The origins ofstandard English 54 r Catch phrases 178 o Voguewords 179 t Slogans 180 24 Learning English as a mother tongue 436
Graffiti 181 . Slang 182 . Quotations 184 Proverbs 184
PART V USING ENGLISH 284 . Child language acquisition 436 Literacy 437
5 Early Modern English 56 o Archaisms 185 Clichs 186 o Lastwoids 187 19 Varieties of discourse 286 Grammatical development 438
o Caxton 56 o Tlansitional texts 58 ' Renaissance English 60 . 286 . Pragmatic issues 286
Structure vs use Earlywords and sounds 440 . Reading andwriring42
The inkhorn controversy 61 t Shakespeare 62 PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR 188 r The nature of discourse 287 Microlinguistic studies 288 Insuffi cient I anguage 444 r Language dis abiliq, 444
The KingJames Bible 64 ' SPelling and regularization 66 o Texts and varieties 290 . Speech vs writing29I
13 Grammatical mythologY 190 25 New ways of studying English 446
r Punctuation 68 Sounds 69 r Grammar 70 c YocabulatyT2 o Mixed medium 292 Monologue anddlalogte294
. Technologicalrevolutlon446 Corpus studies 448
r The nature of grammar 190
TheAcademy debare73 o 74
Johnson
o Knowing vs knowing about 191 r Tiaditional grammar L92 20 Regionalvariation 298 National and internation al corpora 45O o Dictionaries 452
6 Modern English 76 Prescriptive grammar 194 o The 20th-century legacy 196 . Accent and dialect 298 r International and intranational299 o Innovations 454 r Sources and resources 456
Tlansition 76 o Grammatical trends 77 r Prescriptivism 78 . The main branches of grammar t97 o A day in the life ofthe language 300
American English 80 Breaking the rules 84 American and British English 306 o American dialects 312 APPENDICES 457
14 The structure of words 198
o Variery awareness 86 Scientific languageST . 198 198 'Adjectives 199
o Suffixation
o British dialects 318 Scotland 328 o ll'ales 334 I Glossary 458
Morphology
Literary voices 88 Dickens 89 o Recent trends 90 . Ireland 336 o Canada3(O o Caribbean3LL II
Nouns 200 The apostroPhe 203 r Pronouns 203
. . Special symbols and abbreviations 47r
. Pidgins and creoles 346 Australia 350
7 World English 92 Verbs 204
New Zealand 354 . South Africa 356 o New Englishes
III References 472
The New\florld 92 93
American dialects c Caada95
206
358 IV Furtherreading 4//
15 Word classes
. Black English Vernacular 96 r Australia 98 New Zealand 99
o Parts ofspeech206 . Tiaditional definitions 206
21 Socialvariation 364 V Index of linguistic items 480
o SouthAfrica 100 SouthAsia 101 \WestAfrica 102 o Sociolinguistic perspective 364 o Received Pronunciation 365 \{l Index ofauthors and personalities 482
o New classes 207 o Nouns 208 o Pronouns 210
r East Africa 103 South-East Asia and the South Pacific 104 o Prescriptive attitudes 366 Gender 368 Occupation 370 VII Index of topics 485
. Adjectives 211 Adverbs 211 o Verbs 212
. A world language 106 Numbers of speakers 108 r Religion371 c Science3T2 o Law374 Plain English 377 Acknowledgements 496
r Pepositions2l3' Con.iunctions2l3 Interjections2l3
o Standard English 110 o The future of English 112 r Politics 379 o News media 390 r Journalism 382
. English threatened and as threat 1 14 16 Thestructureofsentences 2L4 . Bloadcasting 384 r \eather forecasting 385
. Spoken andwritten syntax2l4 t Typ.t ofsentence 216 r Sports commentary 386 Advertising 388
PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 116 Sentencestructtre2IT o Sentencefunctions2lS Restricted varieties 390 o New fashions 392
o Clause elements and types22O t Phrases222 . New technologies 393
8 The nature of the lexicon 118
o Lexemes 118 ThesizeoftheEnglishlexicon 119
. Noun phrases 222 ' Verb phrases 224
o Multiple senrences226 Abbreviation 228
Abbreviations 120 Proper names 122
. Disjuncts and comment clauses22g r Reportingspeech2S0
o The size of a persont lexiconl23
r Sentence information 231 t Beyond the sentence 232
9 The sources of the lexicon 124
o Native vocabulary 124 t Foreign borrowings 126
o \ford-formation 128 o ljnusual structures 130
Lexical creationl32 o Literaryneologism 134

PREFACE
A book about the English language - or about any individual language
- is a daring enterprise, for it has s many perceptive critics as there are
fluent readers. The language as a whole belongs to no one' yet every-
one owns a part of it, has an interest in it, and has an opinion about it'
Moreover, whenever people begin to talk about their own language,
they.ll have something to offer - favourite words or sayings, dialect
and observaiions, usage likes and dislikes. Individual lin-
"r,.?do,.,
guistic memories, experiences, and abilities enable everyone to make a
we are all truly equal
erron"l contribution to language chat. In a sense,
when we participate - even though this democratic vision is disturbed
by the widely-shared perception that some (notabl those who have
learned the terminology of language study) are more equal than others'
The stories of English
That is why the metaphor of 'the story' (as in 'the story of English ) is
somewhat misleading. There is no one 'story' of English. There are
innumerable individual stories. And even if we look for broad narra-
tive themes, there are several dimensions competing for our attention'
For example, there is the structual story - the way the sounds, gram-
uo."bulary of the language have evolved. There is the social
m"r,
"rrd
story - the way the language has come to serve a multiplicity of func-
tions in society. There is the literary story - the way writers have evoked
the power, range, and beauty ofthe language to express new orders of
meaning. And there is the chronological story - apparently the most
straightforward, though even here it is not possible to give a simple
in terms of a beginning, middle, and end. There is no single
"."ourrr,
beginning to the story of English, but several, with waves of Anglo-
Saxon invaders arriving in various locations, and laying the founda-
tions of later dialect difference. There is no single middle, but several,
with the language diverging early on in England and Scotland' then
much later taking different paths in Britain, North America, and else-
where. And, as we observe the increasingly diverse directions in which
English is currently moving around the world, there is certainly no
single end.
A traveller's guide
The biggest problem in compiling this book, accordingl was wfrat
ord., t impose upon the mass of material which presents itself for
inclusion. I have started with histor moved on to structure, and con-
cluded with use. But it might have been otherwise, and I have written
the six parts so that it is possible for readers to begin with any one of
them and move in any direction. The same principle was applied to the
structure of each part. \While there is a certain logic of exposition in
some topics (such as Part I, the history of English)' there is none in
others (such as Part V the account ofmajor regional or social varieties).
In all cases, therefore, chapters, and sections within chapters, have been
planned as self-contained entities, with relevant conceptgal underpin-
ning provided by the frequent use ofcross-references.
Th basic unit of organization in the book is the double-page spread'
Sentences never cross turn-over pages, and the vast majority oftopics
are treated within the constraints of a single spread. I have tried to
ensure that it will be possible for readers to dip into this book at any
point, and nd a coherent treatment of a topic in a single opening'
There is too much in any language for the information to be
assimilated in a continuous reading, and this is especially so in the case
of English, with its lengthy history and vast range of use; and while
,om. m*y wirh to read this book 'from left to right', I suspect most will
prefer to make more leisurely excursions over a period of time - more
a carual stroll than a guided tour' The double-page spread approach is
designed for that kind of traveller. Indeed, the metaphor of travelling
is fai more suitable for this book than the metaphor of story-telling'
Treatment and coverage
I have kept several criteria in mind while writing CEEZ (pronounced
'seal', as w. hav. come to call it). I have tried to find a balance between
talking about the language and letting the language speak for itself'
Most spreads distinguish between an expository overview and detailed
examples (largely through the rypographic convention of main text vs
patr.lr). Then within each spread, I have tried to provide examples of
ihe wonder which can be found when we begin to look carefully at the
language. All languages are fascinating, beautiful, full of surprises,
I hope I have succeeded in provoking at le,st
awesome, fun.
-ouittg,
one ofih"r. responses every page. I would be disappointed if, after
on
did not feel to some extent entertained, as well
any opening, a reader
as informed.
Obviously it has all been a personal selection' The hardest part, in fact,
was the choosing. Once I had decided on a topic for a spread, I would
collect material relating to it from many sources as I could find' I
as
would write the opening persPective, and then look at all the material
to find textual and pictorial illustrations. Invariably I had enough
material to fill what to put in and what
several spreads, and choosing
to leave out was always painful' The moral is plain. There are several
other possible encyclopedic worlds.
Wider horizons
In particular, has not been space to go into the many applications-
-English there
of language studies in proper detail. I touch upon some of
in Part VI, but the aim of that part is not to be comprehen-
these areas
sive, but simply to illustrate the various directions that applied
language studies can take. There are many other horizons which can
onty approached by using systematic information about the lan-
g,r*g", b,riihis book does not try to reach them. However, in view of
its ,peci"l place in the history oflanguage stud I do try to reach out
in the direction ofliterature as often as possible, and it is perhaps worth
drawing attention to the way that literary examples are dispersed
throughout the book. I have always been strongly opposed to the great
divide-which traditionally separates 'lang' and 'lit'. It seemed to me that
it would only reinforce that divide if I were to include a seParate
chapter called something like'literary language', so I have not done so
PREFACE
- a position which is discussed towards the end of S22. Many pages,
accordingl display a literary presence - sometimes by way of stylistic
comment, often through extensive quotation.
Acknowledgements
Ifan enterprise ofthis kind has r.r..e.ded, it is because its author has
managed to balance on the shoulders of many others, without too
often falling off. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Professor
\Whitney Bolton, of Rutgers University, who read the whole text of the
book and offered innumerable valuable comments and suggestions. I
must thank Dr Andy Orchard and Professor David Burnley for their
advice on several points in the Old and Middle English chapters. And
a number of other scholars or organizations have helped me find the
best illustration of a particular topic: these points of contact are
acknowledged formally at the end of the book, but I would want to
record personal thanks to Henry G. Burger, Lou Burnard, Kenneth
Cameron, Jack Chambers, Vinod Dube Leslie Dunkling, Charles
Jones, Kevin Kiernan, Edwin D. Lawson, Geoffrey Leech, Valerie
Luckins, Angus Mclntosh, Chrissie Maher, Chris Upward, Maggie
Vance, and Lyn \endon. Anne Rowlands helped me compile the
indexes. It is perhaps unusual to thank a journal, but I have to
acknowledge an enormous debt to English Tbday, and thus to its editor,
Tom McArthu for bringing together such a valuable collection of
English-language material. For anyone who wishes to maintain a
healthy English language lifestyle, I prescribe the reading of ETthree
times a day after meals.
The book has been a real collaboration with in-house staff at
Cambridge Universiry Press, and involved many planning meetings
both in Cambridge and Holyhead, over a period of some three years.
It is therefore to acknowledge the roles ofGeoffStaffand
a real pleasure
Clare Orchard, who managed and coordinated the project at
Cambridge, Paula Granados and Anne Priestle who carried out the
picture research, and Carol-June Cassid who read the text from the
point of view ofAmerican English. I have much enjoyed collaborating
once again with Roger lValker, whose design experience will be evident
on every page. I am especially grateful to Adrian du Plessis, director of
Cambridge Reference, for his personal interest and encouragement
from the earliest days of this project. And, in a different sense of in-
house, I thank my wife, Hilar whose editorial comments have greatly
improved the clariry of the texr, and whose role in relation to the bookt
planning and production has been so great that it defies any attempt at
conventional expression.
David Crystal
Holyhead, October 1994
Preface to the paperback edition
I have been delighted by the enrhusiasric reception given to the
appearance of CEEL, which has permitted the early production of a
vl1
paperback edition. For this edition I have taken the opportuniry ofcor-
recting a number of typographical errors which slipped through in the
first printing, and have made a number of small textual
modifications in response to points made by readers and reviewers.
The onlymajor authorial change affects 57, where I have brought the
table ofrVorld English statistics up to date, using 1995 population esti-
mates; this has also involved a rewriting of the
associated commentary.
Several other changes have affected later sections of that chapter,
largely as a consequence of the rapidly growing position of English
throughout the world. Indeed, since the text of CEELwas completed,
in l994,this topic has attracted greatly increased media attention, with
the millennium providing the excuse for fresh discussion of 'the future
of English. A related publication, English as a Global Language
(Cambridge University Press, 1997,2nd edn 2003), has enabled me to
deal with this issue in proper depth, supplementing the historical story
outlined in rhe first parr of 57 with a fuller account of contemporary
developments (such as the role of English on the Internet) than it has
been possible to present in the present book,
This preface gives me an opportunity to thank the many readers of the
first edition who have sent in facts, comments, and anecdotes about
the way English is used in various parts of the world. These are far too
numerous and extensive to be easily included in a book like CEEL,6u
they have all been carefully filed, and it is my hope that before too long
there will be an opportuniry to use this information as palt of an
archive about the English language, whose absence (referred to at the
end of the book) I continue to lament.
David Crystal
Holyhead, February 1997
Preface to the second edition
The amount of revision for the new edition has been considerable, but
can be easily summarized. Time-related tables, such as the table of
statistics on S?'orld English usage and country population figures, have
been updated to 2001 . The rapid evolution of the Internet during the
1990s has required the addition ofa separate 1O-page section ($23),
with consequent revision of later chapter numbers. Political events of
the decade, such as in Hong Kong, have been addressed, and a number
of dated illustrations have been replaced. The section giving details of
further reading has been updated, and \eb sites have been added to
institutional addresses. Last but not lest, with the turning of the
millennium all references to 'this century', and the like, have been
faithfully revised.
David Crystal
Holyhead, September 2002
 1 M()DF,LLIN( IiNGLISH 3

1 .MODELLING ENGLISH WHY JANUS? as f orwards, he

often regarded
is
as
also
the god
on these pages -
structure and use
of
- have
we understand the uses
of English, without investi-
The Roman god, Janus, of beginnings. The month traditionally been studied gating their structure?
here seen on a Roman coin of January is named after independently of each Structure and use aretwo
in his usual representation him. other (514). A major theme sides of the same coin,
An ntial early step in the str.rdy of a language is to
esse Tho models provide this first Perspective. The first, with a double-faced head. His location on this ofthe present book is Roman or otherwise, and
to assert their inter- this principle is ref lected in
moclel it.A 'model', in this context, is not a three- shown below, breaks the strLlctttre of English down A spirit associated with opening spread has,
doorways and archways, however, a further signifi- dependence. What are the organization ofthe
dimensional miniature replica: this book does not into a series of components; and these will be used to looking backwards as well cance. The two facets of English structures for, if not present book (see Preface)
clevote its space to techniques of moulcling th-e organize the exposition throughout Pats II to IV. On language study represented to be used? And how can
English latrgu"g. in Play-Doh@, Meccano@, or Lego@. the facing page, there is a model of the uses of English;
To model the English language is, rather, to provide and this will be Llsed as a perspective fol Parts I ancl V
Temporal variation
an ibstract representation of its central characteristics, The omnicurious eye of the English linguist surveys Time affects a language, both in the long term and short
so that it becomes easier to see how it is structured dre whole scene, in ways which ale
Social variation
term, giving rise to several highly distinctive processes
ancl usecl. examined in Part VI. Society affects a
and varieties.
Long term: English has changed throughout the centuries,
s
language, in the sense
that any important I as can be seen from such clearly distinguishable linguistic
Text aspect of social structure 5 vAR::lfuoq
periods as Old English, Middle English, and Elizabethan
EV ENT (/ English. Language change is an inevitable and continu-
^'
A coherent, self-contained unit of dscourse. Texts, which may be spoken, and function is likely to
written, computer-mediated or signed, vary greatly in size, from such tiny C have a distinctve
ing process, whose study is chiefly carried on by

units as posters, captions, e-mails, and bus tickets, to such large units as
novels, sermons, Web pages and conversations. They provide the frame
of reference within which grammatical, lexical, and other features of
English can be identified and interpreted.
(See Part V S19.)
Sign
A visual language used chiefly by people who are deaf. This
book refers only to those signing systems which have been
devised to represent aspects of English structure, such as its
spelling, grammar, or vocabulary. (see 523.) -{
v -l >
GraPhologY
The writing system of a language. Graphological (or
orthographic) study has two main aspects: the visual
segments of the written language, which take the form of
vowels, consonants, punctuation marks, and certain
typographical features; and the various patterns of graphic
design, such as spacing and layout, which add structure and
meaning to stretches of written text. (See Part lV 918.)
Phonology
The pronunc-
iation system of
language. Phonological
;:$-
philologists and historical linguists. (See Part l.)
lnguistic counterpart.
o People belong to different
Short termi English changes within the history of
TEXT f social classes, perform
a single person. This is most notceable while
children are acquiring their mother tongue,
r different social roles, use
but it is also seen when people learn a for-
different technologies, and
eign language, develop their style as adult
carry on different occupations.
speakers or writers, and, sometimes, find
Their use of language is
affected by their sex, age, Z n that ther linguistic abilities are lost or
S/G/V ethnic group, and educational
background. English is being
-r9
{t-
>
2
seriously impaired through injury or dis-
ease..Psycholinguists study language
GRAMMAR < t learning and loss, as do several other pro-
o
increasingly affected by all these
fessionals, notably speech therapists and
factors, because its developing
role as a world language is bring \^4 O- > language teachers. (See Part Vl, S23.)
z ing it more and more into contact \ Regional variation
Ilt with new cultures and social
(9 .". Geography affects language, both within a
4
Cr*>rrOvOOf
o systems. (See Part V S21.)
country and between countries, giving rise
o o
Personal variation
to regional accents and dialects, and to the
J o People affect a language, in the sense
pidgins and creoles which emerged around
the world whenever English first came into con-
orv o_ that an ndividual's conscious or uncon-
scious choices and preferences can result in
tact with other languages. Intranational regional
varieties have been observed within English from
a distinctive or even unique style. Such varia-
tions in self-expression are most noticeable in 'u*roro.- VRRrAtto$
its earliest days, as seen in such labels as'Northern',
'London', and 'Scottish'. lnternational varieties are more
Grammar those areas of language use where great care is
The system of rules being taken, such as in literature and humour. But the recent in origin, as seen in such labels as 'American',
a
governing the construction uniqueness of individuals, arising out of differences in their 'Australian', and 'lndian'. Regional language variation is

si\
of sentences. Grammatical memory, personality, intelligence, social background, and studied by sociolinguists, geographical linguists, dialectolo-
study has two main aspects: gists, and others, the actual designation depending on the
Lexicon

7/ t\ 7t I
the sound segments of the study is usually divided personal experience, makes distinctiveness of style
The vocabulary of a lan- focus and emphasis of the study. (See 57 and Part V S20.)

1t f\ 2
into two main aspects: inevitable in everyone. (See Part V, 522.)

I
spoken language, which
guage. Lexical study is a
take the form of vowels syntax, dealing with the

t 7/ t\ 7t
wide-ranging domain, structure and connection of
and consonants; and the WHY STUDY THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE? Because it's fun Because it's useful
involving such diverse areas

1t f\ af
various patterns of intona- sentences; and m orphol ogy, One of the most popular leisure pursuits is to cetting the language right is a major issue in
as the sense relationships
tion, rhythm, and tone of dealing with the structure almost every corner of society. No one wants to
\^ between words, the use of and formation of words.
Because it's fascinating play with the English language - with its words,

7,/
-1t St\
R
voice, which add structure It is remarkable how often the language turns sounds, spellings, and structures. Crosswords, be accused of ambigu ity and obscurity, or f ind
abbreviations, puns, and
7t

I
and meaning to stretches of (See Part lll.) up as a topic of interest in daily conversation - themselves tal king or writing at cross-purposes.
euphemisms, and the com- Scrabble9 media word shows, and many other

,az
speech. (See Part lV S17.) whether it is a question about accents and The more we know about the language the more
quizzes and guessing games keep millions

t\ /l
pilation of dictionaries.

7/ happily occupied every day, teasing their chance we sha I have of success, whether we a re

Rt\ 7l
(See Part ll.) dalects, a comment about usage and standards, I

I
S.. /7
or simply curiosity about a word's origlns and linguistic brain centres and sending them advertisers, politicians, priests, journal ists,

1z h istory. running to their dictionaries. doctors, lawyers - or just ordnary people at

7/ I
home,trying to understand and be understood.

R
IR IR
university courses, and then asymmetres well represent

/7
BUT 15 IT ART? Because it's important Because it's beautiful
-1./
present an abstract design the irregularities and

,2
The dominant role of English as a world Each language has its unique beauty and powe Because t's there
\ lust occasionally, someone which reflected their erratic research paths which

7/ t\
language forces t upon our attention in a way as seen to best effect in the works of its great English, more than any other language, has
perception of the topc. As are so much a part of

/7
7t tries to visualize language that no language has ever done before. As attracted the interest of professional linguists. lt

1 f\
English language study. orators and writers. We can see the 1,000-year-
in a way which goes may perhaps be
immediately obvious, this (Equally, of course, they
English becomes the chief means of old history of English writing only through the has been analysed in dozens of different ways,

t\ 7/
beyond the purely communication between nations, it as part of the linguist's aim of devising a theory
is crucialto glass of language, and anything we learn about
diagrammatic. This print design is the result of their could represent the
7l
1t
ensure that t s taught accurately and English as a language can serve to increase our about the nature of language in general. The
was made by art students as attending a lecture on the structural disorganization
,az
efficiently, and to siudy changes in its structure studyof the English language, inthisway,

R2
\ part of their degree. They structure of the English of the lecturer.) appreciation of its oratory and literature.

I 7/
and
t\
use becomes a branch of linguistics - English
were asked to attend language, given by the
7t
1t ,az f'\
linguistics.
lectures from different present author. The design's

 J

PART I

The history of English

The history of English is a fascinating field of study in its own right,
but it also plovides a valuable perspective for the conte Inporary study
Q)DR{ of the language, and thus makes an appropriate opening section for
this book. The historical account plomotes a sense of iclentity and
L.N
continuit and enables us to find coherence in rnany of the fluctua-
the King James Bible, and encls with the landn'rark publication of
Johnson's Dictionary. A recurring theme is the extent and variety of
language change cluring this period. The next section, on Modern
English (56), follows the course of flrrther lar.rguage change, exam-
ines the natut'e of e;rrly grammars, traces the development of new

&
Go F o R
tions and conflicts of present-day English langr.rage use. Above all, it
satisfies the cleep-rootecl sense of curiosity we have about our lin-
I D
guistic heritage. People like to le aware of their linguistic roots.
\We begin as close to the beginning as we can get, using the sum-
rnary accounts of early chronicles to determine the language's conti-
nental origins (S2). The Anglo-Saxon corpus of poetry and prose,
clating from around the 7th century, provides the fir'st opportunity to
examine the linguistic evidence. S3 outlines the characteristics of Old
English texts, ancl gives a brief account of the sounds, spellings,
grammar, and vocabulaLy which they display. A similar account is
given of the Mictdle English period (S4), beginning with the effects
on the language of the French invasion and concluding with a dis-
cr.rssion of the origins ofStandard English. At all points, special atten-
tion is paid to the histolical and cultural setting to which texts relate,
N o
and to tlre clraracter of the leading literary works, such as Beowttlfand
The Canterbtuy Thles.
The Early Moclern English peliod (S5) begins with the English of
Caxton and the Renaissance, continues with that of Shakespeale and
.f'
varieties and attitudes in America, and finds in literature, especially
in the novel, an invaluable linguistic mirt'or. Several present-day
usage controversies turn out to have theil origins during this period.
By the end of 56, we are within living memoly.
The fnal section (S7) looks at what has happenecl to the English
langr.rage in the 2Oth century, ar.rc{ in particular at its increasing pres-
ence worldwide. The approach is again historical, tracing the way
English has travelled to the United States, Canada, Afi'ica, Australia,
South and South-East Asia, ancl several other parts of the globe. The
section reviews the concept of \X/orld English, examines the statis-
tics of usage, ancl discusses the ploblems of intelligibility ancl iden-
tity which arise wher.r a language achieves such widespread use. The
notion of Standard English, seen from both national rr.rd interr.ra-
tional perspectives, turns out to be of special importance. Part I then
concludes with some thoughts about the fi.rture of the language, ancl
about the relationships which have grown up (sometimes amicable,
sometimes ar.rtagonistic) between English and other langr-rages.

LAS RTD

Der

o
5
Nre
A map of Anglo-Saxon England taken from Edmund Gibson's 1692 edition
of the Ang lo-Saxon Chron icle. The Latin caption (top left) explai ns that
the map showsthe places mentioned in the Chronicle and in Old English
I iteratu re.
 2'THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH 7

2.THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH two Jutish brothers, Hengist and Horsa. They landed
at Ebbsfleet in the Isle of Thanet, and settled in the
The remarkably preserved
body of a man, found in a
peat bog in Denmark. Over
areas now known as Kent, the Isle of Y/ight, and parts 500 such remains have been
of Hampshire. TheAngles came from the south of the found throughout northern
Europe, many in the area
'To Atius, thrice consul, the groans of the Britons.' their King Vortigern to call over to their aid, from parts Danish peninsula, and entered Britain much late
formerly occupied by the
Thus, according to the Anglo-Saxon historian, the beyond the sea, the Saxon nation... along the eastern coast, settling in parts of Mercia, Germanic tribes. The person
Venerable Bede, began the letter written to the Roman
In the year of our Lord 449 . . . the nation of the Angles, Nonhumbria (the land to the north of the Humber, has been murdered, possibly
or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid king, arrived in where in 547 they established a kingdom), and what as a sacrificial victim to the
consul by some of the Celtic people who had survived Earth goddess. The Roman
Britain with three long ships, and had place assigned them a
is now East Anglia. The Saxons came from an area fur-
the ferocious invasions of the Scots and Picts in the historian Tacitus wrote of the
to reside in by the same king, in the eastern part of the island,
early decades of the 5th centut'y. 'The barbarians drive ther south and west, along the coast of the North Sea, tribes in his Germanla, and at
that they might thus appear to be fighting for their countr one point mentions a group
us to the sea. The sea drives us back towards the bar- and from 477 settled in various parts of southern and
whilst their real intentions were to enslave it. Accordingly oftribes including the
barians. Berween them we are exposed to two sorts of south-eastern Britain. The chroniclers talk about Eudoses and the Anglii:
they engaged with the enem who were come fom the
death: we are either slain or drowned.' north to give battle, and obtained the victory; which, being groups of East,'Sl'est, and South Saxons - distinctions 'These tribes are protected by
forests and rivers, nor is there
The plea fell on deaf ears. Although the Romans known at home in their own country, as also the fertiliry of which are reflected in the later names of Essex, \essex,
anything noteworthy about
had sent assistance in the past, they were now fully the countr and the cowardice of the Britons, a more con- and Sussex. The name Middlesex suggests that there them individually, except
occupied by their own wars with Bledla and Attila, siderable fleet was quickly sent over, bringing a still greater were Middle Saxons too. Bede's account takes up the that they worship in common
Nerthus, or Mother Earth,
kings of the Huns, The attacks from the north con- number of men, which, being added to the former, made up story:
and conceive her as
an invincible army...
tinued, and the British were forced to look elsewhere In short time, swarms of the aforesaid nations cme over
a intervening in human affairs,
and riding in procession
for help. Bede gives a succinct and sober account of Bede describes the invaders as belonging to the three the island, and they began to increase so much that they through the cities of men.'
what then took place. most powerful nations of Germany - the Saxons, the became terible to the natives themselves who had invited there slew four thousand men; and the Britons then forsook (Trans. M. Hutton, 1914.)
Angles, and the Jutes. The first group to arrive came them. Then, having on a sudden entered into league with the Kent and fled to London in great terror.
They consulted what was to be done, and whele they should
from Jutland, in the northern part of modern Den- Picts, whom they had by this time expellecl by the force of .In this year Hengest and sc fought against the ll'elsh
seek assistance to prevent or repel the cruel and frequent 465
their arms, they began to turn their weapons against their
incursions ofthe northern ntions; and they all agreed with mark, and were led, according to the chroniclers, by near'll'ippedesfleot and there slew rwelve'lf'elsh nobles; and
confederates.
one of the thanes, whose name was \ipped, was slain there.
The homelands of the
V The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (see p. l5), compiled over 473 .In this year He ngest and Aesc fought against the '!l'elsh
v Germanic invaders, according
t to Bede, and the direction of
their invasions. Little is
a century later than Bede underAlfred the Great, gives
a grim catalogue ofdisasters for the Britons.
and captured innumerable spoils, and the \X/elsh fled from
the English as one flies from fire.
known about the exact loca-
tions of the tribes. The Jutes 45T.Inthisyear Hengest andsc fought against the Britons
may have had settlements
The fighting went on for several decades, but the
at a place which is called CrecganfoLd [Crayford, Kent] and
further south, and links with imposition ofAnglo-Saxon power was never in doubt.
i-, the Frisians to the west. The Over a period ofabout a hundred years, further bands

A page from one of the manuscripts of Bede's Ecclesiastical
Angles may have lived fur-
ther into Germany. The lin-
History. The language is Latin. of immigrants continued to arrive, and Anglo-Saxon
NORTH
guistic differences between settlements spread to all areas apart from the highlands

these groups, likewise, are of the west and north. By the end of the 5th centur
matters for speculation. The llidrl.sv
..4
a./ SEA various dialects of Old
the foundation was established for the emergence of
0
English (p. 28) plainly relate the English language.
to the areas in which the
invaders settled, but there The Northumbrian monk,
)r9
t
0
are too few texts to make Bede, or Bda, known as the
t THE, NAME OF THE LANGUAGE Venerable Bede. Born at
z serious comparison possible.
Monkton on Tyne in c.673,
4 'S(/ith he was taken at the age of 7

I scant respect for priorities, the Germanic to the new monastery at
tr\\ sAXoNS 119. invaders called the native Celts welas ('foreigners'), Wearmouth, moving in 682
Q"
to the sister monastery at
from which the name \Welsh is derived. The Celts Jarrow, where he worked as
Rl,, called the invaders 'Saxons', regrdless of their tribe, a writer and teacher. He died
and this practice was followed by the early Latin writ- in 735, and was buried at
Jarrow. His masterpiece, the
ers. By the end ofthe 6th century, howevet the term H stor a Ecclesi asti ca G e ntis
lr.lcrl)r.- Angli ('AngIes') was in use - as early as 601, a king of Anglorum ('Ecclesiastical His-
Kent, thelbert, is called rex Anglzrum ('King of the tory of the English Nation'),
English is a member of the was begun in his later years,
western branch of the Angles') - and during the 7th century Angli or Angli and finished in 731. lts focus
(for the country) became the usual Latin names. Old
Celtic
Germanic family of lan- ll.lqur is the growth of Christianity
lcelandi(
Italic
N Swedish

_l guages. lt is closest in struc- English Engle derives from this usage, and the name of in England, but its scope is
Dnirh
A
8lto-Slavic
Albnian
ture to Frisan -though much wider, and it is recog-
hardly anything is known
the language found in Old English texts is from the nized as the most valuable

[--"i"--l outset referred to as Englisc (the sr spelling represent-

Lf't
Gothi(
Greel
Antolin about the ancient Frisians source we have for early
0 l20km
tnoli.h Flemh Gemn
Armenian and their role in the invasions ing the sound , /J/). References ro rhe name of the English history. Written in
triian Out(h T(harian
of Britain. Germanic is a Latin, an Old English transla-
\ country as Englland ('land of the Angles'), from
Yiddth
0 100 200 mlet Afkne lndoknin
branch of the lndo-European tion was made in the reign
language family. which came Englnd, do not appear until r. 1000, of Alfred the Great.
 3 OLD ENGLISH 9

3.OLD ENGLISH RUNES consisted of 31 symbols.

The inscriptions in Old
word, but there s no evi-
dence that they were pre-
EARLY INSCRIPTIONS
Old English was first written Engf ish are found on sent in Old English. Current There are less than 30 clear
in the runic alphabet. This weapons, jewellery, monu- research suggests that the runic inscriptions in Old
alphabet was used in north- ments, and other artefacts, word run had been thor- English, some containing
of its role from the earliest moments of contact. The ANGLO-SAXON OR
ern Europe - in Scandinavia, and date largely from the oughly assimilated into only a single name. The two
THE EARLY PERIOD Roman army and merchants gave new names to many
OLD ENGLISH?
The name Anglo-Saxon came
present-day Germany, and 5th or 6th centuries AD, the Anglo-Saxon Christianity, most famous examples both
date from the 8th century,
the British lsles - and it has earliest (at Caistor-by-Nor- and meant simply'sharing
local objects and experiences, and introduced several to refer in the 1 6th centurYto and represent the Northum-
been preserved in about wich) possibly being late of knowledge or thoughts'.
Before the Anglo-Saxon invasious (S2), the language fresh concepts. About half of the new words wee to do a I aspects of the early period
I 4,000 inscriptions and a few 4th century. They often say Any extension to the world brlan dialect (p.28).
Both inscriptions make some
(or languages) spoken by the native inhabitants ofthe with plants, animals, food and drink, and household - people, culture, and lang- manuscripts. lt dates from simply who made or owned of magic and superstition is
uage. lt is stillthe usual waY around the 3rd century AD. the object. Most of the not part of the native tradi- use ofthe Roman alphabet
British Isles belongecl to the Celtic famil introduced items: Old English pzie'p ei , plante'plan' , win'wine' , of talking about the people well.
No one knows exactly where large rune stones say little tion. Modern English rune is as

by i people who had corne to the islands around the cyse'c\'reese', crltte 'ca' , cetel'ketrle' , disc 'dish' , candel and the cultural history; but the alphabet came from, but more than 'X raised this not even a survival of the . The Ruthwell Cross, near
midclle of the first millennium BC' Many of these set- 'candle'. Other impoltant clusters of words related to since the 1 9th century, when it seems to be a develop- stone in memory of Y', and Old English word, but a Dumfries, Scotland, is 16 feet
the history of languages ment of one ofthe alpha- often the message later borrowing from Norse
tlels were, in turn, eventually subjr'rgated by the clothing (belt'bek' , centes 'shirt' , nere 'shoenal<er'), came to be studied in detail, bets of southern Europe,
is (5 m) high. lts faces contain
unclear. via Latin. panels depicting events in
Romans, who arrived in43sc' Bu by410 the Roman buildings and settlements (tigle 'Ie', weall 'wal|', Old English has been the Pre- probably the Roman, which For the modern, magical the life of Christ and the
armies had gone, withdrawn to help defend their cester'city' , ste{rc^d') , rnilitary and legal institutions ferred name for the lang- runes resemble closely. The meaning of rune sense of rune we are there- early Church, as well as carv-
uage. This name emPhasizes The common runic alpha- What rune (OE run) means fore indebted to the Scandi- ings of birds and beasts, and
Empire in Europe. After a millennium of settlement (wic'canp' , diht'saying' , snifan'decree'), cormerce
the continuing development bet found throughout the isdebatable. There is a navian and not the Anglo- lines of runes around the
by speakers of Celtic, and half a millennium by speak- (mngian'r.rade' , ceapian'6uy' , pund'pound'), ancl reli- of English, from Anglo-Saxon area consisted of 24 letters. long-standing tradtion Saxon tradition. lt is this edges are similar to part of
ers of Latin, what effect did this have on the language gion (messe'Mass' , mxtntrc'mon\i , mynster'minster')' times through 'Mdd le It can be written horizon- which attributes to it such sense which surfaced in the the Old English poem'The
English'to the present day, tally in either direction. Each senses as'whisper','mys- 19th century in a variety of Dream of the Rood' (rood=
spoken by the arriving Anglo-Saxons? 'Whether the Latin words were alreacly used by the and it is the usage of the pre- letter had a name, and the tery', and 'secret', suggest- esoteric publications, and 'cross') in the Vercelli Book.
Anglo-Saxon tribes on the continent of Europe, or sent book (abbreviated OE). alphabet as a whole was ing that the symbols were which developed in the A glossed extract is shown
Celtic borrowings were introduced from within Britain, is not always Some authors, nonetheless, called by the name of its f irst originally used for magical popular and fantastic imag- below (there are no spaces
still use the term .Anglo- six letters, the futhorc (in or mystical rituals. Such ination of the 20th, perhaps
There is, surprisingl very little Celtic influence - or clear (though a detailed analysis ofthe souncl changes between the words in the
Saxon for the language, the the same way as the word associations were certainly most famously in the writ- original inscription; also
perhaps it is not so surprising, given the savage way in they display can help, p.19), but the total nurnber of choice of ths name ref lecting a/phabet comes from Greek present in the way the ing of Tolkien (p. 185). some scholars transcribe
which the Celtic cornmunities were destroyed or Latin words present in English at the very beginning of their view that the nature of alpha + beta). The version pagan Vikings (and possibly (After C. E. Fell, 1991.) 'blood' as b/odr).
the language in this earlY found in Britain used extra
pushed back into the areas we now know as Cornwall, the Anglo-Saxon period is not lalge - less than 200' the Continental Germans)

\ales, Cumbria, and the Scottish borders. Many Although Vulgar Latin (the variety of spoken Latin
perod is very different f rom
what is laterto be found
letters to cope with the
range of sounds found in
used the corresponding
Ih FZ P1 II BITHF BIZlXPlIH
Celts (or Romano-Celts) doubtless remained in the usecl throughout the Empire) must have continued in underthe heading of English. Old English; in
Name
Meaning
(where known)
ic ws m blod bistemid
Llse - at least, as an official language - for some years
I was wth blood bedewed
its most devel-
east ancl south, perhaps as slaves, pelhaps intermarry- oped form, in Rune Anglo'Saxon
cattle, wealth
ing, but their identity would after a few generations after the Roman army left, for some reason it did not 9th-century f feoh
A reconstruction of Anglo- bison (aurochs)
take root in Britain as it had so reaclily done in Conti- Northumbria, it Y r . The tranks Casket
have been lost within Anglo-Saxon society' 'Whatever Saxon huts at West StoW u thorn
is a richly carved whalebone box,
n
we might expect from such a period of cultural con- nental Europe. Some commenttors see in this the first Suffolk. Each hut is some orn illustrating mythological and religious scenes, not all of
sign of an Anglo-Saxon rnonolingual mentality. 15-20 feet (5-6 m) in length
I
s
god/mouth which can be interpreted. The picture shows the panel
tact, the Celtic language of Roman Britain influenced Y
o journeY/riding with the Adoration of the Magi alongside the Germanic
THE OLD rao
Old English hardly at all. r torch legend of Wayland (Weland) the Smith. The inscriptions
ENGLISH RUNIC k cen are partly in Old English, and partly in Latin.
Only a handful of Celtic words were borlowed at the ALPHABET
c
giefu
gift
time, and a few have survived into modern English, This list gives the X ctil wyn ioY
sometimes in regional dialect \se'. crllg, tmb'deep names of the symbols
h91
hail
valley', binn'6in', carr'rocIi, dunn'grey, dun', broch in Old English, and
N h necessitY/trouble
their meanings (where nied
' baclger', and t o rr' p eal<'. O thers i nclude b an rt o c' piece',
n ice
these are known). lt + is
r ic e' rule', gafe lu.c'small spear', bratt' cloal<', ltt h' lake', does not give the I
i year
gear
dryt 'sorcerer', and clttcge 'bell'. A few Celtic words of many variant shapes T \
oh
yew

this period ultimately come from Latin, brought in by

which can be found in
the different inscrip- 3
p
peor
'l

the Irish missionaries: these include rtssen'ass' , ttncor tions. The symbols con- L- eolh
?sedge
x
'hermit', ttr 'hisrcy', and possibly cros. But there sist mainly of intersect- Y sigel
sun
ing straight lines, show- riw (a god)
cannot be more than two dozen loan words in all' And ing their purpose for 4 S
tiw/tir
t birch
there are even very few Celtic-based place names engraving on stone, 1
b
beorc
wood, met1, or bone. horse
(p. 141) in what is now southern and eastern England. B
e
eoh
Manuscript uses of runes man
They inclucle such river names s Thatnes, Auon'tivet',
11 man
do exist in a few early m The box first came to light in the l9th century,
water/sea
Don, Exe, (Jsle, and Wye.Town names include Doaer
P1
poems (notably in four lagu owned by a farmer from Auzon, France. lt is
'water', Eccles 'cltwch', Bray 'hill', London (a tribal passages where the name I I
ing
lng (a hero) named after 5ir Augustus Wollaston Franks,
of Cynewulf is repre- ng landiestate through whom it came to be deposited in the
T eel
name), Kent(meaning unknown), aud the use of cer
'fortifed place' (as in Crlisle) and pen 'head, top, hill'
sented), and in the solu-
tions to some of the riddles
I oe
d
dg
day British Museum. One side was missing, but it later
came into the possession of the Bargello
oak
in the xeter Book (p. 1 2), P1 ac Museum, Florence, and a cast was made of it, so
(as in Pendle). and are in evidence until r a
sc
ash that the box in the Brtsh Museum now appears
the 1 1th century, especially F
bow complete.
In the north, but there
yr
Latin loans are n v ?earth
very few of them. ear
Latin has been a major influence on Engiish through- I gar
sear
olrt its history (pp.24,48,60, 59), and there is evidence X clY calc
isandal/chalice/chatx
A k
(name unknown)
k
X
10
THE AUGUSTINIAN
MISSION
It would be a considerable
overstatement to suggest (as
one sometimes reads) that St
Augustine brought Christian-
ity to Britain. This religion had
already arrived through the
Roman invasion, and in the 4th
century had actually been
given official status in the
Roman Empire. lt was a Briton,
St Patrick, who converted lre-
land irr the early 5th centurY;
and a goodly number of earlY
Welsh saints' names are
remembered in place names
beginning with l/an ('church
[of]'). The story of St Alban
(said to have been martYred in
305 near the city of Verulam,
modern St Albans) is
recounted in detail by Bede.
Augustine's task was more
specific: to convert the Anglo-
Saxons. He had been prior of
the monastery of st Andrew in
Rome, before being chosen bY
Pope G regory f or the m ission.
He and his companions arrived
in the lsle of Thanet, to be met
by thelberht, king of Kent,
and they must have been
heartily relieved to find that
his wife was already a (Celtic)
Christan. They were given
leave to live and preach in Can-
terbury, and within a year the
king hmself was converted.
Three bishoprics were estab-
lished by the end of the
decade, with Augustine as
archbishop at Canterbury,
Justus as bishop at Rochester,
and Mellitus at London, as
bisho p of th e East
Saxo ns.
took some time
It
for this early success
to become consoli-
dated. Following
Augustine's death
(604/5) there was
much tension over reli
gious practices
between the Roman
Christians and their
Celtic counterparts,
who had lived in isola'
tion f rom Rome for so
long. lVatters came to a
head in the conflict over
the date of Easter,
resolved (in favour of
Rome) at the Synod of
Whitby in 664.
Part of the diff iculty in
developing the faith must
have been linguistic:
according to Bede, it was
nearly 50 years before
Anglo-Saxon was being
used as a missionary
tongue. King Egbert of
I'AI'I'I 'I'IIE IIIS'I'OIY OII IIN(I-ISIJ 3 OLD ENGLISFI l1
Viking invrsions (p. 25). The
cl-uir.rg the 8th-centuly
THE OLD ENGLISH CORPUS chief literary work of the pcliocl, the heroic poem H\T \)E GARDE-
f)
What! We Spear-Danes'
Ilcoruu$ strvives in a single copy, macle around 1,000 -.'.' na.
Therc is a'clark age' bctween tire arrival of thc Anglo- - possibly sorne 250 yeats fter it
was composecl
y.T yE ir.r gear-dagum. eod-cyninga
Saxor.rs ancl thc first Olcl English manlrscriPts. A few
scattcrecl inscriptions in the lar.rgr,rage clate from the 5th
(though the qr-restion of its cornposition clate is highly
controversial). TheLe are a nttmber of short poems'
,\ RD in yore-days,
rym ge-fi'unon hua
tribe-kings'
elingas eller-r
1?(t lt 5.eql ,\rrstr n. glory heard, howthe leaders courage
ancl 6th ccnturies, written iu thc lunic alphabet which agair.r almost entirely preselvec{ in late manuscr-ipts'
over half of theu concelued with Christian subjects -
liir\ C-yl tlt
fremedon. Oft scyld sceng sce:rena
the invaclers brought with them (p.9), but these givt'
vely little information rlrout whrt the langttagc was lcgencls of the sair.rts, extracts frorn the Bible, ancl clevo- V* flurrrr)lr Jr,,b t .ee.irn<.rl ellel accomplished. Often Scyld, Scef's son, from enemies'
tior.ral pieces. Sevelal others reflect the Gelrnal.ric tla- oFe fcL. fcrrr5 reatr-rm mollegllm mgr-rrn meodo-setla
like . The literaly age begn only after the alrival of the
clitior-r, clealing with such topics as war, travclling,
fpenreorl. ce'r|'e* bands, from manytribes mead-benches
Romau missionaries, lecl by AugLrstine, wiro caffe to
Kerrt irr AD 597.The rapicl growth of monastic centres patriotism, ancl celeblation. Most extnt Olcl English lpearrrn, nrorre5i nrr\rr,,, rt' \o rrcl,ir,
oteah egsode eoll syan l'est wear
seized, terrorised earl[s], since first he was
lecl to large nllmbcls of Latin mattuscriPts being pro- texts were wl'itten in the periocl following the reign of q"foe e,'l sy'$.ur .
ducecl, especially of thc Bible ancl othcr religious texts. King Alfred (84..)-99), who arranged for rnany Latin ".*1, 9,e1. i.1rf, fea-sceaft fi.rr.rden he s frofre gebacl
destitute found; he its relief
Becausc of this increasingly litelary clirnate, Olcl works to be translatecl - inclucling Bede's Ecclesiasticl ta rtelc funor . }e .ei ,, \)irri- lr.L weox under wolcnum weor'-myndum ah.
knew,
E,nglish manlrscripts also beg:rn tcl be wlitten - much History (p. 7). But the total corpLls is extremely small.
le"r ut|qr yolcnur l prtrirti riI".r,r |.lJ
grew under skies, in honours throve,
'Ihe number of worcls in the corpus of Old English
eal'lier, incleed, thar-r the earlicst verllacLllar tcxts from r o t him ghwylc ara ymb-sittenclra
l1"", ,g1,yv1."
-folor-rto, |
other north Eulopeau coLtlltries. The fir'st tcxts, clatir.rg cornpilecl at the University of which contains until
quu ;lut firi: r;r,\ror to him each ofthe neighbours
from alorncl 700, ale glossaries of Latin words trans- all the texts (but not all the alternative manuscripts of .
lateci into Olcl English, ancl a few early inscriptions a text), is only 3.5 rnillion - the equivalent of abollt 30
oFgl J ,l.orr,
r&rle- li lt.l,, ole!. <rlr I, r. I
ofer hron-rade hyran scolde gomban
over whale-road submit must, tribute
meclium-sizecl rnoclern novels. Only c. 5 per cent of
anc{ poems. But very little rnrterial remair.rs frorn this
perio<1. Doubtless lnany manuscfiPts wele bnmecl this total (c. 30,000 lines) is poetry.
yt larr 'J'.t1"
lI (,y nrl,{. L
tT.1, ttfr/", i.,i' gyldan t ws god cyning. m eafera ws
yield; that was good king! To him heir was
Kent in 664 had to make a spe-
q t;EL c en ,1 e tbtt5 III 5&r Ir T II ll itr {i
ftel cennecl geong in geardum one god
J,U' after born young in dwellings, him
olce coFl \or Prl rv L I"' f
lert ) e
God
cial plea to ensure that an THE GREGORIAN PUN
Anglo-Saxon speaking bishoP
.1 (1 l sencle folce to frofre $rrer.r-earfe or-r-
,l
.
ln Bede there is an account of st Gregory's f irst meeting with the inhabitants of England. .!
sent folk for solace; intense
et l,r* "qL l.uo , .)o l-b,-t r I
was appointed, 'so that with a to misery
Gregory, evidently a punster of some ability, himself asked to be sent to Britain as a mis-
prelate of his own nation and
sonary, but the pope of the time ref used - presumably because of G regory's socia I posi-
a t,
5e geat hie r drr-rgon aldor-fie]ase. lange
hy'le
language, the king and his sub- 1 t
tion, the son of a senator and former prefect of the city. When Gregory became pope h ,n1 t r,tra& saw when they before felt leaderless a long
jects might be more perfectlY
himself (590), he sent Augustine to do the job f or him. Bede tells the story at the end of his ,q Irrilr-q: pen. I to: lr :
him
instructed in the words and
mysteries of the faith'. This was
account of G regory's life (Book 2, Ch. 1).
Pol- l ul.
1
e fo L 5.T. l'*ya&u*{: pr,,*
I
hwile
while; to them
s lifrea wuldres wealdend
for it Life-Lord, glory's Ruler
the first expression of an issue t
which would be raised again
Nor s the account of st Gregory, which has been handed down to us by the tradition of our
ancestors, to be passed by i n silence, in relaton to his motives for taki ng such nterest in the
b I,d 6l rrq- lr;y
^1 1.. . , i rf l{. i'f
worold-are for-geaf. beowulf ws breme
several hundred years later n
salvation of our nation IBritain]. It is reported that, some merchants, having just arrived at
irile I I' I '
- .. i.
l{...d gave, Beow was famed,
world honour
English language history
Rome on a certain day, exposed many things for sale in ln b u tlt Itl :
I lt'{j
,
r .
:"1
..i ., .t :.t ln L-
bld wicle sprang scyldes eafera scecle-
(p. 61 ). '-.,L;.\ 't
the market-place, and an abundance of people resorted ". - renown widely sprang of Scyld's heir Danish
:. .
thther to buy: Gregory himself went with the rest, and,
rll It ri r
,i..
:fY! c r;rr; fr,!#'i,':tj landum in. Swa sceal [geong guma gocle (After
among other things, some boys were set to sale, their
a T,
^,.;.t
bodies white, their countenances beautiful, and their
lands in. So shall young man by good [deeds] J. Zupifza,
882. Trans.
hair very f ine. Having viewed them, he asked, as is said, ge-wyrcean fi'omum feoh-giftum. on fder
1
"_,'::: l,' J. Porter,
from what country or nation they were brought? and U
ensure, byfine fee-gifts in father's...
1 991 .)
wastold, from the island of Britain, whose inhabitants
were ofsuch personal appearance. He again inquired
whether those islanders were Christians, or still
involved in the errors of paganism? and was informed THE SCOP'S TALE Sweden, and after a great f ight kills the monster, that counterpoints the triumphl events of the
that they were pagans. Then, fetchi ng a deep sigh and in a second fght the monster's vengeful narratve. The poem is full of dramatic contrasts of
from the bottom of his heart, 'Alasl what pity,'said This opening page of the Beowulf textistaken mother. Beowulf returns home, recounts his story, this kind.
he,'thatthe authorof darkness is possessed of men from the text now lodged in the British Library, and is later made king of the Geats, ruling for 50 Whether the poem is a product of oral improvi-
of such fair countennces; nd that bei ng remark- London (manuscript reference, Cotton Vitellius A. years. There, as an old man, he kills a dragon in a sation or is a more consciously contrived literary
able for such graceful aspects, their minds should be xv). The manuscript is a copy made in c. 1000, but it f ight that leads to his own death. work has been a bone of scholarly contention.
void of inward grace.' He therefore again asked, was damaged by a fire at the Cottonian Library in This plot summary does no justice to the depth Many of its striking features, in particular its allit-
whatwasthe name ofthat nation? and was 1 73 1, hence the odd shape to the page. The name of meaning and stylistic impact of the work. Apart erative rhythmical formulae (p. 23), arethose we
answered, that they were called Angles. 'Right,' said of the poet, or scop, whose version is found here is f rom its lauding of courage, heroic def iance, loy- would associate with oral composition, for they
he,'forthey have an Angelicface, and it becomes not known, nor is it clear when the work was f irst altyto one's lord, and other Germanicvalues, would be a valuable aid to memorization; on the
such to be co-heirs with the Angels in heaven. What composed: one scholarly tradition assigns it to the Beowulf inlroduces elements of a thoroughly other hand, modern scholars have drawn atten-
is the name,' proceeded he, 'of the province from 8th century; another to a somewhat later date. Christian perspective, and there are many dra- tion to the patterned complexity of its narrative
wh ich they are brought?' lt was replied, that the This is the first great narrative poem in English. matic undercurrents and ironies. The monster is a structure, its metricalcontrol, and its lexicalrich-
natves of that province were called Deiri. 'Truly It is a heroic ta le about a 6th-century Scandi navian classicalfigure in Germanictradition, but it is also ness, suggesting a literary process of composition
they are De ira,' said he, 'withdrawn f rom wrath, hero, Beowu lf, who comes to the aid of the Danish said to be a descendant of Cain, and a product of (p. 23). The critic W. P Ker expressed one view, in
and called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king king Hrothgar. Hrothgar's retinue is under daily hell and the devil. The contrast between earthly The Dark Ages (1 904), that Eeowulf is a 'book to be
of that province called?'They told him his name attack f rom a monstrous troll, Grendel, at the hall success and mortality is a recurrent theme. While read'- but if so it is one which makes maximum
was lla; and he, alluding to the name, said, of Heorot ('Hart') in Denmark (located possibly on Beowulf is being feted in Hrothgar's court, the use of a stylewhich must originally have evolved
'Hallelujah, the praise of God the Creator must be the site of modern Leire, near Copenhagen). poet alludes to disastrous events which will one for use in oral poetry. (For an account of some
sung in those parts.' (Trans. J. Stevens, 1 723 ) Beowulf travels from Geatland, in southern day affect the Geats, providing a note of doom modern investigative techniques, see p.447.)
t2 PART I.THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 3 OLD ENGLISH l3

THE, E,ARLIE,ST ENGLISH LITERIURE
As with foreign languages, there is never complete
agreement about the best way of translating Old
English texts; nor is there unanimity about the best
way of editing them. The extracts on these and adja-
cent pages are here to illustate the range and charac-
ter oithe literature ofthe period, but they also show
the varied editorial Practice which exists. Some edi-
tors have tried to rnake their text resemble the original
manuscript as closely as possible; others have pro-
duced a modernized version.
About the neecl for editing, there is no doubt. To
print a facsimile of Old English texts would be to
make them unreadable to all but the specialist. There
is plenty of scope for editorial intervention. Scribal
habits of capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing,
word spacing, and word division were cliverse and
inconsistent, and order needs to be imposed. There
are no poetic line divisions in the manuscript of
The Battle of Maldon was Old English poetic manuscripts contained no titles. FROM ALFRED WITH
fought in August 991. A Viking
THE RUNE POEM Titles such as Beoutulfor The Seafarerhave been added LOVE
fleet had sailed upthe estuary
of the River Blackwater to the Each stanza of this poem begins with the name of the by editors, usually in the 19th century. Most of the
island of Northey, near Maldon rune printed alongside (p. 9). The poem would have poetry is also anonymous, the chief exceptions being
correct scribal errors; others draw attention to them in
in Essex. Their passage across been passed on orally, the rhythm and alliteration
parentheses. Missing letters at the edge of a torn or the few lines known to be by Cdmon (p. 20) and four
the river (now called SoutheY making it easy to remember, in much the same way as
burned manuscript may be restored, or their omission Creek) was opposed by children today learn 'Thirty days hath September'. poems containing the name of Cynewulf woven in
Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex, runes into the texts as an acrostic (p. 398), so that read-
may be indicated by special symbols' Some editions
and his household. The poem,
add an indication of vowel length. Some replace which lacks a beginning and
Feoh by frofur fira gehwylcum- ers could pray for him. \X/e know more of the prose
outmoded letters (p. 16) by modern equivalents' end in the extant manuscriPt, I sceal eah manna gehwylc miclun hyt dlan authors, who included KingAlfred, Archbishop Vul
Poetic hallines may or may not be recognized (both tells of howthe English reject I gif he wile for Drihtne domes h[eotan. stan, and Abbot tIfric, but even here most of the
the Viking demand for tribute,
practices are shown below). And editors vary in the surviving material, as in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
then allow them safe passage
attention they pay to the existence ofalternative read- across the causeway from Ur by anmod / oferhyrned, (p.14), is anonymous. lfred kyning hate gretan
ings in different copies of a manuscript. Northey, to enable a battle to felafrecne deor, feohte mid hornum, Wrfer biscep his wordum
An important feature, which can add a great deal to
take place. This turned out to
be an unfortunate decision:
l'r mre morstapa: is modig wuht! HE OPENING LINES OF THE SEAFARER
luf lice ond freondlice...
King Alfred sends his greet-
the 'alien' appearance of a text, is whether the scribet Mg ic be me sylfum sogiedwrecan,
orn by earle scearp, egna gehwylcum ings to Bishop Werferth in his
orthographic abbreviations are retained, or own words, in love and
anfeng ysyfyl, ungemetun ree sias secgan, hu ic geswincdagum
are expanded. In
some riendship...
f
manna gehwylcun e him mid reste. earfohwile oft rowade,
texts, for example, 1is used In the preface to his transla-
bitre breostceare gebiden hbbe, tion of Gregory's Cura Pas-
as the abbreviarion fot t Os by ordfruma lcre sprce, gecunnad in ceole cearselda fela, toralls ('Pastoral Care'), made
or for , / for the various
f,f wisdomes wrau and witena Frofur atol ya gewealc. c. 893, Alfred contrasts the
forms of and, and the tilde lv and eorla gehwam eadnys and tohihr. early days of English Chris-

Beotuulf, for example (p. 11), and these have to be
added.
Nonetheless, editorial practices vary greatly i'n the
way texts are made consistent. Some editors silently
THE BATTLE OF MALDON
Byrhtpold maelode, bord hafenode-
eald Jeneat-sc acPehte;
se ps
he ful baldlice beornas lrde:
'Hi3e sceal e heardra, heorte e cenre,
mod sceal e mare, e ure m3en lytla.
Her li ure eldor eall forheaPen,
3od on Jreote. A m3 Jnornian
se e nu fram is piSpleSan pendan ence
Ic eom frod feores. Fram ic ne Pille,
ac ic me be healfe minum hlaforde,
be spa leofan men licJan ence.'
Spa hiel3ares bearn ealle bylde
Jodric to 3ue. Oft he Jar forlet,
plspere pindan on a Picin3as;
spa he on am folce $'rmest eode,
heopT hynde, o t he on hilde Jecranc.
HOW DO TWELVE BECOME FIVE?
\er st t wine mid his wifum rwam
(-) marks an expnsion,
Can I about myself true-poem uttet
of journeys tell, how I i n toilsome-days
tianity with his own time, for
which the destruction caused
usually to a following nasal. Rad by on recyde rinca gehwylcum hardship-times often suffered by the Vikings would have
(For latel scribal conven- bitter heart-sorrow have endured, been largely to blame (p. 25).
sefte, and swihwt am e sitte onufan come to know on ship many sorrow-halls
tions, see p.40.) l\ meare mgenheardum ofer milpaas. cruel rolling of waves.
This book was part of a great
programme of learning
which Alfred inaugurated in
Cen by cwicera gehwam cu on f're, FROM THEDREAM OFTHE ROOD an effort to repair the
damage, organizing the
h
blac and beorhtlic, byrne oftust t ws geara iu-ict gyta geman- translation of major texts
Byrhtwold spoke; he grasped his shield- some of the English f lee the r hi elingas inne resta. which previously had been
t ic ws aheawen holtes on ende
he was an old follower-he shook the ash spear; field, Byrhtnoth is killed, and available only in Latin. Most
the remaining loyalsoldiers die
asryred ofstefne minum. Genaman me r
of the surviving manuscripts
very boldly he exhorted the warriors: Wealth is a joy to every man-
heroically. The extract Ileft] is strange feondas, of Old English are 1Oth-
'Courage shall be the fierce heart the bolder, from the last few lines of the but every man must share it well
geworhton him r to wfersyne, heton me century in origin, and must
our strength lessens. extant text, when Byrhtwold, if he wishes to gain glory in the sight of the Lord. owe thei r existence to the
spirit the greater, as
heora wergas hebban;
an old warrior, expresses the Aurochs is fierce, with gigantic horns, success of this programme.
Here lies our chief all hewn down, bron me r beornas on eaxlum, o t hie me
heroism which it isthe purpose a very savage animal, it fights with horns, The preface continues:
in the dust. He has cause ever to mourn
a noble man of the poem to commemorate. a well-known moor-stepper: it is a creature of on beorg asetton;
who ntends now to turn from this war-play. The ford which led to the lwantto letyou knowthat it
courage! gefstnodon me r feondas genoge. Geseah ic has often occurred to me to
mainland, now built up into a
I am advanced in years. I will not hence, think what wise men there
causeway, isshown in the Pic- Thorn is very sharp, harmful to every man a Frean mancynnes
but I by the side of mY lord, ture. lt is only some 77 Yards (70 who seizes it, unsuitably severe once were throughout Eng-
etan elne micle, t he me wolde on gestigan.
land... and how people once
by so dear a man, intend to lie.' m) long, which would thus to every man who rests on it.
enable the English and Viking That was very long ago- I remember it still- used to come here from
Likewise, Godric, the son of thelgar, exhorted them all Mouth is the creator of all speech, abroad in search of wisdom
leaders to shout their demands that I was cut down at the forest's edge
a supporter of wisdom and comfort of wise men, and learning-and how
to the battle. Often he let the spear fly, to each other - an exchange
and a blessing and hope to every man.
stirred from my root. Strong enemies took me there,
made me into a spectacle there for themselves, ordered nowadays we would have to
the deadly spear speed away among the Vikings; which dramatically recorded
is
in the poem. me to lift up their criminals; get it abroad (if we were to
as hewent out in the forefront of the army, lourney is to every warrior in the hall
men carried me there on shoulders, untilthey set me on have it at all). Learning had so
pleasant, and bitingly tough to him who sits
he hewed and struck, until he perished in the battle. a hill; declined in England that
on a mighty steed over the mile-paths.
many enemies fastened me there. I saw then the Lord of there were very few people
Torch s to every Iiving thing known by its fire; mankind thisside of the Humberwho
bright and brilliant, it burns most often hastening with great courage, that he intended to climb could understand their ser-
where the princes take their rest within. vice-books in English, let
alone translate a letter out of
Latn into English - and
This is one of the 95 poetic riddles (some of which
I

ond his rlvegen suno ond his rwa dohtor,
swase gesweostor, ond hyra suno vegen'
freolico frumbearn; fder ws r inne
ara elinga ghwres mid,
eam ond nefa. Ealra wron fife
eorla ond idesa insittendra.
A man sat at wine with his two wives
and his two sons and his two daughters,
beloved sisters, and their two sons,
noble first-born; the father was in there
of both of those princes,
Book of Genesis, where it is said that Lot's two
the uncle and the nephew. ln all there were five
Iords and ladies sitting in there.
don't imagine there were
date from the 8th century) in the Exeter Book, a lhe opening
late lOth-century compilation of secular and reli- lines of lhe many north of the Humber,
either. There were so few of
gious poetry. By 1072 it belonged to Bishop Seafare from
the Fxeter them that I cannot th i nk of
Leofric of Exeter, who bequeathed it to his cathe-
Book. even a single one south ofthe
dral. The solution to the riddle comes from the
Thames at the time when I
came tothe throne. Thanks
daughters lay with him, and each bore him a son.
beto almighty God that we
now have any supply of
teachers. (Trans. A. G. Rigg.)
 PART I -I'HE HISl-ORY OIT ENGLISH 3 ()Ll) IiNGt.lSH l5
14

,1, ''\ I !' 455 lr{er Hengest / Horsa fuhton wi WyLt georne am cyninge, in aere SOURCES OF THE CHRONICLE

ri L {
1
i rl' I
t ' 1
11fr;r: 1
! trl
! , ,lrts.,. stowe e is gecueden Agles rep,7 his brour Horsan man olog. / fter The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is not a sngle text, but a compi-
'i'; r\iii
I

i"u11,, " 'i.'i lation from several sources which differ in date and place of
.1n
1
I 1i, 1!{'tt I
1 t 1.,,rr
!,tlr am Hengest feng ltol ce7 ,sc his sunu. orgin. lt takes the form of a year-by-year diary, wth some
.!..1t: ir l'1t 'i' : .1 f i !t, !t;'rtt 455 ln this year Hengest and Horsa fought against King Vortigern at a place which is
years warranting extensive comment, some a bare line or
two, and many nothing at all. Most ncient European chroni-
ri '

1^
t,., r r" ir L called Aglesrep [Aylesford], and his brother Horsa was slain. And after that Hengest cles were kept in Latin, but the present work is distinctive for
I
ii '
i i
1'r" i
\ti ii{i l rt!1 \iil

i
I
t succeeded to the kingdom and sc, his son. its use of Old English-and alsoforthevasttime-span it

t.a11t .\l'.
rr"i 1
i r'.-i r tt t\ 1i II il l I,..\- ' !
covers, from year 1 (the birth of Christ) to various dates in the

ir,
't
.,11 i. i{ 1 1th or 12th century.
I
457 Her Hengest / sc fuhton wi Brettas in re srowe e is ge cueden
i

r,lr" r ri!
\. , r
' ! ! "i:r;. \'rt ':rrltlt I r'ti \\)ll
a

iti Crecgan ford,7 r ofslogon .llll. Blettas a forleton Cent

There are seven surviving chronicle manuscripts, six of
,l!'.,!rr 1t:1'I r 7
"*ra, a
which are completely in Old English, the seventh partly in
t,.,)rtr lond, 7 mid micle ege flugon to Lunden byrg. Latin. Scholars have given each text a distinguishing letter
-l name, but they are more commonly known by the name of
their source location or that of an early owner.
457 ln this year Hengest and sc fought against the Brtons at a place which is called
,'1 Crecganford [Crayford], and there slew four thousand men; and the Britons then for- . Text A1: the Pa rker Chronicle.This is the oldest manuscript,
sook Kent and fled to London in great terror. written in a single hand from the beginning to 891, then
'I
1r 1!
kept up to date in 1 3 or 1 4 other hands up to 1 070. lts name
derives from a former owner, Matthew Parker, Archbishop of
":! 465 }{er Hengest / sc gefuhton wi 'Walas neah Wippedes Leote, / r Canterbury (1 504 -75). lt is sometimes called the l//inchester
.\tt {t rui rt ,'' .XII. \X/ilisce aldor menn ofslogon, 7 hiera egn an r wear olgen, Chronicle, because ts 9th-century subject-matter was com-
t
. . tl1 '"itl r, rl' 1, t.'" t 1 'i' t rfrlir :'.!rlrl),, !l !ru am ws noma Wipped.
piled at Winchester, being later transferred to Canterbury.

""l'l Th is is the version f rom which the facing extract is taken.

.'

;l fl t. ' 't. 'T

n,rli r'!.T. .., ._.'rt ii''ir,l

lll . Text A2: Frag ments of an 1 th-centu ry copy of the Parker

',
.;
I 1

.t'rir r'l ','r'l i i

: r'. 1

i r" ,! l ! 465 ln this year Hengest and sc fought against the Welsh near Wippedesf leot and Chronicle, almost completely destroyed in the same Cotto-
t;
:'t f
(.

'.tT trri't... :'.tll r\ there slew twelve Welsh nobles; and one of their thanes, whose name was Wpped, nian Library f ire that damaged Beowulf (p. 1 1).
: t1 !.i;i t I l i'.;'1r' ,;li rl was slain there.
. Texts B and C: theAbingdon Chroncles. TwoWest Saxon
l versions: the first (B), extending toyear 977 , was copied c.
,'; . , rf
473 Her Hengest /
gefuhton wi \Walas, 7 genamon un arimedlico
tsc
1 000, and kept at Canterbury without add itions; the second

(C), extending to 1066, is a m id- 1 1th-century copy which was

,i.tl ri;; -i.r'r here reaf, 7 a Walas flugon a Englan swa E/r. kept up to date.
. Text D: the Worcester Chronicle. A text, with northern
tr1 material added, which was sent to the diocese of Worcester.
473 In this year Hengest and sc fought against the Welsh and captured innumerable
It was written in the mid-1 1th century, and kept up to date
!i "1t:r spoils, and the Welsh fled from the English like fire. until 1 079.
.t{ r i.il
I
i ii i l.\ I "ii !lr{ltt ll' .i{r l ill'i'} . Text E: the Pete rboroug h Ch ron icle; also called the Laud
I tr ff"- ! r
477 }ler cuom lle on Breten lond, 7 his .lII. suna. Cymen, / \lencing, Chronicle, after Archbishop William Laud (1573 - 1645). This
. 1,1l
t
i." !"r,l "11 i fi ! t'l' version, copied at Peterborough in a single hand until 1 121,
t
i Tl 7 Cissa. mid .III. scipum, on a stowe e is nemned Cymenes ora,/ r extends as far as 1 1 54.
'rl ofslogon monige \ealas, / sume on fleame bedrifon on one wudu e is o Text F: the bilingual Canterbury Epitome. This is a version
of E i n Latin and English, written in Canterbury c. 1'l 00.
genemned Andrecles leage.
The EasterTables
t! I ,i'1 'll\{ 477 In this year lle came to Britain and his three sons Cymen, Wlencing, and Cissa The text opposite shows the years 455 to 490 from Text E, and

{ t {i. ,..,f, r.rr' with three ships at the place which is called Cymenesora [The Owers to the south of deals with the events soon after the arrival of the Anglo-
'I .'i{' \f'rt:'.!
l, I'l
t- 'f Selsey Billl, and there they slew many Welsh and drove some to f light into the wood Saxons (p.7). ln this part of the Chronicle, the scribe has writ-

;ll 'u I l't {}11 tr""ll!lr"

T
ten a series of years on separate ines, assuming that a single
{.t' ,'
I

1tti1,l
.r.
1 which is called Andredesleag [Sussex Weald]. line would suff ice f or each year. (He missed out year 468, and
I r:r I ttl - ! ")r, i lt.rrt ). had to insert it afterwards - an interesting example of how
'.\\r
r
,l i t r i r i '
" "li 485 Her -Ile gefeaht wi Valas neah Meare rdes burnan ste. scribal errors can be made.)
!t.1t :' The Chron icles are not al I like this. They change in style as
ilu. {{\l 485 ln this year lle fought against the Welsh near the bank of [the stream] they develop, and lose their ist-like appearance. Many of the
I

later entries, especia lly those written by contempora ries,

Mearcrdesburna.
contain a great deal of narrative, and take on the character
rtl .lt\
1,t\ tlo of literary essays undertheir year headings.
488 Her sc feng to rice, / was .XXIIII. wintra Canrwara cyning. The listing technique shown in the illustration is one which
i1 i.rir' i,-\ !."rf ! originated with the Easter lables, drawn up to help the
clergy determine the date of the feast n any year. A page
il
j
r ..1 ^, I 1l,l *-{1,r .r;.rilr i 1. .t 488 I n this yea r sc succeeded
twenty-four years.
to the ki ngd om, a nd was ki n g of the people of Kent
consisted of a sequence of long horizontal lines. Each line
began with a year number, which was followed by several
l; t'rt Lc.tl , t
(After C. Plummer, 1892. Trans. G. N. Garmonsway, 1972.)
columns of astronomical data (e.9. movements of the 5un
Jl and Moon), and the results of the calculation. Of particular
.'!l 11r! i\: { relevance was the space left at the end of each line, which
i t
I \ , t t rl I I I was used to write short notes about events to help distin-
i! '.rtt .,r r l f'J r .: .,P
guish the years from each other (such as 'ln this year cnut
,r;r\i ; \ t became king'). The Chronicles grew out of this tradition, but
as the intention changed, and they became more like histori-

,i tt,'; cal records, these end-of-l ine notes took up more space than
was expected, and the scribe had to make room where he
cou ld f ind it. This is why some of the entries in the illustration
appear opposite several year numbers.
l6 PAI{'I'I THJ IIIS'I'ORY OF I]N(ILISH 3 ()t.t) IIN(t.tsll t7

. Several modern lettels will ltot

be seen: 7 is usually o
l was callecl 'tholr.r', both the name ancl syrnbol being the timc of lfric (in the late lOrh cenrury), br-rt this
OLD E,NGLISH LETTERS spellecl with a 3, z with an -f, q, *,ancl z are very rarely bollowecl frorn thc runic alphabet. lcplesentecl It was a temporl'y state of affairs. Changc was on thc
usecl. cithe l of the 'th' sounds [0] oL [] (p. 1 8). This syrnbol horizon, it-r the folr-n of new Continel.rtal sclibal plac-
Although there is mucil in corlnoll lerween Old and . ft/was written using a rr-rnic syrnbol, 'wynn', p, which ancl (see below) were ir.r fact interchar-rgeable : a scribe tices, an ir.revitable glaphic conseqllellcc of 1066
Modern English, it is the differences which strike us rost can still be seen printecl in older editions of Olcl English might nsc frst one, then the other', in thc same (p.40).
texts (p. 12). Modern eclitions use zu. Variant folrns r.rsir.rg rnanuscript - though thom becarne commoner in rhe
forcibly when we first encounter eclited Anglo-Saxon
u ot xu ae sometimes found, especially in eafly texts' later Olcl English peliod. (A r/.' spelling was also spo-
texts. The eclitors have done a great deal to make the texts THE LIND15FARNE Bishop of Lindisfarne (in of its mixture of lrish,
more accessible to present-day readers, by introducing . was callecl 'ash', a name borrowecl from the luuic laclically used:rt the vcly beginning of the Olcl English GOSPELS off ice, 7 24-40), bou nd it, Germanic, and Byzantine
periocl, presr"rrnably refecting Irish influence, but it and that Billfrith made an motifs; but it is also of great
modern convertiorls of worcl spaces, punctuation, capi- alphabet (p.9), though the syrnbol is an adaptation of A page from the Lindis- outer casing for it, which he graphological interest, as it
Latin e,which it graclually replaced clurir-rg the Sth cer.r- was cluickly replacccl by the new symbols.)
talization, and line division (p. lZ), but there are certain farne Gospels, wrtten at the decorated with precious of
. .was called'that'in Anglo-Saxon times, though the monastery on the island of stones. The text is now in the
displays several styles
writing
feaiures of the original spelling which are usually
(5'18).
tury. Its sounclwas sotnewhele between [a] and [e](p' 1B).
name given to it by 19th-century eclitors is'eth' (plo- Lindisfarne (also called Holy British Museum, but the The rubric above the
retained, ancl it is these which make the language look lsland), two miles off the gems no longer survive. monogram is in uncials. The
nouncecl as ir.r the first syllable of rucathu, see p. 1B).
alien. Learning to interpret the clistinctive symbols of LFRIC'5 COLLOQUY remarkable for the liveliness and realism, Northumberland coast in NE The illustration shows the four lines oftext below are
tinged with humour, of the dialogue. The oligin of this syrnbol is obscule, though it rnay be England, and linked to the opening of Matthew 1 .1 8. in ornamental captals, with
Old Engiish is therefole an essentil frst step. The col/oquy is one of the earliest English the Colloquy shows two writing styles. mainland by a causeway at Th is verse was held to be the elaborate links between
at.r aclaptatiou of an early L'ish letter'.
Oid English texts were written on parchment or educational documents. Colloquies were a The Latn uses Carolingian minuscule
. Numbers wele written only in Roman syrnbols (as low tide. The text was wrt- real beginning of this some letters to save space.
vellum. The first manusclipts were in the Roman alpha- standard technique of instruction in the (p. 258), whereas the Old English is in an ten c. 700, if we can trust the Gospel, as the preceding The f irst line of the Gospel
monastc schools of Europe, and were espe- older style (as shown by such features as the can be seen in the clates of the Anglo-Saxon Chlonicle, brief biographical note text has been left unfin-
bet, using a haluncial, minuscule script (p.258) cially used forteaching Latin. lfric's Col/o- rounded a, the i nsular s, the dotted and added in a space on one of
verses contained only
genealogical material, ished. Between the lines s
p. 14). Arabic l.lr.unerals car.ne much later.
brought over by Irish missionaries: a good exarnple is quytakes the form of a conversation the use of yogh). Note the early punctua- the later pages (fo|.259). hence the richness ofthe an Old English gloss written
Bede's Ecclesiastical Historl, illustratecl on p.7. The between a teacher and a young monk, and ton system, especially the form f or the Tl-re stanclarcl Olcl English alphabet thus haci the fol- This says that Eadfrith, illumination at this point. in an insular script by a
deals largely with the daily tasks of the question mark in the Latin text. A period is Bishop of Lindisfarne (in The page is of considerable Northumbrian scribe in the
rounclecl letter shapes of this script later developed into lowing 24 lettels:
monk's companions in the school and of the used to end sentences, and also in some office, 698-72 1 ), wrote the artistic nterest because 1 Oth century.
the more angular and cursive style (called rhe instt/ar

monk's own life there. The work is of con- places where we wou ld nowadays use a book, that thelwald,
script), which, was the usual form of writing unril the siderable hstorical interest for the picture comma. a, , b, c, cl, e, I g, h, i, k, l, rn, l.r, o, p, ! s, t, , , u, q y
it provides of the life of ordinary people in The Old English shows typcalfeatures of
1 1th century. Anglo-Saxon society. lt is also of great lin- late West Saxon (p. 28), and probably dates Several of these lettels wele usecl in combinations
The Old English alphabet was very similar to the one guistic interest as, in one of thefoursurviv- from the fi rst ha lf of the 1 1 th centu ry. B asi c (digrutphs) to lepresent single sor.urcl units, in
still in r-rse, though ar.ry modern eye looking at the origi- ing manuscripts (Cotton Tiberius A.iii, punctuation has been added to the above
mttcir the same way as clo sevelal modem fonns,
transcr pt, as an aid for the modern reader -
(T
shown below left), someone has added ) : tl 1'{i il
nal manuscripts would be imrnediately struck by the glosses in Old English above the lines. This but as the text is a gloss, rather than a srrch as tl and e (as in ntart). ("1 t\\ t1 ! t'l
absence of capital letters, was almost certainly a later teacher, rather coherent narratve, the sentences do not One other point about spelling shoulcl be 1!1trn
than a pupll or lf ric himself - though the always run smoothly. The gloss is almost
. A few of the letters were different in shape . Thele was point has been much debated. complete in these opening lines, butthere
notecl. Thele was a great cleal of valiation, r'eflect-
Little is known about lf ric. He was born are several omitted words later in the ing the different pleferer.rces of inclividual sclibes,
an elongated shape for s, for example. Modeln letter g
c. 955, and died c. 1 020. He was a monk at Colloquy. rrs wcll as regional attempts to capture local sounds
appeared as 3, often called 'yogh' (for its sound, see p. 1 8). Winchester, and he became Abbot of Eyn- ln this transcript, each turn in the dia-
plccisely. Plactices also varied over tilne. But even fit"
A few other letter-shapes, such as e, f, and r, also look sham in c. 1005. His other writing includes logue is placed on a new line. Abbreviated
many homilies, saints'lives, and a Latln forms marked by a tilde in the manuscript with a single scribe in a single place at a single tirne, tr n
rather different.
Grammarf or which later scholars gave him have been expanded in square brackets, tl.rcle could be variation, :rs can be seen from the exis-
the title of 'Grammaticus'. He is widely but 7 (for et) has been left. The transcript tcuce of scvelal valiant forms in manuscripts such as
London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A. xv, fol. 60v. The
first five lines of glossed text are transcribed in the panel to the regarded as one of the greatest writers of does not show the dot over the y.
old English prose. Certainly, hisColloquyis Ilcotuulf The spelling became much more regulal by
right
,.-'i.
I t rc ip i t eu r rye litnn s ect t ndunt tnttt/ e unt
pe cildra bidda e, eala laleop, tt] u tce Lrs sPrecan forarn unSelrede ( .'/t isti autcttt gcttnntio sic
pe syndon 7 3epmmodlice pe spreca. crlt.t cunt cssct desporua
hpt pille Je sprecan? tntttcr eitts fularia losebh.
hpt rece pe hpt pe sprecan, butor.r hit riht sprc sy 7 behefe' ns idel oe ..et,.rr i'h'
onginne goclspell ft' matheus
fracod.
Clistcs solice cynnreccenise r cneuresLl'
pille bespun3en on leornun3e?
)^r.l I us
leofre ys Lls beon bespunSen for lare nne hit tre cunnan.
n's )'*rr biwoeclc{ecl r beboder.r
mi r
Nos pueri rogamus te magister ut doceas nos loqui latialit[er] recte quia idiote sumus &
bcfastnircl r betaht
corrupte loquimur.
Quid uultis loqui? rnocler his
Quid curamus. quid loquamur nisi recta locutio sit & utilis, non anilis aut turpis. (The glossator is using several Old English words to
tJultis flagellari in discendo? express one in Latin; these are linked using the abbrevi-
Carius est nobis flagellari p[ro] doctrina quam nescire. ation for Latin uel ('or'): r. He also sometimes adds f ur-
We boys ask you, master, that you teach us to speak Latin correctly, because we are
ther explanatory comments, in the margins. For the use
ignorant and we speak ungrammatically. of -, see p. 1 2.)
What do you want to speak? The beginning of the Gospel according to Matthew
what do we care what we speak, as long as the speech is correct and useful, not foolish Now the birth of jesus Christ was in this wise. When
or base. Mary his mother had been betrothed to.loseph...
Are you ready to be beaten while you learn? (After P H. Blair, 1977.)
We would rather be beaten for our teaching than not to know it.
London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero D. iV fol. 29.
 HISTORY OF ENGLISH
18
PART I.THE
GETTING IT RIGHT
OLD E,NGLISH SOUNDS
Generations of old Letter and its meaning
English students have
How do we know what Old English sounded like?
pored over tables such as
The unhelpful answer is that we do not. In later peri- this one, in an effort to
ods, we can rely on accotnts by contemporary writers
work out the 'sound' of
(p.69) - but th.r. is none of this in Old English' The the language. ManY must
b.t *.
can do is make a series of informed guesses' have identified during
their universitY daYs with
^
c
based on a set ofseparate criteria (see below), and hope
the students of lf ric
that the results are sufficiently similar to warrant some
cg
(p.16), caring not so much
g.r.r"l conclusions. A great deal
e
oF scholarship has about what theY said, as
een devoted to this issue, and we now have a fair long as theY said it right.
But the analogY is onlY a
degree of certainty about how most of the sounds were
ea
partial one: 21 st-centurY
ornou.t..d. If an Anglo-Saxon were available, using
ea
university tutors of Old
eo
ih. irlforrn"rion on ,.r. p"g., we could probably English would not, on the eo
communicate intelligiblY. whole, beat their charges.
-We
would have to get used to each other's accent, of f
course, in much the same waY as modern speakers
(unused, say, to Geordie o r Cockney speech) need to
do. There is no reason to suppose that there was any b fugol 'bird'
less phonetic variation in
A birch ofthe tYPe used
in medieval monastic
Anglo-Saxon times than there is toda and the sym-
schools.
bols opposite should not be interpreted too narrowly'
To say that Old English dwas pronounced as an oPen
front vowel (p.2 38) is sufficient to distinguish it from
and other vowels, but it does not tell us the exact Notes
Some of the sounds are
vowel quality which would have been used'
restricted to certain
The evidence contexts.
There are four main rypes of evidence used in deduc- 1 before m, n. n(g)
2 before/after i, and often
ing the sound values of Old English letters' ,e,y
' Alphbetical logic We know a great deal about how 3 between voiced sounds
4 between back vowels
the letters of the Roman alphabet were pronounced' 5 initially
and it seems reasonable to assume that, when the mis- 6 after , e, i, Y
sionaries adapted this alphabet to Old English, they 7 after a, o, u
8 between vowels
tried to do ,oltt a consistent and logical way' The letter
representing the sound of min Latin would have been The following riddle (No'
,.pr.r..t, the same sound in English' Likewise' 86 in the Exeter Eook
'-rr.d,o (p. 1 2)) illustrates the use
if they found it necessary to find a new letter, this must of this transcription in a
have te.n because they felt no Latin letters were suit-
continuous Piece of
able (as in the case of the new symbol a)' writing.
Similarly, a great deal of information comes from the (After R. Quirk, V. Adams.
wayvariations of regional accent and changes over time & D. DaW 1975.)
,ho*.t in the spelling of Old English texts' The
"r.
3 OLD ENGLISH l9
scribes generally tried to write words down to show the c Poetic euidence The way in which poets make words ANCIENT MUTAIONS
waytheywere spoken. Theywere not in aculturewhere rhyme or alliterate can provide important clues about
ExamPle IPA
Modrn exarnPle rhere were arbitrary rules for standardized spelling the way the sound system works. So can the rhythmi-
Some English word pairs
showing the effects of a
rymbol
(though rigorous conventions were maintained in cer- phonological change which
st'sat' [] Southern BrE st cal patterns of lines of verse, which can show the way a
took place over 1,200 years
dd'deed' lerl Frenchbre tain abbeys), so we ale not faced with such problems as word was stressed, and thus indicate what value to give ago.
mann'man' [o]1 AmE hat silent letters: the w of writaa, the ancesto r of write,was to a vowel appearing in an unstressed syllable - a criti-
goose - geese
dagas'days' Io] GermanLand pronounced. Old English is, accordingl much more cal matter in the late Old English period (p.32). tooth - teeth
hm'home' Io:] Father
'phonetic' than Modern English (p. 27 2). man - men
cyrice'church' tdl2 chwch
. Comparatiue recons*uction We canwork backwards Complications mouse - mice
cene'bold' tkl ,4een hale - health
r4l from later states of the language to make deductions There are many pitfalls to trap the unwary philologist.
ecg'edge' edge doom - deem
settan'set' lel st about how Old English must have sounded. Several of Scribes could be very inconsistent. They were also full - fill
he'he' Ier] GermanLdoen the sounds ofModern English (especially dialect forms) proneto error. But of course we do not know in whole - heal
asforl),let), are likely to have close similarities with those of Old advance whether an idiosyncratic form in a
fall - fell (vb.)
earm'arm' blood - bleed
[e]
[e], [er], English. It is unlikely that there is any real difference in manuscript is in fact n error or a deliberate attempt to foul - f ilth
eare'ear' Ie:e]
followed fu the the way most of the consonants were pronounced then represent an ongoing sound change or a regionalism. long - length
eorl'nobleman' Iee]
beor'beer' Iere]
frst sylkble and now. The chief problems re the vowels, whose A great deal of detailed comparative work may be
broad - breadth
of abour. old - elder
values are always more difficult to pinpoint (p.237) . required before we can be sure.
eln
fre'ever'
{ fif'five'
[v]3
tfl f,f, . Sound changes \e know a great deal about the kinds The absence of universal spelling rules can also pose
of sound change which take place as language pro- a problem, s there was no necessity for scribes to be
gyt '<get' tj l2 !et
gresses. It is therefore possible to propose a particular consistent, and many were not (p. 10). Manuscripts
tvla colloq. German sound value for an Old English letter diflrent from the can varyin their use of1 and (p. 16), single or double
saSen
one in existence toda as long as we are able to give a consonants ( or ss, d or dd), and several groups of
gn'go' tgl go
plausible explanation for the change. For example, the vowels (notabl i, y, and ie). At one point we might
heofon'heaven' thl5, lteaven
Germanich Old English equivalent to it was hit.If we claim that find hit, and at another, hy, gyldn'pay' might be
h niht'night' []6
brhte'brought' "17 German brachrc the was pronounced, we have to assume that people spelled gieldan; ar might be ar. Such difficulties, it
I sittan'sit' til slt stopped pronouncing it at a later stage in the language. must be appreciated, contribute only to the fortitude
wid'wide' ti:l weed Is this a likely sound change? Given that the dropping and motivation of the true Old English phonologist.
monn'man' [o]1 AmE ht of in unstressed pronouns is something that happens H$e scel e herdra, heorte e cenre (p.12) ,
o BrE ht
{ God'God' lcl regularly today (I saw 'im), it would seem so.
god'good' Ior] GermanSohn
rlsan 'rise' l8 rise
s house
{ hs'house' t.l THE FIRST VOWEL SHIFT thought to have been *foflz, with the stress on f. vowels and diphthongs were affected, too, being
sc scip'ship' rIl ship For some reason (see below), the quality of this articulated even further forward and higher (with
t18 other lllfe can say one thing with certainty about the high front sound caused the preceding vowel to
, { er, er'other'
urh, urh through tel through accent of the Ang lo-5axon invaders after they change (mutate). ln the case of *fol the o became
the exception of [i], of course, which is already as
far forward and as high in the mouth as any vowel
lull arrived in Britain: it changed. We knowthis , which ultimately came to be pronounced [i:], as
ful'full' Iu] can be).
u
because the words which emerged in Old English in modern feet. The -2 ending dropped away, for There are a few exceptions and complications,
u hs'house' IuN 8oose out of the Germanic spoken on the Continent once the plural was being shown bythe e vowel, it which analysts still puzzle over, but the general
wynn'joy' tyl GermanVrde
v
GermanGte
(p. 6) looked (and therefore sounded) very was unnecessary to have an ending as well. Ft effect on the language was immense, as ths sound
rlman 'make way' different from their later counterparts in the early
v tyrl therefore emerged as an irregular noun in English change applied to the most frequently occurring
days of German. What happened to cause such a - though the process which gave rise to it was word classes, allof which had isounds in their
difference? perfectly regulai affecting hundreds of cases. inf lectional endings. This is why we have in
A related observation arises out of the way some This process has come to be called i-mutation, or Modern Engl ish such pairs as food I feed (f rom the
\iht cwom gangan r weras ston Latin words were borrowed into Old English i-umlaut(a German term meaning 'sound addition of an *-ian verb-forming suffix in
[wit kwom gDl]gqn Oelr werqs seltcnl
without a change in their vowel, whereas others alteration'). lt s thought to have taken place Germanic), as well as strong /strength and several
did change. Latin caseus became cyse'cheese' in during the 7th century. There is no sign of the others (from the addition of an *-rladjective-
monige on mle, mode snottre; Old English, but caste//um became caste/'village'. vowels continuing to change in this way in later forming suffix). Not allthe forms affected by r-
[monije cn mle molde snctre]
In the first case, the a vowel changed; in the second periods. The process also explains the Latin mutation have survived into Modern English,
case, it did not. There are many similar examples. example above: caseus must have been borrowed though. ln Old English, the plural of book was bec,
hfde n age ond aran rw What happened to cause such a difference? very early into English, before the time that but this has not come through into Modern
lhvde orn etej Dnd elrn twql] i-mutation was operating, as its vowel has been English as beek: the forces of analogy (p. 200) have
imutation
ond twegen ft, melf hund heafcla, The explanation is now a well-established part of
affected (in this case, the a has becomey); taken over, and caused a change to the regular
castellum, however, must have been borrowed books.
[ond twerjen fert twelf hund herevdo] Germanic philology. lt asserts that the Old English after the time when mutation stopped taking We do not know why i-mutation operated
vowels changed in quality between the time the place, as its a vowel has remained in caste/. when it did. What was it that made 7th-century
hrycg ond wombe ond honda twa Anglo-Saxons left the Contnent and the time Old
imutation is a kind of 'vowel harmony'- a very Anglo-Saxons start pronouncing their vowels in
thry{ ond wDmba ond honde tworl English was first wrtten down. By examining natural process which affects many modern this way? And why did the process not affect all
earmas ond eaxle,
hundreds of cases, it is possible t establish languages. People, it seems, readily fall into the cases of i in a following suffix (words ending
nne sworan
qln:e swelercln]
pattern in the way ths change took place. habit of making one vowel in a word sound more in -rng, for example, were not affected)? This
lerermas ond aksle
ln Germanic there were many words where a like another in the same word, and this is what phonological detective story is by no means
ond sidan tw. Saga hwt ic htte!
vowel in a stressed syllable was immediately happened in 7th-century Old English. All back over.
followed by a high fiont vowel ([il) or vowel-like vowels in the context described above were
[ond sildon twor sqYq hwt i$ hctre] sound (til) in the next
syllable. The ptural of *ft is changed into front vowels * and all short front The asterisk marks a hypothetical form

20
THE CDMON STORY
Old e nglish prose provides
the clearest way in to
analysing the grammar of the
language (the poetry, as can
be seen from the extracts on
pp:1 2-13, is much more
compressed and intricate).
This extract is f rom an Old
English translation of Bede's
ia sti ca I H i sto rY (Book 4,
ccl
E e s
the storY of
Ch. 24). lt tells
Cdmon, the unlettered
cowherd who became
England's first Christian Poet,
sometime in the late 7th
century. The translation dates
from the late 9th centurY.
(The actualtext of Cdmon's
hymn is given on P.29.)
ws he se mon in weoruldhade geseted o a tide e he
Was he the man in secular life settled untilthe time that he
gelyfdre ylde; ond he nfre nnig leo geleornode, ond he ond grette, ond hine be his noman
ws
was of-advancedage; and he never any poemlearned, and he and
on oft in gebeorscipe, onne r ws blisse
for
thereforeoftenatbanquet, when therewas of-joy occasion
gedemed, r heo ealle sceolden urh endebyrdnesse be hearpan singan;
decided, thattheyall should by arrangement withharp sing;
s singan, onne he geseah a hearpan him nealecan, onne aras he 15 gewat, for on ic naht
to sing, when he saw the harp
for scome from m symble, ond ham eode ro his huse.
for shame from the feast, and homewenttohis house.whenhe
t a sumre tide dyde, t
thata certain timedid, thathe left the houseofthe
gebeorscipes, ond
banquet,
ara heord him ws re neahte beboden; a
of which keeping him was that night entrusted; when he there
in gelimplice dde his leomu on reste gesette ond onslepte,
at suitable time his limbs at rest set and fellasleep,
3 OLD ENGLISH 2l
PART ]. THE HIS-|ORY OF I]NGLISF
SOME FEAIURE,S OF OLD E,NGLISH GRAMMAR
WS HE SE MON The present tense forms, rs 3rd sg. several differences in the way es and beo, bist, bito ero,
however, show several sind(on) 1 st/2nd/3rd pl the two sets of verbs were efls, erit. There clear
is a
ws differences. To begin with, . b6-on used, though there is insuffi- example of this difference in
Old English had two sets of be-'lst cient evidence to draw up one of the Homilies, where
were signalled by other means. Like other Gelmanic
sg.
To modern eyes and ears, Old English glammar (for The past tense of the verb
words expressing the noton brst 2nd sg. hard-and-fast rules. The the speaker addresses the
srammatical terminology, see Part III) provides a fasci-
1.,rg.,"[.r, Old English was infleaed: the job^a wolcl 'be'has changed little since
of 'be', one parallelto Latin bi 3rdsg. bn forms were preferred Holy Trinity:
Old English times, apart from
by the kind of ending be- lst/2ndl3rd pl.
^ti,lg mixture of the familiar ancl the unfamiliar' The didln the sentence ws signalled
esse and the other to Latin in habitual and repetitive
the loss of the plural ending,
inflections have died awa fui. contexts, and especially u e fre wre, and fre
wordlrder is rnuch mol'e vried than it would be in it hacl. Tocla most of these r4ls'was' 1st/3rd sg. There were also subjunctive, when there was a future brst, and nu eart, an lmihtig
reader with the major task of get- .
Moclern English, but there are several places where it is leaving the moclern wre'were'2nd sg. wesan lmperative, and participial implication. lf ric's Lati n God... you who alwayswere,
in ordel to understand wron'were' 1 st/2ndl3rd
strikingly similar. Adjectives usually go before their ting uled to the word enclings,
eorn 1st sg. forms of both verbs. Grammar acually equates and ever will be, and now
pl.
tn."Ot English texts. It is necessary to learn the di There seem to have been eom, eart, ls to Latin surn, es,
eart 2nd sg are, one almighty God. ..
noLlns;as do prepositions, al'ticles, and other grammt-
ical words, juit as they do today. Sometimes, whole sen- ferent forms taken by the verbs, nouns, pronouns'
tences are dentical in the older of words, or nearly so, adjectives, and the definite article. The irregular verbs,
h m gde n' girl' is neuter, and e-w'you' acc./dat. ln additon, the language forms were supplanted by
as can be seen from the word-for-worcl trnslation in which change their form from present to past tense' ale would be referred to as hit. ewer'your(s)' gen. showed the remains of a Scandinavian forms some
(as they continue to be, for for-
the Cdmon text below. The main syntactic differ- particular problem
The personal pronoun system (This list gives the standard . h (1)'he'nom. 'dual' personal pronoun time after the Norman Con-
ences affect the placing of the verb' which quite often .ign learners), because there are so many more of had more members than we forms found in late West hine (11)'him' acc. system, but only n the lst quest, perhaps because
and 2nd persons. The lst people felt they needed to
appears before the s.rbJe.t, ancl also at the very end of th"em. Nonetheless,
it should be plain from reading find in Modern English, and
several of them are well illus-
Saxon (p.28), and ignores
spelling variations.)
hrs (6) 'his' gen.
him (5)'(to) him'dat. person form meant'we two' make a clear difference in
th clause - a noticeable feature ofthis particular story' the glosses to the Cclmon extrct that present-day trated in this extract (the . he'she'nom. (nom. rzit, acc./dat. unc, gen. pronunciation between the
.
In Modern English, worcl order is relatively fixecl' Etrgsh speakers already have a'feel' foL Old English numbers below referto lines). 'l' nom.
ic (13) hi'her'acc. uncer); the 2nd person form 3rd person singular and
m (16) 'me' acc./dat. 'you two' (nom. git, acc./dat.
The reason Old English olclel coulcl vary so much is gr-".. (Long vowel marks
(p. 16) are acldecl in the Modern equivalent forms are lire'her(s)' gen. plural forms - him, in partic-
given below, but these do not min'my, mine' gen. hire'(to) her'dat. lnc, gen. lncer). This disap- ular, must have been a
to pronunciation.) . hit'it'
that the relationships letween the parts of the sentence notes below, as an aid we'we'nom.
capture the way in which the o nom./acc. peared by the 1 3th century. source of confusion. What-
pronounswere used in Old s 'us'acc./dat. hrs'its' gen, There are obvious corre- ever the reason, Viking influ-
English, where gender is re'our(s)'gen. hirn'(to) it' dat. spondences with the modern ence prevailed, and the
a stod him sum mon t urh swefn, ond hine halette
grammatical (p. 209): for . u (16)'thou' (sg.) nom. . htlhe-o'theylthem' pronouns in most cases, but modern English forms now
example, bo-c'book' is femi- 'thee' acc./dat. nom./acc. not between the old and begin with th-. (For the
in dreanl, and him hailed
then stood him a certain man beside
nine, and would be referred n'Ihy, thine' gen. hira'thei(s)'gen. modern sets of 3rd person special problem ofshe, see
. g'ye'(pl.) nom.
nemnde,'Cedmon' sing me to as heo'she', whereas him'(to) them'dat. plural forms. The West Saxon p.43.)
greeted,and him by his name called' 'cdmon' sing me
intinga hwthwugu'' a ondswarede he, ond cw' 'Ne con ic noht ABBREVIATIONS
se depending on their function form, l would be found The acc. sg. form of s,
something' Then answered he' and said' 'Notcan I nothing
o
in the clause. The nominative with hs. Other forms of the following the preposition o acc. accusative case
ond ic for on of eossum gebeorscipe ut eode ond hider Old English nouns may be masculine form of the def i- article can be seen in the 'until'(1), or as object ofthe dat. dative case
mascul ine, feminine, or gen. genitive case
and I for that fromthis banquet outwentand hither neute regardless ofthe bio-
nite article, se, is seen here
with mon (a common spelling
extract - though it should be
noted that articles are not
verb (5, 7). lt also appears as
the acc. pl. of t (19, 20). nom nominative case
singan ne cue'' Eft he cw'
logical sex of their referents. for man); the equivalent fem- used as much as they would . m (6) The dat. sg. ofaet, pl. plura I
They also appear in nomina- inine form, se, would be be in Modern English, as can following the preposition sg. singular
him approach, then arose he came, because I nothing to sing not knew how'' Again he spoke' tive, accusative, genitive, and found with hea rpe'harp'; be seen from 'in dream' (1 1) from. 1st 1 st person
2nd 2nd person
a he
dative forms (p. 202), and the equivalent neuter . s (7) The gen. sg. of t.
se ws, 'Hwre u meaht me
e wi hine sprecende and other such cases:
3rd 3rd person
hethatwithhim speaking was, 'However youcan for-me
singan.' a cw he, 'Hwt scel ic singan?' Cw he,
'Sing
he forlet t hus *t
I sing?' Said ... geseted Verb inflections I h ei I h i t I uf ode'helshe/it of 'love'was /ufian.The use other West Germanic lan-
sing.' Then said he, 'What shall he, 'Sing h
loved' of a suffix to mark the infini- guages):the form is well rep-
There are three main kinds The modern verb has very
to neata scipene, he a as andsware onfeng, a ongon he
a
ut ws gongende me frumsceaft.' of Modern English verbs few inf lectional endings. we lge I h I ufodon'welyou tive was lost during the resented in the Caedmon
text, bei ng a past narrative -
and outwas going to of-cattlestall me creation.' When he
this answer received, then began he (p.204), and all three can be Past tense for regular verbs is
marked bythe -edsuffix in
(pl.)/they loved' Middle English period, and
the particle to came to be see geseted'settled' (1 ),
traced back to Old English. Some of the present tense
he a r sona singan in herenesse Godes Scyppendes, fers a all persons; and in the pre- endings weakened and dis-
used as an alternative geleornode'learned' (2), etc.
immediately to sing in praise of God Creator; those verses 1 Those forming their past sent tense only the 3rd appeared soon after the Old
marker. It stays well into Middle
tense by adding -edto the
root form of the present
person singular is distinctive
English period. But the 2nd . The -rngform (p.204): the
English, but is lost by c. 1500,
zo ond a word e he nfre gehyrde.. '
tenset j u m plj u mped. Then
(-s). Old English made far
and 3rd person singular equivalent form was -endfe).
apart from in archaisms (such
as yclept'called').
as more distinctions, as can be
and those wordsthat he never had heard..' now, the majority of verbs forms stayed on, developing Examples in the text are
are of this type.
seen from the following
paradigm (variation
into the familiar -est and gongende (8)'going' and . The subjunctive (p. 216):
2 Those forming their past -eth forms of Middle English sprecende (1 6) 'speaking'. unlike in Modern English,
between different classes of (lovest, loveth), Their later This form hardly survives the
tense by changing a vowel in this mood was systematically
(i) the woman sawthe man verbs is not shown):
WORD ORDER the root form of the present development is described on beginning of the Middle used, but it had far fewer
() the man saw the woman tense: see/saw. These are Present tense p.44. English period, being endings than the indicative.
The varying forms of nouns, adjectives, ln Old English. the two sentences would be: called vocalic or ,strong,verbs ic lufie'l love' There were several other replaced by the -lngfe) It can be seen especially in
and articles tell us how the parts of the in Old English grammars, and u lufast'you (sg.) love' distinctive inf lectional fea- ending which in Old English subordinate clauses express-
(i) secwen geseah one guman h I h e-o I h i t I u f a' h e/she/it tures of the Old English verb: had been restricted to ing a subjective attitude.
clause relate to each other' ln Modern the patterned changes in
(ii) se gurna geseah cwn. loves' nouns. Plural forms in both present
English, the difference between (i) and vowel quality which they dis- o The inf initive (p.204): -an
(ii) is a matter of word order: The nominative feminine form seo in (i) has changed to an accusative
form, , Play are described as yowel w, g, h lufia 'we/you
(pl.)/they love'
or -ran was added to the . The -edform (p.204): this
and past tenses have a
(i) has become a nomina- gradation or ablaut. distinctive -en ending. An
in (i). Smitarty, the accusative masculine form one in root. Examples in the shows the same kind of
tive se in (ii). 3 Wholly irregular forms, Past fense Cdmon text include sgan vowel changes and endings example in the text is
tirtt u, l*"ys clear who is doing what to whom, regardless of the order in such as can, wil/, and be (see
ic lufode'l loved' 'to sing' and nea/ecan '(to) we see today, but it also had sceolden'should' (4).
which the nornht"tet one 9u man geseah s-ocwn has the same above).
u lufodest'you (sg.) loved' approach' (5). The infinitive a special prefix, 9e- (as in all
"ppear:
meaning as (i),
 PARl'I -I'HE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 3 OLD ENGLISH 23
22

Kennings only a single instance of a word in a text, or even in Old

gangewtfre spider togn go nto It is in the poetry (pp.l1-13) that we find the most
OLD E,NGLISH VOCABUIARY WORD-BUILDING
('go' +'weaver') urhgn go through
remarkable coinages. The genre abounds in the use of
English as a whole. There are 903 noun compounds in
Beowulf, according to one study (A.. G. Brodeur,
The way Old English vocab- gangpytt ptivy underg-an undergo
ulary builds up through the hndergenga crab upgan goup vivid figurative descriptions known as hennings (aterm 1959); but of these, 578 are r-rsed only once, and 518
The vocabulary of OId English Presents a mixed pic- processes of affixation and upgang rising
sgenga sea-goer from Old Norse poetic treatises). Kennings describe of them ale known only fi'om this poem. In such cir-
ture, to those encountering it for the first time. The compounding can be seen tgan go out
Prefixation tgang exit things indirectl allusivel and often in compounds. cumstances, establishing the precise meaning of an
majority of the words in the Cdmon extract (p' 20) by tracing the way a basic
beganga inhabitant wigan go against
form is used throughout the Their meaning is not self-evident; there has been a leap expression becomes very difficult.
are'very close to Modern English - once we allow for begangan visit
(p. 16) and the unexpected
lexicon. bigengere worker
ymbgn go round
(After D. KastovskY, 1 992.) of imagination, and this needs to be interpreted. Kennings were often chosen to sadsfy dre need for
the unfamiliar spelling (Only a selection of f orms is foregn go before Sometimes the interpretation is easy to make; some- alliteration in a line, or to help the metrical structure
inflections (p.21) - whereas those in the poetic texts Not all Old English Pre-
times it is obscure, and a source of critical debate.
given, and only one possible forgn pass over (p.415): there is perhaps no parriculr reason for
(p. 12) are not. In the Cdmon text we would have meaning of each form.) forgn go forth fixes have come down into
ing-an goin Modern English. Among Famous kennings include hronrad'w'hale-road' for having sincgfan 'giver of treasure' at one point in
little difficultyrecognizin g singan as sing or stud as gnlgangan'go' ingang entrance those which have been lost rhe sea, bnhus'bone-house' for a persont bod and Beowulf (1.1342) and goldg,fan 'giver of gold' at
stood; and ondswarede is quite close to answered, gang journey niergn descend are ge- (p. 21), o- ('away'),
ne- ('down'), andymb' bedoleoma'battle light' for a sword. Often, phrases another (1.2652), other than the need to alliterate with
onslepte rc asleep, and geleornode rc learned. Omitting ofergn pass over
ofergenga traveller ('around'). There is a memo- are used as well as compound words: God, for exam- a following word beginning with s in the first case ancl
the ge- prefix helps enormousl making -seted,more Compounding
f te rg ss succession ofgn demand rial to to- in today, towards, ple, is described as heofonrlces weard'guardian of beginning with g in the seconcl. But kennings also
lil<e seaied, +eahlike saw, and -hyrdeIi\<e heard. Most
engne
ongn approach and together.
ciricgang churchgoing heavent kingdom' and as moncynnes werd 'guardian allowed a considerable compression of meaning, and a
of the prepositions and pronouns are identical in form forliggang adulterY ogan goaway
of rnankind'. Some elements are particularly produc- great deal ofstudy has been devoted to teasing out the
(though not al*ays in meaning): / r, iom, in, at ('at') ,
tive. There are over 100 compounds involving the various associations and ironies which come fi'om
he, him, bis.
word mod ('mood', used in Old English for a wide using a particular form. A good example ts anpaas
On the other hand, some of the words look very SELF-EXPLAINI NG COMPOU NDS
range ofattitudes, such as 'spirit, courage, pride, arro- 'one + paths', a route along which only one person may
strange, because they have since disappeared from the godspel <god'good' + spel'tidings': gospel
gance'): they include modnf intelligence', pass at a time. This meaning sounds innocnons
language. In the Cdmon extrct these include iunnandg < sunnan'sun's' + dg'day': Sunday
stfcrft < stf 'letters' + crft'craft': grammar gledmodnes 'kindness', modceru 'sorrow of soul', and enough, but to the Anglo-Saxon mind such paths pro-
g, k*pll t t's uitable', ne at/l' dr eam', b e b o -
cate', w efn'
mynstermann < mynster'monastery' + mann'man': monk videcl difficult fighting conditions, and there must
s
ttdmod |oIlv
lrn 'rnt urt d', and iiumsceafi'creation', as well as
.
frumweorc < frum 'beginning' + weorc'work': creation Kennings are sometimes a problem to interpret have leen a connotation of danger. The worcl is used
some of the grammatical words, such as r the' (p. 2 1) . eorcrft < eor'earth' + creft'craft': geometry ,
rdstnian < rod'cross' + fstnian'fasten': crucfy because the frequency of synonyms in Old English in Beowulf (1. 1410) at the point where the hero and
These examples also illustrate the chief charactet'istic
dgred < dg 'day' + red 'red': dawn makes it difficult to distinguish nuances of meaning. his followers are approaching the monstert lair. Their
of the Old English lexicon, the readiness to build up le-ohtft < le-oht'light' + ft'vessel': lamp 'fhere are some 20 terms for 'man' in Beowulf, for route leads them along enge anpas'narrow lone
words from a number of parts - a feature which has tTdymbwltend <tid'time' + ymb'about' + wltend'gaze': astronomer
example, such as rinc, gum, secg, and beorn, andk is paths', where there would have been an ever-present
stayed with English ever since (p' 128). Frequent use is
not always easy to see why one is used and not another. risk of ambush.
made of prefxes and suffixes, and compound words t/hen these words are used in compounds, the com- Beowulfxands out as a poem which makes great use
.u.tynuh.re in evidence. The meaning of these THE WHOTE STORY THE CRUEL SEA
"r. plications increase. Beado-rinc and dryhtguma ae of compounds: there are over a thousand of them,
words often emerges quite quickl once their Parts are The root form hl is used in Old English as the basis of six words; and the process contin- both tlanslatable as 'warrior', but would there be a comprising a third of all words in the text. Many of
identified. Thur,, endebyrdnesse is a combination of (plus many more s, mere, brim, lagu, wte
ues into Modern English, where a further nine words are in evldence noticeable difference in meaning if the second ele- fm ('foam'), w9 ('wave')...
these words, and of the elements they contain, are not
ende'end' + byrd'birth, rank + -nestwhich conveys compounds, such as whole-fo od and health-farm).
tnents were exchanged? A careful analysis of all the
Tire diagiam also shows a related set of etymologies. Old Norse heil/ and Old English known outside of poetry. Some, indeed, might have
the meaning of 'arrangement', or (in the present con- hl both cme from the same Germanic root. Much later, the Scandinavian development
The lcelandic linguists, such as
contexts in which each element is used in Old English been archaisms. But most are there because of their Snorri Sturluson (1 3th cen-
text) of people 'taking their turn'. Gebeorscipe seems to also affected English. tury), distinguished several
can often give clues (and is now increasingly practica- picturesque and vivid charactet, adding considerable
have nothing to do with 'banquet' until we see that it (AfterW. F. Bolton, 1982.) types of poetic expression.
ble, 525), but this option is of course unavailable when variety to the descriptions of battles, seafaring, the
is basically'beer' + 'shiP'.
the item is rare. And items are ofren rare. There may be
The literalness of wgflota
court, and fellowship in Anglo-Saxon times. 'wave-f loater' for a ship
Particular care must be taken with words which Old Norse heil/ Old English hl might be distinguished from
look familiar, but whose meaning is different in the more metaphorcal
Modern English. An Anglo-Saxon wlf was any wg h e n g est' wave-steed'.
Various levels of f igurative-
woman, mrried or not. A fugol 'fowl' was any bird, Old Norse ver heill, 'be healthY!' hlig hlan hr
ness can be seen in the follow-
not just a farmyard one. Sona (soon) meant 'immedi- ing list of compounds for 'sea'
ately', not 'in a little while'; won (wan) ment 'dark', hlgian Hlend, - a dozen out of the 50 or
more known from Old English
not 'pale'; and (fast) meant'firm, fixed', not
fast 'Savour'
literature. Several use one of
'rapidly'. These are'false friends', when translating out the'sea' synonyms listed
above.
of Old English.
Middle English seolb seal + bath
iageswing waves + surge
fisceseel fish + home
str{amgewinn waters + strife
hwlweg whale + way
swylm sea + welling
hail wassail whole holy hallow hale hea health
healthy
swanrd swan + road
hail from wholesome holiness Halloween hea er brimstre-am ocean + stream
hailfellow wholesale holiday healthf ul merestrem lake + stream
wholly wterflod water + flood
drencflod drowning + flood
bweg bath + way
24 PA1T I.THE HISTORY OF ENGLISFI 3 OLD I]NGLISFI 25

EARLY LATIN LOANS The effect of Norse

(BEFORE 1000)
LEXICAL INVASIONS The second big linguistic invasion came as a result of SCANDINAVIAN PLACE NAMES inAlthorp, Astonthorpe, and Linthorpe;
-thwa ite ('clearing'), as in
Bra ithwaite,
Ecclesiastical the Viking raicls on Britain, which began in xo 787 Scandinavian parish names in England, Applethwaite, and Storthwaite; and -toft
abbadissa > abudesse
The history of early English vocabulary is one of tic, and general words, most of which have survived in 'abbess'
ancl continued at intelvals for some 200 years, Regular related to the boundary line of the ('homestead'), asin Lowestoft, Eastof and
Danelaw. Sandtoft. The -byending is almost entirely
lepeateci invasions, with newcomers to the islands Modeln English. At the same time, many Olcl English altar > alter 'allar' serrlement began in the mid-9th century, and within a There are over 1,500 such place names confined to the area of the Danelaw, sup-
bringing their own language with them, ancl leaving a words were given new, 'Christian' meanings under a postol us > a postol'aPostle' few years the Danes controlled most of eastern Eng- (p. 141) in England, especially in Yorkshire porting a theory of Scandinavian origin,
culpa>cylpe "faull' and Lincolnshire. Over 600 end in -b the
fair amount of its vocabulary behind when they left or missionaly influence . Heauen, hell, God, Gospel, Easter, mlssa > rnsse 'Mass' land. They were preventecl from further gains by their' despite the existence of the word by
Scandinavian word for'farm' or'town' - 'dwelling' in Old English.
were assimilated. In the Anglo-Saxon period, there Ho Ghost, sin, and sevelal others were semantically nonnus> nonne'monk' clefeat in B7B at Ethandun (p.26).By the Ti'eaty of (After
Derby, Grimsby, Rugby, Naseby, etc. Many P. H. Sawyer, 1962.)
wel'e two majol influences of this kind - one to do refashioned at the time.
off e r re > off r i a n'sacrifice'
'/edmore (886) the Danes agreed to settle only in the of the remainder end in -thorp ('village'), as
praedicare > predician
widr this worlcl, the other to do with the next. The loans came in ove r a long time scale, and differed 'preach'
llorth-east third of the country - east o{,a line running
in character. Up to c. 1000, many continuecl to arrive scola > scol 'school' roughly from Chester to London - an rea that was 4

The effect of Latin from spoken Latin, and these tencled to relate more to ve rsus > fers'verse' (used subject to Danish law, and which thus lecame known
in the Cdmon extract,
The focus on the next world arrived first, in the form everyda practical matters. After c. 1000, following the p.20, l. 19) asrhe Dnelaw. ln997, a fr-rrther invasion brought a
of the Christian missionaries from Ireland and Rome rebilth of leaming associated with King Alfred series of victories for the Danish almy (including the
(p. 13)

(p.10). Not only clid they introduce literac they and the I 0th-century Benedictine monastic revival, the General Battle of Maldon, p. 12), and resulted in the Er-rglish
ca end ae > calend'month'
I

brought with them a hr.rge Latin vocabulary. The vocabulary came from classical written sources, and is cavellum > caul 'basket' king, thelrecl, being forced into exile, and the Danes -J
even, epistula > eprsto/ 'letter'
Anglo-Saxons had ofcourse alreacly encountered Latin much more scholarly ancl technical. Sometimes, fenestra > fenester 'window'
seizing the throne. England then stayecl uncler Danish
ur.d by the Continental Roman armies and the the Latin ending would be retained in the loan worcl, lule for 25 years.
lilium > lilie 'lily'
",
Romano-British, but only a few Vulgar Latin words instead of being replaced by the relevant Old English organum > orgel 'organ' The linguistic result of this prolonged period of con- l0 60 nr e5

had come into Old English as a result (p.8)' By con- ending: an example is acolttthus'acolyte', which
first plcus > pic 'pike' rcr was threefold. A large number of settlements with
trast, the missionary influence resulted in hundreds of appears in one of lflict works as acolitus. Many of planta > plant 'planl' Danish names appeared in England. There was a
rosa > rose 'rose'
new words coming into the language, and motivated thse learnecl words (such as collectanettm and epactas) studere > studdlan 'ta ke rnarked increase in personal names of Scandinavian '.t
rnany derived forms. The new vocalulary was rnainly did not survive - though several (fenestra and biblio- care of' origin (p. 26). And many general words enterecl the
-,/
":

to do with the Church and its services, theology, and thecaare instances) were to be reincarnated some time
LATE LATIN LOANS
learning, but there were also many biological, domes- later in a second stage of classical bolrowing (p. aB)' (AFTER 1000)
Ecclesiastical
apostata > apostata
'apostate'
chrisma > crisma 'chrism'
clercus > cleric' clerk'
credo > creda 'creed'
crucem> cruc'cross'
daemon > demon 'demon'
disci pul us > disciPul'disci Ple'
paradisus > paradis
'paradise'
prior> prior 'prior'
lar-rguage, nearly 1,000 eventually becoming part of
Standarcl English. Only c. 150 of these words appear in
Old English manuscripts, the earliest in the treaty
between Alfred and Guthrum, and in the northern
manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D and E,
p. 15). They include lnding score, becle,.fellow, tahe,
lnsting and steersmn, as well as many words which
clicl not survive in later English (mostly terms to do
with Danish law ancl culture, which diecl away after the
Norman Conquest). The vast majolity of loans do not
bcgin to appear unril the early l2th cenrury (p.48).
'f hese include many
of our moclern worcls which use
0

sabbatum > sabbat 'sabbath'

centre panel [sk-] souncls (an Old Norse feature), such as shirt, shy,
THE KIRKDALE INSCRIPTION
+IS IS DGES SOLMERCA + /T ILCVM TIDE/
General uttl slein, as well as mosr of rhe worcls listed below.
The best surviving example of an inscribed Anglo-Saxon sun- bi bt iotheca > bi bl i oece
The closeness of the contacr berween the Anglo,
dial, now placed above the south porch of the church at +7 HA\ARD ME \ROHTET BRAND PRS 'library'
cho rus > chor'choir, chorus' Saxor.rs and the Danish serrlers is clearly shown by the
Kirkdale, North Yorkshire. The inscription reads as follows: Orm, son of Gamal, bought St Gregory's church when itwas declinare > declinian exteusive borrowings. Some of the commonest words
all ruined and tumbled down and he caused it to be built
8oudry of Alfred'r treaty with the Dnes
Left panel
afresh from the foundation (in honour of) Christ and St
'decline' in Modern English came into the language at that - - - -
Mode.n (outy boudares (up to 1 996)
del phi deltln'dolPhin'
us >
+ ORM GAMAL/ S\TNA BOHTES(AN)C(TV)S /
n
Gregory in the days of King Edward and in the days of Earl grammatica > grammatic tirrrc, suclr as both, same, get, and giue. Even the per- -
GREGORIVS MIN / STERONNE HI /T\ESL Tosti. 'grammar' sonal pronoun system was affected (p.21), with they,
This is the day's sun-marking at every hour. And Hawar
TOBRO / hymnus> ymen 'hYmn' tlteu, ad their replacing
made me, and Brand, Priest (?) mechanicus > mechanisc <( A signpost in North Yorkshre
the earlier founs. And the
Right panel Tostig, brother of Harold Godwineson, became earl of 'mechanical' - acts as a Danish memorial.
lnost remarkable invasion
t
Northumria in 1055, and died in 1066, so the dial belongs perscum > perslc 'peach'
CAN 7 TOFALAN 7 HE / HIT LET MACAN NE\AN
to that decade. phi losophus > p h losoph of all - Old Norse influ_
FROM / GRUNDEXPETS(AN)C(TV)S GREGORI / The text shows an interesting mix of influences, with the 'philosopher'
encecl the verb to be. The AND A FEW MORE NORSE LOANs...
VS IN EAD\ARD DAGVM C(I)NG /7 (I)NTOSTI Latin saint's name alongside Old Norse personal names, and scutula > scutel 'scuttle, dsh'
Latin rnlnster alongside Germanic tobroca n.
rcplacement of sindon 5
DAGVM E,ORL+ again, ange awkward, bag, band, bank, birth,
(p. 2 1) 6t ir is
almost cer- brink, bull, cake, call, clip, crawl, crook, die, dirt,
tainly the r.esult of Scancli_ dregs, egg, flat, fog, freckle, gap, gasp, get,
guess, happy, husband, ill, keel, kid, knife, law,
navian influence, as is the
AND A FEW MORE LATIN LOANs... leg, loan, low, muggy, neck, odd, outlaw, race,
abbot, accent, alb, alms, anchor, angel, antichrist, ark, cancer, candle, canon, canticle, cap, cedar, celandine,.cell, chalice,
chest, spre,rd of the 3rcl persol raise, ransack, reindeer, rid, root, rugged, scant,
lobste
cloister. cucumber, cypress, deaconiAige, elephant, feve( fig, font, giant, ginger, history idol, laurel, lentil,.litany,
pope, priest, prime,
strrgrLlar.
in rhe
-s ending scare, scowl, scrap, seat, seem, silve sister, skill,
skirt, sly, smile, snub, sprint, steak, take, thrift,
lovage, marshmallow, martyr, master, mat, nocturn, noon, oyster, paper, periwinkle, place, plaster, ptesent tense in other
tunic verbs
prop-het, psalm, pumice, puijle, raOiin, reic, rule, scorpion, icrofula, shrine, sock, synagogue, temple, tiger, ttle, Thursday, tight, trust, want, weak, window
9.44).
 PART I -I-I-IE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 3 OLD ENGLISH 27
26

SURVIVAL OF THE Vocabulary then and now

THE OTHER WHITE
HORSE
This figure was carved to
commemorate the victory of
King Alfred over the Dnes at
the Battle of Ethandun (878),
modern Edington, Wiltshire. lt
was a decisive battle. As the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Puts it:
King Alf red. . . went f rom
camps to lley oak, and
,.these
''one
day later to Edington;
and there he fought against
the entire host, and Put it to
flight, and pursued it uP
the fortif ication IprobablY
Chippenhaml, and laid siege
there for a fortnight; and
then the host gave him Pre-
liminary hostages and solemn
oaths that they would leave
his kingdom, and Promised
him in addition that ther king
would receive baptism; and
they f ulf illed this promise...
The Edington horse (known
locally asthe Bratton orWest-
bury horse) may be less well
known to modern tourists
than its prehistoric counter-
part at Uffington in Berkshire,
but it is far more important to
English history.
SCANDINAVIAN PERSONAL
FITTEST?
With two cultures in such
close contact for so long, a
large number of duplicate
words must have arisen, both
Old Norse (ON) and Old
English (OE) providing waYs
of describing the same
objects or situations. lt is
hardly ever possible in such
cases to explain whY one
word proves to be fitter than
another to survive. All we
know is that there is evidence
of three subsequent develoP-
ments.
to
oN10E0
Sometimes the Scandinavian
word was kept. This is what
happened with egg vs eY
(OE), slster vs sweostor (OE),
lve r vs seolfo r (OE), and
si
many more.
oN00E1
ln other cases, the Old
English word stayed, as in
path vs rei ke (ON), sorrow vs
slte (ON), swellvs bolnen
(ON), and also many more.
The linguistic situation must
have been quite confusing at
tmes, especially when
people travelled about the
country, and were uncertain
about which form to use (as
shown by William Caxton's
famous story about the
tJ
FRENCH BEFORE 1066 prut' haughty' (compare from Old Saxon and embed-
It should be plain from pp. 22-3 that there are many e arlier ofe rm od, p, 22). ded within the Old English
clifferences between the way vocabulary was used in French vocabulary inf lu- poem Genesis (and known
enced Middle English so
Old English and the way it is used today. The Anglo- Old Saxon as Genesrs 8). ln it we find
markedly after the Norman One other language pro- such forms as h earra'lord' ,
Saxons' preference for expressions which re synony- Conquest (p. 30) that it is vided a small number of sima'chain', I a ndsci pe
mous, or nearly so, far exceeds that founcl in Modern easy to gnore the fact that loan words - that spoken by 'region', heodg'today',
English, as does their ingenuity in the use of com- French loan words can be the Saxons who had and a few others, all of
found in Old English too. remained on the continent which are thought to be Old
pounds. The absence ofa wide-ranging vocabulary of lndeed, it would be surpris- of Europe. lt is known that Saxon. These words had no
loan words also forced them to rely on a process of ing ifthere had been no copies of Old Saxon texts real effect on later English,
such influence, given the
lexical construction using native elenents, which were being made in south- but they do illustrate the
close contacts which had ern England during the 1 Oth readiness of the Anglo-
procluced much larger 'families' of morphologically
grown up in the 1Oth and century. A personage Saxons to take lexical mate-
related words than are typical of English now. 1 1th centuries. The monas- known as John the Old rialfrom allavailable
tic revival (p. 2a), in particu-
A great deal of the more sophisticated lexicon, we Saxon helped Alfred in his sources - a feature which
lar, had started in France, educational reforms.There has characterized the lan-
must also conclude, was consciously created, as can be and many English monks
also exists a passage trans- guage ever since.
seen from the many loan trnslations(or clque) which, must have studied there. lated n the gth century
Above all, there was close
were introduced in the later period. Calques are lexical
contact between the two
irems which are translated part-by-part into another
cultures following the exile
language. The process is unusual in Modern English - to Normandy of Edward the
an example is supermn, which is a translation of Confessor, the son of Rllx.
thelred ll (the unrd, or
German bermensch.In late Old English, by contrast, 'ill-advised') and Emma,
calques are very common, s can be seen from the fol- daughter of the Duke of
Normandy. Edward lived
lowing examples.
there for 25 years, returning
to England in 1041 with
praepositio'preposition' > foresetryts many French courtiers.
When he succeeded to the
conixtnctio'joining' > geeodqr
throne, several of the
episco?rtrus'episcopate' > biscophad French nobles were given
signifcatio'signification' > getacnung high positions - a source of
considerable grievance
unicornis 'unicorn' > anlorn
among their Anglo-Saxon
rtsPergere'sprinkle' > onstregdLn counterpa rts.
inebrittre 'make drunk > indrencan Whatever the political

NAMES Flfrllrr-so words for 'egg', p. 58). trinittts 'trinity' consequences of these
J

The distribution of English
family names (p. 149) ending in
son, such as Davidson, Jackson,
> riness
17-26 events, the linguistic conse-
12-14 oN10E1 cottrutdictio'contradiction' > wi m.,edennis quences were a handful of
- ln several cases, both words col?tp llftttiuus'comparative' > w i rnetendlic French loan words, among
0-10
have been retained. For this them capun 'capon', servlan

I
and Henderson. The figures give to happen, of course, the two 'serve', bacun'bacon',
the number of different words would need to lfLic is one who used them widely in his writing, arblast'weapon', prisu n
surnames which are thought to develop a useful difference in especially when developing the terminology of his 'prison', caste/'castle', and
have come from each countY. meaning. These cases ca nce lere'chancel lor'. Some
Grmmar (p.16).
The Scandinavian influence in incl ude: words gave rise to related
the north and east is very clear, forms, notably p rud' proud',
especially in Yorkshire and north ON OE 'Wimetennis
Lincolnshire, where over 60 Per dke ditch whose derivatives included
prutness'prde' and ofer-
cent of personal names in earlY hale whole (p.22) A final comparison. There are, it is thought, around
Middle English records show raise rise 24,000 different lexical items (SS) in the Old English
-i 26 23
scrub shrub
Scandinavian influence. copus. This lexicon, however, is fundamentally di
sick ill
:'-) i.., 22 \ 18
skill craft ferent from the one we find in Modern English. About THE LORD'S PRAYER
")-.
0
2
17
8\a- skin hide 85 per cent of Old English words are no longer in use.
The predominantly Germanic character of Old English vocabulary is well illustrated by
10
7 I
12 skirt shirt Moreover', only 3 per nt
\/-_ 10
1 2
' of the words in Old English the standard version of the 'Our Father'. (Long vowels are shown, as an aid to pronuncia-
6 \tun ln many cases, one form has ate loan wolds, compared with over 70 per cent today. tion: see p.18.)
become standard, and the
2 -r< \7 1 10 14
other kept in a regional
Old English uo.abulary was rhus prfoundly Ger- Fder ure,
+ _-/\ 5
dialect: m^anic, in a way that is no longer the case. Nearly half
\7 e eart on heofonum,
of Modern English general rTocabulary comes from
6 6L_ 6 garth yard
I atrr or French, as a resulr of the huge influx ofwords
si in nama gehalgod.
) kirk church To becume in nce.
/\
3
\- ( 4 10 laup leap in the Middle English period (p. Ae\. 1urd, rhe readi- Gewure in willa on eoran sw sw on heofonum.
nay no
ness to absorl foreign
I
1
trigg true elemenrs has given the modern rne gedghwmlican hlaf syle us to dg.
2 rallg.Llage a lemalkable
etymological variety which was And forgyf us tre gyltas, sw sw w forgyfa rum gyltendum.
totally, lacl<ing in
2
Old "glir. It is this situation, And ne geld rl s on costnunge,
100
t]]1..,{, which latrer-day "Anglo-Saxonist
language ac lys s of yfele. Amen
retorrncrs fnd
intolerab t, tp. t Sl.
120 mrles
',)
 3 OI-D ENGLISH 29
28 PARI'I.THE FIIS-fORY OF ENGLISH

The chief dialect divisions

The chief dialect areas of The area originally occupied by the Angles gave
CDMON'S HYMN
OLD E,NGLISH DIALE,CTS Old English. The maP also
rise to two main dialects: The version of Cdmon's hymn (p. 20) usually printed is in literary late West Saxon, and the
shows some of the more
n important Anglo-5axon . Northumbrian was spoken nolth of a line run- text here is from an 11th-century manuscript. However, a Northumbrian version has also sur-
The Old English texts which have survived come from kingdoms known from the ning approximately between the Humber and vived in an 8th-century manuscript, which is thus very close to the language Bede himself
several p"t,, of ,h. country' ancl from the way.they are + early period, and their
Mersey rivers. It extenclecl into the eastern low-
must have used. The differences are very evident, though in only one case (1. 3) does an impor-

writterrthey plovide evidence of clialects' As thele was 'oo )o

+
. approximate locations'
lands of present-day Scotland, where it confi'onted
tant varant reading occur.

,ro ,t.,-r.l.idized system of spelling (p'16), scribes

'/
o the Celtic language of the Stlathclyde Blitons. A West Saxon Northumbrian
tended to spell words as they sounded; but because 4 period of Northumbrian political power in the late Nu we sceolan herigean heofonrices weard, Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard,
everyone ued the same Latin-based alphabetic metodes mihte 7 his modgeanc, metucls maecti his modgidanc,
d rmouth 7th century macle the north a cultural centre, with er-rcl

sym, there was an underlying consistency, and it is several monasteries (notabl \earmbuth and wera wulclorfclet swa he wuldres gehws, uerc uulclurfadur, sue he uundra gihuaes,
pssible to use the spellings to work out.dialect dif- drihten, ord onstealde. dryctin,
+
eci or astelicl.
Jarrow) and the work of Bede pre-eminent. Most
ece

i.r..r".r. For example, in the south-east, the worcl for of the earliest Old English texts (7th-Bth century) He res[t] gescop eoran bearrrrm, He aerist scop aelcla barnurn
'evil' was written efel, wheteas in other places it was d are Northumbrian, as a result. They inclucle heofon to rofe, halig scyppend; heben til hrofe, haleg scepen;
1tfel, sttggesting thai
the formel vowel was unlounded
1] l.l
Cdmon's Hymn (see opposite), Beclet Death a micldangeard moncynnes weard, tha middungeard moncynnes uard,
nd -i. open (P.238). Hundreds of such spelling Song, the Ruthwell Cross and the Franks Casket ece drihten, fter teocle, eci dryctin, fter tiad,
u+
differences exist. Y ir.rscriptions (p.9), a sholt poem known as the firum foldan, frea lmihtig. firum foldu, frea allmectig.
Most of the Old English corPus is written in the
'West Saxon dialect (see rnap), reflecting
the political
I 7-
\..--' I.INDSEY
Leiden Riddle, a few glosses, and the 6,000 or so
names of people and places in Bede's Ecclesistical
Now we shall pralse the keepe r of the heavenly kingdom,
the power of the lord of destiny and his imagination,
and cultural importance of this area in the 1Oth cen- -l-/
tury. Dialects from other areas are verysparsely repre-
History (p.7).
.
the glorious father of men,
when of every glorious thing
Mercian was spoken in the Midlancls, ror.rghly the deeds of the glorious fathe
,.nt.d, with only about a dozen texts of any substance between the River Thames and the River Humber, he, the eternal lord, ordained the beginning.
- inscriptions, charters, glosses, and verse fragments - MIDDLE EAST
ANGLES, ANGLES ar.rd as far west as the boundary with present-day He first shaped for the children of earth
spread over a 300-yeal period. Nonetheless, Old tWales. Very few linguistic remains exist, presum-
nglish scholars have found a few diagnostic features
M ERC I A the heaven as a roof, the holy creator;
ably because of the destluctive influence of the then the guardian of mankind, the eternal lord,
which enable us to identi$' dialect areas' GON. Vikings. The chief texts are various chatters, a afte rwa rds m ad e mid d le-ea rth;
TN Sutton
famous gloss to the Vespasian Psalter, ancl a few the almighty Iord (made) land for living beings.
The historical setting EAST other Latin glossaries. The chief period of Mercian
The major traditionally thought to relate to
areas are -t- SAXONS
power was the early Bth centur but many later
the s.ttements of the invading tribes, with their dif- WEST \est Saxon texts show the influence of Mercian,
ferent linguistic backgrounds; but what happenecl in
SAXON S
K TI s partly because several scholars fi'om this area (e.g.
This extract also shows how not allthe varia-

the 300 y"ars after the invasions is obscure' There is AX o TO?

tions found in a comparison of manuscripts

evidence of at least 12 kingdoms in England by the 5

I S
Winchester. SAXONS
Werferth) were enlisted by King Alfred to help the should be interpreted as dialectal.

litcrary renaissance he inspired. . The use of letter'eth' ratherthan'thorn' in

year 600. Seven are traditionally called the A"Slo' \r
' I{entish, spoken in the area of Jutish settlement, the words for'thou' is not a dialect matter, as
'Saxon of Wight
Heptarcy (Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia,
\ o \\\
ts
was usecl mainly in present-day Kent ancl the Isle of IZSfder ure u e eart on heofonum these symbols were often interchangeable
Kent, Essx, Suis.t, \essex), but it is difficult to know
(p.1 6).
Vight. There is very little extant rnaterial - a few .y'o. fader urer u art in heofnu(m) . lt is not possible to read much into the dif-
what realities underlie such a grouping. From a lin- charters of the Bth-9th cenruries, a psalm, a hymn, Me. feder ureu eart in heofenum ferent spell ings of the unstressed syllable of
guistic point of view, only three kingdoms emerged 0 50 100 km ancl spoladic glosses. Scholars have also made some 'father our thou (which) art in heaven' 'heaven', as the sound quality would have
been indeterminate (just as it is in Modern
irith .tlugh power for there to be clear dialectal con-
I

:0 60 m'es furtl'rer clecluctions about this dialecr from the way

The opening line from a West Saxon (W5, late English) and the spelling unsystematic.
0

,.q'.r.t..ri Northumbria, in the 7th centur then it cleveloped in Middle English (p. 5O), whele there 11th century), Northumbrian (No., late 'lOth . There is insufficient dialect evidence in the
Mrcia, and by the 9th century \(/essex, the latter is more material, century), and Mercian (Me., early 1Oth cen- Old English corpus to draw any firm conclu-
emerging under King Egbert (ruled 802-39)' These . lfyouseeanobeforea
Thc lest of Englancl, sourh oF the Thames and tury) version ofthe Lord's Prayer illustrates sions from the grammatical variations.
DIALECT SIGNPOSTS be pointing. Given the two of the important dialect features of Old
thtee areas, along with Kent (whose early importance realities of scribal error nasal consonanT(m, n, ng), west as far as Cornwall (where Celtic was also English. (After T. E. Toon, 1 992.) Of course, when we f irst examine a
is suggestecl by the Augustine stor p. 10) have led to and dialect mixture, it is it probably a Northum-
is sPoltcn) was settled by (\X/est) Saxons, and became
.
manuscript, we have to work such things out
Old English dialectologY is not uncommon to find a brian or Mercian text. 'father' The original Germanic vowel has for ourselves. We are not given the informa-
the ognition of four major dialects in Old English' a complex subject, full of (Compare the Scots Pronun-
ktrown as \esse*. Most ofthe Old English corpus is come forward in W5, and even further for- tion in advance. Every variant form is a possi-
text pointing in several
To talk about regional dialects at all is somewhat meticulous descriPtion, cau- ciation of mon for man wlitten in the \essex dialect, rVest Saxon,because it ward in Me., but has stayed back in No. ble signpost. Finding out which lead
daring, given that the areas are so approximate, and the tious generalization, tabu-
directions at once.
Some examPles of sign- today.) was this kingdom, under King Alfred, which . 'art' WS and Me. have developed a diph- somewhere and which do not is what makes
lated excePtion, and (given Example:'land' would be thong before [r] and following consonant.
a Old English dialectology so engrossing. And
t.*,, '.o few. Indeed, regional definition may not be the limited evidence) con-
posts:
/and in West Saxon and Ken-
becane the leading political ancl cultural force at This has not happened in No., where the the story is by no means over, for there are
the best approach, given the political and religious sit- trolled f rustration. There . lf you see a manuscriPt tish, but /ond further north. the end of the 9th century. Howeve it is
one of the vowel has stayed low, and also moved further many dialect questions which remain to be
are no single indicators form with the sPelling ie,
uation ofhe time. Social and literary factors may have
which will def initivelY this is likely to be a West . lf you see the Personal uonies of F,nglish lingulstic history rhac modern back. answered.

been paramount. Because the wliting of manuscripts locate a text. Rathe dialect Saxon text, with the sYmbol pronouns mec. usic, ec, tandald English is descended nor from \esr
diPhthong. and eowlc instead of me, us, 5axon, hut from
was in the hands of monastic copyists, and copies (as work involves comParing a representing a
Mercian, which was rhe dialect
large number of Possible ln other dialects there e, and eow (P.20), the text
well as the copyists) travelied berween centl'es' dialect would be a Pure vowel. is likelyto be Northumbrian
spoken in tl're
area around London when that city
diagnostic signPosts, and
features *o.rl outside a Particlllar geographi- drawing a conclusion on the Example: 'yet'would be glet or Mercian. becarne power
ful in the Middle Ages (pp. 41, 50) .
"pp."r in West 5axon, but get else- Example: see th e Lord's
cal region. The use of a 'koin' of poetic convetltions basis of the directon to
which most of them seem to where. Prayeronp.27.
*"y li"u. been widespread' Manuscripts with 'mixed'
dialect features are thus common.
 4. llIDDLE ENGI,ISH 3l

The rise of English administration, education, ancl worship. The position THE ONOMASTIC

4.NIDDLE ENGLISH During the 12th century, English lecame more widely
used among the upper classes, and there was an enor-
of English becomes clearer in the l3th centur when
we fnd an increasing number of sermons, prayers,
CONQUEST
A modern drawing of
Southampton, Hampshire,
mous amount of intermarliage with English people. romances, songs, and other documents. Finall in the c. 1 500. At that time, one of
The largely monolingual French-speaking court was 14th centur we have the major achievements of the two most important

The year 1066 marks the beginn-ing of a new

social and
DOMESDAY not typical of the rest of the country. Richard Fitz Miclclle English literature, streets of the town was called
French Street (it is the middle
ti,rgiir,i. era in Britain, but it does not actually iclen-
the large r of the two volumes which Neal's Dilogru de Scaccario (A Dialogue on the Exche- cuhninating in the writing of the three thoroughfares
It A detail from the oPening folio of Great DomesdaY,land comPiled byWilliam lin 1086. ltis
tiithe boundarv berween Old and Middle English'
make uP the DomesdaY Book, the surveY of English quer'), writte n in 1177 , reports: of Geoffi'ey Chaucer (p.38). running north-south), evi-
inva- language historian for the information it dently a location for many
*, lo,,g time efore the effects of the Norman written in Latln, but it is of value to the English
names and (to a lesser extent) Place names. The sPelling, Now that the English and Not'rnans have been clwelling French merchants and set-
" Old orovides about English
sio,r woried their way into the language' ancl
Personal
i'lo*"u"t, is troublesome, for the scribes used Latin conventions
which were an inadequate together, rnarrying ancl giving in marrge, the two tlers. Several othertowns in
Even a cen-
Errglish continued to be usecl meanwhile' means of rePresenting English sou nds. nations have become so mixed that it is scarcely possible the south showed early

,uri 1.,.r, texts were still being composed in the \X/est toda speaking of free men, to tell who is English, who of
influence of French settle-
ment.
i-.*on u.ri",y thar hacl developed in the years Follow- Norman race. FRENCH STREE,T One way of trying to plot
-ine the reign of King Alfred (p' 29)'
-"ft. 6otat By the end of the 12th century, contemporary
French influence in the

p.iioa *. .ll MiddG E'nglish runs from the

period is through the anal-
accounts suggest that some chilclren of the nobility ysis of baptismal names
b.gi.r,i,ig of the 12th centruy until the midclle of the {qi
ur (r fiq
spoke English as a mother tongue, and had to be (see the discussion of ono-
i iin. r, i ifficult period to define ancl discuss' large taught French in school. French continued to be used
mastics, p. 140). Native
pre-Conquest names were
i.."ur. of the changes taking place berween-the much in Parliament, the courts, and in public proceedings, chief ly West Germanic
rnor. ir.i.t.,iv. anidentifiable worlds of Old
E'nglish (p. 6), but showed the
but we know that translations into English increased in
(S3) and Modeln English (555-6)' The manuscripts i nfluence of Scandinavian
frequency throughout the period, as did the number of
oi r" ,t impression oF considerable linguistic
variety in the Danelaw and also
handbooks written for the teaching of French. of celtic in the border
ila *pia tlansition. Also, the gradual decay ofAnglo- areas - G odwi ne, Egbert,
From 1204, a different political climate emerged.
Saxon'traditions and literary practices' overlapping I(ng John of England came into conflict with King
Alf red, Wu lfric, H a ra I dr,
liter- Eadric, and the like.
with the suclden emergence oFFrench and Latin Philip of France, and was obliged to give up control of Within a century of the
and unfocused
niu., much of this"period an elusive Normandy. The English nobility lost their estates in Conquest, most ofthese
".u.
.hr,.,.r. It is nor until 1400 that a clear focus emerges' Flance, and antagonism grew letween the two coun-
had been replaced by
is almost such names as-/ohn,
in the work of Chaucer, but by then the period tries, leading ultimately to the Hunclred Years \Var Peter, Smon, and
William l(1066-87) spent
over. Chaucer himself, indeed, is more
often seen as a And later?
OUl, THREE KINGS (1337-1453). The status of French diminished as a Stephen. A Canterbury
for.ru^..t of Modern English poetry than as a climax about half his reign in (l 135-54) was kept survey made in the
Most of the Anglo-Norman France, in at least f ive of Stephen spirit of English nationalism grew, culminating in the 1 1 60s shows that 75 per
in ngianA through civil
to Middle English. kings were unable to com- those years not visiting ,ir+""to. 33); his k-nowledge Barons'War (1264-5).In 1362, English was used for cent of the men had
municate at all in English -
- enslad at all; accordins to ; ;;;j;;'""1 known.
though it is said some used it thchronicler Ordericus
the first time at the opening of Parliament. By about Continental names.
And the history of
The rise of French 1425 it ppears that English was widely usecl in Eng-
French ii rri""ting. However, by it" lir, t'r" tr" to learn
';ih;;seofa3,but Henry ll (1 54-89) sPent a 1
English naming has
The main influence on English was, of course' theendoft-he14thcentury, ;;ii;i total of20vearsinFrance;he lancl, in writing as well as in speech. reflected this influ-
to understood English' but did
-stri.tly, Norman French, the language.intloduced r' changed. gave up.
ii""ii"" r'"d ence ever since.
Britain'by the invader. Following Villiam,of Nor- Richardlladdressedthe :,;:"-1,,/r^or rrn^\ notspeakit' Reasons for survival
pr"-" i"g !y1ino the
-""at ...rrion, French was rapidly
estallished in
were
illl?J:.tfl;',Ll?l'n"
""i"i' i"J*r".i; t'" : :,ff,i;i:lv,por..
Richard r (1 18e-ee) spent I iow had the language managecl to survive the French
ALL UNDERSTAND THE ENGLISH TONGUE
the corridors of power. French-speaking barons
appointed, who brought over their own retinues'
Soon Fi1iT;ii:'"'.'^':::l ]^,"
Richard's deposition were , , " : ;; ;;: ,:, .^^^* noingtish.
invasion? After all, Celtic had not survived the Anglo-
Suon invasions 500 years before (p.B). Evidently the Contemporary writers In English tonge I schal ;ow telle,
Henry's Henry I (1 100-35) spent
. ..
sometimes provide
3if 3e wyth me so longe wil clwelle.
_
n englisn. And
.ir, fr.,l"h-speaking abbots and bishops were in m""
*li*"r*rit"n in English nearlyhalf hisreign inyearsat John (1 199-'1216) lived English language in rhe 11th centurywas too well estab-
insights into the linguistic No Latyrr wil I speke no Irrar] waste,
olace. Lanfratt, Abbo, of St Stephent at Caen'
was mainlyinEngland aTt1204; lishecl for it to be supplanted by another language. Unlike state ofthe nation. A
i;;]:ih;i;ttroyaiwillto Fran,oftensevral
But English, at mer-r vse mast Izasr],
'made
Archbishop of Canterbury as early.-as. 1070' beso. atimeitheonlykingto.have theextentofhisEnglishis Celtic, it had a considerable written literature and a much-quoted example is
an English wife until Edward not known. from William of Nassyng- at can eche [etcb) manvnc'lelstande,
Wirfri" 20 years of the invasion, almost all the reli- lV (1461-83), he maY have
strolg orl tradition. It would have taken several hun-
ton's Specu/um Vtae or at is bom in Ingelande;
drecl years of French immigration, and large numbers of
sious hous were under French-speaking superiors' known some English. Mirror of Life (c.1325). For at langage is rnost chewycl lshown)
were solely French' Large imrniglants, to have changed things but the goocl rela- Although some who have
nd r.u.r.l new foundations William I William ll Henry I
- lived at court do know
Os [s] wel rrnong lered learned) os lewyd lunlcrtrnctl).
tions between England and France lasted for only 150
.u-b.r. of French merchants and craftsmen crossed French, he says, nobody
Latyn, as I rrowelbelieuel can uane l/enou noncl
Buto[cxccpt thosa] at haueth it in scole anelschool
,t-r. Ctt"r-r.t.t to take advantage of the commercial
yeats, and the number of Normans in the country may now knows only French.
Everyone, whatever their
oppoltunities provided by the new regime' And
aris- Itavc bcerr as low as 2 per cent of rhe popularion. trtleenl,
fhis I 50 years, nonetheless, is something of a 'dark learning, knows English. And sonrme ca n lsonte knota) Fre nsche and no Latyn,
,Jr^,i. links remained strong with Normand where (For grammatical endings, vsed hln lhnua) cowrrfcorltl and dwellen erein,
age' ir.r the history of the language. There ii very little at
the nobles kept their estates' i see p.44; spelling conven-
Arrd somn-re can of Latyn a party lpartl
wrltten eviclence of English, and we can rhus only tions, see p.40. The
Doubtless bilingualism quickly flourished among extract uses two earlier at can oFFrensche lrut Febly ffccb);
those who crossed"the sotial divide - English
people specrtlate about what
*"i h"ppenitrg to the language, English symbols (p. 14): Ancl somrne vnclelstonde wel Englysch'
though our undersran.ling
l.rr'ning French in order to gain advantages from the i the ieriod ir gr*i"g thorn, , later replaced by at can noer lnaitharl Latyn uor Frankys fFranleislt, i.c.
(M. Swan
and baronial staff learning E'nglish as part & E. M. T,eh"rn., 200). Judging'by th th, and yogh,3, later Frcnchl.
"ri.to.r" qocuments replaced byy. Modern u is
of ,n. ariy contact with local communities' But there which have survived, it seems that French Boe leled ar.rd lewed, olde and onge,
was thc langtrage written % and vice versa.)
Alle vnclelstonclen english tor-rge.
l, n.rdty ny ,ig.t of English being used among the llterttrre, ancl
of government, law, administration,
,l.* hi.....y -1 ,ituation which was to continue for rhe hurch, with Latin also used in
over a century.
 4,MTDDLE ENGLISH
I . -I'H HIS'|ORY OF ENCI-ISH
33
32
PAR-I'

INFLECTIONAL
CARRYING POWER THE PETE R B O RO H CH RO N I CLE again in 54, after the death of stephen, adding indeed argued at length about whether it is best
THE TRANSITION FROM OLD E,NGLISH
U G 11

several events from the intervening years. The lan- to call it'late Old English'or'early Middle English'.
This is a list of the most imPor- Vl/e arefortunateto havethe lateryears of the guage is now quite different. Despite points of Some stress the archaic features of the text, point-
tant endings in Old English Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (p. 14), which continuesto similarity with the previous work, the overall ing to similarities wth the West Saxon dialect of
A fundamental change in the strltcture of English took to the emergence of a pidgin-like variety of speech regular nouns and verbs the middle of the 12th century, to illustratethis impression is that the writer is starting again, Old English (p. 29); others stress the differences,
between th.I*o cttltures, ancl perhaps even eventually (p.20), along with one lexical period of change. ln 1 1 16, most of the monastery using vocabulary and grammatical patterns which and consider itto betheearliestsurviving Middle
place cluring the I 1 th and 1 2th centuries - one without example of each. All endings at Peterborough was destroyed by f ire, along with ref lect the language of his time and locality, and
pr"..d.nt iir the history of the language, and without to a kind of creole which was usecl as a lingua franca which consisted of just a many manuscripts. The monks immediately began inventing f resh spelling conventons to cope with
English text. The Chronicle illustrates very clearly
the difficulty of drawing a sharp boundary
there woulcl
parallel thereafter' Grammatical relationships in Old .34a). As with pidgins everyr'vhere, vowel, or a vowel Plus nasal, to replace the writings which had been lost. They new sounds. The extract has been set out in a between different stages in the development of a
'English ",r. lt..n a loss of word endings, and greater reliance disappeared from the lan- borrowed the text of the Chronicle from another word-for-word translaton, but (unlike the Old language. But it does nottake much longer before
had been expressed chiefly by.the use of inflec- guage during the Middle monastery, copied it out, and then carried on writ-
tiod endings (p. 20). In Middle English, they came to on word orcler. Glacluall this pattern would have nglish period. The onlY end- ing the history themselves. They continued until
English extract about Cdmon on p.20), it is no
longer necessary to add a free translation as well.
the uncertainty is resolved. Other texts from the
1 2th century confirm the new direction in which
spread. until it affected the whole of the East Midlands ings to survive were the ones
b.,c*pr.rr.i(as they are toclay) chiefly by word,olcler" 1 1 3 1, but then the writing stopped - doubfess Apart from a few phrases, the language now the language was moving; and within a century of
- f.o,-rr which Stanclard English was eventually to with greater carrYing Power- because of the chaotic conditions of civil war seems much closerto Modern English. the close ofthe Chronicle, there is no doubtthat a
Wiydia A-tit change take place? Fewsubjectsin the his- "'." the high-pitched -s forms The later material from the Pete rborough major change has taken place in the structure of
emerge (p. 50). At the very least, .they conclucle' this which existed in the reign of King Stephen, some
toLy of English have attracted so much speculation' (kings, king's, /ovest), the -th of which are described in the extract below. Chronicle looks back towards old English and English. (The f irst twelve lines of the i llustration
,it.r"on^wo.tld have accelerated the process of inflec- forms (/oveth, later rePlaced This extract s f rom the Chronicle when it begins ahead towards Middle English. Scholars have are transcribed and translated below.)
The decay of inflections tional decay - ancl may even have startecl it' by -s, p.44), and the distinctive
-ende ofthe ParticiPle (later
About or-,1 f"., there is no doubt' There are clear signs \X/hethei such arguments are valid depencls on how replaced bY -1n9, P.45) and
during the Old English period of the decay of the far we believe th"t te speakers of Olcl English ancl Old past tense. [Me dide cnotted strenges abuton here] hued and
infleciionai system. The surviving texts suggest that [One placed knotted cords about theid head and
Norse wele unable to understand each other at the Nouns
the change ,i".t..l in the north of the countr and time, and this is largely a matter of specr'rlation' Per- (cyni ng'king', sci P'shiP', g lof uurythen it at it gde to e hrnes. Hi diden
,lo,"ly spira.l south. Several of the old endings : re still haps there existed consiclerable degree of mutual
'glove', gurna'man') twisted it that it enteredtothe brains. Theyput
pr.r.nt^in the 12th-century text of the Pet1rborough i,-,lligibitit given that the two languages had -e, -n (acc. sg.) glofe, guman
-es, -e, -n (gen. sg.) cYninges,
heom in quarterne ar nadres ancl snakes and pades
'Chronicle
opposite, but they are not used with much dirrergi.l o,ty h.tnclred years leforc' The.roots of them in cell where adders and snakes and toads
"*the same, and in the Icelandic sagas -e,glofe,
guman
cor-,sirtency, they no longer seem to play an impor- -n (dat. sg.) cYninge, guman wron inne, and drapen heom swa. Sume hi diden in
"ncl -".t1i*ordr'*ere -as, -u, -a (nom. Pl') cYningas'
tant role in conveYing meaning. it is said that the Vikings and the English could under- were in, and killed them so. Some they put in
sciu, glofa
But why did the Old English inflectional endings stand each other. \haiever the case' we can tell from -n, -as, -u, -a (acc. Pl ) guman, 5 crucethus, at is in an ceste at was scort, ancl nareu,
clecay? The most obviotts explanation is that it became the surviving Micldle Engiish texts that the.Danelaw cyningas, sciPu, glofa torture-box, that is in a chest that was short, and narrow,
-a, -ena, (gen. Pl') cYninga'
incrasingly difficult to hear them, because of the way was a much tor. progr.rriu. .,.", linguistically speak- and undep, and dide scrpe stanes erinne, and
glofa, gumena
*ord, h" .ome to be stressecl during the evolution of ing, than the rest f th. .o,ttttty. Change which began -um (dat. Pl.) cYningum, and shallory and put sharp stones therein, and
the Germanic langr-rages (p. 6)' The ancestol'language heie affected routhern areas later'. Some folm ofViking glofum, gumum
rengde e man r-inne, at him brcon alle e limes.
of Germanic, InJo-tt.opean, had a 'fiee' system of influence cannot easily be dismissed. Verbs pressed the man that
therein, they broke all the limbs.
accentLlatioll, in which th ,trets within a word moved As inflections decayed, so the reliance on word
(fremman' Perform', lufian
'love', deman 'judge') In mani ofe castles wron lof and grin, at
according to intricate rules (p. 248) 'In Germanic' this orcler became critical, resulting in a grammatical -e (1 sg. pres. ind.) ln many of the castles were headband and halte that
system Jh"ng.d, and most words came to carry the system which is very similar to that found today' There fremme, lufie, deme
This is the system \Mron rachenteges at twa oer thre men hadden onoh
-"i.t ,tr.r, n their first syllable.
there wele
is no ,ign tn rhe Peterborough Chronicle extract of the -es -ast, -st (2 sg. Pres. ind.)
fremest, lufast, demst were fetters that two or three men had enough
founcl throughout Old English. As always,
Old Eglish tendency to put the object before the -e, -a, - (3 sS. Pres. ind.)
to bron onne; at was su maced, at is fstned to an
exceptions -he ge- prefix, for example (p' 21)' is never ,rerb, foi example . a4' The Subject-Verb-Object freme, lufa, dem
10
to bear one; that was so made, that is fastened to a
stressed. ord"er, already a noticeable feature of Old English' has -a (1-3 pl. Pres. ind.)
word
Having the main stress at the beginning of become firmly established by the beginning of the
a fremma,lufia, dema beom, and diden an scrp iren abuton a mannes throte
beam, and put a sharp iron about the man's throat
-e (1-3 sg. Pres. subj.)
can readiiy give rise to an auclitory problem at the end' Midclle English period. fremme, lufie, deme
This is .spci"lly so when there are several enclings -en (1-3 Pl. Pres. subj.) and his hals, at he ne myhte nowiderwardes, ne
sitten
fremmen,lufien, demen
which are phonetically very similar, such as -en' -0n' and his neck, that he not might in no direction, neither st
-de (1 & 3 sg. Past ind.)
ad -4n.In rapid conversational speech it would have fremede,lufode, demde ne lien ne slepen, oc bron al at iren. Mani
been difficult io distinguish them. The situation is not -dest (2 sg. Past ind.) nor lie nor sleep, but bear all that iron. Many
too far removed from that which still obtains in f re medest, ufodest, de mdest
usen hi mid
I

-don (1-3 Pl. Past ind.) drapen hungr.

Modern English, where people often make such forms f remedo n, ufodon, de mdon
I
thousandtheykilled bymeansof hunger.
as -ibleand"-abh(uisibte' ashable) or Belgianand Bel- -de (1-3 sg. Past subj.)
gium sound the same. This 'neutralization' of vowel fremede,lufode, demde 15 I ne can ne I ne mai tellen alle e wr"urder ne alle e
"qualities -den (1-3 pl. Past subj.) I not know nor not can tell all the atrocities nor all the
undoubtedly affected the OId English system' f re meden, I ufoden, de mden

The contact situation

-ende (Pres. Part.) pines at hi diden wreccemen on is land, and at
fremmende, lufiende, cruelties that they did to wretched people in this land, and that
However, auclitory confusion cannot be the sole demende
reason. Other Germanic languages had a strong initial Abbreviations (see Part lll) lastedea xix wintre wile Stephne was king, and ure it was
stress, too, yet they retained their inflectional system acc. accusative; daf. dative; lasted the 19 winters while Stephen was king, and always it was
gen. genitive; ind. indicative;
(as is still i".n in modern German). 'Why was the nom. nominative; Part. Partc|.
.
uuerse and uuerse.
change so much greater in Engiish? Som-e scholars cite ple; p/. plural; Pres. Present worse and worse.
th. ikitlg ,.ttl.mertt as the decisive factor p'25)' tense; sg. singular; subl sub- Oxford, Bodleian
junctive; 1, 2, 3 1sl,2nd, 3rd Library, MS Laud Misc. 636, fol. 89 v.
During th period of the Danelaw, they argue, the con- person.
t".t bJt-."n English and Scandinavian would have led
 4. ./IDDLE ENGLISH 35
PART I'THE HISTORY OF ENGLIStsI
34

THE MIDDLE, E,NGLISH CORPUS
The Middle English period has a much richer docu-
menttiorl thanls found in Old E'nglish (p' 10)' This
situ-
is partly the result of the post-Conquest political
POETRY OR PROSE?
style (p. 23) is still present in all these works, despite an JOHN OF TREVISA A PASTON LETTER
break in poetic continuity of at least a hun- The Worcester Fragments are
"pp"rtt. the remains of a manuscriPt The cornishman John of Trevisa (d. 1402), who became an Oxford scholar This is an extract from one of the collection of
aia y."tt, The conundrum has generated much dis- which was used to make the and clergyman, made in '1387 a translation of Ranulf Higden's Latin Poly- letters wrtten by members of the Norfolk
..rr.i.r. Perhaps the alliterative technique was retained cover of a book in the ChaP- chronicon -so called because it was the chronicle of many ages, f rom the fami ly of Paston during the 1 5th century.
ter Library at Worcester. The Creationto 1352. Atone point, Higden reviewsthe languageteaching sit- There are over a thousand items in the collec-
through prose: several Middle English Pro^se texts are
result of piecing together the uation in England, and gives two reasons for the decline of the mother tion, dealing with everything from legal mat-
,,rong"ly and it is sometimes difficult to tell
"lit.."tiu., fragments was a Piece of con- tongue. ters to domestic gossip, and written

ih. newly centralizecl monarchy commissioned

frort manuscript which genre (poetly or prose) a tinuous text, ProbablY coPied throughout in a natural and often vivid style.
oiece belonss to, because the line divisions are not c. 1200 f rom a much earlier On ys for chyldern in scole, One keasonl isthatchildren in Most of the collection is now in the British Mus-
"aior-r.
ntional and local surveys, beginningwith the Dotnes- text. The manuscriPt contains a3enes e vsage and manere ofal contrarytothe usage and eum. The present example comes from a letter
iho*r,. Perhps the Old English style survived through
school,
30), ar-,d ther. is a markecl increase ir-r the lric's Grammar (P'1 6), a written 'n hast[e]' by Margaret Paston to her hus-
the medium of oral tlansmission' Or perhaps it is
day Book (p. oer nacions, bu compelled for custom of all other nations, are
passage on the Debate ofthe band John on 1 9 May 448, Trinity 5unday evening.
public and private documents - mandates'
1

,t,rrrib., of to leue here oune longage, and for compelled to abandon their own
simply that most poetic manuscripts have been lost' Soul and the BodY, and an Ryghtworshipfull husbond, I recomaund metoyou, and preyyowto
charters, contracts, tax-rolls, and other administrative item on the disuse of English. to construe here lessons and here Ianguage, and to carry on their
ftit. English poetry was inevitably much influ- wete that on Friday last passed before noon, the parson of Oxened beyng
or juclicial papers' However, the early material is of Part of this last item is inges a Freynsch, and habbe /essons and fhe ir affairs in French, at messe in oure parossh chirche, evyn atte levacion of the sakeryng,
enced by French literary traditions, both in content given here. Modern editions
limited u"lrr. io those interested in the linguistic his- suthe e Normans come furst and have done since the Normans Jamys Gloys hadde ben in the toune and come homward by Wymondams

tory of English because it is largely. wlitten. in Latin or ,tyi.. One of the earliest examples js the 13th- usually printthe text in lines,
as if it were a Poem, but the
into Engelond. Also gentil men fi rst ca me to Eng Ia nd. AIso the gate. And Wymondam stod in his gate, and John Norwode his man stod
",rd
century verse-contest known as The Owl and the by hym, and Thomas Hawys his othir man stod in the strete by the canell
Frch, ,t. only relevant data which can be rhythm and alliteration are children bu ytaugt for to speke children of gentlemen are taught to
side. And Jamys Gloys come wyth his hatte on his hede betwen bothe his
"d personal names Nightingale (p.36). Later works include romances in extremely free and unPre- Freynsch fram ryme at a bu speak French from the time that
extracted relate to English place and dictable, and it is difficult to
men, as he was wont of custome to do. And whanne Gloys was ayenst
(S10). Most religious publication falls into the same the'Fre.h ,1., ,..ul"t lyrics, bestiaries, ballads' bib-
'Ch.i.ti.t-t
yrokked in here cradel, and they are rocked in their cradle, and Wymondham, he seid thus: 'Covere thy heed !'And Gloys seid ageyn, '5o I
identify lines of a conven-
lical poetry, legends' hymns' prayers, and tional kind. ln other words, it
conne speke and playe wi a learn to speak and play wth a shall for the.' And whanne G loys was forther passed by the space of iii or
,.gor with La-tin maintaining its presence through- child hys brouch; and oplondysch child'strinket; and rustic men will iiii strede, Wymondham drew owt his dagger and seid, 'Shalt thow so,
would be just as Plausible to
orrt ih.'p.riod as the official language of the. Church' orint the material as Prose. men wol lykne hamsylf to gentil make themselves like gentlemen,
knave?'And therwith Gloys turned hym, and drewe owt his dagger and
A ma;or diff.rence from Old English. is the.absence of
defendet hym, fleyng into my moderis place; and Wymondham and his
ihe editor has filled out the men, and fonde wi gret bysynes and seek with great industryto man Hawys kest stonys and dreve Gloys into my moderis place, and Hawys
a cotinuing tradition of historical writing in the text in a few Places where for to speke Freynsch, for to be speak French, to be more highly folwyd into my moderis place and kest a ston as meche as a forthyng lof
there were holes in the
native languge, as in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - a manuscrpt. An interesting
more ytold of. thought of. into the halle after Gloys, and than ran owt of the place ageyn. And Gloys
folwyd owt and stod wythowt the gate, and thanne Wymondham called
function ,lhl.h L.tit-t supplanted, and which ws llot linguistic feature is the Gloys thef and seid he shuld dye, and Gloys seid he lyed and called hym
revived until the 15th centurY. preservation of the irregular Atthis point, John of Trevisa addsthefollowing: charl, and bad hym come hym self or ell the best man he hadde, and Gloys
form of the noun for 'books',
Matelial in English apPers as a trickle in the 13th bec. (After B. Dickins & R.M. ys manere was moche y-vsed This practice was much used before wold answere hym on for on. And thanne Haweys ran into Wymondhams
place and feched a spere and a swerd, and toke his maister his swerd. And
century, but within 150 yars it has become a flood' In Wilson, 1951.) tofore e furste moreyn, and ys the first plague, and has since been wyth the noise of this asaut and affray my modir and I come owt of the
th. ..ily period, we see a great deal of religious plose sethe somdel ychaunged. For so mewhat cha nged. For J ohn chirche from the sakeryng, and I bad Gloys go into my moderis place
writing, in the form of hmilies, tracts, lives of the bec wende' Genesis' Exodus'
Iohan Cornwal, a mayster of Cornwall, a teacher of grammar, ageyn, and so he dede. And thanne Wymondham called my moder and
lfric abbod, e we Alquin hote' he was bocare' and e fif me strong hores, and seid the Pastons and alle her kyn were [hole in
saints, and other aids to devotion and meditation' weren ilrde ure leoden on Englisc. et weren
gramere, chayngede e lore in changed theteaching in grammar
paper)... seid he lyed, knave and charl as he was. And he had meche large
Vtronomius, Numerus' Leuiticus. urh eos gramerscole and construccion of school and the construing of French
Sometimes a text was written with a specific readership langage, as ye shall knowe herafter by mowthe.
eosbiscopesebodeclenCrist.ndo-.\ilf,idofRipum,IohanofBeoferlai,Cubertof Freynsch into Englysch; and
in mind; the Anuene Riwle ('Anchorites' Guide')' for
into English; and Richard Penkridge
of Malmesburi'
b,r,.rhol-., Oswald o\ireceastre, Egwin of Heoueshame' ldelm Richard Pencrych lurnede at Iearned that method of teaching My dear husband, I commend myself to you, and want you to know that,
example, was compiled by a spilitual director for three Swithun,elwold, Aidan, Biern of\i,1.*.t.., Paulin oFRofecstre, S' Dunston, and S. Iast Friday before noon, the parson of Oxnead was saying Mass in our
manere techyng of hym, and oer from him, and other men from
nobleomen who had abandoned the worlcl to live as lfeih of cantoreburi. eos lrden ure leodan on Englisc. Ns
deorc heore liht' ac hit fire
Penkrdge, so that now AD 1 385,
parish church, and at the very moment of elevating the host, lames Gloys,
rnen ofPencrych, so at now, e who had been in town, was coming home pastWyndham's gate. And
anchoresses. During the l4th century, there is a glod. Nu is eo leore forleten, and et folc is forloren ' ' ' the ninth year of the regn of the Wyndham was standing n his gateway with his man John Norwood by his
er ofoure Lord a ousond re
marked increase in the number of translated writings hondred foure score and fyue, of second King Richard after the side, and his other man, Thomas Hawes, was standng n the street bythe
gutter. And lames Gloys came with his hat on his head between both his
from French and Latin, and oftexts fol teaching these e secunde kyng Richard aftere Conquest, in allthe grammar
elegies. The mystical dream-vision, popular.in Italy Abbotlfrc, whom we call men, as he usually did. And when Gloys was opposite Wyndham, Wynd-
languages (p.31)' Guild records, proclamations' Alquin, he was a writer, and Conquesr nyne, in al e schools of England children ham said 'Cover your head!' And Gloys retorted, 'So I shall for you!' And
diaiogues, allegories, and letters illustrate the an France, is well illustrated by the poem modern edi-
proi.rtr, translated five books, grarnerscoles of Engelond abandon French, and compose and when Gloys had gone on three or four strides, Wyndham drew out his
tors have called Pearl, in which the writer recalls the
iu.rr. r"r-rg. oin.* rtyls and genres' Towards the end
Genesit Exodus, childern leue Frensch, and learn in English, and have thereby dagger and said,'Will you, indeed, knave?' And with that Gloysturned
death of his two-year-old daughte who then acts as DeuteronomY, Numbers, on him, and drew out his dagger and defended himself, fleeing into my
of the.entir the translations of the Bible inspired by
construe and lurne an Englysch, an advantage on the one hand, and
Leviticus. Through these our mother's place; and Wyndham and his man Hawes threw stones and
his spiritual Drama also begins to make its and habbe
controvers erby avauntage in on a disadvantage on the other. The
John \X/ycliff apPear amicl considerable
people were taug.ht i,n.Eng-
"o-fo.r.r.
in form ofdialogues, pageants' and
drove Gloys into my mother's house, and Hawes followed into my
the associated movefilent produces many or.rt.. felt, the tsh, These were the bishoPs syde, and desavantauge yn anoer. advantage is that they learn their mother's and threw a stone as big as a farthingJoaf into the hall at Gloys,
""d ,h. f.-ou, cycles of mystery plays (p'58)' who preached Ch ristia n itY: Here avauntage ys
at a lurne grammar in lesstme than chldren and then ran out of the place again. And Gloys followed him out and
manuscripts (p.54. Finall in the 1430s, there is a - Witfrid of RiPum, lohan of stood outsde the gate, and then Wyndham called Gloys a thief and sad
',r.r, o.r.p.r, in English from the office of the London Much of Middle English literature is of unknown Beoferlai, Cuthbert of
here gramer yn lasse tyme
an used to do. The disadvantage s that
he had to die, and Gloys said he lied and called hm a peasant, and told
childern wer ywoned ro do.
authorship, but by the end of the period this situation Dunholme, Oswald of nowadays children at grammar
him to come himself or else the best man he had, and Gloys would answer
Chancery scribes,lhich strongly influenced the devel- Wireceastre, Egwin of Dcsavauntage ys
has changed. Among the prominent names which at now childern school know no more French than him, one against one. And then Hawes ran nto Wyndham's place and
opment f a standard written language (p'41)' Heoueshame, ldelm of ot gramerscole conneb no more their left heel, and that is a fetched a spear and a sword, and gave his master his sword' And at the
emerge irithe latter prt of the 14th century are John Malmesburi, Swithun, Frensch noise of this attack and uproar my mother and I came out ofthe church
an can here iift heele, misfortu ne for them if they should
The poetic puzzle Go*r, William Langland, iohn \X/ycliff, and Geoffrey thelwold, Aidan, Biern of and at ys harm for ham and a cross the sea and travel in foreign
from the sacrament, and I told Gloys to go into my mother's again, and he
Wincstre, Paulin of
Chaucer, and some iime later John Lydgate, Thomas did so. And then Wyndham called my mother and me wicked whores, and
Poetry presents a puzzle. The Anglo-Saxon poetic tra-
scholle passe in
Rofecstre, S. Dunston, and ese and trauayle countries, and in other such said the Pastons and all her kin were (...) said he lied, knave and peasant
dition pparently dies out in the I Ith centur to reap-
Malor Villiam Caxton, and the poets who are col- S. lfeih of Cantoreburi'
strange londes, and in meny
caas ci rcu msta nces. Al so, g e ntl e me n that he was And he had a great deal of broad language, as you shall hear
lectiveiy known as the Scottish Chaucerians (p' 53)'
p.". p"i.hily in the 13th' A lengthy po-etic history of
These taught our PeoPle in also.Also gentil men habbe now
have now largely abandoned later byword of mouth.
English. Their light was not
'gri,"in
L.o*t as LaSamonls Brut(p' 36) is one of the Rather than a somewhat random collection of inter- moche yleft for to teche
here teaching their chldren French. Such a story could have appeared in any modern tabloid. (The hole in the
'litelature" in dark, and it shone brghtlY childern Frensch.
esting texts, there is now a major body of paper fortuitous, and is unlikely to be an 'expletive deleted'.) The expe-
earliest works to ,rrt,riu" from Micldle English, and in Now is this knowledge aban- is

the odern sense. It is this which provides the final rience shocked Margaret, who'wolde not for xl /i. have suyche another
the 14th century come the important texts of Piers
doned, and the PeoPIe Plusa change...
Modern trouble' ('wouldn't have another such disturbance happen for f40').
(P' 37)' part of the bridge berween Middle and Early damned...
Plowman and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
alliterative Old English English (S5).
\hat is surprising is that the
 4.lllD1)LD liN(LrSH
llti FlIs'l()lY ()l t"NGLI'Stl
37
36
PAl-l- I ',l

SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

LAJAMON'S BRUT
THE OWL AND THE NIGHTINGALE
This story f rom Arthurian Sien c sege and e assaut watS sesed at 1i'oye, Since the siege and the assault came to an end in Troy,
the first example to appear in English of the debate verse form which was so
pop- This isa poem of c. 16,000 linestellingthe historyof
Ths legend is an account of c borS brittened and brent to bronde ancl aske3, The city destroyed and burnt to brands and ashes,
Britain fiom the land ing of Brutus (the Erut of the title,
is
ularinEuropedurrngthetziand13thenturies lnthepoem'thetwospeakersargue two adventures - the Ite tulk ar c trar1nles of tresour.r [re r wror of treason
theirVeWsinthemannerofalawsuit.Theworkhasbecomefamousforitshumourand the reputed founder of the Britons) to the last Saxon arrival of a green knight at
The man who there devised the devices
victory over the Britons in 689. lt uses an alliterative line, \Wat3 tried for hi.s tlicherie,
e trervest on errhe: Was tred fortreachery, the truest on earth:
hs
irony,andforthelivelywayinwhichthecharactersofthetwobrdsareportrayed.ltds- Arthur's court and the
pyi'a rrencr,-inspire schme of four-beat lines in rhyming couplets. lts authorship
has showing the influence of old English (p.11), and many of Hit wat; Ennias It was the noble Aeneas and his noble kindred
challenge he issues, and c athel and his highe kvnde
its themls reflect those of earlier Germanic times; but
,
noibu"n established, though the dialect represented is southern, and it was
probably
the temptaton of Sir l>at sien depreced prouinces, and patrounes bicorne Who later subjugated provinces, and became lords
of Guildford (who the approach was also much inf luenced by French chival-
composed c. 1200. From u |.f"r"n." in the poem to a Master Nicholas Gawain, who takes up the \7elne;e ofal e wele in e \est lles. Of almost all the wealth in the Western lsles.
of been suggested as a ric romances. The text actually uses as a source a French
i" flrirO, agree should judge the debate), that area Surrey has
verse chron icle , Roman de Brut, made by the 1 2th-cen-
challenge at the green
When noble Romulus quickly makes his way to Rome,
lines, and part of one of the Flo riche Romulus to Rome ricchis hym swye,
.iriu" s-urce. rne totov,inq extracts are of the opening tury Anglo-Norman author, Wace.
knight's chapel. The story
nightingale's diatribes. was probably written With gret bobbaunce at burSe he biges vpon $,rst, With great pomp that city he builds up first,
ittl" s known of LaSamon (modern spelling, Laya- towards the end of the Atrd neuenes hit his ar-rne nomc, as hit norv hat; And names it with his own name, as it is now called;
Ich wes in one sttmere clale, lwas in a summer valleY, mon), other than whaihe tells us in the opening lines of -l'irius
14th century, and shows to Tlskarr and teldes bigynnes, Tirius founds buildings in Tuscany,
ln a very hidden corne; the work - that he was a parish priest of ErnleSe (modern
ln one suc cli3elc hale, the influence of the French I-ang:rberde in Lun.rbardie lyftes vp homes,
Areley Kings, Worcestershire). There are two extant Langaberde builds up dwellings in Lombardy,
Ihcrclc ich holcle srete tale I heard holding a great argument courtly tradition. The
manuscripis, both dating from the first half of the 1 3th poem is written in a West And er ouer e French flod Felix Brutus And far over the English Channel Felix Brutus
An hule ,rncl one ni3tingale. An owl and a nightingale. century, and separated in time byabout a generation .
Midland dialect, and there On mony bonkkes ful brode Bretayn he sette Upon many broad hillsides founds Britain with joy,
at plait was slif an starc ll stronli' The dispute was fierce and violent and strong, This has given scholars a rare chance to make a compari-
is some evidence f rom the lvith wynr-re,
Strrn-wilc sofe rtt lutl an-rong; Sometimes soft and loud at intervals; son, to se if the two versions throw some light on the
language that it origi- \Where rverre and wrakc and wonder
And each swelled in anger against the other, way the language could have changed duri ng that time' Where fighting and distress and wondrous deeds
An cier' ,r3en oel sval, nated in south Lancashire.
ih" po"t is written in long lines, divided into half-line The manuscript, which
Bi sye hat wont erinne, At times have been found therein
An lct at vrtc'le mocl ttt al. And let out their bad temPer. groups, and a great deal of use is made of alliteration,
contains three other And oft boe blysse ancl bluncler And often both happiness and sadness
An eiel seicle of oeres custc And each said of the other's qualities ihyme, and oter phonological features which give-the poems written in the same Ful skete hatg skyfted synne. Have since then quickly alternated.
at :rlre-rvorstc at hi u'uste .. ' The worst things that theY knew . .. units ther structure (p.41 5). A surprising feature of the
neat angular hand, is now
text is that, despite being written 1 50 years after the in the British Library. ln the Anc-le ctren islretayn wat bigged bi is burn rych, And when this Britain was founded by this noble man,
And you ilt-treat cruelly and badly' Conquest, it has very few French loan words. lt is likely
Ar-ru tukcst r'roe rn vuele, present extract, the editors Bolcle breclde n erinne, baret at lolclen, Bold men multipled there, who loved fighting,
Vhar u rriiSt, t>vet'-stn:rle firelc ... Wherever you can, very small birds ... that ihe poem's subiect matter, much concerned with have added modern capi-
battles within the epic traditon, motivated LaJamon to In mony turncd tylne tene at wrotcn. ln many a later tme who brought about harm.
u art locllich to biholclc, You are hateful to behold, talzation and punctua-
use an older vocabulary, assocatd more with the Old Mo fe rlyes on is folcle han fallen helc oft More marvels in this land have often happened here
An tr art lo in rlonie volc{e; And you are hateful in manY waYs; tion. (After J. R. R. Tolkien
English period. Howevet there are no kennings in the en in any oer'at I u'ot, syn at ilk ryme. Than in any other that I know of, since that same time.
Your body is short, your neck is small, & E. V. Gordon, 1925.)
i bodi is short, i sworc is smrl, texl (p. z). The laterversion also contains rather more Bot of alle at he re bult of Bretal'gne l<ynges But of all of Britain's kings who dwelled here
(irettcte Your head isbigger than the rest of you; French loans, suggesting that the scribe was to some
is in heuecl an u al; Ay wat Arthur e hendest, as I haf herde telle. Always was Arthur the noblest, as I have heard tell.
in eene bo colblake an bt'ocle, Your eyes both charcoal-black and wide, extent tryng to modernize the language. (Extracts and
Just like they were painted with woad.... translation from N. Blake, 1992.)
Rit swo ho wcren ipeint micl wocle .t'

-ry
Earlier version
t.]

Svrner is icumen in, Summer has come in,

Nu haue Vortigemes cun Aurilie n aclualcl' ,li' '\)
THE CUCKOO nu tt rrr,rl allc of aelc lriltc cttttnc.
SONG Lhtrcle sing cuccul Loudly sing, cuckoo!
Ah ne hope u to rcle of heon.r at ligge clecle'
Glowe sed and blowe rned The seed grows and the
This well-known ah enc ofe scolen seolen c beo itrec'
Ancl spring e wclc ntr. meadow bursts into flower
song is one of aswint e to hirn-seoltrc enche'
f-or selcle he
several secular Sing cuccu! And the wood sPrings uP now
v scalt wttren gocl king & guuenene lttercl'
lyrics dating f rom Sing, cuckoo!
E< u to cle micl-nihte rvepue inc cnihtes'
c. 1225.ft is one of
ai we i an morgen-liht
Awc blete aficr lonrb, ewe bleats after the lamb, urzr:3cl.t come For-ril-rt'
a very few such
'
The
lyrics which have Ll-rotr aficr calue cr-r, The cow lows after the calf stiw
;tits
musical notation
n the manuscriPt
Bulluc stcrte, brrcl<e trclte. The bultock leaPs, the buck farts. Later version
l:r Ii'lt]
(as well as an
Murie sing cr"rccu! Merry sing, cuckoo! Nou h:rue Vortigerlle his ctrll Aurelie acu'elled' f
a lternative (Lcctt, cttcctt, Cuckoo, cuckoo, nou hart ou al one ofalle ine kunne.
religious text n \Zcl singes
tt cucctt. You sing well, cuckoo. Ac ne hope ott to rerde of harn irt ligge deacle'
Latin). Nc swik u natter trtt! Never cease you now! ac ench otr otr r.r.ril.rt i-seolf ine kinedom weric'
lorsealcle he aswint at to hirl-r-seoluc tlcste'
ou salt wore god king anc-l
steorue orh alle ing'
Ancl ou at are miclniht wepne inc cnihtes'-.
at rnoreliht maJe be r-recli to e fht'
at u an

Now that Vortigern's f amily has killed Aurilie,

you are the sole survivor of your family'
But do not expect any support from him who lies dead'
Put your trust in yoursetf that help is granted you,
;.
for seldom is he disappointed who puts his trust in
himself.
You will become a worthy king and ruler of people' Irii::l
li
And arm your followers at midnight . .''

so that we may advance in the morning'

 4'llIDDLE ENCLISH
tsIISTORY OF ENGLISH
39
38
PAIT I.THE

POETRY FOR TH EAR
THE CHAUCE,RIAN 'Delightf ul','enchanting',
ACHIEVE,MENT and'beguiling' are just some
of the terms critics have used
to express ther feelings
The tiny voice of this book can adcl nothing to the about the opening lines of
the Prologue to The Canter-
critical acclaim which has been given to Chaucer's
bury Tales. The lines unques-
poetic and nrrative achievements, or to his insights tionably demonstrate
into m.dieval attitucles and society; but it can affirm Chaucer's great skill in poetic
with some conviction the importance of his work to description, for, when we
look carefully attheir gram-
af history of the language. It is partly a matter of matical structure, they ought
43,000
qu"ntity - one complete edition prints over not to generate such
ally described as 'enchant-
ing'. The fact that we not
only cope with Chaucer's
sentence but have the aural
impression that it flows
along so smoothly and
simply is a tribute to his
poetic Aenius.
The lines work partly
because of the rhyme, which
organizes the meaning into
units that our auditory
memory cr easily assimi-
late, and partly because of
the metre, which adds pace
can also be seen in several
points of detail. The normal
order of clause elements is
reversed in l. 1 1 and l. 12
(verb before subject), and in
l. 2 (object before verb). The
normal order of phrase ele-
ments is reversed in l. 1
(adjective after noun) and l.
6 (auxiliary verb after main
verb). As a further aid to the
metre, we see an extra parti.
cle brought into the openini
S u m m o n e r's Ta I e (ll. 2202-6)
line (Whan thatAprille ...)
and a prefix added to a past
between happier and more
happy, or between allwork,
all the work, and all of the
work.
The way in which Chaucer
can capture the ntural fea-
tures of colloquial speech is
not well illustrated by the
Prologue - aI least, not until
towards the end, when the
Host starts to speak. The fol-
lowing extract, from lhe
rhythm to it: so God me
provides a better example:
'Ey, Goddes mooder', quod
has done a churl's deed.')
Here we see the way in which
Chaucer keeps a dialogue
going, with quickfire ques-
tons and answers withn the
verse structure. The words
are uncomplicated, mostly
just one syllable long. The
passage also shows one of his
favou rite styl istic tricks, the
use of a rhyming tag with a
natural conversational
speede - like his use else-
where of as / gesse ('as I

lir-r., of po.tr as well as two major.prose works -

responses at all. On the face and control to the reading. participle in l. 8 ronne). guess') and many other such
she, 'Blisful mayde!
of it. it is improbable that a The long sequence of These were some of the 'comment clauses' (p. 229).
b'.rt *or.
clucial is the breadth and variety of his term like'enchanting' would clauses, identifying first one stylistic options available to
lsther oght elles? telle me
feithfu ly.' Other i mportant characteris-
language, which ranges from the polished complex- ever be used of a sentence aspect of the time of yea Chaucer at the time: it would
I

'Madame,'quod he,'how tics of conversation are seen

ityf igh-flown rhetoric to the natural simpliciry
oi do^ti. chat. No previous author had shown
such a range, and Chaucer's writing- in addition to
its literarerits - is thus unique in the evidence it
has provided about the state of medieval grammar,
vocabular' and Pronunciation.
Chau.r's beit-known wotk, The Canterbury
Thles,isnot ofcourse a guide to the spoken language
of the time: it is a variety of the wlitten language
It a regular
which has been carefully crafted. uses
metrical structure and rhyme scheme - itself
departr.rre from the free rhythms and alliteration
much earlier poetry (p.36)' It contains many varia-
tions in wordorder', dictated by the demands of the
prosocly. Thee are also frequent- literary.allusions
nd tuittt of phrase which make the text difficult to
follow. \X/haf has irnpressed readers so much is that'
despite the constraints, Chaucer has managed to
."pitrr. so vividly the intriguing characters.of the
,pL"k..r, and to reflect so naturally the colloquial
f.",rrr., oftheir speech. In no other author, indeed,
is there better support for the view that there is an
underlying .ort.rpottd.ttce between the natural
rhythm of-English poetry and that of English every-
day conversation (P.412) '
345-1400)
GEOFFREY CHAUCER (?1
Chaucer provides us with an unparalleled insight
into the speech and manners of medieval
London, from gutter to court. Very little is known
of his life, and what biographical information
there is gives us no hint of his role as a writer'
He was born in the early or mid-1340s, the son
of John Chaucer, a London vintner, who had some
standing at court. ln 1357 Geoffrey became
oaoe in-the service of the wife of Lionel, Duke of
t|."r"n.", and later joined the household of King
Edward lll. He served in the French campaign,
was taken prisoner, and ransomed' ln the mid-
1 360s he married the daughter of 5ir Payne
Roet,
Philippa, through whose sister he was later linked
by marriage to John of Gaunt.
By 1 368 he was one of the king's esquires. He
\Whan that Aplille with hise shoures soote
When April wth its sweet showers
'hwan Oat'a:prrl,wr0 hIs'Julres'solta
The droghte of March hath perced to the
roote
has pierced the drought of March to the root
0a 'druxt cf 'mar$ haO 'persed ,tol a 'rorte
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
a
of and bathed every vein in such liquid
and'barad'e:vrl'vin In'swIf h'kulr
Of which vertu engendred is the flour
rom which strength the f lower
is
f These two extracts further ill ustrate the vari-
engendered;
cf 'hwIf vel'tiu en'4endred ,ls 0e'flulr
s \lhan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
When Zephirus also with his sweet breath
hwan,zefl'rus elk,wl0 hrs'swefe'bre:0
Inspired hath in euery holt and heeth
has breathed upon i n every woodland and
heath
rn'spirred'haO tn'e:vrt'hclt and'hel0
during the 1370s, notably to ltaly, and received
severl offcial appointments. ln 1382 he was
made comptroller of the Petty Customs, and in
1 386 was elected a knight of the shire
for Kent'
He then lost his offices, probably as part of the
oolitical strife surrounding the authority of the
young King Richard ll, and fell into debt. ln 1389,
when Richard came of age, Chaucer was
appointed Clerk of the King's Works, but in 1391
left this post, becoming deputy forester at
Petherton in Somerset. ln 1399 he took a lease of
a house in the garden of Westminster Abbey, and
died the following year' He was buried in the
Abbey, and it is through this that part of the
building came to be known as Poets' Corner'
His first poetry is the elegaic love-vision, Ihe
Book of the Duchess, written c. 1370 to commem-
orate the death of the wife of John of Gaunt'
Other important works are the translation of part
subordinate clause with a
The tenclre croppes and the yonge sonne
the tender shoots, and the Young sun
0e'tender'klcppes ,and e jo4ga 'sunne
Hath in the Ram his halcours ylonne
the Ram,
has run his half-course in
'ha0 m a 'ram hls 'half 'kurs lrunne
And smale fowules maken melodYe
and smallbirds make melodY
and'sma:la'fu:les'malkan,melc'di:e
10 That slepen al the nyght with open eye
that sleep all night with oPen eYe
Oat'sle:pen'ail e'nit wrO'clpen'i:e
So priketh hem nature in hir corages
(so nature pricksthem in their hearts);
scr'prtkaO'hem naitiur rn'hlr ku'rq:cles
Thanne longen folk to goon on
pilgrimages...
then people long to go on pilgrimages" '
0an'lcl4gen'fclk tol'gc:n cn,pllgrfmal$as
(Phonetic transcription after A. C. Gimson,
1962.)
of the French Roman de /a Rose, the allegorical
Parliament of Fowls, the love-vision The House of
Fame, and the unfinished legendary,Ihe Legend
of Good Women - atribute to classical heroines
who suffered out of devotion to their lovers' His
longest romance, Troilus and Crseyde, is the
crowning work of his middle period. His visits to
Italy wer-e a major influence on both the style and
conient of his writing, as can be seen throughout
the 24 stories o'f The Canterbury Tales'These,
written over a period of at least a decade, but
left unfinished, have been a continuing source of
scholarly debate over their order and dating' No
original manuscripts in Chaucer's hand have sur-
vivd, but there are many copies of his works -
over 80 of the lales-which have kept genera-
tions of editors busy in the task of identifying and
eradicating errors.
which begins with a four-line then another, also promotes
a leisurely, story-telling
have been perfectly possible
for him to have written
thynke ye herby?'
in the example, such as the 'l
said/he said' pattern still
coordinate clause inside it, atmosphere which antici- Whan Aprille and ronne. The
'How that me thynketh?'
found in narrative today, as
quod she, 'so God me
and which is immediately pates the vast scale of the existence of variant forms in
speede,
well as an exclamation, an
followed by a six-line subor- work to follow. lt is as f the a language is of considerable oath, and the use of direct
I seye, a cherl hath doon a
dinate clause with two more poet were asking us, poetic value, providing the address (Madame). Along
coordinate clauses inside it, through the syntax and writer with options to sut
cherles deede.'
with a goodly store of vul-
and which also includes a rel- prosody, whether we are sit- different metrical contexts - ('Ee, God's mother', said she, garisms and name-calling -
or better will not fit a
ative clause and a parenthet- ting comfortably, before he i'| also
line, then a/s and bet might -
'Blissful maiden! ls there any- for Goddes bones, by Seinte
ical clause, before it reaches begins. As some critics have thing else? Tell me faithfuly.' Loy, olde fool, by my feith -
put it, it is poetry for the ear
the main clause. Sentences to ensure the verse 'does not 'Madame', said he,'What do these features demonstrate
with multiple embeddings rather than for the eye. fail'(see below). A modern you think about that?''What why Chaucer's conversa-
(p.227), such as the one you The artifice of the gram- poet might similarly enjoy do lthink about it?'said she, tional poetry is so distinctive
have just read, are not usu- mar of these opening lines the freedom of choice 'so God help me, I say a churl and so real.
SOME LESSER-KNOWN EXTRACTS suppose. Another cause is this, that sothly THE -e QUESTION
Itrulyl in any tretis of the Astrelabie that I have
seyn, there be somme conclusions that wol The chief difficulty in trying to read Chaucer's
ety of Chaucer's wrting. The f irst is the open- [ril/] not in alle thinges parformen her bih- verse aloud in its original pronunciation is knowing
ing of the scientif ic discourse he wrote in es.eslfulfil theirpromrsel; and somme of hem when to sound the -e which appears at the end of
c. 1391 for'little Lewis, myson',4 Treatiseon ben to [them are too] harde to thy tendir age so many words (p. 32). The opening lines of the
the Astrolabe (an early instrument for observ- to conceyve. Iales provide several examples: do we add a 'weak'
ing the position and altitudes of celestial ending to soote, droghte, roote, sweete, melodye,
bodies). The second is the opening of his 'ABC',
an early poem in which the f irst letter of each A lmighty and al merciable queene,
To whom that al this world f leeth for
and others? The transcription given suggests that
we do, in most cases, but is this transcription the
verse follows the order of the letters of the socour Ihelp], only one?
alphabet. lt was possiblywritten in the mid- To have relees of sinne, of sorwe, and teene
Final -e was certainly on its way out of the lan-
1 360s for devotional use by Blanche, the first lhurtl, guage at this time, and a generation or so later it
lorious virgine, of al le f loures f lour lfl owe r of
wife of John of Gaunt. G would be completely gone. But in Chaucer's time,
allflowersl
Lyte Lowys my sone, aperceyve wel by
I
To thee I flee, confounded in errour.
there would have been considerable variation.
Older speakers might keep it; younger ones drop it.
certeyne evydencesthyn ablite to lerne sci-
Help and releeve, thou mighti debonayre Or perhaps the -e would be kept in careful recita-
ences touching nombres and proporciouns;
lgracious onel, tion style. lt would almost certainly be elided
and wel considre I thy besy p raier fanxious
as
Have mercy on my perilous langour
prayerl in special to lerne the tretys of the (p. 247) before a vowel, as in droghte (1. 2). And
[afflictionll when it represented an earlier inflectionalending
Astrelabie. Than [then] for as moche [much] as
Venquisshed me hath my cruel adversaire. (and not a later spelling idiosyncrasy), it would
a philosofre saith, 'he wrappeth him in his
probably have been pronounced. But many cses
frend, that condescendith to the rightfulle
ountee so f ix hath in thin Ithy] herte his
praiers of his frend,'therfore have I yeven the lJtente, cannot be resolved so easily.
Scholars are divided on the issue, some recom-
[given thee] a suffisant Astrelabie as for oure That wel lwot [know] thou wolt lwilllmy
orizonte Ihor2on], compowned lco nstru cted) socour bee;
mending the pronunciation in doubtful instances,
others rejecting it. That Chaucer himself was aware
after the latitude of Oxenforde IOxford]; upon Thou canst not warne [refusel him that with
of the importance of metrical regularity is sug-
which, by mediacioun [medrationl of this litel good entente
gested by his request to Apollo (in The House of
tretys, I purpose to teche the [thee] a certein Axeth [asks for] thin helpe, thin herte is ay
nombre of conclusions aperteyning to the Fame,l.1098) to guide him in making his poetry
[a/ways] so free {generous}.
pleasing,'Though som vers fayle in a sillable'
same instrument. I seie a certein of conclu- Thou art largesse of pleyn felicitee [absolute
sions, for thre
Ifhreel causes. The first cause is blissl,
('Though some lines fail in a syllable'). But no one
has yet found a foolproof way of determining
this: truste wel that alle the conclusions that Haven of refut lrefugel, of quiete, and of reste.
han lhave] be founde, or ellys possibty might Chaucer's prosodic intentions, and different read-
Loo (to), how that theeves sevene [the seven
ings continue to be heard.
oe lounde in so noble an instrument as is
an dead ly si nsl chasen mee !
Astrelabie ben
[are] unknowe parfitly [per- Help, lady bright, erthat [before] my ship
rect/yl to eny mortl
man in this regioun, as tobreste Irs wrecked]!
I

travelled widely on diplomatic missions abroad

 'f ll li IIIS'l ()l.Y ()F EN(l'lSLl /r lt4lt)t)l.t! l.lN(l.lSII 4t
40 PAI1' I

mayht mihte to scribal error (e.9. maYht). NORMAN INFLUENCE, YE OLDE LETTERS
MIDDLE E,NGLISH SPELLINC MIGHT IS RIGHT
micht mist A good examPle of a dialec-
The various spellings of mlchts mithe talvariant is mlcht, which
might clearly illustrate the micthe mouthe suggests an origin in the As tl-rc pcriocl proglcssccl, so tl-rc spcllir-rg changecl. The
tWhat is irnmecliately noticeable fi'orn the rallge of way grammatical, dialectal, mi3t myht north-east (compare Norman scribes listcnccl to the English thcy hear.ci
texts illustlatecl in thc prececling pagcs is thc extla- and scribal variants comPl- miSte myhte modern Scots nlcht'not')
arouncl them, ancl began to spell it accolc{ing to thc
cate the study of Middle However, by the time of
orclinary diversity of li.{.11. English spelling - far English texts. Allthe follow-
miSten myhtes
William Caxton (P.56), collve ntiolls thcy hacl previor.rsly r-rsecl for French, such
miStest myhtestu
greater that.r that founcl in Olcl English (p' 16.)' Stu- ing are listed in one stan- many of the variations had ',rs tltt for ctu (rlucut for cwart). Tl"rcy brought in g/t
il"r-rt, *llu are new to thc period quickly learn the skill dard collection of earlY Some of the variation can be died out, and Caxton's own
(irrsteacl of ) in such worcls as uight and attouglt, and
extracts (8. Dckins & R. M. use of the mYghtsPelling
of glossaly c{elving - encottntering a variaut spelling in Wilson, 1951).
explained by grammatical
proved to be a ma.ior influ- r/ (insteacl of r) in such wolcls as c/tu'cl. They r-rsecl ol
context (e.g. the -estend-
an*e.liteci text (e.g. ndr#e' ttlzurc' ner, neure), tlten maht mitte ings for the 2nd Person sin- ence on the emergence of for (as in housc). They begirn to use cbefole r (ir.rsteacl
tlawling thror.rgh the back of the book to tlack clown mahte mhhte gular). Some is ProbablY due the modern form.
of s) in sucl.r wolcls lts cucla ('circle') and cell. And
wlrat itls . u"ri"t-t, of (in this case, of neuer'never')' A because the letter' /r was wrirren in a very sirr-rilal way to
goocl editol rnakes the job eas by providing copious u, lt, and iz (see opposite), words collraining a
.rosr-ref"ren.es. Some words have a dozen or lnore Facler ourc'at is i
heuen.
seqllence of these letters were clifficult to lead; they How did the become ye in Ye Olde Tea as the, thou, and that, and was often
I
blcssicl be i narne to neuen.
variants. re rYnttr thelefrlre often replacecl the z with an a, ir.r such cases Shoppe and other such institutions? abbreviated (e.9. asye, yt).
This situation results fi'om a cornbination of histori- tprtelt' Come to us i kyr.rgdornc'
ils colna, loua, onc, and son. ancl z came to be inclcas-
The writing of e 'the' as ye continued in
cal, linguistic, and social factors. The sociolinguistic In heuen 7 erth i wille Lre clone. /
Of the four Old English letters, onlythorn some manuscript styles untilthe 19th
oule ilk clay brecl g"trnt vs to dav ingly usecl, clistinct fonn of ).
as ciiclT (a visr-rally n'role () continued to be much used throughout century, by which time people had long
irl-rpa.t-of tl't. French invasion, the continuation of the And onc pail of lettels came to be usecl r.r cornple- the Middle English period, eventually being forgotten the original letter shape and the
ancl cure rnyscledcs lorgyLLc vs a1'
pro..rr., of souncl change which began in.Anglo- w. clt, horrt r IrcsPlstls
,rls merrtafy ways: l/ at tl.re beginr.ring of a word (t,nr/cr),
replaced by th. Howeve scribal practice 'th'sound it once represented. They sawthe
altered during that time, and the symbol letter as a gave it the expected modern
Sa*on timer, aucl the considerable growth anci move- right so halte met'ci \/potl Lts. lncl in the rnidclle (whetl-rel collsonant ol vowel, as took on a new shape (see illustration va lue, and pronounced the word as 'ye'- a
ment in population clurir-rg the medieval period, ancl lcde vs i no founcll'nge . in ltau.a). By the begir-rnirrg of the 15th centur opposite), becoming so like a ythat some usage still found today in such mock-archaic
especially in the south-east of tire courltry' all helpecl to lr,rr shild vs fr',t rrl u iel<ed rirrge. tnglish spelling was r mixtuLe of two systerns, Olcl
writers actually added a dot above the contexts as pub names (Ye OIde Fighting
symbol to help distinguish it. This new
i,rfl.,e,t.. the shape of tl-re writing system. The change n1o0 , tTell. lrglish ancl 'rench. Tl.re consequer.rces plague English shape was used in such grammatical words
Cocks), shoppe names, and comic dialogue
(seefurther, p.185).
is qr-rite c['amatic. There is a malkecl contrast between ck fune lcunels sttll (p. 27 4).
(After C. Jones, 1972.)
th. .lirr.tt. ar-rcl idiosyncratic forms used at the begin-
ning of the periocl ar-rd the highly regularizecl system of
easier to d istinguish than they were in
spelling which begins to appear in the l5th centur in SOME MANUSCRIPT FEATURES THE CHANCERY LINE clerks imposed a great deal cal words were also given
Old English. of order on the wide range of their modern form here.
tLe work of the Chancery scribes and'Villiarn Caxton This is an extract from a th-century
1 . Several abbreviations are used, includ Some ofthe royal Chancery spellings which existed at the Moreover, there are clear dif-
(p. 56). manuscript - a translation of the Lord's ing a line suspended above a symbol to records, kept on skins of time, and that the choices ferences between Chancery
Prayer used inThe Lay Folk's Mass Book'lt show a missing n (1. 1), a superscript parchment which were then they made are very largely Standard (CS) and Chaucer's
s written in book hand, a script which standing for ra (1. 5), and a shorthand sewn together and rolled up. the ones which have since spelling preferences (p.38) -
Some textual features was widely used during the Middle form of and (1.4). Systematic record-keepi ng become standard. The for example, not (CS) for nat,
The text of rlte Peterborottgh Chronicle (p.33), dating English period. . There is no real punctuation. A mark was an essental part ofthe

'r%
genealogy of modern Stan- but (CS) for bot, 9af(CS) for
from the very beginning of the period, shows some of . Old Englishthorn () is used, butwrit- resembling a perod is used after most monarchy's attempt in the dard English goes back to yaf ('gave'), thesle) (CS) for

,f
ten identically to y (see further, p. 41 ): lines, but its f unction is unclear. -a 2th century to develop
1 Chancery, not Chaucer. thrse, and thoroug h (CS) f or
the important featules of Midclle English spelling' The compare the first symbol of i (1. 2) with more effective govern- Although other varieties thurch ('through').
'j
Oid English runic syrnbols are still in use, but there is the last symbol of da (1. 5) in the Minim confusion q ment. At first the Chancery of English had achieved some Chancery Standard does
manuscript. is beginning to be replaced ofthis period show a Problem consisted of a sma ll degree of standardization,
some in-consistency. The -th spelling makes a sporadic not derive from the lan-
Texts
known as minim confusion (p.261)' A
'
.*.r

appearance for y'. The symbol is usecl in the

by th, as in erthe (1.4).
. The yogh (J) and ash () symbols have
",,ur.tipt, but this has been representecl on p' 33 by been replaced by g (as in forgyue, l. 6) and
(as is usual in modern editions of these texts)' rr is a (asin fader,1.1 ), respectively. There is an
unusual replacement for Old English 2,
also a common spelling for this sound; the word for seen in wll/e (1.4). The new symbols show
'wretched people', for example, is spelled both ways in the influence ofthe Carolingian script
the illustrtion (ll. 1 1, l4). The lettel g is usecl for a widely used in Continental EuroPe
(p.2s8).
souncl which most other texts of the time spell with 3' . The long s symbols, also found in Car-
There is some alternation between a and a. In addi- olingian script, are used in such words as
rion, u is used where we would now find u, in such b/essld (1. 2). There is a later example in
the extract from Shakespeare (p. 63). The
words as gyuett'give' and aure'ever'. shape continued to be used in print until
Because of the spelling, several words look stranger the 1 8th century.
than they really are. An example is wreccetnen, which . Some of the symbols are beginning to
take on a modern appearance compared
would fLave been pronounced like u.retch-matt (but with ther earlier use in insular script
with the soundecl), and is thus very close to mode rn (p.1 6). A long downward stroke is no
wretched. Cyrceardlikewise woulcl have been close to longer used in r (erth, l. 4). The top of f
now ascends above the general level of
tlre modern pronunciatio n of churchlarl, because the the line (forgyue, l.6), and the ascender
rwo c spellings each representecl a c/r souncl, and, i
in t now goes through the crossbar (right,
stood for the same sound as modern 7' And ahegadere l. 8). As a result, these symbols are much
is not far from altogether, r'ot lidenfrom laid.
n umber of scribes who they were soon overtaken by guage and style found in the
minim \s a short vertical stroke of the pen, t" travelled with the king the quantity of material works of Chaucer and Gower,
as in the I of rs (1. 1) orl (1. 2). Several let- ,J'* and prepared his docu- which emerged from the and other major literaryfig-
ters were formed by a sequence of such ments; but during the
strokes-u, n, m, v, andsometimes w(uu)'
t 1 3th century they came to
Chancery off ice. When ures, therefore; and it took a
Caxton established his press, while before Chancery fea-
Because scrbes did not usually leave be permanently located also in Westminster ('1476), tures emerged in literary
space between different letters, any t.\ in Westminster. 'Chancery Standard' already texts. Rather, it is a quite dis-
word which contained these letters in The mportance of the
,r.-& carried enormous prestge. lt tinct varety, showing the
adjacent positions wou ld be d iff icu lt to Chancery is its role in is perhaps not surprsng, influence ofthe Central and
read. A sequence of six minims cou ld be fostering the standard- then, that it s this set of prac- East Midland dialects (p. 50),
read as mnl, imu, inni, and several other \ ization of English, in tices which, associated with as well as features associated
possibilities. Compare the m of merci (1. 8)
1 handwriting, spelling, the authority of the court with London. This mixture is
with the un of foundynge (1. 9). Because and grammaticalforms and fostered by the power of not surprisng, glven that we
there were so many possible ambiguities, The'Chancery hand' the press, eventually exer- know large numbers of
Norman scribes introduced the Carolin- developed in ltaly in cised such influence around people were attracted to the
gian convention of writing the minims the 1 3th century, and the country - though not all London area from the Mid-
representng u as an o, whenever a spread to London via Chancery features were lands in the 1 5th century. But
sequence of two or three other minims France. From c. 1430 a retained by the printing- itdoesgivethe Midland
followed (as in come, 1.3) No new pro- vast number of docu- houses. dialect area a somewhat
nunciation is implied by ths change As ments emerged. An example of Chancery larger role in the shaping of
with the later dotting of i, and the Careful analysis of inf luenceis its choice of such, modern Standard English
reshaping of the tops of m and n, there the manuscripts in as opposed to sich, sych, than was traditionally
was a purely graphic reason for it-to
T
the Early Chancery seche, swiche, and other vari- thought to be the case
help keep different letters apart. Proceedings has ants. Can, could, shall, (p. s4).
shown that the should, and other grammati-
 PART I.THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 4. lIDDI,E ENGLISH 43
42

when certain consonants at the end of a syllable came THE ORMULUM

restoredin many words in Received Pronunciation
(though not in such Romance loans as honour), and THE sHE PUZZLE clear evidence for Step 3 two words apart; and the
MIDDLE ENGLISH SOUNIDS to be pronounced in a vowei-like manner - an exafil-
Jiss boc iss nemmnedcl thus to the present-day situation where the use of /h-/
elsewhere in English at any suggestion is that seo filled
ple is u,,ei 'way', from Old Englisli rueg. French loan Orrmulutn, forri att
Plotting the way sounds and time - apart f rom in these this need.
is socially diagnostic (p. 3 19). words changed between Old few foreign place names. ls
words also introduced new diphthongs, in the form of
Why se? There is a close
At the same time as new letter shapes and preferences Orrrn itt wrohhte. and Middle English can be it plausible to propose a semantic link between per-
were emerging (pp.40-1), there was a continual pro- lotl and /uI/ - unusual souncls for English, and the This book is called Ormulum, New contrasts an intriguing business, and sound change which sonal and demonstrative
ancestors of modern lcrl in joy, poinL etc. because Orm wrote t. one which cannot always be affected only one word? pronouns in many lan-
cess of change affecting the way the language ws Pro- In a few cases, new contrastive units (phonemes, resolved, as the story of she Also, we are still left with the guages, and it can be seen in
nouncecl. The lesult is a degree of complex interaction Several ofthe pure vowels also changed their values. Little else is known about the p.236) emerged. The lvl sound became much more illustrates. There is a fairly problem of getting from [o:] Old English too, where se-
between the writing ancl souncl systems which has no For example, in most parts of the country (except the author. The opening lines of obvious relationship to [e:], which is required in meant'that' as well as 'the'.
Dedication (see below) important, because of its use in French loan words, and
parallel in the history of English. It is not possible for north), Old English lotl came to be articulated higher the us between most of the Old orderto producethe We can see the closeness in
tell that he has a brothe began to distingLrish pairs of words, as it does today English pronouns (p. 20) modern sound ofshe. For the text on p. 20 (1. 1 6),
il-rr. p"g"r to provide a systematic description, but at the back of the rnouth, as is shown by such spelling Walter, who is also an Augus-
'\lthough both [f] and l sounds are
(feelvs ueal). and their Modern English this, we have to assume a where the masculine form se
th"y cn-at least inclicate the general character of the changes as bnbecomtng bon 'bone' or starlbecomin1 tinian canon. The text is equivalents. But what s the process such as ana logy- 'the' is used as'the one', and
c.1 180, and the dialect is found in Old English, the language did not use rhem
pronunciation developments throughout the period' s. Nrthern speech followed its own course in several link between he and se? perhaps the vowel of she is glossed as'he'. The same
probably north Midland. lt is to differentiate words. Similarl French influence The question has attracted being influenced bythat of could apply to se in its rela-
or thore interested in the history of spelling (p'274), other areas too (p. 50); foL example, several of the new a series of homilies, intended
caused I s I and lz I rc become contrastive (zealvs sel) . several answers, and he. But there is no clear evi- tion to heZ. lt would be very
especiall it is a palticularly important time, as this is diphthongs were far more evident in the south, being to be read aloud. Over 1 0,000 remains controversial. forthis. natural to use the phonetic
And the xgsound lql at the end of a word also began
dence
replaced by pure vowels in the north (lightvs licht).
f ull lines survive, and this . Alternative theories argue distinctiveness of the former
*h..t -.ny rules and idiosyncrasies of the modern (according to the contents) to distinguish meanings at this time (thingvs thin).In . The simplest solution isto that he comes f rom seq the to help sort out the ambigu-
system wele introduced. An interesting change happened to [h] . This souncl may be only about an eighth argue that there was a series fem inine form of the defi- ity of the latter. Allthat
Old English, this sound had always been followed by a
appeared before a consonant at the beginning of many of the projected work. of sound changes by which nite article. The simplest ver- would then be needed was a
Orm's work is of interest lgl - cyning 'king', for example, was /kynrg/. How-
New spelling conventions Old English words, such as hring'ting' and hnecca
not for its poetic style (a ever the lgl died away at the end of the Old English
he- gradually changed into sion postulates similar sound f urther consonant change
she. changes to the above, giving f rom [s] to [f ], as the vowel is
Several consonant sounds came to be spelled differ-
'necli. Irwas lost early on in the Middle English periocl series of 1 5-syllable lines, 1 Sometime between Old
period, leaving / / as the sole distinguishing unit. [sjo:] as a result. This is a al ready on course for its
ently, especially because of French influence. For - the first sign of the process of 'aitch-dropping'which meticulously kept, but with and Middle English, the short, plausible step away modern sound.
example, Olct English sc lIl is gradually replacedl:y sh is still with us today. The loss of hbeforea vowel began
little ornament) nor esPe- The study of Middle English phonology is made diphthong altered, the first from [Io:]. Howevei we are The problem here is in this
cially for its content, which element becoming shorter still left with the question ol laststep. Howcan [s]
or sch (scip becomes ship), though some dialects use s, some time later, producing variations in usage which has attracted such ePithets as increasingly difficult (and fascinating) by the intricate
and losing itsstress. [he:e] whythe [o:] vowel became become [J] in f ront of an [e:]
or r. Olcl English c /tJ'/ is replacedtry ch ot cch (as in continlred into the 16th century. Middle English 'intolerably diff use' and dialect situation (p. 50). On the one hand, a letter thus became [hjo:]. Ie:]. vowel? lt would be the
'tedious'. lts signif icance is 2 The thjl element then .
church), and the voiced equivalent /S/, previously manuscripts show many examples of an /r absent where might be given different pronunciations depending on A third argument also equivalent of a change from
the idiosyncratic orthogra- came to be artculated closer begins with se but takes a same to shame. To get from
in bridg
spelled s N'or gg, becomes dg (as it should be present (rtddefor had, eldfor held) or pre phy, and in particular his the dialect area in which it appers; an example is the
.
to the palate, as [], in much different phonological [s] to [I], there needs to be
New conventions for showing long and short sent where it should be absent (ham fot am, his fot is). system of consonant dou- lee !, which for a while represented an unrounded the same way as happens to route. Sometime after the some intervening sound
bling. He has tried to devise a sound quality in the south and a rounded sound qual- Conquest, we have a lot of
vowels also developed. Increasingl long vowel sounds The influence of spelling (and doubtless the prescrip- modern English huge. which 'pulls'the s in the
foolproof way of helping his 3 [lthen became [Jl, to evidence to show that the direction of the more palatal
carne to be marked with an extra vowel lettet as in s tive traclition in schools) led to the h-fotms being later intended readers, so that ity in the north. On the other hand, a sound might be give the modern consonant. sound of e- [e:a] changed to sound [J]. The obvious can-
(earlier sz) and booc (earlier bac). Shott vowels were they make no mistakes when given different spellings depending on the dialect area There are certain facts in become close to e [e:]. This didate is [jl, itself a palatal
identified by consonant doubling, in cases where there
reading aloud. in which it appears; an example here is Old English favour of this theory (the would have had the effect of sound, but the whole point
SOUND SYSTEM 1350-1400 Orm's basic rule is to preferred explanation). making the words heo and of this thrd argument is that
might otherwise be confusion, as in sittingvs siting. double a consonant after a /x/, spellecl in the middle of words as ghin the south, Spellings such asscho are he sound the same; and as there is no [jl left in he-. The
By 1400 the sound system Long vowels and as ch in the norrh (night vs nicht). Finall we
This convention became available once it was no emerging in the south-east i:
rTden
short vowel in a closed sYlla-
ble - a principle he imPle-
found in very early Middle this process began to oper- possibility of a [j] developing
should note the continuing need for analyrical caurion English in the north. Also, a ate, it must have been quite disappeared when we
longer needed to mark the lengthened consonants of the country (as used by e:
sweete ments scrupulouslY. His similar development took disconcerting. People would argued that eo became [e:].
because spelling ws not standardized. Problems of
which had been present in Old English, but lost in the Chancery and Chaucer)
er
heerh concern has been of great place in a few place names, have been unclear whether
would have had the follow- value to linguists, Providing a authorial idiosyncrasy and copyist error abound, con-
early Middle English. ing inventory. (There is con- o:
name
major source of evidence
such as Old Norse HJ'alt/and someone was saying he or The origins ofshe thus
ui tr:ibuting to both the complex character of the period becoming modern Shet/and. she. ln these circumstances, remain one of the unsolved
A sirnilar recleployment of graphic resources fol- tinuing controversy over houre about the length of vowels in The main argument against there would be a need to puzzles in the history of
lowed the loss of the unstressed vowels that originally the number and Phonetic or
good early Middle English. He is
and the moral fibre of its students.
the theory is that there is no find a way of keeping the English.
quality of the diphthongs.)
clistinguished inflectional endings, as in stane'stone' The spelling shown in the
c:
holy very aware of what he is
doing, and evidentlY quite
(p. 39). Although the final /e/ sound disappeared, the examples is in manY cases Short vowels proud of his system: indeed,
-r spelling remained, and it gradually came to be used
just one of several Possibili- r
this at one point in his Dedication M EDIEVAL LINGUISTIC CURIOS
ties. The asterisk identifies
to ,ho* that the preceding vowel was long. This is the emerging phonemes (see
e
men he warns future coPYists to
The name Stan/e along with its abbrevi-
origin of the modern spelling 'rule' about 'silent e' in above). a
can make sure they get his
double lettering system ated form Stan, is quite unusual from a
lnteresting things happened in Middle English to the

,.rch *ord, as name and nose (p. 27 2). The availability Consonants
e boute (in unstressed
right. No wonder that some phonological point of view lt is an ancient
velar fricative /x/, spelled h and then 9h, at the end of a
word. lt came to be pronounced /f/ in some words (e.9.
have called him the first arstocratic name, found throughout the
p, b pin, bir
syllables)
of such a useful and frequent letter also motivated its enough, tougf), but it was lost in others (through,
t, d a but English spelling reformer. Middle English period, and the family
plough).ln one word, both changes took place, giving the
use in other parts of the system: for example, it marked tente, dart
k, g c oft
name of the earls of Derby. lt means,stony
modern doublet of dough, where
the consonantal use of z (haue) andthe affricate use of in, good f ield'- presumably an earlier place name.
Nu broerr lX/allterr', the /x/was lost, and duff,
g(ragevs rag), and it helped distinguish such modern f rirche'church Diphthongs broerr min, affterr e
What makes the name nteresting is that it
did not followthe normal pattern of sound
where it became /f/. The
4 brige'bridge' r day flshess kinde, latter is found now only
pairs as teaselteasand toltoe. change which affected the long a vowel in
m, n, [* make, name, or* joye Annd broerr min i O-ld English: stn became stn i-n early
in such formsasp/urn-
song i-rr* joinen'join' duff. a type of pud-
Crisstenndom urrh ful Middle English, which became modern
New pronunciations l, r lay, rage J newe luht annd urrh trowwc
stone - just like bn ,bone,, hrn ,home,, ding, and (possibly)
duffer ('man of
Severil souncls altered during the early Middle English w j weep, yelwe 'yellow' eo fewe'few' andmany others. Butthe Old English
dough'?).
periocl. Some took on a different value; some disap- f, ,n* ol, uertu 'virtue' au lawe spelling was preserved in the proper name
tpresumably because ofthe influence of
peared altogether. In particular, there was a restructtrr- s, Z* rore, Zephirus )u groue Now brother Walte mY
brothen after the manner of northern dalects, p.50), so that we have
ing of the Old English vowel system (p.18). The e, thank, the
the flesh and mY brother in 5tan/ey rather than
Stonely Holloway.
original diphthongs became pure vowels, and new h happen Ch ri sti a n i ty th ro u g h ba Pilsm
and through faith...
diphthongs emergecl. Some of the new units arose

44
PARf I
MIDDLE, ENGLISH GRAMMAR
\hat happenecl to English gramlnar', following the
.1.."y of ti-t. Olcl Engliih inflectional systern Q'32)?
that -
.would plelirnirary point is to appreciate
An important
*pe.t frott-t the way langr'rage
", -. change
operates the lois of inflections was not a suclclen nor
- insteacl of -eth. (Altelnative forms ale shown in paren-
arniu.rsal process. TheiL clisappearance can be tt'acecl
throughoui the whole of the Miclclle E'nglish periocl'
.fi..ti",tg different parts of the couutry at clifferent
times. Moreover, the switch from a synthetic to an ana-
lytic type of gramrnar (p.32) is uot the whole story of
frii. Er,g1ith, there were indepenclent . changes
taking placeiirnultaneously in othel parts of the grarn-
,rr"ti.i systeln, ancl these also neecl to be considered'
From word ending to word order
None of this gainsays the observation that the most
important glarnmatical cleveloprnent was tle estab-
lisliment of fi*.cl patterns of word ordel to express the
relationship between clause elements' Tl-rere was
alreacly a tenclency towarcls Subject-Verb-Object
(SVO) oLcleL in Old English (p' 20), ancl this was now
consoliclatecl in some constrllctiolls ancl extencled to
others. 'lhe Pcterborough Chronlcl illustration on
p. 33 shows how the earlier verl-final patteln coutiu-
u.cl to ,o"L. itself felt, especially wherr the subject was
single noun)'
sholt (such as a prolloLtll ol a Ormulum (p. 42) to determine the order of
rueclen hi robbed thel'
forbaren hi sPared theY
ws cotn dte tuas corn dear
and other clepartures from modern worcl order are
apparent in that text:
ne nure hetiren men werse ne cliden
nor'tzcue r hertthen nxen xulrse not did
Variations of this kincl continue to be in eviclence even
at the encl of the Micldle English periocl, especially
when prompted by the clernancls of poetic rletre, as
,ho*n t y stich Chaucerian example s as inspired hth
and priketh hem n,tture (P.39). Nonetheless, the
unclerlying trencl towarcls SVO is inexorable' The
Chroti.lres SVO rnuch more regularly than did the
\est Saxon texts ofa few years before (the colltlast is
especially noticeable in suborclinate clauses), ancl SVO
is by far the dorninant order in Chaucer'
repositions became particr-rlarly critical whe n
noun enclings were lost. For example, where Old
English -ould h.u" sa\d arn scipum, wirlt a 'dative'
.nJirrg on both the worcls for 'the' ancl 'ship', Miclclle
English came to say n the shippes, r-rsing a prepositign
and the comrton plural ending' The only noun case to
survive into Mode ln English was the genitive ( or s' in
writing) - a relic which continued to present problerns
]'FI11 HISfOIY OF DNGLISH
in later centuries (p.203). Some of the pelsonal plo-
nouns also kept th olcl clative form: lvs /tim,
her, etc.
The enclings of the verb lemaineci close to those
"d.rri,tg
Olcl English this peliod. Most
ira,re ha the following folrns, illustratecl here in
Chatrcer's Englisl-r for turrten' 'turn', ancl ignoring cer-
tain dialect .lif"r.r-,..s, such as the northern use of -rs
theses.)
Present tense Past tense
(r) tum(e) tulned(e)
(thou) tLrrnest tulnedest
(he /she /it) tufnetl-l turned(e)
(we/you/they) turne(n) tumecl(en)
The final sirnplification to the moderu
(p.204),where we have only tuttan'd turnsin the pre-
sir-,, a.r-t.., and turnadrhroughout the past, took place
after the Midclle English period'
PLOTTING CHANGES IN WORD ORDER
l/Ve can see the gradual way in which new
patterns of word order developed in
Middte f ngllsfr by looking at the range of
constructions in a text There is consider-
able variety at the beginning of the period,
and progressively less as we approach Early
Modern English. One study examined over
1,500full linesfrom the late 12th-century
Subject, Verb, and Object (SVO) elements:
1,67 clauses were analysed, and the chief
results are shown here in chart form (after
R. A. Palmatier, 1969).
The overall SVO statement order is strik-
ing, but there are many inversions. A closer
analysis shows some interesting features'
. Most VS variaton is in main clauses: 97
per cent of subordinate clauses have 5V
order, but only 67 per cent of main clauses'
. VS is especially likely in certaln syntactc
contexts. lf a negative word or an indirect
object appear at the front of a clause, then
th V5 order seems to be obligatory. lf the
clause begins with an adverb, it is very
likely - in 57 per cent of all VS cases, an
adverb precedes.
Ne shall he drit.tnkenn
Nor shall he drink
Forri wass rnikell wrchc sett
Thus great punishment was set
V5
(160/0)
vo (7s%l
sv (84%)
she vs
of
verbs. woulcl
system
. OV figures also need to be broken down'
lf the O is a pronoun, it is just as likely to
appear before the V as after it (51 per cent
vs 49 per cent). However, if the O is a noun,
unusual for it to appear before the V
it is
per cent vs 82 per cent). This is the same
(1 8
pattern as that noted above in the Peter-
borough Chronicle.
After allthis counting, we are only at the
beginning of our search for explanations'
What is it about an adverb which prompts a
VS inversion? Adverbs of time, place, and
negation seem to be particularly influen-
tial. Why does one part of the clause
change at a different rate from another?
Although the OV Pattern becomes VO
quite early on, the VS pattern remains
strong in some contexts until Early Modern
English, when 5V statement order became
normal almost everYwhere.
These are the kinds of questions investi-
gated by Middle English scholars. Special
ases of inversion n statements remain in
Modern English, of course, such asthe use
of said he in narrative. Negative adverbs
still require inversion (Hardly had he left'
Never have t herd). And in poetry, we may
welf find such cases as Tomorrow shall I
/eave (used as a statement) or There would
he stay. ln these examples we are glimps-
ing the word order preferences of a thou-
sand years ago
y65 (s%)
osv (8%)
vso
QV (25o/o) (f1
sov
svo (62%)
New features of English grammar
The Middle English periocl is particularly interesting
because it shows whele several important features
Mocleln English grammar have core fi'om. It also pro-
POSTMODIFYING GENITIVE
This construction employs of instead
ofthe gentive case in the noun
phrase: we now say the back of the
house, not *the house's back
(p.202). The ofpattern was hardly
used in late Old English, but by late
Middle English over 80 per cent of all
gentive constructions were of this
kind. The influence of the parallel
French construction in de may have
been a factor in moving this change
forward so quickly. The genitive
ending stayed much longer in
poetry, where it gave the poet a
useful metrical alternative. As in
Modern English, the inflectional
genitive remained with personal
nouns (the boy's book).
The'group genitive'(as in the
Duke of York's hat) also emerged at
this time, replacing a constructon
where the two noun phrases were
separated (the Duke's hat, of York).
Again, the development was a grad-
ual one, affecting some types of
phrase before others: in Chaucer, for
example, God of Loves servantz
exists alongside WyvesTale of Bath.
There are also instances of the
replacement of the genitive ending
by a possessive pronoun (The Man of
Lawe his lale). This became more
common in Early Modern English,
before it died out, and fuelled an
argument, still sometimes found
today, that the 's ending is a reduced
form of the pronoun hls (p. 203).
NEW PRONOUN FORMS
ln the Middle English period, the
entire third-person plural pronoun
system is gradually replaced by Scandi-
navian forms. The Old English system
used forms beginning with h- (p.21).
The Scandinavian forms beginning
with - appeared f irst in northern
dialects, and moved slowly south.
50me parts of the svstem moved faster
than others: the nominative was usu-
ally the first form to be affected, fol-
lowed by the genitive.
ei arrived in
London during the 14th century, and
was used systematically by Chaucer,
a.tongside her(e) or hir(e) for the geni-
tlve, and hem for other
cases. During
the 1 5th century, their became the
norm, and by the
beginning of the
rblh century them
had followed it.
4 lIL)DL11 llN(l.lSH
vides a r-rseful perspective fur present-clay rguments
about English Llsage, as a number of the issues which
of are conclemnecl as 21st-century sloppiness are well in
evidence from the earliest times.
NEGATION
A noticeable feature of the Chroni-
cle extract (p. 33) is the contnuing
use of the Old English construction
involving'double' or'triple' nega-
tves. These need to be correctly
nterpreted: there should be no
temptation to'cancel out' their
meaning, using the mathematical
rule that 'two negatives make a posi
tive'. Despite the efforts of modern
prescriptivists (p. 366), this has never
been how the negation system has
worked in English. The principle
shown in the earliest English texts is
simple: extra negatve words
increase the emphasis, making the
negative meaning stronger. lt s not
clear just how emphatic the ne ele-
ment is in the Chronicle examples,
but the cumulative effect is not in
doubt.
ne hadden nan more to gyuen
(they) had no more to give
for nan ne ws o e land
for there was none in the land
During the Middle English period,
the situation simplified. The Old
English double negative (ne ... naht)
was much used in the early part of
the period, but by the end just one
form (nat or not) was marking nega-
tion, and ne was being dropped
before other negative words. This is
the stuaton later adopted in Stan-
dard English; but the emphatic prin-
ciple remained in nonstandard
varieties, and is stillwith us (p. 326).
No th-
Me dide cnotted strenges abuton here
hued...
Hi diden heom in quarterne
One placed knotted cords abouttheir
head...
They put them in a cell...
(1 2th century, Peterborough Chronicle)
Mixed th-
Eten and drounken and maden hem
glad. ..
Hoere paradis hy nomen here
And nou eylien in helle ifere...
[they] ate and drank and enjoyed
themselves
Their paradise they received here
And nowthey lie in hell together...
(1 3th-century poem)
MARKING THE INFINITIVE
ln Old English, the infinitive was
shown by an inf lectional ending
-(i)an (p.20). As this decayed, the par-
ticle to began to take over. Originally
a preposition, to developed a func-
tion as a purpose marker ('in order
to'), but then lost all its semantic
content, acti ng solely s a sign of the
infinitive. A construction using for to,
again with a purposive meaning,
developed in early Middle English,
but this also lost its semantic force,
ending up only as a useful metrical
alternative in poetry. Chaucer uses
both forms in The CanterburyTales:
Thanne longen folk to goon on pil-
grimages
And palmeres forto seken straunge
strondes...
As soon as to beginsto be used as
an infinitive marker, we find it sepa-
rated from its verb. As early as the
1 3th century, adverbs and pronouns
were inserted, asin for to him reade
'to advise him' (Laamon's Erut), and
quite lengthy constructions were at
times introduced, as in this example
from a 1 5th-century bishop, Regi-
nald Pecock:
for to freely and in no weye of his
owne dette or of eny oer mannys
dette to Seve and paie eny reward...
(The Reule of Crysten Religioun)
subjunctive in late Old English, and
Many such examples show that
inf initive-splitting is by no means an
unnatural process in English, as pre-
scriptivists argue, and certainly not a
modern phenomenon (p. 195).
Nominative th- established
And pilgrimes were fhey alle...
So hadde lspoken wth hem everichon
Ieveryone]
That I was of hirfelaweshipe anon
(late 14th century, The Canterbury
Tales)
All th- established
And alle other that be understanding
and fyndyng ony defaute, I requyre
and pray them of theyre charyte to cor-
recte and amende hit; and so doyng
theyshal deserve thanke and meryte of
God. . .
(late 15th century, William Caxton, Pro-
logue to Knight of the Tower)
45
FOUNDAIONS
The Hidde English period laid the
foundation for the later emergence
of severa I importa nt constructions.
Chief among these was the progres-
sive form (as in / am running), which
was used much more frequently
towards the end of the period. espe-
cially in northern texts. lts use then
increased dramatically in Early
Modern English.
The modern progressive requires
an auxiliary verb (a form of be), and
this function also emerged during
the period (p.225). For a while have
and be competed for the expression
of perfect aspect: in lhe Canterbury
Iales, for example, we f ind instances
of both ben entred ('are entered')
and han entred ('have entered'),
each in contexts expressing past
time. This situation was full of poten-
tial ambiguity, as be was also used in
passive constructions (p. 204). The
problem was resolved when haye
came to be used for perfective
aspect, and be for the passive and
progressive. At the same time, do
also developed its function as an
'empty' form n questons (does he
know?) and negation (l didn't go).
And the modalverbs (will, shall, may,
might, can, etc.) took on fresh func-
tions. Their meaning had already
begun to overlap with that of the
once verbs lost their endings, modals
were the only way in which such
meanings as possibility and necessity
could be expressed.
(After O. Fischer, 1992.)
 PART I.THE
46
MID DLE ENGLISH VOCABULARY
The vocabulary of the Peterborough Chronicle (p' 32) is
not rypical of the Middle English period as a whole'
Despite the fact that it was written almost a centul'y
after the Conquest, there is little sign of the French
vocabulary which was to be the distinctive characteris-
tic of the ra. The Chronicle vocabulary is still rypical
of,.vhat would have appeared in literary \est Saxon -
prdo-ir,"ntly Germnic, with an admixture of Latin
and Scandinavian (p.24). Several of its words have
since dropped from the language - for example' we no
longrr uie-pinr.s 'cruelties', o nt'lnen 'tooli ' And of the
*o, *hi.h are still found toda several have altered
meanings: wonder could mean 'atrocities' as well as
'marv.ls;, and flesh had the general sense of 'meat''
Such 'false friends' are always a problem in reading a
Middle English text because of their misleading simi-
larity to the modern words.
The French factor
French influence became increasingly evident in
English manuscripts of the 13th century (P' 31)' It has
beJr estimated that some 10,000 French words came
into English at that time - many previously borrowed
fro- -r. distant sources (such as alaliftom Arabic) '
These words were largely to do with the mechanisms
of law and administiation, but they also included
words from such fields as medicine, art, and fashion'
Many of the new words were quite ordinar everyday
,.r-r. Ou., 70 pet cent were nouns. A large number
were abstract tirms, constructed using such new
French affixes as cln-, trans', Pre-, -ttnce' 'tion, and
-rnent. Abov.three-quarters of all these French loans
arestill in the language todaY.
As new words rrived, there were many cases where
they duplicated words that had aheady existed in
n"gtirtt irom Anglo-Saxon times. In such cases' there
*.i'. ,*o o.rt.orn.r. Either one word would supplant
the othe; or both would co-exist, but develop slightly
different meanings. The first outcome was very
common, in most cases the French word replacing an
Old English equivalent; for example, leodgave wy to
people, *tltlgto beautiful' and stow (n') to.place'Hut
teds of Ol English words were lost in this way' But
at the same time;Old English and French words often
both survived with different senses or connotations'
such as d.oom(OE) andjudgment(F), hearty (OE) and
cord.il(F),and house (OE) and rnansion (F) (p' 124)'
Sometimes pairs of words were used, one glossing the
other: for riuthe ndfor pitieis a Chaucerian example,
and legal terminology often developed coordinations
of rhii kind (p. 374). Bilingual word lists were
compiled ."ily as the mid-l3th century to aid
",
inteliigibility beween English and French.
HISTORY OF ENGLISH
COURTLY
FRENCH LOANS
A miniature of c. 1400, showing Chaucer
reading his works aloud to a group of
noblesnd their ladies. The words from
French which would have been entering the
language during Chaucer's lifetime were
rather different in character from those
which arrived in the early Middle English
oeriod. The French of the Norman con-
Lr"ror, *., a northern dialect of the lan-
guage, and this dominated the English
lcene for 200 years (p. 30). By the 1 2th cen-
tury, however, Paris had come to be estab-
lished as the centre of influence in France,
and new loan words began to arrive from
the dialect of that area.
As the Parisian court grew in prestige, so
Parisian French became the prestige dialect'
It is this variety of French which in due
course would have been taught In quality
schools in England, with the earlier English-
prisun (1 121)
influenced varieties of French considered
uneducated and perhaps a bit of a joke (if
this is the correct interpretation of
Chaucer's remark about the Prioress, who
learned her French at the Benedictine nun-
nery in Stratford, Middlesex):
And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly
lgracefullYl,
After the scole fschooll of Stratford atte
Bowe,
For Frenssh of Parys was to hire unknowe
fher unknown).
4 MIDDLE ENGLISH 47
FRENCH INFLUENCE ON THE ENGLISH LEXICON SOME FRENCH LOANS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH
N a d o ! (o
o o o o o o o o o Administration
300
o o o o I o o ? o authority, bailiff, baron, chamberlain, chancellor, constable, coroner, council, court,
l
crown, duke, empire, exchequer, government, liberty, majesty, manor, mayor, messenger,
260 l ministei noble, palace, parliament, peasant, prince, realm, reign, revenue, royal, servant,
sir, sovereign, squire, statute, tax, trator, treason, treasurer, treaty, tyrant, vassal, warden
220 I
l l
I
I Law
accuse, adultery, advocate, arrest, arson. assault, assize, ttorney, bail, ba blame,
180 l
chattels, convict, crime, decree, depose, estate, evidence, executor, felon, fine, fraud, heir,
140 indictment, inquest, jail, judge, jury, justice, larceny, legacy, libel, pardon, perjury,
l
plaintiff, plea, prison, punishment, sue, summons, trespass, verdict, warrant
100
Religion
60 abbey, anoint, baptism, cardinal, cathedral, chant, chaplain, charity, clergy, communion,
confess, convent, creator, crucifix, divine, faith, friar, heresy, homily, immortality, incense,
l
20 mercy, miracle, novice, ordain, parson, penance, prayer, prelate, priory, religion, repent,
o . uo \
sacrament, sacrilege, saint, salvation, saviour, schism, sermon, solemn, temptaton,
88 theology, trnity, vicar, virgin, virtue
N
o
o o
o o
o o
o ooo
ooo o
o
@@
Military
This diagram shows the varying rate at which French ambush, archer, army, barbican, battle, besiege, captain, combat, defend, enemy,
words have come into English since late Anglo-Saxon
times, based on the entres in a historical dictionary
garrison, guard, hauberk, lance, lieutenant, moat, navy, peace portcullis, retreat,
sergeant, siege, soldie spy, vanquish
showing the date at which an item is first used in an
English text. The rate of French borrowing reaches a Food and drink
peak in the second half of the 14th century. appetite, bacon, beef, biscuit, clove, confection, cream, cruet, date, dinner, feast, fig, fruit,
Such global figures need to be taken cautiously, for fry, grape, gravy, gruel, herb, jelly, lemon, lettuce, mackerel, mince, mustard, mutton,
they hide several kinds of variation. ln the early Middle olive, orange, oyste pigeon, plate, pork, poultry, raisin, repast, roast, salad, salmon,
English period, for example, there was a greater inci- sardine, saucei sausage, sole, spice, stew sturgeon, sugar, supper, tart, taste, toast,
dence of French loan words in courtly poetry, they were
treacle, trpe, veal, venison, vinegar
more common in the south of the country, and they were
much more likely in works which were translations f rom Fashion
apparel, attire, boots, brooch, buckle, button, cape, chemise, cloak, collaL diamond, dress,
French. By the end of the period, howeve4 there is no
embroidery, emerald, ermine, fashion, frock, fur, garment, garter gown, jewel, lace,
doubting the extent to which they had permeated the
language. Using Chaucer as a yardstick, in the 858 lines mitten, ornament, pearl, petticoat, pleat, robe, satin, taffeta, tassel, train, veil, wardrobe
ofthe Prologue IoThe CanterburyTales,there are nearly Leisure and the arts
500 different French loans. art, beauty, carol, chess, colour, conversation, courser, dalliance, dance, falcon, fool,
harness, image, jollity, joust, juggler; kennel, lay, leisure, literature, lute, melody, minstrel,
music, noun, painting, palfrey, paper, parchment, park, partridge, pavilion, pen, pheasant,
poet, preface, prose, recreation, rein, retrieve, revel, rhyme, romance, sculpture, spaniel,
From a lexical point of view it is impor-
A TOUCH OF CLASSE stable, stallion, story, tabor, terrier, title, tournament, tragedy, trot, vellum, volume
tant to note these dialect differences, as Science and learning
otherwise it is not possible to explain cer- alkali, anatomy, arsenic, calendar, clause, copy, gende geometry, gout, grammar,
tain spelling variants. There are several jaundice, leper, logic, medicine, metal, noun, ointment, pain, physician, plague, pleurisy,
pairs of loa words affected (though not all poison, pulse, sphere, square, stomach, study, sulphur, surgeon, treatise
have survived in Modern English):
The home
Norman French Parisan French basin, blanket, bucket, ceiling, cellar, chai chamber, chandelier; chimney, closet, couch,
challenge (1300) counterpane, curtain, cushion, garret, joist, kennel, lamp, lantern, latch, lattice, pantry,
calange (1 225)
300) parlour, pillar, porch, quilt, scullery, towel, tower, turret
chanceleres
066) (1
canchelers (1
wile (1 154) guile (122s) General nouns
warrant (1225) guarantee (1 624) action, adventure, affection, age, air, city, coast, comfort, country, courage, courtesy,
warden (1225) guardian (1466) cruelty, debt, deceit, dozen, envy, error, face, fault, flower, forest, grief, honour, hour, joy,
labour, manner, marriage, mischief, mountain, noise, number, ocean, opinion, order, pair,
reward (1315) regard (1430) people, person, piece, point, poverty, powe quality, rage, reason, river, scandal, season,
conveie (1 375) convoy (1425) sign, sound. spirit, substance, task, tavern, unity, vision
lealte (1 300) loialte (1400)
General adjectives
prison (1 225) active, amorous, blue, brown, calm, certain, clear, common, cruel, curious, eager, easy,
jail (1209) final, foreign, gay, gentle, honest, horrible, large, mean, natural, nice, original, perfect,
gaol (1 1 63) Almost allthe English words to do with the arstocracy
and ther servants are of French origin (though the poo precious, probable, real, rude, safe, scarce, scarlet, second, simple, single, solid,
The central French spellings post-date the meaning of these words in medieval times was often special, strange, sudden, sure, usual
Norman ones. The situation is not always
rather dfferent from
clear, partly because of the uncertainties of what it is today). The chief exam- General verbs
ples are baron,
rngtish spttlng practices at the 11s (p 40); cnloness, marquis,
count(ess), courtier, duchess, duke, mar- advise, allow, arrange, carry, change, close, continue, cry, deceive, delay, enjoy, ente
bui there is enough evidence to show that noble, page, peer, prince, princess,
5gu,re, and viscount(ess). form, grant, inform, join, marry, move, obey, pass, pay, please, prefe prove, push, quit,
there were two distinct stages of borrowing Kng, queen, tord, tady, knight, receive, refuse, remember, reply, satisfy, save, serve, suppose, travel, trip, wait, waste
from French in early Middle English.
or u ear/ are
the Ang lo-Saxon exceptions.
Similarlv, the nalies of Turns of phrase
(After D. BurnleY, 1992.) -.
t^Y1t
allthe best-known precious
French: amethys t, diamond, emerld, garnet, by heart, come to a head, do homage, do justice to, have mercy on, hold one's peace,
Pearl, "tS
ruby, sapphire, topaz, turquoise. make complaint, on the point of, take leave, take pity on
 PART I.THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 4. }lIDDLE E,NGLISH 49
48

The role of Latin SOME LATIN LOANS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

French is the most dominant influence on the growth
of Middle English vocabulary (p.46), but it is by no
means the on one. During the 14th and 15th cen-
turies several thousand words came into the language
Administration and law
alias, arbitrator, client, conspiracy,
conviction, custody, gratis, homicide,
implement, incumbent, legal, legitimate,
Religion
collect, diocese, immortal, incarnate,
inf inite, limbo, magnif icat, mediator,
memento, missal, pulpit, requiem, rosary
LEXICAL IMPRESSIONS
One way of developing
a Loan words were by no means
sense of the extensiveness of
foreign borrowing during
Middle English is to take a text
and identify the loan words -
The Canterbury Tales
(from the Prologue o'f The Prioress'sTale)
O mooder Mayde! o mayde Mooderfree!
O bussh unbrent brennynge in Moyses sighte,
Ihat ravyshedest doun fro the Deitee
Thurgh thyn humblesse the Goost that n
NEWWORD FORMATION
the only way in which the vocab-
ulary of Middle English
increased. The processes of word
uncover, unknowable,
withdraw, and wizard. By no
means al I of the new formations
were to stay in the language: for
example, a different suffix even-
tual ly replaced severa I words

directly from Latin (though it is often difficult to memorandum, pauper, prosecute, proviso, scrpture, tract th'alighte, formation which were already ending in -sh (such as boldsh,
using the Oxford English Dic- established in Old English con-
summary, suppress, testify, testi mony Of whos verfu, whan he thyn herte lighte cleanship, and kindshlp), and
e*clud. an arrival route via French). Most of these General
admit, adjacent, collision, combine,
tionary or a more specialized
Conceyved was the Fadres sapience,
tinued to be used, and were severalof the itemswhich began
Science and learning etymologicalwork (p. 136). lf
words were professional or technical terms, belonging abacus, allegory, comet, contradiction, conclude, conductor, contempt, depression, this were done for the early
Help me to telle it in thy reverence! extended in various ways. life using wih- were eventually
replaced, such as withsay
to such field as religion' medicine, law, and literature' desk, diaphragm, discuss, dislocate, distract, exclude. expedition, gesture, Middle English Peterborough Lady, thy bountee, Ihy magnificence, Compounding
(re n o n ce), wi thspe k (co ntra-
imaginary, include, incredible, individual,
u
The poetic compounds of Old
a
T[ey also included many words which were borrowed equator, essence, etcetera, explicit, formal, Chronicle exfract (p.33), very Thy vertu,'and thy grete humylitee, dlct), and withsef (resrst).
genius, history, index, inferior, infancy, nterest, nterrupt, lucrative, fewsuchwordswould be Ther may no tonge expresse in no sclence; English (p. 23) declined dramati-
by'a *riter in a deliberate ttempt to produce a 'high' innumerable, intellect, item, library, lunatic, moderate, necessary, nervous, identified. The only items For somtyme, Lady, er men praye to thee, cally atthe beginning ofthe
A sense of the range of words
which came into the language
siyle. Only a very small number of these 'aureate terms' lgament, magnify, major. mechanical, ornate, picture, popula private, quiet, which have no antecedents in Thou goost biforn of thy benyn gnyteet Middle English period. There are
through prefixation can be seen
reject, solitary spacious, subjugate, over a thousand compounds in
entered the language, however (e.g. medi'tation, orien' minor, neute[ notary, prosody, recipe, Old English are Scandinavian And getest us the lyght, of thy preyere, in the following selection of dls-
scribe, simile, solar, tincture substitute, temperate, tolerance, ulcer hrnes (1. 2), drape n (1. 4), and 1o gyden us unto thy Sone so deere. Beowulf, but La3amon's 8rut,
tal, prolixity). The vast majority died almost as soon as rachenteg es (1. 9), and Latin also an alliterative poem (p.36),
items found in Chaucer (only one
meaning is given in each case).
th.y*.t. born (e.g. abusion, semPitern' tenebrous)' crucefhus (1. 5).
My konnyng isso wayk, o blisful Queene,
For to dec/are thy grete worthynesse
and ten times as long, has only
The list also illustrates some of
he simultaneous borrowing of French and Latin By contrast, the following
That I ne may the weighte nat susteene;
around 800. Nonetheless, some
types of compounding did con-
the suffixes typical of the time.
extracts, both taken from late
words led to a highly distinctive feature of Modern THE WYCLIFFITE BIBLE Middle English texts, and con-
But as a child of twelf month oold, or lesse, tinue to produce new words:
That kan unnethes any word expresse, disavauncen set back
English vocabulary - sets of three items all expressing taining similar subject matter, noun examples include bagpipe,
d saventu re misadventure
The authorship of the Bible translation directly imported, or known through Right so fare l, and therfore I yow preye,
th.,o. fundamental notion but differing slightly in attributed to John Wycliff (d. 1384) is French, and these items are in italics below'
show the major impact of bor-
Gydefh my song that I shal of yow seye.
b i rth d ay, bl a ck be rry, crafts m a n,
gra ndfathe r, hi ghway, and
disblamen exonerate
rowing (all loans are itali-
meaning or style, such as hing I royal I regaland rise I uncertain. Because of the unorthodox cized). school maste r. New compounds
disceyven deceive
And it was don, in tho daies: a maunde- From a poem by William Dunbar (p.53) d ischevele dishevelled
mount lascend (p.I24). The Old English word is usu- nature of Wycliff's opinions, the early
. in -erwere especially frequent in
drsclaunderen slander
manuscripts of his writings were widely rnent went out f ro the emperrour august: Scandinavian loans include the 14th century: bricklayer,
ally the more popular one, with the French word more that althe world schulde be drscryuedlthis get,wayk, haile, sterne, ball,
Empryce of prys, imperatrice, discomfit discomfited
destroyed. Also, his followers included B richt polrst precious stane; housekeepe r, mo neymaker,
d isconf itu re discomf iture
literar and the Latin word more learned. several scholars who helped him carry out lirsTdiscryvynge wa3 made of siryn iustice birth, and fro. Victrice o't vyce, hie genifrice soothsayer. Compounds of the
the task of translation. But there is no of sirie / and alle men wenten to make pro- . Words directlyfrom French Of Jhesu lord soverayne; type heJamb date from c. 1 300.
disconfort discomfort
for the work fessioun eche in to his owne ctee / loseph include empryce, riall, spyce, dsconforten discourage
doubt that the inspiration Our wys pavys fro enemys Adjective examples from the
Other sources came from WYcliff himself, who was wente up fro galile, fro the cltee nazareth, cristall, soverayne, and flour. period include /ukewarm, moth-
discorden disagree
Agane the Feyndis frayne;
The effects of the Scandinavian invasions also made particularly concerned that lay people in to iudee, in to a cite of davith that is . Words from Latin via French O ratr ce, m ed i atri ce, sa lvatri ce, eaten, new-born, and red-hot.
discoveren uncover
bethleem, for that he was of the discuren discover
themselves felt during this period. Although the chief their
should be able to read the Bible in clepid include sapience, reve rence, To God gret suffragane; Phrasal verbs (p.212) also
hous and of the meynee of davith, that he magnifice nce, science, and disdeinous disdainful
own language. The first translation, using Ave Maria, gracia plena: increased in frequency, some-
period of borrowing must have been much earlier, rel- the Latin version of St Jerome, was made schulde knowleche with marie, his wiif that suffragane. times coexisting with an earlier
disencresen decrease
H a i I e, sterne, meri d i ane;
tively few Scandinavian loans appear in Old English, between 1380 and 1384. was weddid to hYm, and was greet with
The second passage has a Spyce, flour delice of paradys prefixed form, as in the case of
dlsese discomfort
child / ... ye schuln fynde a yunge child drsesen trouble
-ort do not come to be used in manuscripts until Wycliff's method was to rely greatly on
large number of distinctively That baire the gloryus grayne. go ouf (alongside outgo) and fall
"nd glossing the Latin text, seeking where possi- wlappid in clothis: and leide in a cracche I by (alongside bifal Ien).
drsesperafe desperate
well into the 13th century' and then mainly in north- ble to preserve the original style. As a con- and sudeynli there was made with the
Latin words - an example of Im pe ri a I I w all, pl ace palestral I disfigurat disguised
the'aureate diction' con- Affixation
ern areas where Danish settlement was heaviest' A list sequence, there are over a thousand Latin aungel a multitude of heuenli knyghthod:
sciously employed by several
Ot peirles pulcritud; disgysen disguise
first heriynge god and seiynge / g/orie be in the Tryumphale hall, hie trone regall only a few of the old English d isho nest dishonourable
is given in the section on Old English p.2). words whose use in English is recorded
authors in the late Middle Of Godis ce/slfud prefixes (p.22) continued into nt disobedient
"S.u.."l extract shows highist thingis to god: and in erthe pees be d isobeysa u
other languages also supplied a sprinkling of
in hs translation. Almost any English period and beyond
tohen of good wille' (From Luke 2.1-14.) Hospitall riall, the lord of all Middle English, but the system d isplesa nce displeasure
u
the influence of Latin vocabulary, ether (p.61). These include lmpera- d isplesa u nt displeasing
new words at this time, though not all survived' Con- trice, med i atrce, salvatri ce,
Thyc/osetdid include; was supplemented by several
Bricht bal/ crista Il, ros virginall new items from French and d isposiciou n disposition
tact with the Low Countries brought poll ('head'), The burning of John Wycliff's bones, 41 years after his death virginall. pulcritud, and celsi- Fulf i llit of angel/ f ude. Latin, and the range of suffixes d isrewle Iy irregularly
doten (be foolish ), ('drink
bouse deeply'), and sipper tud. Ave Maria, gracia plena: also increased (p. 46). New words d isseve ra u nce separation
(After D. Burnley, 1992.) Thy birth has with his blude formed include authoress, conse- d isso I uci ou n dissoluteness
('shipt master'), resulting from commercial and mar-
Fra lall mortall originall crati on, d uckl i ng, forgetfu I, distemperaunce inclemency
itim links with the Dutch' Other loans included cor Us raunsound on the rude. g reenish, ma n hood, napki n,
(Spanish), marmalade (Portuguese)' sable (Russian),
to)gh (bish), and many words from Arabic' especially
to o with the sciences (safron, admiral, mattres, lge- THE FAMOUS WORD PAIRS
bra, lali, zenith).In most cases' the words arrived No account of Middle There are many other
after they had travelled through other countries (and i
English vocabulary would be examples:
complete without a refer-
languages), often entering English viaIrench..A good ence to the famous culinary
begin commence
r infant
.*pl. is the vocabulary of chess (c/es roo, chec, o lexical pairs (often
child
doom judgment
matei,whichcame directly from French, but which is attrbuted to Sir Walter
freedom liberty
scott) which resulted from
ultimately Persian. ' happiness felicity
the influx of Romance
J
The effect of all this borrowing on the balance of
hearty cordial
E words.
help aid
words in the English lexicon was dramatic. In early '8
hide conceal
Old Engtish French
Middle English, over 90 per cent of words (lexical OX
holy saintly
origin. By the end beef love charity
rypes, p. 125) wereof native English sheep mutton meal repast
th. Middle English period this proportion had calf veal
"f
fallen to around 75 per cent.
deer venison
stench
wedding
aroma
marriage
ig, swine pork wish desire
50 PART I. THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 4'MIDDLE ENGLISH 5l

an author is not particularly consistent - as would be 5Y5TEM OR ERROR?

MIDDLE ENGLISH DIALE,CTS
The main dialect divisions traditionally recognized in
Middle English broadly correspond to those found in
Old English (p.28), but scholars have given different
likely to happen in a period when sounds and spellings
DIALECT REALITIES
Betidde a time in litel quile
The true complexity of the Middle English dialect situation was demonstrated
were changing so rapidly (p.32) and texts were being Iacob went walcande bi e Ile
in the 1980s by the atlas material of the Middle English Dialect Survey, based at
copied repeatedly. Sometimes, most of the forms the University of Edinburgh. The approach assumes that scribes were consis- He sagh apon e wateres reme
reflect one dialect, and there is a scattering of forms tent in their methods of spelling, and that it is possible to examine ortho- Chaf fletande come wi e
graphic variants to determine the dialect origins of a manuscript, quite
from another - suggesting that the person who was stfeme
) ndependently of the sou nds which the letters are thoug ht to convey. The
copying the manuscript came from a different part of
i

names to some of the dialects, and there has been one (

. kyrk Survey plotted the distribution of the variants on maps, such as this one Ofat siSt wex he fulle blie
important development. Kentish remains the same, but the country from the original author. And analysts kyrke . kyrk which gives over 500 instances of church and kirk from the first half of the And rille his sones talde hir
tVest Saxon is now referred 1 5th century. lt shows clearly that kirk is northern and church is south-
rc as Southern, and need always to be watchful for the possibility that a kirk kyrk ern; but it also shows what is often ignored, that krTk was being used
squye

Northurnblia n as Northern The Mercian dialect alea form in a manuscript never had any linguistic existence (krke) kyrk,
much further south than the traditional boundary suggests. It came to pass after a short
kirke 'kyrke
at all - in other words, the copyist made a mistake. while
has''iplit in two: there is now an eastern dialea. (East krke
krk
Moreover, there are some forms (such as cherche) which cut
Jacob went walking by the Nile
kirk . ki.ke across the dialect boundaries, and interesting 'pockets'
Midland) and a western one (West M idland). And rhe
o

. krk lel of usage where a particular spelling is popular. He saw upon the water's realm
East Anglian region is sonetimes separately distin- The traditionally recognized . kirke
((kirk))
Because some manuscripts (such as wills and char- Chaff come floating with the
traditional picture; but the dialects of Middle English. The ((krke)) kyrke,
ters) are definitely known to come from a certain stream
gLrished. The rnap shows the kirke
importance of the East Midlands . kYrk . kyrk . kyrke place, it is possible to use the norms seen in such That sight made hm very glad
result ofa great deal ofmodern research (as illustrated 'triangle' for the development material as a yardstick against which texts of And he quicklytold his sons
opposite) has demonstrated that there is an enormous of modern Standard English is unknown provenance can be assessed. With about t
. kirk lel
o ,1 discussed on p.54.
kirk
enough 'anchor' points, it is often possible to f it
amount of oversimplification in such displays.
'\hat
evidence is there for clialect difference? The
H
kirk. kyrk
kyrk '[f'l'. *n." an unlocalized text into the pattern displayed
This extract from the late 1 3th-
century biblical poem, Cursor
6 ,1
N
krke . kyrk kyrk
kyke by a localized one. lt is important, in such an Mundi('fromthe Fairfax text in
evidence lies in the distinctive words, grammar, and
krk3
N A . kyrke approach, to make the timespan of the
kirke kyrk the Bodleian Library, Oxford),
spellings found in the manuscripts. The way verb end-
kyrke enquiry as narrow as possible, otherwise illustrates one ofthe historical
krk
ky.k r kyrk
variation due to historical change is likely dialectologist's problems. Fea-
ings change is one of the main diagnostic features: n kvrk.
. chirch kyrke
krk kyrk.
o kyrk [e]
. krke to interfere. tures such as quile (for'while'),
. Tbe -ing participle ending (as in Modern English
krk' <hrche,
. krk (kyrke) Dialect complexity of this order is only wa lcande ('wal ki ng'), and
o
chr(h
krk kirke to be expected. Modern dialect surveys talde (told') indicate that the
nrnning) ppears as -nd(e) in Northern; as -end(e)in 42 kyrke kirke ' kyrk . [ll'' .hirrhe.
show it (S20), and there is no reason
. krke text s Northern; and this is con-
parts of the East Midlands; as -ind(e) in parts of the .rhir.he kyrk forthe dialects of Middle English to
{
(hyr(he
f irmed by the same features
rVest Midlands; and as -ingelsewhere. EAST chr(he
'
kyrk.kyrk.ll[)
(((hirche)).
be any different. appearing elsewhere in the
. The -th ending (as in goeth) appears as -. in North- 7 ANGLIA [e]' . kirke
(After A. M. Mclntosh, M. L. 5amuels, text. The a for o, for example, is
[fiflf'""'
chur<he krk

ern and throughout most of the north Midland area - 7.

o (hrche
& M. Benskin,
1986.)
found in haly, fra, ga, Iange,
hame, name, and many other
a form which ultimately becornes standard.
A (hyr<h
kyrke- ,- .- words; and a corresponding set
v, ./; rher.he
. The verb ending used in the present tense with
chrche
((/' chirch. .(krke)-kirk of o spellings appears in a Mid-
((krk))
land version of the text (such as
plural forms such as weand theyalso varies: it is -sin ..hyrche
dhyrche
.(hrche the one held atTrinity College,
Northern and the northern parts of the East Midlands; KENTIS
Cambridge).
But in one line, we find this:
-eth in Southern, Kentish, and the southern parts of N
I R .chyr(h
the \est Midlands; and -en elsewhere. (None of these
\)
I \\ chrche
chrche ln goddes name and so we salle

endings has survivecl in Modern English.) o 5o, with the same long vowel
5 as the otherwords, ought to
There were several other reliable indicators, apart (hrche. appear with an a, perhaps as
from verbs: chirche. swa. Why doesn't it? There are
FOXED only two explanations. Either
. They their, ad tltemare found in Northern and the . chirche so is an exception to the rule,
Sometimes, sounds from .(hrche
or it is a scribal error. lf the
'Vest Midlands, but they appear as his, here, and hem different dialects have sur- former, we mustfind a reason -
in the south - at least until towards the end of the vived in alternative forms . (hr(he something in the adjacent
Micldle English period p.45). of a word in Modern sounds which might plausibly
. Shall, should, and a few other words appear without English. Foxhasanlfl,
ref lecting its Northern/
have caused the change to o, in
just this case. There seems to be
an hin Northern and Kentish (as sal, etc.), but keep it Midlands origi ns. Vi xen chyrch. no such reason. Rather more
frl
elsewhere. has a lvl,reflecting its ori- likely is the second explana-
. There are several distinctive uses of individual gins as a Southern word. ln
origin a feminine form of
tion. The scribe could have
been copying out this text from
vowels and consonants, Stanein the north corresponds fox (compare German <hrche -chyrche a southern one in which the o
o stoneitt the south;/rin the north Midlands to or F chsi n),'t orms in f i xe n (e) vowel was used throughout,
are recorded from the and'translating' the spellings
in the south; lirlein the north rc church in the south;
early 1 5th century, both into the northern dialect of his
and so on. But in each case, we must remember, what for the animal and (later) readers as he went along; but
we mean by 'north' and 'south' differs: there is no for its sense of a 'quarrel- at this point he made a slip.
some woman', and can be Support for this view would
single, neat divicling line. found until the early 1 7th Church come from other slips of a simi-
There are of course many manuscripts where it is century. The v- forms then
I
kirk ares lar kind - and indeed, we find
not easy to determine the dialect. Sometimes the become standard, but it is 0t060 km
S
the same scribe writing west-
not known why this pref- l_____f____- chirchareas
ern con for eastern can a few
spellings of a text seems to reflect a mixture of dialects, erence prevailed.
20 40 mlet (hurch reat
lines earlier.
perhaps because an author (or scribe) lived in a bound- f,hercharear (After C. Jones, 1972.)
ary area, or had moved about the country. Quite often,
52 PAI'I'I
MIDDLE SCOTS
Students of the Midclle English period have tradition-
ally focused on the dialect situation in England, and
especially on those areas in which the standard lan-
guage ws later to develop (p.5.This has led to a
neglect of what was taking place in Scotland at the
time, where the language was being inflr"renced by a
different set of factols, ancl developing its own distinc-
ti{e chalacter.
From the oLltset, the legion had its own linguistic
histoly. After the 5th-century invasions, what is now
the nolth-east ofEngland ancl the sourh-easr ofScot-
land came to be occupiecl by the Angles, which led to
the emergence of the Northumbrian dialect of Olcl
English (p. 28). During the Anglo-Saxon peliod, most
of Scotland was Celtic-speaking (chiefly the variety
known as Gaelic), but the number of English speakers
in the southern part ofthe counrry increasecl gready in
the 1lth century, following the Norman Conquest.
Many English noblemen became refugees ancl flecl
north, where they were welcomed by the Scots King
Malcolm Canmore (reigned 1058-93). Dr-rring dre
12th centur the movement north continued, with
southern families being invited ro serrle in the area by
King David I (reignecl 1124-53) - notably in the new
charteled royal estates known as burhs (such as
Aberdeen ancl Edinburgh). These places were largely
English-speaking, and gradLrally English spread
through the whole lowlancls area, with Gaelic remain-
ing beyond the Highland line. The English calendar
replaced the Celtic one, and the Anglo-Norman feudal
system replaced traditional parrerns of land holding.
Eventuall French became the language of the Scot-
tislr court. In 1295 there was a formal treaty between
Scotland and France, renewed several times in the fol-
lowing 200 yeals. As in England, Latin was usecl for
administration and in the Chr-rrch (p.30).
This Scots English became increasingly different
from the English used in England, especially in plo-
nunciation and vocabular and many of these differ-
ences are still found today (p.328).
. In pronunciation, there was the use of ch in the
middle of such words as nicht ('nighr'). A distinction
was made berween the first sound of witch and which.
The vowel in such worcls as guid ('good') tended to be
longer and produced further forward in the mouth
than it was n southern English. A distinctive spelling
clifference is the use of quh- where sourhem English
wrote ruh- (quhan, quhile, etc.),
There were some clistinctive grammatical features,
such as the past tense ending -it (ulantit for wanted),
forms for expressing negarion (nae, nocht, -na), and
ttne as the inclefnite arricle (for a / n).
TI-IE IIIS'I'OIY OF ENGLISH
A number of loan worcls arrived which did nor enrer Rise and fall
the language further south (for those that did, see
Bythe end of the 13th century, the English of Scotland
p.47). Examples from French inclucle bonny ('beauti- .,i.1 ,hm of England had rnarl<edly cliverged. A maior'
ful, handsome'),fash ('to bother'), and shet(aserving social factor had been the split between the nations
which followed Edward I of England's attempt at
dish). Cllan ('Iad'), mutchin ('quarrer pint'), and
cowh ('retch') were among those which arrived from allnexatioll, and the subsequent long period of con-
Dutch, with whom Scottish merchanrs rraded. \ords flicr. Frorn 1424, the Scottish Parliament wrote its
from Gaelic included clachrtn ('harnlei), ingle ('heanh srrutes in English. By the late Middle Ages, Middle
fire'), ancl strath ('wide valley'). Several legal and Scots had evolved as far from Old English as had the
administrative terms came in from Latin, such as Miclclle English of England, and in a different direc-
dorninie ('schoolmaste r') and figie ('rr.rnaway'). iiu,.,. L is Jten said that the two ,rari.iies were as far
aparr as, sa Danish and Swedish are today - largely
THE LANGUAGE OF GOLF rn,rrually intelligible, but capable of supporring
narional identities. As a result, some writers on the
The Scottish origins of golf are there in the vocabulary. Golf itself is recorded in Scots
English from the late 1 5th century, and various spellings suggest a pronunciation without peLiod refer to the two varieties as distinct 'languages'
an/l/, including gouff,goiff,goff,andgowff.The originsof thewordareobscure. ltis - ucl continue to do so when discussing moclern
commonly thought to be a Dutch loan word, from colf the name of a stick or club used in Scots. The term 'Scottis' (as opposed to the pleviously
various striking games of the time, but there is no def inite evidence.
Other golf-related terms which first appear in Scots English are caddie (from French usecl 'lnglis') comes to be used in the late 15th century.
The period as a whole (Older Scots) tends to be divided
cadet, 'cadet') and /inks (a development of an Old English word meaning 'rising ground').
These words have joined sco net croon, croup, and several others to give Modern English its inro Ear Scots (1100-1450) and Middle Scots
Middle Scots lexical legacy (p.329).
(1450-1700).
Frorn the end of the 14th century to the beginning
of the 17th, there was a flowering of literature in Scots
- r peliod which reached its peak in the poetry of the
I5tlr-century mlears ('makers'), such as Robert Hen-
lyson,'William Dunbar, and Gavin Douglas. Southern
Lnglish litelature exercised consiclerable influence,
cspecially the poetry ofChaucer, to such an extent tht
this group is often called the 'Scottish Chaucerians'.
Scots also increasingly replaced Latin as an adminis-
trative language, and came to be widely used in ser-
rnons, diaries, letters, and other private and public
literature. By the end of the century it had effectively
The golf course at 5t Andrews, Scotland established itselfas a regional standarcl.
This course of development altered during the 16th
cclltury, as Scots fell progressively under the influence
THE BRUCE Actes and Lfe of the most Victorious Con- ofthe strongly emerging Standard English ofthe south.
queror, Robert Bruce King of Scotland'. lt
Southern words and spellings became increasingly evi-
was completed in 1376, taking up 20 books,
and is preserved in manuscrpts of a century in Scottish writing, and printers began to anglicize
tle r.rt
later. rnaterial presented to them in Scots. The main factor
This extract is from the siege of Berwick
(1 31 9).
was the uniting of the crowns of Scotland and England
in i603, and the move to London ofJames VI and the
Thar mycht men se a felloune sicht: Scotdsh court - a move which led in due course to the
With staffing, stoking, and striking acloption among the upper classes of
Thar maid thai sturdy defending,
southern English norms ofspeech. As
For with gret strynth of men the et
Thai defendit, and stude tharat, James I of England, the new king
Magr thair fais, quhill the nycht ordered that the Authorized Version
Gertthame on bath halfis leif theficht.
ofthe Bible (p.64) be used in Scotland,
There might men see a grim sight:
thus spreacling further the influence of
With hitting [with staffs], stabbing, and tllc sourheln srandald as a pl'estige
The earliest surviving work to be written
striking fbrm. There is very little sign of a dis-
entirely in Scots English after the Conquest There they made an obstnate defence tinctive variety of Scots in published
is a historical poem by John Barbour For with a great force of men the gate
material at the end of the 17th century.
(1325?-95), archdeacon of Aberdeen. lt was They defended, and stood there,
a Scottish nationalepic, a mixture of In spite of their foes, until the night However, Scots English was not fated to
romance and chronicle, dealing with 'The Caused them on both sides to stop fighting. become exrincr: its later history is
leviewed on pp. 328-33.
4. }lIDDLF, F,N(LISFI
THE MAKARS
The leading poets of Scotland from c.1425
to c. 1 550 are usually grouped together as
the 'Scottish Chaucerians', because of the
way they were inf luenced by the themes
and verse style of Chaucer (p. 38). ln fact,
their poetry shows a mixture of influences,
ranging from a courtly 'aureate' style, full
of Latinate diction, to forceful abuse (flyt-
ing) in Scots vernacular. The Trets of the
Twa Mariit Wemen and the Wedo - a con-
versation between two married women
and a widow - illustrates something of ths
range. The poem is by William Dunbar
(c. 1460-c. 1520), who was employed at the
Scottish court. lt parodies the high style of
the literary pastoral, and juxtaposes earthy
comments in colloquial Scots, as the women
talk about their husbands.
I saw thre gay ladeis sit in ane grein arbeir
larbourl
All grathit [decked] into garlandis of f reshe
gudlie flouris;
AN EFFORT'TO REFORM AN ERROUR'
The Scots were well aware of what was
happening to their language, as is clear
from this story, told by Alexander Hume in
his Orthographie and Congruitie of the
Britan Tongue, wrtten c. 1617, and
intended for use in Scottish schools. He is
defending the Scots spelling quh-for wh-
against some unsympathetic English col-
leagues. Despite the quh- spellings put into
the mouths of the Engl ish, the passage is
full of southernisms, such as Iaughed
(which has no ch, and uses the -ed inflec-
tion) and a or an (instead of ane). lt shows
how much influence southern English had
exercised on Scots by this time - even on a
staunch defender.
...to reform an errour bred in the south,
and now usurped be our ignorant print-
eres, lwiltel quhat befel my-self quhen I
was in the south with a special gud frende
of myne. Ther rease [rose], upon sum acci-
dent, quhither lwhetherl quho, quhen,
quhat, etc., sould be symbolized with q or
W a hoat [hot] disputation betuene him
and me. After manie conflictes (for we oft
A NEW NATION
ln 1604 James made a
speech to his first Parlia-
ment, in which he
declared his intentions to
rule a single nation:
I the Husband and
am
the whole lsle is my law-
fullWife; lam the Head
and it is my Body; lam
the Shepherd and it is
my flocke; I hope there-
fore no man will be so
53
5o glitterit asthe gold werthair glorius gilt
tressis,
Quhill Ithile] allthe gressis [grass] did
gleme of the glaid hewis;
Kemmit lcombedl was thair cleir hair, and
curiouslie shed
Attour thair shulderis doun shyre [c/ear],
shyning full bricht...
I have ane walliraglslovenl, ane worme,
ane auld wobat [caterpillarl carle
Awaistit wolroun [boar], na worth but
wordis to clatter;
Ane bumbart ldriveller), ane dron bee, ane
bag full of flewme,
Ane skabbit ska rh lscurvy cormorantl, ane
scorpioun, ane scutarde behind;
To see him scrt [scratclr] his awin skyn grit
scunner [drsgust] I think.
The meaning of all the words in this pas-
sage is not entirely clear - but their sound
leaves no doubt about their intent. The /sk-/
sequence is particularly notable (p.251).
encountered), we met be chance, in the
citie of baeth [Bath], with a doctour of
divinitie of both our acquentance. He
invited us to denner. At table my antago-
nist, to bring the question on foot amangs
his awn condisciples, began that lwas
becum an heretik, and the doctour spering
laskingl how ansuered that I denyed quho
to be spelled with a w but with qu. Be
quhat reason? quod the Doctour. Here, I
beginning to lay my grundes of labial,
dental, and guttural soundes and symboles,
he snapped me on this hand and he on
that, that the doctour had mikle a doe to
win me room for a syllogisme. Then (said l)
a labial letter can not symboliz a guttural
syllab [syl/able]. But w is a labial lette quho
a guttural sound. And therfoer w can not
symboliz quho, nor noe syllab of that
nature. Here the doctour staying them
again (for al barked at ones), the proposi-
tion, said he, I understand; the assumption
is Scottish, and the conclusion false.
Quherat al laughed, as if I had bene dryven
from al replye, and I fretted to see a
frivolouse jest goe for a solid ansuer.
unreasonable as to think that I that am a
Christian King under the Gospel should be a
polygamist and husband to two wives; that
I
being the Head should have a divided and
monstrous Body.
ln such circumstances, two wrtten stan-
dards could not possibly co-exist. What is
remarkable s that Scots was able to survive
the court's move to London, the Union of
Parliaments a century later (1 707), a nd a
great deal of later ridicule levelled at those
who continued to use'Scottcisms', to sur-
face again in the 20th century.
 54 PAIT I.-IHE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 4. MIDDLE ENGLISH 55

Tr.cvisa, translating Higden's Pochronicon(p.35) in

THE ORIGINS OF STANDARD ENIGLISH c.1387, identifies its function as a communication THE GREATVOWEL the f irst main stage in th is happening atthe front and
SHIFT development which is usu- the back ofthe mouth. A
'bridge' between north nd south: al ly referred to as the 'shift'. great deal of evidence has
The variety which we now call Standard English centre ofthe counrry. In particular the influence ofthe Why does the sound system been used to support this
fer.r.nen of e est wi men ofe west, it were vndir e sarne
as
(p. 1 10) is the result of
combination of influences, the
a administrative offices of the London Chancery $.a used in Chaucer's time (p.38) Push-me, pull-you interpretaton, in the form
prrtic of heuene, acorde more in sownynge of specl-re [plo- seem so different from that The traditional view is that of the order in which new
most important of which do nor emerge until the was important, especially afrcr c.1430. Vasr amounrs rnen of nor wi men ofe sou; erfore found in Shakespeare's the series of changes was
,iunciation] an e spellings appeared (such as
Middle English period. There is no direct connecrion of manr"rscript copying took place within the London it is at Mercii fMercians], at bee rnen of myddel (p.25)? Why is Chaucer so connected, a move in one of ei forli:/), the use of new
benveen \(/esr Saxon, the written standard of Old area, and standards of practice emerged among rhe Engelond, as it were Prteners of e endes, vnclerstonde
much more diff icult to read the vowels causing a move rhymes, and the descrip-
than Caxton, less than a cen- in another, and so on tions of contemporary writ-
English (p. 28), and the modern standard. The polirical Chancely scribes. These practices inreracred with bcttre c sicle langages, norerne and soueme, an tury later? The answer to throughout the system, ers.
heart of the country moved from linchesrer ro those used by other groups ofLondon scriveners, and norerne and souerne vnderstor-rde eier oer. both these questions lies in a with each vowel 'keeping its lnthe 1 980s, as more tex-
Indon after the Conquest, ancl the major linguistic spelling slowly became increasingly standardized, major change in pronuncia- distance' f rom its neigh- tual evidence and dialect
By way of social considerations, we have evidence of tion which took place at the bour. However, there is a survey material became
trends during Middle English increasingly relate to the eventually affecting all kinds of material, including lit- population shift in the 14th century. In the
a marked very end of the Middle long-standing dispute over available, the simplicity of
development of the capital as a social, political, and erary texts. The directions of influence were multiple
DIALECT ROUTES earlier part of that century, immigration to the English period. Chaucer which vowel moved first. this explanation was called
commercial centre. A written standard English began and complex, and are still not entirely understood. But I-ondon are was highest fi'om the East Midlands
probably heard it begin- . ln oneview, the/i:/vowel nto question. Some scholars
A ning, but it did not take now doubt the connected-
to emerge during the l5th cenrury and its rise has when Caxton set up his press in \estminster (p.56), map of 14th-century
coultties of Nofolk, Essex, and Hertfordshire, but it proper effect until the early
was the first to change
ofthe changes, either
roads, based on an original (becoming a diphthong), ness
traditionally been explained with reference ro rhe and chose local London speech as his norm, the lasting by Richard Gough, showing later increased dramatically from such Central Mid- decades of the 1 5th century.
which left a 'space' into in whole or in part. Some
following factors (after M. L. Samuels, 1963, and the influence of his scrivening neighbours was assured. the most important routes in Northamptonshire,
lar.rcls cor-rnties as Leicestershire,
Because of the way the
which the next vowel came, think that there were two
and out of London - notably, vowel system ofthe lan- 'pulling' other vowels separate chain-like move-
further context plovided by L. \right, 2000). These observations add up to the claim that the ancl Bedfordshire. As a result, the London dialect guage was f undamentally
. A regionally standardized literary language appeared standard language was the result of an accumulation of
the Great North Road and
Watling Street, leading to became increasingly exposed to many of the linguistic affected, the change has
upwards in a chain reaction
(Figure C).
ments which belonged to
different parts of the coun-
in the lasr part of the l4th cenrury, lased on the influences from different kinds ofwriting, as well as an the Central Midlands. No Midland writing.
[t al ures oF
been called the GreatVowel . Alternatively, the /o:/ try, but which came
shft. together in certain texts -
dialects of the Central Midland counries, especially accommodation to dialects from different parts of the other part of the country had
These obselvations bring a fresh perspective to the The changes affected the
vowel was the f irst to move
better communications with (f urther forwards), 'push- two'sma ll' vowel shifts (rais-
Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, and Bedford- country, especially the Central Midlands area. That the capital. lf people were to traditional map of Middle English dialects (p.50), seven long vowels in the lan- ing and diphthongization)
ing'the next vowel
shire. This is chiefly found in the large numbe of the central area could exercise such influence is bring their dialects to where no recognition is given to a Central Midlands
guage (p.42), shown in
upwards, and starting off a rather than one 'big' one.
\X/ycliffite manuscripts which have survived (p.48), Lohdon in ever-increasing Figure A on a cardinal vowel The sifting of the textual
suggested by a number of contemporary comments, as different chain reaction
numbers, most would travel area, and where special attention is paid to an East diagram (p.238). Each (Figure D). The problem evidence, it seems, has
including sermons, tracts, prayers, poems, and the di well as by deductions based on social history. John of along these roads. Micllands 'triangle' bounded by London, Cambridge, vowel changed its sound hardly begun, and suddenly
with this view is f inding a
ferent versions of the '!ycliff Bible, as well as several with Southern) OxfoLd - an area
ancl (on the bolders
quality, but the distinction
reason for the back vowel what was for so long an
between one vowel and the uncontroversial issue has
secular works. The Lollards spread this variery widel of high population, containing the main social and movement, once /o:/ is used
next was maintained. (The become an open question. lt
to start the front vowel
even into south-wesr England, thus increasing its political centr, and the main seats of learning. This two f ront vowels leJ and lel is one of many reanalyses
Romn & probable Romn chain reaction.
status as a standard. In the long rerm, it was unable to did merge as/i:l but not which are ongoing, as schol-
Non' Roman
was a wealthy agricultural region, and the centre of the until the 1 8th century.) ln Whether we favour pushing
-(Settlemen not (onnected by rods on ars get to grips with the
compete with the quantity of material emanaring from - Gough Mp hve been omtted.) growing wool trade. Its role in promoting the impor- two cases, just a single move or pulling, we seem to be
the
data being provided by the
the capital; but its Central Midland origins are tance of the south-east in the Middle Ages is clear. was involved (83, B4); in dealing with a sound major Middle English sur-
isborough
nonetheless noreworrhy (see below). others, the movement had change that is simple and veys. lt is an exciting time for
I-{owever, its linguistic influence was far less important
o The growth of a standard from the London area can than that of the area further west.
f urther consequences which symmetrica l. The vowels Iinguistic medievalists.
sometimes took 200 years to appearto be moving'in
be seen by the mid-14th century. Although London ^ The fnal factor in the emergence of a southern liter- work themselves out. lt is pairs', with the same things
was very much a dialectal hybrid (with the City influ- ary standard was the development of printing (p.56).
enced by the Essex dialect, and lestminsrer, some Key B1 82 83 B4

distance further wesr, showing the influence of

c This resulted in the spread of a single norm over most of
-C U:
the countr so much so that during the early l6th cen- Century
I
Middlesex), patterns of standardization gradually tury it becomes increasingly difficult to determine on
perod of Great
Vowel Shift e
o0 o:
(1
appear. There is a small group of manuscripts, written internal linguistic grounds the dialect in which a liter-
0(,
(18-c)
prior to 1370, which are noted for their uniformity of spaldinq ary work is written - apart from the northern dialects, A
spelling. A later and much larger group of diverse Stamford such as Scots, which retained their written identity ur
loude
Tud/

manuscripts include the work of Chaucer and Bury St mr<e

loudly
ionger (p. 52). People now begin to make value judg-
86
g9.s!
er o; I go.s I B5 87
Langland. These texts in their different ways represenr 0 ments about othel dialects. In the Towneley Plays
lf
goose

London English of around 1400, but the amount of (p. 5B), Mak the sheep-stealer masquerades as person / le:f
!!.99! OU
8-c)
variation they display suggesrs that they cannor be 0 Ware ofimportance, and adopts a southern accent. John of
lef

ot
5tone
4s.9 (18-c)
(1 7-c)

called a standard, in any stricr sense. Nor even st

Trevisa comments that northern speech is 'scharp,
(1 6-c)
O
Chaucert writing, traditionally thought to be a pre- slitting, and frorynge and vnschape' ('shrill, cutting,
cursor ofmodem Standard English, exercised a specific
5t Guildford and grating and ill-formed'), giving as one of the rea- c Pull Chain D Push Chain
influence on rhe form this standard took - nor is it sons that northerners live fa away fi'om the court. And u:
likely that poeric usage would ever influence general in The Arte of English Poesie, atrtbuted to George Put- e:
1
o:
usage in any real way (p.412). h can hardly be tenham (c.1520-90), the aspiring poet is advised to use 1

doubted, though, that Chaucer's literary standing 'the usuall speach ofthe Court, and that of London and a:
would have greatly added to the prestige associated the shires lying about London within lx. myles, ancl not
with written language in the London dialect.
. The most significanr facror musr have been the o much above'. There was never to be total uniformit
but the forerunner of Standard English undoubtedly
An impressionistic'translation': the Modern English sentence: so it ls tlme to see the shoes
on the same feetnow before the Great Vowel Shift would have sounded something like
this: saw it rs te am to say the shows on the sarm fate noo.
emergence of London as the political and commercial existed by the end of the 1 5th cenrury.
 5 T]AIILY MODEIN F,NGLtSH 57

5.EARLY MODERN ENGLISH The first Printed works

Wc know of 103 separate iterns plintecl by Caxton,
WITHOUTWHOM,..
sevcl'al of which ale clifferent editions of the same A page from the first
-fhey can be grouped into for.rr categories (after English printed book, Ihe
work. Recuyell of the Historyes of
Thele is no doubt that an Early Modem English periocl
THE FIRST ENGLISH N. Blake, 1969): Iroy. In the prologue,
neecls to be recognized in the history of English. The
jurnp from Midclle English to MoclelnEnglishwoLrlclbe PRINTER . FIis owr.r translations, such as Tha Recuyell ofthe His-
Caxton tells of his debt to
the Duchess of Burgundy,
too great without it. Betweer.r the time of Chaucer ancl William Caxton was born in ntrycs of Tioy and The l{night of the Tower. This is the and adds some nteresting
tl-re time of Johnson, roughly 1400 to 1800, the lan- Kent, and by 1438 is known largest categor its prologues and epilogr-res provicling remarks about his own
backg round.
gLlage contillues to change in quite noticeable ways, and
to have been apprenticed a great cleal of information about Caxtont aims as a
to a London textile deale And afterward whan
publisher.
I

tlere ae many points of diffelence with modern r.rsage. or mercer. This suggests a rememberyd my self of my
By the end of the 18th cenruly, however, very few lin- birthdate any time between . '/olks of the courtly poets of 1350-1450 - chiefl symplenes and
gr,ristic clifferences remain. Reacling a Jane Austen novel
1415and 1424. Hewentto Chirucer, Gower, and Lyclgate - and inclucling two vnperfightnes that I had in
bothe langages, that is to
cclitions of The Cnterbtu'y Talas.
Bruges during the early Caxront concentra-
does not require the same kind ofeffort or editor.ial elab- 1440s, where he prospered wete [namely] in Frenshe
oration as is needecl to undel'stand Shakespeare (p.76). as a mercer, and in 1462 was tion on these authors shows him awale of the fashior-r- and in Englisshe, for in
There is no consensus about when the Early Moclem appointed governor of the ablc clemancl for an 'elevated' style of writing. France was I neuer, and was

English periocl begins. Sorne opt for an early date,

English trading company . Plose wolks in English, also inclucling many rans- born & lerned myn Englissh
there, the Merchant Adven- in Kente in the Weeld,
1400-50, just aftel Chaucer ancl rhe beginning of the turers. larions, such as Chaucer's Boethius, Treviss Po- where I doubte not is spoken
pronunciation shift which iclentifies a major intelligi- ln 1469 he began work on The earliest known representation of a printing office: La chronicon (p.35), anci Maloly's Morte Darthur(p.58). as brode and rude Englissh

biliry baLrier berween Micldle and Modern English

his first translation, a French
account of the Trojan Wars,
.55). Some opt for a late date, around 1500, after the and two years later received
effects of the plinting levolution hacl become well the patronage of Margaret,
Duchess of Burgundy, which
established. But it is the aclvent of plinting itself which enabled him to complete it.
many consiclel to be the key factor, and this section ln 1471 he travelled to
accordingly begins in 1476, when \William Caxron ser Cologne. where he stayed
for 18 months, and learned
up his press in \estminster. the technique of printing.
Tl.re new invention gve an unprececlented imperr.rs Back in Bruges he collabo-
grante danse macabre (1499), with death coming to take
wicked printers away.
took to translate or print a
work, despite the details he
provides in his prologues
and epilogues, because we
do not know how condi-
tions changed as he and his
staff grew in experience.
We do not even know how
After death, his busi-
his
ness was taken over by his
assistant, Wynkyn de
Worde, who in 1500 moved
the press to Fleet Street in
London - from the court to
the city - and a new era in
printing began.
. A miscellaneoLls group of works, probably procfrcecl as is in ony place of Englond;
& haue contynued by the
for particulal clients. They inclucle books of indul-
space of xxx yere for the
gcnces, statutes, phrase books, devotional pieces, ar.rd a most parte in the contres
l,atir.r gramrnar. lcou ntriesl of Braband,
Flandres, Holand, and that the ryght redoughted Englissh whiche sche
Zeland; and thus when alle lady, my Lady Margarete . . . comanded me to amende
ATIME OF CHANGE thyse thynges cam tofore me sente for me to speke wyth and moreouer comanded
aftyr that Y had made and her good grace of dyuerce me straytli to contynue and
From the epilogue to Charles the Greaf, the 'first Cristen wretyn a fyue or six quayers maters. Among the whyche make an ende ofthe resydue
Kyng of Fraunce':
lbooksl, Y fyll in dispayr of Y lete her Hyenes haue than not translated .. .

to the formation of a standarcl language and the str.rdy
of its properties. Aparr fi'orn its role in fostering norms
ofspelling and punctuation, the availability of printing
provicled more opporrunities for people ro wl.ire, ancl
gave their works much wicler circulation. As a result,
more texts of the period have survived. Within the fol-
lowing 150 years, ir is estimatecl that nearly 20,000
books appearecl. The stoly of English thus becomes
more clefinite in the l6dr cerlrLlr.y, with more evidence
availalle about the way rhe langr.rage was developing,
both in the texts themselves, and in a growing number
of olselvations clealing with such areas as grammar.,
vocabular writing sysrem, and style. In that cenrur.y,
scholas seriously gor down to talking about their
language (p.61).
THE ADVERTISEMENT
X pared with the price of a copied manuscript). The shop in the almonry at West-
h 1" ^"1
rated wth the Flemish cal- many presses he had, or The whyche werke was fynysshed in the reducyng of hit thys werke and purposid no knowleche of the forsayd
ligrapher Colard Mansion to whether he worked on into Englysshe the xviii day of Juyn the second yere of more to haue contynuyd begynnyng of thys werke, This book was printed in
set up a press, and in late more than one book at a
Caxton shows his handi- Kyng Rychard the Thyrd and the yere of Our Lord MCCC- thern, and tho Ithose] whiche anone comanded Bruges. The first book
work to Edward lV at the
1473 or early 1474 put time. Evidently, some works
almonry, Westminster.
Clxxxv and emprynted the fyrst day of Decembre the guayers leyd apart; and in me to shewe the sayd v or vi Caxton printed in England
through hs 700-page trans- were produced quite same yere of Our Lord and the fyrst yere of Kyng Harry two yere aftyr laboured no quayers to her sayd grace. was lhe Dictes o r Sayengis
lation of The Recuyell slowly; others very the Seventh. more in thys werke. And was And whan she had seen of the Phlosophres (1477),
IFrench recueil'compila- rapidly. For fully in wyllto haue lefte hyt hem, anone she fonde translated from French by
ln the meantime, there had been the Battle of Bosworth:
tion'l of the Hrstoryes of example, it took 22 August 1 485. tyll on a tyme hit fortuned lfoundl a defaute in myn the second Earl Rivers.
Iroye, the first book printed him about seven
in English. Returning to weeks to print
England, in 1476 he set up Cordial (1479) -
his wooden press in a shop abook of 74 leaves CAXTON'S PROBLEM
somewhere within the with2Sl29lines per THE'EGG'STORY to lande forto refreshe them And one of
precincts of Westminster page; but in 1483, a Caxton was a merchant, not a linguist or a literary scholar.
Faced with thetask of translation, he had to dealwith sev- theym named sheffelde a mercercam into
Abbey, to be near the court. bookofll5leaves And also my lorde a bbot of westmynster an hows and axed [asked] for mete. and
He published nearly 80 with 38 lines per eral major problems: ded [dld] do shewe to me Iate certayn euy- specyally he axyd after eggys And
the good
items, several in more than page (Festial) was . Should he use foreign words in his translation or replace dences [documents] wryton in olde
them by native English words?
wyf answerde. that she coude speke no
one edition. We know very completed in just 24 eng lysshe for to reduce it in to our frenshe. And the marchaunt was angry. for
little about how long he days. . Which variety of English should he follow, given the exis- englysshe now vsid [used] /And certaynly it he also coude speke
no frenshe. but wold
tence of major regional differences? was wreton in suche wyse that it was more ha ue hadde egges / and she vnderstode
. Which literary style should be used as a model? Chaucer? lyke to dutche [German] than englysshe I
hym not/And thenne at laste a nother sayd
Or something less'ornate'? coude not reduce ne brynge it to be vnder-
.How should the language be spelled and punctuated, that he wolde haue eyren /then the good
stonden /And certaynly our langage now wyf sayd that she vnderstod hym wel / Loo
lf it plese ony man spirituel or temporel to bye ony pyes of two and thre comemo- given the scribal variations of the previous centuries? vsed varyeth ferre from that. whiche was
racions of Salisburi Use enpryntid after the forme of this present lettre, whiche . ln publishing native writers, should he change their lan- what sholde a man in thyse dayes now
vsed and spoken whan I was borne / For we
en wel a nd tru ly correct, late hym come to Westmonester in to the Almonesrye wryte. egges or eyren /certaynly it is harde
guage to make it more widely understood? englysshe men/ben [are] bornevnderthe
at the Reed Pa le a nd he sha I have them good chepe. Supplico sted cedula. to playse euery man / by cause of dyuersite
lf the books were to sel l, the language they contai ned had domynacyon of the mone. lmoon] whiche & chaunge of langage.
The 'pye'which was for sale was fhe Ordinate, a book of Latin liturgical direc- to be understood throughout the country; but, as he com- is neuer stedfaste / but euer wauerynge /
tions also printed by Caxton n c. 1477, and evidently in the same typeface plained, how could he satisfy everyone? A famous extract wexynge one season/and waneth & Sheffield's problem arose because egges
('forme'). A pye was a collection of rules showing how to act lturgically on a from one of his prologues gives a vivid account of the size dyscreaseth a nother season / And that was a northern form, a development from
day when there was more than one office, or'commemoration,. The ,5alisburi of the problem. lf even a simple little word like eggs cannot comyn englysshe that is spoken in one Old Norse, whereas eyren was a southern
Use' was the widely practised form of the liturgy originally developed at Salis- be universally understood, what hope was there for him? shyre varyeth from a nother. ln so moche form, a developmentfrom Old English. The
bury Cathedral. The commemorations are to the Virgin Mary and the saints. The Caxton made his decisions, as did other publishers of the that in my dayes happened that certayn passage also shows some of Caxton's spel-
last sentence tells the audience that a printed book will be cheap (that is, com- time, and in due course a consensus arose (p. 66). His own marchauntes were in a shippe in tamyse ling inconsistencies and his idiosyncratic
work is in fact extremely inconsistent. lt is not until nearly a lThamesl for to haue sayled ouer the see use of punctuation and capital letters. (Pro-
minster was within the Abbey precincts. The significance of Caxton,s sign, the century later that there is uniformity in the appearance of i nto zela nde / and for lacke of wynde thei logue to Virgil's Booke of E neydos, c. 1 49O,
l. Red Pale, is unknown: it may have been on the shop already, before he rented
it. Someone has glossed the Latin, for the benefit of the less well educated.
printed texts - and indeed some matters (such as the use of
the apostrophe) never settle down at all (p. 203).
taryed atte forl ond. lForelandl and wente with modern punctuation.)
58
TRANSITIONAL TEXTS
Sevelal allthors ancl texrs illustrate the linguistic tran-
sition fi'or Miclclle to Eally Modeln English. They
include the great prose romance translatecl by Sir'
Tlromas Malor rhe Mortc Darthur, publishecl by
THE QUEST OF THE HOLY GRAIL
The author of the work traditionally called the
Morte Darthur calls himself Thomas Malory, a
knight, who was in prison when he did most of the
writing (1469-70). His identity is controversial, the
leading candidate being 5ir Thomas Malory of
Newbold Revell in Warwickshire (1393?-1471),
who served in France under the Earl of Warwick.
The extract is from Chapter 8 of Book Xlll of
Caxton's edition, and shows several of the features
characteristic of his work (p. 57). There is the use
of the slash mark as the main feature of
punctuaton, but with little system in its use: it can
mark the end of a sentence (but not a lways), a
major grammatical boundary within a sentence
(but not a ll of them), or just a pause. The capital
lette Iikewise, appears unexpectedly (Wold) and
inconsistently (n Quene and Launcelot). A great
PAI.I- I.'I'HE FIIS'fOIY OI'I TINCI-ISH 5 ,{ILY MC)I)EIN EN(1, IST.I 59
Caxton in 1485, ancl the cycles of rr-riracle ar-rd mysrery THE CHIEF
plays, preservecl in several I5th-centr.rly manusclipts. THE, AGE OF BIBLES TYNDALE'S POPULAR VOICE 1 6H-CENTURY
TRANSLATIONS
There are still many poir.rts of grarnmar; spelling, ancl I had perceaved by experyence, how that it was impossi-
ble to stablysh the laye people n any truth, excepte the
vocabulal'y which cause clifficulty to the 21st-cer-rtury T'he l(ng James Bible, also known as the Authorized William Tyndale
scripture were playnly layde before their eyes in their (c.1494-1536)
reaclet, but overall the language is familiar ancl intelli- Vcrsion of the Bibie, publishecl in I 61 1 , exercisecl enor'- mother tonge, that they might se the processe, ordre Tyndale's New Testament of
gible, ancl is often usecl ir.r moclern presentatiol-rs wirh mous influence on the cleveloprnet-rt of the language
and meani nge of the texte... 1525, revised in 1534, was the
little editorial intervention. (r. {r4); brrr it was itself influeIlcecl by several existing Tyndale's aim to translate for the people can be seen in f irst English vernacular text
to be prnted (in Cologne),
ver...ions, aI ploclucecl cluling the 16th century. The the colloquial style of many passages:
and the basis for most subse-
MYSTERY PLAYS morivatiorl for these bibles lay in the religior.rs contro- 1 But the serpent was sotyller than all the beastes of the quent versions. He was a
vcrsies of the ciay (Luthert protest at \ittenburg took felde which ye LORde God had made, and sayd unto the strong proponent of the view
The miracle and mystery plays of medieval Europe were plays on bibli- woman. Ah syr [sure], that God hath sayd, ye shall not that people should be able to
cal subjects, performed in cycles on special religious occasions such as
pl,rcc in 1517). Accoldingl they clisplay great varia- eate of all maner trees in the garden. 2 And the woman read the Bible in their own
the feast of Corpus Christi. The extract below is from the 32-play i()n, not only in theological slant and stylistic level, but sayd unto the serpent, of the frute of the trees i n the lang uage.
Towneley Cycle (so ca lled beca use the ma n uscript once belonged to also in typography, presentation, editorial matter, ancl garden we may eate, 3 but of the frute of the tree that s
Miles Coverdale
the li brary of Towneley Hal I in Lancashire), and thought to have been in the myddes of the garden (sayd God) se that we eate
the text for the plays performed at Wakef ield in West Yorkshire.
nro.le of plesentatioll. For the historical linguist, the not, and se that ye touch it not: lest ye dye.
(?1488-1 s69)
Coverdale's text of
r:rnge ar.rcl fi'equency of eclitions provicles an unparal-
1 535,
Some of the plays have been acclaimed for the dramatically inter- 4 Then sayd the serpent unto the woman: tush ye shall
published at Cologne, was
esting way in which they develop their plot and characters, adding an lcleci opportunity to view the development of the lan- not dye: 5 But God doth knowe, that whensoever ye
the first complete Bible to be
extra dimension to the religious subject-matter. A case in point is the shulde eate of it, youre eyes shuld be opened and ye
girage t that time. Because they are all translations of sholde be as God and knowe both good and evell. 6 And
printed in English. lt was a
Second Shepherds' Play, which has been called the earliest surviving translation from German.
English comedy. The extract is from the episode where the shepherds tlic same cote set of texts, the clifferent versions can the woman sawe that it was a good tree to eate of and
visit Mak, the sheep-stealer, in his house, and find their sheep thlow special light on changes in orthography, gram- lustie [desirable] unto the eyes and a plesant tre for to Matthew's Bible (1537)
wrapped up as a baby in a cradle. Of stylistic note is the lively conver- make wyse. And toke of the frute of it and ate, and gaue This complete Bible was the
mlr, :rncl vocabr.rlary throughout the peliocl. unto hir husband also with her, and he ate. 7 And the f irst to be printed in England.
sational rhythm ofthe dialogue and the humorous use of rhyme. Of
grammatical note is the northern dialect -s ending on the third person eyes of both of them were opened, that they understode The text is attributed to
singular present tense (p. 65). how that they were naked. Than they sowed fygge leves Thomas Matthew, Chamber-
togedder and made them apurns [aprons]. (Genesis lain of Colcheste but it was
FrRsr SHEpHERD: Gaf ye the chyld any thyng? 3.1 -7) compiled by John Rogers, a
sEcoND sHEpHERD: I trow not oone farthyng. friend of Tyndale's. lt is based
rHrRD SHEeHERD: Fast agane will I flyng, largely on Tyndale's work,
Abyde ye me there. with some use of Coverdale.
Mak, take it to no grefe f I com to thi barne lchildl. TYNDALE'5 INFLUENCE
The Great Bible (1539)
var: Nay, thou dos me greatt reprefe, and fowll has thou farne It that about 80 per cent of the text
has been estimated Ths text, so-called because of
lbehavedl. of the Authorized Version shows the influence of Tyn- its physical size, was the f irst
rHrRD SHEeHERD: The child will it not grefe, that lytyll day starne [star].
dale. The Beatitudes is a good example: the differences of many official versions for
Mak, with your leyfe, let me gyf youre barne
are minor, and the number of words in the two passages use in Protestant England. A
Bot sex pence. (Matthew 5.1-1 0) almost identical. copy would be placed in
var: Nay, do way: he slepys. every parish church in the
rHrRD SHEPHERD: Me thynk he pepys.
Tyndale Authorized Version
country. lt is a revision of
nnr:When he wakyns he wepys. 1 When he sawe the 1And seeing the multi- lvatthew's Bible by
I pray you go hence. people, he went vp into a tudes, he went vp into a Coverdale. Because Arch-
rHrRD sHEpHERD: Gyf me lefe hym to kys, and lyft up the clowtt. mountayne, and when he mountaine: and when he
bishop Thomas Cranmer
What the dewill is this? He has a long snowte. was set, his disciples came was set, his disciples came
wrote a preface to it, the
to hym, 2 and he opened vnto him.2 And he work became widely known
hys mouthe, and taught opened his mouth, and
The sheep-stealing scene from the H ijinx Theatre 1 993 production of as'Cranmer's Bible'.
them sayinge:3 Blessed taught them, saying, 3
In the Bleak Mid Winterby Charles Way, with Richard Berry as Zac,
Firenza Guidias Miriam, Helen Gwyn as Gill, and David Murray as
t are the poyre in sprete: Blessed are the poore in The Geneva Bible (1 560)
crr,.,illlltltlil,,1t'" for theirs is the kyng- This translation was pro-
spirit: for theirs is the king-
Mak. duced by English Protestant
dome of heven.4 Blessed dome of heauen. 4 Blessed
"u.r,,,ll$folol,l']'Pt""'n are they that morne: for are they that mourne: for exles during the reign of
they shalbe conforted. 5 they shall be comforted. 5 Queen Mary. lt was the f irst
deal of editorial intervention is needed to provide sorowe / Thenne the Quene departed in to her Blessed are the meke: for Blessed are the meeke: for English Bible in roman type.
a readily intelligible text; but in most other chamber / and helde her / that no man shold they shall inheret the they shall inherit the The Eishops' Bible (1 568)
respects the grammar and vocabulary are perceyue her grete sorowes / whanne syre erth. 6 Blessed are they earth. 6 Blessed are they This revised version of the
accessible, and the narrative appealing - as Caxton Launcelot myst the quene / he wente tyl her which honger and which doe hunger and Great Bible became the offi-
puts it in his prologue: full of 'noble actes, feates chamber / And when she sawe hym / she cryed thurst for rightewesnes: thi rst after righteousnesse: cial version ofthe Church in
of armes of chyvalrye, prowesse, hardynesse, aloude / O launcelot / launcelot ye haue bitrayed for they shalbe filled. 7 for they shall be filled. 7 1 571, and was used by the
humanyte, love, curtosye and veray gentylnesse, me / and putte me to the deth for to leue thus my Blessed are the merci- Blessed are the mercifull: scholars working on the
wyth many wonderful hystoryes and adventures'. lord A madame I praye yow be not displeased / full: for they shall for they shall obtaine Authorized Version (p. 64).
for I shall come ageyne as soone as I may with my obteyne mercy. 8 mercie. 8 Blessed are the
Blessed are the pure in pure in heart: for they The Douai-Rheims Bible
Thenne after the seruyse [service] was done / the worship / Allas sayd she that euer I sawe yow / but (1 6oe-1 o)
kyng Wold wete [wlshed to know] how many had he that suffred vpon the crosse for all mankynde herte: for they shall se shall see God. 9 Blessed
God. 9 Blessed are the are the peacemakers: for This translation was issued by
vndertake the queste of the holy graylle / and to he be vnto yow good conduyte and saufte
peacemakers: for they they shall bee called the Roman Catholic priests in
accompte them he prayed them all lhe prayed lprotectionl / and alle the hole felauship / Ryght
shalbe called the chyl- children of God. 10 Blessed exile in Europe. The Rheims
them all to count themse/vesl / Thenne fond they soo departed Launcelot / & fond his felauship that
Great Bible New Testament f irst
by the tale lcount] an honderd and fyfty / and alle abode [awaited] his comyng / and so they The cover of the dren ofGod.10 Blessed are they which are perse-
are they which suffre per- cuted for righteousnesse appeared in 1 582, and the
were knyghtes of the table round / And thenne mounted on their horses / and rode thorou the
secucion for rightwesnes sake: for theirs is the king- remaining text was produced
they putte on their helmes and departed / and strete of Camelot / and there was wepynge of
sake: for theirs ys the dome of heauen. from Douai in 1609. Based on
recommaunded them all holy lentirelyl vnto the ryche and poure / and the kyng tourned awey and
kyngdome of heuen. the Latin Vulgate, it was used
Quene / and there was wepynge and grete myghte not speke for wepynge / by English Catholcs for the
next centu ry.
60 PART I THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 5 EARLY MODERN ENGLISH 6t

('confused') are examples (p.125).The scholar John

ENCLISH DURING THE
RENAISSANCE,
During the 16th century rhere was a
lications in English, prompted by a renewed interest in
the classical languages and literatures, and in the
rapidly developing fields of science, medicine, and the
arts. This period, from the time of Caxton until
around 1650, was later to be called the 'Renaissance',
alid it included the Reformation, the discoveries of
Copernicus, and the European exploration of Afi'ica
and the Americas. The effects of these fresh perspec-
tives on the English language were immediate, far-
reaching, and controversial,
The focus of interest was vocabulary. There were no
Cheke used English equivalents for classical terms TH E INKHORN CONTROVERSY WORSHIPFULL SIR to suche splendent renoume, and dignitee
splendidious: I doubt not but you will adiu-
whenever he could, such as crossed for 'crucified' and MonetarY The rhetorician Thomas Wilson was one of uate [help] such poore adnichilate fdest
gainris ing for'resurrection' (p. 124). metaPhors were the most ferocious critics of the new Lati- tufel orphanes, as whilome ware
especiallY PoPular nate vocabulary emerging in England. ln condisciples lschoolfellowsl with you, and
flood of new pub- The increase in foreign borrowings is rhe most dis- in the 16th-century The Arte of Rhetorique he cites a letter of antique familiarite in Lincolneshire.
tinctive linguistic sign of the Renaissance in English. controversY over written (he claims) by a Lincolnshire gentle- What is noteworthy is that several of these
Purist opinion did not, in the event, srem rhe influx the use offoreign man asking for assistance in obtaining a
new Latinate words have since entered the
words in English. vacant benefice. lt s likely that the letter is
of new words - nor has it ever, in the history of this 5upPorters use
language (e.9. ingenious, capacity, mun-
a parody, Wilson's own concoction, but the
language. such terms as words he uses seem to be genuine, and in
dane, celebrate, extol, dexterty). By con-
'enrich'and trast, most of the native coinages invented
most cases are attested elsewhere. The fol-
by contemporary writers as alternatives to
'credit'; opPonents
talk about
lowing extract illustrates its style: Latin loans have failed to survive. An exam-
SOME RENAISSANCE LOAN WORDS IN ENGLISH Ponderyng expendyng lweig hi ngl, and ple is the set of terms proposed by Ralph
'bankruPtcY'and
'counterfeiting'. reuolutyng lrevolvingl with my self your Lever in hisrte of Reason, rghtlytermed,
From Latin and Greek
ingent [enormous] affabilitee, and inge- Wtcraft (1573'')for the study of logic. They
absurdity, adapt, agile, alienate, allusion, anachronism. anonymous, appropriate.
assassinate, atmosphere, autograph. benefit, capsule, catastrophe, chaos. climax,
nious capacitee, for mundane affaires: I include such Latin equivalents as endsay
cannot but celebrate and extolle your mag- ('conclusio'), ifsay ('propositio condition-
conspicuous, contradictory, crisis, criterion, critic, delirium, denunciation, disability,
nificall dexteritee, aboue all other. For how alis' ), n a ys a y (' negati o' ), sa yw ha t ('d ef i n -
disrespect, emancipate. emphasis, encyclopedia, enthusiasm, epilepsy, eradicate, exact,
i

FOR AGAINST could you haue adepted [acquiredl suche io'), shewsay ('propositio'), and yeasay
exaggerate, excavate, excursion, exist, expectation, expensive, explain, external,
words in the language to talk accurately about the new Thomas Elyot Thomas Wilson (?1 528-81) illustrate prerogatiue li I ustri ous pre- ('affirmatio'). Though most of Lever's
extinguish, fact, glottis, habitual, halo. harass, idiosyncrasy, immaturity, impersonal,
I

concepts, techniques, and inventions which were (c. 1490- 1s46) Among allother lessons eminencel, and dominicall [/ordly] superior- coinages had no future, a few of his forms
inclemency, jocula larynx, lexicon, lunar, malignant, monopoly, monosyllable,
I am constraind to vsurpe a this should first be learned, itee, if the fecunditee of your ingenie emerged independently in regional use
coming from Europe, and so writers began to borrow necessitate, obstruction, pancreas, parasite, parenthesis, pathetic, pneumonia, relaxation,
{intellectual powersl had not been sofer- (especial ly naysay(er) and yeasay(e). All
relevant. scheme, skeleton. soda, species, system, tactics, temperature, tendon, latine word callyngit Matu- that wee never affect any
them. Most of the words which entered the language thermometet tibia, tonc, transcribe, ulna, utopian. vacuum, virus ritie: whiche worde though straunge ynkehorne tile, and wounderfull pregnaunt. Now of them intriguingly anticipate Newspeak
at the time were taken from Latin, with a good number it be strange and darke/yet termes, but to speake as is therefore beeyng accersited lsummonedl, (p. 1 3s).
From or via French by declaring the vertue in a commonly received: nei-
from Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. alloy, anatomy, battery, bayonet, bigot, bizarre, chocolate, colonel, comrade, detail, fewe mowordes/the name ther seeking to be over
Then, as the period of world-wide exploration got docility, duel, entrance, equip, explore, grotesque. invite, moustache. muscle, naturalize, ones [once] brought in cus- fine, noryet living over-
under wa words came into English fi'om over 50 passport, pioneer, probability, progress. shock, surpass, ticket, tomato, vase, vogue, tome /shall be as facileto carelesse, using our DERUNCINATED NEWFORMATIONS ENGLISH RECOGNIZED
volunteer vnderstande as other speeche as most men doe, WORDS
other languages, including several indigenous lan- The inf lux of foreign words The controversy over which
From or via ltalian wordes late commen out of and ordering our wttes as was the most noticeable kind of English lexicon to use
cohibit ('restrai n"), derunci-
guages of North America, Africa, and Asia. Some argosy, balcony, ballot, cameo, carnival, concerto, cupola, design, fuse, giraffe, grotto, Italy and France/and made the fewest have done. aspect of lexical growth; but should not be allowed to
nate ('weed'), exi m ious
words came into English directly; others came by way lottery macaroni, opera, piazza, portico, rocket, solo, sonata, sonnet, soprano, stanza, denizins amonge vs. ... And Some seeke so far for out- ('excellent'), i I lecebrous throughout the period the obscure the fact that English
this ldo nowe remembre landish English, that they
of an intermediate language. Many came indirectly stucco, trill, violin, volcano
for the necessary augmen- forget altogether their
('delicate'), suppeditate vocabulary was steadily was nowwidely accepted as
('supply')... expanding in other ways. Far the language of learning. At
from Latin or Italian via French. From or via Spanish and Portuguese tation of our langage. (Ihe mothers language. And I more newwords in fact the beginning ofthe 16th
alligator; anchovy, apricot, armada, banana, barricade, bravado, cannibal, canoe, dare sweare this, if some of During the Renaissance,
Some writers, such as Thomas Elyot, went out of boke named the came into English by adding century the situation had
cockroach, cocoa, corral, desperado, embargo, guita hammock, hurricane, maize, Gouernour, 1531 .) their mothers were alive, many words were coined
their way to find new words, in order (as they saw it) prefixes and suffixes, or by been very different, with
mosquito, mulatto, negro, potato, port (wne), rusk, sombrero, tank, tobacco, yam thei were not able to tell which did not survive. What
forming new compounds Latin still established as the
to 'enrich' the language, They saw their role as From other languages
George Pettie (1 548-89)
Wherefore I marueile how
what they say; and yet is interesting, but little
(p. 128). lt is also important normal language of scholar-
these fine English clerkes understood, iswhysome
enabling the new learning to be brought within the bamboo (Malay), bazaar (Persian), caravan (Persian), coffee (Turkish), cruise (Dutch), our english tongue hath to note the use of the pro- ship. All over Europe, vernac-
curry (Tamil), easel (Dutch), flannel (Welsh), guru (Hindi), harem (Arabic), horde (Turkish), will say. they speake in their words were retained while
reach of the English public - whether this was ccess ro crackt it [its] credite, that t cess of word-class conver- ulars were criticized as
keelhaul (Dutch), ketchup (Malay), kiosk (Turkish), knapsack (Dutch), landscape (Dutch), mother tongue, if a man others were not. For exam-
may not borrow ofthe sion, much encountered in crude, limited, and imma-
the old classical texts, or to the new fields of science, pariah (Tamil), raccoon (Algonquian), rouble (Russian), sago (Malay), sheikh (Arabic), should charge them for ple, both impede and
Shakespeare (p. 63). ture - fit for popular litera-
Latine as well as other expede were introduced
technology, and medicine. There were many transla- shekel (Hebrew), shogun (Japanese), troll(Norwegian), trousers (lrish Gaelic), turban counterfeiting the Kings ture, but little else.
tongues: and if it haue during this period, but only Prefixation
(Persian). wampum (Algonquian), yacht (Dutch), yoghurt (Turkish) English. (The Arte of Richard Mulcaster (?1 530-
tions of classical works during the 16th centur and broken, it is but of late, for
Rhetorique, 1553.) the former has survived. bedaub, counterstroke, dis-
it is not vnknowen to all abuse, disrobe, endear, fore- 161 1), headmasterof
thousands of Latin or Greek rerms were introduced, as Demlf ('send away') has
Merchant Taylors' School,
men how many woordes John Cheke (1 511-57) been replaced by dismiss, name, interlink, nonsense,
translators searched for an English equivalent and we haue fetcht from thence I am of this opinion that our submarine, uncivilized, was a leading supporter of
though the parallel items
could not find one. Some, indeed, felt that English was EXPLAIN THYSELF within these fewe yeeres. tung shold be written uncomfortable the capabilities and value of
commit and transmlt have
which if theyshould beall cleane and pure, vnmixt the mothertongue in all sub-
in any case not an appropriate vehicle for the expres- The inventors of neologisms were well
remained; and drsadorn and Suffixation jects:
counted inkpot termes, I and vnmangeled with drsaccustom have been lost,
sion of the new learning. English, in this view, did not aware of the need to explain their blandishment, changeful,
know not howwe should borowing of other tunges, though drsagree and drs- considerable, delightf ulness, I do notthinkthatanie lan-
compare well with the tried and tested standards of coinages. One strategy was to pair a new speake any thing without wherein if we take not buse have been kept. ln guage, be it whatsoeveL is
Latin or Greek, especially in such fields as theology or
word with a familiar equivalent, such as
persist and conflnue, and animate or gyue
ENCYCTOPEDIA blacking our mouthes with heed bitijm, euer borow-
inke: forwhatwoord can
Wilson's letter; from which
drizzling, f requenter,
gloomy, immaturity, laugh- better able to utter al I argu-
ing and neuer payeng, she an extract is quoted above, ments, eitherwith more
medicine. It was a language fit for the srreer, bur nor courage to. Another was to expound a f\\l lD I, Rt \1ltt.
be more plaine then this shall be fain to keep her
able, lunatical, murmurous
pith, or greater planesse,
most of the new Latin words
meaning at greater length, as does Sir

F.
for the library. Compounding
word p/alne, and yet what house as bankrupt. For than our English tung is. if

#
survived, but obtestafe and
Thomas lyot in introducng encyclopedia: chap-fallen, commander-in-
Then as now, the influx of foreign vocabulary can come more neere to the then doth ourtung natural- fatgate did not. ln certain the English utterer be as skil-
attracted bitter criticism, and people leaped to the lan- in an oratour is required to be a heape of :':'# 1".
Latine? (Preface to lhe
cuile conuersation of M.
lie and praisablie vtter her
meaning, when she
cases, the existence of per-
fectly satisfactory words in
chief, Frenchwoman,
heaven-sent, laughing-
full in the matte; which he is
to utter: as the foren utterer
all manner of lernyng:whiche of some is

rc
guaget defence. Purists opposed the new 'inkhorn' Steeuen Guazzo, 581.) bouroweth no counterfeit- stock, pincushion, pine-cone,
called the worlde of science: of other the 1
the language for a particular is. .. I love Rome, but London
ness of other tunges to rosewood, spoonwort
terms, condemning them for obscurity and for inter- circle of doctrine /whiche is in one worde concept militated against better, I favor ltalie, but Eng-
fering with the development of native English vocab-
ulary. Some writers (notabl the poet Edmund
of greeke Encycloped ia.
:::.':::k
6lobl rrl b.yrxl
attire her self withall . . .
(LettertoThomas Hoby,
1ss7.)
the introduction of a further Conversion
item: what need of
aspectab/e, when we already
Noun from verb: invite,
laugh, scratch
land more, I honorthe Latin,
but I worship the English.
By the end of the 1 6th cen-
Spenser) attempted to revive obsolete English words rr vltm.le rerl The impossibilityof the purist ideal, as Pettie pointsout, is have ylsible? lt is mostly Verbfrom nouu gossip,
Gydpcdl l oo vol.o ('Season tury, the matterwas
impossible to say why one launder, season
instead - what were sometimes called 'Chaucerisms' - well illustrated by such passages, which allcontain several resolved. English became the
FOURH CDIIION words of non-Germanic origin (such as bankrupt and, word lived and another died. your admiration for a language of learning.
and to make use of little-known words from English indeed, the word pure itself). while...')
dialects. A lg t e (' alw ay s' ), si ch e r (' cen ainly' ), and I b le n t
 PART I.THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 5 EARLY MODERN ENGLISH 63

rta
THE,INFLUE,NCE, OF THE NEWGLOBE LEXICAL FIRSTS
SHAKE,SPEARE .There are many words f irst recorded in Shakespeare which have survived into
Modern English. Some examples:

THE TRAGEDIE OF
accommodation, assassination, barefaced, countless, courtship, dislocate, dwindle,
All textbooks on rhe history of English agree rhar rhe eventful, fancy-free, lack-lustre, laughable, premeditated, submerged
two most important influences on the development of . There are also many words first recorded in Shakespeare which have not survived
L H.A M E T, Prince of Dennarke.
the language during the final decades of the Renais- About a third of all his Latinate neologisms fall into this category. Some examples:
'Silliam
snce are the works of Shakespeare (1564- p,t[lltt lPrinw. Scan?rina, abruption, appertainments, cadent, exsufflicate, persistive, protractve. questrist,
1616) and the KingJames Bible of 161 1 (p. 64). 'Influ- soi lure. tortive, ungenitured, unplausive, vastidity
E tuLaFa,ncati.
ence' does not here refer to the way these works use lan-
etul &a. tathg,*.
$iage in a beautiful or memorable way. Exrracrs from r Sted . rnld
both sources predominate in any collection of English G RAM MATICAL CONVERSIONS
e. LoDgliu?rhcXi.

quottions; but the present section is not primarily 7M, & 6 One of the consequences of the falling away of inflectional endings in English
(p. 44) was a marked growth in the process of grammatical conversion
concerned with issues ofaesthetic excellence or quora- tr;1it - the use of
one word class with the function of another (p. 129) - and this became particularly
bility (p. 184), 'To be or not to be'is a quorarion, bur eoc. noticeable during the later Renassance period, especially in dramatic writing. Con-
it is unimportant in discussing the development of the temporary rhetoricians called itanthimeria. Shakespeare made copious use of it,
Ianguaget grammar or vocabulary. On the other hand, and was especially fond of making verbs from nouns.
Snd: whoitlcr.
Shakespearet use of lbscene(n Richard II) is not part ,l',
,c.
Frimds !o thit Broot.
0d i&crorhc Drn!,
Season your admiration for a while...
re Giu.yddniahr. It out-herods Herod...
of any especially memorable quorarion, but it is the ur. Ofr*lh6.nSokr,rboh[rrlicurl v*]
.. rar. 1L'. , ll c : tiu. you goodniShi. No more shall trenching war channel her f ields...
first recorded use of this word in English. And even tla. tlollr:'
,tl ta Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle...
though he may nor have been the very firsr ro use ir
3r. Sy,{l[r, rtrdnd., Julius Caesa /Who at Phillipithe good Brutus g hosted...
Destruction straight shall dog them at the heels...
(some Shakespearean'firsrs', such puppi-dogges, will
as A from the 2000 production of lhe
scene some 500 yards from the original location, t..
.gin! ro Bhi
I am proverbed wth a grandsire phrase...
undoubtedlyhave been presenr in the spoken language Iempesfat Shakespeare's Globe in London did not begin untiL1989. Elizabethan
tli dd oc,
already), his usage would have been influential in - a reconstruction of the Globe theatre building techniques were used to create a
used by Shakespeare and his associates in replica of the oak-framed theatre, based on Burin
developing popular awareness of it, and thus increas- the early 17th century. contemporary sketches and records. The DIVERSE HYPHENATIONS
Ut
ing its circulation. The first wooden structure opened n aimoftheprojectistorestorean .i I td,
1 599. but was burned down in 1 613
- it is Any study of Shakespeare's lexicon would be inadequate if it did not draw atten-
The Shakespearean impacr on rhe language was said, by a spark from a cannon during a
appreciation of the works of Shakespeare
tion to his use of hyphenated compounds. Many of these (such as hugger- mugger)
and his contemporaries as they were first
chiefly in the area of the lexicon, as the examples on performance of H en ry Vl I L Although performed. Opened for its first season in /udr $ otc ofr$ir are uniquely and recognizably his, and they thus form an uncertan category
these pages suggest. His work, however, also provides immediately rebuilt, the theatre was closed 1 996, the Globe has a capacity of 1,500, Dolc
between those neologisms in his writing which have survived into the modern lan-
by the Puritans in 1642, and subsequently including 300 standing in the theatre's guage and those which have died (see above). lt is their structural diversity which is
countless instances of the way English was developing l so noticeable, as is suggested by this set of examples from King John (each occurs in
demolished. open yard. lt mounts plays in the style of
at the time, and illustrations from his poems and plays The reconstruction was the brainchild of Elizabethan drama, and in the setting the playjust once):
A page from the First Folio, the first complete edition of
are unavoidable in any discussion of
contemporary American actor-director Sam Wanamaker described simply and effectively in the Shakespeare's plays, published in 1 623. Arch-heretique Canker-sorrow ill-tuned sinne-conceiuing
pronunciation (p.69), word formation, synrax (p. 70), who died in December 1993, Prologue to He nry V as a 'wooden O'. baby-eyes faire-play kindred-action smooth-fac,d
or language use (p.71). In rerurn, the studies of
aged 74. The Globe Playhouie
IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS play fast and loose bare-pickt giant-world ore-look'd' thin-bestained
Trustwasformed in 1970, but Basilisco-like halfe-blowne pale-visag'd vile-concluded
Renaissance language in general have contributed
(Antony a n d C I eopatra,
building work on the site, The jump from quotation to
a tower of strength
lV.xi i)
breake-vow heauen-mouing pell-mell widow-comfort
many insights into Shakespearet own use of language. everyday idiom is sometimes (Richard Ill,V.i) (AfterW. F. Bolton, 1992.)
not great, as the following make a virtue of necessity
examples illustrate. All were (The Two Gentlemen of
introduced by Shakespeare,
Verona,lV.i)
and have become partofthe
wtLL|AM SHAKESPEARE (1 564.-1 61 6) dance attendance SUCH KNAVERY
idiomatic expression of the (HenryVIll,V.)
Shakespeare was born in stratford-upon-Avon, warwickshire, the son ofJohn shakespeare, modern language (though One approach to Shakespeare's linguistic creativity takes an everyday concept and
a cold comfort
glover, and Mary Arden, of farming stock. Much uncertainty surrounds his early life. He was sometimes wth an altered (King lohn,V.vl shows the imaginatve range ofthe expressions used to convey it. Even the com-
the eldest of three sons, and there were four daughters. Educated at the local grammar meaning). monest notions display a remarkable variety, as shown by this collection of insulting
at one fell swoop
school, in 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, from a localfarming family. Their children were what the dickens (Macbeth,lV.i) phrases usng the word knaye.
Susanna (1583) and twins Hamnet and Judith (1 585). (The MerryWivesof to the manner born wrangling knave; foul knave; Fortune's knave; fantastical knave; naughty knave; Sir
ln about 1 591 he moved to London and became an actor. The first evidence of his associa- Windsor,lll.) (Hamlet,l.iv) knave; arrant knave; a devilish knave; lousy knave; lunatic knave; muddy knave;
tion with the stage is in 1594 when he was acting with the Lord chamberlain's company of beggars all description wit
brevity is the soul of unthrifty knave; a thin-faced knave; a subtle knave; beastly knave; untaught knaves;
players, later'the King's Men'. When the company built the Globe theatre, he became a (Anto ny a nd CI eopatra, ll.) (Hamlet,ll.) bacon-fed knaves; gorbellied knaves; crafty knaves; lazy knaves; most unjust knave;
partner, living modestly in a house in Silver Street until c. 1606, then movin! nearthe Globe. foregone conclusion
a hold the mirror up to nature most villainous knave; thou most untoward knave; poor gallant knave; base notori-
HereturnedtoStratfordc. 1610, livingasacountrygentlemanathishouse,Newplace.His (Otl,e//o, lll.iii) (Hamlet,lll.) ous knave; scurvy, lousy knave; a counterfeit cowardly knave; arrant, malmsy-nose
will was made in March 1616 (p. 149), just before he died, and he was buried at Stratford. hoistwith his own pefard onlyto be kind
I must be cruel knave; scurvy railing knave; rascally yea-forsooth knave; stubborn ancient knave;
The modern era of shakespearean scholarship has long been noted for its meticulous (Hamlet, lll.iv) (Hamlet, lll.iv) \ jealous rascally knave; poor cuckoldy knave; a pestilent complete knave; foul-
investigation of the text, chronology, and authorship of the plays, and of the theatrical, in my mind's eye all ouryesterdays mouthed and caluminous knave; sly and constant knave; a slipper and subtle knave;
literary and socio-historical contexts which gave rise to them. To all this has now been (Hamlet,l.) (Macbeth,V.v) shrewd knave and unhappy; a young knave and begging; knaves that smell of
added acomparatively small but rapidly growing contribution from linguisticatly-inspired caviare to the general with bated breath swa! shrewd and knavish sprite; knaveveryvoluble; little betterthan false knaves;
approaches.such as stylistics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and computatonal linguistics (Hamlet,ll.) (M e rch a nt of Venice,
(pp. 63, 1 53). Of particular interest s the extent to which the remaining controvrsial
l.i i i) the lying'st knave in Christendom; the rascally, scauld, beggarly, lousy, pragging
it's Greekto me love is blind knave; scurvy, doting, foolish knave; whoreson beetle-headed, flap-ear'd knave;
questions of authorship (such as HenryVt Part t andTwo Nole Klnsmen) can be
Uulius Caesar,l.) (M e rch a nt of Venice, ll.vi) poor, decayed, ingenius, foolish, rascally knave; base, proud, shallow, beggarly,
illuminated using modern stylostatisticat and computationaltechniques (pp.266,423). salad days three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave.
(Antony a nd Cl eopatra, l.v) (AfterW. J. Hill & C. J. ttchen, 1991 .)
64 PART I TI-IE I-IISTOIIY OI ENGLISH 5 EARLY MODEI.N ENGLISF,I 65

some where, haue beene as exact as they coulci tl-rat BIBLICAL IDIOM
A conservative stYle
. The thircl person singular of the present rense ofverbs
THE KING JAME,S BIBLE way...That we sl-roulcl explesse the same lotioll in the same
There are many phrases in T[e style of the King James Bible is much lnore con- is always -(e)th. In orher rexrs of the periocl, it is being
pl'ticular word; as fol exarnple, if we translate the Hebrew replaced lry -, - a norrhern form which was moving
the King James Bible which ser.varive than that found in Shakespeare. As the trans-
In the year that Shakespeare rerirecl frorn wliting for or Greeke word once by Purposr, neue r to call it Intott; if one have entered the general
lator-s say in their Preface, their airn was not to make a south in the 16th cenrury (p.50), and which is often
where lournelting neuer Tiaueiling: if one where Thin/c, idiom of the language
the stage, 1611, the Authorized Version' or King (sometimes with minor t1cw translation,
'but to make a good one better', or out fotrnd irr Shakespeare (along with the -eth endtng).
never Sr4tpose ; if one wl-rere Paine, nerer Ac/:r; if one wl-rere
James Bible was pubiished. It was never in fact autho- changes in grammar or of many goocl ones, one principall goocl one'. They o The second person plural pronor-rns were changing
Io1, neter G/adnesse, etc. Thus to minse the matter, wee
rizecl by any parliamenrry plocess, lut its title-page emphasis). Here are some of for a clignified, not a popular style, and often cltrling this periocl (p.71).Originall / was rhe sub-
tl-rought to savoul more of curiositie ther"r wiseclome, ancl them. ailecl
states that it was appointed to be read in churches that rathel it would breecl scorne in the Atheist, tl-ren bring optecl for olcler forms of the language, when modeln ject fonn, ad )tou. was the folm used as object or aftel
my brother's keeper (Gen.4)
thror.rghor-rt the kingclorn, ancl in this way its influence profite to the goclly Reader. For is the kingclorne of Gocl a good old age (Gen. 1 5) altelnetives were available. Their text therefore cloes a preposition. This distinction is preservecl in the
on the population, and on the language at large, was to become words or syllablesl why shoulcl we e be ir.r bonclage to eye for eye (Exod. 2 1 ) not contain large numbets of new words, as Shake- Bille, as can be seen in sr-rch examples as Ye cnnot serue
be far-reaching. thern if we rnay be free, vse or-re plecisely when wee lnay vse to spy out the la nd spcxres plays did (p.63). One estimate fincls in it only God nd Manzmzn. Therefore I srtlt tutto you... But in
(Num. 13)
The origins of the work are well-documented. On auother no lesse fit, as cornmodiously? aboLrr 8,000 clifferent worcls, which is less than half of most writing, by the end of the 16th centur lzuw^s
the apple of hs eye
his joumey from Edinburgh to London in 1603, King (Deut.32) rlrc Shakespearean total (p.123). alreacly being used for7e, which disappeared from sran-
James was presented with the 'Millenary Petition', in There were other important emphases in the work the people arose as one man Sirnilarly, the King James Bible looks backwards in clarcl English in the late 17th century (apart fi'om in
which contributed to its effectiveness. The rranslarors (Judg.20)
which 750 reformers fi'om within the Chr-uch of Eng- its glammar, and pleserves many of the forms and con- sorne poetic and religious use).
land requested a new translation ofthe Bible, In a con- wele consciously conservative, and fi'eqr-rendy intro-
a man after his own heart
(1 Sam. 13) srl'uctions which were falling out of use elsewhere. . His is r-rsed for its, as in if the sb h,ts lost lis sauour,
ference the following year, the King ploposecl a panel duced archaism and traditional readings, especially How are the mig hty fallen Solle of these features are as follows: uherewith shall it be sbed. Although ir is lecorcled as
of university scholars who would carry out a prelirni- from Tyndale and Coverclale (p. 59). The resonances (2 5am. 1)
early as the encl of the 16th cenrury, it does not become
nary tlanslation, ancl this would then le subrnitted to of the past were strong in their choices. Ancl perhaps
a stillsmallvoice (1 Kgs. 19)
the root of the matter . Many irregular verbs are founcl in their olclel foms: general until 100 years later. Similarl the modem use
the bishops for revision. The 54 translarors were most important of all, they listened to final drafts of (Job 19) cxarnples include diged ('dvg'), gat ('got') and gotten, of the genitive ws sdll not established, as can be seen
the translation being read aloucl, velse by verse, in the skin of my teeth (Job 1 9)
divided into six 'companies', each working on a sepa- brrc ('bore'), spke ('spoke'), claue ('c\eft'), boen in suclr vsages as forJestu Christ his sae.
rate section of the Bible. The pleliminary version took order to assess their rhythm and balance. It is, par
out of the mouth of babes
(Ps.8) ('lrelpecl'), and wist ('knew'). Other archaic forms are . Several prepositions have clifferent r-rses flom toclay.
four years, and the final revision a further nine excellence, a preachers' Bible. His enemies shall lick the also fonncl, such as brethren, leirze, and ttuttin. O/ in particular, is wiclesp read the zeal of ('fol) thine
' dust (Ps.72)
months. The first edition, printed in an elegant black- ' Older worcl orclers are sdll in use, such as follow hotue, tentpted of ('bV') Satn, wentforth of('from') the
go from strength to
letter type, appearecl two yeals later. strength (Ps.84) t/.tou nte, spe le unto, cakes unleauened, and things Arlee. Other examples include in ('ar.') a good old age,
The panel followed a number of at their wit's end (Ps. 107) ctcrilrtl. In particular, the moclern LLSI of do with neg- tlten t0 (as a) wife, and lilee s ('like', 'as') the sand of the
to Llse rhe
guidelines. ll'anslators were Heap coals of fire upon his in questions is missing: we find they hneu
--.iirs"" atives and tell.
Bishops' Bible where possible (p. 59), but
head (Prov.25)
a lamb brought to the lin notinstead of they did not lenotu him. By conrrasr, . An is r-rsed before many nouns begining with h- in a
were permitted to consult Tyndale ancl slaughter (Jer. 1 1) bodr old and new constructions are used in Shake- stressed syllable, such as n htndred, an hee, an harlot.
other earlier versions if necessaly (and in can the leopard change his spcare, and the / constluction became standarcl by This usage, begun by \/yclifl is still to be found as late Thomas Cranmer
spots? (Jer. 1 3)
fact they did so to a consideralle extent). eat sour grapes (Ezek.24) about 1700. as the 19th cenrury. (1 489-1 s56)

They were to preserve recognized chapter th e sa lt of the ea rth

(Matt. s)
divisions and propel names, ancl to avoid
castyour pearls before
lengthy rnarginal notes. Ti'anslations by TWO SAMPLE TEXTS THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
swine (Matt.7)
any one member of the group were to be the straight and narrow The first extract Luke 15.29-32 A related influential text was the Prayer Book, which appeared in
approved by the other members, and each (Matt.7) represents the And he answering said to his father, Loe, these many yeeres 1 549with the full title of The Booke of the Common prayer and
in sheep's clothing (Matt. 7) printing,
company v/as to send irs material to the 61 1 doe I serue thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy com- administracion of the Sacramentes, and other Rites and Cere-
1

new wine in old bottles apart from the monies after the Use of the Churche of England. lt provided a
mandement, and yet thou neuer gauest mee a kid, that
others fol final agreement. Disagreements (Matt.9) replacement of might make merry with my friends: But as soone as this thy
I

single order of public worship to be followed throughout the

were to be formally cliscussed, ancl external if the blind lead the blind
(Matt. 1s)
opinions sought if required. Never had there
the signs of the times
beeu such a trauslation bv cornmirtee. (Matt. 16)
Committee documents are often faceless whited sepulchre (Matt. 23)
Physician, heal thyself
and uninspiring, with character ancl individ- (Lu ke 4)
uality swamped by the waves of revision to kick against the pricks
(Acts 9)
required to achieve consensus. That this pro-
allthingsto all men (1 Cor.9)
ject proved to be so successful must have been in the twinkling of an eye
due to the intellectual quality and personal (1 Cor. 1s)
enthllsiasm of the panel membels, which suffer fools gladly (2 Cor. 1 1 )
thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 1 2)
comes across strongly in their Preface to the Touch not (Col.2)
work. They show themselves well aware of the filthy lucre (1 Tim.3)
money isthe rootof allevil
dangers of consensus language:
(1 Tim.6)
An other thing we thinke good to admonish thee of Fight the good fight
(gentle Reacler) that wee haue not tyed oul selues to (1rm.6)
To the pure al I thi ngs
an vnifomitie of phrasing, or ro an identicie of pure (Tit. 1)
words, peraduenrure woulcl wish that we l-racl
as some
the patience of Job (James 5)
done, because they obserue, that some learnecl men The ttle-page of the King James Bible. rule with a rod of iron (Rev. 2)
long 's' by s; the country. The first edition was compiled by a group of bishops and
sonne was come, which hath deuored thy liuing with harlots,
second extract is
thou hast killed for him the fatted calfe. And he said vnto him, scholars led by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Thomas Cranmer),
from a 19th- and radically revised, after its controversial reception, in 1 552. A
Sonne, thou art euer with me, and all that I haue is thine. lt
century printing, later revision, generally known as the 1662 Book (f rom the date of
was meete that we should make merry, and be glad:for this
with modernized enforcement of its use), substituted the text ofthe King James
thy brother was dead, and is aliue againe: and was lost, and is
spelling and Bible, and introduced a degree of linguistic modernization. This
punctuation,
found.
version continued as the only official text in the Church of Eng-
which is closer to Genesis27.10-22 land untilthe adoption of an alternative liturgy in contemporary
the versions that And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all language at the end of the 1 970s (p. 403).
most people see The Prayer Book is responsible for a great deal of the vernacular
night, because the sun set: and he took of the stones of that
today. place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place idiom of English prayer, such as'As it was in the beginning, is now,
to sleep. and ever shall be: world without end. Amen', 'Lord have mercy
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, upon us', 'be amongst you and remain with you always'. A few of
and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of its phrases (such as holy wedlock) have achieved broader currency,
God ascending and descending on it. and a much larger number have achieved the status of quotations:
And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord
Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest (Collect,2nd Sunday in
God of Abraham thy father, and the God of lsaac: the land
Advent)
whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed: Renounce the devil and all his works (Public Baptism)
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou Wilt thou have this woman to thy weddedwi'te? (Solemnization
shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the of Matrimony)
are
north, and to the south: and in thee, and in thy seed, shall all earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust (Ih e Burial of the
the families of the earth be blessed. Dead)
 66 PART I. THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH
THE EMERGING
ORTHOGRAPHIC SYSTE,M
Even a generation after Caxton (p. 56), the English
writing system remained in a highly inconsistent
state, Although there were clear signs of standard-
ization, as the convenrions adopted by the
Chancery scribes became increasingly influential
(p. 54), there was still a considerable lack of unifor-
rity in spelling and punctuation. This can be seen
not only berween printed and handwritren texts, or
between the practices of diffeenr printers, but
within the work of an individual printer or aurhor.
Caxton, for example, in a single passage (p. 57) has
both boolee and boe, and axydand axed, and uses
double letters and final -in a fairly haphazard fash-
ion (hadde, wel, whiche). There is a comparable ran-
domness in the work of his immediare successors;
and a century later, spelling variation is still much in
evidence: fellow,for example, might appear asfelow,
felowe, fallow, fllow and several other forms. It is
this situation which motivated teacher and scholar
Richard Mulcaster, in the first part of his Elemen-
tarie (lJB2) , 'to find out rhe right writing of ours'.
There were many unfavourable comments about
the chaotic nature of the writing sysrem at the time,
and printers in particular came in for a great deal of
criticism. Alexander Gil, headmaster of St Pault,
writing in 1619, argues rhar 'corruption in writing
originated with the printing of our books, I lay all
the blame for our chaotic spelling on rhe last'. The
printers were blamed for a variety of reasons. Many
of them were foreigners, who introduced their
native conventions at will, and who were uncertain
of orthographic traditions in English. Proo
reading was nor always carried out by educated
people, so tht errors were promulgated. Because
there was only a limited amount of type, arbitrary
spellings were often introduced. And arbitrariness
also crept in when printers altered spelling (such as
adding or deleting a final -r) in order to make a line
of words end neatly at the right-hand margin.
It is difficult to evaluate the justice of these
charges, in the absence of explicit statements from
the printers, or detailed studies of the way ortho-
graphic consistency developed in their books. It
should be borne in mind that several of the critics
had an axe to grind, in rhe form of their own sysrem
of reformed spelling or method of teaching. But
there is no doubt that, throughout the early decades
of the 17th cenrury, the English writing sysrem was
widely perceived to be in mess. Although many
authors wrote with fair consistency in systems of
their own devising, there was no generally recog-
nized standard.
A SUPERFLUITY OF
LETTERS
John Hart, inThe opening of
the unreasonable writng of
our lnglish toung (1551), dis-
cusses 'the divers vices and
corruptions which use (or
better abuse) maintaineth in
ourwriting'. One of his vices
is'superfluite' -the use of
'more letters than the pro-
nunciation neadeth of
voices'. He accepts that an phones, such as sunne and
extra letter is sometimes
useful(such asto mark a long
vowel), but in manycasesthe
reason forthe letter is, in his
view, an irrelevance. A partic-
THE FIRST REFORMERS
Then, as now (p. 276), several
commentators thought that the
best soluton to the problem of
unsystematic spell ing was radical
reform on phonetic lines. Hart's
Orthographie (1 569) presented
one such system, as did William
Bullokar's Booke at Large, forthe
Amendment of Orthographie for
English Speech (1 580). Bullokar
uses an alphabet of 37 letters, in
which the traditionalforms are
supplemented by several diacritics.
This, he hopes, will receive more
favour than the earlier approaches,
which in his view overused new
symbols. However, there were many,
such as Richard MulcasteL who were
strongly opposed to any new
alphabets, preferring to staywith
traditional orthography, but used in a
more principled way. lt is their
views which eventually
triumphed.
llokar's proposed alphabet,
Bu
from A Short Introducton or
guiding to print, wrte, and
reade lnglish speech (1 580).
There are eight vowels, four
'half vowels' (1, r, m, n)
(compare semi-vowels,
p. 242), and 25 consona nts.
H is consonant proposals
include a written
distinction between voiced
and voiceless th, and a
separate symbol for ch. His
use of diacritics can be
seen in his'rule to
understand this table
fol lowing', which assigns
namesto old and new
letters.
ular case in point was the
attempt to show etymology
(p. 1 36) in the spelling, espe-
cially in words which had
come from Latin, either
directly or via French: this had
led to such practices as the
use of a b in debt and doubt,
an o in people, an s in bap-
trsm, and a d in a dventure.
Another was the use of dif-
ferent letters to show the
difference between homo-
sonne.
The arguments for and
against such practices were
much debated at the time.
Some scholars insisted that an
anDuf
o printer in his youth). ln a
indication of etymology was
highly desirable; others that
it was wholly irrelevant.
Some argued that homo-
phone distinctions would
help to avoid ambiguity in
writng; others that they
were unnecessary, as context
would solve the problem in
much the same way as it gen-
erally does in speech. ln the
event, all these positions
exercised some influence on
orthographic practice, con-
tributing to the unpre-
dictability of the modern
spelling system.
distinguished (with z used initially and medially in a
'
Growing regularization
Mulcastert own views did a great deal to hasten the
srowth ofregulalization at the end ofthe 16th century.
"Hit
Elt*tntorleprovided table listing recommended
a reasons, or perhaps because printers
spellings for nearly 9,000 words, and influenced a gen-
erarion of orthoepists (pronunciation teachers) and
grammarins. Several other works of the period focused
on the writing system, and a climate emerged which
fostered standardization - t least in print (manuscript
practices took much longer to conform). .
Vowels especially came to be spelled in a more pre-
dictable way. There was increased use ofa double-vowel
convention (asin soon) or silent -e (as in wtme) to mark
length; and a doubled consonant within a word became
more predictable sign of a preceding short vowel (sir-
ng) - though there continued to be some uncertainty
over what should happen at the end of a word (bedand
glad,6u welland glasse). Then, in the 1630s, one of the
most noticeable variations in meclieval English came to
be standardized: the use of uand u. These symbols were
ar firsr interchangeable (p.41), and then positionally
word); they later followed Continental prctice nd
adopted fixed phonetic values, with z representing a
consonant and u vowel. A similar standardization
(earlier ^
affectedT variant form of i ) and z.
a
During the 17th century, an increasing number of
spelling guides came to be published, which inevitably
influenced printing practice. Children's schoolbooks
began to contain lists of homophones (such as made
and mid) and irregular spellings, which had to be
learned by heart. And a considerable pressure for stan-
dardization followed the arrival of the frst dictionaries
(from 1604, p.72).By themiddle of the century, print-
ing conventions had become highly regularized, and
the gulf established berween the forms of speech and
their written representation. The modern system, in
which irregular spellings can be explained but not pre-
dicted, had arrived. The period of social tolerance of
variant spellings came to an end; and as lBth-century
notions of correctness emerged (p.72), poor spelling
became increasingly stigmatized.
IN FAVOUR OF CAPITALS
The American statesman
and scientist, Benjamin
Franklin (1706-90), had a
keen interest in the
English language, and
especially n its typogra-
phy (having been a
letter to Noah Webster
(p. 80), written in 1789,
he mourns the passing
of the age of noun capi
talization.
5.EARLY MODERN ENGLISH 67
initial capital (as is done systematically in
CAPITALIZATION
modern German) - perhaps for aesthetic
Hart recommended his readers to use a
capital letter at the beginning of every were uncertain about which nouns to
sentence, proper name, and important capitalize, and so capitalized them all.
common noun. By the early 17th century, The fashion was at its height in the later
the practice had extended to titles (sir, 1 7th century, and continued into the
La dy),'forms of address (Fathe r, M istris),
and personified nouns (Nature). Empha-
18th. The manuscripts of Butler, Trah-
erne, Swift, and Pope are full of initial
sized words and phrases would also capitals. However, the later 18th-century
attract a capita l. By the beginning of the
grammarians were not amused by this
1 8th century, the influence of Continen- apparent lack of order and discipline in
tal books had caused this practice to be the written language. ln their view, the
extended still further (e.9. to the names proliferation of capitals was unnecessary,
of the branches of knowledge), and it and causing the loss of a useful potential
was not long before some writers began distinction. Their rules brought a dra-
using a capita I for any noun that they felt matic reduction in the types of noun per-
to be important, Books appeared in mitted to take a capital letter (p. 122).
which all or most nouns were given an
An extract from Jonathan Swift's Eaucrs
and Philemon (1706), showing almost
, ..{.';,.,
every noun capitalized. _'.
(After P J. croft, 1973.)
. ,'..1
t1
ln antient Time, as Story tells
',:.
Lr4
The Saints would often leave their Cells, l',! ,') ,t,'ri,
And strole about, but hide their Quality, ,,."',. Ar.z.1,
To try the People's Hospital ity.
1;r:l
It happen'd on a Winter's night,
-'
As Authors of the Legend write
Two Brother-Hermits, Saints by Trade ,l
Taking their Tour in Masquerade
Came to a Village hard by Rixham
Ragged, and not a Groat betwixt'em.
It rain'd as hard as it could pou
Yet they were forc't to walk an Hour
From House to House, wett to the Skin i: u-i. v.t4 t l!"
Before one Soulwould let'em in.
i;.,i -": -,t,e
They call'd at ev'ry Dore; Good People, ,
'J-'"'; ;-,)
1
My Comrade's Blind, and l'm a Creeple ?e,
::-- 4..' i)1',,
i le1, ".,.t
Here we ly starving in the Street ("-f.(
'Twould grieve a Body's Heart to see'U iu /., ,ii.tr..:,,
No Christian would turn out a Beast 4 '? 1
ln such a dreadfull Night at least; ,"'.,," :.-yt- 5 la'
t-;1, ,,
.' I .. 1...t
Give us but Straw, and let us Ly
ln yonder Barn to keep us dry.
, '..,;t - a. .("rr,
Thus in the Strolers usuall Cant
.,( -t, .,,, .,) .,.. :t.
They beg'd Relief which nonewould '.," tt
grant; ;,,t,..
. t -/,, ..
t..; ' ( .., ,l : l i-!.'/: .J,r-,
.
,,)
ln examining the English books that were printed above the line, disturbing its even, regular
between the restoration and the accession of appearance. The effect of this change is so con-
George the Second [1 660-1 7271, we may observe, siderable, that a learned man of France, who
that all substantives were begun with a capital, in used to read our books, though not perfectly
which we imitated our mother tongue, the acquainted with our language, in conversation
German. This was more particularly usefulto with me on the subject of our authors, attributed
those who were not well acquainted with the the greater obscurity he found in our modern
English, there being such a prodigious number of books, compared with those of the period above
our words that are both verbs and substantives, mentioned, to a change of style for the worse in
and spelt in the same manne[ though often our writers; of which mistake I convinced him, by
accented differently in pronunciation. This marking for him each substantive with a capital,
method has, by the fancy of printers, of late years in a paragraph, which he then easily understood,
been entirely laid aside; from an idea, that sup- though before he could not comprehend it. This
pressing the capitals shews the character to shews the inconvenience of that pretended
greater advantage; those letters, prominent improvement.
 68 PART I THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH
RENAISSANCE PUNCTUATION QUOTE... UNQUOTE
The basis of the modern puncuarion sysrem emerged
Joshua Steele includes
this letter as an
cluling the Renaissance. Caxron was heir to a graphic Appendix to his treatise
tradition which was limited, unclear, and inconsistent.
onThe Melodyand
Measure of Speech
In common with classical models, the symbols were ( 1 775). Because he is
used rhetorically (p.278), showing readers whele to thinking of it as a quo-
tation, he encloses the
breathe, how long to pause, and how to introduce
whole thing in double
emphasis and rhythmical balance into their speech. inverted commas, fol-
lowing the conventons
,pven so, there was a great deal ofidiosyncrasy and arbi-
current at that time.
trariness in their use, and attempts to find a neat cor-
Each new line is opened
elation between punctuarion and prosody in Early by these commas, with
just one pair of raised
Modern English texts have never succeeded.
commas to mark the
The chief symbols were rhe uirgule, or oblique close (not shown here).
stroke (/), found in both short and long forms; the An interesting feature
isthe inclusion of the
peri.od (.), found at various heights; and the colon (:).
date within the
There is no correspondence with modern uses. In quotation.
Caxton, the virgule variously had the function of a
modern comma, period, or semi-colon; it fell out of
use in the 16th centur and was largely replaced by the EDITING THE TEXT
comma. The period was often used where today we A modern edition of
would have a comma (as in the closing lines of the'egg' a Renaissance text
text, p. 57).The colon had a broad range ofrhetorical may introduce
several differences in
functions, and was not restricted to introducing a list punctuation which
or summary, as it is now
affect the way the
passage is to be
John Hart (p.66) had a grear deal to say about both
interpreted (and, in
the rhetorical and grammatical functions of 'poinring'. the case of drama,
He distinguished the period ('point'), colon ('joint'), how the actor should
comma, question mark ('asker'), exclamation mark present it). Whether
the emendations
('wonderer'), parentheses ('clozer'), square brackets help or hinder is a
('notes'), apostrophe ('rourner'), hyphen ('joiner'), matter for discussion;
diaresis ('sondrer'), and capital ('great') letters. His but the first thing is
to be aware that
detailed account greatly influenced the way grammar-
they exist. The
ians and printers dealt with this area, and punctuation
following extract
marks in books came ro be more widely used as a from King Lear
illustrates the issue
result. (1.i.55-61). The first
Other marks emerged in English Renaissance print- version from the
is
ing. The semi-colon (also called a comm-colon, hemi- First Folio (1 623); the
second is from the
colon, or sub-colon) came inro use during the l6th New Penguin edition
century, and for a while was used interchangeably with (1e72).
the colon. 'Turned double commas', later called quo-
tation mars or inuerted czrnmag made their appear-
nce to open direct speech, and some rime afrerwards
double raised commas were brought in to close it. But
not only did new symbols emerge; older symbols
developed new uses. In the 18th cenrury, for example, PAUSAL PRECISION
the apostroph e (p. 283) extended irs range, first mark-
Many writers of the time draw attention
ing the genitive singular of nouns, then rhe genitive to the rhetorical role of punctuation
plural. There was also a much heavier use of the marks, often computing pausal values
comma than is typical toda as the extract from Ben- with mathematical precision. An example
is Simon Daines, in Orthoepia Anglicana
jamin Franklin illustrates 1p.67).By the end of the
(1640), who def ines the perod in this way:
Early Modern English period, the modern puncrua-
tion system was in mosr respecrs established. The Period. .. is altogether used at the end
of every speech or sentence,... and signi-
fies conclusion. The pause or distance of
5 EARLY MODERN ENGLISH 69
SOUND CHANIGES NEWSOURCES OF ing vowel: sometimes the
STRE55 SHIFTS
vowel became a diphthong Many words could be heard
VARIATION
lpsl Some of the most impor-
(as in peerand bear); some-
times it lengthened (as in
with a different stress pattern
from the one found today.
The pronunciation changes which took place during tant pronunciation indicat- .
barn, corn, and c/erk). The First syllable stressed:
Early Modern English have been studied in consider- ors of present-day regional RP change proved to be antiq u e, conven ie nt, dis-
and socialvariation
r.o r AUTHOR oF THE TREATISD or rHE MELODY able cletail. Not only is there a great deal of literary evi- something of an exception: tinct, entire, extreme, !uly.
emerged during this period.
AND MEASURD or SPEECH. dence, derived frorn the rhymes and rhythms of most British and American o Second syllable stressed:
.The distinction in modern regional accents retained advertise, character,
poerry, there are also detailed accounts of contempo- the/rl and the discrepancy
British Received Pronuncia- demonstrate, s niste r.
., l:[lty 14, t77g. ,^ry prot].tn"iation from phoneticians and spelling tion (RP, p.245) between between sound and . Final syllable stressed:
cut(son, run, etc.) andput
reformers. The changes were many andcomplex. The spelling later became a aspect, expert, pa ramount,
\ZOU havc inclofed my remarks, which are too long; but
ec
(pull, wolf , etc.) developed focus of purist criticism parent, yesterday.
effects of the Great Vowel Shift (p. 55) were still
" I as you defired them foon, I had not time to make them in the 17th century. Previ- (p.36s).
Secondary stress (p. 248)
(r lhorter. I am glad that you are to give your fyltern to the slowly working their wy through the sound system, ously, both types of word o Two new consonants
also often differed:for exam-
.r public. + + * * * s to the querics and obGrvations I fent and several other important developments were in had a high, back, rounded emerged during this period.
ple, at one time academyhad
vowel /u/-the quality heard The [] sound in such words
13 you formerly and have now Gnt you, you may make what such a stress on its third sylla-
(( uG of them you think pmper; and if they contribute in the
P1'ogress' in modern put. This quality as sing was pronounced in
ble (so that it was rhythm ically
remained in certain pho- Middle English, but always
., lealt to meke more compleat fo .ingenious a performanee, I netic contexts (e.9. pre- followed by [g] or [k]. so
like helicopter). Many poetic
rhymes do not make sense
r ftrall tbink they do me honour. A GREAT FEAST OF LANGUAGES
ceded by a labial consonant, that it never had any inde-
until this extra stress (and its
asin full, wolf, put), but
pendent status as a
effect on the vowel) is taken
Dramatists can provide a source of insight into contem- elsewhere the vowel phoneme. By the early 1 7th
porary pronunciation, partly because of their use of became more open and lost century, this f inal [-g] was
into account: Donne rhymes
rhymes and word-play, but also because of what they its rounding, resulting in no longer being pronoun-
make us one and
propagat on, and Shake-
make their characters say. A famous Shakespearean /r/. ln due course, pairs of ced in RP, leaving//asa
speare neverdie and memory.
example is in love3 Labour3lost (V.i.15), where the words began to be con- separate contrastive unit.
GONERILL: Sir, I loue you more than words can weild ye matte trasted using these qualities Soon afte'g-dropping'
It is n fact d ifficu lt to be
i
schoolmaster Holofernes complains about Don definite about word stress
Deerer then eye-sight, space, and libertie, Armado's pronunciation. (such as /ook vs /uck), and a became a social issue
(p.77). during this period. There was
Beyond what can be valewed, rich or rre, new phonemic distinction
abhor such fanatcal phantasimes, such insociable and . The/3/phonemealso an unusual amount of varia-
No lesse then life, with grace, health, beauty, honor: I emerged (p. 236). HoweveL
As much as Childe ere lou'd, or Fatherfound. point-devise companions; such rackers of orthography, the change was ignored in emerged inthe 17th cen-
tion, because native stress
asto speak'dout'fine, when he should say'doubt'; 'det' patterning (which tended to
A loue that makes breath poore, and speech vnable, many regions, with people tury, a developmento lzjl-
when he should pronounce'debt'- d, e, b, t, not d, e, t. put the stress on the root syl-
continuing to use /u/ in
Beyond all manner of so much I loue you. in much the same way as in
He clepeth [cal/s] a calf 'cauf', half 'hauf'; neighbour lable of a word) was in com-
both types ofword, and ths Modern English a rapid pro-
GONERILL: Sir, I love you more than word can wield the matter, vocatur [s cal/ed] 'nebour'; 'neigh' abbreviated 'ne'. This is now one of the chief nunciation of wasyour
petiton with the pattern
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty, is abhominable -which he would call 'abbominable'. heard in Romance loan-words
means of telling whether readily results in a coales-
Beyond what can be valued rich or rare, (which tended to put the
someone has been brought cence of the two sounds.
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honou There were evidently two styles of pronunciation cur- stress on a syllable at or near
up in the North of England. The change chiefly affected
As much as child e'er loved or father found; rent in the late 1 6th century, and there is no doubt about
o Throughout this period, such words as occasion and
the end of a word). Stress
which the schoolmaster prefers - the more conservative might also vary depending on
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable; /r/ was sounded before con- vsion, measure and p/ea-
Eeyond all manner of 'so much' I love you. one, which most closely ref lects the spelling (p. 66). the position in which a word
sonants and at the end of a sure, and later appeared in
appeared in a sentence or
There are several differences which could lead to an interesting word, as is suggested by the final position in such loan
metrical line. Complete, for
argument. way it has been preserved in words as beige and garage.
example, has a stress on its
modern spellin g (jar, corn, The French overtones ofthe
o Does the removal of the comma after valewed (1. 3) alter the SOUND DESCRIPTION first syllable in'A thousand
meaning of the phrase rich or rare (to mean 'what can be valued as
f i re, etc.). lt stopped bei ng sound are a source of con-
complete courses ofthe Sun'
pronounced in RP during troversy still, as when
rich or rare' rather than 'no matter how rich or rare')? The precision with which some writers could describe
the 18th century with vari- people argue the case of
(Troilus and Cressida), but on
o Does the replacement of the colon after honor (1.4) by a comma the sounds of English is well illustrated by this extract the second in 'never com-
ous effects on the preced- lga'ro3l vs I'grrdjl .
reduce the dramatic impact of the pause following the list of from John Wallis's account of [n] in his Treatise on plete' (Timon of Athens).
nouns? Speech (1 st edition, 1 653). (Translated from the Latin by
. Does the removal of the comma alter lou'd (1.5) lessen the force J. A. Kemp, 1972.) Howdowe know?
The clearest evidence comes
of the contrast between Childe and Father? Similarly, is its removal For there is a difference between the sound of the letter THE TONGUE THAT SHAKESPEARE SPOKE
desirable afterpoore in the next line? f rom the way words are used
. Doesthe replacementof the period after found(1. 5) bya semi-
n in the words th in, sin, in, and that in thing, think, sing, Now o'er the one half-world in poetry, where a predictable
single, sink, ink,lynx, etc. Similarly in hand, band, ran
colon reduce the summarizing prominence of the finaltwo lines? neu o:r e wxn ha:f wuld metre or rhyme forces a pro-
the n is not the same as it isin hang, bank, rank, etc....ln nunciation upon us. Also,
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
(After G. Ronberg, 1992.) the former of each of these two groups the pronuncia- grammarians begn to
ne:ter sirmz ded end wlkrd dre:mz abjurz
tion of n always involves the tip of the tongue striking describe accentuation in their
the front of the palate, near the The curtain'd sleep; now witchcraft celebrates
roots of the upper teeth; e kxrteind sli:p neu wrtjkraft sehbre:ts
accounts of the language -
though they did not always
whereas in the latter the tip Pale Hecate's offerings; and wither'd murde
agree with each other.
of the tongue is normally pe:l hekets ofen4z end wrard mxrdar lndeed, disputes about stress
speaking hereto appropriate is sometime moved down to the roots Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf,
more, sometime lesse: for... when in the
seem to have been just as
of the lower teeth, and elaremd bei hrz sentrnel e wolf strong then they are today.
middle of a line it cuts off any integrall the back of the tongue
as
Whose howl's hiswatch, thus wth his stealthy pace, One writer (Robert Nares, in
part of a complete Tractate [treafse], is raised up to the back 1784) criticizes Dr Johnson for
which goes not on wth the same, but hu:z heulz hlz watJ rs w0 hrz stelOr pe:s
of the palate, blocking recommending such forms as
begins a new line, it requireth double the With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design
the sound at this point. bombast and carmine instead
time of pause, that it doth when the trea- wrO tarkwrnz rvrJrq stridz tu:rdz htz d:zein
of bombast and carmine, and
tise persists in the same line: being then Precision indeed - and Moves like a ghost.
complains about'barbarous
foure times as long as a Colon, which in in 16531 mu,vzreikeso,sr. .,un,...ptiol[iiii'l,l;31;i"t; and unpleasing sounds. .
the same line is buttwice.
.
phonetic symbols, see 917.) which no ear can hear with-
out being offended'.
 70 PAR]'I.THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 5 EAILY MODEIN NCLISH 71

until the early lTrh cenrury. Participial consrrucrions SAY YOU 50? I DO The thou/You question The Renissance slsteTn SIGNIFICANT SWITCHING
E,ARLY MODERN ENGLISH became extremely common, and added greariy ro the One of the most important 'fhe second person plonoun system of Renaissance By the time of Shakespeare, you. had developed the Switching between thou and
GRAMMAR length of sentences which, in the more complex writ- syntactic developments of
English has been the sub.iect of much investigation - numbel ambiguity it retains tocla being usecl for you is so common in some
ers, might run to 20 lines or more. In the early periocl, this period concerned the use texts that it may appearto
of do as an auxi liary verb not sirnply because the fonns provide an obvious point eithel singr-rlar or plural; but in the singular it also hacl lack purpose. However, if we
The major shifts in English grammarical srrucrure such sentences often appear incomplete or ill-formecl (p. 21 2). The differences from of contrast with Modern English, but because they a role as an alternative rc thoulthee. It was usecl by adopt a sociolinguistic per-
were over by the time of the Renaissance (p. 44);6vt to modern eyes (failing in concord, for example, or dis- modern usage can be seen in rforrn a central role in the expression of personal people of lower rank or sttus to those above them spective, readings of consid-
re
even a casual glance at texts from the period sho\Ms that playing an unarrached subordinate clause); but ir is such interrogative and
r.cletionships, aucl are thus crucial to ar.ry stucly of con- (such as ordinary people to nobles, children to parents, erable interest can result, as
negatve sentences as Says can be seen in the following
rnany important changes were conrinuing to take important to appreciate thar at the time such variabil- she so 7 and Believe him not rcmporary clrama, Understanding the Early Modern servants to masters, nobles to the monarch), and was Shakespearean examples.
place, although of a more limited kind. For example, ity was normal. By the 17dr cenrury, however, highly where today we would Iinglish functions of thou(thee, thine, thy, thyself) and also the standald way for dre upper classes to talk to . lntheopeningsceneof
several features of verb use show differences fi.om sophisticated and carefully crafted senrences, follow- introduce a do-form (Does
you (ye, )/oxrs, llur, lourself) can be citical in iuter- e ach otlre r. By contrast, thou I thee were used by people Kng Lear, Lear's daughters
she say so?, Do not believe
toclay: 'My life is run his compass', says Cassius (Juliw ing a variety of Latin models, were commonplace, as him). By Shakespeare's time, prering the emotions of the characters, as well as their of higher rank to those beneath them, ancl by the lower address him asyou, and he
addresses Goneril and Regan
can be seen in the writing ofJohn Lyl Philip Siclne
Caesar, V.i.25) , where today we should say has nrn
- it was possible to use do in varying attitudes towalds each other duling the coulse classes to each other; also, in elevated poetic style, in as thou (as would be
and this sentence also illustrates one of the pronoun and John Milton. these sentences, but it was
ofa play. addlessing God, and in talking to witches, ghosts, and expected); but his opening
not obligatory. Also, do could
uses typical of rhe time. Consrrucions involving be used in a declarative The chief stages ir1 the development of the system other supernatulal beings. There were also some spe- remark to his 'best' daughte
negative (I cannot go no futher) were
Cordelia conveys special
a double THE SUSPENDED SENTENCE aff irmative sentence without wcre s follows: cial cases: for example, a husband might acldless his respect:'what can you say...'.
commonplace; rhere are still signs of impersonal verbs
D
conveying any extra
emphasis, again unlike today,
. Irr Old English (p.20), thou. (and its lelated forms) wife as thou, and she reply with you.. Then, when he is displeased
(me thins he dd); and during the per.iod a number of
E
as in 'they do offend our was Lrsed for adch'essing one person; y (and its relatecl Of particular interest are those cases where an extra by her response, he switches
to an angry thy: 'But goes thy
verb inflecrions (e.g. pleseth, hnow'st, spake) fell ow of si ght' (H e n ry V, lV.vi. 56), fbrms) for mole than one. \ithin these categories, emotional element entered the situation, ancl the use heart with this?'
stanclard use (for other examples, see pp. 63, 65). F which means no more than o Hamlet uses fhoutothe
H 'they offend our sight'. tlt ou and ye were usecl as clause sr,rbject, thee and you as of thouot J/oubrcke the expected conventions. Tbzu
Ghost throughout Act l, as is
There were also significant stylistic developments in G
J
During the period, it object. commonly expressed special intimacy or affectior-r;
sentence strucrure (p.214).In Caxton and Malor the A K became increasingly usual to . During Middle English, yelyoucame to be used as a you, fornality, politeness, ancl distance . Thou could
normal in addressing spirits,
but changes to you i n the
sentences tend to be loose and linear, with repeated and [so shallthe world go on, L-M insert do-forms into negative
and interrogative sentences, polite singulal form alongside thoulthee, a situation also be used, even by an inferior to a superior, to closet scene (lll.iv), presum-
A ably because his doubts
or thencoordination, and a limited amount ofsubordi- To good malignant, to bad men benign,l and to omit them f rom which was probably influenced by French uoxrsvs tt. express such feelings as anger and contempt (as in the
nation, mostly introduced by which or tbat. Here is a BC declarative aff irmative ones . During Early Modern English, the distinction biblical text on p.65). The e of thlu to a person of
about the identity of the
Ghost have been removed.
typical sentence, raken from Caxtont prologue to the IUnder her own weight groaning] [tillthe day (except in cases of emphasis).
c ln one study of this topic, only
between subject ancl object uses ofye and you gradually equal rank could thus easily count as an insult, as Sir the you is now one of respect
Golden Legenl(for other exrracrs, see pp.57-8), Appear of respiration to the just, c. 20 per cent of interrogative clisappeared, and you. became the norm in all gram- Toby Belch well knows when he advises Sir Andlew of son to father.
. The murderers of Clarence
c sentences used do-forms in mtical functions and social situations. ]/ continuecl Aguecheek on how to write a challenge to 'the Countt
And I for them vnto Almyghty God that he of his
sl.ral praye And vengeance to the wicked, at return in Richard lll(l.iv) address him
1 500, whereas over 90 per
benygne grace rewarde them etc., and that it prouffrte ro alle CD cent d id so by 1 700. The
in use, but by the end of the 16th century it was youth' (Viola): 'if thou thoutt him some thlice, it shall asyou, and he addresses
Of himl [so lately promised to thy aid lcstricted to archaic, religious, or literary contexts. By not be amiss' (fwelfih Night,ll^I..42), himself using a them separately as thou. But
them that shal rede or here it redde, and may encreace in graph shows the steady
them vertue and expelle vyce and synne that by the
DE growth of do-forms in one of 1700, the tltoufortns were also lalgely lestricted in this demeaning thouin a speech situation where the norm
his speech threatening God's
The woman's seed,l [obscurely then foretold,] vengeance provokes an angry
ensaumple of the holy saynres amende theyr lyuyng here in these contexts: aff irmative
F way. is you.Lil<ewise, the use of youwhen tltouwas expectecl retort, and their pronoun
questions (such as Do they
thys shorte lyf that by their rnerytes they and I may come to INow amplier known thy saviour and thy Lord,] a lters with their mood: 'And
know?). (After A. Ellegrd, (such as fi'om master to servant) woulcl also require
everlastyng lyfand blysse in heuen. G that same Vengeance doth he
[Last in the clouds from heaven to be revealed 19s3.) special explanation. hurl on thee'.
The influence of Latin synracric style on English GH . ln HenryVl Parf 3 (lll.ii),
ln glory of the Father,l [to dissolve o/o WHY THOU, TO GOD? Edward lV is trying to per-
became marked in the 16th cenrury. Cicero in partic- HI 90 PURE PROPER UNTO ONE authority who still sensed the words' suade a reluctant Lady Gray
ular was much imitated. There is a more complex use Satan with his perverted world,l [then raise 80 We might have expected the former association with 'lower' speech situ- to be his queen. At one polnt,
of subordination, and a search for rhetorical conrrasr
IJK 70 deity to be addressed as You in By the middle of the 17th century, fhou ations, and found them objectionable. At after a sequence in which the
From the conflagrant mass, [purged] and [refined,] 60 Early Modern English, given was disappearing from standard usage; but one point inhislournal, George Fox recalls
it was kept alive by members of the emerg- King uses only fhou forms,
and balance, as is shown by this exrracr from \X/illiam I 50 such descriptions as'king', that Friends were'in danger many times of her evasion provokes him to
New heavens, new earth, ages of endless datel 40 'father', and 'most high'. ln ing Society of Friends, or Quakers, who dis- our lives, and often beaten, for using those
Camden's Remaines Concerning Britain (1605): approved of the way singular you had come an irritated you response -
L 30 fact, during this period he is words to some proud men, who would say,
[Founded in righteousness and peace and love] to be part of social etiquette, and who but he soon regains his com-
As for the Monosy/lables so rife in our tongue which were not
20 always addressed as lhou. This "Thou'st'thou'me, thou ill-bred clown", as posu re:
M 10 may be because the usage was accordingly used thou forms to everyone. though their breeding lay in saying "you"
so originall although they are vnfitting for verses and mea- [To bring forth fruits joy and eternal bliss.] Th is usage, it was felt, was closer to the way
1 consciously archaic - a recol- to a singular'. EDWARD: Sweet widow, by
sures, yet are they most fit fol expressing briefly the first con- lection of the early Middle Christ and his disciples spoke, avoided my state I swear to thee
The controlled complexity of sentence construction is
ceipts of the minde, or Inrenonalia as rhey call them in well illustrated by this extract from Milton's Pa radise Lost English situation when lhou unnecessary social distinction, and was I speak no more than what

schooles: so that we can set downe more matter in fewer would have been the only pos- grammatically more exact, being a 'particu- my soul intends,
(X11.537-51), in which archangel Michael concludes his
sible form of address in the lar, single, pure proper unto one'. The sin- And that is to enjoy thee for
lines, than any other language. account of the future of mankind. The diagram shows gular use ofyou, by contrast, was
singular. Alternatively, the my love.
the formal balance involved. Each clause is identified by
usage may showthe influence considered a corruption, a form of worldly LADY GRAY: And that more
The awkwardness or uncertainty which a modern a capital letter (A-M). At each level of subordination
of the first Bible translators honour, to be shunned along with all other than I willyield unto.
is

eader often feels in reading early Renaissance prose is there is a cluster of clauses, but only the last clause in
(p. 59), who were following empty social customs. The point was I know I am too mean to be
each cluster (C, G, l, L) acts as a starting-point for further
chiefly a consequence of the way writers were begin- languages that distinguished forcibly made by one of the f irst Quakers, your queen,
structural development. The effect is rather like a series
second person singular and Richard Farnsworth, inThe Pure Language And yet too good to be your
ning to explore the potential of the language for com- of waves of meaning - as one crtic has put it, 'surge fol-
plural pronouns of the Spirit of Truth (1655), f rom which the
(as in Latin tu concu bine.
plex sentence consrrucrion (p.226). There was lows surge in the relentless tide of Michael's vision,-
vs vos). As Godwould have above quotation also comes: 'That which EDWARD: You cavil, widow-
untilwe reach the final clause (M), syntactically depen- cannot bear thee and thou to a single
conscious experimentation with new grammatical pat- been referred to by the I did mean my queen.
dent on the opening clause (A), six levels of structure person, what sort soever, is exalted proud
singular pronoun in these LADY GRAY: 'Twill grieve
terns, supported by an increasingly standardized punc- away. Constructions which display such a marked delay
flesh, and is accursed'. your grace my sons should
languages, this practice may
tuation system (p.68). New conjunctions emerged': in grammatical and semantic resolution are often
have influenced the choice of The use of thou forms often brought call you father.
described as 'suspended sentences'. (After T. N. Corns,
becuse, for example, first appears in Chaucer, l:ut Ihou in English, even in an age angry reactions, especially from those in EDWARD: No more than
for 1990.)
when singularyou would when my daughters call
(tht) remained the normal way of expressing cause a
have been possible. thee mother.
 72 PAIIT I.-fHE HISTOIY OI.'ENGLISH 5 EARI,Y MODERN ENGI-ISH 73

THE FIRST SYNONYM Neither Britain nor the United States (p.81) chose the THE SOUTH AFRICAN
THE SEARCH FOR STABILITY DICTIONARY
The AcademY issue
Academy solution; ancl although the idea has been EXCEPTION
Authors such as Swift were deeply worried about
Qt{ . An important step forward
5peed at which the language was changing.
the
'llithout raisecl at intervals ever since, it has never found
The great age of Elizabethan literature brought
unprecedented breadth and inventiveness in rhe use of
an
Table Alphabe ticail,co lr in organizing the English
lexicon took place when prop"r.ot.trtols, woulcl their work still be intelligible in widespread sLlpport within those nations. MY
Robert Cawdrey publ ished generation or so? In A Proposal for Corlecting, The debate abor.rt language con'uption in the 17th
Y
English, especially in the area of vocabulary (p.60). It teynin$ and rcachinq rhe true the f irst'dictionary of hard "In.rproving and Ascertaining the English Tongue' century clid, however, focus public attention on the g
existence of a problem ancl the need for a solution, If
has leen esrimared drat the period berween 1530 and words' in 1604. ATable
the Restorarion (1660) clisplayed the fastest lexical
vvriring, and vnderltanding of hard Alphabetica ll conta ined (1712), Swift Presented his case:
:tf
v) Ed

growth in the histoly of the language. Nearly half of
the new worcls were borlowings fi'om the many cul-
!r'es with which English was coming into contact; the
remainder were differenr rypes of word fomarion
using native resources. There was also a great cleal of
semantic change, as old words acqr-rirecl new senses a
- hclpc of LtetrGcntlewomenrot rt o;he?
factor palticularly noticed by those involved in the
plodr.rction of religious texts. The aurhors of the
revised edition of the Book of Common Prayer (1662)
commenr that most of their alterations to the 7552
version were macle 'for the more proper expressing of
some words or phrases of ancient usage, in terms more
sr"ritable to the language of the presenr times'.
This unprecedented growth brought with it
unprecedented uncertainty. By the end of the lTth
century there was a widespreacl feeling of unease alour
the direction in which the language was moving.
Many critics felt that English was changing too
quickly ancl randoml and appliecl such terms to ir as
'unruly','corrupt','unrefined', and'larbarous'. A par-
ticular area of concern was the lack of consistency in
spelling or puncruarion (pp. 66-9): ar one exrreme,
vfurll'Engfi wordcs, borroed from
thc Habrew, Grcckc, Larine,
or Ficncl. &c.
With the interprerarion rhereof bv
pleine nqltt ordr,gatbefor tbe eneft
bnftlfnllper{w.
Whercby they rnay the more
end bcrrcrvndcifland lllny hcrd Enehfh
wordci, vvhrch rhcy fhall hc.tc oircfr n
Scripturcr, Scrmons, or clfwhcrc , and alfo
bc ma.dc ablc to vf^c thc famc ipttv
'
rhcmfctucs.
grrt,ct nonintcllcre , neghgerc e{1,
As good not rcd, s no ro vndcrflnd.
,tt 0f,D0L,
rinred by I. R. i gdiund Wea-
ocr, &arc to bc fold ar his fhop arhc srcaG
Norrh doorc of Peutcs ihurch.
glosses for 3,000 'hard vsual I
English wordes', such as
abbettors, glossed as
'counsellors', and a bb reu at,
glossed as'to shorten, or
make short'. lt was a
commercial success, and was
followed by several other
compilations on similar lines.
e#e
,1.
Swift attacked in all directions: he was against Restora-
proposals which triecl to reflect speech, the fashionable
slang of university people -'illiterate Court-Fops, hal
" witted Poets, and University-Boys'. His solution was
were once refinecl to a certain Standalci, per-
i[ it [English]
haps there might be \ays founcl out to fix it for ever; ol at
till we are invacled ar-rd rnac{e a Cor-rquelt by some other
least
State; ancl even then our best'Writings might probably be
with Cale, ancl grow in Esteem, and the Authors
rLeservecl
irrvc a Chance fol lrnrnortality.
I Ie submitted his proposal to the Earl of Oxford:
My Lorcl; I
do here, in the Name of all the Learnecl and
lblite Persons of the Nation, complain to Your LORD-
SHIP, as First Minister, tl-rat our Langr.rage is extremely
imperfect; that its daily Improvements are by no meaus it-t
proportion to its claily Corruptions; that the Pretenders to
polish and refine it, have chiefly multipliecl Abuses ar.rcl
Absurdities; and, that in many Instances, it offencls against
(.very Part oGratntnar.
tion licentiousness, the sloppiness of the young nobil-
it the abbreviations usecl by poets, the spelling
to follow the example of the French (whose Academy
the language needed protection, or at least cousistency 2
and stabilit these could be provided by clictionaries,
grammars, spelling guides, and pronunciation manu-
als. Standarcls of correctness wor-rlcl thereby emerge, .
which all could follow. ItwasJohnson hirnselfwho put
the first part of this solution into place (p.74). The only part of the English-
speaking world which has
ever set up an Academy is
South Africa. 'The English
TH E SCI ENTIFIC APPROACH
Academy of Southern Africa'
was established in 1961, and
The sense of chaos and confusion which surrounded the promotes'the effective use
language was attacked in several ways. Some scholars
of English as a dynamic lan-
proposed radical systems of spelling reform (p. 66).
guage in Southern Africa'.
Some, such as the mathematician Bishop John Wilkins
(1 61 4-72) tried to develop a logical alternative to
Based in Johannesburg, it
arranges lectures and confer-
English, which would do away with all irregularity - one
of the first attempts at a universal language.
When the Royal Society for the Promotion of Natural
ences, administers prizes,
participates in national
Knowledge was founded in 1660, a scientific approach
bodes, and dispenses lan-
guage information. lt also
was proposed. A group of its members formed a commit-
tee to'improve the English tongue, particularly for
operates an English advisory
service, popularly known as
philosophic Ii.e. scientific] purposes'. The aim was to
'G rammar-phone'.
develop a plain, objective style, without rhetoric and
classical vocabulary, which would be more suitable to sci-
entific expression. The committee achieved no consen-
sus, and did not exist for long, but a 'naked, natural way
of speaking; positive expressions; clear senses' was said
to have been a hallmark of the founder members' style.

!!91,
there were people who spelled as rhey spoke (such as This group was the nearest Britain ever came to having
was founded in 1635):
sartinb for certin); ar rhe other, there were rhose , .
an Academy.

who took pains to reflect Classical etymology in their a fi'ee judicious Choice shoulcl be made of such Persons, as An allegorical
spelling (often mistakenly, such as by adding an i ro rre generally allowecl to be best qualifiecl for such a \ork, engraving by Hollar,
LEXICAL SUMMITS representing the
islandor a cto scissors). There was also a fear that foreign without any regard to Qualit Part or Profession. These,
7000 foundaton of the
words and neologisms were entering the language in
The peak of vocabulary growth in the Renais- to a certain Number at least, shoulcl assemble at some Royal Society (from
sance period is clearly shown by this graph, which
an uncontrolled way. The critics could see no order in appointed Time ancl Place, ancl fix on Rules by which they Bshop Sprat's H6tory
is based on a count of tems appearing in an
abridged version of the Oxford English Dictionary clesign to proceecl. .. .what I have most at Heart is, that some of the Royal Society).
the lexical invenriveness of the Elizabethan dramatists. 6000
(p. aa3). craphs of this kind must not be inter- Method should be thought on for ascertainingandfxingour Fame crowns the bust
Many of Shakespearet new words had become part of of Charles ll, 'Royal
preted too precisely, however. Because of the bas l-anguage for ever, after such Alterations are macle in it as
the language, but many had not (p.63), ancl ir was adopted by the OfD (as stated in its original pref- shall be thought requisite. For I am of Opinion, that it is
Author and Patron'.
5000 On the right sts
unclear how such anomalies should be dealt with. ace) towards'great English writers', the lexicon of
better a Language should r.rot be wholly perfect, than that it Francis Bacon,
many 'ordinary' texts of the Early Modern English
Contemporary linguisric fashions and trends pro- period is not fully taken into account. Several should be pelpetually changing... 'Artium lnstaurator'
vided no solace. John Dryden, in Defence of the Epi- studies have shown that quite a large number of I 4000
(Renewer of the

logue (1672) complains about those 'who corrupt our
English Idiom by mixing it too much with French'.
Joseph Addison, in a Specttor essay (4 August 171 l),
complains about the use of contracted forms, which
has 'untunecl our Language, and clogged it with Con-
sonants': he cites such contractions as majtn\and wo'n't,
as well as such abbreviations as rep (reputtion) and ult
(ubimate). Daniel Defoe, n An Ess1t upon Projects
(1697), complains about the 'inundation' of swear-
words in the language of his time, and hopes that the
introduction of an Academy might srem what he call
a'Frenzy of the Tongue, a Vomit of the Brain'. Fifteen
years later, Jonathan Swift takes up the challenge.
words and senses are not included in the OfD, and I Swift was not the first person to propose an Academy Arts); on the left is
A)
Lord Brouncker, the
that its first citations can often be antedated by for English: Dryclen and Defoe had also clone so. But
many years. A German investgator of the period, o first presdent.
even though the idea attracted a great deal ofinterest,
Jrgen Schfer, has estimated that, if all types of q, 3 5cientific
correction are taken into account, the total a it never got off the ground. Many saw that language nstruments and
E books surround
number of discrepancies in the OED database
cannot be kept static, and that standards always T
might be as many half a million. Graphs such as them. I,'n
as 2000 change. Dr Johnson ws one who derided the notion: l(f,{iu.r
the above are thus likely to be serious underes-
timates of the true lexical resources of Early \7hen we see men grow old ancl die at a certain time one
Modern English; the late 15th century, in particu-
1 000 after another, we laugh at the el.ixil that promises to prolor-rg
la is thought to be poorly represented. But the
general impression of lexical growth conveyed by life to a thousar.rd years; and with equal justice rnay the lexi-
the graph is reasonable enough, and certainly cor- cographer be deridecl, who being able to produce no exam-
responds to any intuitve sense of what was hap- ple of a nation that has preserved their words and phlases
pening throughout this period. oooooooo
hc)ho60no frorn rnutabilit shall irnagine that his dictionary can
(AfterT. Nevalainen, 1 999.) rifhhto(ot.F-
embalm l-ris language, and secure it from corruption and
clecay .. .
s
74 PART I. THE HISTORY OF ENGLISFI 5 EARLY MODERN ENGLISH 75

The alphabetical section of Johnson's Dictionarytis SAMUEL JOHNSON THE JOHNSONIAN METHOD
JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY
ETE
(170e-84)
preceded by a famous Preface, in which he outlines his
aims and proceclures: Johnson was born in Lich-
ETH 'Thus have I laboured by settling the orthogra-
phy, displaying the analogy, regulating the
It wee a thing verie praiseworthie... if som one well learned field, Staffordshire, the son will not obcy' who' to grt rid of bis rider' rife nightily 7 wul t(k the amal!/fu whet aarl i rhee rhet they could structures, and ascertaining the signification of
\X/hen I took tl-re first survey of my r"u-rdertakir-rg, before and whilc his forehand is yct in the air, ycrlr furi. cxpol or drre of thc novchy of e world, rhar i noi found English words, to perform all the parts of a
and as laborious a man, wold gathel all the words which we I four-rd our of a provincial bookseller. He oufly with his hind lcgs- Fa'tia\ Ditt. i thi I O what mrh i thcrc of strnity rhat is foud in
speecl-r copious wirl-rout orcler, and energetick witl-rour l.ules: studied for a while at Oxford, Esrni'ar. n.I, fxrattu, Latin.] The truc coy of 8n rhis I Bctulftn cf tb Eatb. faithful lexicographer...'
vse in our English tung... into one dictionalie. original writing: for cxample, of rmcrciaments or pcnaltiet To Er'rxrs. o.a, lfuorr aru|l io'mre aer-
whelever I turned my view, rhere was perplexity to be clisen- but lack of money caused him fet?own in the rolls of a court, to bc lcvicd by the bailiff, or n|. DiA. This page illustrates several features ofthe
Thus wrote Richard Mulcaster (p. 66) in 1582. Apart tanglecl, ancl confusion to be regulated... Having therefore to leave after
a year. He other olcer, of every man for his offence. A, law cm, Cru|. Er'nwrrrv. o!, lirom amol) approach Johnson outlines in his Preface:
became a teacher and write f,srrfuexr. z.J. fof the Fench word $rc,icnf Spoil . Witho beginning or cnd.
from the occsional collection of a few thousancl'hald no assistance but flom genelal grammar, I applied myself to moving to London in 1737,
made by the tcnant for tcrm of lifc upon any lands or woodsl z, Unchrngabty invarebly. . Most of thedefinitionsaresuccinct, appropri-
to dre prcjudi of him in the rcvcrfion.
-geod,
CowL Thar which i moally or ryiL at rnt timc, o o, ate, and consistent between entries, as can be
wolds' (p.72), the taskwas nor arrempreduntil 1721, the perusal of our writers; and noting whatever might be of where he wrote for The Gen- E'srnrcr. z,l [ommonly writtu olllrklz.) T'hc largefl of any efc, mult be dlo aiaal and unchangbly fo, with
rclatiotr to tht mc and to tber sfc.
-f]ttil grmnt, seen from the eterna/ series.
wlren Natlraniel Bailey pLrblished his Uniuersal E4tmo- use to ascertain or illustrate ar-ry word or phrase, accurnu- tleman's Magazine. He also birds.
To . He paysspecial attentiontothe different
be furious, 3. Perpctually witbout inrcmifron.
lated in time the materials of a clictionar which, by degrees, helped catalogue the library Is to bc frighted out of fr; md, in that md, Bar mc, fome grrd, to Baja'r gcntlc fat,
bgicl English Dictionry, Bailey's enrries are fuller, of the Earl of Oxford. The dove will qcck the $ridg. Sha lntb. aad Ch4arra, Or cover me in Urbria's grctn reueur, senses of a word -five, in the case of eternal.
comparecl with the glosses in the hard-worcl books,
I recluced to method... The peacock, not at thy command, affumes \/herc wcftern gde anao rcle, (ln the entry on take, no less than 1 24 uses are
He produced an outline for tain; plume. Saz$t And all the feafou lavifh ll rhei prida
His glorious nor e/riclt her rare nf. distinguished.)
ancl there are more of rhern (as many as 60,000, in the his Dictionaryin 1746, a con- Vsrunv. a,f. feluoriuniLatin.] Aoarmof thcfea ErCr. adj. fatcrnu, Letin.] Etirnd pcrpetual nd.r
The preliminaries also inclucle a shorr history of dre tract was signed, and the first mouth of lake or river in which the drJe rcciprocat
rhe
a lefs-
. There is a copious use of quotations to sup-
1736 edrtion), but his definitions lack illustrative sup- language, with long exrracrs from earlier authors, and of his amanuenses began fith. Thc Cyclopc hammen fall port a defintion - c. 1 1 6,000 in all. These are
To F."ruat. u. . lafuo, Lrtin.] To fwell and fall eci- On Mae hi amur ferg'd for proof tn. Sha, Hanlctt generally taken from dead authors so as not to
port, and he gives little guidance about usage. a grammar, much influenced by the work of John work on midsummer day of ;
procaly
to boil to b in
of violent cmmorion. ,)i7.
a lta Er'r*rv. a, l. fattnita 6 Lxin.)'
that year. A more fully elabo- Esru'rron. n.!. lkom /,L*in.) Thc flate of boilig i . lurarion wirhout beginnirg or cird. be'misled by partiality'.
It was nor until Samuel Johnson cornpleted A Dic- Wallis (p.69), with secrions on orrhography and reciprocationof rife and fal agitation; commotion. lo ths gr,.ud his preciour rt . Hefollowsthe usage of hissources in arriving
rated P/an of a Dictionary of
tionary of the English Lnguge in 1755 rhat the lexi- prosody. But it is in the Peface, often anrhologized as the English Language
Rivers and laker, rhat want fermoting prts ar rhe bot-
tonr, afc not excited unro e,f|liat i therfoc fome fe flow
Srill livcs, whicb, when wsk time lha.lt be pouid out
lnc .itv- and circulr iovs
at h is defi n itions, even if he th nks h is sou rces
i

con receivecl its first uthoritative treatment. Over a
seven-year period, Johnson wrore rhe definitions of r.
40,000 words, illustrating their use fi'om the best
authors since the time of the Elizabethans (but exclud-
ing his own contemporaries). Although he has fewer
entries than Baile his selection is more wide-ranging,
and his lexicological trearmenr is far more discrimi-
nating and sophisticated. The book, according to his
an independent text, thar we find an unprecedented appeared a year later. lt took
him some three years to read
statement of the theoretical basis of a dictionary pro-
his source works and mark
ject. The staremenr is notable for its awareness of rhe the citations to be used.
realities of the lexicographer's task, ancl also for irs These were then copied by
his amanuenses onto slips of
descriptive intention (p.452) - an interesting change
pape and filed alphabeti-
of opinion fi'om the prescriprive arrirudes Johnson
cally. Once all slips were col-
expressed inhis 1747 Dictionarl plan, Thele he had lated, he began to draft his
definitions. The first sheets
written:'The chief intent... is to preserve the purity were printed in 1750, begin-
higher than others. Bnwn's lhr Enun, b, v, c, t 3, Dmcing a endlef' roundl gain lhall rifc. are incorrect, as shown by sense 3 of efch (verb).
The motion of rhc will is accompmied with a lenliblecom- Thy immortal rhyme
Crazw.
. He routinely identifies partsof speech.
motion of the fpirir, and an cfiution
-
E'srun. n,f, fa;u, Latin.] Violcnce;
of rhe bld. JVni.
commotion.
Mks thi onc fbrt point of trme,
To fill up half rhc orb of ro\d et;tt.
. Heshowsthe moststronglystressed syllable
Cwlct
The f retain By rcpering rhc idea of any lengrh of duratlon which ric i naheadword by an accent.
Not only their outra geous cjfun therc, have in our min{q, wlh all the endlefr addition of number, . There is an openness of approach, nicely illus-
But fupernatural mifchief they cxpire. Cbalnat Odfli1. we come bythc idcaof araiq, Leclc.
trated by his entry on etch (noun): 'A country
E'su*rtr. adj. fcluritn, Latin,] Hungry voraciou. .Or4.
EtuIr, a$, l4ltio,Larin.) Corroding ; eating.
2. J)uration withour cnd,
eyond is all aby, word, of which I know not the meaning'.
Over much picrcing is the air of Hampflcd, i which fot ttrnty whoa end n cye can eachl Mik, Parad. Ioj. . Following the tradition established by
air drcre is always fomuhing r,?riz and acid. Wfnan.
of Ezrnry, thot plalng, drcadful rhoughtl
Erc, A mntn{ion of thc two Latin words c, rr, wbictr Ephraim Chambers and other encyclopedists of
Throush what varictv oi unrried bcins.
h is age, he includes topical explanations of
fignies au! lo on ; a*l th rej i and othen of th lilc inl, Tlrouh wl,ot new l'ceno nd chansd mult ee sa[s, t*td.
To Er''iz. v. a. falmo, Lrrin.] -
To Ercr. . a. letizcnrGetman.f some words, as seen in etch (verb), sense 1 .

biographer Boswell, 'conferred stability' on rhe lan-
guage - and t least with respecr to spelling (where
most of Johnsont choices are found in moclern prac-
tice), this seems to be so.
A stained-glass feature in Johnson's house, I 7 Gough
Square, off Fleet Street, London, where he lived from
1748to 1759, and thus where most of the Dictionarywas
compiled. The house was rescued from demolition in
l. refurbished during the
191
Johnson museum.
. A way ufed in making of printr,
and ascertain the meaning of our English idiom'. The ning with letter A. The work
Preface, by contrast, stresses that his aim is to 'not was complete by 1754, and
an edition of 2,000 copies
form, but registel the language'; ancl it is this principle
appeared the following year,
which introcluces a new era in lexicography. priced f4 10s. There was soon
a second edition, published
in 165 weekly sections at six-
pence each; and a fourth edi-
SOME JOHNSONIAN DEFINITIONS
tion, much revised, appeared
There are not many truly idiosyncratic definitions in the in 1773. The book dominated
Dictionary, but some have become famous.
the dictionary market for
decades, and appeared in
LEXICOGRAPHER A writer of dictionaries; a harmless several editions for much of
drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original. and the next century.
detailing the signif ication of words.
After the Di cti ona ry, )ohn-
EXCISE A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and son continued as a literary
journalist, and received
adjudged not by the common judges of property, but
financial security from a pen-
wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid.
sion granted by George lll. He
OATS A grain, which in England is generally given to
met his biographer, James
horses, but in Scotland supports the people.
Boswell, in 1763, and in 1764
founded the Literary Club,
PATRON One who countenances, supports or protects.
where many of his famous
Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and
is paid with flattery. conversations took place.
Later works included an
PENSION An allowance made to anyone without an eight-volume edition of
equivalent. ln England it is generally understood to
Shakespeare's plays and a
mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his
ten-volume Lves of the Most
country. Eminent English Poets. He
was granted an honorary
And which political party did Johnson support?
doctorate by Trinity College
TORY One who adheres to the antient constitution of Dublin in 1765, and again by
the state, and the apostolical hierarchy of the church Oxford in 1 775, and thus
of England, opposed to a w/rlg. received the title by which he
has come to be most widely
WHIG 2. The name of a faction.
known: Dr Johnson.
His definitions sometimes got him into trouble. He was
threatened with libel over excrse, and much lampooned
1 980s, and is now a
overpension (after accepting one himself in 1762).
by drawing with a pro- r. 'fo make cndlcfs r rerdurte, . A wide range of ordinary words (estuary, etc.)
pcr needle upon a copper-plate, covcred over with a ground I with two fair oill
of wax, (Jr. anrl well blackcd sith the fmokc of i link, Creted him cndow'd; with hrpp-inefg are included alongside technical terms
in orde to take off the figurc of rhc drawing or priot And immorulity: hat fondly llt, (estrepement, ether)-though he apologizes in
which having he backfidc tinurcd with white lcad, will, Thi ohcr ferv'l but o ctriz Mlt Prad.Ioll.
by running over tbc flrucken our lie with a llift, 2. Tomkc fo cvcr fmou to immondiza
woc.
his Preface for his limited coverage of special-
inprcfc
thc exEl figure on tbe black or red ground wiich Mmlcind by all manr fecling o rtrziz himfclf, fo much ized fields.
gurc is afarwardr wih ccdls dnwn decpcr quitc through tbc morc hc is n hir cnil, doth it by fpcccbcr uf Although very well received at the time, the
theground, aud all thElhadows rnd hatdringr put in; arl writingr. ' Sd;;,
thcn a wax border being madc all ound thc platc, thcrc ir And well bcfceru all .knight! of noblc nrmq Dictionarywas laterto receive a great dealof
pourcd on a fuffcient qumtity of well tmpcrcd aqua fortt, Tlat cove in ti immortl-ool of fnc criticism.
Tobc ctnnud, tbat fme to hiunt. Ferl gl,- l,
which, infuuatirrg into thc ftroke nadc by the ncdlc,
ufually eats, in abour half n hour, into thc figurc ofrhc prnt I might rclaic of thoufendq nd thei mio-
. lt includes, in the 'hard-words'tradition,
or drawing on the coppcr plate. Hen'b, Bter* hec o euh but thofe clc many cumbersome Latinate forms, such as
z. To fcctch to draw to dclintc [unlef! this word bc mi Angch, ntntcd with rhcir fmc in hevh, cubi cu I a ry, estuati on, esu ri ne, and i ncom poss'
trkcn by larc for rlal Sl not tle nnife of men, llilta\ Peredil Loll- b. ti.
Thcrc are many empty tcrm3 to bc fouod in fomc learncd Thc fou grdat monrrchia hvc hccn ccterrc iy rtr bilit whose status within English was doubt-
writcn, to which they hrd ccoufe ro r out rheir writings of many famou mcn, who hrvc crm'zaC thcir froe, fu l.
fyllcms. Lcic. and tltscbv their own, .h. . His citations are highly selective, chosen more
3. -[1ftrir word h cvidcrt nllaken by Ray tor algc.f To movc Boih of-them are fet on fire by ahe dat rlion of hm-
and both endcavour to .rmy hffi,- DnC\ Dtfruf for their literary or moral value than for their
loruards toHr oDc trdc.
fhen we lie long aurake in the night, wc rc not ablc to Hencc eme i6 namc, in rhat ths gretcrt Jovc' ' ' linguistic clarity. Half of all his quotations come
rel one quartcr of an hour without lhifting of fide, or at Hah tzh'd the e.lory-of his lovq
- Crult m;l*.
f rom just seven sources - Shakespeare, Dryden,
lezft achng this wy ud tbat vsy, more or lcf. Roy. YTHXR. n.J lathrlLitin ihq.)
Ercx. z,f A counuy word, of which I know ot thc , An clcmcnt more fine and fubdd tbm air eir rcficd or Milton, Addison, Bacon, Pope, and the Bible.
meantng, fublimed. . Several of his def initions use difficult words (a
Whcn they fow theit acb uopt, they fprinklc a pound or If oy rir maycon-
'Mttind one ould fuppofe that rr, like our problem he acknowledges in his Preface), such
two of clovc on an acre, Hiliattr. min particla which endcavour to reede from onc mthcr
'Where you find dunging of tand
makes ir nnlq lay dug fo I do not kow what rhis rtr is md that in prnicla rrc as reciprocates in estuary. A famous example is
rpon drc trD, and fow it with buley.
- Mtint'r Htiandnl, gccedingly fmllcr thn thofe of.air, or een tliu tbofe of cough (noun),'Aconvulsion of the lungs, velli-
ETE'RNAL. odj. fatrzw,latin,) light, qhe ercceding fmallne of irr particle may contributc
r. Whhout beginning or cad. cated by some sharp serosity'.
to thc gr@toe of thc forcc, by which rhofc particle my re-
. Several of his definitions have become
_T\e attl.Go is thy refuge. D. xi. t7. cede from oe uother, Nrut"Olt.
2. Without beginning. The ptc ol ohcr hodie arc held togcthcr by th ctcrl famous for their subjectivity (see p. 74).
It is a queflion quitc diFcrent fron our
Eternity, to knowwhethe rhecwee myrlbeing, whofc
having an idea of prellure of thr.rr,
of their cohefion and union,
and en have no o6'e conciivblc qufc . ln the end, he ran outof space, and hadto
dution hobnitnal. - Lochc. , The mttcro, thehicheft rccion
Loclc.
leave out about halfthe quotations he had
bove.
3, Without od
immortal.
cnrllefe Therc eld of lieht nd-tiouid r fos. collected. This caused a certain unevenness of
Thou know'ft that Buquo and his Fleuce live, Purgid from the pon-d'rous dre of eutlt heiow, r12,
in them naturc'a copy's ot tcruL Sbacl, IUlartah, rsr'ns.. adj. lfiom abr.l treatment; in particular, words atthe beginning
-But conllant uniltmitting.
4. Perpetual . Fomed of cthe. of the alphabet were much more generously
Burnt off'rings morn and ev'ning lhll be thine, Man fcclr mc, when I prek ttt cthrcal plzim, Drydn. illustrated.
An res ctrnl in thy tmple lhinc. ryd, Knight\ah. , Celelliall hearenlr
5. Unchneeable. Go, hav'nly eft, ahal meffengt, But despite these weaknesses, Johnson's
Hobbc-s believed the ll truths which he oooofed. Dsl- Scnt from whofe fov reign goodne Iadort Miltn
Dctonarywasthe first attempt at a truly prin-
t"i"fif frttntt,rencb.-) One of the ipellationoi Thron* ud imperialpow'rg oFspriag of heav'n,
Etbrcalvinul llt'PocdfiLofr.b.. l.ztt. cipled lexicography. lt portrayed the complexity
That law whereLv rral himfelf doth work, HoIr, Such thefc, being in good pan frcd fror ih cntagb.
ahe
'The rnal. td oreveut fuch hori.l frav. of the lexicon and of English usage more accu-
ncn of fcnfe md body, are cmploycd, like the fpirio ebovc,
_ Hungout of lieav'ri his goldcn fcalcs. '' Mil. in contcmplating thc Divine Wifdoi in the worli.of mture rately than ever before; and his quotatons initi-
.ra'RNLsr. rf. latcrnat, Latin.l Oncthatholdstheprft a kind of uticipation of thc ahreol happinc and enploy. ated a practice which has informed English
-woill
exifbnce of the in6nirc. ment, Ch!, 'k dictonares ever snce.

6.MODERN ENGLISH
Imperceptibl during the 18th cenrury, English
the most noticealle remaining features of structual
clifference which distance the Early Modem English
period fi'om us. By the end of that centur with but
a few exceptions, the spelling, pLrnctution, ancl
grammar are very close ro what they are today. If we
tke an essay of \William Hazlim (1778-1830) or a
novel of Jane Austen (1775-1817), for example, we
can read for pages befole a point of linguistic cliffer-
ence might make us pause. \We would fincl the vocab-
ulary somewhat unfamiliar in places, the idiom
occasionally unusual or olcl-fashioned, the style ele-
gant or quaint, and we might feel that the language
was in some indefinable way characteristic of a pr.evi-
ous age; but we do not need ro consult a special edi-
tion or historical dictionary ar every turn in order to
unclerstand rhe texr. Jane Austen makes demands of
our modern English lingr-ristic intuitions which seem
little clifferent from those required by
Catherine
Cookson ol P D. James.
SEEING BENEATH THE SURFACE
Emma woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition,
seemed to unte some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in
world with very little to distress or vex her.
She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, indulgent father; and had,
consequence of her sister's marriage, been mistress of his house from a veryearly period. Her mother
had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembranie of her caresses; and her
place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little
in affection...
Thus begins Jane Austen's Emma, published in
1816. To the modern reader; its language presents
no unexpected difficulties. We might be struck by
the use of handsome (used more commonty today
with male reference), or by youngest referring
only to two; but neither of these points is likely to
disturb our smooth comprehension of these open-
ing lines.
Early 1 9th-century English can, howevel deceive
in its apparent familiarity. There are hundreds of
instances where words have changed their mean-
ing, often in highly subtle ways. For example, in
the middle of a long and somewhat erratic mono-
logue, Emma's garrulous acquaintance Miss Bates
describes a reaction to some baked apples:
"'Ohl", said he, directly, "there is nothing in the
way of fruit half
so good, and these are the finest-
looking home-baked apples I ever saw in my life.,,
That, you know, was so very - And I am sure, by his
manner, it was no compliment ...' (Emma, Ch. 27)
It is easy to let the speaker carry
us on past this
point, so that we do not notice the existence of the
problem: if the f irst comment means anything at
all, it is surely a compliment, yet Mss Bates seems
to be denying it. The apparent contradiction is
resolved when we know that com plimenthad an
6 MODF,RN ]]NCLISH 77
Grammatical trends
Austen would have arlived at school (Abbey
MY DEAR JAMES
Tane
'S.lrool, in Reacling) at a time when Lowth's Gram- ln Letter Vlll o'f his Grammar of the English Language in a
Series of Letters (1829), William Cobbett advises his son
flrwas well estabiished, and a second generation of James (aged 14) on the problems of irregular verbs. Most
However, despite this apparent conrinuiry, the lan-
'voung ladies' (p' 78) was having its tenets instilled
loses
of his list of nearly 200 verbs recommends past tenses
gllage at the end of the l8th centur.y is by no means
nto th.-. That she was much concerned about cor-
which are identical with present-day usage, but there are
identical to what we find toclay. Many wor.ds, though a few differences:
she often
recrness iu grammar is suggested by the way
spelled the same, had a different meaning. If we had
changecl her own gratnmatical usage in later editions to bend I bended
tape recordings of the rime, we would also norice sev- For example, at one point in Pride and to light I light
eral clifferences in pronunciation, especially in the way
of heinovels. to sink I sunk
Prcjtdice, she wrote 'the tables were boke uP', but to stink I stunk
worcls were srressed (p.69). And an uninformed larcr ernended the verb rc broen. A number of past particples also differ: RULES TO BE OBSERVED
modern intuition would achieve only a superficial That she was also aware of the social role of gram- chide chidden ln 1774, the year before Jane
reading of rhe litelary texts of the periocl. In r.eading a
mal is evident from many pieces of her dialogue, loaded loaden Austen was born, John
novel of the 2000s, we can make an immediate lin-
whele nonstandalcl r-rsage is seen as a mark of vulgar- sat sitten Walker published his idea for
gr.ristic response ro rhe social and stylistic nuances shot a Pronouncing Dictionary of
it and good grammar as a sign of goocl bleeding' slid
shotten
slidden English, with the aim of
introduced into the rexr, becuse we are parr of its age: Tl-rus, Emma is surprised at the linguistic standarcl of
snow snown doing for pronunciation
we recognize the differences between formality ancl the letter from the yeoman farmer, Robert Martin spit spitten what Johnson had done for
vocabulary (p. 74) and Lowth
informalit or educated ancl uneducated; and we can (who, in her opinion, is 'plain' and'clownish'), when However, Cobbett does not list allthe variations which for grammar (p.79). The
sense when someone is being jocular, ironic, risqu, were found at the time, and some of his recommen-
l.re proposes marriage to Harriet Smithl book (which appeared in
archaic, o insincere. \e can easily miss such nuances dations are of questionable validity.sat, for instance, 1 791) is a valuable informa-
in the writing of the early 19th cenrury, especially in Thc style of the letter was much above her expectatiot-r. was much used as a past tense form in the early 1 9th cen- tion source about contempo-
tury, but he does not mention it. And several other forms rary sound change, attitudes
Thcre wet'e not merely no grammatical errors, but as a
those works which take rhe manners of contemporary occur in the Jane Austen novels, such as a past tense to pronunciation, and differ-
composition it woulcl not have disgraced a gentleman. sprungfor sprang, and a past participle dranklor drunk. ences in usage between then
society as their subject. This world is lingLristically
He is also uncertain about the best form to recommend and now. lt also looks at
more removed from us rhan at first it may appear. T'he following examples fi'om Austen's novels illus- for sting, giving both stung and stang as past tenses. major regional accents, and
rrare some of the clistinctive grammatical features of Usage of these old strong verbs (p. 2 1 ) was evidently provides 'rules to be
early 19th-century English, comparecl with today very mixed at the time in polite society, and it was only observed by the natives of
during the 19th century that grammarians managed in Scotland, lreland, and
(Part III). There are differences in (1) tense usage, (2)
most cases to resolve the variation (though leaving a London, for avoiding ther
ar-rxiliary verbs (compare the Early Modern English residue of uncertainty, p. 204). On the other hand, there respective pecu liarities'.
the prirctice, p.70), (3) irregular verbs, (4) articles, (5) was no doubt about the nonstndard status of some o Letter r'is never slent',
usages: Jane Austen allows only servants and other un-
contracted forms, (6) prepositions, (7) adverbs, ancl educated people to use such 'barbarous' (in the words of
though'particularly in
in
(U) the comparative (also shown in the quotation Lowth) constructions as have went, had took, or should
London, the r n /ard. . . is
pronounced so much in the
from Emma on p.76). All the examples come from have gave (all spoken by Lucy Steele in
throat as to be little more
Sense and Sensibility).
short of a mother the usage of educated characters in the novels, or are than the middle or ltalian a,
p:rrt of Austen's own narrtive. (Uneducated charac- lengthened into /aad...'.
. The s in the prefix dls
additionalsense in Austen's time, which it has
ters have an identifiable grammar and 'ought always to be pro-
since lost; it could mean simply'polite or conven- lcxicon of their own.)
it
nounced as z, when it is not
tional praise'. What Miss Bates means is ,lt wasn,t under the accent.. .', as in
just flattery'. dismay and dismiss.
(1) I am so glad we ltre gzt acquainted. . When the letters au 'are
We do not always note such difference in usage,
because the context often enables us to see the So, you ltre comeatlast! followed by n and another
intended sense. Here are some other instances (2) What sa! consonant, they change to
!ot. to the day? \
the second sound of a, heard
from the novels where usage has changed in a
she doubted not... in far' , as in haunt and laun-
subtle way (after K. C. Phillips, 1970, who also
provides an index and page references): (3) Fanny shrunback... dry.
and much ws ltte... . Several words are accented
. 'the supposed inmate of Mansfield parsonage,: differently: cement (noun)
inmate had not yet developed its sense of some- (4) It is a nothingof a part,..
has a stress on the first sylla-
one occupying a prison or institution. to be taken into tlte account... ble; balcony on the middle;
. '[she] had neither beauty, genius, accomplish- (5) Will not irbe a good plan? prefix (verb) on the last.
ment, nor manner': genius did not yet have its o 'The aspirate h is often
modern sense of 'outstanding intellectual It would quite shock you...would not it? sunk, particularly in the capi-
quality'. kind, where the substtuton of one element (6) he told me in our journey... tal, where we do not find the
.'her regard had all the warmth of f rst attach- produces the modern equivalent: least distinction of sound
ment': regard had a much stronger sense of,affec-
She was small o/her age.
between while and wile...'.
tion'- . whatever the event of ('outcome,) (7) I stood for a minute, feeling dreadfirl. o He notes that'our best
. 'She was now in an irrtation violent from
as
. caught in the fact ('act') It is really very well for a novel. speakers do not invariably
o made her f irst essay ('attempt,)
delight as...': irritation couldbe caused bya plea- (8) the prop erel/ manner'. . . pronounce the participial
surable emotion. . she saw her rn idea ('in her mind's eye,) ing, so as to rhyme with slng',
. 'three or four Officers were lounging together,: o Emma well knew by cha racter (,by repute,) rhe richest of the two. . .
and recommends that ing
/ounge Tneant 'stroll', not 'lie carelessly on a chair,. . the prospect...was highly gratefulto her ('grati should be used, but allows an
fying') exception where there is
A number of differences are of a more idiomatic . Suppose you speak for tea('order,) sa! pudden an -ng ending in the root (as
y gentleman
Host' Does saYs wdden' in singing).
Hositable Nogentleman
No, s1r.
Precise Guest'
 78
THE, RISE OF PRE,SCRIPTIVE
GRAMMAR
The second half of the l8th century differs funda-
mentally from our own age in its attitudes towards
English. The middle of the centuy had seen the cr.rl-
mination of the frst major effort to impose order on
the language, in the form of Johnso's Dictionary
b.7. \X/ith spelling and lexicon now being handle
,in an increasingly sysrematic wa arrention turned to
grammar, and the first attempts to define this field in
its own right began ro appear.
Ti'eatises on aspecrs ofgrammar are known from the
16th century. The dramatisr Ben Jonson wrote An
Eryqlish Grmmr...for the Benefit of all Snangers, out
of his Obserution of the English Lnguage noispohen,
nd in Us published posthumously in 1640.
John
\X/allist Grmmtic Linguae Anglicanae (Grammar of
the English Language, 1653) was written 'because
there is clearly a grear demand for it from foreigners,
who want to be able to understand the various impor-
tant works which are written in our tongue' (whih is
why he, as orhers of his time, wrote in Latin). And
Johnson, largely following Vallis, added a grammari-
cal sketch at the front ofhis dictionary.
Shich authoriry?
From the ourser, howeve there were fundamental di
ferences of opinion about which way ro proceed, and
which authority to follow. Jonson (in his essa
'Timber: or, Discoveries', 1640) is in no doubt about
where to look for models of usage (Custome):
Custome, is the most certaine Mistresse of Language,
publicke stampe makes the currenr money. But ,i,..
-rrr,
not be too frequent with the minr, every day coyning...yet
when I name Custome, I understand not the vulgar Cus,
tome: For that wee precept no lesse dangerous to Lan_
guage, then life, if wee should speake or live after the
manners of the vulgar.: But that I call Custome of speech,
A CASE OF RAGE AND VEXATION
By way of justifying his remark about ,blunders,,
De Quincey refers to the views of William Hazlitt,
which had been forcibly expressed in an essay on
English grammar in lhe Aflas some years before
(15 March 1829). Hazlltt,s attack on the way gram-
marians talk about cases in English (p. 202) well
illustrates his position:
it is roundly asserted that there are sx cases (why
not seven?) in the English language; and a case is
defined to be a peculiartermination or inflection
added to a noun to show its position in the sen-
tence. Now in the Latin language there are no
doubt a number of cases, inasmuch as there are a
number of inflectons; and forthe same reason (if
words have a meaning) in the English language
PAR'| I.THE HIS'fORY OF ENGLISH
which is rhe consenr of the Learned; as Custome of life,
which is rhe consenr of the good.
\7allis, on the other hand, writing in his preface about
suitable models of srrucrure, is strong in his criticism
ofJonson and other grammarians hitherto:
They all folced English too Ligidly into the rnould of Latin
(a.mistake which nearly everyone makes in descriptions of
other modern languages roo), giving roany useless rules
about the cases, genders and cleclerisions of nouns, the
tenses, moods and conjugations ofverbs, the government
of
nouns and verbs, and other things of that kind, which have
no bearing on our language, ancl which confuse and obscure
matters instead of elucidating them.
These positions, and their opposites, were restated and
adopted anew in the 1260s, which marks the begin-
ning of a new period of interest and involvement in
English grammar. Over 200 works on grammar and
rhetoric appeared between 1750 and 1800. The most
influential was undoubredly Bishop Robert Lowtht
Short Introduction to Engtish Grammr (1762)
- the
inspiration for an even more widely-usecl book, Lind-
ley Murray's Englis h Grammar (1794). Both grammars
went through many editions in the years following
their publication, and had enormous influence on
school practices, especially in the USA. This is eviclent
even in the comments of those who disapproved of
them. Thomas de Quince writing in blcwood,s
MagazineinApril 1839, condemns a number of infe-
rior attemprs to illustrate rhe language', and ends his
list with Murrayt:
This book, full of atr.ocious blunders...reigns despotically
through the young laclies' schools, from the Orkneys to the
Cornish Scillys.
as the
It would have raken only a genertion for any intel-
lectual despotism ro become firmly entrenched and
- Lowth:
it is thus nor surprising ro see dogmatic arrirudes
towards gfammar routinely appearing in early lgth-
century magazines, letters, and novels (such as
Jane
Austen's, p.76)
there are none, or only one, the genitive; because
lf a system were
if we exceptthis, there is no inflection orvariety made in bur-
whatever in the terminations, Thus to instancein lesque and pur-
the present noun - A case, Of a case, To a case, A
case, O case, From a cae -they tell you that the
poselyto call into
question and expose
word case is here its own nominative, genitive,
its own nakedness, it
dative, accusative, vocative, and ablative, though
could not go beyond this,
the deuce of any case - that s, inflection of the which is gravely taught in all seminaries, and
noun - is there in the case. Nevertheless, many a
patiently learnt by all school-boys as an exercise
pedagogue would sweartill he was black in te and discipline of the intellectul faculties... All this
face that it is so; and would lie awake many a rest-
might be excusable as a prejudice or oversight; but
less night boiling with rage and vexaton that any then why persist n it in the thirty-eghth edition of
one should be so lost to shame and reason as to a standard book published by the great firm in
suspect that there is here also a distinction without
Paternoster-row?
a difference.
He is referring, of course, to Lindley Murray,s
And he comments
grammar, published by Longman.
6 MODEIIN ENGI-ISH 79
Tiaditional grammar at all times these rules were as forcefully attacked as
The books by Lowth and Murra and those which they were authoritatively formulated. Thus, we find
they influenced, contain the origins of most of the Bishop Lowth sayingin 1762:
gmtnmatical controversies which continue to attract The principal design of a Gammar of any Language is ro
rrencion today (p.194). This is the period which teach us to express ourselves with propriety in that Lan-
gave rise to the colcept of 'traditional grarnmar' (as guage; and to er"rable us to judge ofevery phlase and form
2Orh-..nruty linguists would one day call it), and in of construction, whether it be right or not.
which the rules of 'correct' grammatical usage were
And we have the scientist Joseph Priestley saying in
first clrawn up. It was a time when the subject was
debated at length, with philosophical, logical, The Rudiments of Englsh Grammar (1761):
aes-
thetic, historical, and occasionally linguistic reasons Our grammarians appear to me to have acted precipi-
proposed for adopting one position rther rhn tately... It must be allowed, that the custom of speaking is Robert Lowth (1710-87)
anorher. Most fiercely argued was the question of the original and only just standard of any language.
Lowth, born in Winchester,
whether grammars and clictionaries should reflect
This was the chief controversy in the 1760s, and it Hampshire, was both scholar
rusage, describing and analysing current practice, or and clergyman. ln 1742he
remains with us today (p.192) became Professor of Poetry
should euahtate usage, by prescribing certin forms as
at Oxford, and in 1 766
correct and proscribing others as incorrect.
Bishop of 5t David's and of
f)uring the last decades of the 18th centruy, Oxford. He was consecrated
Bishop of London in 1777.
tbe latter position was the influential one. But
SIIORT Apart from his Grammar, he
was known for his work on
CORRUPTION EVERYWHERE
TNTRO DU
CTION Hebrew poetry, especially as
it appears in the Old Testa-
ment.
Lowth's'short introduction' contained less than 200
pages, but in it there are hundreds of examples of
what he felt to be corrupt grammar. lt s important
TO
to note that these examples are not taken from the
speech or writing of the uneducated, or even of the
GRMMAR:
reasonably well-educated, but from 'the politest part
of the nation, and ...our most approved authors'.
ENGLISTT
Lowth is talking about Shakespeare, Milton, Pope,
WTTT{
Swift, all of whom in his opinion 'offend'.
His procedure has been imitated for over 200 years:
GRITICAL NOTS.
'to lay down rules, and to llustrate them by examples'
These examples, moreover, are of two kinds, so that
'beside shewing what is right, the matter may be fur-
ther explained by pointing out what is wrong'.
William Hazlitt (1 778-1 830) ln illustrating Lowth, we simultaneously illustrate
Murray, who copies extensively from him. An example is
the condemnation of the double negative constructon
NBTT BDITONr Corncto'
(p. 19a), where Murray uses exactly the same words as
Lindley Murray (17 45-1826)
Two negatives in English destroy one another, or are
"ifi
equivalent to an affirmative. Murray was born in Swatara
Creek, Pennsylvania. He
And here Lowth identifying what was to become one of
is trained as a lawyer, and had
*':nl;x,;tffi f.',jlli
the most famous shibboleths of traditional grammar: a highly successful practice
'Never put a preposition at the end of a sentence'. His tone in New York. ln 1784 he
here is in fact much less condemnatory than that of his imi- retired to England, because
tators a generation later.
of ill health, and lived near
The preposition is often separated from the Relative which York. Apart from his Gram-
it governs, and joined to the Verb at the end of the Sen- rnxro *- mar, he wrote other books
tence, or of some member of it: as, 'Horace is an author, ;::.i,.:;nsBI'LE'' on English, as well as reli-
gious works.
whom I am much delighted with'...-lhis is an idiom, which
our language is strongly inclined to: it prevails in common
conversation, and suits very well with the familiar style in
wrtng: but the placing of the Preposition before the Rela-
tive is more graceful, as well as more perspicuous; and And he adds:
agrees much better with the solemn and elevated style.
ln all these places, it ought Lo be whom.
His list of bad examples includes the following: There is irony, of course (if his usage is not deliberate), in
't4lho servest th ou under?' that Lowth himself commits the error he is criticizing. But
Shakespear, Hen.V whether deliberate or not, in this case Murray would have
'Who do you speak to?'As you like it.... none of it. His version of Lowth's sentence silently corrects
'We are still much at a loss, who civl power belongs to.'
its grammar: 'This is an idiom to which our language is
Locke. strongly inclined'!
 80 PAI1' I'I'HI], FIISl'OIIY OI.' IJN(I,ISH MOT)EIN I]NCt-ISII 8l

Preface to his first lexicographical venture, A Cont- WEBSTER'S PROBLEM

NIE\ NTION, NE,\ THEMES pendiotrs Dictionttry of the English Lngnge (1806),
Iebster's
NOAH WEBSTER where he became active n 25 years later, following a
he wlites:
The following words are I 1828 appearecl An Arnericart Dictionary of the 7s8-1 843)
(1 local politics, and later year's research in European
The iingr-ristic
among those spelled -our in
qy'ish Language, in two volumes, containing some helped to found academic libraries, he finished the
issues ar.rci cleveloprner-rts whicir hacl No great Johnson's Dictionary: institutions, notably
cl-range should be rnacle r once, nolshoulcl any
20,000 wolcls. The work gready irnproved the cov- Webster was born in West text of the Ame rcan Dctio-
preoccupiecl British sci-rolar.s in the first half of dre anteriour, ardou armou Hartford, Connecticut. He Amherst College in Mas- nary in Cambridge, Eng-
erage of scientific ancl technical tertns, as well as
change be macle whicl-r violates establishecl pr.ir-rciples, cr.e-
18th century were ro holcl dre arrenriorl of Arner.i- ates grear inconvenience, or obliterates the radicals of the
behaviour, clamou colou graduated from Yale in sachusetts. He began his dic- land. lt f inally appeared in
dishonou emperour, errour, rcrms to clo with American culture ancl ir-rstittttions 1778, having served briefly tionarywork in 1800, and 828, when he was 70.
can scholars in the seconci. A g"p of 33 years sep-
1
langtrage. But glaclual changes ro rccommodate the wr.irten in the U5 War of
fervour, f lavou r, governou r, (strclr as congress and plnntation), and aclclecl a gleat
arates the grammars of Lowdr ancl Munay (p.79), to the spol<en language, when rhey occasion none ofthose harbou honou horrou lndependence. He
deal of encyclopeclic infolmatiot.r. A new featute was then worked as a
ar.rcl a sirnilar pelioci separares Johnsont Dictionary evils, ancl especially wl-ren tl-rey pur.i$' words fi.om cor-rup- humour, inferiour, interiour tebster's own etyrnologies
(p.74) from Noal-r Webster's Dissertrttillts on tlle tions, improve the regular ar-ralogies of a lar-rguage and illus- labour, neighbour, odour, thc ir.rtloductior-r of - teacher, clerk, and
tlate e tymology, al'e nor only proper., but inclispensable.
oratour, parlou rancout of these was
thor-rgh the speculative llature of rnany. lawyer; and it was
English Language (1789). In this work, V/ebster pro-
posecl the institution of ar.r American standarcl'. It
rumour, saviou splendour,
au early source of
unwelcolne criticism. The during his time as
teacher that he
This clictionary was no srnall achievemenr: it con-
superiou terrour, tremour,
valou vapou warriour spcliings were soffrewhat more conservative than
a
became dissatis-
was paltly a marrer of honour. 'as ar.r inclependent tained r. 28,000 worcls, well as encyclopeclic infol- those usecl in the 1806 book. Its pronr-rnciations
as fied with the texts
nation...to have a sysrem of our own, ir.r language as The following are some of
mation (such as population figures). However, it
wele geuelally provincial in character - those of
which were avail-
those spelled with -or:
well as government'; it was pardy a matter of receivecl a rnixeci receprioll: clespite its inclusior.r of
actor, auditor, autho captor, Wcbstert own New Englancl.
able, especially
with their lack of a
comrnon sense, because in Englancl 'the taste of her new American vocabular' rnany wer.e offenclecl by the collecto conductor, creditor, 'l-he label American' in the title is mole a reflec- distinctively Amer-
witels is alreacly corruptecl, and hel langr-rage on rhe way \X/ebstel attackecl Johnson's Dictionry (he di rector, doctor, edito
tion of the works of American authors referrecl to
ican perspective.
clecline'; and it was pardy a marrer of practicalit objected in parricular to irs difficulr worcls, iis vLri- elector, equator, exterio After publishing
factor, inspector, junio thrur of its r,u-riquely Arnericar-r lexicon. Indeecl, at his spelle gram-
Englar-rcl being at 'too great a distance to be our. garisms, and its excessive use of quorarions) and by languo liquo mano onc point \ebster observecl (though not with any ma and reader
rnoclel'. This national or. 'fecleral' langr-rage was his evident arnbition ro surpass Johnson's achieve- mediato mirror, motor, ( 1 783-5), he spent

pastor, posterio professo grcar accurcy) that 'there were not fifty worcls in all a great deal of
inevitable, because the exploration of the new con- meni. His recomrnendecl spellings were also treatecl
protector, rector, scu lptor, which were usecl in America ancl not in Englancl'. time travelling and
til.rent woulcl brir.rg rnany new wor.cls ir-rto the lan- with sr"rspicion, as were some of his pronunciations. sector, senator, senior, stupor, On the other hand, nearly half of the wolds he clicl lobbying, partly to
guage, which Blitain woulcl not share; but it also Critics pointed ro inconsisrencies ir.r the way he triecl tailor, torpor, tutor support himself,
irrclucle are not to be found in Johnsont Dictionary, and partly to
needecl fosterir.rg. Spelling reform, he conclucled, to just$' lris proposals. If rhe uin /abouris to le omit- Given the inconsistency in the which adcled considelable force to his claim that he obtain support for
would be a majol step in that clirection: 'a differ.ence tecl because it is not used in laboriow, why not ornit I ist (e.9. i nte riou r vs exte rior),
his ideas as well as
it is not surprising to f ind was giving lexicoglaphy a fresh direction.
between the English orthography ancl the Ameri- the u of curiozls because it is not used in un iosity? And protection for his
Webste and Worcester after Despite its weaknesses ancl its critics, the Ameri- writing (there
can...is an object ofvast polirical consequence'. wlry not keep -re, given the links letween centre and him (p.82), opting to utn Dictionary made tVebster a householcl name in being no copyright
Although 'Webster wenr rhrough a periocl in centra/, thettre and thetrictt/, and many other.s? dispense with the distinction
ltogether. tlic USA. It was fiercely attacked in Britain for its law at that time).
which he aclvocatecl radical reform, the position he a
ln 1798 he moved
Arnericanism, especially in mattels of spelling and
finaliy acloprec{ was a fairly moclerare one. In the to New Haven,
Lrsage; but the work was crucial in giving to US Connecticut,
r.nglish an identity and status comparable to that
given to the British English lexicon by Dl Johnson.
THE BLUE-BACKED SPELLER the introduction of any new letters
(apart from a few 'trifling alter- hrcleed, it is clifficult to appreciate today the impact AN AMERICAN language', and a bill for the guage and Belles Lettres
The American Spelling Book was ations', such as diacritics and liga- which 't{/ebstert' macle at the time, ancl just how ACADEMY incorporation of a national was finally launched, with
first published in 1783 as Part 1 of ,4 tures). These proposals, first TIIE aLrthoritative the book was perceivecl to be. Two academy was actually intro- .lohn Quincy Adams as pres-
Grammatical Institute of the Englsh advocated in a 1789 essay, were The concept of an duced into Congress in ident. lts aim was'to pro-
Language (Part 2, a grammar, based instead on 'the omission of all colltempor'ry quotations are qr.rite ciear on the Academy as a means of reg- 1 806, but unsuccessf ul ly. mote the purity and unifor-
appeared in 1784, and Part 3, a superfluous and slent letters' (e.g. point. One is from a letter sent to Vebster by the ulating the language was The short-lived Philological mity of the English lan-
reader, in 1785). Within the next 60 bred for bread) and on the 'substitu- debated in the USA as well Society of New York, guage', and it had plans for
plir-rcipal of a New York high schooi in 1827 - ayear
years this book, in its distinctive blue tion of a character that has a certain as in Britain (p. 73). A pro- formed in 1788, and with a dictionary - though of a
cover, went through over 250 print- def inite sound, for one that is more bcfore the dictionary actually appealed: posal for an 'American Soci- Webster a prominent rather different kind from
ings, and had several revised edi- vague and indeterminate' (e.9. ' ,l i.a1 :!: ety of Language'was made member, also had the aim Webster's, for the members
AEIfO Your Dictior.rar' Sir', is tl.re best look of the kind that has
tions. Undoubtedly the most popular greeve for grieve). as early as 1774. ln 1780, of'ascertaining and strongly disapproved of
becn published since the floocl. As soon as it is publishecl,
schoolbook ever published, it was
selling a million copies a year in the
The major revision of the speller n
,l804
contained his first proposals,
N I(PROVDDNT I rvill lay it or.r my table, ancl tell rny pupils, 'That is yor-rr
Congress received a letter
hoping that it would form
improving the American
tongue'.
American neologisms. How-
ever, after only two years,
1850s-and in atotal US population deleting u from words ending in -our canon; follow tl-rat, ancl no other booli. 'the first public institution It was not until 1820, in having received little sup-
of only c. 23 million. (e.9. favor) and -k from those ending of for refining, correcting, and New York City, that an port from government or
ln the ntroduction to the speller, 'l'he other, some years lateL (1854), was sent to the public, the group broke up.
"TE& 4rf [tr g4r ascertainng the English
in -ick (e.9. muslc). His full range of American Academy of Lan-
Webster follows British spelling
norms, and cites Johnson's Dictlo-
proposals was published in his Com-
pendious Dictionary of 1806; they
. !trtIr],0-s 00i.,, publishels by the Sr,rperintenclent of Common
nary as his gu ide. He even goes so far included -erfor -re (e.g. theafer) -se Schools in the state of Maine:
as to denounce those spelling for -ce (e.9. defense), -k for -que (e.g. THE ORIGINAL AMERICANISM 'peculiar to this
reformers who 'alter the spellings of check), and single / before a suffix, Nationality of language is a stronger bond of unior-r than country'- in an
words, by expunging the superflu- depending on the stress (traveling vs coustitutional compromises or commercial affiliarions. John Witherspoon was a Scottsh minister essay on English
ous letters', such as fayor. exce//ing). These changes are now Yrrur Dictior-raries afforcl evely facility fol a national who emigrated to America in 1768, becom- in America,
Within a few years, however, he familiar because they were to stanclar.cl.
ing president of the College of New Jersey written in
had changed his mind. At first he become standard features of US (now Princeton University). An enthusiastic 1741.
planned a radically different pho- spelling. Several others, such as the 'I'he supporterof theAmerican colonists, hewas
netic alphabet, but when this later history of \ebster's clictionary is reviewecl the only clergyman to sign the Declaration
dropping offinal e (as in definitand
received little support he developed examin) or of silent letters (as in
<tn p.452. of lndependence. His place in English lin- John
a more moderate solution, avoiding fether and i/e) never caught on. F t clt tt t. te guistic history is assured as the first to use Witherspoon
tsst . ttc Ttt t!tt
ttlfttrt ltr ttItt,t.il the term Arnericanlsm - a way of speaking (1723-94)
tt ill tltt,tttt
tr r YOR K:
i'uBtlSnED By D Pt:10N &
,
 82 PAR-f I THE IIIS'I'ORY O'ENGLISFI (r MODEIN IINGLISFI 83

THE FIRST DICTIONARY WAR publishers; different lexicographical princi- a million of Scottt novels had been printecl there by AN INTERNATIONAL
ples were at stake. Webster,s unequivoca AME,RICAN IDE,NTITIES that time, ancl dozens of American towns were being STANDARD
-
I
Webster's.Ame rican Dictionarycost g20 Americanism was in marked contrastwith
an expensive item, and with a first edition Worcester's lexical conservatism, with his
given such names as \averley and Ivanhoe (p.144). The resonances of Abraham
of only 2,500 copies, it was not a commer- choice of a more refined pronunciation, and ,{round the tuln of the i 9th century in America thele The lack of works by lecognized literaly figures is Lincoln's speech at the dedica-
cialsuccess. Webster actually had to borrow wth his preference for established (British) one reason for the limitecl lexical growth suggestecl by tion of the cettysburg Civil War
money to help pay the printer,s bill. A was erce intellectual debate alout the clirection the cemetery (19 November 1863)
usage in spellings. \X/ebstel and othels (p. S t Thousands of new words
single-volume abridged version was there- The war of the dictionaries lasted until point which bisects all straicht I lnc
new corultty ws tking. Of particular concern was ). have travelled far beyond its
fore proposed, and Joseph Worcester the 1860s, long after Webster,s death il nnr torotinated by ttre uurfco, Ilot. the slow emelgence of American literature comparecl wele being coined all over America, of course, but time and country. lts senti-
(1784-1865), widely known as a textbook (1843), and is now remembered more for ments are memorably national-
with what was seen to be happening in Europe (the they wele not reching a wicle public thror.rgh large
write was employed to edit it. The new the antagonistic pamphleteering and gen- a istic, but there is nothing in its
edition appeared in 1829. eral unpleasantness of its rival marketing age of \ordsworth, Scott, ancl Goethe). Despite the book sales, ancl clomestic soLlrces of usage did not vocabulary, grammaI or
A year latel Worcester published a dictio- campaigns than for its contribution to lexi-
ot o
well-established genres of sermons, jornals, letters, appeal to those lexicographers who wished to emulate rhetorical style to show that it
Johnson by using prestigious literary quotations
nary of his own, A Comprehensive pro- cographical thought. The last engagement is American in origin. This is
nou nci ng a nd Exp I a n atory D i cton a ry of the
to by histories, practical manuals, descriptions of America, standard English, transcending
of the war took place when Worcester,s & about \Wash-
English Language - a work which was more major work, A Dictionary of the Engtish and political pamphlets, fi'om a literary point of view $.75). Times would change, as the works of national boundaries, and evi-
Worcester's centre entry, 1860. \Waldo ington lrving, James Fenimore Cooper, Eclgar Allan
conservative in spelling than Webster,s, Language (1 860) appeared, wth 1 04,000 the post-r'evolutionary periocl was, as Ralph dently well established by mid-
Ernerson later c{escribecl it, singularly
contained no etymologies, and presented a entries, many illustrative quotations, syn- century. lt is important not to
'barren'. Poe, ancl of Emerson himself would demonstrate. By
more cultivated level of pronunciation. onym essays, and traditional spellings. The disregard the existence ofthis
Although Worcester had planned his dictio- work was very well received, but it was According to one comtrrentator, George Tucker, wlit- the micldle of the cer-rtury, we have the first edition of genre, on both sides of the
nary before working for Webster, its overtaken by the 1864 edition of Webster; ing in 1813, Britain's population of 18 millior-r was Leaues of Grass (1855) by \X/alt \hitman, an author Atlantic, when paying atten-
appearance brought criticisms of plagia-
rism, and antagonism grew after the publi-
which introduced some of Worcester,s plodtrcing up to a thousancl new books a year, who calls for a literature fi'ee from European infu- tion to American and Victorian
(p. 86) linguistic distinctiveness.
innovatory features, and contained a total
cation of a larger edition in 1846 under the revision of the etymologies by a German whereas Americat six million coLlld manage only 20. ence, and Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tonls Cabin,
title of ,4 Universal and Critical Dictionary of schola C. A. F. Mahn. This revision, now Ancl in 1823, another public figure, Charles J. Inger- the best-selling novel of the 19th century. And in this Fourscore and seven years ago
our fathers brought forth on
soll, clrew attentiol-r to the continuing intellectual
the English Lansuage, whose English edi- called A Dictonary of the Engtish Language later work wor-rld appear the results of the vast ticle of
tion had on its ttle-page ,Compiled from (and known in lexicography as the Web- this continent a new nation,
the Materials of Noah Webster, LL.D., by ster-Mahn), won the day. The US Govern- clependence of America on Britain, citing the way lexical innovation which was aheady, in those early conceived in liberty and dedi-
Joseph E. Worcester'. As a new edition of ment Prntng Office adopted it the same Arnerican presses were printing a flood of editions of decades, transforming the linguistic identity of the cated to the proposition that
Webster's Dictionaryhad appeared in .1841, all men are created equal. Now
th is f uelled the opposition between the two
year, and Webster's spellings were used in British books and rnagazines. Pelhaps as many as half new nation.
we are engaged in a great civil
its f irst Style Manual of 1887. The dictionary
lexicographers and their supporters. lt was war was over. (But there was to be a second wa testing whether that
not just a marketing battle between rival dictionary war, a century later: see p. 452.) nation, or any nation so con-
Webste r's center entry, as published in an AMERICATALKING ceived and so dedicated, can
1890/1920 revision.
The newAmerican vocabulary of the long endure. We are met on a
'I gth century came f rom a mixture of g reat battle f ield of that war.
THE AGE OF
We have come to dedicate a
DICTIONARIES A DECADE OF edition). Affairs. 1846 James O. Halliwell, A
sources. Spanish and Native American
words were especially i nf luential, but portion of that field as a final
DICTIONARIES AND 1842 G. Francis, Ihe 1844 iohn Kitto,A Dictionaryof Archaicand also many older English words cameto resting-place for those who
The first half of the 19th ENCYCLOPEDIAS Dictonary of the Arts, Cyclopdia of Biblical provinciai Words. here gave their lives that that
century was remrkable Sciencet a nd Ma nufactures Lterature. 1g46 J. E. Worcester,.A
be used with new senses or in new
nation might live. lt is alto-
1844 Alexander Reid, A
for the number of dictio- 1840 J.S.Henslow,A 1842 John C. Loudon, phrases.The opening up of the West
lJniversal and Critical gether fitting and proper that
naries which appeared on D ictiona ry of Bota n ica I Encyclopdia of Trees and Dctonary of the English
Dictionary of the Engtish
was one major factor in lexical expan-
we should do this. But, in a
both sides of the Atlantc. Terms. Shrubs.
'1842 Gibbons
Language. Languag.
sion; the arrival of waves of immi-
grants, towards the end ofthe century, larger sense, we cannot dedi-
Joseph Worcester provides 1840 William Humble, Merle, Ihe lS44ThomasWebster.An 1947 H.FoxTalbot,Englrstr cate - we cannot consecrate -
a catalogue of English dic- Dictionary of Geology and Domestc Dcti o na ry and EncyclopdiaofDomestc Etymologies. was another (p. 94).
we cannot hallow-this
tionaries at the beginnng Mineralogy. Housekeeper's Manual. Economy. 1847 Robettsullivan,A bronco (1850), cattle town (1881),
ground. The brave men, living
of his 1860 edition, and 1840 Samuel Maunde[ 1842 Macvey Napie l845WilliamBowles,,4n DictionaryoftheEnglish chaps (1 870), corral (1 829), cowpoke
identifies 64 items pub- Scientific a nd Lite rary E n cyc ! o p d i a B rita n n i ca Explanatoryand Language. (1 880), dogie (1 888), dude (1 883), lariat
and dead, who struggled here,
have consecrated it far above
lished in England since Treasury. (7th edition). Phonographic Pronouncing lA+g John R. Bartlett, (1 831), lasso ( 1819), maverick (1867),
Johnson's Dictionary 1840 B. H. Smarl, Smart's 1843 John Bouvier,ALaw Dictionary of the English Dictionary of Amercanisms. ranch (1 808), range (1 835), roundup
our poor power to add or
(1755) and a further 30 Pronou nci ng Di ctiona ry of Dictonary, adapted to the Language. 1848 John Boag,Thetmperial (1 876), rustler (1 882), six shooter
detract. The world will little
items in America since the the English Language. Consttuton and Laws of 1845 ShirleyPalmer.A LexiconofthEnglish (1 844), stampede (1843),
note, nor long remember what
f irst Webster compilation 1841 R. H. Dana, Jr, Dictionary the Unted States, and of PentaglotDictonaryof Language. tenderfoot (1 849), tra i I boss (1 890)
we say here, but it can never
(1806) - almost one a year. of Sea Terms. the seyera/States. Anatomy, Physiology, jB48 Arthur B. Evans, forget what they did here. lt is
These were all general dic-
1841 Walter F. Hook, Church 1843 William Goodhugh and Pathology, Practcal Leicestershire Words. The Melting Pot for us the living, rather, to be
tionares: in addition there
Dctonary. WilliamC.Taylor; Ihe Medicine, Surgery, &c. 1g4g Samuel Maunder, This phrase, the title of lsrael Zangwill's dedicated here to the unfin-
1841 Edward Scudamore, ,4 Pictorial Dictionary of the 1845 JohnPlalts,ADictionary Treasuryof Natural History, 1 909 successful play, itself became part ished work which they who
were over 200 specialized
dictionaries and glossaries,
Dictionary of Terms in Use in Holy Bible. Sylonymes. or poptar Dctionary of of the new lexicon, and wellsumma- MYH OR REALITY? are all 1 7th-century borrowings. fought here have thus far so
as well as over 30 encyclo-
the Arts and Sciences. 1843 William Waterston, A 1845 NoahWebster,A AnmatedNature.
, ^2f_t1li1h
rizes the effect on American Eng lish of ln the later period, many of the nobly advanced. lt is rather for
pedias, showing how com-
1841 Noah Webste; An Cycl opd ia of Comme rce. DictionaryoftheEnglish 1849 Anonymous,AG!ossary thousands of new words and phrases brave (1 8 1 9), firewater (1 81 7) words put into the mouths of native us to be here dedicated to the

pilers were under pressure

American Dictionary of the
English Languaqe (new
to keep up with the edition).
increases in knowledge
and terminology that
1842 JohnY.Akerman,A
Glossary of Provincial Words
stemmed from the lndus-
trial Revolution, progress
in Use in Wiltshire.
1842 William Brande, A
in science and medicine, Dictionary of Science,
and fresh philological per-
Lterature, and Art.
spectves. The world was
1842 William Carpenter, A
not to see such an explo- Co m p re h e n sive D i cti o n a ry
sion of dictionaries and of E ng I ish Synonymes (3rd
reference works again
until the 1 980s (p. 454).
1844 E.S.N.Campbell,A
Dictionary of Military
5clence.
1844 JosephGwilt,n
Encylopda of
Archtecture.
1844 Richard D. Hoblyn,A
Dctionary of the Terms
used in Medicine and the
Collateral Sciences.
844 Cuthbert W. Johnson,
1
The Fa rmer's E ncyclopd
and Dictionary of Rural
Language (university of Words used inTeesdale, from German, ltalian, Yiddish, and Great Spirit (1790), lndian Agency people were invented or popular- great task remaining before us
abridged edition). Durham. other European languages, aswell as (1 822), medicine dance (1 805), ized by white authors who imagined - that from these honored
1846 William Bowles, A 1849 J. R. Beard, The people,s the jargon of the immigration process. peace pipe (1 860), reservation that this was how 'lndians' ought to dead we take increased devo-
PhonographicPronouncing Dictionary of the Bible. Not everyth ing was pleasant. ln partic- (1789), smoke signal (1873) talk. Examples include Horl (as a tion to that cause for which
1849John-raig,ANew, ula there was a marked increase in the they gave the last full measure
^Dictonary(abridged). greeting), heap big, and Greaf
1846JohnT.8rockett,A Universal,Etymotogical, number of off ensive racial labels. These words represent a fairly late White Father. Happy Hunting of devotion; that we here
Country
Glossaryof North fechnologic|, and- stage ofdevelopment in the lexicon Ground is known from Washington highly resolve that these dead
Words. pronouning Dictionary of
del icatessen (1 893), Hunk (1 896), kike
of Native American affairs. Many lrving (1 837); pa leface, war path, shall not have died in vain; that
1846 RobertEden,
(1 880s), kindergarten (1 862), natural-
theEngtishTanguage. this nation, under God, shall
ization papers (1S56), Polack (1 879), native words entered the language and war paint are f rom James Feni-
Churchman'sTheological 1849 Johneadie,Abcat during the period offirst encounter: more Cooper (1 820s). Myth or real- have a new birth of freedom,
Dictionary(2nd edition). spaghetti (1 880s),spiel (t 894), tutti-
Cyctopdia. frutti (1 876), wop (1 890s). for example, moccasin, papoose, ity, they became part ofthe and that government of the
ia 1846 B.F.Graham,English 1850 AlexanderBurrill,ALaw powwow, wi gwa m, and tom a hawk American lexicon nonetheless. people, by the people, for the
Synonymes. Dictionary and Glossary. (After 5. B. Flexner, 1976.) people, shall not perish from
the earth.
84 PART I.THE HISTORY OF NGLISH 6 MODERN F,NGLISIJ 85

They were capitalizing on an imporranr genre of

BRE,AKING THE RULES dialect writing which had emergecl in American liter-

By the 1860s, the American spelling system had

ature during the 1840s, seen ar its most successful in
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851-2), and on a trend in comic
ARTEMUSWARD
Artemus Ward was the
E@YPSAN ruA&&,
pseudonym of Charles Farrar
become so established that writers dared to play writing where southern speakers, especially blacks, Browne ( l834-67) - a printer's PICCADILLY,
about with it, and several made nation-wide reputa- were portrayed as uneducatecl or as figures of ftrn. apprentice who became a jour-
tions fi'om doing so. Artemus \ard and Josh Billings Dialect vocabulary and grammar (hin't, sw for seen, nalist, then a professional
humorist. The character he cre-
were leading proponenrs of a comic-spelling genre etc.) were usecl as well as mis-spelling, though it was ated was presented as the man-
which was extremely popular in the later clecades of the spelling which created the impact. ager of an itinerant sideshow
who'sounds off in articles and
Everyt AIigh.t (excet Sturdy) t B,
the century. Its homespun wit and down-to-earth The British write John Camden Horren, in an
letters on all kinds oftopics,
scirtiments were expressed in a style which seemed to
reflect the sounds and rhythms of local speech. Both
1865 essay introducing the works of Artemus \ard,
thought to explain the mant remarkable appeal as
using a style which is f ull of
puns and bad spellings. His lec-
SATURDAY MORNINGS r g.
writers used an intuitive semi-phonetic system. Nei- part of an American tradition of 'mixing of sacred tures, f ull of word-play and
throw-away remarks, always
ther of them bothered much about consistency (e.g. with secular matters': delivered in a grave, melancholy
ro is spelled teu), tt, or 2; fun appears as 6oth fun and ir-rcongruity of icleas is carried to a much greater extenr in manner, brought him fame
phun), but the simple combination of informal non, throughout the USA as well
American humour than it is in our own; and it is rl-ris
as

stanclald forms with a subject marrer normally associ-
atecl with formal Standacl English was evidently
enough to guarantee success.
It
is perhaps not surprising that people who had
only recently come ro recognize their own literary
standards shoulcl begin to laugh at those who had
not. But these writers should nor be seen in isolation,
JOSH BILLINGS
Josh Billings was the
pseudonym of Henry
Wheeler Shaw (1 81 8-85).
Born in Lanesboro, Mas-
sachusetts, he settled in
Poughkeepsie, New York,
as a land dealer, and
began to write in his 40s.
His famous'Essay on the
Mule', when first pub-
lished in The Poughkeep-
s/an, attracted little inter-
est. He then saw a piece
by Artemus Ward, and
'translated' his Essay into
the same kind of
grotesque spelling, as 'An
Essa on the Muel'. lt was
an immediate success,
and he became a national
figure in the years after
the CivilWar, known
especially for his rustic
philosophizing:
It is better to know less
than to know so much
that ain't so.
Abraham Lincoln com-
mented: 'Next to William
Shakespeare Josh Billings
was the greatest judge
of human nature the
world has ever seen'-
and read his aphorisms
to the Cabinet.
Billings'style did not
escape criticism. Mark
Twain thought the bad
spelling got in the way of
the wisdom, which had
real value in its own right.
And Shaw himself seems
to have had some reserva-
tions about it. ln 'Answers
to Personal Letters'
(1873), he remarked:
I adopted it in a moment
ov karlassness ...There is
just az mutch joke in bad
spelling az thare iz in
looking kross-eyed, and
no more...like other sin-
ners who ask for forgive-
ness and keep rite on sin-
ning, i now ask the world
tew forgiv me and I will
promis not tew reform.
People did, and Shaw
didn't. ln 1873 he was
hardly half way through a stop, natur diskovering
1 O-year series of bur-
lesque pieces, Josh
Billings'Farmer's
Allminax. An 1868 apho-
rism best sums up his
approach (from 'Josh
Billings on lce'):
I hold that a man has just
as mutch rite tew spel a
word as it is pronounced,
as he has tew pronounce
it the way it ain't spelt,
mental exaggeration, this odcl mixture of wiclely different
thoughts, that distinguishes Yankee fi'orn English fun...
It was the linguistic incongruit however, which was
the key to the success of both 'Ward and Billings.
Rewrite their material into Standard English, and -
as Billings originally realized - much of its effect is
lost.
J05H BILLINGS:
HIS SAYINGS
Chastity iz like an isikel. if it
onse melts that's the last ov it.
After awl ced and dun the
gran sekret of winning is tew
win.
It iz tru that welth won't maik
a man vartuous, but i notis
thare ain't ennyboddy who
wants tew be poor jist for the
purpiss ov being good.
Humin natur is the same all
over the world, cept in Nu
England, and thar its akordin
tu sarcumstances.
Akordin tu skripter thar will
bejust about as many Kam-
mills in heavin as rich men.
MTTfrffiNr
abroad. He was in poor health for
many years, and his early death
was mourned throughout the
country.
AMONG THE MOR,MONS.
ARTEMUS WARD think it has got biles, oughter be pros- -*sc+.eG+_
friend Wales. ekooted, & it may as
TO THE PRINCE
ln my country, well be the war as Ilurlng tho Vacation the Eall ha been carefully Swept out, and a
OF WALES
we've got a wa[ any body else. When I new Door-Knob ha been aelrted to tbo Door.
Fnlruo wnLrs, - you while your country, in git a goakin [joking]
remember me. I saw conjunktion with fit onto me it's no use
Koliding Cap'n Sems of the to try ter stop me. ln nrnus W^ao
you in Canady a few wit, call on the Ctzens of, London,al lhen reddenc,
The word 'kolide,' used years ago. I remem- Alobarmy, mane- You hearn about nd eplan any jokes n his nmat,ae wheh theg mq not u,ndarranil,
bi ralerode men, haz ber you too. I seldim tanes a nootrol posi- the draft, friend
an indefinit meaning forgit a person. tion !... Wales, no doubt. lt
perron of long-ertablished integrity wilr tako exceIent oare of Bonnetr,
hearn of your
I Yes, 5i we've got a caus'd sum squirmin',
tew menny folks. Thru Cloaks, &c., during he Entortinmont; the ,udience botter leave hoir
the kindness of a nere marrige to the Print- war, and the troo but it was fairly con-
money, howover, with Mr'lVrno; he will roturn i to them in a dey ol
and dear frend, i am cis Alexandry, & ment Patrit has to make ducted, I think, for it
sacrifisses, you bet. hit all classes... wo, or iuvor it f thom in merioa, as they may think best"
able tew translate the ter writ you a congra-
wurd so that enny man toolatory letter at the I have alreddy We hain't got any
ken understand it at time, but l've bin given two cousins to daily paper in our fEfNobo;ly must ray that ho likes ths Lecture unlss he wishes
to bo
onst. The term 'kolide' bildin a barn this thewar,&lstand town, but we've got thought eccentric; and nobody must say tha he doesnrt liks t unless
is used tew explain the summer, & hain't had reddy to sacrifiss my a female sewin circle, ho really is ecconric. (This requires thinLing ovor, but it
will amply
no time to write let- wife's brother which ansers the ropay perueal)
sarkumstanse ov 2
trains ov cars triing tew ters to folks. Excoos ruther'n not see the same purpuss, and
pass each uther on a me. rebelyin krusht. And we wasn't long in sus-
single trak. lt is ced Numeris changes if wuss cums to wuss pents as to who was Ths Panorama used t0 lllustrate Mr IIARD'S Narrativs is
that it never yet haz has tooken place l'll shed ev'ry drop of drafted... rather worse than panoramas usually ars.
bin did suckcessfully, since we met in the blud my able-bodid
hence a'kolide.' body politic. The relations has got to //
/'/'-j-
fr/t*
body politic, in fack, prosekoot the war.
[r lVln will no bo responsiblo
I
is sick. I sumtimes think sumbody for any debe of lis own contracting.
The mule
The mule is haf hoss,
and haf Jackass, and
thenkumstoafull
TWO DIALECTGIANTS
her mistake. Tha weigh 'l 'm glad Mas'r did n't go off this morning, as he looked to,'
The American comic writers were writing for an audience who by the 1860s were well
more, akordin tu their said Tom; 'that ar hurt me more than sellin', it did. Mebbe it
heft, than enny other
used to seeing a written representation of nonstandard speech. ln particular, most of
might have been natura I for him, but 't would have come
those who laughed at Billings orWard would have read Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle
kreetur; except a crow- desp't hard on me, as has known him from a baby; but I 've
Tom'sCabin, published in 1851-2asaseriesof instalmentsintheabolitionist journal,
bar. Tha kant hear seen Mas'r, and I beg in ter feel sort o' reconciled to the Lord's
National Era.ln 1852 it a ppea red in book form, and sold 300,000 copies in America
enny quicker, not fur- will now....
during its f irst year, with huge (though heavily pirated) sales in Britain.
ther than the hoss, yet n,
their ears are big enuff The linguistic conventions used by Stowe in many ways presage the essays of Billings (U ncl e Tom's Ca bi 1 851 -2, Ch. 7.)
and Ward, and these in turn anticipate the style of d ialect writing which reached its
for snow shoes. You
peak in the novels of Mark Twain (who knew Billings'work well). Twain's use of orthog- Looky here - didn't de line pull loose en de raf' go a hummin'
kan trust them with
raphy is sophisticated, consistently distinguishing several speech varieties. Nonetheless, down de river, en leave you en de canoe behine in de
enny one whose life
throughout all these literary representations there is an inevitable shaping, selectivity, fog?...En didn'tyou whoop....You answer me dat.'
aint worth enny more
than the mules.
and simplification, resulting n a stereotype which. for many, has replaced reality (Huckleberry Finn, 1884, Ch. 1 5.)
(pp.96, 346).
 PART I -fI{E HISTORY OF ENCLISH
86
6 MODERN ENGLISH 87

VARIETY A\ARENESS
One of the mosr inreresting features of the 19th cen-
tury is the way consciousness was raised about the
nature and use oflanguage. The compilation of dictio-
naries, grammars, spelling books, and pronunciation
manuals in the second half of the 18th century had
focused attention on standard forms in an unprece-
dented manner (pp.72,78). 'Slith widespread stan-
ddrdization came an increased sensitivity on the part of
'ordinary' users ofthe languge ro rhe range ofvarieties
which existed, and to the social nuances attached to di
ferent usages. There was also an increased readiness on
comparative philology. This subject brought fresh per- LANGUAGE The language ofscience publicit and introduced new nomenclatules ancl
spectives to the study oflanguage, especially in relation ATITUDES styles of expression to n ever-cr.trious public. By the
English scientific and technical vocabulary had been
to questions oferymology (S 10) and the role ofclassical .
Mrs Durbeyfield habitually growing steadily since the Renaissance (p. 60), but the end ofthe century, there was a recognizable variety of
models. It stimulated arguments about the narure of spoke the dialect; her daugh-
lgth ..ntury saw an unprecedented growth in this scientific English (p.372), shaped by the observations
language change, correctness in usage, and methods of
ter, who had passed the Sixth
of grammalians, the expectations of the burgeoning
Standard in the National domain, while the lexicon incorporated the conse-
teaching. Innumerable societies and journals were scientific societies, and the sryle guides of the new aca-
School under a London- quences of the Industrial Revolution and the accom-
founded to study such subjects as local dialects, the his- trained mistress, spoke two
panying period of scientific exploration. Significant demic journals. Both'scientific' ancl'technical' are rec-
ognized as rnajor lexical dimensions in the
languages; the dialect at
tory oflanguage, vocabulary reform (p.125), spelling discoveries and theories, such as Faradayt on electric- 18BB
home, more or less; ordinary
reform (p. 27 6),and shorthand, or ro debate rhe ftrture English abroad and to persons it or Darwint on evolution, achieved widespread Preface the New English Dictionry (p.443).
of English. The Romantic movemenr in particular pro- of quality.
(Thomas Hardy,
moted a special interesr in the way ordinary people
Tess of the Durbervi Iles,
spoke, and there was a growing sense of the distance NOMENCLATURE
1891, Ch.3.)
between linguistic scholarship and language reality. . Any examination of the Physics
Lord Derby was very punc-
The American poer \/alt \Whitman, in an essay on tilious in his pronunciation of growth of scientific
sonometer 808
vocabulary in the 19th
1

the part of authors to experiment with the language American sla ngfor The North Americn Reuiew (1885) , English, though his son centigrade 1812
talked a Lancashire patois. century would find that
(p. 84), and in particular to fnd new techniques of summed it up like this: Lord Derby would insolently some sciences are
altimeter 1847
ampre 1861
expression for the range of diverse 'voices' which the correct Lord Granville across conspicuously under-
ohm 1861
emerging genre of the novel permitted. As Charles Language, be it remembered, is not an absrract consrruction the House of Lords. Lord represented, for the
colorimeter 863
simple reason that their
1

Dickens put it, in an essay on 'Saxon English' in House-

of the learned, or of clictionary-makers, but is something Granville always said joule 1 882
arising out ofthe work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of 'wropped up' -'wrapped' foundations had been laid
voltmeter 1 882
hold Words ( I 8 5 8): 'if a man wishes to write for all, he Lord Derby would say in a much earlier. Most of the
watt
long generations of humanit and has its bases broad ancl basic terms of anatomy,
1 882

must know how ro use the speech of all'. tone clearto the reporters. electron 891
low, close to the grour-rcl. Its fir-ral decisions are macle by rhe (Benjamin Disraeli, for example, had been
1

Also importanr were the discoveries ar rhe end of the masses, people nearest the concrete, having most to do with introduced by the end of
Reminrscences.) Biology
18th century about the historical relationship berween the 17th century, as had a
actual land and sea. It impermeates all, the past as well as the . ldid
so like your long hand- great deal of mathe- photosynthesis 804
Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin, which ushered in the age of present, and is the grandest tliumph of the human intellect. some note four or f ive days
1

matical terminology. On flagellum 1807

ago. I do so thank you for the other hand, from the chlorophyll 1810
your kindness. There! there end ofthe 18th century spermatozoon 1 830
are 2 sentences with 'so' in rapid progress in bacterium 1847
Some of the best evidence for the increased awareness THE LATESTTHING F/ossie. Of course - of course. them not followed by'as', as
But do go on, lda. What chemistry, physics, and diatom 1854
of language issues in the 1 gth century comes from the IN CRIME Mr Gaskell says they oughtto
does Mr. Poshley do? biology led to such major leucocyte 1 870
way writers and cartoonists begin to satirize them. Th is be. lwillmakethem one lexical developments as symbiosis 1877
(A Dialogue of the Present /da. Well, it appears he sp/its grammatical sentence, &
dialogue was reprinted in a late Victorian anthology the nomenclature of mitosis 1882
D"y) his infinitives. have done. I am so much
called Mr. Punch in Society. (Seefurther, p. 195.) chemical elements and chromosome 1 890
Flosse (horrified). Oh, not obl iged to you as to be inca-
really? Buthow cruel o compounds, and the
SCENE - Mrs. Featherston's pable of expressing my obli-
I
Drawing-room. him!Why, I met him atthe Linnaean system of Geology
I gation but by saying that I am classif ication in natural
i,
I
M rs. T h i stl ed own d i scove red Dragnetts' only last week, SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE of the Geographical Soc- apatite 803
i always -Yours most truly, history (p. 372). The dates
1
l rli I
I
calling. and he didn't look at a// iety of London (1 830), the cretaceous 1832
I lr E. C.Gaskell given below are those of
ifli ,1, I that kind of person ! (tetters, 1 854.) Michael Faraday (1791- British Association for the Jurassic 1833
rill lll
Mrs. Thistledown (taking up a /da. l'm afraid there's no the first recorded usage, as pliocene 833
1867) giving a Friday Advancement of Science
rl
,il .
1
1
novel on a side-table). Let anotherthing also be given in the Oxford
itt 1r I
doubt about it. lt's Evening Discourse at the (1 831), and the Provincial Cambrian 1836
"The Romance of a perfectly notorious. And of remembered. We must distin- English Dictionary. 1840
Royal lnstitution in Albe- Medical and Surgical mesozoic
lr Plumber," by Paul Poshley. guish between the English (AfterT. H. Savory, 1967.)
^rl, course any one who once marle Street, London Association (1 832, later triassic 1841
My dear Flossie , you don't takesto that- which we speak, and that (founded in 1799 by Ben- called the British Medical oligocene 1 859

which we write. Many expres- Science names

mean to tell me you read F/ossle. Yes, indeed. Quite jamin Thompson, Count Association). ln the U5A, bauxite 1868
that man? hopeless. At least, I sions are not only tolerated biology 1 802
Rumford). The Prince Con- the following decade Ordovician 1 887
Mrs. Featherston. I haven't but required in conversation, petrology 1 807
I
suppoie so. lsn't it? sort is in the audience. sawthe American Sta-
had timeto do more than /da. MrPinceneyseemedto which are not usually put on taxonomy 1 828
Medicine
\ These discourses, along tistica I Association
dip into it as yet. But why, think so. paper. Thus, for instance, morphology 1830
with a series of Christmas lec- (1839), the American gastrits 806
lda? Oughtn't I to read F/ossie. How sad! But can't everyone says'can't"f or palaeontology 1838 1
tures for children, were Med ica I Association laryngitis 1822
him? anything be done, lda? cannot,'won't' 'f or will not, (1847), and the Ameri- ethnology 1842
begun in 1 826 as part of a kleptomania 830
/da. Well, from something 'isn't'or is not, in conversa- gynaecology 1847 1
lsn't there any law to concern to make science can Association forthe 839
Mr. Pinceneytold methe tion; but we seldom see these histology 1847 ci rrhosis 1
punish him? Bythe bye, accessible. ln the 2000s the Advancement of 5ci-
carcinology 1852 neuritis 1840
other day - but really it's how do you split-what is contractions in books, except lnsttution continues to pro- ence (1 848). By the
too bad to repeat such where a conversation is embryology f859 haemophilia 1 854
it? - nf initudes? vide a forum where, as its end ofthe century, in diphtheria 't857
things. One never knows, /da. My dear, I thoughtyou related. annual Proceedings state, America alone, over
there may be nothing in it. (Henry Alford, Chemistry aphasia 1 867
knew. I really didn't like to 'non-specialists may meet 50 national councils,
,i F/ossre. Still, you might just as The Q uee n's E ng I ish, 1869, tellurium 1800 beri beri 1879
ask any questions. the leading scientistS of our societies, or associa-
well te// me, lda ! Of course I Point 94.) sodium 1 807 claustrophobia 1879
F/ossre. Well, whatever it is, I time and heartheir latest tions had been
should neverdream- shall tell Mudies not to strontum 1 808
discoveries explained in founded, dealing
/da. After all, I don't suppose platinum 1812
send me anything more of everyday language'. with scientific sub-
there's any secret about it. his. I don'tthink one ought jects as diverse as silicon 1817
Visitor. " I've just been to make my first call Keeping pace with the
It seems, from what Mr. to encourage such persons. caffeine 1 830
growth in scientif ic societies entomology,
on Mrs. Johnson. " Pinceney says, that this Mr. chloroform 1 848
must have been difficult, in dentistry, and
Lady ofthe House. " So glad, dear. Poor thing, Poshley-you mustpromrse (trom Mr. Punch in Society, sucrose 1862
Faraday's time. The 1830s, engineering.
she's glad to know anltone ! " not to say I told you - c. 1870.) for example, began in
cocaine
argon
1874
1 895
Britain with the formation
88 PAIT I THE, HISTOIY OF ENGLISH 6 MODEIN ENGI-ISH 89

LITERARY VOICES THE LANGUACES OF DICKENS

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH far as was possible, in a selection of
(1 770-1 8s0) language really used by men, and, at
the same time, to throw overthem a
The principalobject, certain colouring of the imagination,
then, proposed in whereby ordinarythings should be
these Poems, presented to the mind in an unusua
I
Nowhere is the range of 19th-century social, regional, occlr-
the ir feelings and notions in simple their own creation. (Preface to the
and unelaborated expressions. second edition ofthe Lyrical Ballads, parional, and personal variation in the use of language
Accordingly, such a language, arising 1800.) nrore fully illustrated than in the novels and sketches of
out of repeated experience and regu-
Charles Dickens (1812-70). His characters not only speak
lar feelings, is a more permanent, and newwith old
a far more philosophical language, Glad sight wherever frrr themselves; Dickens often explicitly clraws our atten-
some qedr
ls ioined through

was to choose aspect... Humble and rustic life was tha n that wh ich is f req uently su bsti- 't'nmeborn tie; tion to their speech, iclentifying the stylistic bass of the
incidents and generally chosen...because such men tuted for it by Poets, whothinkthat
i"rr that we behold comic effect. (For fr.rrther examples, seep.254.)
situations
f rom
hourly communicate with the best they are conferring honour upon '"ii"
objects from which the best part of themselves and their art in proportion
common
life, and to
language is origina lly derived; and
because, from their rank in society
as they separate themselves from the
sympathies of men, and indu lge in i;!"J"iilr#rii:'J. The law
'Did he say, for instance,' added
the premises should be
considered mine, as some
relate or and the sameness and narrow circle of

:ii: * il' : 3i'li

arbitrary and capricious habits of Brass, in a kind of comfortable, slight recompense for the
describe them their intercourse, being less underthe expression, n order to furnish food PJI : cosy tone -'l don't assert that he trouble and annoyance I
throughout, as influence of social vanity, they convey for fickle tastes and fickle appetites of uf did say so, mind; I only ask you, to should sustain - and were
(Poem, 1845)
refresh your memory - did he say, you, in short,' added
for instance, that he was a Brass, still more comfort-
stranger in London - that it was ably and cosily than
WALTER SCOTT (17 7 1 -1 832) not his humour or within his abil- before, 'were you in-
Scotch was a language which we have heard spoken by the learnd and ity to give any references - that duced to accept him on
the wise & witty & the accomplished and which had not a trace of vulgar- he felt we had a right to require my behalf, as a tenant,
ity in it but on the contrary sounded rather graceful and genteel. you them - and that, in case anything upon those conditions?'
remember how well Mrs Murray Keith - the late Lady Dumfries - my should happen to him, at any 'Certainly not,' replied
poor mother & other ladies of that day spoke their native language - it time, he particularly desired that Dick. (Ihe Old Curiosity
was different from the English as the Venetian is from the Tuscan dialect whatever property he had upon Sfrop, 1 840-1, Ch. 35.)
of ltaly but it never occurd to any one that the Scottish any more than A detail of 'Dickens's Dream',
the Venetian was more vulgar than those who spoke the purer and Religion by Robert William Buss.
more classical - But that is all gone and the remembrance will be 'l say, my f riends,' pursues Mr unto us by the cow, from the eggs
drownd with us the elders of this existing generation. (tetters, Vll.83) Chadband,...'why can we not f ly? which are laid by the fowl, from
ls it because we are calculated to ham, from tongue, from sausage, IDIOSYNCRASIES
walk? lt is. Could we walk, my and from such like? lt is. Then let
f riends, without strength? We us partake of the good things Now, Mrs Piper - what have you got to say about this?
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY (181 1-63) could not. What should we do wh ich are set before us !' Why, Mrs Piper has a good dealto say, chiefly in parentheses and without
without strength, my friends? The persecutors denied that punctuation, but not much to tell. Mrs Piper lives in the court (which her hus-
I think ltr Dickens has in many things quite a divine genius so to speak, Our legs would ref use to bear us, there was any particular gift in band is a cabinet-maker), and it has long been well beknown among the
and certain notes in his song are so delightful and admirable that I
our knees would double up, our Mr Chadband's piling verbose neighbours (counting from the day next but one before the half-baptizing of
should never think of trying to imitate him, only hold my tongue and ankles would turn over, and we flights of stairs, one upon Alexander James Piper aged eighteen months and four days old on accounts
admire him. I quarrel with his Art in many respects: which I don't should come to the ground. Then another, after this fashion. But of not being expected to live such was the sufferings gentlemen of that child
think represents Nature duly; for instance Micawber appears to me f rom whence, my f riends, in a this can only be received as proof in his gums) as the Plaintive - so Mrs Piper insists on calling the deceased - was
an exaggeration of a man, as his name is of a name. lt is delightful human point of view do we of their determination to perse- reported to have sold himself. Thinks it was the Plaintive's air in which that
and makes me laugh: but it is no more a real man than my friend derive the strength that is neces- cute, since it must be within report originatin in. See the Plaintive often and considered as his air was feari-
Punch is: and in so far I protest against him...holding thatthe Art sary to our limbs? ls it,'says Chad- everybody's experence, that the ocious and not to be allowed to go about some children being timid (and if
of Novels rs to represent Nature: to convey as strongly as possible band, glancing overthe table, Chadband style of oratory is doubted hoping Mrs Perkins may be brought forard for she is here and
the sentment of reality - in a tragedy or a poem or a lofty drama 'from bread in various forms, widely received and much will do credit to her husband and herself and
you aim at producing different emotions; the figures moving, and from butter which is churned admired. (Bleak House, 1 852-3, family). (Bleak House,
their words sounding, heroically: but in a drawing-room drama a from the milk which is yielded ch. 19.) ch. 11.)
coat is a coat and a poker a poker; and must be nothing else according r,
to my ethcs, not an embroidered tunic, not a great red-hot instrument
I.
1

I i ke the Pa ntom ne wea pon. (Lette rs, Vol. 2, p. 7 7 2.)

i

little willain bodily before

MRS GAMB AUTHOR
The idiosyncratic speech of
THOMAS HARDY (1 840-1 928) Mrs Gamp in Ma rtin Chuz-
zIe w i t (1 843-4) was ev d e ntly
i pages, but Forster includes
rAn author may be said to fairly conveythe spirit of intelligent one of Dickens's own fav-
peasant talk if he retains the idiom, compass, and charateristic ourte creations, if we may
expressions, although he may not encumber the page with judge by the f requency with
obsolete pronunciations of the purely English words, and with which she appears in the
mispronunciations of those derived f rom Latin and Greek. ln novel-and also outside it. ln
the printing ofstandard speech hardly any phonetic principle at his biography (Book Vl, Ch. 1),
all is observed; and if a writer attempts to exhibit on paperthe Dickens's conf idant John
precise accents ofa rusticspeaker he disturbsthe proper bal- Forster tells the story of how,
ance of a true representation by unduly insisting upon the to help raise money for a ben-
grotesque element; thus directing attention to a point of in- ef it f und for Leigh Hunt, Dick-
ferior interest, and diverting it from the speaker's meaning, ens proposedtoturn his
which is by farthe chief concern where the aim is to depict character into an author, in
AmateurTheatrical Benef it,
written by Mrs Gamp (who
was an eyewitness)'. The story
was abandoned after a few
what Dickens wrote, com-
menting, 'There are so many
friends of Mrs Gamp whowill
rejoice at this unexpected
visitfrom her'.
The piece, a pastiche in its
own right, makes much of
M rs Gamp's erratic syntax and
dstinctive articulation, in
which several sounds (esp-
ecially lzl and lsD come out as
lS, usually spelled g (some-
me, it give me such a turn . \' l
that I wasall in atremble. lf ru
lhadn't lost my umbreller in
the cab, I must have done him
a injurywith it! Ohthebra-
gian littletraitor!... Oh the
aggrawation ofthat
-,11
Dougladge ! M rs Harris, if I
hadn'tapologigedto Mr
Wilson, and put a little bottle
to my lips which was in my
pocket forthe journay, and
which it is very rare indeed I
have about me, I could not
have abared the sight of him '2-
-there, Mrs Harris! lcould ...Pj'-' :

the men and their natures rather than their dialect forms. 'an Account of a late Exped- times dg or1). not!- must havetore him, or
I n'.F:.? z
(The Athenaeum, 30 November 1 878.) tion into the North, for an Mrs Harris, wen lseethat have give way and fainted.
' Mrs Gamp proposes
a toast' by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne).
90 PART I THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 6 MODE,RN ENGLISH 91

Ongoing change during the 20th century. It continued to change, in

IN LIVING MEMORY
LEXICALYSED . There are mEor differences in language awreness TIMES CHANGE
At the same time, we should not underestimre the lin- Any area of the lexicon will and attitude. A century of prescriptive grammar' rig- numerous small ways, sometimes attracting attention, lcan only just rememberthe
guistic differences berween grandchild and grandpar-
orously taught in schools (p.78)' inevitably left its sometimes not. Many of these points are identified at
demonstrate the routine and time, in the very early twen-
Thomas Hardy died in 1928. George Bernard Shaw, ent - and indeed, many a domesric argumenr berween ongoing nature of lexical
relevant places in Part III. ties, when a typical boy-and-
change. 'Getting drunk' is a rnark on linguistic sensibilities then in a way that is not girl conversation might have
who was 14 when Dickens died, lived until 1950
(pp. 8B-9). At the beginning of the 21st centur there
the generations musr have been fuelled by changes notion which seems to have found now Indeed, prescriptivism left its mark in There have been significant changes in the pragmat- run: 'He: May I callyou by
which hauetaken place in the language during the past
orher ways too, as one senior citizen emphatically
been particularly fruitful in your christian name? She: lf
ics of the language (p.286) - in particular, in what
is a sense in which the 'history of English' ceases ro be 75 years. the 20th century. The dates you like. He: Er - what is your
given are of the earliest oointed out, reacting in 1983 to a BBC language pro- counts as acceptable public linguistic behaviour. The christian name?' Since that
helpful notion, and the boundary blurs berween the
a
present section and later parts ofthis book. It hardly
. Vocabular as always, has been the chief index of recorded instance in historical
irr--. devoted to the split infinitive (p.195) and norms of interaction have altered, as shown by differ- time the use of christian
dictionaries, supplemented
change. Apart from the rapid growth in standard other usge toPlcs: ences in such diverse areas as the use of first names,
names by U-speakers has
seems to be 'history' when we can make direct contact by personal observation. been continually increasing.
English vocabular associated with such areas as rech- The reason why the older generation feel so'strongly about
personal titles, taboo words, greeting formulae, and ln the thirties, it was quite
drith the pronunciation, grammat vocabular and pifflicated 1900s
nological development and the emergence of the 'per- ginned English grammar is that we were severely punished if we the conventions ofletter-writing. A vast gulfseparates customary for a member of a
attitudes to language ofthe early decades ofthe 20th 1900 partie care [a party consist-
century, simply by talking to people whose language
missive society', there are many differences berween lit I 9oo didnt obey the rules! One split infinitive, one whack; two the generations in their expectations about conversa-
ing of two men and two
the slang of previous decades and that of today ossif ied 1901 split infinitives, two whacks; and so on. tional etiquette. womenl going to a dance
was shaped then. Moreover, it is difficult to think of a pot-eyed 1901
(p. l8Z), and the dialect surveys have drawn our. arren-
saturated o The most important developments in the language who was unknown to the
period as constituting
parr of the history of the lan-
a 1902 Another correspondent, his junior by 50 years or other three to be introduced
tion to the speed at which the regional vocabulary petrified during the 20th century were the emergence of new
guage when its speech and writing seem ro be almost more, contented himself with a four-word letter, and
1903 by the christian name alone
known to older generarions has disappeared (p. 3 I 8). pie-eyed 1904
varieties, both national and international. Some, such (o often, just John Smith
identical with what we find today. blotto 1905 thereby identified a linguistic generation gap whose
as
or Jane Smith, without
The overwhelming impression is certainly one of . Earlier pronunciation norms can be heard in the rosey 1905 consequences are sdll being sorted out (p. 190): as computing and broadcasting, were completely pref ix). ln the War the use of
continuity. Any differences we may norice in pronun- 'broader' regional accenrs of many older people, or the shellacked 1905 novel; others, such as religious English and journalese, christian names increased still
tanked 1905
lVhat's a split infinitive?
were affected by social change (Part V). Above all, further; it was often the
ciation, grammar, or vocabulary seem to be occasional more open vowel qualities of the eady BBC presenters, spifflicated
and superficial, and tend to be described as 'old- several ofwhom are accessible through archive record- slopped
1906
1907 Most of the grammatical controversies which come there were the new regional varieties of English which custom for a man at the head
of a large section of girls to
fashioned' rarher rhan (somewhat more distantly) as ings. An example of change in the educated standard
bunned 1908 fom the prescriptive tradition have to do with making came into prominence throughout the world. Their call them all by their christian
jingled 1908
place in any future history ofthe language is assured,
'archaic' (p. 185). There is even an uncomfortable a choice berween alternative usages already in the lan- names, while they called him
can be deduced from DanielJones's The Pronunciation orie-eyed 1910 Mr. X-. (4. S. C. Ross, 1956.
sense of dj uualout the issues which were being dis- of English (1919), where he describes the British pro, piped 1912 guage, and do not reflect any real issues of language and only a separate section can do justice to them now
For U and non-U, see p, 364.)
cussed rwo or three generations ago. A glance at news- nunciation of the vowel in such words as lord lc: I as
plastered 1912 change. Howeve English grammar did not stand still, (s7).
polluted 1912
papers or governmenr reports after the turn of the 'intermediate between open back rounded and hal organized 1914
century shows that the same concerns about language open back rounded' (p.240). This is rather different aped 1915 SOME THINGS
were being expressed then as now: srandards ofEnglish from the presenr-day quality of this vowel, which is
gassed 1 91 5
PRONUNCIATION
DON'T CHANGE
hooted
1 1

1915 PREFERENCES
had evidently reached an unprecedented low point in articulated higher in the mouth. According to Jones's jugged 1919 Sentiments such as the fol-
schools, and adult usage was deteriorating so rapidly description, lordmusthave sounded similar to the way buried 1920s Some ofthe results ofthe
lowing, notwithstanding its
that thele was little hope for the future of the language. lrdis pronounced now.
canned 1920s Longman Pronunciation
date of origin, are timeless.
fried 1920s D i cti o n a ry suwey, ca rried
o/o 50 o/o 5O
This one is dated 1921, but
juiced 1920s out in 1988-9 at University
it could be 2001 - or 1801
paralytic 1921 College London. lt took the
(p.367).
VOICES FROM THE PAST potted 1922 form of a postal
Thomas Edison's phonograph, patente d in 1877, has enabled us to hear tiny extracts of Englsh from speakers born in the illuminated 1926 questionnaire covering 90
0 Come into a London elemen
age of Napoleon. The voice of Florence Nightingale (1 820-1 9l 0) (inset) is oe of those preserved in a recording housed at crocked 1927 words with controversial
0
1234 tary school and see what it il-
the Science Museum in London. The picture shows a public demonstration of the phonograph at the paris lnteinational lubricated 1927 pronunciation. People from /f i (not lv l) in nepheu I I I (nor I sj l) in issue that the children need most.
Exposition of 1889. stinko 1927 a variety of educated You will notice, first of all,
wall-eyed 1927 backgrounds were asked to that, in th human sense, our
busted 1928 choose which of two boys and girls are almost
pissed 1929 pronunciations they inarticulate. They can make
flooey 1930 preferred. The analysis noises, but they cannot
rum-dum 1931 showed that in many cases o/o 50 o/o
speak. Linger in the play-
bombed 1940s their choice was significantly ground and listen to the talk
looped 1940s affected by age. (For other and shouts of the boys; listen
shit-faced 1 940s
examples of alternative to the girls screaming at their
swacked 1941 pronunciations, see p. 255.) play - listen especially to
boxed 1950s
(After J. C. Wells, 1989.) 0
1234 1234 them as they 'play at schools';
crashed 1950s /et / as in sal(not le I asin bed) I ar I as in !n! (not l.it I as in see) you can barely recognise
sloshed 1950s tn dte tn mtgrdtne your native language.... Ask
zonked 1950s Key: a boy to tell you something -
clobbered
1 1

1951 1 Age over66 anything, about a book, or a

bevvied 1960
(born before 1923) game, or a place, and he will
smashed 1962 2 Age4l-65 struggle convulsively among
wrecked 1968
(born 1923-47) words like a fly in a jam-dish.
legless 3 Age 26-40 o/o 50
o/o
1976 (G. Sampson, English for the
(born 1948-62) English, 1921 .)
And a few from the 2000s 4 Age under25
(with thanks to Suzanne (born since 1 962)
Crystal, who has moved on
since the 'Three Little Pigs' 1234 0
1234
(p. 436) - and her colleagues): /er / as in say (n9t I it I as in see) confroaersy (not conouers)
bladdered, blootered, boxed, tn detty
lagered, rat-arsed, ratted,
treed, trollied, wankered.
 7.'S{I'ORLD ENGLISH 93

7.'wORLD ENGLISH DIALECT DIFFERENCES

The first significant step in the progress of English
towards its status as a world language (p. 106) took
place in the last decades of the 16th cenrury. At that
time, the number of mother-tongue English speak-
ers in the worlcl is thought to have been between five
and seven million, almost all of them living within
the British Isles. Between the end of the reign of Eliz-
teth I (1603) and the beginning of th reign of
Elizabetlr lI (1952), this figure increased almost
fiftyfold, to around 250 million, the majority
(around four-fifths) living ourside the British Isles.
Most of these people were, and conrinue to be,
Americans, and it is in 16th-century North America
that we find a fresh dimension being added to the
history of the language.
The New W'orld
Te rwo settlements - one in Virginia, to the south; the
NEW ENGLAND
cod orher to the north, in present-day New England - had
dlfferent linguistic consequences. The southern
t2 '\est Country' -
colonists came mainly from Englandt
such counties as Somerset and Gloucestershire - and
York brought with them its characteristic accent, with its
'Zrmmerzet' voicing of s sounds, and the r strongly
ATLANTIC
pronounced after vowels. Echoes of this accent can still
O CEAN be heard in the speech of communities living in some of
Chesapeake
the isolated valleys and islands in the area, such as Tang-
ier Island in Chesapeake Bay. These 'Tidewter' accents,
VIRGINIA lslnd
as rhey are called, have changed somewhat over the past
100 years, but not as rapidly (because of the relative
isolation of the speakers) as elsewhere in the country.
They are sometimes said to be the closest we will ever
A bered over 50 million, spread throughout the conti-
0 ger to the sound ofShakespearean English (p. 69).
NORTH r50
300km
In the 1 8th centuy, there was a vast wave of immi-
gration from northern lreland. The lrish hacl been
migrating to America fi'om around 1600, but the main
movements took place during the 1720s, when around
50,000 Irish and Scots-Iish immigrants arrived
(p.338), By the time independence was declared
(1776), it is thought that no less than one in seven ofthe
colonial population was Scots-Irish. Many stayed along
the coast, especially in the area of Philadelphia, but
most moved inland through the mountains in search of
land. They were seen as fi'ontier people, with an accent
which at the time was described as 'broad'. The open-
ing up of the south and west was largely due to the pio-
neering spirit ofthis group ofsettlers.
By the time of the first census, in 1790, the popula-
tion of the country was around 4 million, most of
whom lived along the Atlantic coast. A century later,
after the opening up of the west, the population num-

The first expedition from England to the New \orld
was commissioned by \alter Raleigh in 1584, and
provecl to be a failure. A group of explorers landed
near Roanoke Island, in what is today North Car-
olina, and esrablished a small serrlemenr. Conflict
with the native people followed, and it proved neces-
sary for a ship to rerurn ro England for help and sup-
plies. By the time these arrived, in 1590, none of the
original group of sertlers could be found. The mys-
tery oftheir disappearance has never been solved.
The first permanenr English serrlemenr dates from
1607, when an expedition arrived in Chesapeake
Bay. The colonists called their serrlemenr Jamesrown
(after James I) and the area Virginia (after the 'Virgin
Queen', Elizabeth). Further serrlemenrs quickly fol-
lowed along the coast, and also on the nearby islands,
such as Bermuda. Then, in November 1620, the first
group of Puritans, 35 members of the English Sepa-
ratist Church, arrived on rhe Mqtflower in the com-
pany of 67 orher serrlers. Prevented by storms from
reaching Virginia, they landed at Cape Cod Ba and
established a settlemenr at what is now Plymouth,
Massachusetts,
The group ws exrremely rnixed, ranging in age
from young children to people in their 50s, and with
diverse regional, social, and occupational back-
grounds. \hat the 'Pilgrim Fathers' (as they were
later called) had in common was rheir search for a
land where they could found a new religious king-
dom free from persecution and 'purified' from the
church pracrices they had experienced in England. It
was a successful settlemenr, and by 1640 about
25,000 immigrants had come ro rhe are.
CAROLINA l- By contrast, many of the Plymouth colonists came
0 90 I80 mlles
from counties in the east of England-in particular, Lin-
l---l 'fdewatet accents 1p.93)
colnshire, Nottinghamshire, Essex, Kent, and London,
Early English-speaking settlement areas in America. with some from the Midlands, and a few from further
afield. The eastern accents were rather different -
THE LIVING MUSEUM notabl lacking an r after vowels, as in present-day
Received Pronunciation (RB p. 365) - and they proved
Plmoth antation, a re-creation at Plymouth, Massachusetts, of the colonists'first settlement.
Pf
The ife of the settlers is portrayed as closely as possible - incl uding a reconstruction of the way
I
to be the dominant influence in this area. The tendency
they probably spoke. irot to pronounce the r'is still a feature ofthe speech of
people from New England.
Other features of the language of 17th-century Eng-
lrnd have their correlates in modern American speech,
such as the short, 'flat' vowel in such words as dance,
where RP developed the 'long' a (p.307). British
English also came to pronounce such words as not
with lip-rounding, whereas in the USA the earlier
trnrounded vowel (found as ntin Chaucer, for exam-
ple) remained. Several older words or meanings became
part of the US standard, such as mad'angry' andfall
'autumn', as well as many dialect words; scallion 'spring
onion', for example, originally from northern England,
is commonly used throughout the USA. A phrase such
as I guess,which is often condemned as an Americanism
by British purists, can in fact be traced back to Middle
English (p.39).
During the 17th century, new shiploads of immi-
grants brought an increasing variety oflinguistic back-
grounds. Pennsylvania, for example, came to be settled
mainly by Quakers whose origins were mosdy in the
Midlands and the north of England. People speaking
very different kinds of English thus found themselves
living alongside each other,the 'middle'Atlantic areas
as
(New York, in particular) became the focus of settle-
ment. As consequence, the sharp divisions berween
regional dialects gradually began to blur. The concept of
the 'melting pot' must have applied very early on to
immigfant accents.
nent. The accent which emerged cn now be heard all
over the so-called Sunbelt (fi'om Virginia to southern
California), and is the accent most commonly associ-
ated with present-dayAmerican speech (p. 312).
MYLES STANDTSH (1 s84-1 6s6)
From the point of view of dialect back-
ground, Captain Myles Standish was excep-
tional-the only Pilgrim to come from the
lsle of Man. A soldier who had fought in the
Netherlands, he served as the military
leader of the colonists at Plymouth, and
later acted as assistant governor and colony
treasu rer.
ln reviewing the individual history of
each of the colonists, a patchwork quilt of
dialects emerges. Standish's wife, Barbara,
*
came from Ormskirk, in Lancashire. William
Bradford, the first governor ofthe colony,
came from a town on the Yorkshire/Lin-
colnshire boundary; his wife, Alice, came
from Somerset. Nicholas Snow came from
London; his wife, Constance, came from
Gloucestershire. HoweveL none of the
provincial features of accent or grammar
which we might associate with these
dialects prevailed in New England. lt was
the speech of the eastern part of England
which is the ancestor of the norm in this
part of the USA. (After M. Wakelin, 1986.)
DAVY CROCKETT (1 786-1 836)
The legendary frontiersman, born
in Tennessee, came from a family of
Scots-lrish immigrants. The son of
a backwoods farmer, he became
known through fighting in the Creek
War (1813-15). He then entered pol-
itics, and served in both the Ten-
nessee legislature and the US House
of Representatives. He was killed at
the battle of the Alamo, after join-
ing the forces f ighting the Mexicans
in Texas. The heroic myths about
him grew during his political cam-
paigns, when he was known for his
vigorous and humorous speeches,
and werefuelled by manyfolk
epic publications, to which he
may himself have contributed. He
has signed this picture: 'l am
happy to acknowledge this to be
the only correct likeness that has
been taken of me'.
94 PART I THE HISTORY OF ENGI-ISH 7.\ORLD ENGLISH 95

Linguistic diversity
Cana'da
It was not only England which influenced the direc- GIVE ME YOUR
TIRED... The first English-language contact with Canada NORTH
tions that the English language was to take in Amer-
was as early as 1497, when John Cabot reached a)' s
The t gth century saw
^

Fc ATLANTIC
ica. The Spanish had occupied large parts of the west a
Newfoundland; but English migration along the A
and south-west. The French were present in the
massive increase in ft
American immigration, Atlantic coast did not develop until a century later, OCEAN
northern territories, around the St Lawrence River, as people fled the
when the farming, fishing, and fur-trading indus-
and throughout the mddle regions (French results of revolution,
poverty, and famine in tries attracted English-speaking settlers. There was
HUDSON
Louisiana) as far as the Gulf of Mexico. The Dutch BAY
Europe. Large numbers ollgoirlg conflict with the French, whose presence 'd
were in New York (originally New Amsterdam) and of lrish came following
dated from the explorations ofJacques Cartier in _/1
I

ta
the surounding area. Large numbers of Germans the potato famine in
e 1520s; but this came to an end.when the .,t\a _i
the 1840s. Germans MANITOBA T
began to arrive at the end of the 17th cenrury, ser- and ltalians came, French claims were gradually surrendered during I
QUEBEC
(Lower cand <>
tling mainly in Pennsylvania and its hinterland. In escaping the conse-
the l Bth century, following their defeat in Queen
I

quences ofthe failed SASKAT.

addition, there were increasing numbers of Africans
I
ONTARIO
1848 revolutions. Anne's \XIar (1702-13) and the French and Indian I CHEWAN (Upper Canad 1791-184'l)
entering the south, as a result of the slave trade, and
I

And, as the century of

\Xlar (1754-63). During the 1750s thousands I
I +
this dramatically increased in the 18th cenrury: a pop- wore on, there were
French settlers were deported from Acadia
I
\
I )
ulation of little more than 2,500 black slaves in 1700 increasing numbers
(nrodem Nova Scotia), and were replaced by set-
I
I
1
N

of Central European I
had become about 100,000 6y 1775, far outnumber, Jews, especially tlers from New England. The numbers were then '
CDe Cod
UpperCnad(1791.1841)

ing the southern whites. fleeing from the further increased by many coming directly from
LowerCnada (1791-1841)

From the outset, the cosmopolitan nature ofAmer-
ican life had its effect on the language (and especially
on its vocabulary and pracrices of naming). Any US
biographical dictionary will contain such typical
American' names as (German) Eisenltower,
feller, Chrysler, and Studebaer, and (Italian) Capone,
DiMagio, Sintra, and Valentino. Likewise, the ety-
mological diversiry of modern place names (p.4)
can be seen in (Dutch) Bronx, Yonhers, and Harlem,
(French) Maine, Detroit, and Louisuille, and (Span-
lsh) El Paso, San Francisco, and Toledo. For a further
example of the nation's multilingual histor see rhe
ccount of states'names on p.145,
DIALECT AREAS
The later population move-
ments across America largely
preserved the dialect distinc-
tions which arose out of the
early patterns of settlement. OREGON
The New England people
moved west into the region of
the Great Lakes; the southern-
ers moved along the Gulf
Coast and into Texas; and the
NEVADA
midlanders spread through-
out the whole of the vast,
mid-western area, across the
Mississippi and ultimately into
California. The dialect picture
was never a neat one, because
of widespread north-south
movements within the coun-
try, and the continuing inflow
of immigrants from different
parts of the world. There are
0
many mixed dialect areas, and
pockets of unexpected dialect
forms. But the main divisions
of north, midland, and south
# -
700 [m
l5th- and l6th-century exploration
pogroms of the -
17505
0 220
1880s. ln the first England, Ireland, and Scotland (whose earlier M0 mrles
1780s+ --
two decades of the interest in the country is reflected in the name
20th century, Nou Scotia 'New Scotland'). The map shows the general been the chief New England that these early Canadians
immigrants were
The next major development followed the direction of English-speaking characteristic (p. 93), but were already sensing a need
entering the USA immigration into Canada. An began to sound the r (in such to sound different f rom their
Roce- at an average of Declaration of Independence in 1776. Loyalist interesting development words as bar and cart). The US neighbours. lronically, the
Entering a
three quarters of New World
by C. J Staniland, supporters of Britain (the 'United Empire Loyal- took place in the Maritime change maywell have been rfeature would later lose its
a million a year. 1892.
ists') found themselves unable to stay in the new
Provinces, which attracted influenced bythe arrival of value as an identity marker,
The mood of the time many people from New Eng- large numbers of r-users f rom once it became the norm for
was captured by the writer
plaque inside the pedestal
United States, and most left for Canada, settling land. The area did not retain the British lsles, but its wide- US English.
Emma Lazarus ( 1 849-87),
for the Statue, its famous
The wretched refuse of your rst in what is now Nova Scotia, then moving to the r-less accent which had spread adoption suggests
final lines read:
whose sonnet to the Statue teeming shore.
New Brunswick and further inland. They were
of Liberty, 'The New Colos- Give me your tired, your Send these, the homeless,
sus', expressed her belief in poor, soon followed by many thousands (the so-called
tempest-tost to me,
America as a ref uge for the Your huddled masses, I lift my lamp beside the 'late Loyalists') who were attracted by the cheap-
yearning to breathe free, LAKELAND
oppressed. lnscribed on a golden door!
ness of land, especially in the area known as Upper
Most of Canada's lakes (out-
Canada (above Montreal and north of the Great side of Quebec) have been
Lakes). \/ithin 50 years, the population of this named according to the
province had reached 100,000. Today, Canada's English pattern : Rawh ide
Lake, Elliot Lake, and Quirke
--'_ -- (;:/ ., population is over 3l million (2001). Lake, for example, are all to
NEW '!,.,' Modern Canadian English has a great deal in
HAMPSHIRE MAINE be found in southern Ontario.
MONTANA
o NORTH colnmon with the English spoken in the rest of But a few miles further south
R
MASSACHUSETTS North America, and people who live outside the we find lake Huron, with the
generic term preceding. Why
t tegion often find the two varieties difficult to dis- is it not Huron ake? The
NEW
tinguish. \X/hy the similarity exists has been the
IDAHO
tcH
RHODE ISLAND answer lies in the consider-
CONNECTICUT
able influence of French
subject of some debate. On the one hand, it might
NEW JERSEY throughout the early period
oHto
always have been there, with early Canadian of exploration. The French
INDI. DELAWARE
ANA English deriving from the same kind of mixture of pattern, seen in such Quebec
MARYLAND
names as Lac Du mont and Lac
British English dialects as that which produced the
du Fils, has been used in all
original New England speech (p. 93). On the other the Great Lakes (and certain
hand, the similarity might have emerged through others, such as Lake
Winnipeg).
furce of numbers, with the dialects of the many
AIA-
s 19th-century American immigrants swamping
French also influenced the
general vocabulary. Most of
H GEORGIA what may have been more distinctive variety. the words which entered
English in those early days
The linguistic situation, under either hypothesis,
N seem to have come from
A would have been extremely heterogeneous. French, or from American name of the country itself has along the Saguenay River
Despite the similarities between Canadian and lndian languages via French, such an origin: Canada is (though the lroquoian word
,.)
such as Esquima ux (1548), recorded in the journal of the he encountered, ka nata,
0 500 US English, there is no identity between them;
canoe (1576), caribou (1665).
# French explorer Jacques probably meant no more than
1000 km

are still demonstrable today 115 630m et

howeve there is no simple statement which can and the vocabulary of the fur Cartier in 1 535 as the name of 'village').
(p.312). clifferentiate them. The chief differences are des- trade and its pioneers. The one of the lndian kingdoms
cribed on pp.340-3.
96 PART I . THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 7. WO RLD ENC LISH

THE COLONIAL LEGACY The growth of African-American English

BLACK E,NGLISH The other languages which In the USA, vernacular varieties of Black English
OLD AND NEW following examples have
early 1 9th-century sources:
poor white trash (1833) (slave
term for) whites willing to
ATTITUDES
came to the Caribbean as a have come to be a particular focus of attention do slave work.
During the earlyyears ofAmerican setdement (p.92), the new landowners, and among the blacks them- result of colonialism have The Af rican-American pres- slave driver (1807) an overseer
left their mark on the English
in recent years (see the linguistic oudine on ence in the USA has made a of slaves; later used for any
free papers (1838) a docu-
ment given to freed slaves
a highly distinctive form of English was emerging in selves. Then, when their children were born, the pp.344-7). The history of these varieties is com- substantial impact on English harsh or demanding
ofthe region. French and as proof of their status.
the islands ofthe \est Indies and the southern part of pidgin gradually began to be used as a mother rongue, vocabulary. Until the mid-
1.*, "ottttouersial, and only partly understood'
Spanish are especially employer.
1 gth century most ofthis lexi Uncle (1820s) white term of By contrast, much of the
the mainland, spoken by the incomiirg black popula- producing the first black creole speech in the region. evident.
Records of the early speech forms are sparse. It is con reflected the status and address for an elderly black vocabulary of the 1 960s has a
tion. This was a consequence of the importation of It is this creole English which rapidly came to be Spanish unclear, for example, exacdy how much influence conditions of slavery a great male (p. 156). positive or confident ring:
African slaves to work on the sugar plantations, a prac- used throughout the southern plantations, and in Loans include a rmadillo, black speech has had on the pronunciation of deal of it consisting of insult negro thief (1827) someone black power, freedom march,
many of the coastal towns and islands. At the same and invective. lncreasingly who helped a slave escape. soul brother, as well as such
tice started by the Spanish as early as 1517. From the southern whites. According to some Jinguists,
cascadura (a fish), sancoche
(a soup-like dish), and paca thereafter, the language nigger lover (1830s) (white catch phrases asTell it like it
erly ITth century, ships from Europe travelled to the time, standard British English was becoming a presrige (a rodent). Loans from native generations of close contct resulted in the fami- showed the efforts to move slang term for) an aboli- is! and Black is beautiful!
\est African coast, where they exchanged cheap goods variety throughout the area, as a consequence of the American languages via lies of the slave-owners picking up some of the towards a better order. The tionist. (After S. B. Flexner, 1976.)
for black slaves. The slaves were shipped in barbarous emerging political influence of Britain. Creolized Spanish include chicle
speech habits of their servants, which gradually
(Aztec). lguana (Arawak),
conditions to the Caribbean islands and the American forms of French, Spanish, and Portuguese were also and manatee (Carib). developed into the distinctive southern 'drawl'.
coast, where they were in turn exchanged for such emerging in and around the Caribbean, and some of Information from the mid-19th century'
is clearer SITTING IN
commodities as sugar, rum, and molasses. The ships these interacted with both the creole and the standard French
when the abolitionist movement focused national
Loans from French include
then returned to England, completing an Atlantic tri- varieties of English. The Caribbean islands thus came arrention on blacks' civil rights, and sympathetic
fla mboya nt (a tree), ra mier
angle'ofjourneys, and the process began again. The to develop a remarkably diverse range of varieties of (a pigeon), fefe (a house- representations ofBlack English began to apPear
first 20 African slaves arrived in Vrginia on a Dutch English, reflecting their individual political and cul- party or picnic), and
in literary works, such as those by Harriet Beecher
macommere (a godmother.
ship in 1619.By the time of theAmerican Revolution tural histories, with the various creolized forms dis- a
Stowe and Mark Twain 1p. 85).
close female friend, or an
(1776) their numbers had grown to half a million, and playing the influence of the standard language to effeminate man). Following the widespread movement to the
there were over 4 million by the time slavery was abol- different degrees. Moreover, \est Indian speech did Several words are
industrial cities ofthe northern states in the late
associated with particular
ished, at the end of the US Civil \ar (1865). not stay within the Caribbean islands, but moved well 19th century, black culture became known
islands. For example, a
The policy of the slave-traders was to bring people outside, with large communities eventually found in parang house-to-house
is a throughout the countr especially for its music.
of different language backgrounds togerher in the Canada, the USA, and Britain. As we might expect, serenade at Christmas-time, The linguistic result rvas a large influx of new,
found in Trinidad and
ships, to make it difficult for groups to plot rebellion. these new locations fostered the emergence of new informal vocabulary into general use, as whites
Tobago. A punt is a
The result was the growth of several pidgin forms of varieties. There are now major differences berween the vigorous group dance picked up the lively speech patterns of those who
communication (p.346), and in particular a pidgin speech of those living in London, for example (most of associated with Belize. A sang, played, and danced - from the early spiritu-
douillete is a traditional
berween the slaves and the sailors, many of whom whom have never been to the \est Indies) and their als, through the many forms of jazz and blues, to
costume found in Dominica
spoke English. Once arrived in the Caribbean, this counterparts in the Caribbean. \e shall examine the and St Lucia. later fashions in rapping, soul music, and break-
pidgin English continued to act as a major means of chief features of this unique range of varieties on ln addition, the names of dancing. At the same time, there was a growth in
people, places, and events
communication between the black population and pp.342-5. often display early Romance educational opportunities for black people, and
influence: an increasing involvement in political and profes-
Di manche Gras The cl imax sional roles. The civil rights movement in the
CLOSE CONTACTS
of the Carnival season in 1960s had its linguistic as well as its political suc-
Trinidad and Tobago.
Restaurant in cesses, with schools being obliged to take account
Mayaquez, Puerto La Rose The flower rn (in segregated leisure
festival held in St Lucia of the distinctive character of Black English Ver- places reserved for whites areas). and by the end of the
Rico. The West
lndies is unusual in on 31 August. nacular, following the successful outcome of a test in restaurants, bus stations, decade the -rn suffix was
that it brngs Basseferre Capital of St
Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1977 .
case at An anti-segregation sit-rn theatres, and other public being used in all kinds of
American and Kitts. outside an American public locations. Other terms were contexts, extending well
Vieux Fort Town in St In the 1980s, the public use of many expres- soon formed on analogy, such beyond the protest
British varieties of building. The term became
English into close Lucia. sions in the language for talking about this group popular in the early 1960s as pray-in, in support of the movement (/ove -in, teach-in,
proximity. Puerto Irlnidad lsland name of people was radically constrained by those when black students sat at movement, p/a y-n, and swim- be-in).
Rico became part of
(Spanish for'trinity').
(After
maintaining a doctrine of political correctness
the USA following J. Allsopp, 992.)
.177).The current respectability of Afican-
1

the Spanish-
I HAVE A DREAM
American War in American (which dates from the 1860s) has
1 898. Donuts is one of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, making hisfamous speech atthe Lincoln
replaced such forms as Afo-Americn, Africo- Memorial on 28 August 1963, atthe end of the'March on Washington'
the consequences.
American and Americn, Afio (all in evidence from the 1830s), in support of black civil rights. lts words have since become a rhetorical
British English are also coloured. (preferred in the period after the Civil symbol of the civil rights movement in the USA.
juxtaposed on the I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of
War), negro (preferred after the 1880s, and with a
nearby Virgin lslands. former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to
The British presence capital l/some 50 years later), and blaclBlach st down together atthe table of brotherhood...
in the islands dates (which became the preferred form during the I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
from the arrival of 1960s, and is still the commonest use). Blachis where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin...
English planters in Dr King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assass-
1666. The US islands now often proscribed, and language conflicts
inated on 4 April 1968. H is birthday (1 5 January), celebrated on the
were bought from have grown as people strive to find fresh forms of third Monday in January, has been a federal legal public holiday
Denmark in 1917. expression lacking the pejorative connotations since 1986.
they sense in earlier usage.
 98 PART I THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 7 'W'ORLD ENGLISH 99

Three strands of New Zealand's social history in READ ALL ABOUT IT

THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE SERIOUS DRAWBACKS miles carrying 56 lb weights. affected the comfort of a NE\(/ ZEALAND the 20th century have had especial linguistic conse- The front page of the first
One linguisticconse- colonial official's life, partic-
The first fleet into Botany quence, often remarked quences. First, in comparison with Australia, there has lhe LytteltonTimes,
issue of
ularly citing the way convict publishedonllJanuary
Towards the end of the 18rh cenrury, the continuing Bay carried 71 7 prisoners upon by early visitors to Aus- servants exposed children to
In New Zealand (Maori ame, Azteltro), the story of been a stronger sense of the historical relationship 1851 in 'a colony a few days
process of British world exploration established the and nearly 300 officials, tralia, was the frequency of 'the vilest expressions'. The
with Britain, and a greater sympathy for British values old', and giving news of the
guards, and their families, swearing, which soon began reduced force of bloodyin English started later and moved more slowly. Captain
English language in the southern hemisphere. The and institutions. This has led to a more widespread first four ships to land at the
starting a system of convict to affect the free settlers. Australian English (p. 172) is Cook charted the islands in 1769-70, and European settlement.'New Zealan-
numbers of speakers have never been very large, by settlement which lasted Charles Darwin. visiting conservatism, especially in relation to accents (p.298).
until 1 840. The picture
doubtless a long-term effect
whalers and traders began to settle there in the 1790s, disms' (italicized below)
comparison with those in the northern hemisphere, Sydneyon The Beaglein of its high f requency of
Secondl there has been a growing sense of national
shows a group of convicts in 1 835. commented on the use within the original expanding developments already taking place in Aus- were in evidence from the
lut the varieries of English which have emerged are identit and in particular an emphasis on the difier- very first issue.
Tasmania, madetowalk 30 'serious drawbacks' which population. tralia. Christian missionary work began among the
comparably distinctive. AIso, the political and cul- New Zealand and Australia. This Of the five cows landed from
Maori from c. 1814. However, the official colony was ences berween has
the ships, three have died,
tu'al situations of each counrry presenr the linguist drawn attention to differences in the accents of the
not established until 1840, following the Tieary of Mr Brittan's by falling over
with different issues from those encountered in the \X/aitangi berween Maori chiefs and the British two countries, and motivated the use of distinctive the cliff, Mr Fitzgerald's and
history of the language in North America. New Zealand vocabulary. Thirdl there has been Mr Phillips's by eating tutu.
Crown. There was then a rapid increase in European a
The immediate choosing of
irnmigration - from around 2,000 in 1840 to 25,000 fi'esh concern to take account of the rights and needs
Australia the town acre sections has
by 1850, and to three-quarters of a miliion by 1900. of the Maori people, who now form some 13 per cent been a most important and
Australia was visited by James Cook in 1770, and of the population. This has resulted in an increased
As eally as the turn of the centur visitors to the useful measure.
within 20 years Britain had established its first penal
country were making comments on the emergence of awreness (and, to some extent, use) of Maori words tutu (usually pronounced
colony at Sydne thus relieving the pressure on rhe in New Zealand English. The linguistic effects of all
a New Zealand accent. The total population in 2001 Ituttl) a poisonous local
overcrowded prisons in England. About 130,000 pris- these trends are described on pp.354-5. shrub
ws over 3.8 million. sectlon a city building plot
oners were transported during the 50 years after the
(After G. W. Turner, 1966.)
arrival ofthe'first fleet' in 1788. 'Free'settlers, as rhey
were called, also began ro enrer the country from the TTI]4
very beginning, but they did not achieve substantial
numbers until the mid-19th cenrury. From rhen on, :fryUo r @a mryH
immigration rapidly increased. By 1850, the popula- Vor. I. No. I
Jruurr l,
tion of Australia was abour 400,000, and by 1900 l lgSl
Pnc Sxpl c.
ABORIGINAL INFLUENCES THE OLD ORDER
nearly 4 million. Toda it is nearly 19 million (2001). 0 sil.t,
Neither the Aborigines of Australia nor the Maori of CHANGETH
The British Isles provided the main source of ser- New Zealand were very numerous when the Europeans
OI,D FIT,

tlers, and thus the main influence on rhe language. arrived - perhaps 200,000 of each race at the beginning ,
PU8il.ftoil
Many of the convicrs came from London and Iieland of the 1 9th cen-
(especially following the 1798 Irish rebellion), and tury. The Aborig-
ines were nom- 8i Ero fra
features of Cockney and Irish English can be traced in adic, contact was aar o
the speech parrerns heard in Australia today. Several occasional, and
BEru,
there were many or4 rdq q r, JL.
c.
words commonly thought of as Australian started out
language differ-
in Britain, and may still be heard locally in British
dialects, such as cobber, tucher (compare tuch shop),
ences, with over
200 languages in f, Dunedin Cathedral .*,,".,.!3 ^* t' c*".
use at the time. COLONIAL ENTERPRISE jnt qlirv.
and joher ('person'). On the other hand, the variery ll o.. '
As a result, only During the 1830s several British colonization schemes were proposed,
contains many expressions which have originated in a few Aboriginal notably the New Zealand Company, founded in 1 838 under the influence
Australia (including a number from Aboriginal lan- words came into of British colonial statesman Edward Gibbon Wakef ield (1796-1862).
guages), and in recent years rhe influence ofAmerican
English, most of These 'Wakef ield settlements', promoted during the 1840s, were at ro\ ud Sedja,
them being Wellington, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Nelson, Otago, and
English has been noticeable, so that rhe country now plant and animal Canterbury. The Otago settlement
r
has a very mixed lexical characrer (p.352). names, such as (1848), based at Dunedin,
kangaroo and In October 1992, Australia's
A major issue in Australian social history has been koala (p.352). prime minister Paul Keating
was organized by the
Scottish Free Church, and
the question of identity. There has long been a ten- On the other and Queen Elizabeth ll Scots influence is evident
sion between the preservation of British cultural hand, about a formalized an agreement from the many Scottish
third of Aus- that Australian citizens
values and the promotion of Australian indepen- would no longer be
names in the area, such as
tralian place lnvercargi I l, Oba n, Ba n- It0 tsrtfs,
dence. Many inhabitanrs have favoured the mainte- names (p.353) nominated for the receipt of nockburn, and Dunedin
nance and developrnent of cultural continuity with are unmistak- UK honours. The change had itself (an anglicized spelling
ably Aboriginal: begun in 1 975, when the of the Gaelic name for Edin-
Britain; many others have come to reject this tradi- government of Gough
Mooloogool, burgh). The Scottish influ-
tion, instead advocating nationalism, or some kind of Pannawonica, Whitlam established the thought
internationalism (but without a British focus). The Gnaraloo, Kon- Order of Australia as an
ence is also
responsible for the pronun-
lI Trtr I ",
nongorring, alternative award. The move
linguistic consequences of this issue can be clearly ended an imperial tradition
ciation of r after vowels in
Koolyanobbing, parts of the Southland and
seen in the patterns of present-day usage variation Widgiemooltha. of over 200 years, and Otago areas - the 'Southland
(pp.350-3). symbol ized the emergence burr'.
of a new kind of relationship
between the two countries. Edward Gibbon Wakef ield

*ol
 100 PART I 'fHE IIIS'fOIY OIJ ENGI,ISH 7 'SOIILD ENGLISH t0l

EARLY WORDS
SOUTH AFRICA Many of the words which are SOUTH ASIA INFLUENTIAL VIEW English is better worth
knowing than Sanscrt or
distinctive to South African Arabic; thatthe natives are
English appear very early in
Although Dutch colonists arrived in the Cape as early tion. English is used by the remaining whites (of the history of the cou ntry, In terms of numbers of English speakers' the Inclian desirous to be taught
s English, and are not
as 1652, British involvement in the region dates only mainly Bitish background) ancl by increasing num- isevident f rom the f iles of subcontinent ranks along with the USA and UK. desirous to be taught 5an-
fron 1795, during the Napoleonic \ars, when an bers of the majority black popr-rlation (blacks out- the Rhodes University This is largely due to the special position which the scrit or Arabic;. . .that it is
expeditionary force invaded. Bridsh conrrol was research programme for a
language has come to holcl in India itself, where it
number whites by over four to one). There is thus a possible to make natives
Dictionary of South African of this country thorough ly
establishecl in 1B06, and a policy of settlement began linguistic side to the political divisions which have English on Historical Princi- has been estimated that around 20 per cent of the good English scholars; and
in earnest in 1820, when some 5,000 British wee marked South Afi'ican society in recenr decades: ples. Among the earliest are:
people (over 200 million in 2001) now make regu- that to this end our efforts
given land in the eastern Cape. English was macle the Afi'ikaans was perceived by the black majoriry as the dagga 670) 'cannabis'
(1
i.t .tr. of English. Significantly higher and lower' ought to be directed.
offcial language of the region in 1822, and there was of authoriry and repression; English was per-
langr"rage Hottentot (1 677)
esrimates will be found, but thele is iro doubt that
brak (1 73 1 ) 'brackish' The climate of opinion
an attempt to anglicize the large Afrikaans-speaking ceived by the white governmenr as the language of kaross (173 1 ) 'skin blanket' the language has made great aclvances recently. Thomas Macaulay which led to this Minute had
population. English became the langr.rage of law, edu- protest and self-determination. Many blacks saw tronk (1 732) 'prison' f'l-rere are also considerable numbers of English (1800-59) began a four- been much influenced by
boer (1776) year period of service on the views of the religious
cation, and mosr orher aspecrs of public life. Further English as a meansof achieving an internarional voice,
aardvark (1 786) speakers elsewhere in the region, which comprises the Supreme Council of and social reformer Ram
British serrlemenrs followed in the 1840s ancl 1850s, and uniting themselves with other black commr-rniries. six countries (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri lndia in 1834. His famous Mohan Roy (1 772-1 833). ln
ln a count of over 2,500 lexi-
especially in Natal, ancl there was a massive influx of On the other hand, the contemporary situation Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan) that together hold about a Minute presented the case the I 820s he had proposed Though this view became
cal items in the dictionary the introduction of a West- off icial policy, Macaulay's
for a new English
Europeans after the clevelopment of the gold and dia- regarding the use of English is more complex than any files in 1988, nearly half fifth of the worldt popr-rlation. The variety which
subculture in the region: ern educational curriculum, Minute was highly contro-
mond areas in the \itwatersrand in the 1870s. simple opposition suggesrs. Fol the white authorities, (48 per cent) were of Dutch
has emerged throughout the subcontinent is known arguing that instruction versial at the time, and laid
Afrikaans origin, followed by
Nearly half a million immigrants, many of them too, English was important as a means of interna- as South Asian English. It is only some 200 years I think it is clear...that we in English was essential if the foundation ofthe lin-
English (29 per cent), Bantu lndins were to have access guistic disputes which were
English-speaking, arrived in the country cluring the tional communication, and 'upwardly mobile' languages (1 1 per cent), and olcl, but it is already one of the most distinctive vari-
ought to employ them [our
fundsl in teaching what is to European scentific to become increasingly
last quarter of the 19th cenrury. Afrikaners became increasingly bilingual, with fluent a few others (such as Khoisan
eties in the English-speaking worlcl (see p.360). best worth knowing; that knowledge. bitter after independence.
and Malay). There were signs
The English language history of the region thus command of an English that often resembled the The origins of South Asian English lie in Britain.
in the 1 990s that African lan-
has many strands. There was initially a cerrain British-based valiety. The public srarelnenrs by South guages were already begin-
-l'he first regular British contact with the subconti-
alrount of regional dialect variation among the di African politicians, seen on world television, illus- ning to make an increasing ncllt came in 1600 with the formation of the British THE STATUS OF education, the armed listed in the lndian
impact. An account of the forces, the media, business, Constitution.
ferent groups of British serrlers, with the speech of trated this ability. As a result, conrinuum of accents East India Company - group of London mer- ENGLISH
types of vocabulary originat- and tourism. ln the Dravid-
the Lonclon area prominent in the Cape, and Mid- exists, ranging frorn those which are strongly influ- ing in South Africa is given on chants who were granted a tracling monopoly in the In lndia, English is now rec- ian-speaking areas of the And the critic K. R. S. lyen-
gar (1908-) has remarked:
Iands and northern British speech strongly repre- enced by Afrikaans ro rhose which are very close to p.357. (AfterJ. Branford & area by Queen Elizabeth I. It established its first ognized as an 'associate' south, it is widely preferred
sentecl in Natal; but in due course a more Received Pronunciation (p.357); and there are corre-
W. Branford, 1991.)
tr:rding station at Surat in 1612, and by the end of
official language, with to Hindi as a lingua franca.
lndian writing in English is
Hindi the offcal language. Since the 1960s, much
homogeneous accent emerged - an accent that shares sponcling variations in grammar and vocabulary. Such the century others were in existence at Madras, It is also recognized as the attention has focused on
but one of the voices in
which lndia speaks. lt is a
many similarities with rhe accenrs ofAustralia, which complexity is inevitable in a country where the over- Bomba and Calcutta. During the 18th centur it official language of four what has been called the
new voice, no doubt, but it
ovefcame competition from other European
was also being settled during this period (p.98). At states (Manipur, Megha- ongoing'lndianization'
riding issue is social and political status, and people laya, Nagaland, Tripura) of English. The novelist
is as much lndian as others.
the same time, English was being used as a second have striven to maintain their deeply held feelings of nations, especially France. As the power of the and eight Union territories. R. K. Narayan (1906- ) is
The point is controversal,
and is reflected in contro-
language by the Afi'ikaans speakers, and many of the national and ethnic identity in the face of opposition. Mughal emperors declinecl, the Companyt influ- ln Pakistan, it is an associ- one who has addressed
versies in other parts ofthe
ated official language. lt
crce grew, and in 1765 it took over the revenue
Dutch colonists took this variery with them on rhe the issue:
world, where the growth of
has no official status in the
Great 'ek of 1836, as rhey moved norrh ro escape management of Bengal. Following a period of finan- other countries of South
The English language, the English language is per-
TAXI! through sheer resilience ceived as a threat as well as
Bitish rule. An African variery of English also clevel- cial indiscipline among Company servnts, the 1784 Asia, but throughoutthe
and mobility, is now under- a blessing (p.
1 14). There is
oped, spoken by the black population, who had It just afterfour in the morn-
is taxicabs, not runners, and is a atthe 1 984 LosAngeles lndia Act established a Board of Control responsi- region it is universally used
going a process of lndian- no doubt, however, about
ng andthe streets of Soweto citation in the fourth edition asthe medium of interna-
learned the langr-rage mainly in mission schools, and games. She was involved in
ble to the Blitish Parliament, and in 1858, after the tionalcommunication.
ization in the same manner the emerging structural
are alreadyfilled with roaring o'1A Dictionaryof South
which was influenced in different ways by the Zola Budds and zooming Mary African English (1 991). The
an incident which led to US
athlete Mary Deckerfalling Inclian Mutin the Company was abolished and its ln lndia, the bitter con-
as it adopted U5 citizenship
over a century ago, with the
identity of lndian English,
or about the growth of a
vaious local Afi'ican language backgrounds. In addi- flict between the support-
Deckersflying up and down. reference is to South-Af rican- during the 3000 m. Presum- powels handed over to the Crown. ers of English, Hindi, and
difference that it is the recognized body of lndian
tion, English came to be usecl, along with Afrikaans
This 1 990 report in the local
born athlete Zola Budd, con- ably it wasthe mixture of
During the period of British sovereignty (the regional languages led in
major language there but English literature (p. 360).
(After
troversial ly selected for the speed and competitiveness here one of the fifteen B. B. Kachru, 1 983.)
and often other languages, by rhose with an ethni- Weekly Mai I isinfact about British Olympicsquad that motvated the conversion ll,,l), from 1765 untll inclependence in 1947, the 1 960s to the 'three
cally mixed background (Coloureds); and it was also language formula',
of the namesto vehicular English gradually lecame the medium of adrninis- in which English was
adopted by the many immigrants from India, who nouns.
tration and education throughout the subcontinent. introduced as the chief
arrived in the country from around 1860. 'l'he language question attractecl special attention alternative to the local
South African English has thus come ro comprise state language (typi-
during the early 19th centur when colonial admin- cally Hindi in the north
a range of varieties, but from a social point of view istrators debated the kind of educational policy and a regional lan-
they can be grouped rogerher in conrasr ro rhe use which should be introduced. A recognized tuining- guage in the south).
English has, as a con-
of Afi'ikaans, and they do display certain common point was Lord \X/illiam Bentinck's acceptance of a sequence, retained its
features (described on p.356). English has always Minute, written by Thomas Macar.rlay in 1835, standing within
been a minority language in South Africa, Afrikaans, which proposed the introduction of an English edu- lndian society, con-
which was given official sratus in 1925,is the first lan- tinuing to be used
cational system in India. 'When the universities of
within the legal
guage of the majority of whites, inciuding those for- Bomba Calcutta, and Madras were established in system, government
merly in power, and acts as an important symbol of 1857, English became the primary meclium of administration, sec-
ondary and higher
identity for those of Afrikaner background. It is also instruction, thereby guaranteeing its status and
the first language of most of the Coloured popuia- steady growth during the next century.

102
ENGLISH IN WEST
AFRICA
British varieties developed
especially in five countries,
each of which now gives
English off icial status.
Sierra Leone ln the 1 780s,
philanthropists in Britain
bought land to establish a set- the first Commonwealth
tlement for freed slaves, the
first groups arriving from
England, Nova Scotia, and
Jamaica. The settlement
became a Crown Colony in
808, and was then used as a
1
base for anti-slave-trading
squadrons, whose operations
eventually brought some
60,000'recaptives' to the
country. The chief form of
communicaton was an
English-based creole, Krio
(p. 3a9), and this rapidly
spread along the West
African coast. The hinterland
was declared a Brtsh protec-
torte in 1896; and the coun-
try received its independence
in 1961. lts population had
grown to over 5.4 million by
2001, most of whom can use
Krio.
Ghana (formerly Gold Coast)
Following a successful British
expedition against the
PAIT I 'I'HE HISTORY OF ENGI,iSH
7 WC)ILD E,NGLISH 103
African coast. \irh hundeds of local languages tci rhe ale, proclucing a class ofexpatriates and African-
COLONTIAL AFRICA contend with, a parricular feature of the region was rhe ENGLISH IN EAST Uganda The Uganda king- (UDl) by the white-
born whites (farmers, doctors, r-rniversity lecturers, etc.) doms were united as a domnated government in
rise ofseveral English-based pidgins and creoles, used AFRICA
which never emerged in the environmentally less hos- British protectorate 1965. Power was eventually
Despite several cenruries of
European trade with alongside the standard valieties of colonial offcials, pitrrble'West Afi'ican territories. A British model was British English has played a between 1 893 and 1 903, transferred to the African
Afi'ican nations, by the end of the lBth century only missionaries, soldiels, and traclers. Some of the iing* major role in the develop- and the country received its majority, and the country
i,rrroduced early on into schools, reinforcing the expo- ment of six East African independence in 1962. lts achieved its independence
the Dutch at the Cape had esrablished a permanent uistic features of this highly complex language area are .srrre to British English blought by the rnany missionary states, where it has come to population was nearly 24 in 1980. lts populaton was
settlement (p. 100). However, lry 1914 colonial ambi- describedon pp.36I-2. be widely used in govern- million in 2001. English is over 11 million in 2001.
grollps arouncl the turn of the century. The result was a
tions on the part of Britain, France, German Portu- ment, the courts, schools, the sole off icial language, English is the official
vxriety of mother-tongue English which has more in the media, and other public but Swahili is widely used language.
gal, Ital and Belgium had resulted in the whole East Africa cormon with what is hearcl in South Africa or Aus- domains. lt has also been as a lingua franca.
continent (apart from Liberia and Ethiopia) being The different political histo-
Although English ships had visited the area from the tr':rlia than in Nigeria ol Ghat.ra. The.South African adopted elsewhere in the
ries of the East African
divided into colonial territories. After the rwo \orld end of the 16th centur sysremaric interesr began only region as a medium of Malawi (formerly Nyasa-
tVars there was a reprririoning
connection is especially noticeable in the countries to nternational communica- land) The area became a
countries makes it difficult
of the region, wirh the in the 1850s, with the expeditions to the interior of to generalize about the use
i
the south, and is presumably due to the influence of tion, such as in Ethiopia and British colony in 1907, and
confiscation of German and Italian territories. Most of of English in the region. For
such British explorers as Richard Burton (1821-90), Afrikaans-speaking immigrants and the sharecl history Somalia. received its independence
example, the fact that Tan-
the countries created by this parririon achieved inde- David Livingsrone (1813-73), ancl John Speke of contact with Bantu languages.
in 1964. lts populatlon was
zania was German colonal
Kenya A British colonyfrom 10.5 million in 2001. English
pendence in or after the 1960s, and the Organization (1827-64). The Imperial British East Africa Com- The rapid emergence of a settled population who territory until World War 1
1920, Kenya became inde- is an official language
led to the promotion of
of African Unity pledged itself to maintain existing pany was founded in 1888, and soon afterwards a used British English as a first language had two impor- pendent in 1963, following along with Chewa.
Swahili as a lingua franca,
boundaries. system of colonial prorecorares became establishecl, as tlnt effects. First, it provided a strong model for a decade of unrest (the Mau
Mau rebellion). English was Zambia (formerly Northern
and English is less widely
other European nrions (Gennan France, ancl Italy) Af'icans to learn as a second language. These would then made the official lan- Rhodesia) At first adminis-
used in the various public
Africa domains there than in the
W'est vied with Britain for territorial control. Five modern soon fotm the majority of English users in the region, guage, with Swahili made a tered by the British South
other countries of the
The English began to visit \est Afi'ica at the end of the states, each with a history of British rule, gave English national language in 1974. Africa Company, the coun-
living mainly in the cities and larger towns. Secondl The country had over 30 mil- try became a British protec-
reg ion. Attitudes towards
1 5th centur and soon afterwe find sporadic references official status when they gained inclepenclence in the English also varied in the
with Stanclard English becoming widespread as a lion people in 2001. torate in 1924, and received
years following indepen-
to the use of the language as a lingua franca in some 1960s, and Zimbabwe followed suit in 1980. lir.rgua franca (and with Swahili also available in this its independence in 1964.
dence, as the countries
coastal settlements. By the beginning of the 19th cen- The kinds of English which developed in these Tanzania (formerly Zanzibar Its population was around
role) there was little motivation for the development and Tanganyika) Zanzibar 9.7 million in 2001. English
strove to establish their
tury, the increase in commerce and anti-slave-trade countries were very different fi'om those found in \est of the pidgin varieties of English, which are such a became a Brtish protec- is the official language.
national identities, and
adopted d ifferent pol itical
activities hacl brought English ro rhe whole .West Africa. Large numbers of British emigrants settled in noticeable characteristic of\estAfrican countries. torate in 1890, and Britain
stances towards Brita in.
received a mandate for Tan- Zimbabwe (formerly South-
Nonetheless, several
Hlo IA
ganyika in 1919. The first ern Rhodesia) Also admin-
common structural features
Ashanti to protect trading NIGER ET East African country to gain istered by the British South
interests, the southern Gold GAMBIA
MA CHAD independence (1961), its Africa Company, it became
can be identified (p. 362),
and there are a number of
Coast was declared a Crown
Colony in '1874. The modern
-----*( chnl population was over 36 mil-
lion in 2001. English was a
a British colony in 1923.
Colonists' opposition to in-
sociolinguistic parallels, as
GUIN
U
a g \Y joint official language with can be seen in the table.
state was created in 1 957 by
the union of this colony and
BI55AU NIGER Chari
a v Swahili until 1967, then lost
dependence under African
rule led to a Unilateral Dec- (After l. F. Hancock &
the adjacent British Togoland 5tE
I K NY its status (p. 1 1 a). laration of lndependence R. Angogo, 1984.)
trust territory, which had -bgos
\
;.?
1.,
been mandated to Brtain ovo
D.R.C h
after World War 1 . Ghana was Vttr'id
Gulf of Guittctt
o
(9 ^ SOME DOMAINS OF ENGLISH USE IN SIX EAST AFRICAN sTATEs
country to achieve indepen-
dence, in 1960. lts population ^ ATLANTlC o TANZ Kenya Tanzania Uganda Zambia Malawi Zimbabwe
was nearly 20 million in 2001, U
about a million of whom use Official status Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
English as a second language. OCEAN /AN High court Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Gambia English trading
500 1000km
l(
,4N Parliament Yes
along the Gambia River dates 250 500 750milet
ruandaa A N A ,. sou Civil service Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
from the early 1 7th century. A
period of conf lict with France
-
Cooene Secondary school Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Lagos in 1 861. This amalga- English remaining as official homeland for former slaves. (' t{, Yes Yes Yes Yes
a Primary school No Yes
was followed in 181 6 by the Mayotle (F
mated with other southern
establ ishment of Bathurst
and northern territories to
languages. lt is a highly multi
lingual region, with a 2001
Within 50 years it received
some 13,000 black Americans, A IA o Radio Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
(modern Banjul) as a British
form a single country in 1 914, population of nearly 16 mil- q s Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
\\
as well as some 6,000 slaves Newspapers Yes
base for anti-slaver activities.
The country became a Crown
and it received independence lion. lt is thus a country in recaptured t sea. The settle-
Harare
Advertising Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
in 1960. lts population in 2001
Colony in 1843, an indepen-
was over 126 million.
which contact languages
have flourished, notably
ment became a republic in
1847, and adopted a constitu-
o
(, . Road signs Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
dent memberofthe Com- ZIMBABW rJ Shop & vehicle signs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
o
Cameroon Pidgin, spoken by tion based on that of the USA. Dth ! Yes
monwealth in 1965, and a
.\
Cameroon Explored by the
republic in 1970. lt had a pop-
about half the population It managed to retain its inde- Business & correspondence Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ulation of over 1 .4 million in
Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch,
and British, this region
(see also p. 359). pendence despite pressure
,\l,lsdlkg0l Pdil
BOTSWANA \
f rom European countries $ Yes = English used No = English not used
{o
2001. Krio is widely used as a became a German protec- There was also an American
during the 1 gth-century Kalahar $
lingua franca. influence in the region.
torate in 1 884, and was
dvided between France and Liberia Africa's oldest repub-
'scramble for Africa'. lts popu-
lation in 2001 was some 3.2 \so s
Nigeria After a period of Britain in 1919. After some o
lic wasfounded in 1822 million. Linkswith US Black
early 1 9th-century British
uncertainty, the two areas through the activities ofthe
exploration of the interior, d English (p. 96) are still very
merged as a single country in American Colonizaton Soci- 0 250 5t)0km
British colony was founded at evident. L-4ar_
1972, with both French and ety, which wished to establish -,
250 500miler
104 PAIT I.THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH
7 \ORLD ENGLISH 105

SOUTH-EAST ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC Hawaan "'

lslands
HONG KONG

Northern
English has always had
a limited use in the ter-
The territories in ancl ro rhe wesr of the South pacific protectorares, the adminisrration of some being later
Mariana ls
Johnstone I
ritory, associated with
display an interesting mixture of British and Ameri- taken over by Australia and New Zealand. Guam
government or military
Marshall ls
can English. British influence began through the voy- The main American presence emergecl after the FEDERATED SATES
administration, laW
OF MICRONESIA business, and the
ages of English sailors at the end of the l Sth cenrury,
Palau/
Spanish-American \ar of 1898, from which the USA Eelau
media. Chinese (Can-
PACIFIC
*"uru ". Krbati
notably the journeys of Captain Cook in the 1770s. received the island of Guam (and Puerto Rico in the ,,, tonese) is the mother-
The London Missionary Society senr irs workers ro Caribbean, p. 96) and sovereignry over the philip- . Solomon
tongue of over 98 per
\r- cent of the population.
the islands of the South Pacific 50 years later. In pines. Hawaii was annexed at that time also, afterl a
ls Tuvalu Tokelau
However, in recent years
south-easr Asia, the development of a British colonial period of increasing US influence. In the 1940s, the Samo there has been a major
Vnuatu i ''american Cook
empire grew fi'om the work of Stamford Raffles, an
ls
increase in educational
US invasion of Japanese-held Pacific islancls was fol- New
Fj.-
-Onga samoa
I
provision, with 1992
administrator in the British East India compan who lowed after Vorld War 2 6y several areas being made New
.Hebrdes Nue"OCE,4N
r'.
estimates suggesting
established cenrres in Penang and Java, and in l8l9 the responsibility of the USA as United Nationi T.ust
cledon'-'
that over a quarter of
AUSTRALIA
..Ptcarn I

founded Singapore. Hong Kong island was cedecl to Grritories (p. 105). The Philippines became inde- the population now
have some competence
Britain in lB42 by the Ti.eaty of Nanking, at the end pendent in 7946, but the influence of American I!
Norfolk I

in English. English and

of the first Opium \ar, and Kowloon was added to English remains srrong. And as this country has by \,r Lord Howe
A
Chinese have joint offi-
it in 1860; the New Trritories, which form the far the largest population of the English,speaking NEW cial status, but Chinese
largest part of the colon wee leased from China in ZEALAND 0 6{m predominates in most
states in the region, it makes a significant contribu-
12Cr0 km
'\ -l
0 600 speech situations, often
',
12m mili
1898 for 99 years. Towar.ds the encl of the 19th cen- TASMANIA .
tion to the world total for users of English as a second with a great deal of
tur several territories in the region lecame British language (p.109). code-mixing (p. 1 15).
There is considerable
ENGLISH IN 5E ASIA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC uncerta inty surrounding
the future role of
DIFFERENT PATHS SINGAPORE Country First English speakers First formal status Present status English, after the 1997
English inevitably and rapidly became the language of transfer of power,
ln the 1 950s a bilingual educational American Samoa British missionaries, 1830 US treaty, 1 878 Terrtory of USA
power in the British territories of SE Asia. The East lndia Belau (or Palau) U5 invasion, 1944 Part of US Trust Territory Republic, 1981
system ws introduced in Singapore, with
Company settlement at Penang (1786) was followed by (Japanese mandate, 1920) of the Pacifc ls, 1947
English used as a unifying and utilitarian
one at Singapore (1819) and another at Malacca (1g241. medium alongside Chinese, Malay, or Cook ls Capt. Cook, 1770s British protectorate, 1 888 New Zealand dependency, 1901
Within a few months, the population of Singapore had Tamil. However, English remained the lan- F iji Capt. Cook, 1774 British colony, 1874 lndependence, l9T0
grown to over 5,000, and by the time the Federated guage of government and the legal Guam Sporadic Ceded by Spain to USA after Territory of USA
Malay States were brought together as a Crown Colony system, and retained its importance in edu- Spanish-American WaL 1898 THE PHILIPPINES
(1 867), English had come to be established
throughoui cation and the media. lts use has also been Hawaii Capt. Cook, 1778 Under US protection, 1851; Admtted as 50th US State,
the region as the medium of law and administration, and (named Sandwich ls) annexed by USA, 1898 959
. AttheAteneoalumni
steadily increasing among the general pop- 1
was being increasingly used in other contexts. A famous U5 missionaries, 1820 homecoming, lsaw so
ulation. ln a 1 975 survey, only 27 per cent of
example is the English-language daily newspaper, Ihe Hong Kong Sporadic Ceded by China to Britain, 1842 Returned to China, 1 997 many old faces and new
people over age 40 claimed to understand
StraitsTimes, which began publication in ,lg45. Kiribati British sailors, 1765 British protectorate (as part lndependence, 1 979 teeth.
Engl ish, whereas among'l 5-20-year-olds, .
The introduction of a British educational system of Gilbert & Ellice ls), 1892 There is a restaurant in
the proportion was over 87 per cent. There is
exposed learnersto a standard British English model very Malaysia Penang settlement, 1786 British colony of the Strats lndependence, 957 Ongpin that specializes
also evidence of quite widespread use in 1

early on. English-medium schools began in penang in Settlements, 1826 in noodles with Ameri-
famly settings. ln such an environment,
1816, with senior teaching staff routinely broughi in Marshall ls US invasion, 1944 (Japanese Partof US Trust Territory of lndependence, 990 can flavor. lt is called
therefore, it is not surprising that a local vari- 1
from Britain. Although at the outset these schols were mandate,1920) the Pacific ls, 1947 MiamiVice.
ety ('Singaporean English') should have .
attended by only a tiny percentage of the population, Micronesia, US invasion, 1944 Part of US Trust Territory of the lndependence, 990 The Land Transporta-
emerged (p.363). 1
numbers increased during the 1 gth century as waves of Federated States of (Japanese mandate, 1 920) Pacific ls, 1947 tion Commission (LTC)
Chinese and lndian immigrants entered the area. English Nauru British sailors, 1798 Australian mandate, I 919 lndependence, 1 968 wages war on smoke
rapidly became the language of professional advanc- (German administration, 1 888) belchers. Riding in a
ment and the chief literary language. Soon after the turn Niue Capt. Cook, 1 774 British protectorate, 1900 New Zealand dependency, 1 901 smoking car is haz-
of the century, higher education through the medium of MALAYSIA British missionaries, 1830 ardous to your health.
English was also introduced. The language thus became Norfolk Capt. Cook,1774 British penal settlement (via Territory of Australia, 19'13 Smoking in a car is even
The situation is very different in I

a prestige lingua franca among those who had received Australia), 1788 more dangerous.
Malaysia where, following indepen-
an English education and who had thereby entered pro- Northern Mariana ls Sporadic US mandate, 1947 lndependence, 990
dence (1957), Bahasa Malaysia was 1
These extracts from a
fessional society. Papua New Guinea British sailors, 1793 British and German areas, 1884; lndependence, 1 975
adopted as the national language, humorous column in lhe
ln such a multilingual area, t is not surprising to f ind Australian mandate, 1 921
and the role of English accordingly Manila Chronicle (15
the British English model being influenced by local fac- Philippines Sporadic Ceded to USA after Spanish- lndependence, 946
became more restricted. Malay- 1
January 1987) plainly
tors, leading to the emergence of regionally distnctive American War, 1898
medium education was introduced, show the effect of nearly
varieties. The Chinese background of many students was Pitcairn British sailors, 1767; occupied Jurisdiction of British British colony (part of Fiji,
with Eng lish a n obligatory subject but I
a century of US cultural
probably one such factor, inf luencing the way English by Bounty mutineers, 1790 High Commissioner, 1898 19s2-70)
increasingly being seen as of value for and linguistic influence
was routinely used in schools. Another was the presence Samoa British missionaries, 1830s New Zealand mandate, 1 91 9 lndependence, 1 962
international rather than intra- in the Philippines. Apart
of manyteachers of English from lndia, using a spoken Singapore British settlement, 1819 One of the Straits lndependence, 1 965
national purposes- more a foreign from local Filipino allu-
variety that was already diverging from the British stan- Settlements, 1826
language than a second language. sions, British English
dard (p. 101). HoweveL desptethecommoncolonial his- Solomon ls Sporadic British protectorate, 1893-9 lndependence, 1 978
The traditional prestige attached to readers would notice
tory of the region, a single variety of ,South-east Asian Tokelau British sailors, 1760s British protectorate, 1889 New Zealand territory, 1925
English still exists, for many speakers, alumni and ca as well
English' has not emerged. The political histories of Singa-
butthe general sociolinguistic situa- Tonga Capt. Cook, 1773 (named Friendly l$ Brtsh protectorate, 1 899 lndependence, 1 970
pore and Malaysia, especially since independence, hav
asthe spelling o flavor.
tion s not one which motivates the Tuvalu British missionaries, 1860s British protectorate (as part lndependence, l9TS (After A. B. Gonzalez,
been too divergent for this to happen; and the socio- of Gilbert & Ellis ls), 1892
contnuing emergence of a perma- 991 .)
linguisticsituation in Hong Kong is unique (p. ,l05).
1

nent variety of 'Malaysian English,. Vanuatu Capt. Cook, 1774 Anglo-French administration lndependence, 1 980
as New Hebrides, 1906
 I06 PAI'I'I 'I'III IIIS''OIY OII
L,;
A \ORLD LANGUAGE WHY ENGLISH?
lf f nglish is not your
'l'he movcment of English alouncl the wor'lcl began mother-tongue, why
with thc pior"recring voyges to the Amcricas, Asia, should you want to learn it,
or give it special status in
ancl tlre Antipocles (pp.92,101), continr-rccl with thc your country? There are
19th-ccntuly colonial clevclopn'rents in Afric:r ar.rd tl-rc seven kinds of answer given
South Pacific (pp. 102-5), anc{ took a significant ful- to this queston.
ther step wl-rcr.r it was :rcloptecl in thc 20th cenrllry as Historical reasons
an official ol semi-official l:rnguage by rnany r.rcwly- Because of the legacy of
British or American imperi-
,inclepencicnt states (p. 1 10). English is now tl.re dom-
alism, the country's main
inant ol official langu:rge ir.r over 75 telritories (see institutions may carry out
the table on p. 109), ar.rd is leplesentecl in every con- their proceedings in
English. These include the
tinent ancl in the thlee n-rajor oceans - Atlantic (e.g.
governing body (e.9. parlia-
St Helena), Incliar-r (e.g. Seychelles), anc{ Pacific (e.g.
Hawaii). It is this spreacl of lepresenration which
ment), government agen-
cies, the civil service (at
least at senior levels), the
rnakes the application of the tern.r 'worlcl language' a
law courts, national reli-
leality. gious bodies, the schools,
The plesent-day wollcl strtus of English is 'rlirnar.- and higher educatonal
ily the lesult of two factols: rhe expansion of Br.itish institutions, along with
their related publications
colol.rial power, which pcakecl towalcls tl.re encl of the (textbooks, proceedi ngs,
19th centur' ancl thc ernel'gence of the Unitecl States records, etc.).
as the leacling ccor.romic power of the 20th cel'rlu.y.
lnternal political reasons
It is the lattel factol which continr-res to cxplain the Whether a country has
position of thc English lar.rguage toclay (mr-rch to tl.re imperial antecedents or
cliscomfiturc of some in Blitairr who find the loss of not, English may have a
role in providing a neutral
historical lingLristic precminencc unpalatablc). The means of communication
USA contains neally four tirnes as rnany English between its different
n-other-tollgue (EMT) speakels as rhe llext mosr ethnic groups. A distinctive
local variety of English may
impoltant EMT nation (the UI(), ar.rcl these two also become a symbol of
cor-rntries cornprise70 per cenr of all EMT speakcrs national unity or emerging
ir.r the world (exclucling ceole varieties: see rhe rable nationhood. The use of
English in newspapers, on
on p. 109). Such clominance, wirh its political ancl radio, or on televison, adds
economic ur.rclerpinnings, has givcn tl-re Amcricans r a further dimension.
controlling interest in the way the langr-rage is likely
External economic
to clevelop.
reasons
\/ith over 60 political ancl cnltural l.ristories ro coll-
The USAs domnant eco-
sider, it is clifficult to fnd safe genelalizations about nomic position acts as a
magnet for internatonal
the lar.rge of social functions widr which English has
business and trade, and
come to be iclcntifiecl. Gcnelal statements about the organizatons wishng to
stl'uctllre of the langr-ragc are somcwhat easier to make develop international mar-
(S20). The ploLrlern is nor so rnuch in lelrrion to
those countries wherc Englisl-r is r fir'st lar-rgr-rage, ancl
where by clefinition it is available fol all commur.rica- AN OLD STORY
tive situatiol.rs, but for thosc wl-rerc it has status as :r
Some of the reasons that
scconc{ or foleigr.r lar.rguagc, ancl whele its lole is ofter.r people give for learning
clefinecl by a cor.rscior-rs process of langr-rage plar.rning, English are by no means
:rnd not by rhe llltural course of linguistic evolution.
new, as the following
q uotation lustrates:
iI
Sociolinguistic generalization is especially :r problern
in thosc countLics whcrc English is uscd simultrnc- I have undertaken to write
a grammar of this language
ously as r first arcl r secor-rci lar.rgr-rage (e .g. Canacia),
IEnglish] because there is
or whcre a history of language conracr has proclucecl clearly a great demand for
a legacy of lalrgr-rage conflict (e.g. India). it from foreigners, who
want to be able to
understand the various
mportant works which are
N(I,ISII
kets are thus under consid-
erable pressure to work
with English. The tourist
and advertising industries
are particularly English-
dependent, but any multi-
national business will wish
to establish offices in the
major English-speaking
cou ntri es.
Practical reasons
English is the language of
international air traffc con-
trol, and iscurrently devel-
oping its role in interna-
tional maritime, policing,
and emergency services
(p. 390). lt is the chief lan-
guage of international
business and academic con-
ferences, and the leading
language of international
toursm.
lntellectual reasons
Most of the scientif ic, tech-
nological, and academic
information in the world is
expressed in English, and
over 80 per cent of all the
information stored in elec-
tronic retrieval systems
English. Closely related to
this is the concern to have
access to the philosophical,
cultural, religious, and liter-
ary history of Western
Europe, ether drectly or
through the medium of an
English translation. ln most
parts of the world, the only
way most people have
access to such authors as
Goethe or Dante is through
English. Latin performed a
similar role n Western
Europe for over a thousand
yea rs.
Entertainment reasons
English is the main lan-
guage of popular music,
and permeates popular cul-
wrtten in our tongue. For
instance there are many
people, particularly foreign
theologians, whose great
ambition is to study
Practical Theology, as it
normally taught in our
tradition...But it is notonly
theological works; all kinds
of literature are widely
available in English
editions, and, without
boasting, it can be sad that
there is scarcely any
worthwhile body of
knowledge which has not
ture and its associated
advertising. lt is also the
main language of satellite
broadcasting, home com-
puters, and video games, as
well as of such interna-
tional illegal activities as
pornography and drugs.
Some wrong reasons
It is sometimes thought
that English has acheved
its worldwide status
because of its intrinsic lin-
guistic features. People
have claimed that it is
inherently a more logical or
more beautiful language
than others, easier to pro-
nounce, simpler in gram-
matical structure, or larger
in vocabulary. This kind of
reasoning is the conse-
quence of unthinking chau-
vinism or naive linguistic
thinking: there are no
objective standards of logc
or beauty to compare dif-
ferent languages, and
questions of phonetic,
grammatical, or lexical
is n complexity are never capa-
ble of simple answers. For
example, English may not
have many inf lectional end-
ings (which is what most
people are thinking of
when they talk about
English as grammatically
'simple', p. 190), but it has a
highly complex syntax; and
the number of endings has
no bearing on whether a
language becomes used
worldwide (as can be seen
from the former success of
Latn). Languages rise and
fall in world esteem for
many kinds of reasons -
political, economic, social,
relgious, literary - but lin-
guistic reasons do not rank
highly among them.
been recorded today,
adequately at least, in the
English language.
This is an extract translated
is from the Latin preface to
John Wallis's G ra mmatca
Linguae Anglicanae
(Grammar of the English
Language), published in
1765 (p.78). Little has
changed - apart from the
choice of theology as the
lead example.
7 \X/OILD LN(II-ISFI 107
ENG LISH
BRITISH
IRELA
SCOTLAND
WALES
I U5A
NEW
MALTA
GIBRALTAR
EN6LAND
MID-
SOUTHERN
HAWAII
WEST PAKISTAN
HONG KONG
DESH
rsl LIBE RIA
WEST AFRICA 5Rt
INDIA
/]ALAYSIA
PHILI PPI N E5
GUYANA NGAPORE
EAsf
AFRICA
SEYCH E LLES PAPUA
NEW PACIFIC
GUINEA t9
5T HELENA
FIJ
I
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH
NEW
AFRICA
ZEALAND
A family tree representation (after
Peter Strevens) of the way English FALKLANDS
has spreadaround the world,
showing the inf luence of the two
main branches of American and
British English.
THE THREE CIRCLES
The spread of English around the As with all linguistic models, the
world has been visualized asthree distinctions are not watertight. Some Expanding circle
concentric circles, representi ng dif- countries (e.9. South Africa,
ferent ways in which the language Malaysia) display a socio-
has been acquired and is currently linguistic situation which con-
used. tains a mixture of second and
. f he inner circle refers to the tradi-
foreign language features.
tional bases of English, where it is the Some (e.9. Tanzania,
Outer circle
primary language: it includesthe USA, Kenya) have changed
UK, lreland, Canada, Australia, and their language policy
NewZealand. since independence, no
. The outeror extended circle longer according
involves the earlier phases ofthe English off icial status.
spread of Engl ish in non-native set- Some (e.9. Papua New lnner circle
tings, where the language has become Guinea, Nigeria) use e.g. USA,
part of a country's chief institutions, varieties of English UK
and plays an important'second lan- 320-380 million
whose status as a f irst
guage'role in a multilingual setting: it or foreign language is
includes Singapore, lndia, Malawi, and not always clear
over 50 other territories (p. 1 09). (p.108).Thevalueof
. The expanding clrcle involves the model s the atten-
those nations which recognize the tion it draws to the dif- e.9. lndia.
importance of English as an nterna- ferent historical and Singapore
tional language, though they do not social issues raised bythe 300-500 million
have a history of colonization by notion of world English,
members of the inner circle, nor have and (when comprehensive
they given English any special status lists are drawn up, with popu-
in their language policy. lt includes lation totals) its indication of
China, Japan, lsrael, Greece, Poland, trends in the language's growth. e.g. China,
and (as the name of this circle sug- (After B. B. Kachru, '1985.) Russia
gests) a steadily increasing number 500-'1000 million
of other states. ln these areas, English Figures refer to populations of
is taught as a foreign language. English speakers
108 PART I. TH HISTORY OF ENGLISH 7 \IORLD ENGLISH 109

HOW MANY MILLIONS? shifts wth time and social f unction. total of around 323 million. be subtracted from the L2 total
But in allcases, the population is . Column 4 gives an estimate of below. Countries where this is an
The table on p. '109 shows over 75 living in an environment in which the those who have learned English as a issue are marked with (c).
territories in which English has held English language is routinely in second language (12). ln some cases . The grand total of L2 speakers is
or continues to hold a special place. evidence, publicly accessible in (e.9. lndia) this f gure is the result of around 422 million - a figure which is
ln two instances, it groups territories varying degrees, and part ofthe careful thought by linguists who largely due to the influence of one
which have a population of less than nation's recent or present identty.
1 0,000: 'UK islands' (Guernsey, Jersey, Tables of this knd contain all kinds
have studed the sociolinguistic situa-
tion. ln most cases, howeve no such
country, lndia. However, this total
Country Pop (200f) Total L1 Total L2 Country Pop (2001) Total L1 Total L2
could be even larger by relaxing the
Man) and'Other dependencies', the of hidden assumptions, and have to evaluation hastaken place, and all criterion of what it takes to count as American Montserrat (c) 4,000 4,000
latter including the territories be caref ul ly interpreted. that is available is an estimate based a'speakerof English'. ln seven Samoa 67,000 2,000 65,000 Namibia 1,800,000 14,000 300,000
administered by Australia (Norfolk l, . Column 2 gves the 2001 popula- on relevant social considerations. countries, even a small increase in Anguilla '12,000 2,000
1
Nauru 1 0,700 800 9,500
tion estimate of each country - in
Christmas l, Cocos ls), New Zealand
, (Niue, Tokelau), and the UK (Falkland other words, the total number of
The present table has taken as a
guideline the percentage of people
the percentages given would make
Antgua & Barbuda (c) 68,000 66,000 2,ooo New Zealand 3,864,000 3,700,000 50,000
a big difference: lndia, Pakistan,
1

ls, Pitcairn l, Turks & Caicos ls). No people who are in theory routinely over the age of 25 who have Ghana, Nigeria, Malaysia, Aruba 70,000 9,000 35,000 Nigeria (c) 1 26,636,000 60,000,000
account has been taken in the table exposed to English. The grand total, completed secondary education or Philippines, and Tanzania. These 8,972,000 4,987,000 3,500,000
Australia 1 1
N Marianas (c) 75,000 s,000 6s,000
of those who have learned English as rounded up, is 2,214 million, which is higher, and who are thus likely to seven had a combined total of over
a foreign language in countries well over a third of the world's popu- Bahamas (c) 298,000 260,000 28,000 Pakistan 45,000,000 '17,000,000
have English at a reasonable 1,463 million people in 2001. lf we 1

where it has no special place (e.9. lation. standard. (This percentage excludes a llow on ly 5 per cent of these to Bangladesh 1 3 1,270,000 3,500,000 Palau (Belau) 9,000 500 1 8,000
.
1
China, Germany). Column 3 gves an estimate of any Ll speakers listed in Column 3.) have some command of English, we 275,000 262,000 3,000
Barbados (c) 1
Papua New
To have a 'special place'can mean those who have learned English as a Al I uncertain totals are preceded by a immediately approach 500 million.
Belize (c) 256,000 90,000 s6,000 Guinea (c) 5,000,000 'I 50,000 3,000,000
various things. Sometimes English is first language (Ll), showing a grand question mark, to show their doubt- The more limited a command of
1

an official or joint official language total of some 329 million. This result ful status. English we allow to be acceptable, Bermuda 63,000 63,000 Philippines 83,000,000 20,000 40,000,000
of a state, its status being defined by needs some interpretation. lt could . Column 4 also includes speakers of the more this figure can be inf lated. Bhutan 2,000,000 75,000 Puerto Rico 3,937,000 1 00,000 1,840,000
law, as in the case of lndia, lreland, or be increased if we were able to pidgin/creole varieties of English (as Whether we wish to inf late the f ig-
Canada. Sometimes it may be the include L1 figures for every country Eotswana 1,586,000 630,000 Rwanda 7,3 1 3,000 20.000
a second language) - hence the high ures, of course, depends on factors
sole or dominant language for (and some reference books do cite as estmates in such countries as which go well beyond the linguistic. British Virgin ls (c) 20,800 20,000 5t Kitts & Nevis (c) 39,000 39,000
historical reasons, as in the case of many as 450 million); however, in Nigeria. The linguistic justif ication Brunei 344,000 1 0,000 134,000 5t Lucia (c) 1 s8,000 31,000 40,000
the USA or the UK (in neither country many places (shown by a question for this approach is that these are
is it defined legally as an official Cameroon (c) 1 s,900,000 7,700,000 St Vincent & the
mark) it simply is not known how varieties of English (as opposed to,
Grenadines (c) 11 6,000 1 14,000
national language: see p. 1 07, 1 1 5). many L1 speakers there are. On the say, French), and are usually related Canada 31,600,000 20,000,000 7,000,000
ln a few cases, such as Kenya and other hand, the grand total could be to standard English along a con- Samoa 180,000 1,000 93,000
Cayman ls (c) 36,000 36,000
Tanzania, English has lost the formal decreased a little if we were to tinuum. On the other hand, because Seychelles 80,000 3,000 30,000
status t once had, though it still plays Cook ls 21,000 1,000 3,000
exclude all the cases where countries the ends of this continuum may not Sierra Leone (c) s,427,000 s00,000 4,400,000
an important role in the community. use a creole or creolized pidgin (p. be mutually intelligible, it could be Dominica (c) 70,000 3,000 60,000
ln many cases, its standing is less 346); these cases, marked with (c), argued that pidgin/creole totals Singapore 4,300,000 3s0,000 2,000,000
Fiji 8s0,000 6,000 1 70,000
certain, coexisting with other local amount to some 7 million. lf we do should not be included - in which Solomon ls (c) 480,000 1 0,000 1 6s,000
languages in a relationship which Gambia (c) 1,4't 1 ,000 40,000
exclude them, we end up with an Ll case, some 80 million speakers should
Ghana (c) 1 9,894,000 1,400,000 South Africa 43,586,000 3,700,000 10,000,000
Sri Lanka 9,400,000 1 0,000 '1,900,000
ibraltar
1
G 31,000 28,000 2,000
Suriname (c) 434,000 260,000 1 s0,000
A SHORT GLOSSARY OF ENL (ngllsh as a Natve Language) L1 (first language) The language nicative needs, such as scien- Grenada (c) 1 00,000 1 00,000
>> L1 first acquired by a child (also Swaziland 1,1 04,000 50,000
EL TERMS tists, doctors, lawyers, or air Guam 1 60,000 58,000 100,000
EOP (English for Occupational Pur- called a mother tongue or traffic controllers. Tanzania 36,232,000 4,000,000
Guyana (c) 700,000 650,000 30,000
The world of World English (WE), poses) A course whose content native language) or preferred in MT (mother tongue) >> Lf Tonga 1 04,000 30,000
and especially of English Language isdetermined by the specif ic a multilingual situation. The NL (native language) >> L1 Hong Kong 7,210,000 50,000 2,200,000
(c)
1

Teaching (ELT) is full of acronyms

(p. 1 20).
needs of learners practising a latter context may not be identi- NNL (non-native language) Alan- lndia 1,029,991,000 350,000 200,000,000 Trinidad &Tobago 1,170,000 1 ,1 45,000
particular occupation (e.9. work- cal to the former: for example, guage which people use other Tuva I u 1 1,000 800
lreland 3,850,000 3,750,000 00,000
ing with instructional manuals).
1
the children of many European than their mother tongue. Uganda 23,986,000 2,s00,000
EAP (English for Academic Pur- ESL(English as a Second Lan- emigrants to the USA have come NNV (non-native variety) A variety Jamaica (c) 2,665,000 2,600,000 s0,000
poses) >> ESP guage) English in countries to use English as a first language of English which has developed Kenya 30,766,000 2,700,000 United Kingdom 59,648,000 58,1 00,000 1,s00,000
FL (English as a Foreign where it holds special status as a in the latter sense, though it is in a country or region where it is UK lslands 228,000 227,000
Language) English seen in the medium of communication (the Kiribati 94,000 23,000
context of countries where it is 'outer circle', p. 1 07). The term
not ther mother tongue. not used as a mother tongue,
Lesotho 2,177,000 500,000 United States 278,059,000 215,424,000 25,600,000
L2 (second language) A language such as lndian English.
not the mother tongue and has has also been applied to the which is not a person's mother US Virgin ls (c) 122,000 98,000 1 5,000
TEEL (Teaching English as a Foreign Liberia (c) 3,226,000 600,000 2,500,000
no special status, such as Japan, English of immigrants and other tongue, but which is used in Language) >> EFL Vanuatu (c) 1 93,000 60,000 1 20,000
Malawi 0,548,000 540,000
France, Egypt, and Brazil. Well foreigners who live within a order to meet a communicative
1
TEIL (Teaching English as an Inter- Zambia 9,770,000 1 10,000 1,800,000
over half the countries of the country where English is the f irst need. A country may choose to national Language) >> EIL Malaysia 22,230,000 380,000 7,000,000
world fall into this category (the language. Zimbabwe 1,36s,000 250,000 s,300,000
designate a language as an offi- TESL (Ieaching of English as a Malta 395,000 1 3,000 9s,000 1

'expanding circle', p. 1 07).
EGP (English for General Purposes)
>> ESP
EIL (English as an lnternatonal
Language) The use of English for
purposes of international com-
munication. The notion is espe-
cially relevant among profes-
sional people who do not have
the language as a mother
tongue (e.9. the business, scien-
tific, political, and academic
communities).
ESP (English for Special Purposes)
A course whose content is deter-
mined by the professional needs
of the learner. lt contrasts with
English for General Purposes,
where the aim is to establish a
general level of proficiency.
Several areas have been recog-
nized, such as English for
Academic Purposes and English
for Science and Technology.
EST (English for Science and Tech-
notogy) >> ESP
cial second language for its pop- Second Language) >> ESL Marshall ls 70,000 60,000 Other dependencies 35,000 20,000 1 5,000
ulation, or give it some other TESOL (Ieachin g English to Speak-
kind of special status (as shown ers of Other Languages) The Mauritius 1, 1 90,000 2,000 200,000 Total 2,213,507,500 329,058,300 422,682,300
in the table opposite). teaching of English to anyone Micronesia 1 35,000 4,000 60,000
L3 (third language) An additional who does not have it as a
language used to meet a special mother tongue. The notion
communicative need. This notion developed in the USA, but TESOL
s not as widespread as L1 and operatons are now found in
L2. many countries. There is no dis-
LSP (La ng ua ge fo r Specia I/specif i c tinction between second and Note: As suggested on p. 108, a tabte of this kind is a reflection of historical/political realityonly. lt does not reflectthe sociolinguistic realitiesof the way
Purposes) A language course foreign, as is generally found in English is being used in the modern world as a foreign language. ln such a world, the role of English n such countres as Sweden and Denmark is much
designed to meet a predictable British language-teaching con- moie pervasive than it is in, say, Nepal and Namibia. To make a language 'official', as happened to English in Rwanda in 1996, may not mean very much
and specif ic range of commu- texts. in reai terms. lndeed t is increasingly suggested that the distinction between'second'and 'foreign' language, or between 'outer'and'expanding'circles
(p. i07) is less relevant now than it used to be. And certainly, the next generation will see world English totals dramatically influenced by factors which will
apply just as much to China, Japan, Russia, lndonesia, and Brazil (where there are huge potential 'foreign language' populations) as to lndia, Nigeria, and
the other countries listed above.
 110 PART I THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH
STANDARD ENGLISH WHAT IS STANDARD
ENGLISH?
It is difficult to know whar ro expecr, when a language Since the 1 980s, the notion
of 'standard' has come to
develops a worldwide presence ro the exrenr rhat
the fore in public debate
English has (p. 108). There are no precedents for such about the English language.
a geographical spread or for so many speakers. More- At national level, in several
over, the speed at which it has all happened is countres (but especially in
the UK), the concern has
unprecedented: although the history of world English
focused on the devising of
can be traced back 400 years (p.92), the current an acceptable national cur-
riculum for English in pri-
gl'owth spurt in the language has a history of less than
mary and secondary
40 years, There has never been such an increase in education. At international
independent states (UN membership has more than level, the focus has been on
the question of which
doubled since 1960) nor such a growth in world pop-
national standards to use in
ulation (from 2.5 thousand million in 1950 to 6.2 teaching English as a for-
thousand million in 2002). How will English fare eign language. ln both con-
(how would any language fare?), faced with such texts, howeveL before
sensible decisions can be
responsibilities and having to respond to such pres- made about how to intro-
duce Standard English or
sures?
teach t, there is a need for
The rwo chief issues - internationalism and iden-
clear understanding about
tity - raise an immediate problem, because they con- what it actually is. The cau-
flict. In the former case, a nation looks out fi'om itself tious opening of the entry
on Standard English (SE) in
at the world as a whole, and tries to defne its needs
in relation to rhar world. In the latter case, a narion
The Oxford Companion to
the English Language
looks within itself at rhe srrucrure of its society and (1992), written by the editor
the psychology of its people, and tries to define its Tom McArthur, suggests
that we may be entering a
needs in relation to its sense of national identity. Cor- minefield:
responding linguistic issues auromatically arise. a widely used term that
I Internationalism implies intelligibility. If the reason
resists easy definition but
used as if most educated
is
for any nation wishing to promore English is to give people nonetheless know
it access to what the broader English-speaking world precisely what t refers to..
has to offer, then it is crucial for its people to be able Disentangling the issues is
best done first at national
to understand the English of that world, and to be level, where the issues have
understood in their turn. In short, internationalism been around a long time,
demands an agreed standard - in gramma vocabu- and are reasonablywell
understood. (For the early
lary, spelling, pronunciation, and convenrions ofuse.
history of Standard English,
. Identiry implies individuality. If a nation wishes to see p. 54.)
preserve its uniqueness or ro esrablish irs presence, Towards a definition
From the dozens of defini-
and to avoid being an anonymous ingredient in a cul- tions available in the litera-
tural melting-pot, then it must search for ways of
expressing its difference from the rest of the world.
Flags, uniforms, and other such symbols will have ENGLISH WHAT IS WROTE
their place, but nothing will be so naturally and uni-
versally present as a national language - or, if there is
none, a national variety ofan international language.
In short, in the context of English, identiry demands
than JtrF
linguistic distinctiveness - in grammar, vocabular
More
spelling, pronunciation, or conventions of language
talkng Proper
use.
The future of the English language (p.112) depends
on how the tension benveen these rwo principles will
be resolved.
ture on English, we may
extract five essential charac-
teristics.
. variety o'f English -
5E is a
a distinctive combination of
linguistic features with a
particular role to play. 5ome
people call it a 'dialect'of
English - and so it is, but of
a rather special kind, for it
has no local base (p. 298).
There is nothing in the
grammar and vocabulary of
a piece of SE to tell us which
part of a country it comes
from.
The linguistic features of
SE are chiefly matters of
grammar, vocabulary, and
orthography (spelling and
punctuation). lt s important
to note that 5E s not a
matter of pronunciation: SE
is spoken in a wide variety
of accents (including, of
course, any prestge accent
a country may have, such as
British RP, p.365).
. the variety of English
SE is
which carries most prestige
within a country.'Prestige'
is a social concept, whereby
some people have high
standing in the eyes of
others, whether this derives
from social class, material
success, political strength,
popular acclaim, or educa-
tional background. The
.
English that these people
choose to use will, by this
very fact, become the stan-
dard within their commu-
nity. ln the words of one US
linguist, 5E is'the English
used by the powerf ul'
(James Sledd).
. The prestige attachedto
5E isrecognized by adult
members of the community.
and this motivates them to
1993
18 APRIL
'jt
recommend SE as a desir-
able educationaltarget. lt is
the variety which is used as
the norm of communication
by the community's leading
institutions, such as its gov-
ernment, law courts, and
media. lt is therefore the
variety which is likely to be
the most widely dissemi-
nated among the public. lt
will, accordingly, be widely
understood -though not to
the same extent by every-
one, and with varying com-
prehension of some of its
features (thus motivating
the demands of the 'plain
English' campaigns, p. I 76).
It may or may not be liked.
. Although widely
SE is
understood, it is not widely
produced. Only a minority
of people within a country
(e.9. radio newscasters)
actually use it when they
talk. Most people speak a
variety of regional English,
or an admixture of standard
and regional Englishes, and
reserve such labels as'BBC
English' or'the Queen's
English'for what they per-
ceive to be a 'pure' SE. Simi-
larly, when they write
itself a minority activity
the consistent use of SE is
required only in certain
tasks (such as a letter to a
newspaper, but not neces-
sarily to a close friend).
More than anywhere else,
5E is to be found in print.
On this basis, we may define
the Standard English of an
English-speaking country as
a minority variety (identi-
fied chiefly by its vocabu-
lary, gramma and
orthography) which carries
most prestge and is most
widely understood.
ll/heneverthere is a public
debate about English in
schools, newspapers resort
to'clever' headlines in
which they use nonstandard
forms. This example, from
The lndependen was one
of manywhich appeared in
Britain during the 1 992-3
debate on the National
Curriculum for state pri-
mary and secondary
schools. Of course, it
stands out only because
the rest of the paper is in
Standard English.
THE CIRCLE OF
WORLD ENGLISH
One way of representing
the unity and diversity of
the English-speaking
world (from T. McArthuL
1 987). At the centre s
placed the notion of
World English, conceived
a 'common core',
as
Around it are placed the
various regional or
national standards,
either established or
becoming established
('standardizing'). On the
outside are examples of
the wide range of popu-
lar Englishes which exist.
Each boundary line could
provoke an argument, as
the author acknowl-
edges, but the overall
perspective is illuminat-
ing. A small selection of
heads of state or govern-
ment n 2002 symbolizes
the way Standard English
is used worldwide in
public roles.
-
-
Kofi Annan (UN)
Thabo Mbeki (South Africa)
WORLD STANDARD
ENGLISH?
lf we read the newspapers or
listen to the newscasters
around the English-speaking
world, wewillquickly
develop the impression that
there is a World Standard
English (WSE), acting as a
Australians; Canadians do not widespread
strongly unifying force
among the vast range of vari-
ation which exists. There is a
great deal of evidence to sup-
port this mpression, and
models such as the 'World
English circle' above formally
represent it. However, it is
misleading in several
respects. A totally uniform,
regionally neutral, and unar-
guably prestigious variety
does not yet exist worldwide.
o Each country where English
is a first language is aware of
its linguistic identity, and is
anxious to preserve it from
the influence of others. New
Zealanders do not want to be becoming increasingly
pediatrics), but we are a long
want to be'Americans'; and
Americanismls perceived as a way f rom uniformity
danger signal by usage
guardians everywhere
(except in the USA) (p.310).
. All othercountries can be
grouped into those which
followAmerican English,
those which follow British
7..W'ORLD ENGI,]SH 111
John Howard (Australia)
.9
o
c
c
@
o
F
c
New Zealand
& South Pacific
Standard
English
Nofn
British and
\t{e\sh
ns\tS
lrish Standard Scots
tster
etc
Queen Elizabeth ll (UK)
WORLD English Hiberno-English
ish
STANDARD
ENGLISH American Network Standard
Standard
^,toern
r4dbnd
English
4u*,
c
Mary McAleese (lreland)
3'
t
G e W Bush
English, and those (e.9. Want Ads); this is illustrated tories which coexist. Would it
Canada) where there is a mix- in detail in 520. There is also a be more prestigious for a
ture of influences (p. 1 07). certain amount of grammati- report from an international
One of the most noticeable cal distinctiveness, especially body to appear in British or
features ofthis divided usage between U5 and UK English. American spelling? Should it
is spelling. ln certain domains, . The notion of a 'standard refer to cars or a utomobiles?
such as computing and What image do its authors
pronunciation' is useful in the
medicine, US spellings are international setting of wish to convey? Decisions
about such matters are made
English as a second or foreign
(prog ra m, d isk,
language (p. 1 08), but here in innumerable contexts
every day. lt will take time
too there is more than one
before the world sees a con-
(p. 307).
teaching model - chief ly,
sensus, and only time will tell
. A great deal of lexical dis- British Received Pronuncia-
whether this consensus will
tinctiveness can be observed tion and US GeneralAmeri-
display the domination of
in the specialized terms of can (p.307).
a present-day variety of
local politics, business, cul- . The question of prestige is English orthe development
ture, and natural history, and not easyto determine, at an of a new, composite variety
in the'domestic' columns of international level, because
(p. 1 1 3).
national newspapers (such as ofthe different national his-
 112 PART I.THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 7 \ORLD EN(;LISH 113

THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH ONE LANGUAGE, OR MANY?

A TRIDIALECTAL
FUURE?
I
There is no linguistic subject more prone to emotional l/l/herever World Standard
rhetoric or wild exaggeration than the futue of the , There are two competing pressures currently influ- tural features. Each English-speaking country will English eventually comes
encing the development of English (p. I I 0): one actsaccordingly find itself with thousands of words to from, a new bidialectism (the
English language. Heights of optimism compete with ability to use two dialects of
e maintain international intelligibilit promoting a express its local character. \hether we view these a language) s sure to
depths ofpessimism. Among the optimists we may cire
the German philologistJakob Grimm, who addressed
uniform \X/orld Standarcl English; the other acts to words as part of a world standard or a regional stan- emerge. And because many
prcserve national identit promoting a diverse set of dard will depend chiefly on the extent to which the people are already bidialec-
the point in a lecure published in lB52: l4rrilBir tal (knowing their national
ftegional Standard Englishes. world at large is interestecl in the notions they express.
standard and a regional
Of all modem languages, nor one has acquired such great Thus, in South Afi'ican English partheid and irnpala dialect), tridialectism is likely
ttrength and vigour as the English... tirl my be called jirstly The drive for intelligibility to be the norm.
have become part of'World Standard English, whereas
The pressure for international intelligibiliry is very
a LANGUAGE oF TUE \oRLD: and seems, like the English dorp ('smaII town or village') and bredie ('type of
nation, to be desrined to reign in future with still more exten- srrong, and may by now be unstoppable. International
stew') have not. The words most resistant to world
rravel, satellite broadcasting, world press ancl televi-
sive sway over all parts of the globe.
standardization will be those which already have
sion, world stock markets, multinational corporations,
In the late Victorian period, esrimares of the numbers in Standard British or American English,
eqr.rivalents
intergovernmentl agencies, and many other institu-
of mother-tongue English speakers living a cenrury such as outwith (Scots, 'outside') or godown (Indian
tions have guaranteed a situation of daily contact for 'warehouse').
thereafter (i.e. today) ofren reached astronomical
hundreds of millions of English spekers who together
heights. One writer, in an issue of The Phonetic Jour-
replesent every major variety. Historical loyalties (e.g. Compromise?
nal(13 September 1873) calculated (with hopeful pre-
to Britain) have leen largely replaced by pragmatic, There may be a natural balance which the language
cision) that by the year 2000 this total would be
utilitarian reasoning. If using British English can sell will eventually achieve. A nationalistic climate may
1,837,286,153 - an estimate which, with the beneft
goods and services, then let British English be used. If cause a variery to lnove in a particular direction away We have a meal with friends.
ofhindsight, can be seen to be in error by a facror ofsix We use a variety of English
it needs American English, then so le it. And let either fi'om its source stanclard, but may then be pulled back influenced by the dialect of
(p. 109). Such totals were commonplace in rhe heady
or others be employed as occasion clemands. when moderates within the community find it the region in which we live.
atmosphere which accompanied the climax of British
It is not surprising, in such a climate, to find a core increasingly difficult to understand what is being said.
and American colonial expansion.
of English grammar, vocabular and orthography An example of this actually happening was reported
By conrrast, rhere were the pessimists, predicting
already in widespread use, at least in print (p. 110). in 1985 byAlan Male at the time the British Coun-
that within a cenrury rhe English language would be in
There is, however, still some way to go before the cil Representative in South India:
fragments. Here we may cire the British philologist
world arrives at a level of uniform usage which will
Henry Sweet, who wrote in 1877: WAS HE RIGHT? peningsatMlTorLSE, is
guarantee international intelligibility at levels compa-
Mrs Indira Ganclhi was prompted to write to her Ministry
beside the point. On these of Educatior.r not so long ago to complain of falling stan-
by that time [a century hence] England, America, and Aus- ln a paperwritten in 1970 rble to those found intranationally. Breakdowns in
assumptions I would conf i- dards of English in India, reportedly after attending an
tralia will be speaking mutually unintelligible languages, fora conference in Luxem- dently predict that English Europe, of course, the place communication due to differences in idiom, vocabu-
bourg organized bythe will retain its prominent
international meeting at which she had been unable to
owing to their independent changes ofpronunciation.
London-based lnstitute of place in Europe, though
of English is likelyto affect lar or grammar are common enough, even between understand the contribution ofthe Inclian clelegate (speak-
the daily lives of the people
The same point had been made nearly Linguists, Randolph Quirk, without these assumptions, still more closely, and cases British and American English (p.306), and differ- ing in English).
century before
a
by Noah \ebster, in
then Quain Professor of I should not be nearly as like the day-to-day factory cnces in regional accent can be devastating.
his Disserta.tions on the English
Lnguage (1789). \ebster thought that such a devel-
English at University College confident. One could in fact use of English by the The features of Indian English which gave Mrs
London, engaged in a spec- go further and predict that The drive for identity
Gandhi a problem are well-recognizecl (p.360).
Swedish ball-bearing f irm
ulation about the future. His English will actually increase 'fhe pressure to foster national identity is also very We go to a commercial fair
opment would be 'necessary and unavoidable', and SKF are likelyto multiply.
\/hether her reaction was representative and influen- in Birmingham, England. We
paper was called'English in its currency, above all for Already the medium for
would result in 'a language in North America, as dif- twenty years'. purposes of trade, but also strong, and the signs are that divergence is increasing. talk to the sales representa-
more than half the world's tial remains to be seen.
ferent from the future language of England, as the tives using British Standard
in scientif ic communication scientif ic writing and popu- J'he 1990s has seen no reduction in the number of
must base my speculation English.
modern Dutch, Danish and Swedish are from the I and in the everyday matters lar entertainment by radio, conflicts which involve regions trying to establish
about lthe future role of of popular culture - for TV and film alike, English
German, or from one another'. From lebstert pro- Engl ishl upon assumptions example, through Eurovi- their independence, and one consequence ofsuccess- WHICH WORLD of those that currently
has a momentum which
exst. An example is the
American point of view, of course (p.Bl), this would outside linguistics, and my sion. And allthis even in the only a cultural cataclysm ful nationalism was the early adoption of speech STANDARD?
kind of English commonly
not have been such a bad thing. assumptions are these: that European countries whose plus an abyss of much more forms marking a linguistic clistance between the new How could a more uni- heard in the corridors of
Britain will become more mothertongue is so impor- than 20 years in width could
Neither Grimm nor Sweet proved ro be accurare and more closely involved tant a language as German seriously hamper. Given
lation and its colonial antecedents. Two local factors form World Standard power of the European
English arise? There are Community, and called
prophets. English has indeed become a world lan- with continental Europe, or French. Already Le something more like a cul- rcadily Foster this distancing.
three main possibilities. 'Euro-English'.
guage, but it is by no mens everywhere and it is by no econom jcal ly, intellectually
and politically; and that
Monde produces a weekly
edtion in English, and much
tural boost, we may expect It is inevitable, first of all, that when English is in . A current variety could o A fresh variety could be
present uses of English to gradually come to be created, based on a set of
means always welcome. And English has indeed devel- English will retain in the of German industry regards close contact with other languages it will adopt sorne
expand so that by 1 990 adopted by the leading assumptions about those
oped many spoken varieties, but these are by no means next 20 years the degree of English as the main lan- everyone in Europe may be of the characteristics of those languages, especially international institutions, aspects of English which
mutually unintelligible. Perhaps the only safe general- prestige t has enjoyed in guage of export promotion: using, or be exposed to, their vocabulary and prosody. The latter in particu- and emerge as the world are most useful for inter-
continental Europe in the with Britain's increasing English for some part of
ization to be made is that predictions about the future past 20 years. Whetherthis involvement in Europe every day.
lal can be a major source of local variety identit as standard. American national purposes. An
English already seems to example is the proposal in
of English have a habit of being wrong. prestige rests upon the between now and 1 990, is heard in the distinctive stress-timed rhythm of have made considerable the early 1 980s to develop
achievements of Carnaby English can scarcely be lf all this seems very easy, let Inclian or Caribbean English, or the rising intonations progress in this direction. a 'nuclear' kind of English
Street or Cape Kennedy, on
the fame of jump jets or
expected to become less rel- the reader now write a cor-
of Australian and New Zealand English (p.249). . The different vareties which would include only We are on holiday in Egypt,
evant in France and Ger- responding paragraph pre-
junkies, on Canadian nickel of English could gradually the most communicative and meet up with people
many. ln the rather smaller dicting the role of English in Secondl the fact that English is found all over the merge, to produce a new features of grammar and
or Australian fruit, on hap- from other English-speaking
language communities of 2030. world means that it will incorporate local words to variety which is like none vocabulary. countries. We talk together
express an unparalleled range offauna, flora, and cul- in World Standard English.
 r14 PART I.THE HiSTORY OF ENGLISH 7.\ORLD ENGLISH 115

THREAIENING E,NGLISH increase in the number of

VORSPRUNG DURCH
ANGLISTIK
As English extends worldwide, its presence is widely
Several studies in the
viewed as beneficial. Aims such as international intel-
1980s have shown a rapid
ligibiliry and national identiry (p.110) are positive- rise in the f requency with
sounding and forward-looking. But there is another which English loan words
appear in foreign lan-
side to the coin, for English is not always welcome. Its
guage publications.
presence my generte antagonism, especially when it According to one analyst,
is perceived to interfere with the character or use of Broder Carstensen, there
bcal languages. Nationalistic movements may totally
was a fivefold
reject it - and not always peacefully.
The five most frequent
Three forms of antagonism users of English loan
. There is always mutual influence as languages come
words were all
Japanese: Mitsubishi,
into contact with each orher. English itself has a long Daihatsu, Nissan,
history of borrowing from other languages (SS3-5), Suzuki, and Honda.
and is always ready to increase irs lexicon through the
acquisition of loan words (p. 126). Vhen other lan-
guages borrow heavily from English, however, the local
reaction may be far less positive. People may complain
alout the excessive influence of English on their
language, and their country may even try ro
legislate against itin France). Such activities may be
(as Anglicisms Refs Anglicisms Refs Anglicisms Refs Anglicisms
Design 411 Motor-
passionately pursued, though any success is likely to be
Cockpit management 114
387
limited to restricted domains, such as official publica- Spoiler 297 Rush-hour
tions or committee dictionaries. Styling Leasing
256
Lexical invasion is feared because it is seen as the Limit 233 City
Anglicisms in German
newspapers during the
1 980s. Advertising copy-
writers especially have a
liking for English technical
vocabulary.
One researcher ana-
lysed the frequency of
English loan words in
German car advertising
between 1 987 and 1 990,
Touch
Trend
112 Memory
109 Offroader
107 Open airfeeling
using 569 brochures and
model descriptions relat-
ing to the 30 most impor-
tant makes of car on the
German market. ln 8,458
pages analysed, there
were 7,1 90 nouns from
English. The table shows
the 75 Anglicisms occur-
ring more than 20 times in
the corpus. (After S. A.
Vesterhus, 1 991 .)
62 T-bar-roof
62 Low end torque
55 Boom
54 Full cover
52 (wheeltrim)
E,N GLIS H TH REATE,I.{ED
Some situations prompt pairs of names in order to
The example of Kenya on the facing page shows that,
show different levels of dominance by the contributing
while English itself often poses a threat, it can also itself
be threatened. This development is perhaps unsurpris- languages, as in the case of Spnglish and Englaol or
ing in countries where English acts as a second or for- Frenglishand Franglais. It is unusual to see any ofthese
eign language, but we might not expect to find it varieties in writing, but some are very widely spoken.
within the 'inner circle' of countries where it has tradi- They have received only limited linguistic study.
tionally been a first language (p. 107). Tle threat to a
. English speakers may also feel threatened by the sub-
first-language environment is nonetheless perceived as
stantial growth of an immigrant language in their
real, and can come from two directions.
country. Normall the gradual process of immigration
. Standard English users in the communiq, may results in the process oflanguage shift, with second and
become worried by the spread of a nonstandard vari- third generations of non-English-speaking immigrants
et especially one which shows a mixture of linguistic adopting the language of their host state. However, in
influences. Code-mixing takes place to some degree one country, the USA, the growth in the number of
everpvhere that English is spoken alongside another Hispanic speakers has prompted a major protectionist
language, and is a normal feature of bilingualism. The movement (US English), an ensuing reaction (English
mixed varieties are given blended names to show Plus), and a sociolinguistic
their origins, such as Japlish, Swedlish, Anglihans, controversy of unpreced-
Angleutsch, Wenglish (Wekh + English), and Tex-Mex. ented proportions.
Refs
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE formation in 1987 of an alternative pres-
29
AMENDMENT sure group, English Plus, to encourage
28
American bilingualism - English'plus' one
26
Although English has been the dominant or more other languages. lts members pro-
26
language of the USA since independence, it posed their own amendment, the Cultural

thin end of a wedge. Linguistic history conrains sev-

Star 218 Mix 103 Understanding 49 Make-up
has never been legally recognized as offi- Rights Amendmen to ensure that ethnic
Display 205 Team 100 Recycling 46 (mirror) 26
cial. Until recently, this has rarely been an and linguistic diversity in the USA would be
eral examples of English supplanting other languages Power 199 High-tech 99 Overdrive 43 Silent shaft 26
issue. But in the early 1980s a movement celebrated and used as a national resource

- Cumbric, Cornish, Norn, Manx, most North Know-how 191 Box 96 Spotlight 42 Torque-sensory 25
developed in Amerca as a reaction to the rather than condemned and suppressed.

American Indian languages, mosr Ausrralian Aborig-

Output 188 Computer 93 Transfer 40 Award 24
perceived dramatic growth of Spanish in The issues surrounding the ELA have
long ceased to be matters of fact. There are
Stop and Go
Tuning certain parts of the country (such as Florida,
179 89 Roadster 39 Dolby 24
inal languages. Gaelic, \elsh, Maori, and Hawaiian Twin-Cam- Kit 86 Sound 39 Allrounder 23
the south-western states, and New York claims of hidden agendas on both sides.

struggle to retain their identiry. A reaction can take Motor 167 Bestseller 83 Autoreverse 38 lntercooler 23
City). Large numbers of Hispanic immigrants There are real fears and deeply entrenched

place, as people become increasingly conscious of the

Dummy 163 Look 80 Check 37 Keycode 23
were felt to be altering the balance of soci- atttudes. ln those parts of the country
Airbag 151 Top 80 Equalizer 35 Overboost 22
ety, and there was alarm that one day where the Hlspanic presence s strongest,
there are profound anxieties about the
rights of minorities, but the atmosphere is inevitably Check-Control 143 Kickdown 78 Crash 34 Pickup 21
English might lose its leading role.

one of uncertainty and mistrust. Small countries feel Fading 134 Set 76 Drive 33 Coating 20
ln 1 981 Senator S. l. Hayakawa proposed a future of traditional'English values and
resources. Equally profound are the doubts
particularly threatened, even if they do not have an
Hardtop 132 Show 73 Hi-Fi-Pack 31 Recorder 20
constitutional amendment to make English
of those who believe that an inevitable
Handling 127 Highlight 70 Choke 30 Synthesizer 20
the official language ofthe United States-
consequence of an ELA will be increased
English colonial histor as with Denmark and Ice- Color 123 lnjection 67 Killer 30
the English Language Amendment (ELA).
His measurefailed, butthespirit behind it discrimination against language minorities.
Iand. On this topic, the language is emotive. 'Did evidently struck a public nerve, for in 1 983 Their fear is that, one day, active bilingual-
English murder Irish?' asks one journal headline. 'Is US English was'founded to take the idea for- ism will be condemned as unAmerican.
SURRENDER ward. This body saw English asthe onlyway The biggest problem now facing either
English killing off other languages?' asks another. GREETINGS FROM PLANET EARTH
NO SURRENDER
. English may be rejected as an official language ln January 1989, officials in
Osaka, the largest city in the
to integrate US ethnic diversity, and saw an
ELA as the only way to safeguard the future
side, in seeki ng success for thei r amend-
ments, isthe diversity of positionswhich The US space shuttle into outer space, con-
The basis of any
because of its associations with colonial history. This Kinki district of west-central of English. The movement gathered con- have been adopted bythe individual US Discovery, in its English- tained a message in
independent
Japan, announced thatthe siderable support, and currently has over a states. With each side watching the other language livery suggest- English from an Austrian.
has happened several times in recent years. InTanza- government is a
word Klnklwould no longer million members. By 1996, 23 states had like hawks, and organizing opposition to ing the eventual KurtWaldheim.
nia, English was jointly official with Swahili until national lan-
be used overseas because'in made English their official language; and an any legal moves, it is difficult at presentto emergence of an 'outer-
guage, nd we As the Secretary-General
7967, when the latter became sole official language. English this word means odd, 'official English'billwas actually passed by see a way in which the dispute might be most circle'to add to the
ofthe united Natons, an
can no longer
In 1974, Kenya also replaced English by Swahili as continue aping unusual, and some other the House of Representatves that year,
though the dissolution of Congress stopped
resolved. The compilation of accurate three already found on organization of 147
things', The alternatlve name sociolinguistic statistics will certainly help. Earth (p. I 07). Or perhaps
the official language. In Malaysia the National Lan- our former colo-
its further progress. There has been considerable dispute about we will one day need to
member states who repre-
nizers...Those forthe region, Kansal, wasto sent almost all of the
guage Act of 1967 disestablished English as a joint be used instead. As a result, From the outset, US Englislr was bitterly the numbers of Hispanic immigrants, and recognize several'exteror
human inhabitants of the
who feel they
official language, giving sole status ro Malay. In India, the new Kinki Research Com- attacked by many who saw it as a white the extent to which they are turning to circles', if the message sent planet Earth, I send greet-
cannot do wthout
p/ex changed its name to the supremacist movement which would in due English. Some studes suggest that up to 75 with the Voyager project ings on behalf ofthe
the role of English in relation to Hindi and other English can as well
course deny ethnic minorities their linguis- per cent of second-generation Hispanics to the outer planets ever
pack up and go. Ka nsa i Resea rch Complex. people of our planet...
regional languages is a continuing source of contro- (PresdentJomo Other candidates for change: tic rights. The organization was widely con- followthe normalcourse of language shift yields communicative
demned for its perceved chauvinism by and become bilingual or monolingual fruil. Voyager 1, launched The first seeds, perhaps,
versy (p. 101). Kenyatta, Nairobi, the English-language tourist
magazine Klnki and the lug- leading organizations in linguistics and lan- English. lf this is so, the motivation for the in '1977 on a trajectory of Solar System Standard
't974.)
gage logo KlnkiNippon guage teaching. One consequence was the debate will, in due course, simply disappear. which eventually took it English.
Tourst.
 PART I I
English vocabulary
Vocabulary is the Everest of a language. There is no larger task than
to look for order among the hundreds of thousands of words which
cornplise the lexicon. There may 6e many gretrtasks - working out
a coherent grammatical system is certainly one - but nothing beats
lexical study for sheer quantity and range.
Questions of size and scope are thus the first ro be addressed in
Palt IL How big is the lexicon of English? How rnany words do any
of us know? And how do we calculate size, with such an amorphous
phenomenon? Defning the basic unit to be counted turns out to be
an unexpected difficult and the important notion of a lexeme is
introcluced, which Part II relies upon greatly. V/e examine some of
rhc other difficulties, such as the status ofabbreviations and proper
lalres, ancl clraw some tentative conclusions.
Where does the vastness of the lexicon come fi'om? \e look at the
clucstion of sources. There is an important balance- nor ro say ren-
sion - between the stock of native words and the avalanche of foreign
bon'owings into English over the centuries. The use of prefixes, suf-
fxes, compounding, and other processes of word-building turns out
-e
to play a crucial part in English vocabulary growth. make a sep-
alate study oflexical creativit which intloduces a range ofinterest-
ing plocesses, some sounding quite technical (portmanteaux,
An impressive collection of the English lexicon - but even this library
represents only a fraction of the lexical resources of the worldwide
sPoken and written language.
reduplicatives, neologisms), others with a much more appealing
resonance (nonsense-words, nonce-words).
\e then turn to the detailed study of lexical history - to etymol-
ogy, and the processes of semantic change. A major part of this sec-
tion is devotecl to one of the most fascinating topics in popular
linguistic enquiry: the history of names - place names, firsr names,
surnames, nicknames, and much more. This is followed by a careful
examination of the structure of the lexicon. Lexemes ale groupecl into
semantic fields, and the relationships berween them are plotted. \We
look at dictionalies and thesauri, synonyms ancl antonyms, colloca-
tions and idioms, and several other central concepts. A fuller ccourlr
of lexical reference books, however, is left to Part VI .
Part II concludes by taking a series of slices through the lexical
cake. \e look at some of the ways ir.r which words can be'loaded',
and introcluce such notions as connotations, taboo words, jargon,
doublespeak, and political correctness.'Sl'e capture some of the ways
in which the language is most alive, in rhe form of catch phrases,
vogue words, slang, slogans, and graffiti. And we end by a symp-
thetic look at language which is dead or dying - ar quorriorls,
archaisms, and clichs. A few 'last' words round off the rreatment of
what is the largest component of English language strucrure.
 8 TI-IE NA-fUI. OF'l'FIE I-EXICON I l9

8.THE NATURE OF THE LEXICON HO\ LARGE IS THE ENGLISH .l'hc

()xior:r1
THE
SUPERDICTIONARY

The term lexicon is known in English fi.orn the early o \e encounter the sentence It was raining cats and WHAT COUNTS AS A
LEXICON?
@ lnglish
I)iction.rrv
This comparison of the
boldface items lsted in two
unabridged dictionaries
17th centur when it referred to a book containing a dogs, and (perhaps because we are foreign, and meet- WORD? shows the surprisingly
J'he two biggest clictionaries suggest around half a mil- limited extent of their
selection of language's words and meanings, arranged ing the phrase for the first time) need to look it up. \X/e
lion lexemes - a total approached by the unabridged
a The cover of an early issue overlap; and if we looked in
in alphabetical order. The term itself comes from know tlre meaning of the words rain, cats, artd dogs, of the periodical English add ition for correspon-
Ioday poses a question of Wcbster's Third Netu httentational (which claimed over
Greel< lexis'word'.It is still used today in this word, but this does not seem ro help. Evidently the meaning
saba a
dence between senses, the
considerable theoretical 450,000 entries in 1961) and by the integrated edition sabadilla a a extent of the discrepancy
book meaning, but it has also raken on a more abstract of the whole phrase is different fi'om the combined and practical signif icance.
ol the Ox,ford English Dictionary (which claimed over sabadillia a would be even greater. Nor
sense, especially within linguistics, referring to the meanings of the constituenr words. What shall we call Usually, people look at the
500,000 entries in 1992). The true fgure is undoubt- sabadilline a is this the whole of the
spaces in a piece of writing,
total stock of meaningful units in a language - not only rdin cltts rtnd dogs, then? The usual solution is to call it sabadine a a English lexicon at this pont
and think that they are e.l1y a great deal higher. in the alphabet. Reference
the words and idioms, but also the parts of words an idiom, but an idiom is a unit of meaning larger than enough to decide the mat-
sabadinine a
A cornparison of these two dictionaries - or of any sabaean 1 a a to Chambers English
which express meaning, such as the prefixes and su the single word. ter. So, the first sentence of Dctonary (a much shorter
this paragraph, we would orher group of dictionaries of comparable size - shows sabaean 2 a a
fixes. This is how the term is used throughout the \e encounter the sentence Come in. Again, we have work) brings to light
all agree, contains 20 a remarkble lack of identity berween headword lists. sabahdaur a
another five items - saba (in
present book. a r-rnit of meaning which is larger than a single word, words. Unfortunately for sabai grass a
Irr the sample analysed here (see right), the Websterand a different sense from the
To study the lexicon of English, accordingl is to br-rt this phrase hardly seems ro have enor,rgh lexical lexicologists, word space is sabaism a one given inWebster),
not an infallible guide, as Oxford dictionaries have only 21 headwords in com-
study all aspecrs of the vocabulary of the language - meat in it to be called an idiorn. There are thousands sabakha a sa ba h a n, sa bba th-b reach,
the cover examples show. lor.r ollt of a possible 57 - less than rwo-fifths. If this sabal a a sabbath-breaker, and
how words are formed, how they have developed over of such multi-worcl verbs in English (p. 212), so the . Hyphens complicate mat-
ptttern were continued, their combined lexicon would sabalo a a sabbath- breaking.
time, howtheyare used now, how theyrelate in mean- issue is imporrant. \hat shall we call conte in, then? ters: shall we count eaf-as-
much-as-you-like as a single cxceed three-quarters of a million. sabalote a Reference to Willis's
ing to each other, and how they are handled in dic- This unit of meaning can hardly be called a worcl, as sabal palmetto a Dictionary of the Flowering
word? or Highs-Lows? Discrepancies are usually causecl by differing edito- Plants and Ferns (8th edn)
tionaries and other worcl books. It is a study which is its constituents are themselves words. . The absence of hyphens sabana a
lial emphases . The Oxford has far more historical re gives sabalaceae,
caried onby lexicologis,rs, who are thus pracu,sing lex- complicates matters: is sabaoth a
ba I aci neae, sa ba ud i a,
clcnces and British dialect items than does the Webster, sa
icology. If lexicologists choose to write a dictionar The term which has been introducecl to handle all
Value for Money truly three sabarcane a
sabaudiella, sabazia,
separate words? which in turn has far more local American items. On sabate a sabbata, and three senses of
they are known as lexicograpbers, and their calling is these cases is lexente (or lexical item). A lexeme is a unit . Unusual compounds com- the other hand, neither work would claim to be com- sabath's cycle a sabbatia. We have reached
lexicographlt (S I 1). The rwo pairs of terms are closely of lexical meaning, which exists regardless of any plicate matters: shall we
prehensive in its coverage ofthe vocabulary ofthe'new sa batia a over 70 items now with
counl FLYAWAY and
related, but there is no symmetry berween them. Lex- inflectional endings it may have or the number of C/fYSPRlNf as single linglishes' (PaLt V) in such parts of the world as India, sa bati er a many other specialist
dctionaries left to consult -
icographers need to have had some training in lexicol- words it may contain. Thus, fbrillnte, lrin cllts md words? Singapore, and Nigeria, where thousands of new lex-
sabati lle a
but will anyone ever have
ogy, if they are ro come up with good dictionaries. On dogs, and conte in are all lexemes, as are ekphant, jog, . Abbreviatons complicate sabatine a
emes have been corning into the language. And
1
enough time and
matters: are BA and BCal sabatine 2 a
the other hand, one can be a good lexicologist without cholesterol, happines, put xtp with, face tlte muic, and motivation to consult them
one word or two? because the tradition in lexicography is to use the writ- sabton a a
all, for the entire alphabet,
ever having wrirren a dictionary at all. hundreds of thousancls of other meaningful items in Several other kinds of ter.r language as the test for inclusion (p.452), much sabayon a a
and thus arrive at a truly
English. The headwords in a cliction ay areall lexemes, diff iculty can be given. sabba-day a
. Meaning complicates krcal spoken nonstandard vocabulary will be omitted. complete su perd ictionary?
and lexemes are rhe focus of interesr in rhe rest of this 'l'here must be thousands of slang expressions cur- sa bbat a a Untl someone (or, we must
matters: bear (the animal) sabbatarial a suppose, an electronic
sectlon. and bear (to carry) are lcntly in common use which have never been record-
LEXE,ME,S plainly different words, but
sabbatarian 1 a a something) does, estimates
cd, such as all the lexemes which express the concept sabbatarian 2 a about the size of the English
are lock (on a door) and lexicon will remain pure
\hat shall we call
/ock (in a canal) different of 'being drunli - canned, blotto, squffi, jagged, par- sabbatarianism a a
g uesswork.
the units of meaning which appear words? ls high in high tea, atic, smashed, etc (see p. 90). sabbatary a
as the headwords in an English dictionary? The tradi- high priest, and hlgh sea- sabbath a a
son the same word?
Even ifwe restrict the issue to standard vocabular
tion is to call them words, and for the most part this sabbathaism a
. Usage complicates mat- there are many items which could be included as parr sabbatharian a a
familiar designation will do. \We think of ourselves as ters: people sometimes o1'the lexicon, but which are not usually found in a sabbatharie a
'looking a word up in the dictionary'. However, in a cia 1s7 wrile flowerpo sometimes
dictionary. There are some half a million abbreviated sabbath day a
The international review of
the a
flower pot, and sometimes
serious study of the lexicon we need to be rather more sabbath-day house
Z.ircon satellite proiect
a
flower-pot. ftrlms in English (p. 120), many of which have a clear
precise than this, because when we refer to a dictionary . ldioms complicate mat- sabbath-day's journey a
lexical status (BA, FBI, NATO, etc.); and fauna and
ters: if we insist that a word sabbathine a
we actually do something rarher more subtle, without llora also provide a vast lexical resource. For example,
should have a clear mean- sabbathize a
consciously thinking abour ir. $ ' ing, then how many words thele are apparenrly some million insects already sa bbathless a
. \e encounrer rhe senrence h was fibrillating and
a

uflnu]atasftttcu*stuJ'iJ,(E'slo0s0onD'
YUppiedOm 3 are there in get my act described, with several million more awaiting descrip- sabbathly 1 a a
conclude rhat we need help ro understand it. But we b0 fllnlmalt trm
q, E
o together and get my
tion. This means rhar there must be at least a million sabbathly 2 a
do not in fact look up fibrillatingin the dictionary. \e a r-rrf,frs-{-tr rG own back?
Problems of this kind mean clesignations enabling English-speaking entomologists
sabbath school a

Iookup fibrillat. \e 'know' that this is the important .tl '

ffflffi| =I (, that it is always wise to take to taik about their subject. Should all of these be
sabbatia a 'I'hc dictionarics hancllc thc
b0 P Oomph
(D ta sabbatian 1 a a capitalizirtion of lcxcrrcs in
unit, and we disregard the ending, Similarl we would word estimates cautiously,
b0
d l !e (t
allowed into the word-counr as well? sabbatian 2 a diflerent wirys, ancl scvcral itcms
have disregarded the endings if we had come across 2. Software Power
{ a especially when evaluating
It is difficult to see how even a conservarive esrimare sabbatianism a are variable n their usc ol capital

Early birdies
the competing claims about
fibrillted or fibrillates. Vhat shall we call fbrillate, -'l
q)
t-l'' w
(!
coverage made by English of English vocabulary could go much below a million sabbatic a lctters. To avoicl cornplicating
the issuc, no capit;rls arc shown
then? It is a word, certainl but ar the same rime ir is dictionaries. Equally, the sabbatical 1 a
,t TosHbrBrrhf Ribbltlnc s. lexemes. More radical accounrs, allowing in all of sci-
o
in the tablc. Alternativc
VOX POP problems present an sabbatical 2 a
something more rhan a word. It is the unit of meaning
which lies behind the words fibrillating fibrillated,
(t) se
interesting challenge to cntific nomenclature, could easily double this figule. sabbatically a
spcllings, likewisc (e .g. nbrctn
tn hcat) havc bccn ignorccl,
lexicologists, as they get to Only a small fracrion of these torals, of course, is
and fibrillates. l-J grips with their task.
learned by any one ofus (p.123).
sa bbatica I ness a
as have optional hyphcnations
(c.9. nhbatlt da1).
What counts as a word?
femle
On the
 120 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULAI.Y f IFI l: NA-ILJIl ()l -l Ht'- l.hXI(l()N llr

ABBREVIAIIONS
Abbreviations, one of the mosr noriceable featr-rres of
Acronyms, lnitialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary o 1987 23 ^:,ii;:"J;1,:$
present-day English linguistic life, would form a major 1987
Adopllon Ad f arrlrlsl 44.............. Archilctural Associlon
part of any superclictionary. Often thought to be an Adrnal,fot Adrcnwdican Auloanlbody i:; ........... Argenieum Astrum fsi,vsr slarl lsscrst occull soctyl
l'\lil l:_t
Adult AccompanmonllReslrlclsct ro dgs 14 and up unless A4.............. Arithmellc Avorags
exclusivelymodern habit, the fashion for abbreviations dccompanlad by an adultllove rctngl l6anadia:nl ---........... Arlinoton Annex INaIYl
ill
Advancd AnalyllcalUn compffiy nffie. AA Compuler ;i;i .............. Armmenl Artilic-er lainh and canadtanllwoild war
can be traced back over 150 years. In 1839, awriter in Sy st e m sl 1T anan a, C Al S ot lw arc m a n u I ac I u rc tt
a
44.............. Armaluro Accelsrator
Advertise and Awrd 44.............. Arms ol America
the New York Euening Ttler commenrs on what he Adverllslng Ags fA publcalionl 44 ..........-..- Army Alr Operalions
calls 'the initial language ... aspecies of spoken short- 44....,.........
Advice ol Atlolment Arrval Anqle
Aegyprologlsch6 Abhandlungen IA pubalionl 44.............. Arrval Approved [Avafionl
Arrocllo Amarlllo f Face ol malzel
hand, which is getting into very general use among Agrodromo to Aerodoms
Aerolnoas Argntlnas lAeen na alilInel
A-4.............
AA .............. Ars Aqui, Juridish Studentnblad (Hollandl.Dclonary. of
Lgat Abbrevatlons llsed n Amedcan Law Booksl
loafers and genrlemen of the fanc besides Editors, to Arpsol Anlyer
Altcted Aroas A & 4.......... Art and rchaologyA pubilcatonl
whom it saves much trouble in writing ...'. He was Atlrmalve Aclion I Empwment polcas for mlnollesl AA ..............
A & ..........
Art and ArchlleclurelA publcatonl
Arla si Arhoologla I A pubilcatonl
Afler All lMessage andrrngl
referring to OK ('all correct') , PDQ ('pretty damn Ah-Ah [tava-Frowl f Hawalanl 44.............. Arlhrogryposis Associallon

3t
Air-lo-Ar A^ .............- Arlibus Aslae [,4 pubricafionl
quick') - rwo which have lasted - GT('goneto Texas'), t . 44.............. Artifcial Aeral
LL ('liver loafers'), and many other forms introduced, Al-*.- .'"' ^lr-to-Air
Air Amerco, lnc. A & .......... Arts and ArchtecturelA publicatlonl
AA .-............ Asndlng Aorla l/qnrfomyl ACCUMULATING
rr-- '- Ar Armament
often with a humorous inrenr, by society people. f;-
ll.-...
Alr Aache Iaflrlshl
" " Alrborns Alsrl
44.............. Ascorbic Acld IV,tamn CllBlochemstryl
44.............. Asian Alair9l4 pubtlcalonl ABBREVIATIONS
A4.............. Asperglllus Aslhma
The fashionable use of abbreviation - a kind of soci- ll.-.-- . " Airlifl Assoclallon AA ............-. Assls Accountng f Buslness- and ,del Ask someone how many
'
AA .............. Associate in Accountng
ety slang - comes and goes in waves, though it is never l/;.'.-
^r....*. "' f Nvy ratingl
Alrmn Apprnlc
44.............. Associala Admnlslrator f NS
abbreviations there are in
AA.-.....-' Airplane Avonica
4A.............. Assocate n Arls English, and the reply tends
totally absent. In the present cenrury, howeve it has 44....'... Arshp Assocation
ol AA .............. Assoclation of Acrobals lusrrar,a!
rt.."... "' AlbanlaJMARC countty ol pubilcalon codellLbrary 44.............. Astrologcal Associalion
to be in the low thousands
been eclipsecl by the emergence of abbreviations in sci- Congrc86l
A......-...... Alcoholcs Anonymous World Seruces ln assoclationl
A & 4.......... Astronautics and Aeronutlcs [A pubriclionl - perhaps five or ten. Such
ence, technology, and other special fields, such as 1r......... ..' Alerl Availablily 44.............. Alheists Asociatio lFonerv' AAAAI impressions have been
14......... ... All 1l e x tl Afier I sp ec I t I e d p o t n tl M I s ag e h a n d I ngl 44..........-... Athlelic Assocalon
fostered by the short lists of
cricket, baseball, drug trafficking, the armed forces, Atlantic Arsa lssrvices to the Armed Forces [Fd Crossl
1

and the media. The reasons for using abbreviated
forms are obvior-rs enough. One is the desire fo lin-
guistic economy - the same morivarion which makes
TYPES OF
us want to criticise someone who uses two words where
ABBREVIATION
one will do (see p. I S0). Succincness and precision are
highlyvalued, and abbreviarions can contribute grear- lnitialisms
Items which are spoken as
ly to a concise style. Tchnological constraints my be
individual letters, such as
important, as wirh text-messagin g (p. 425). Abbrevia- BBC, DJ, MP, EEC, e.9., and
tions also help to convey a sense ofsocial iclentity: to USA; also called alpha-
use an abbreviated form is to be 'in the know' part betisms. The vast majority
- AA ....,..,......
of abbreviations fall into
of the social group ro which the abbreviation belongs.
this category. Not all use
Computer buffs the world over will be recognized by only the first letters of the
constituent words: PhD, for
their fluent talk of ROM and RAtIrI, of DOS and
WYSIWYG. You are no buff if you are unable to use
example, uses the first two
letters of the word philo-
such forms, or need to look them up (respectivel
sophy, and GHQ and TV
'read-only memory','random-access memory','disk take a letter from the mid-
dle of the word.
operating sysrem', and 'what you see is what you get').
Acronyms
It would only irritate computer-literate colleagues and lnitialisms which are pro-
waste time or space (ancl thus money) if a computer- nounced as single words,
liteate person pedantically expanded every abbreviat- such as NATO, laser,
UNESCO, and 5Alr (talks).
ed form. And the same applies ro rhose abbreviations
Such items would never
which have enterecl everyday speech. It would be have periods separatng the
letters -,a contrast with ini-
strange indeed to hear someone routinely expanding
BBC, NATO, USA, AIDS, and all the other common
tialisms, where punctuation
is often present (especially
abbreviations of contemporary English. Indeed, some- in older styles of English).
times (as wirh radr and AID$, the unabbeviated However, some linguists do
examples illustrate the two
chief types: the first part is
kept (the commoner type,
as in demo, exam, pub, Gilf ,
and the last part is kept (as
in bus, plane). Sometimes a
middle part is kept, as in
fridge and f/u. There are
also several clippings which
retain material from more
than one part of the word,
such as mafhs (UK), genfs,
and specs. Iurps is a curios-
ity, in the way it adds an -s.
Several clipped forms also
show adaptation, such as
fries (from French fried
potatoes), Betty (from Eliza-
befh), and Bill (from
William).
Blends
A word which is made out
of the shortened forms of
two other words. such as
brunch (breakfast + lunch),
heliport (helicopter + air-
port), smog (smoke + fog),
and Eurovsion (European +
tel evisi on). Scientif ic terms
frequently make use of
Awkward cases
Abbreviations which do not
fall clearly into the above
four categories. Some forms
can be used either as ini-
tialisms or acronyms (UFO -
'U F O'or'you-foe'). Some
mix these types n the one
word (CD RO M, pronounced
'see-dee-rom'). Some can
form part of a larger word,
using affixes (exJP, pro-
BBC, ICBMs).Some are used
only in writing (Mr, St-
always pronounced in full
in speech).
Facetious forms
fGlF Thank God lt's Friday
CMG Call Me God (properly,
'Companion of 5t Michael
and 5t George')
KCMG Kindly Call Me God
(properly,'Knight Comman-
der of 5t Michael and St
George')
GCMG God Calls Me God
(properly, 'Grand Cross of 5t
Michael and 5t George')
AA ...........-.
A4.............. AllAlong
r.............. Allee8ss lHrgnessesl]Frcnc hl AA.............. Atlas Agena UVASAI abbreviations tucked away
44.,.......... Altteslamsntli6he Abhandlungn IA
pubricalr'onl .............. Almosphgrc Applicatons
at the back of dictionaries,
A4.............' Aluminum Assocalon 44.............. Alomc Absorpton
A^.,............ Alumnum Co. of Amrica [rVySEsymonlwail Slrl slang 44.............. Atlack Assssmont IMllilryl or occasionally published as
names: "Aok and "All Amercan"l 44.............. Auclors Anlqusslmllolasslcal studlesl separate guides to
A4.............. Always Atloat ^ck" 44.............. Audlt Agency
specialized fields. The truth
Amaleur Aglronomsrs 44.....-..-... Audubon Artsls
A4..............
AA .............. AugusllnianiA$umpllonis l/4ssumptnistslfaoman Catholc is somewhat different. The
A4.............. Amuing Sloriss. Anrtual 1A publcatonl
a& 4.......... Amendmsnts & AddllionsfDclonary ot Lqal Abbrevatons man's relglous oderl
Used ln Amercan Law Booksl 44.............. AusluehrungsanweisuglBegulalory lntlruclionsl (Ger.) Acronyms, I n iti a I isms &
lDtctonary ol Legal Abbrcvaons Used ln Amelcan Law Abbrevi ati o ns Dicti o na ry
14........ ..... American Alrlinss, lnc. IICAO desgnatorl
44.............. Am8rican Anlhropologisl lA publcailonl Booksl published by the Dale
44.............. Amrcan Archlvlst I A publtcalonl AA .............. Australa Anlgen [rso, Au, Hgs, HasAglvmnunologyl
44.............. Amerlcan Asssmbly lAn assoclatonl AA .............. Auswadigss Amt IForoign Minlstryllcarmanl Research Company
Aut Aul f A publcalonl
A.............. Amercan Asocalion IBasbail leagual AA .............. contained over 586,000
4t4.......... Amrcan and Auslralan Lne lsl,ippitgl AA .............. Authorzed Allowanco
entries in its 29th edition
44...........,... Amino Acid fs sustluen, on nucleosldlfBiochemlstryl AA ..............
AA ..............
Aulhor's Altraton f Pubristngl
Aulo Acquistion [ADA! (2001). The top illustraton
4A.............. Amin o Acid I B I o c he m I st ryl
4
AutoanalYr
............. Amlno-Acid Rssldu e laiochem'iry1
Aulomalic Answer I ferecommuncatlonsl shows part of a page
44.............. Amnoacetons IOtg dnlc chomlsttyl AA ..............
44.............. AmDllludo o, Accom odalio lphrh almologyl AA ........-..... Aulomobls Assoclation [8rrishl towards the beginning of
--........ Amir River and BasinlMARc geographc arca codellLibry AA .............. Aulonomous Area the alphabet - some of the
ol Congrcssl AA
178 entries listed for AA.
44.............. mvets Auxillary
4 .............. Amylold- A lProlelnl lMed lc nel AA Below is a section f rom the
44.............. Analol EachllPharmacyl
A/4............. Analvsls of Accounls
AA
AA Reyerse Dictionary - to he
used if you know the full
A....... ...... Antrtical Abslracls
A rnd A ...... Anclnt and AccepledlFreemasonryl AA
A/A...... . Anglsof AtlacklMllary
form but do not know the
4a.....
tt...... . ....- Andlo-Amrcan 44........... abbreviation.
14... .... Anlo-AmorcanMageinelApublc1ronl 44...........
44,............. Anoular Asloromsler
44,....... ..... Anular Aoerturs
..... nil-rnsiociron Test Answers (see fac-
!^..'. - .... AnnArborRallroad Co.lAARcodel
^4........ 444......
ing page)
41.............. Anterlor Aorla
fA. . ..... AnlrooradeAmnssialuadctnel United Nations
|f ... . ... AnthrailcAcdlorsa;c chenistryl AA4............ UNESCO
Antaircrafl 444............ Educational, Scientif ic,
fl. . ..... AntbodyActvtyfrmmunologyl
^4.............. AAA.-..........
11 . .... AnlicipaloryAvoldncelMedcnel 444............
and Cultural Organiza-
I I 4 ....... Anllk und Absndland lA pubtcatonl tion
ff. . ..... Antioxidant Aclvlv lr,iod ecnnogvl 444........... UNICEF United Nations
lf '. .... AnliprolonAccumulalotlPartcle physcsl AA4...........
lnternational Chi ldren's
lL .. ...... Anlrierpsch Archiov 1bldl{ pubticallonl AA4...........
f'^... ...AnvAcFotable Emergency Fund (now
11... .... ApculturlAbstractslApublicatonl 444............
the United Nations Chil-
f.............. Aoollo Aoollcation6
AA . . ... Abostolim ActuoslalemaDree
".
f

^/ASAI on lhe Aposlolala ol he 444............ dren's Fund)

not recognize a sharp dis-
form may be so specialized that it is unknown ro mosr
tinction between acronyms
people - a point not missed by the compilers of quiz and initialisms, but use the
games, who regularly catch people out with a well- former term for both.
known (sic) abbreviation. As a resr, rry UNESCO and clipping
A part of a word which
UNICEF, AAA, SAM and GI (context: military), or
serves for the whole, such
DDTand TNT (context: chemistry). (See foot of fac- as ad and phone. These
ing page for answers, if required.)
blending (as in the case of
bionic), as do brand names
(a device which cleaned
your teeth while you used
the phone might be called
Teledent) and fashionable
neologisms (p. 130).
and above all
AAAAAA Association for
the Alleviation of Asinine
Abbreviations and Absurd
Acronyms (actually listed in
the Gale Dictionary
described on the facing
page).
--
Ldllvllvaftcan lt documenll aa4............ AA,4 ant-arcraft
f " ... ApproprteAuthorilvlottceolensorshpllwoildwar,n 444............
artillery (or'triple A)
l'.. ............ApprovingAuthorty AA4............
11.... AoDrormele Absolul SAM surface-to-air mis-
It ' ............ Aichictonic Acltl lBr'oclemislyt AA^........i...
si le
: ". Arborlcullural Associallon AA4............
^4 " ...'... Archasologlscher Aueigr 1A pubiltionl 444............ G/ Government ssue
DDf dichlorodiphenyl-
trichloroethane
fNf trinitrotoluene
 122 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 8 THE NATURE OF THE LEXICON \23

Fallnds). Others are felt to be independent of For anyone with the time and energy, it would be
PROPER NAMES HO\(/ LARGE IS YOUR LE,XICON?
tk
English - or any other language - and would seem ro perfectly possible to go through a medium-sized dic-
be more at home in an encyclopedia (e.g. Aha Cen- The symbol of American tionary (of c. 100,000 entries) and mark it up in this
Are proper names parr of the English lexicon? Should tauri, Diplodocus, Helen Keller). Allowing in jusr a pro- commercial theatre- There seems to be no more agreement about the size way. However, most people wishing to live an other-
Broadway. The proper name
all words beginning with a capital letter be excluded portion of the proper names, though, considerably of an English speaker's vocabulary than there is about wise normal life will prefer to opt for a small sample -
has a more general
from a vocabulary count of the language? One answer increases the size of the lexicon. sa 1 per cent (20 pages from a 2,000-page book, but
meaning. rhe total number of lexemes (p. 118) in the language.
is hidden within a piece of old music-hall repartee: taken from several parts of the alphabet), which gives
Much depends on a persont hobbies and educational
A: I sa I sa I background. Someone who reads several novels a week quite a good first approximation. An office secretary,
say. I can speak French.
B: You can speak French? I didnt know that. is obviously going to pick up a rther larger vocabu- a businesswoman (and a voracious reader), and a
Let me hear you speak French. lary than someone whose daily readingjs restricted to lecturer all carried out this exercise: their active totals
the telephone directory. And a degree in a subject like (respectively) were 3 l, 5 00, 63,000, and 5 6,250 ; their
A: Paris, Calais, Jean-Paul Sartre, Charles de
Gaulle ... chemistry or botany will result in an enormous passive totals \/ere 38,300, 73,350, and76,250 - an
increase in vocabular given that so much of the lexi- average increase of25 per cent.
The audience laughs, which indicares rhat they sense con is made up of scientific terms. Averages, then,
an anomaly here. And indeed, rhere is an intuitve di
50P IIIA LOREN mean very little. Such figures as I 0-12,000 (for some- HOW MANY WORDS which lists 29,066 differ- ing about vocabulary size
ference between such words as tble and sleep, on rhe MADAME one who has just left school) and 20-25,000 (for a IN SHAKESPEARE? ent words and 884,647 in a literary context, where
one hand, and Paris and Sartre, on rhe other. \e do words in all. we are trying to develop a
college graduate) are often cited in the media - but are
LOVE ND LR CENY
'Shakespeare had one of However, before we can sense of an author's
not usually counr the larrer true vocabulary. If it were
as
totally lacking in research credibility. the largest vocabularies interpret such figures, we expressive breadth. An
otherwise, we could call ourselves lexically fluent Apart from anything else, there must always be two of any English write need to ask what is meant approach which counts lex-
whenever we toured in a foreign counrry, and got to some 30,000 words' (from by 'different words'. The emes (p. I 18) captures this
rotals given when presenting the size of a person's the BBC television series, Concordance counts differ- insight more efficiently: all
know its towns, streets, and shop names. vocabulary: one reflecting actiue vocalsulary (lexemes The Story of Englsh, ent text types - for exam- instances of goes, going,
However, proper names cannot be so easily dis- actively used in speech or writing) and the other 1986). This is a commonly ple, all instances of goes and gone would then be
missed. There is a sense in which they are part of the quoted f igure, deriving would be counted togeth- placed under the single
reflecting passiue vocabulary (lexemes known but not from Marvin Spevack's e as would all instances of heading, GO. But when
learning of a language. If French speakers learn used). Neither figure is easy to arrive at. It is often multi-volume Complete going, and all instances of this is done, the size of
English, they have to learn to replace Londresby Lon- remarkably difficult to be sure whether one actually and Systematc Concor- gone. But to count these Shakespeare's lexicon takes
don, and Greeks have to replace Joannisby John.There dance to the Works of as three different words is a sudden and dramatic fall,
uses or knows a lexeme. In the sample listed below Shakespeare (1 968-80), of limited value when talk- to less than 20,000.
are rules of pronunciation which have to be followed, WHAT DOES WIGAN general agreement about Black Hole (of Calcutta)
MEAN? the reply. By contrast, t Broadway
(right), do you know the lexeme cbleway, or do you
and rules of grammar which apply ro proper names in does not make sense to ask. Dartmoor just think you know it? Are you sure you use cab-ran
a special way (p.208). There are names which form Listed below are a number say, 'What does Wigan East End or cabstand, and not taxi-ran or taxi stn It is wise
of places which always mean?' - Wigan being a Part of one person's vocabulary judgments, showing three levels of decision-making'
part of the idiomatic history of an English-speaking Fort Knox
to include a category of uncertain cases, when doing
begin with a captal letter, town in Lancashire, Greenwich Village . = items are known/used. KNOWN
communit such as Bil the Kid, The Times, William and would thus be -
England expecting an Hyde Park Corner lexeme counts, hence the three columns of known and
USED

the Conqueror, The Maltflower, Phi Beta Kppa, and considered to be proper agreed response from lron Curtain Well Vaguely Not Often OccasionallyNever
used vocabulary in the table.
\X/oolworth's. And there re names which have taken on
names. ln each case, British people (though of Madison Avenue cablese a a
though, there is something course it is perfectly Mason-Dixon Line cable stitch a a
an additional sense, such as Fleet Street (='the British 'lexical'about them. in that possible to have privately Mayfair This world-famous page from Reader3 Dlgest has persuaded a
cable television a
press'), The White House (=']n, US government'), and they seem to have a intelligible associations Number 10 several generations of readers to take an interest in their a
cable vision
meaning which exists over vocabulary. The column has been running
Fido (= 'any dog'). A general encyclopedia contains and above the reference
about Wigan - or
anywhere). There
Pearl Harbor
since 1 945,
cableway a
is one Scotland Yard cabman a
thousands of such cases. they haveto a particular Wigan-like intruder in the Soho a
cabob
Nor does the use of an initial capital help much in location. ln each case, following list (see foot of Third World Caboc a
deciding if a word should be in the lexicon. In many
people who know the facing page for answer, if West Bank (Middle East) cabochon (noun) a
location can ask'What does required). West End ItPysto cabochon (adverb) a
cases, there is uncertainty as to whether a word should mean?'and expect Wrexham Enrich our caboodle a a
be capitalized or nor. Should ftbe Bible or bible, Sun Word Power caboose o a
or sun, National Paror nationalprh, Heauenor heau-
- cabotage a a
SY PTR FUNK cab-rank a
en, Communist Party or communist party (or Commu- TO CAP OR NOT TO CAP a a
cabriole
nist party)? Reference books vary in their practices. cabriolet a a
(below left) Part of an entry from the 1992 edition of The Cambridge Encyclopedia,
Thus, Chmbers Biogrphical DictionarT has people
(

"iHf illglil"iit. ",j'\'::fi; cabstand a a

showing the capitalization policy. (below right) The same entry re-set in
u"*
receiving the 'Nobel prize for physics', whereas the capitalizalion style similar to that used in The Chambers Biographica! Dictonary. ll[{j}Ji!h.tfl$if5 ('
:'"f.f'jf,.*ll$;tl'l,.'B
*oot t''n'u
Encyclopaedia Britannica has them receiving the H0ws, Sr (Richard Edward) Geotfrey (1926-) Howe, Sir (Rlchard Edward) Geoffrey (1926-)
('lff *;"l'otiii' SCRABBLING FOR WORDS ID IF IN IO IS IT JO KA KO KY LA
'Nobel Prize for Physics'. There are thousands oith.r. British Conservative statesman, educated British Conservative statesman, educated
il lob olf-A: lcll of
' dlv.. Dr.rf
B: h lv c:
0ipsp$;*;$slhl'rffii' LI LO MA ME MI MO MU MY NA
at Winchester and ambridge. He at Wnchester and Cambridge. He Increasing your word power does not neces- NE NO NU NY OB OD OE OF OH
cases, too, was was t'r .g61'",i,ilrlF,
"l*'
"' *";g"g.ro;f;lfi'' r""'' ol oM oN oo oP oR os ou ow
called to the Bar in 1952 and became an called to the bar in 1952 and became an *' t r2
sarily involve the learning of long words.
\e have to conclude that English proper names are og',,53$;r";1'1"';fi (rrpnrh- rq{fibl Br d' There are 106 two-letter words listed in the OX OY PA PI PO RE 5H SI SO ST TA
MP in 1964. Knighted in 1970, he became MP in 1964. Knighted in 1970, he became *o
u'
official word-lists for Scrabble@ published TE TI TO UG UM UN UP UR US UT
on the boundary of rhe lexicon. Some of them are so Solicitor-General (197 0-2), Minister for solicitor-general (1970-2), minister for )-fll.i":ol;*"trfi1
('1,lf3ll1:o;1:"'i1ff i "'
*'"'' by Chambers, and 18 four-letter words using WE WO XI YE YO YU ZO
Trade and Consumer Affairs (1972-4), trade and consumer afairs (19724), 6t,:i*t fi ##fr;l:iTtLi
closely bound up with the way meaning is structured the letter Q. Few people could say what
Chancel lor of the Exchequer (1 979-1983), Chancellor of the Exchequer (t 979-1983), ddr ('?,d"i3inlll[J'z?i1'$iff ' $' AQUA QADI QAT5 QUAD QUAG
in the language rhar it would be difficult to exclude and Foreign Secretary (1983-9). ln 1989 and foreign secretary (1983-9). tn 1989 (tr*il#,tlJi!"1i they all mean, without special preparation.
them from any superdictionary. They are felt to' he was made Deputy Prime Minister, Lord he was made deputy prime ministe1 lord 0bs,i*f 'c(#,i::iFl'
*' ilil htldala-A: Mn : lrmi
' :l4 Drhd'' AA AD AE AH AI AM AN AR AS A
QUAT QUAY QUEP QUEY QUID
QUIM QUIN QUIP QUIT QUIZ QUOD
'belong' to the language, and often have a language- President of the Council, and Leader of president of the Council, and leader of 15356,
ft*L',TFl
AW AX AY BA BE BO BY CH DA DI QUOP SUQs
the House of Commons, but resigned
t'
the House of Commons, but resigned t'rXg,'";1"i,'$r-,rlS*hi: [i;trt@. D:Pry' DOEA EE EF EH EL EM EN ER ES
specific form (e.g. Christmas, Janury, t/te Moon, the i.1','.i?#=*';; EX FA FY GI GO GU HA HE HI HO Test Answer (see facing page): Wrexham
0ilffii:Jf'*sv a,J.mTJl""f

Nilri^fro
 9 -fH SOURCES OF TI_IE I,EXICON t25

9.THE SOURCES OF THE LEXICON SAXONMANIA

lllany writers - among

How is it possible ro see order in the vocabulary of
English, if there are a million or lnore lexemes to deal THE COMMON CORE
with (S8)? A common approach iooks at origins, and The diagram used by the
asks: Where have rhe items in the lexicon come fi.om? first editor of fhe Qxford
Engl ish Dictionary, James
Murray, in the section
them, Charles Dickens,
Thomas HardY, Gerard
\q/rq 1ER4
/lanleY HoPkins, and
George Orwell - have
enthused about the sup-
a
posed 'PuritY' of Anglo-
I Saxon vocabularY, but
COMMON
C'v never was this enthusiasm be a psychological benefit,

NAIIVE VOCABULARY called'General Explana- o, \ so strong as in the 19th too, as English came to
tions'which preceded
Volume 1 (1888): 'the
, o,e u
century, as Part of the
English Romantic move-
reassert its iflentity with its
Germanic origins.
(,
English Vocabulary con- z ment. ln the case of the What made his approach
Many lexemes have always been there - in the sense tains a nucleus or central J Dorsetshire poet, Wil liam so distinctive was his cre-
that they arrivecl with the Germanic invaders, and have mass of many thousand t Barnes (1801-86), the con. ativity. Not only did he use
never fallen out of use (Sl). The Anglo-Saxon lexical words whose "Anglicity" field, meadow, hedge, cern became an obsession surviving Anglo-Saxon lex-
love, say, be, do, go,
is unquestioned; some of hill, wood, oak. Barnes left school at 1 5, emes in place of foreign
character continues to clominate everyday conversa- them only literary, some
shove, kiss, have, live.
then studied Classics pri- ones, he did not hesitate to
Domestic llfe: house,
tion, whether it be grammatical words (in, on, be, tht), of them only colloquial, home, stool, door, floor, vately, developing a fasci- resuscitate long-dead
The fact that most of
lexical words (father, loue, name), or affixes (mis-, un-, the great majority at once weave, knit. nation with philology. He Anglo-Saxonisms, or to
these words are short and
-ness, -less). Although Anglo-Saxon lexemes comprise
literary and colloquial, - Calendar: sun, moon, day, concrete has often been
opened a school, and in his
40s became a country par-
devise completely new lex-
they are the Common month, year. emes using Anglo-Saxon
noted as a major stylistic
only a relatively small part of the rorl modern le*icon, Words o1he language'. Animals: horse, cow, son. He is best known for roots. Thus, he resurrected
feature of the Anglo-
they provide almost all the most fi.equently used words Just how common they his several books of poems Old English inwit'for con-
sheep, dog, hen, goat, Saxon lexicon. Some may
are can be judged from swine, fish. written in the Dorset science, and coined such
in the language. In the million-word Brown Universi- this list of examples:
be surprised that the
dialect, but his other writ- forms as birdlore for 5o I unto my selfe alone Calander' (1 579), draws English, and is particularly
Common adjectives: 'four-letter words' do not
ty corpus of wrirten American English (p. 438), the black, white, wide, long, figure in the list; but nei-
ing includes an Anglo- orn ithology and mateword- will sing; attention to a critical fea- scathing of those authors
100 most fi'equently used items are almost all Anglo- Parts of the body: hand, good, dark. Saxon primer, An Outline ing for synonym. Contem- The woods shall to me ture of the poet's style: who in his view have
ther fuck nor cunt are
foot, arm, eye, heart, Common verbs: fly, drink, of E ng I ish Speech-Craft porary lexicographers, answer, and my eccho
Saxon. The exceptions are a few Scandinavian loans recorded in Old English
chin, bone. swim, help, come, see, (though shit. turd, and
(1878), whose title aptly however, paid him little ring. 'it
is one special prayse, of 'patched up the holes with
(such as they and are); there is nothing from Romance Natu ra I landscape: land, eat, sit, send, sell, think, reflects his story. attention. A tiny number of many whych are dew to peces and rags of other
arse are).
sources until items 105 (just) and 107 (people). Barnes' aim was to pro- his coinages found their The serenity of the refrain this poete, that he hath languages, borrowing here
mote a kind of English way into the Oxford English from Edmund Spenser's laboured to restore, as to of the French, there of the
purified of alien (that is, Dictionary (such as speech- 'Epithalamion' (1 595) is theyr rightfull heritage, Italian, every where of the
LEXICAL TWINS AND TRIPLETS
non-Germanic) borrow- craft tor grammar, and reflected n John Consta- such good and naturall Latine... so now they have
ORWELL, eT a/, ground from their Anglo- ings. ln particular, the starlore for astronomy), bul ble's painting ('The Hay English words as have ben made our English tongue a
Saxon opposite numbers . removal of French, Latin, the vast majority were Wain', 1821). long time out of use and gallimaufray or hodge-
A good way of developing a feel for the Anglo-Saxon and Greek words would, E.K., the anonymous almost cleare disherited...' podge of al other speches.'
element in the lexicon is to place Old English lexemes ignored, and are now likely
I am going to translate a he felt, make the lan- author of an Epistle pre-
alongside later French or Latin borrowings. Disregard-
to be encountered only in
passage of good English guage more accessible and ceding Spenser's first major E.K. goes on to lament ln this he is at one with
ing any differences of meaning, the later forms are the pages of wordbooks
into modern English of the intelligible. There would like this one. work, 'The Shepheardes what has happened to Barnes and Orwell.
usually more formal, careful, bookish, or polite. worst sort. Here is a well-
known verse from
English French
Old Latin Ecclesiastes:
THE LEXICAL CONQUEST

guts courage
returned, and saw under
A sequence from the
clothes attire
I
the sun, that the race is not He comments: 'This is a
Bayeux Tapestry, depicting
the Norman invasion of
climb ascend to the swift, nor the battle parody, but not a very England, and thus symboliz-
sweat perspire to the strong, neither yet gross one ..,' ing the most significant
happiness felicity George Orwell (1 903-50) bread to the wise, nor yet The English humanist
John Cheke (1514-57),
change of direction in the
held strong views about riches to men of
house mansion what he perceived to be a understanding, nor yet expressed a similarly strong
history of English vocabu-
lary. By 1400 about 10,000
wish desire modern trend to replace favour to men of skill; but opinion 'that our own tung new lexemes had come into
weariness lassitude Anglo-Saxon words by time and chance shold be wrtten cleane the language from French,
classical ones. He writes in happeneth to them all. and pure, vnmixt and and several thousand more
There are also several 'lexical triplets,, in which French his essay Poltcs and the vnmangeled with had entered from Latin. By
and Latin forms have both joined an original Old E ng I ish La ng uage (1 946): Here it is in modern borrowing of other tunges' the end of the Middle played here shows the ANGLISH To be, or not to be: that is booklore literature
English item. The readiness of English to acquire near- English: (letter to Thomas Hoby, English period, the surviving arrival of the Normans on the ask-thing: breaksome fragile
synonyms has been an important factor in the devel- 'Bad writers, and especially 1 561). Thus, in his
Old English lexicon was the English coast, The text llUhat would have hap- ls't higher-thinking in the folkdom democracy
opment of the stylistic versatility of the modern scientific, political and Objective consideration of translation of the Bible he already in the minority. says 'Here the horses are pened to the lexicon had brain to bear forewit prudence
language. sociologica writers, are
I contemporary phenomena replaced lunaticby gleeman musician
disembarking from the William the Conqueror The slings and arrows of
nearly always haunted by compels the conclusion mooned, centurion by The tapestry, a linen band ships and here the knights been conquered? A possible outrageous dooming hareling leveret
Old English French Latn the notion that Latn or that success or failure in hundreder, prophetby 231 feet long and 19.5 inch- have hurried off to [Hast- answer was given by British Or to take weapons 'gainst he a rsomeness obedience
Greek words are grander competitive activities fo resayer, crucif i ed by
rise mount ascend es wide (70 m by 50 cm), is ingsl'. humorist Paul Jennings in a a sea of bothers Ioreless ignorant
than Saxon ones, and exhibits no tendency to be crossed, and resu rrection outgate exit
ask question interrogate now displayed in the spe- 1966 edition of Punch cele- And by againstwork end
unnecessary words like commensurate with innate by gainrising.fhree cially-designed Bayeux brating the 900th anniver- them? soothfastness veracity
fast firm secure expedite, ameliorate, capacity, but that a hundred years later, his apestry Museum at the sary of the Norman Con- water-gver reservoir
kingly royal regal predict, extraneous, considerable element of sentiments would be given yeartide anniversary
William the Conqueror Cen- quest. Here is the opening Barnes himself created
holy sacred consecrated
d e ra ci n ate d, cIa n d esti ne, the unpredictable must unequivocal support in the tre, Bayeux. The events are lines of a famous soliloquy, thousands of neologisms.
su baq ueous and hundreds inevitably be taken into writing of William Barnes
fire flame conflagration summarized in a Latin nar- turned (apart from outra- The following dozen exam-
of others constantly gain account.' (see facing page). rative. The sequence dis- geous) into'Anglish': ples captures their flavour:
 126 PART II ENGLISH VOCABUI,ARY 9 . THE SOURCES OF THE LEXICON 127

FOREIGN BORRO\NNGS
\hen one language takes lexemes from anothe the
new items are usually called lon words or borrowings
- though neither term is really appropriate, as the
receiving language does not give them back. English,
perhaps more rhan any orher language, is an insatiable
borrower. \Whereas the speakers ofsome languages take
.; -J(.i--.r.,-,/
pains to exclude foreign words from their lexicons, r,.,,:r,
'':J L" .,r '1-'; ''
Snglish seems always to have welcomed them. Over ,' :1-.1' 'l<.\ . _l
!.,,. .,

ry
350 languages are on recorcl as sources ofits present- .! ,.,
\'I .t:,.
.,:.

, I
dayvocabular and the locarions ofcontact
all over the world.
are found
geyser,
fjord, krll,
lemmng, ski,
^
.:----ri
\',':,, :. )
ri' ) i. ,t\
mumps rllom (l-) .
.,-,t-..'i.r -,,r ii) -
,1,

The borrowing began even before the Anglo-Saxons lr' . -/..'' 1:

'
i'-. -. ','
arrived (S3). There are very few Celtic loans during caber, cairn,
.
..t-'.
agitprop, boch, glasnost,
that period, but the influence of Latin is srrong, espe- loch,
.. ,..,!.'
ntelligentsia, perestroika,
.., .,,,
ai

cially after the arrival of Christianity (..g.

t
bishop, blarney, brt horde, mazurka,
sputnik samovar troika . - i-::, i. .'',''
church, priest, school, giant, lobster, purple, plant).The
garda,
zloty .\
tao5each, i 1,,

Viking invasions alone resulted in about 2,000 Scan,

dinavian words coming into English (e.g. dirt, egg, hid,
argali,
polo, shaman, lj':,,
Aleut ls.
t pecanl
corgr, o anonymous, catastrophe,
climax, lexicon, mousska,
chipmunk, pow wow toboggan
leg, sin, sy, window). After the Norman Conquest, o o ouzo, thermometer, tonic
skunk, totem, wigwam

the influx ofwords from the continent ofEurope, espe- @ aga, coffeq rl :t'

cially French, doubled the size of the lexicon ro over jackal, kiosk,
J

@ 0 shish kebab
100,000 items (p. 46-7). By the end of the Renais- bonsai, geisha, haiku,
bar mtzvah, menorah, bungalow, chutney, hra-kiri, kamikaze,
sance, the growrh in classically-derived vocabular albatross, shalom, dungaree, guru, karate, zatch
dodo, marmalade, yom kippuri
especially from Latin, had doubled the size of the lex-

d
molasses

icon again. \7hile these periods represenr the peaks of ssassin, azimuth,
chopsuey, chow mein, cumquat,
kung fu, ltchi, tea, tycoon
borrowing acriviry in the history of English, rhere was emir, harem, intfda,
mohai sherbert, zero
barbcue, cannibal, canoe,
peccary potato, yucca
no reduction in the underlying trend during later I i'
centuries. 'ir
bazaat boondock, buntal,
ylang-ylang
axolotl, coyote,
caravnl mescal, tortilla
Since the 1950s, a fresh wave of borrowing has been shah

taking place, which eventually may exceed the totals

encountered in the Middle English period. The emer- bandioot, catamran,
curry mullgtawny, parh
gence of English as a world language (gZ) has pro- bongo, bwana,
harmattan, marmba.
Lt' ':.i
moted regular contact with an unprecedented number safr, voodoo

of languages and cultures, and the borrowings have amok, caddy, gong,
kpok, orang-outang, sgo Polynesia
shown an immediate and dramatic uprurn. New fauna
and flora, political groups and institutions, landscape ,: '
kava, poe, taboo,
condor, inca, llama,
mt, qunne, puma
features, industrial products, foodstuffs, inventions, boomerang, dingo,
tapa, taro, tattoo

leisure activities, and other forms of behaviour have all kangaroo, koala,
wallaroo, wombat
generated thousands of new lexemes - and continue impala,
aoout, ai, birmbao,
to do so. The growrh of local nationalism has had its mamba, trek, tre-tse blossa nova, favela,
aguar, manioc, pranha
effect, too, with people seeking fresh lexical ways of
showing their local identity within the undifferentiar- o iii'.!i*i,1,il?:L"i"'j#l"n,n"", o .'ii1i',Tl,tilli,llllii" ti--
1

ed domain of international Standard English. chutph, gelt. kosher. nosh.

jewel, lnguish, medcine, pspon,
precious,sergeant. trerpst 5(ulpture,
oy vay, sctmuk fYidd5b)
Of course, not all the new items will be widely intel-
@
ligible. At the close of the 20rh cenrury, alongside u
cimbalom, goulash, hussar (Hungarian)
11hru.,"",u',:nxr
O howitzer, pistol, robot lczecl)
intifada, perestroiha, and glsnostwe find pryzhole (Rus- N
O (rvt, slivovitz (5erbo-Croat)

sian,'leap'), uisagiste (French,'beautician'), and zitech

G) lt[ (ir(u5, fust.te, include,
(Japanese, 'large-scale company financial speculation interim, leg|, monk, neryour,
) onut, quel ulce[ vertgo (l-atin)

- all found in English newspapers and periodicals. Sev- balcony, (;ao. (onceno, falrettq is given about the
Notes: No indication Outside Europe, the locator arrows do not
eral of the items in the world map are of this kind,
girffe, firco, mfia, oper,
volin (ttalian) period during which a lexeme entered the always relate clearly to specific countries or
language: old and new items are listed states, but indicate broad linguistic areas,
requiring an up-to-date dictionary before one can be' @ banana, bonanza, cnnibal, cork,
guitr, ha(iend, hmmo(k, mosquito. together without distinction. such as'Central Africa' or 'Polynesia'.
sure what they mean. But thar is always the way of it, Sombrelo

with loan worcls.

128 PAR'I' II F,NGLISH VOCAI]ULARY 9 TI-'IE SOURCES OF -fHE LEXICON 129

(Sl4). But the importance of word-formarion ro rhe

LEXICAL STRUCTURE, development of the lexicon is seconcl ro none, ancl

Most English vocabr.rlary arises by making new lex-

accordingly the matter needs to be reviewecl in this sec-
tion also. After all, almost any lexeme,whetherAnglo-
CONVERSION THE ATHTNS OF THE NORTH
Lexemes can be made to change their word class
emes out of old ones Thus Edinburgh was once described in a travel magazine. Given this picture, most
-
either by adding an affx ro pre- Saxon or foreign, can be given an affx, change its word without the addition of an affix - a process known
readers would notice onlythe architectural point being made. The alert linguist, how-
vior-rsly existing forms, altering theil worcl class, or class, orhelp make a compound. Alongside theAnglo- as conversion. The items chiefly produced in this way
ever, would additionally note that here we have an instance of a further type of con-
are nouns, adjectives, and verbs - especially the
combining them to plodr,rce compounds. These pro- Saxon root in king, fol example, we have the French version -the switch from proper noun to common noun. Proper nouns do not normally
verbs which come from nouns (e.9. to bott/e) and
cesses of construction are of intefest to grammarians root in royal and the Latin roor in regal.Thereis no allow the use of the article (p.208): we do not say *l went to an Athens or *l saw the
the nouns which come from verbs (e.9. a doubt). Not
Athens. But given the meaning of 'a member of the class typif ied by the proper noun',
as well as lexicologists, and much of what is involved elitism here. The processes of affixarion, conversion, all the senses of a lexeme are usually carried
the conversion is indeed possible, as also seen in He's a real Jeremiah and She has sev-
through into the derived form, however. The noun
in word strlrctule will be leviewed on other pages and compouncling are all gleat levellers. paper has several meanings, such as'nqwspaper', eral Picassos. The processes involved in this kind of conversion would be analysed
under the heading of grammar.
'wallpaper', and 'academic article'. The verb to
paper relates only to the second of these. Lecturers
and editors may paper their rooms, but not their
AFFIXATION 57 VARIETIES OF drs- -connect, -infect pan- -African, -American audiences or readers.
PREFIX un- -do, -mask super- -script, -structure
There are three possible types of affix (p.198): those te/e- -scope, -phone
which occur before the root or stem of a word re- This list gives all the com- Disparaging
trans- -plant, -atlantic
fxes), those which occur after (suffxes), and those mon prefixes in English - rnal- -treat, -function THE CONVERTED Grammatical word to
which occur within (infxes). English does not have though not all the variant mrs- -hea -lead Time and order noun
forms. The prefix in-, for pseudo- -intellectual ex- -husband, -president Verb to noun
affixes in large numbers - only about 50 common too many ifs and buts
fore- -warn, -shadow a swim/hit/cheat/
prefixes, somewhat fewer common suffixes, and no example, becomes i/- that's a muif
Size or degree neo- -Gothic, -classical bore/show-off/
clear instances of infixes. But these limited resources before words beginning the how and lhe why
arch- -duke, -enemy paleo- -lithic, -botany drive-in
are used in a complex and productive way, as older with /l/ (as in l//iberal). Nor
co- -habit, -pilot post- -war, -modern Affix to noun
children sense when they play with such forms as does the list include scien- Adjective to noun
hyper- -market, -card pre- -school, -marital ologies and isms
antidisestablishmentarianism. Not all affixes have a tific and technical items a bitter/natural/final /
mega- -loan, -merger profo- -type, -European I
strong creative potential, of course: the Old English - which are commonly used monthly/regular/wet Phrase to noun
mrnl- -skirt, -bus re- -cycle, -new
fh ending, for example (found in warmth, length, in compounds, such as a has-been/f ree-for-al l/
bio-, Euro-, and echno-
out- -class, -run Noun to verb
depth, width, s,xth, and a few other items), is hardly Number a lso-ran /down-and-
(see facing page).
oyer- -worked, -flow to bottle/catalogue/oil/
ever used now to create new words - though zeroth bl- -cycle, -lingual out
sub- -normal, -conscious bra ke / referee/ bicycle
and coo/th are interesting exceptions. On the other Some prefixes appear demi -god, -tasse
super- -market, -man Grammatical word to
hand, there are tens of thousands of lexemes which more than once in the list di- -oxide, -graph Adjectve to verb
sur- -tax, -charge verb
either exist or are awating creation through the use because they have more rnono- -rail, -plane to dirty/empty/dry/
than one meaning. There
u/tra- -modern, -sound to down tools/to up and
of the ending -ness. multi- -racial, -purpose calm down/sober up
is a difference between
under- -charge, -play do it
vlce- -chair, -president poly- -technic, -gamy Noun to adjective
u nexpected (which means
simply'not expected') and
seml- -circle, -detached it's cotton/brick /
Orientation tri- -maran, -pod reproduction
A SAMPLING OF a highly abstract unwrap (which adds the antl- -clockwise, -social uni -sex, -cycle
SUFFIXES meaning, dffcult to specific sense of reversing auto- -suggestion,
a previous action). -biography ra mmatica I conve rsion
define precisely: one of G

-tion, -ship, -ness, -able, the meanings ol -ery is contra- -indicate, -flow Verb to Adjectve
Negation
-ery -ese. -ling, -like, -let, 'the quality or state of a- -theist, -moral counter- -clockwise, -act a- -stride, -board
-esque, -ette, -ess, -ism, having a particular trait' pro- -socialist, -consul Noun to Verb COMPOUNDS sequence of two independent
drs- -obey, -believe
-ite, -ish (snobbery). be- -friend, -witch words), we need to look carefully ANG LO-COM POU D-O-MATICS
in- -complete, -decisive Location and distance A compound is a unit of at the meaning of the
N
Suffixes do more than non- -smoker, -medical en- -flame, -danger
These are some of the extra- -terrestrial, -mural vocabulary which consists of sequence and the way it is There is an interesting formation in which one of the elements does not
alter the meaning of the un- -wise, -helpful occur as a separate word. These forms are usually classical in origin, and
commonly occurring word to which they are
fore- -shore, -leg more than one lexical stem. On grammatically used. This
Reversal inter- -marry, -play the surface, there appear to be question turns up especially in are linked to the other element of the compound by a linking vowel,
English suffixes. A attached. Many of them
de- -frost, -fraud intra- -venous, -national two (or more) lexemes present, American English, which uses usually -o-, but sometimes -a- or -i-. They are traditionally found in the
number of them have a also change the word's
but in fact the parts are fewer hyphens than does British domains of science and scholarship, but in recent years some have become
meaning which is fairly grammatical status - for
functioning as a single item, English. productive in everyday contexts too, especially in advertising and
easy to state: -ess, for example, the -ify ending
which has its own meaning and Compounds are most readily commerce.
example, means'female turns the noun beaufy cause words to change
of' (/loness). Some have WILL IT BURN? grammar. So, flower-pot does classified into types based on the
nto the verb beautify, their class, and are thus First element
several meanings: -etfe not refer to a flower and a pot, kind of grammatical meaning
and the -ing ending turns best discussed under the There are several agn- -culture, -business
can mean 'female of' but to a single object. lt is they represent. Earthquake, for
the concrete noun farm heading of grammar. A lexemes beginning with bio- -data, -technology
(usleretfe),'small version pronounced as a unit, with a example, can be paraphrased as
into the abstract one complete list of suffixes, ln- where the prefix has micro- -chip, -electronics
ol' (kitchenette), or single main stress, and it is used 'the earth quakes', and the
farmi ng. ln this respect, accordingly, is given in Euro- -money, -feebleness
a locative or intensifying grammatically as a unit - its relation o earth to quake is that
'substtute for' suffixes differ from the section on psycho- -logy, -analysis
(/eafherette). Some have meaning, such as rnflate plural, for example, is flower- of subject to verb. Similarly, a
prefixes, which rarely morphology, p. 198. techno- -phobia, -stress
and ingredient Because Pots, and nol *flowers-pots. crybaby is also subject + verb
rn- also has a negative meaning, however - as with The unity of flower-pot is also ('the baby cries'), despite its Second element
infrequent and ingratitude - ambiguity is sometimes signalled by the orthography, but back-to-f ront appearance.
AND NO INFIXES? -aholic work-, comput-
possible. The famous case is inflammable, which this is not a foolproof criterion. lf Scarecrow is verb + object ('scares -athon mar-, swim-, read-
derives from inflame - that is, an inflammable object the two parts are linked by a crows'). Some involve slightly
Many languages make great of infixes - affixes which are placed within the stem of a -matic coffee-, wash-o-
use will burn. However, because so many people have hyphen, as here, or are printed trickier grammatical relations,
word to express such notions as tense, number, or gender. English has no system of infixes, -rarna sports-a-, plant-o-
interpreted the form to mean 'non-flame' - that is, without a space ('solid'), as in such as p/aygoer, windmill,
but people do from time to time coin words into which other forms have been nserted. it will not burn - there has been a gradual change in flowerpot, then there is no goldfish, and homesick. A list of
This happens quite commonly while swearing or being emphatic, as in absobloom- Such forms might well be analysed as affixes, but for the fact that their
usage. These days, objects tend to be identified difficulty. But the form f/ower grammtical types (including the
inglutely and kangabloodyroo. ln one case, someone was heard to nsert an affix as well meaning is much more like that of an element in a compound.
as using the contrast o flammable vs nonflammable Potwill also be found, and in analysis of these examples) is
a word: I don't like intebloodyminillectuals. On the whole, though. such forms as Euromoney, for example, means'European money'; blodata means
(or inflammable vs noninflammable). such cases, to be sure we have a given in the section on syntax,
*compseudoputer or *sarsemrcastic are not possible constructions in 'biological dala'; swimathon means'swimming marathon'.
current English. compound (and not just a p.220.
130 PAI']' II ENGT,ISH VOCAIIULARY 9 'fIIE, SOURCES OF THE LEXICON l3r

FAMILIARITY
UNUSUAL STRUCTURE,S PORTMANTEAUX MARKERS
ln fhrough the Lookng and What Alice Found There
Glass,
Sometimes an
Affixation, conversion, and compounding are the description ofthese methods would have to take into (1871), Lewis Carroll has the egotistical linguistic philosopher, abbreviation and an affix
Humpty Dumpty, deal with the question of blends. He calls
three major rypes of word-formarion (pp. 128-9); account the different kinds ofabbreviation (p. I 20), combine, producing a
them portmanteau words - a term which has since achieved lexeme which is highly
but these by no means exhaust the methods of lexi- as well as the ingenious techniques illustrated some currency in linguistic studies. informal in tone, and
cal construction available in English. A cornplete below. 'You seem very clever at explaining words, 5ir', said Alice. often used as part of the
'Would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called slang of a close-knit social
"Jabberwocky"?' group. The most
BACK-FORMATIONS important aff ixes which
'Let's hear it,'said Humpty Dumpty. 'l caqexplain all the
It iscommon in English to form a new poems that ever were invented - and a good many tht work in this way are -
lexeme by adding a prefix or a suffix haven't been invented just yet.' -o, -er, and -s.
to an old one (p. 128). From happy we This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated the first verse:
-yl-ie telly, baddy, goalie,
gel. unhappy; from inspect we get
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves auntie, daddy, Julie, Billy
inspector. Every so often, however,
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: (and many other familiar
the process works the other way
All mimsy were the borogoves, forms of first names)
round, and a shorter word is derived
And the mome raths outgrabe. -o ammo, aggro (British
from a longer one by deleting an
imagined afix. Editor, for example, 'That's enough to begin with,' Humpty Dumpty interrupted: English,'aggravation'),
'there are plenty of hard words there. " Brillig" means four arvo (Australian English,
looks as if it comes from edi where-
as in fact the noun was in the lan- AtI GRAMS MI]IMUM o'clock in the afternoon - the time when you begin broiling 'afternoon'), weirdo
-er footer ('football'),
guage first. Similarly, television gave 20 MII{UTES things for dinner.'
fresher ('freshman'),
rise to te/evrse, double-glazing pre- 'That'll do very well,'said Alice: 'and "slithy"?'
This ad appeared in a London boner ('blunder'), rugger
ceded double-g laze, and baby-sitter * 'Well, "slithy" means "lithe and slimy." "Lithe" is the same
magazine in 1986 one of the (all chiefly found in British
preceded baby-sit. Such forms are as "active." You see it's like a portmanteau -there are two
earliest published instances of thc English)
known as back-formations. meanings packed up into one word.'
new form, from telegtam. Granl 'l see it now'Alice remarked thoughtfully: 'and what are
-s Moms, Debs, Gramps,
Each year sees a new crop of back-

t
seems to have established itselfas bananas ('mad')
formations. Some are coined because toves" ?'
a useful generic term flor'
"
'Well, "toves" are something like badgers - they're -eroo crackeroo,
they meet a real need, as when a
group of speech therapists in Read- kissagrams, strippagrams, goril- something like lizards - and they're something like sockeroo (Australian
lagrams, and much more. It might English, as in /t
ing in the 1970s felt they needed a corkscrews.'
be better now to analyse it as a disappeared right up the
new verb to describe what they did - 'They must be very curious-looking creatures.'
crackeroo)
lo therap. Some are playful forma- type of clipping (p. 20).
1 'They are that,'said Humpty Dumpty: 'also they make their
tons, as when a tidy person is nests under sundials - also they live on cheese.'
The affixes themselves
described as couth, kempt, or shev- may combine, to produce
e//ed. Back-formations often attract such forms as fatso,
criticism when they first appea as REDUPLICATIVES tootilet the willies,
happened in the late 1980s to TALKING NONSENSE (On addressing the United Nations) O
starkers ('stark naked'),
explete (to use an expletive) and An interesting type of lexeme joyful peoplodes! Quick vizzy ('pregnant').
is and preggers
a ccre d itate (f rom a cc red itati o n). one which contains two 'Professor' Stanley Unwin (191 1-2002), intercapitoles, round table and freedom
The forms in -ers are
identical or very similar British stage and film comic personality, talkit with genuine friendly eyebold especially associated wth
constituents: a redupl icative. renowned in the 1960s for the fluent gleam...
English upper-class slang of
Items with identical spoken neologistic style of his academic (On boxing) Oh the self destructibold of
the period between the
consttuents, such as goody- opinions. The humour cannot be totally the human beale, while we dig in the
BLENDS Yale+Harvard=Yarvard ates a series of shop toys), swi msati o na l, and sexsa- two World Wars: Pass the
goody and din-din, are rare. captured by writing the words down. pokky for a ringside seal towards his
slang + language = not a kind of toy. tional. TV provided drama- champers to Momsie,
A lexical blend, as its name What is normal is for a single Ihe comic effect depends not just on his fateful and cheer for a bashy-ho. Tutty
slanguage Blending increased in cons, docufa ntasies, and Daffers old sport (rough
suggests, takes two lex- vowel or consonant to change bizarre lexical creations but on the way tutty.
guess + estimate = popularity in the latter half rocku me nta ri es. The forms translation: 'Pass the
emes which overlap in between the first consttuent these are uttered deadpan using a
guesstmate of the 20th century, being are felt to be eye-catching champagne to Mother,
form, and welds them and the second, such as see-saw perfectly routine conversational style.
square + aerial = squaerial increasingly used in com- and exciting; but how Daphne dear').
together to make one and walke-talkie. ln his autobiography, Deep Joy (1984),
toys + cartoons = toytoons mercial and advertising many of them will still be
(p. 1 20). Enough of each Reduplicatives are used in a someone describes him as 'The
breath + analyser = contexts. Products were around in 2020 remains an
lexeme is usually retained variety of ways. Some simply gentleman who gets his words all
breathalyser sportsational, open question.
so that the elements are imitate sounds: ding-dong, bow- intertwingled' - an accurate enough
affluence + influenza =
recognizable. Here are wow (p.250). Some suggest summary of anyone who speaks like this:
affl uenza
some long-standing ex- information + commercials alternatve movements: f/-
amples, and a few novelties flop, ping-pong. Some are
= infomercials
f rom recent publ ications. disparaging: di I ly-da lly, wshy- NONSENSE WORDS
dock + condominium =
dockominium washy. And some intensify
motor+hotel =motel

breakfast + lunch = brunch
helicopter + airport =
heliport
EURO
mean i ng: tee ny-wee ny, t p-to p. Supercalif ragilisticexpialidocious
ln most cases, the second Not all coinages have to mean something before they can achieve
Reduplication is not a major
element is the one which currency - as this example from the Walt Disney'tilm Mary Poppins
means of creating lexemes in
controls the meaning of illustrates. Sung by iulie Andrews in the ttle role, it is probably
English, but it is perhaps the

UNNET
smoke+fog=smog the whole. So, brunch is a the most famous nonsense word of the century. However. it is by
most unusual one.
advertisement + editorial = kind of lunch, not a kind of no means the longest nonsense word to appear in a book or
advertorial breakfast - which is why script. That accolade probably belongs to James Joyce, one of
Channel + Tunnel = the lexeme is brunch and whose 1OO-letter blends is given below. lt is one of ten linguistic
Chunnel not, say, */unkfasf. Simi- thunderclaps in Finnegans Wake, symbolizing the great fall of Tim
Oxford + Cambridge = larly, a toytoon is a kind o{ Finnegan from his ladder (p. 134). Humpty Dumpty is part of it.
Oxbridge cartoon (one which gener-
Bothallchoractorschumminaroundgansumuminarumdru mstrumtrum inah umptadumpwau ltopoofoolooderama unstu rnup !
132 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 9.THE SOURCES OF THE LEXICON 133

But there is never ay way of predicting rhe furure,

LE,XICAL CREAIION with language. 'S7ho knows, perhaps the English- BAGONIZING footbrawl physical violence associated
game of soccer
with the
speaking world has been waiting decades for someone However many words there are in English litterate said of people who care about ltter
Anglo-Saxon forms, borrowings, and the use of affx- to coin just this lexeme. It would only take a ne\Mspa- (p.119), the total will be small compared with illitterate said of people who do not care about
those which do not yet exst. Native speakers, litter
es account for most ofwhat appears within the English per to seize on it, or for it to be referred to in an ency-
howeve seem to have a mania for trying to fill catfrontation the cause of nightly noise when
lexicon, but they do not tell the whole story. People do clopedia, and within days (or monrhs) it could be on lexical gaps. lf a word does not exist to express a you live in a neighbourhood full of cats
some creative, even bizarre things with vocabular everyonet lips. Registers of new words would start concept, there is no shortage of people very polygrouch someone who complains about
ready to invent one. Following a ten-minute pro- everything
from time to time, and a fascinating topic in lexicolo- referring to it, and within five years or so it would have
gramme about neologisms on BBC Radio 4 in kellogulation what happens to your breakfast
gy is to examine just what they get up to. The general gathered enough written citations for it to be a serious 1990, over 1,000 proposals were sent in for new cereal when you are called away by a 15-
term for a newly-created lexeme is a coinge; but in candidate for inclusion in all the major dictionaries. It English lexemes. Here are a dozen of the more minute phone call, just after you have poured
ingenious creations. milk on it
dchnical usage a distinction can be drawn berween would then have become a neologism - literally, a'new potspot that part of thetoilet seatwhich causes
nonce words and neologisms. word' in the language. aginda a pre-conference drink the phone to ring the moment you sit on it
A nonce word (from the 16th-century phrasefor the A neologism stays new until people start to use ir crcumtreevaton the tendency of a dog on a hlcaap the time that elapses between when
leash to want to walk past poles and trees on hiccups go away and when you suddenly
nonce, meaning 'for the once') is a lexeme created for without thinking, or alternatively until it falls out of realize that they have
the opposite side to its owner
temporary use, to solve an immediate problem of com- fashion, and they stop using it altogether. But there is blinksync the guarantee that, in any group - and, of course
munication. Someone attempring to describe the never any way of telling which neologisms will stay and photo, there will always be at least one person Bagonize: to wait anxiously for your suitcase to
excess water on a road after a storm was heard to call which will go. Blurb, coined in 1907 by the American whose eyes are closed leximania a compulsive desire to invent new appear on the baggage carousel (coined by Neil
fagony a smoker's cough words McNicholas).
ft afluddle - she meant something bigger than a pud- humorist Gelett Burgess (1866-195 1), proved to meet
dle but smaller than a flood. The newborn lexeme was a need, and is an established lexeme now, On the other
forgotten (except by a passing linguist) almost as soon hand, his coinage of gubble, 'to indulge in meaningless Wales in August 1992. The
THE GREAT Reliable comparative statistics LOADSALEXEMES
as it was spoken. It was obvious from the jocularly conversation', never caught on. Lexical history con- ENCYCLOPEDIATHON are not yet available, but organizers might have called
apologetic way in which the person spoke that she did tains thousands ofsuch cases. In the l6th cenrury - a there does seem to have it E ncycl oped i a-ard but they Loadsamoney, an informal label for someone
not consider fluddle rc be a 'proper' word at all. There been a trend towards the chose En cycl oped i athon. By who flaunts wealth, first came to notice in
great age of neologisms (p. 60) - we find disaccustom the time the occasion was
increased use of affixes the mid-1980s as the name of a character
was no intention to propose it for inclusion in a dic- and disacquint alongside dhbuse and disagree. Ylhy as a means of word- over, several other novelty invented by British alternative comedian
tionary. As far as she was concerned, it was simply that did the first two neologisms disappear and the last two formation in English in lexemes had been coined, Harry Enfield. lt caught on, and was given a
the later decades of the including: boost in May 1988, when Labour Party leader
there seemed to be no word in the language for what survive? \e also find ffictual" ffictuous, efectful, effec-
20th century. The trend Neil Kinnock used it to label the Conservative
she wanted to say, so she made one up, for the nonce. tuating, and effectiue. Vhy did only two of the five looks set to continue.
encyclopediaboom
government's policy of encouraging the cre-
encyclopedialicious
In everyday conversation, people create nonce-words forms survive, and why those two, in particular? The The picture shows a encyclopediarama ation of wealth for its own sake. Journalists
sponsored reading began referring to a loadsamoney mentality
like this all the time. lexicon is full of such mysteries. encyclopediarism
aloud of the whole of encyclopediaspeak. and the loadsamoney economy, and gradual-
The Cambridge Encyclo- ly the prefix began to take on a life of its
pedia in ten hours by a It was an honest occasion, own. Later that year we find in various news-
F IS FOR FLUDDLE THINGUMMYBOB deeleebob thingummybob team of over 300 peo- in aid of charity, and so papers /oadsase rm o ns, I oa dsa g I asnosl I oa d-
AND WHATSISNAME deeleebobber thingy ple at the Ucheldre fortunately there was no saspa ce, and /oadsapeop/e.
Now that you have been introduced to fluddte, will diddleebob thingybob Centre in Holyhead, N encyclopediagate. Several affixes seemed to find new life in the
you start using it? ls it truly useful? Or is it just a little It is by no means clear diddleydo whatchacallem 198Os. Mega- , for example, was used with
too marginal, or jocular, for your taste? lt will take a how we should spell most dddleything whatchacallit dozens of forms. such as -trendy, -sulk,
few years before we will know of the items in the follow- diddleythingy whatchamacallit -worry, -terror, -plan, -bid, -brand, and -city.
ing list - and accordingly dingus whatever The suffixing use of -friendly was found not
they tend to be omitted dingdong whatsisname only with user- (its original usage), but also
from dictionaries, whose dingy whatsit with audience-, customer-, environment-,
focus is generally on the dooda whatsits farmer-, girl-, nature-, and many more. Sexrim
written language. They doodad whatnot brought a host of other -r'sms, such as weight-
are nonetheless an impor- doohickey whosis ism, heightism, and agelsm. Poltical correct-
tant element in the gadget whosit ness introduced -challenged in sveral areas.
English lexicon. providing geega whosits Rambo-based coinages included Ramboesque
speakers with a signal that gewgaw widget and Rambostc. Band-ad gave birth to Sport-
they are unable to retrieve gimmick aid and Nurse-ad. And the Watergate affair of
a lexeme - either because gizmo ln additon, those with the mid-1970s lived on linguistically, -gate con-
it has slipped their mind, goodie sharp ears (for such forms tinuing to attach itself to almost any proper
or perhaps because there hootenanny are often said very rapidly) noun where there may be a hint of wicked
is a lexial gap in the lan- lookit will hear many idiosyncratic goings-on, asin lrangate, Lloydsgate, and the
guage. 5uch nonsense oojamaflop items - such as gobsocket, remarkable Gospelgate (for the wrongdoings
words occur in many vari- thingamabob j iminycricket, and this of US televangelists).
ant forms and pronuncia- thingamabobbit splendid blend (from a pro-
tions, just some of which thingamajig fessor of linguistics, no less)
are recorded here. thingummy thingummycallt.

WEB EVIDENCE

Now that we have the World Wide Web, we may be able to answer these questions sooner than we think. Search-engines are an excellent way of check-
ing on the arrival of a new word in the language. A search or fluddle in 2002 brought to light a handful of instances, in diverse locations, with no evi-
dence of any mutual influence. Users included someone describing a garden in Australia, a character in the UK television soap Coronation stree and a
member of a US bird-watching group. The gardener felt she had to explain the word, but the bird-watcher used it in a report to other members without
giving any explanation. Most interestng of all (because t suggests fluddle must be present in some intuitions as a plausible English lexeme), it was a com-
mon misreading of the unfamiliar medieval form in Benjamin Britten's work, NoyeS Fludde.
134 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 9 THE SOURCES OF THE LEXICON r35

the extraordinary lexical coinages in his novel have fieologistic compounds There is perhaps a phonetic implication in such forms,
LITERARY NE,OLOGIZING their roots in perfectly everyday language, Certainl it lexicoining is but one of the several techniques suggestive ofa difference in rhythm or speed ofutter-
Joycean
is our grass-roots linguistic awareness which enables us described in earlier pages available to any author who ance when read aloud; but there is no grammatical or
The more creative the language conrext, the more like- to disentangle some of the layers of meaning in a wishes to neologize. For example, there may be a novel semantic change involved. A different kind of point is
ly we are to encounrer lexical experimenrs, and find Joycean neologism. However, untutored native inru- use ofaffixes: being made: to break graphic convention for its own
ourselves faced with unusual neologisms. The stretch- ition will not sorr everything our, as considerable use sake reinforces the iconoclastic, irreverent tone with
Altarwise by owlJight in the half-way house
ing and breaking of the rules governing lexical struc- is also made of elements from foreign languages and a which the Liverpool Poets of the 1960s came to be
The gentleman lay graveward with his furies;
ture, for whatever reason, is characteristic of several wide range of classical allusions. (Dylan Thomas, 'Altarwise by Owl-lighi, 1935-6) identified.
contexts, notably humour (p, 408), theology (p. 4Ol), The sryle largely depends on rhe mechanisms
and informal conversation (p. 4OO), but the most com- involved in the simple pun (p. 408), but whereas puns or an unusual word-class conversion:
THE ICINGBUS
plex, intriguing, and exciting instances come from the generally rely for their effect on a single play on words, we slipped thro' the frenchwindows
language of literature, it is usual for Joycet forms to involve several layers of and arminarmed across the lawn the lttleman
These pages illusuate the range of neologisms used meaning, forming a complex nerwork of allusions (Roger McGough, 'The Fish, 1967)
with the hunchbackedback
creptto his feet
by several modern authors, with pride of place given which relate to the characters, events, and themes of to offer his seat
to the chief oneiroparonomasrician (or 'dream-pun- the book as a whole. There is also a similariry to the But innovative compounds are particularly wide- to the blindlady
namer'- the term is Anthony Burgesst), James Joyce. spread, and deserve special space.
ortmanteau'words oflewis Carroll (p. 131), though people gettingoff
Carroll never tried to pack as much meaning into a The staid set of compound lexemes illustrated on
Joyce himself called Finnegans Wae'the last word in steered carefully around
stolentelling', a remark which seems to recognize that portmanteau as Joyce routinely did, p. 129 does not even begin to capture the exuberant the black mound
inventiveness which can be seen in English literature of his back
fi'om its earliest days, Old English was dominated by as they would a pregnantbelly
JOYCEAN JABBERWOCKY tailor, soldier, sailor, Paul Pry or polish thurever burst? Someone he was,
man. That's the thing I always want to whuebra they were, in a tactic attack its creative compounding (p.23),as seen in such forms
the littleman
ln Joysprick 973), Anthony Burgess
(1 know. or in single combat. Tinker, tila soul- as hronrad'sea' (literall 'whale-road'), and, much completely unaware
presents an illuminating analysis of
(b) Tell me. tell me, how could she drer, salol Pieman Peace or Polista- later, Shakespeare made considerable use of neologis- of the embarrassment behind
the linguistic processes involved in the mann. That's the thing I always want watched as the blindlady
development of what he calls Joyce's
cam through all her fellows, the
to know. tic compounds: pity-pleading qtes and oah-cleauing fingered out her fare
Jabberwocky'. These successive drafts
(a-c) o1 Finnegans Wake, published in
neckar she was, the diveline? Linking
one and knocking the next, tapping a
(d) Tell me, tell me, how cam
thunderbohs. Sometimes several items are joined in a ***
flank and tipping a jutty and palling she compoundJike way: muchlove later he suggested
the 1920s, show that the style is care- camlin through all her fellows, the
in and petering out and clyding by on tht instead A painting of the Liverpool
fully engineered, despite its apparent neckar she was, the diveline? Casting proud, shallow, beggerl three-suited-
a base,
her eastway. Wai-whou was the first ofa wedding-cake they shouldhave a miniaturebus Poets, 1 985, by Peter Edwards:
randomness and spontaneity. Each her perils before our swains from hundred-pound, fi lthy woosted-stocking
that ever burst? Someone he was, made outof icing but she laughed (from left to right) Adrian
version introduces extra connotations, Fonte-in-Monte to Tidingtown and
puns, and allusions, and a growing whoever they were, in a tactic attack knave, a Lilly-livered, action-taking, andsaid that buses werefor travelling in Henry (1 932-2000), Roger
from Tidingtown tilhavet. Linking one
intricacy of lexical structure. The ver-
or in single combat. Tinker, tailor, sol- whoreson, glasse-gazing super-seruiceable and notfor eating and besides McGough (1937-), and Brian
sion which appears in the book (d) is
dier, sailo Paul Pry or polishman. and knocking the next, tapting a
flank and tipting a jutty and palling in finicall Rogue (King Lear,II..I5)
you cant taste shapes. ( Roger McGough, 1967) Patten (1 946-).
That's the thing I always want to
included for comparison. and pietaring out and clyding by on
know.
her eastway. Waiwhou was the first It is not a great remove from here to the Joycean jux-
(a) Tell me, tell me, how could she (c) Tell me, tell me, how cam she cam- thurever burst? Someone he was,
James Joyce (1882-1 941)
tapositions of Usses, 1922: ORWELLIAN COMPOUNDSPEAK
cam through all her fellows, the dare- lin through all her fellows, the neckar whuebra they were, in a tac-
devil? Linking one and knocking the she was, the diveline? Linking one tic attack or in single combat. a broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed tmes 3.12.83 reporting bb ideological; and the 'C (there are no irregular
next and polling in and petering out and knocking the next, tapting a Tinker, tila souldrer, salor, frankeyed redhaired freely freckled shaggy- dayorde r doubl epl usu n- vocabulary' contains techni forms in Newspeak).
and clyding by in the eastway. Who flank and tipting a jutty and palling in Pieman Peace or Polistaman. good refs unpersons
bearded widemouthed largenosed longheaded cal terms.The B vocabulary Other terms in Newspeak
was the first that ever burst? Some and pietaring out and clyding by on That's the thing I'm elways
deepvoiced barekneed brawnyhanded hairy-
rewrite fullwise upsub comprisesonly compound are not so much com-
one it was, whoever you are. Tinker, her eastway. Waiwhou was the first on edge to esk. antefiling words. Orwell describes it pounds as blends, involving
legged ruddyfaced sinewyarmed hero.
as'a sort of verbal short- fragments of either or both
This Newspeak message,
hand, often packing whole of the constituent lexemes
ECHECHOHOES OF Juinp To bigsing mitt (and there martined by his or to the lexical creations of Gerard Manley Hopkins, sent for re-editing to Win-
of ideas into a few
ranges (p. 1 30):
Droolie ston Smith, in George
JOYCE are some of sinmnstral hex- frival sinxters mixing hyphenated and solid forms: syllables'. lts aim is 'to Pornsec ('Pornography
Sawdust acordiality who have (Ping! wint the Orwell's Nneteen Eighty-
impose a desirable mental Section'), Flcdep ('Fiction
A good way of developing Siptumbler cheeped Nine! Nine! to so strongs of the This darksome burn, horseback brown, Fou4 is given the following
Oldspeak (standard English)
attitude upon the person Department'), qecdep
an understanding of how Actsober supernumerapodical a val- eadg be guitarn- His rollrock highroad roaring down . . . using them'. Examples
translation: ('Records Department'),
Joyce's neologisms work is Newwinebar gar halluxination of their berg), put hexes include:
A windpuff-bonnet of fawn-froth thi nkpol ('Thought Police').
to try to imitate them, or Descendbeer Herro) it was harpbuzzing on his hocks and The reportng of Big Broth-
Turns and wvindles over the broth . . do u b I eth i n k, g oo dth in k,
parody them. tags when, achording to said sex is funf, .
er's Order for the Day in The novel gives the impres-
ol dthi nk, crimeth i nk, old-
Burgess suggests a game And a rather more complex Fussboden and Sexfanger, which why he
is ('Inversnaid', 1881) The Times of December 3rd sion that there are hun-
speak, speakwrite,
to fill long winter evenings. example: the gamut nd spinet of it aspiered to a diet- 1983 s extremely unsatis- dreds of such forms.
Of thoug htcri me, sexcri me,
ln response to an instruction was (A! Ol says Rholy with ty of worms and course, simply to print a series of words without factory and makes refer- lndeed, one of the charac-
prolefeed, dayorde black-
to'punbaptise the names of Construct a sentence in his Alfa Romega) that funf married anon spaces between them is hardly ro creare a compound, ences to non-existent ters (Syme) is engaged in
white, duckspeak.
the months from the vew- Joycean oneiroglot, with at went into sox and Queen (Moineau! Con- persons. Rewrte it in full the enormous task of com-
except at a most superficial level. A real compound acts
point of a confirmed drunk- least five long subordinate Kway was half dousin to her sparrocy!) after and submit your draft to These forms could be piling the Eleventh Edition
ard'. he gives us: clauses and three or four sixther, so that our truetone he had strummed as agrammatical unit, has a unified stress pattern, and hgher authority before inflected in the usual way. of the Newspeak Dictio-
parentheses. The subject orchestinian luter (may his his naughntytoo has a meaning which is in some way differnr from the filing. For example, goodthink nary. ln fact, there are only
Ginyouvery shall be the origin of the bother martins swallow frets on the door ('orthodoxy' in Oldspeak), a few dozen Newspeak
sum of its parts (p. 129).Manyliterarycompounds do
Pubyoumerry legend of Martin Luther's rondines and roundels of (fish can nosh Newspeak uses three kinds could generate goodthink- terms mentioned in the
Parch six toes on the left foot. Pr- chelidons and their oves be tenders) and was none of this, and have a solely graphic appeal, as in this of word: the 'A vocabu- i ng, goodthi nkfu l, good- novel and its Appendix,
Grapeswill
Tray
sent Luther as both a bird
and a musical instrument.
eaved on the belfriars) dep-
targmined not to be houses-
eggscomeinacrated. later line from Roger McGought po.*i lary' consists of everyday thi nkwise, goodth i n ker, though several of them are
items; the'B vocabulary' is and goodthinked used repeatedly.
then you tookoffyour other glove
 I O E''YMOLOGY 137

10
Etymology is the study of lexical history. It investigates
the origins of individual lexemes (p.1 l8), the affinities
they have had to each other, and how they have
changed in rneaning and in form to reach their present
state. The subject exercises a remarkable popular fas-
cination. People readily ask where a word comes from,
and are prepared to speculate at length about its ori-
gins. \X/hy is rhe drink punch so-called? IrI.ow could sil
once hve meant 'blessed', or shave meant 'wise', or
trecle have meant 'wild animal'? There is also an
inevitable curiosity when it is known that two appar-
ently unrelated words have the same origins. How can
it be that glamour and grmmar were once the same
\Mord, or slary and susage? Etymology has importanr
links with questions of folklore: wh for example, is ir
the stork which brings babies? And the conrinuing
popularity of books on 'Naming your Child'
suggesrs
the decision-making role that the sr-rbject can play. Peo-
ple, in short, like to know where words come from,
whether they be personal names, place names, com-
a
ETYMOLOGY
ETYMOLOGICAL ANSWERS
o punch Despite a widely held view to
the contrary, the name of the drink has
nothing to do with the effect that the
mixture can have on the drinker. The
recipe originated in lndia, and the name
comes from the Hindi word for'five',
because there were five ingredients
involved (spirit, wate lemon-juice, sugar,
and spice).
. s/y The word came into Middle English
from Scandinavian, where the dominant
meaning was'cunning', with its implica-
tion of special knowledge or wisdom.
5/y is also related to s/eighf'dexterity'
and slay (originally, 'dexterous with the
hammer').
. salary and sausage Sa/ary came into
English via French from Latin, where
salarium meant 'salt-money' (given to the
soldiers to buy salt). Sausage also came
via French from Latin, where sa/siclum
was something made from salted meat.
Salt s the common element, seen also in
change, p. 245), and which retains its
magical sense. Robert Burns links the two
words, referring to gypsies who 'deal in
glamour' and those who are'deep-read
in hell's black grammar' (1781). Soon
af|er, glamour developed the sense of
'enchantment' or'charm', and by the
mid-19th century we find its current
sense of 'alluring charm'- an association
which for most people (though not for
this author) is missing from the modern
erm, grammar,
. treacle The term was formerly used for
a medicinal compound widely used as an
antidote against poisoning. lt came into
Middle English as triacle from French,
and ultimately via Latin from Greek,
where theriake had the meaning of 'anti-
dote against the bite of a wild beast'.
Theriake, in turn, is derived 'from therion,
a diminutive form of ther, the word for
'wild animal'. The modern substance was
called treacle in the UK (US molasses)
tneaning'cut' in Indo-European; lut no one has any
iclea of what meanings existed before that.
The sense of a modern lexeme depends on the wy
it is used now and not on its semantic antecedents,
which ale often rnultiple and obscure. To argue
etymologically is to impale oneself on the horns of
several dilemmas. Fascinating as etymologies are, in
clebate they can only be a rhetorical cheat.
Semantic fields
Etymology has traditionally focused on the study of
inciividual lexemes, tracing their earlier forms (ety-
nton. Ofrcn as in the case of grammarad glamour,
A HISTORICAL MENU
The evolution of terms for food and drink s an inter-
esting reflection of the history of cultural contact
between English-speaking countres and the rest of
the world. (After G. Hughes, 1988.)
Food Drink
tacos, quiche, schwarma
pizza, osso bucco
900 paella, tuna, goulash
1
pairs of related forms (doublets) woulcl be investigated.
Contemporary etymological studies tend to adopt a
broader perspective, looking at the relationships
between whole sets of lexemes belonging to a particLl-
lal area of meaning, or semanc rteH .154). Exam-
ples of two such fields are illustlated here, showing the
periods during which relevant lexemes entered the lan-
guage. Neither example is cornplete in its lexical cov-
erage, but it is nonetheless possible to see broad trends
in the way each field has developed. There is also a cer-
tain intrinsic interest in seeing groups of lexemes set
out in this way.
ECONOMIC HISTORY
This presentaton of the semantic f ield of economic terms distinguishes two types of lexeme.
The first column lists items which have always carried an economic sense, such as tax and
cheque. The second column lists items where an economic sense has been added to a general
term, as wth /oan and cheap (in these cases, the date given is that of the emergence of the
economic meaning).
The development of the field shows an interesting shift in the growth of the two cate-
gories. Until about 1400, the vocabulary Iargely belongs to the first column. From about 1550
to 1700 the growth is mainly in the second column, indicating a major increase in items which
have developed a specialized economic meaning.
It is interesting to observe that the vocabulary of the economy in recent times is rather dif-

sauce and saiad.
mon nouns, idioms, abbreviations, proverbs, or any . grammar and glamour Grammar is lhe
other recognized lexical domain. In this book, thee older form, recorded since the early 14th
century, coming into English via Old
need be no apology for a section on etymology.
French and Latin, and ultimately from
hamburge mousse, borscht
because of its similar appearance to the
original medicinal compound.
grapefruit, clair, chips
bouillabaisse, mayonnaise
. storks and babies ln Middle High Ger
man, the related term Storch had the basc ravioli, crpes, consomm
800 spaghetti, souff l, bechamel
meaning of 'stick', specifically referring to 1
Coca Cola ferent from that associated with science and technology, where neologisms (p. 132) predomi-
soda water nate. Rather than invent new terms, we seem for the most part to have adapted familiar ones
to talk about the economy, perhaps reflecting the increasingly central role which monetary
matters play in our lives. There is, certainly, an immediate meaningfulness and accessibility
riesl i ng
tequila about such terms as inflation, demand, and consumption, deriving from their established

ice cream general uses, which would be missing if these notions had been expressed neologistically.
Greek, where grammta meant 'letters'. such objects as a fishing rod, a tree stump,
kipper, chowder (After G. Hughes, 1988.)
Arguing etymologically To the illiterate, grammar quickly came to and - in a 1Sth-century Austrian medical
be identified with the mysterious domain treatise - the male appendage (des sandwich, jam seltzer
During a discussion, reference to a word's earlier mean- meringue, hors d'oeuvre whisky
of the scholar, and thus developed the Mannes Storch). Once the bird was nick-
ing can often influence the way an argument proceeds. welsh rabbit Original economic sense Date of earliest specialized economc sense
sense of 'learning'(in general), and then named 'a stick', it would not have taken
In a recent debate on the way history should be taught of 'the incomprehensible', and even of long for the double entendre to have gen-
1 700 avocado, pat gtn
900 fee, buy
'black magic'. Much later; in 18th-century erated the now familiar piece of folklore. muffin port 950 yield, rich
in schools - whether the focus should be on 'facts' or vanilla, mincemeat, pasta champagne
Scottish English, a form appears which is (AfterW. Lockwood, I976.) 1000 fellow, guild
'methods' - a supporter of the latrer position referred spelled with an / (a common sound salmagundi brandy 1 050
yoghurt, kedgeree sherbet
to the 'real' meaning of history as 'investigation' or omelette, litchi, tomato, curry
1 100
1 600 tea, sherry 1150
'learning by enquiry', as this was what was meant by The history of sil/ showing the way pejorative senses have developed since the 17th chocolate I 200 tally, tithe
Greek historia, from which the modern term derives. century. (After G. Hughes, 1988.) banana, macaroni, caviar, pilav coffee 1250 pay, wealth
Several people were swayed by the point, and refered anchovy, maize 1 300 account, control, thrift sell, price, rent
the potato, turkey
to it throughout the debate. '/hen Sigmund Freud was usury, debt, exchequer
OId English Middle English Modern Enqlish prese nt artichoke, scone sillabub 1 350 money, bargain, salary wage, customs
investigating hysteria, he encountered resistance fi'om 1 500 marchpane (marzipan) tax, exchange
700 900 1i00 1 300 1 500 1 700 1 900 whiting, offal, melon
his colleagues, who argued that, because theterm hys- 1400 broke magnate company, save, bill
pineapple, mushroom
teriaderivedfrom the Greekword for'womb', the con- redeem, mercenary
OE s/ig -'happy', 'blessed' salmon, partridge expense, levy
cept of male hysteria was a conrradiction in terms. Middle venison, pheasant muscatel 1450 staple, commodity loan, charge
English crisp, cream, bacon rhenish
Both these cases illusrrate what has been called the revenue
ME see/y -'innocent' biscuit, oyster (rhine wine)
1500 farm, excise, duty bribe, market, cheap
etymologicl llacy - rhe view that an earlier meaning toast, pastry, jelly claret 1550 monopoly, trade mark bank, chattel, interest (usury), purchase (n.), trade,
of a lexeme, or its original meaning, is its 'true' or'cor- Mn E - sll/y'deserving of compassion'
ham, veal, mustard traffic, credit, finance, goodwill, dues
rect' one, The fallacy is evident when it is realised that beef, mutton, brawn 1600 capitalist, cash, tariff embezzle, fortune, profit, dividend, share, income
sauce, potage commerce, pre-emption invest, corporation, industry
most common lexemes have experienced several 'feeble' broth, herring jobber
1650 concession, workhouse, factory
changes in meaning during their history. Nice, for meat, cheese ale 1700 cheque consumption, demand, economy, fund, note, stock
otd cucumber, mussel beer
example, earlie meant 'fastidious', and before that 'simple', 'ignorant' interest, bull, bear, luxury, security, concern
English butter; fish wine budget, business, currency, draft
'foolish or'simple', and ifwe rrace ir back to the equiv- bread water
1750 ca pita list
scab stock exchange
alent Latin form, nescius, the meaning is 'ignorant' 'feeble-minded' 1 800 exploitation exploit, speculate/or, f irm, strike
(from ne'not' + scire 'know'). Should we therefore say trade union crash, depression
that the true meaning of niceis 'fastidious', 'foolish', cjr 'fool ish','empty-headed' 1 850 entrepreneur inflation, blackleg, limited (liability), nationalization
1 900 boom (n.), devaluation cartel, dole, welfare, slump (n.), recession
'ignorant'? The'original'meaning of the lexeme is, of 1 950 reschedu le

course, unknowable: ri- derives from a root probably

138 PART II
SEMANITIC CHANGE
Everyone knows that words can change their rneaning.
\e do not neecl to have taken a course in semanrics ro
hold a view alour what has happened to g7 since the
1960s. Some strongly disapprove of the new meaning
which this lexeme has developed; some welcome it; but
all native speakers ofEnglish recognize that there has
been a change, and are able to talk about it. Semantic
change is a fact of life. And those who have had to study
older works of literature, such as a Shakespeare pla
will need no rerninding of how much of the vocabu-
lary has been affected by such changes.
Linguists have clistinguished several kincls of seman-
tic change. For.rr particularly importanr caregories are
given below (for other types and examples, see the sec-
tions on euphemism (p.172), clich (p. 186), and fig-
urative language (p.4Zt, and the various dimensions
of 'political correctness' discussed on p. 177).
Extension or generalizlttion. A lexeme widens irs
meaning. Numerous examples of this process have
occurred in the religious field, where ffice, docnine,
nouice, and many other terms have taken on a more
general, secular range of meanings.
. Nrrowing or specialization. A lexeme becomes
more specialized in meaning. Engine was formerly
used in a general sense of 'mechanical contrivance'
(especially of war and torture), but since the Indus-
trial Revolution it has come to mean 'mechanical
source of power'. Several of the terms of economics
(p.137) also show specialization.
c Amelioratioz A lexeme develops a positive sense of
approval. Reuolutionary, once associared in the capi-
talist mincl with an undesirable overthrowing of the
status quo, is now widely used by advertisers as a sig-
nal of desirable novelty. Leanno longer brings to mind
emaciation but athleticism and good looks.
c Pejoration or deterioration. Alexeme develops a neg-
ative sense of disapproval. Middle English uillein neu-
trally described a seri whereas Modern F,nglish uillain
is by no means neutral. SimilarlTuntahas acquired a
sinister, dictatorial sense, and lewd (oginall 'of the
laity') has developed a sense ofsexual
rmpropflety.
ENGLISH VOCABULARY
FOR BETTER OR
WORSE?
llUhetheryou viewthe
'homosexual' meaning of
gay as a semantic change
for the better
(amelioration) or worse
(deterioration) depends on
factors that are more to do
with personaltaste and
moralitythan with
language. Because of this,
lexical change can often be
controversial.
Shop names f requently
extend lexical meaning in
controversial w ays. Sa lon,
once a term belonging to
the French aristocratic social monastery or convent used
scene, may now be found in for conversation, has
all kinds of contexts which
have nothing at all to do
with the aristocracy or
elegant social interaction, entering a relaxation parlour
such as cosmetics, would see in this term a
hairdressing, and what in
inner-city side-streets is deterioration - but those
euphemistically referred to leaving such a parlour
as'relaxaton'. Pa rlou r, probably would not. The
formerly a part of a
purr-words (p. 1 7'l) of the
property developer and
commercialadvertiser
developed a similar range of repeatedly provoke
street meanings. People who contradctory reactions in
would never dream of
this way.
EVIDENCE
The lower example is
from a student's notes on
Othel lo and graphically
illustrates the linguistic
distance which exists
between Shakespeare's
vocabulary and that of the
21st century. Some of the
notes are to do with biblio-
graphical matters (the Qs
and F refer to alternative
readings in the various
printings of the text), but
several identify important
points of semantic change
(e.9. pecu I i a r' particu lar',
ti morous'terrifying').
The upper example makes
the same point, but rather
more neatly. lt is from the
Arden Shakespeare edition
of The Tempest, edited by
Frank Kermode.
prime example of lexical
FOLK ETYMOLOGY
tWhen people hear a foreign or unfamilia word for the
frst time, they try to make sense of it by relating it to
words they know well. They guess what it must men
- and often guess wrongly. However, if enough people
make the sme wrong guess, the error can become part
crf the language. Such erroneous forms are called folk
or poPulr etymologies.
Bridegroom provides a good example. \hat has a
groom got to do with getting married? Is he going to
'groom' the bride, in some way? Or perhaps he is
responsible for horses to carry him and his bride offinto
rhe sunset? The true explanation is more prosaic. The
Middle English form was bridgome, which goes back to
Old English brydgum, from 'bride' + gum 'ma'.
I-lowever, gorne died out during the Middle English
period. By the 16th century its meaning was no longer
apparent, nd it came to be popularly replaced by a sim-
ilar-sounding word, grome,'serving lad'. This later
cleveloped the sense of'servant having the care ofhors-
cs', which is the dominant sense today. But bridegroom
never ment anything more than 'bridet man'.
Here are a few other folk etymologies:
. spltrrzw-grss A popular name for aspantgus- though
this vegetable has nothing to do with sparrows.
o clcroach The name came from Spanish cucururcba,
the fir'st part of which must have been particularly
obscure to English ears. There is no connection with
coc.
o hemate The form comes from a Bible translation of
Genesis 2.18, when God said 'I will make him a help
rneet for him'. Meet in this context is an adjective,
rneaning 'suitable'; but the popular view preferred to
take the word as a form of mate.
. sab-cellar In Old French , a stllierwas asalt-box. \hen
the word came into English, the connection with salt
was evidently not clear, and people started calling the
object a sah+aler.Themodern form has no connection
with a cellar.
The first part of sirloinsimply derived f rom the
is
French word sur'above'. The form must have greatly
puzzled the people of the early Middle English period.
Unused to French, they etymologized the form to srr,
and then thought up a legend to make sense of it (the
story of the English king who found this joint of meat
so splendid that he gave it a knighthood).
{ ;.w,*xt',Wiri*'
xawi,,*'ii,t{r,
$s,,'&
--ifl&,1
l,
"'1\5,r.
.,,_,'":, \,*^,"a,.
\' SA9KBT
tD.^tsal
t-
".f -,
I O ETYMOLOGY
PHYSICIST NEOLOGIST
I know the exact moment when I decided
to make the word 'boojum'an interna-
tional ly accepted scientif ic term.
Thus begins the opening chapter of David
Mermin's book, Eoojums AIlthe Way jected to detailed peer-group scrutiny.
Through: Communicating Science in
Prosaic Age (1990). The year was '1976,
a
and he was returning from a symposium
on the discovery of the superfluid phases
of liquid helium-3. Superfluids, he
explains, are liquids in which currents can
f low for ever, without succumbing to the
frictional drag that causes currents in
ordinary fluids to die away. Helium-3 is
an 'anisotropic' liquid - one whose
atomic structure in any little region points
along a particular line. The structure is
especially noticeable in one of its phases,
and at the symposium the question was
discussed of how the lines in this phase been submitted which included the term.
would arrange themselves in a spherical
drop of the liquid.
A theoretical pattern, elegant in its sym-
metry, s shown in Figure 1 below. Figure
2 shows what happens as a vortex line
(the long funnel of a little whirlpool) con-
nects the point of convergence of the
lines to the surface of the drop. The vor-
tices draw the convergence point to the
surface (Figure 3), resulting in a final pat-
tern, shown in Figure 4, where the sym-
metry has collapsed, and the lines radiate
from a point on the surface.
What should this new pattern be called?
Mermin was reminded of Lewis Carroll's
poem 'The Hunting of the 5nark', where
the last lines are'He had softly and sud-
denly vanished away / For the Snark was a
Boojum, you see'. As the symmetrical pat-
tern in the liquid drop had indeed 'softly
and suddenly vanished away', the term
seemed highly appropriate.
ln his book, Mermin tells the story of the
difficulties he faced n gettng his term
accepted. lt is rare for any new lexeme to
attach itself to the lexicon without reper-
cussions, and this is what he found. Each
lexeme has to elbow its way in, and find
an acceptable place in the semantic field
to whch it belongs. lts existence will
probably affect the definition of estab-
lished lexemes. And people may object to
the new lexeme on a whole variety of
grounds, such as that it is not needed, or
that other terms are better suited, or that
1 3
I t\
#i
reo
lt\
lI
2 4
139
they simply do not like the sound of it.
These difficulties are compounded in a
scientific subject, where there is an under-
standable conservatsm, in the interests of
maintaining intellgibilty (p. 372), and
where terminological proposals are sub-
ln the end, the term did come to be
recognized, but not without a great deal
of effort. The proposal was first recorded
as part of the published symposium dis-
cussion, but in quotation marks (as we
would expect). Mermin then gave a paper
a few months later in which he used the
term several times. lt was published in the
proceedings, and appeared in the index.
He then used the term at several other
conferences.
A burst of correspondence followed
between Mermin and the editor of a
sclentificjournal to whom a paper had
The editor objected to boojum on the
grounds that it would not be sufficiently
known to the international scientific com-
munity to justify its inclusion. Mermin
responded by giving a definition ('any
surface point singularity the motion of
which can catalyze the decay of a super-
current') and pointing out that the lexical
item as such was already in the dictionary.
However, the editor was not swayed, and
the term was rejected.
Mermin continued his efforts, writing a
further article for another leading physics
journal, and adding a note on the etymo-
logical background. The submission led to
an in-depth dialogue with one of the
journal's editorial team, and this time it
was finally allowed to appear. As part of
the discussion, there was a debate about
which plural form to use: should it be
booja, boojum, or boojums? t hey settled
on the last. And in 1978 a paper appeared
which contained boojums in its title, and
which used the term throughout without
apology (as the name of Mermin's book
indicates: 'boojums all the way through').
Boolum therefore emerged in print with-
in a couple of years of its creation, to join
such fashionable physics terms as quark,
hedgehog, and charm. Whatever its future
in physics, its place in etymologcal history
is assured. lt is unusual to find the gesta-
tion and birth of a lexeme given such a
detailed tabulation.
\t l/
\'1
 140 PAI-1' II ENGLISH VOCABULAI.Y I O E'I'YMOLOC]Y 141

which they live constitute one of the most established

NAMES clomains of onomastics. It is not difficult to see why NAMING PLACES . They also kept some of the place names . Names relating to religious beliefs and
introduced by the Romans during their period of practices, both pagan and Christian, are well
this shoulcl be so. Place names can provicle a unique fo understand how places come to be named, it occupation (AD 43-c. 400). There are over 200 represented. Harrow, Weedon, and Alkham all
One of the most popular aspecrs of etyrnology is the source of information about a societyt histor struc- ishelpful to put ourselves in the position of the modern British place names which have Roman contain Old English words relating to heathen
histoly of names - those words or phrases which ture, customs, and values. Often, a place name is the Anglo-Saxon invaders of the 5th century, faced origins, notably those ending in -port, -chester, or temples or idols. Westminster, Whitchurch, and St
with vast tracts of unnamed Britain. How would -street. /yes all contain Christian elements. Some names
uniquely identi$r persolts, animals, places, conceprs, only record of a person's existence or of a historical you set about the task of identifying where peo- . Families or tribal groups would settle in a are of uncertain status: Gadshll/ in Kent could
or things. A 'proper name', as grammar books often event. Pacla, Cippa, Cynehild, ancl Gip are known only ple live and what they do there? This is what the locality, which would then become known by the refer to either a pagan or the Christian god.
call it (p. 208), presenrs an enriry as an indiviclual frorn theil linguistic memorials in (respectively) Anglo-Saxons did. head person's name. Examples include Reading . The largest numberof place names relateto
instance, ancl not as an anonyfirous member of a class
. ln some cases, they took over a name already ('place of Reada's people'), Dagenham ('Dacca's topography - to the coastline, hills, rivers, woods,
Paddington, Chippenham, Kenilworth, ancl Ipswich. in use by the inhabitants they found there. Sev- homestead'), and those cited on the facing page. trees, stones, fields, and other physical features.
(a'common noun'). Th e Beatles, Llanfirpu lwyngy ll, Gallowtree Gate in Leicester and Pillory Lane in eral river names, in particula are Celtic, such as There are thousands of these place names - in the The variety of names to do with hills and valleys is
A Cloclewor Orange, and Peter Rabbit are uniquely London are toponymic reminclers of the sanctions of a Thames, Avon, Wye, and Ouse. These werd often patriarchal society of the time, of course, mostly especially understandable, when we remember
used to help form the names of settlements, such referring to males (but there are several that the Anglo-Saxons came from one of the
located in space and time, and are thus names, in this previous age. asTaunton (on the R. Tone) and Wilton (onthe exceptions, such as Samburgh, from the 7th flattest areas in Europe, and would have been
sense; whereas group, uillge, nouel, and rabbithave R. Wylie). lt is remarkable that so few such names century Queen Bebba). particularly attentive to the identification value
multiple ancl open-ended reference, and are thus com- remain, of even quite gentle slopes and mounds.
mon nouns. In English, names are generally identified
by being printed with an initial capital letter; but this
convention cannot always be tusted: should we wlite TOPOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS IN ENGLISH PLACE NAMES
the church or the Church? the president or the President? Hills and slopes Valleys and Woods and groves
(p. r22). bank, barrow hollows bear, carr, derry,
There seems to be a universal ancl deep-rootecl drive borough, breck, cam, bottom, clough, fen, frith, greave,
cliff, crook, down, combe, dale, den, grove, heath, holt,
to give individual names to things. People, places, pers,
and houses are among the most obvious categories, but
.-- edge, head, hill, how,
hurst, ley, ling, lith,
ditch, glen, grave,
hole, hope, slade
lea, moor, oak, rise,
scough, shaq tree,
anything with which we have a special relationship is mond, over, pen, well, with, wold,
Examples:.
ridge, side, tor wood
likely to le named. In a 1990 edition of the BBC Radio Cowdale, Denton,
Examples: Greenslade, Hoole, Examples:
4 series Englisb Now, over 1,000 listeners senr in infor- Barrow Blackdown, Longbottom, Blackheath,
mation about the things they named ar home: the list Longridge, Redcliff, Thorncombe Hazlewood, Oakley,
inclucled cars, yachts, word processors, wheelbarrows, Thornborough, Southwold,
SILBURY HILL Windhill Staplegrove
washing machines, kitchen implements, house plants,
and toothbrushes. Institutions also readily name rheir Rivers and streams Dwellings General locations
products, most obviously for purposes of identifica, batch, beck, brook, and farms and routes
burn, ey, fleet, font, barton, berwick, bridge, ford, gate,
tion and marketing (as in the case of brand names, ford, keld, lade, biggin, bold, ing, mark, path,
book titles, paint colours, and roses), but also as a way lake, latch, marsh, by, cote, ham, stead, stoke, stow,
of maintaining a tradition (as in the case of British mere, mouth, ore, hampstead, ham- street, sty, way
pool, rith, wade, ton, house, scale,
locomotives, many of which are identified by name as wate; well sett, stall, thorpe,
Examples:
Epping,
well as number). toft, ton, wick
Examples'. Horsepath,
The science which studies names is called oTtomrlstics Broadwater, Examples: Longford,
(also onomtolog. Among its branches are rhe srudy Fishlake, Mersey, Fishwick, Newham, Ridgeway,
of personal names (anthroponotnastic and place Rushbrooke,
Saltburn
Potterton, Westby,
Woodthorpe
Stonebridge,
Streetly
names (toponornastics, or tzporytrnJ. These days the
sr-rbject deals with far more than etymology, and inves- Coastline Fields and clearings Buildings and
features combe, croft, den, ergh, stones
tigates a wide range of social, psychological, ancl legal
ey, holme, field, ham, haugh, hay, brough, burton,
questions. Why do names come into fashion and go hulme, hythe, ing, land, lease, lock, caster, church,
out of fashion? tVhat factors affect the success of a naze, ness, port, meadoq rick, ridding, cross, kirk, mill,
sea rode, shot, side, minster, stain,
name? \hat controls limit the use of a name ? Y/hy ar.e
thwaite, wardine, stone, wark
people so sensitive about their names? Names research Examples:
worth, worthy
Bardsey, Examples'.
is an open-ended and complex domain, and one Greenhithe, Examples: Crossthwaite,
which is particularly greedy of the researcher's time - RUNNYMEDE 'meadow at Runy', and Skyrack in Yorkshire is the
Sheerness,
5outhport,
Applethwaite,
Cowden, Smallworthy,
Felixkirk,
Newminste
as nyone can quicldy discover, simply by asking peo-
Runy originally meant 'oak where the shire meets' Southsea Southworth, Staines,
ple why they gave their house the name it has. But few The place where King John 'island where a council is Similar etymologies underli Wethersfield Whitchurch
othe areas of linguistic study prove to be so riveting, met the English Barons in held'. Evidently this locality Spetch ley in Worcestershire
or focus so directly on rhe personal and emotional 1215, and sealed the Magna had an ancient history of ('speech glade'), Spe I I brook Notes o Several items have the same form, but differ in o The table does not distinguish between forms
Carta, has one of the most use for important meetings. in Hertfordshire, Matlock in . These elements are all found in manydifferent meaning because they come from different which appear in different parts of a place name.
spects oflanguage. famif iar names in the history There are many other Derbyshire ('oak at which a spellings. Old English beorg'hill, mound', for words in Old English. For example, -ey has Qld English leah'forest, glade', for example,
of England. But why did the examples of names which meeting is held'), and Mott- example, turns up as bar-, berg-, -ber, -berry, developed in different ways from the two words sometimes appears at the beginning of a name
meeting take place there? refer to meeting-places. stone n the lsle of Wight -borough, and -burgh. Only one form is given ea'river' and eg'island'. lt is not always easy (Lee- or Leigh-), sometmes at the end f-leigh,
Place names
The name itself provides a Spelhoe in Northumberland ('speaker's stone'). above ffhornborough). deciding which is the relevant meaning in a given ley), and sometimes a/one (Leigh).
The names people give to the countries, districts, topo- clue. Runnymede means means'speech hill', and place name. (After K. Cameron, 1961 .)
graphical features, settlements, streets, and houses in
 r42 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY
1O ETYMOLOGY 1.43

Successful place-name research puts several academic Saxon times. Even more confusing are the cases where
disciplines ro \Mork, Palaeography and philology (p. originally differenr forms have come out as identical in BRITISH COUNTY 29 Bucki ngham'riverside
446) are needed to decode the names i" *"p, modern English: rhere are several places called Aston, NAMES land of Bucca's people'
manuscriprs, and to work our the subtle relationship""d and the meaning is usually'easrern farmstead', but in
30 Berkshire'county of
fhis s an etymological the wood of Earroc'
between sounds and spellings. Histor archaeology, certain localities (such as Cold Aston in Gloucester- ('hilly place')
glossary of the county
and sociology are needed to provide plausible contexrs shire) the meaning is 'farmstead by ash trees'. There is names of Great Britain rec- 31 Wht'place of the
o
4
SHETLAND

for the interpretations proposed by linguistic research. ognized bythe 1972 local division'(of the sea) (?) ISLANDS
also the opposite case, where the same form has devel- 32 Hampshire'county of
government reorganization
A knowledge of the relevanr source languages is obvi- oped several spellings, somerimes because of dialect (which lasted until '1996). lt Southampton' ('south-
ously critical. And a healthy scepticism is invariably differences in pronunciation, sometimes because of excludes those where the ern home farm')
beneficial. the new spelling pracdces introduced by Norman One of the earliest-known meaning of the name is self- 33 Oxford 'ford used by
evident, as in the case of oxen' *,
The scepricism is required because place names are French scribes after the Conquest: there is no erymo-
detailed maps of Britain.
.dt"R,"
containing a great deal of H ig h I a nd and Borders. Sev-
34 Wiltshire'county
often not what they seem. There is probably little logical difference berween Northwich, Northwici, and information about eral etymologies are uncer- around Wilton'('farm
on the river Wylie')
WESTERN \ f rsLANDs
doubt that Highwood or Ridgeway man what they Norwich, which all come from the Old English words medieval place names. lt tain or controversial, tstEs

was compiled c. 1250 or especially those marked (?). 35 Dorset'(territory of

appear to mean. But several modern forms no longer meaning'norrhern dwelling-place'. Great care is need-
the Chronica Maiora of lhe
have the meaning they once had: afield, for examfle, ed if wrong conclusions are not to be drawn, and in English Benedictine chroni- I Shet/and'hilt land'
is often now an enclosed piece of land, but the wrd cle[ Matthew of St 2 Grampian unknown
regrettably many instances an original form or mean- Paris
Albans (died 1259). lt is origin
referred only to a piece of open counrry in Anglo- ing cannot be proposed with any conviction.
now in the British Library. 3 Tayside'silent river' or
'powerful river'
4 Ffe'territory of Vip'(?)
MANUSCRIPT SOURCES 5 Lothian'(territory of)
Leudonus'
he DomesdayBook, compiled by I08 provides the
earliest recorded spelling of most English village and
parish names, These spellings have to be viewed
6 Strathclyde'valley
the Clyde'(the
'cleansing one')
critically, howeve? becausethe French scribes naturallv 7 Dumfries'woodland
transcribed many of the Old English pronunciations stronghold'
using their own writing system, Also, unfamiliarity with Ga I I oway' (territory of)
the names inevitably led to errors.
the stranger-Gaels'
Earlier sources includethe,Guideto Geography, of
Ptolemy, dating from c. I 5e and a few othei Ltin sources
I Northumberland'land
of those dwelling
and inscriptions. The OId English period has a large north of the Humber'
numberof chartert willt and other legaldocumnts 9 lyne'water, river'
containing place names, as well as the invaluable Anglo-
Sxon Ch ronicle (p. l). ns the documents are often- Wear'river'
10 Durham'island with a
preserved in copies made several centuries later, the risk hil'
of copyist error must always be borne in mind. 1 1 Cleveland'hilly land'
Sourcesfromthe Middle English period includethe 12 Yorkshire'place of
Pipe Rolls, dating from the mid-12th century which Eburos'
contan the yearly accounts ofthe sheriffs for each county 13 Humberside'side of
(p. 41). Along with various other legal and administrative
the good river'
documents ofthetime, they list thousands of local 14 Lincoln'(Roman) colony
names, and are importantforthe information they at Lindo' ('lake place')
provide about people aswellas places (p..l49). 15 Derby'village where
there are deer'
16 Nottingham'home-
stead of Snot's people'
1 7 ler'cester'(Roman)
of the Ligore people'
18 No rtha m pton'northern
home farm'
19 Cambridge'bridge
over the river Granta'
20 Norfolk 'northern
people'
21 Suffolk 'southern
people'
22 Bedfo rd' Beda's ford'
23 Hertford'hartford'
24 Essex'(territory 0f) the
East Saxons'
the) settlers around
Dorn' ('Dorchester') N
36 Sornerset'(territory of
the) settlers around
Somerton' ('summer
dwelling') %
'(territory of)
t
37 Devon
the Dumnonii'('the
deep ones', probably
of miners)
38 Cornwall '(territory of) t
Britons of the Cornovii'
('promontory people')
39 Scilly unknown origin
40 Avon'river'
41 Gloucester'(Roman) .t
fort at Glevum'
('bright place')
WEAR
42 Gwent'f avoured place'
43 Glamorgan'(Prince)
Morgan's shore'
44 Hereford'army ford'
Worcester '(Roman) '','^RP(E
fort of the Wigora'
45 Powys 'provincial
place'
46 Dyfed' (territory of )
the Demetae'
47 Gvvynedd' (territory of )
Cunedda' (5th-century
leader)
48 Clvvyd'hurdle' (? on
river)
49 Shropshi re'county of
fort Shrewsbury' ('fortif ied
place of the scrubland
region')
50 Warwick'dwellings by
a weir'
51 Stafford'ord beside a
landing-place'
52 Cheshire'county of
Chester' (Roman'fort')
53 Merseyside'(side of
the) boundary river'
54 Manchester '(Roman)
fort t Mamucium'
ISLES OF
55 Lancashire'(Roman) SCILLY

25 London '(territory of ) fort on the Lune'

Londinos'('the bold ('health-giving river') @
one,X?) 56 Cumbria'territory of
26 Kent'land on the bor- the Welsh' 0lr 50 100km

der'(?) 57 Man'land of Mananan' I

0
I
60mil6
27 Su rrey'southern d istrict' (an lrish god)
28 Sussex'(territory of ) 58 Orkney'whale island' (?)
the South Saxons' (AfterJ. Field, 1980.)
 t44 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 10 E.'1'YMOLOCY t45

ENCLISH PLACE NAMES SHAKESPEARE COUNTRY Shakespeare himself has been largely THE UNITED STATES
avoided. There is a Shakespeare lsland in
IN THE NE\ \ORLD Rulers, statesmen, explorers, soldiers, and
sailors are the ones usually chosen to
Canada, and a small town called Shake- The SO American states get
speare near Stratford, Ontario. And yet, if their names from six sources:
name important places. Artists, writers, a new city was to be built in the middle of
A notable feature of early Bridsh roponyms (p. 140), and composers are conspicuous by their the Australian outback, would it feel right . Over half the names (28)
is the absence of absence. Several of Shakespeare's charac- to propose its name as Shakespeare - or, come from native words,
commemorative personal names. The ters, such as Viola and Othello, have come for that mattet Chaucer, Britten, Elgar, or mainly American lndian, with
Anglo-Saxons readily named places after the chief per- to name small towns in the USA, but Constable? cr one from lnuit and one from
son who lived there, br-rt rarely used the name of a Hawaiian.
famous person fom elsewhere. Even the greatest of WASHINGTON
NW
. Eleven names are from
MoNTANA English, both people and
Anglo-Saxon kings, Alfi'ed, receives no major place- 'lght
I

OREGON places.
iiame memorial - though several localities stressing the . Six names come from
lole rather than the pelson clid follow his IDAHO SOUfH NEW
reign Spanish.
5"
DAKOTA
WYOMING
. Three names come from
(Kingston, IGngswood, etc.). Saints plovide a few cxcep- IOWA
JERSEY
French.
tions, as in the case of St Albanl It must be the sel {
NBRASKA
rn bl the ule (il NTVADA
ILLtNOtS
INDI. oHlo . One name comes from
effacing English characrer. Nor the done thing. UfAH cor-oRA00 Dutch - Rhode lsland.
KANSAS . One name comes from
Things have not much changed in Britain: rher.e seems MtssouRt
? l___ America's own history -
to be no town or village in England with a sovereign's Washington - also used for
name since the Conquest (though there is no such ARIZONA
NEW
the capital of the country,
reluctance to give a monarchical name to humbler loca- concre' Washngton D,C. ('Dstrict of
BAMA
Columbia', which helps to

i
tions, such as parks, streets, and railway stations). But, distinguish it from the state).
as with modern rourism, when the English travel 5hakespeare, Ontario, 1989. A lexical feature of the
American states is that they
abroad, they act in very different ways. In the USA,
have all been given nick-
there is a Jmestown in Arkansas, California, Kentuck names - sometimes more
ancl several other states, along with numeroLls cases of JAMES COOK (1728-79) than one. Alabama, for
example, is also called 'the
Charleston, Williamsburg Georgetown, and Victori. Captain Cook named thousands of localities Cotton State'and 'the Heart
There ae well over 100 cities and townships (and during his voyages between 1768 and 1779.
His names included the Soclety /s/ands (so
t' of Dixie', and Louisiana is
a state) with the name of lVashington. Carolina, named 'as they lay contiguous to one called'the Pelican State',
'the Creole State', and 'the
Maryland, Frederichsburg Columbus, Louisiana, another') and many of the coastal features
Sugar State' (p. 306).
of New Zealand and Australia. He
Napoleonuille, Carson, Coolidge, Lincoln, and Monroe frequently chose names belonging to I

recall a variety of rulers, pioneers, and statesmen. contemporary British personalities, such
as Halifax and Grafton. Many others were
Australia, similarl has Victoria, Thsmnia, Coohtown, based on his observations of the physical A typical mix of New World place 5' I l'-;ktnrJ .t
the Flinders Ranges, the Gibson Desert, and such colon- environment (Smoky Cape, Botany Bay) names, seen here on Cape Breton l,'
ial secretaries as Newcstle, Bthurst, Kimberky, or on events to do with the journey lsland, and along the coastline of i'?
(Weary Bay, Thirsty Sound). Mouni Cook Nova Scotia, Canada. American lndian,
Ca,e 5t.
'
l-ori:ncclil (01't I lorlt)
-/.t,Ll tr,
Normanby, and Hobart. All
over the New \World, in New Zealand, the Cook Strai and the
Cook lslands are among the few localities
English, and French names all rub Capstick 1,s1,'/ [Jo/
famous people are commemorated in ways thar are shoulders. The evidence of Scottish wall

iD
which carry his own name. South
immigration is clearly to be seen in eif ',
thoroughly alien within Britain. such names as Loch Lomond and
Pleasa nt
arbou r
The names used by the English-speaking counrries lnverness. H
noni sh
CA.PE 8RTON
of the world are remarkable in rheir diversity. Fruncisco; French in Mon*al, Baton Rouge,
NTION.\L Pn(
c ht rcamp grrxtl:y
. The envionmenr is used in much the same way as in
eally Britain, but the meaning of the names is usually
and Le Roy.
r Many names have been chosen for their literary dlt Paint
G ra ncl t ta ng
(o'
/5LAND
Mar flarce l-larbou lvla,qa ree
transparent: Twin Pea hs, Sab Le City, Kangroo B ffi associations (Lo ng llou, Hiwth, Iuanho e, Els inore) ra
Mursoret . Virtlev
and many for their romanric sound
o
Table Mountain, Little Rocle, Crooed Cree, Swan Riuer. (Meadowule, Mincs
. Local native nmes are much in evidence: Srtoga, Sunny h urs t, Arcdi , Ro s e bud
.
) .

Tallhassie, and Olahoma from American Indian Pedestrian descriptions abound, as rhey did in early boy .., Strth Bay
Moricn
languages; Prftlmtta, Kalgoorlie, and Woomera from England: there are hundreds of Newtowns, Newports,
Aboriginal languages; Wanganui, Taurng, and Mount Pl,easan, and Greenuilles around the English- i'5. r
rc /.
rcty l.lt:od' Port
Aroafrom Maori. speaking world. North Ba1t, South Island, Bridgeport, I
t_
f'r lrrrlon
o Inspirational names have been imported from the Center Point, and Hill Ci4t suggest a singular lack of
C.George
Judrquc
Sr 6 corge G tts Bo
Old Vorld: Paris, Berlin, London, Athens, Memphis, imagination - or perhaps simply pioneer fatigue. Boy l
Hertford. Sevelal have a modifier New London, New r By contrast, many names display a wild and vivid Fou rchu
'lr
Norfolle. inven tiveness : H o t C ffi e (Mississipp i), Knu c le le s (Ken- vcr
o Important evenrs or feelings are recorded: ri A se
Cape tucky), and Dfficub (Tnnessee). Tsnus (Texas) is L
.LH
Catstrophe, Waterloouille, Encounter By, Hope Valley, spelled backwards to avoid a clash wirh an abeady lnville hat
5 (onso
Fort Defiance, Fog Bay, Hard Luch Cree. existing Sunsetin the same state. Tuth or Consequences lo
The language of the settlers has been a major influ- (New Mexico) changed its name from Hot Springs olx: Loso
ence: Spanish in Los Angeles, Saumento, and Sn under the influence of a radio game show.
t46 PAR-f II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 1O ETYMOLOGY 147

Street-wise
The names ofpubs, shops, houses, alleys, centres, mar-
kets, parks, promenades, and quaysides, alongwith the
dozens of other locutions available in English to
describe 'the srreer where we live', provide a rich sup-
ply of data for the place-name enthusiasr. Each English
pub sign, for example, has a story to rell, and can give
a fascinating glimpse of social history. The Bible and
Crownwas a Cavalier drinking-toast. The Rising Sun
was a heraldic alh.rsion (to the arms of the House of
Ynfu). The Fing Bullderives fi'om stagecoach names.
Each house name, roo, tells a personal stor as amply
demonstrated by the thousands of records in the files
of the Names Societ which has collected house names
in over 45 languages (L. Dunkling, 1974).]/hy Cob-
webs? Not what the word suggests, but an acronym
- etymological ones.
'Currently Owned by the \oolwich Equitable Build- THE ENGLISH PLACE-
ing Society . \/hy Hy*eria? Next door to a house called NAME SOCIETY
Wisteria. Why Thistledew? Derivedfrom'This'll do'. For over half a century,
Street names are parricularly intriguing, partly there has been a society
devoted to the study of
because ofthe evidence rhey provide about social his- English place names. lt is the
tor and partly because oftheir continuing social asso- English Place-Name Society,
ciations. People will often take note of the name before founded in 1923 at the sug-
gestion of Allan Maweri at
deciding to buy a house in a particular srreer. Many the time Baines Professor of
refuse to live in a Sneetatall, but prefer Auenue, Chse, English Language at the
Close, Crescent, Driue, Gardens, Vills, or some other University of Liverpool. The
substitute word. Local government offces often
Society had an ambitious
aim: to carry out research
receive requests to change a street name, and a con- into all the place names of
siderable amount of time can be devoted to choosing England, and to publish its
surveys, county by county.
the names in a new area of housing developmenr. As Mawer became the first
so often in place-name studies, social issues outrank Director of the Society,
which moved with him to
University College London
in 1929. After his death in
1942, the Society found a
home first in Reading, then
LIFF, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING
Place names often reflect and influence the way society
behaves, and are thus a ready butt of comedy and satire. ln
any country, a name can immediately bring to mind a social
milieu, or convey a stereotype of it. ln London Mayfair sits
uneasily alongside Wapping, as does Brooklyn Heights
alongside Brownsville in New York City.
Add social nuance to the etymological histories of many
place names, which have led to recognizable phonetic
associations with other words in the language, and to the
symbolic potential of certain sound sequences (p.250), and we
have the situation which allows a book such asThe Meaning of
Llrf to appear. Written in 1983 by Douglas Adams, the author
of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and John Lloyd, it
perfectly illustrates the evocatve power of English place
names. However, the authors evidently have, deep down, by
their own admission. a serious purpose: to remedy some of the
lexical def iciencies of the language (p.133) by making use of
the place names, which, as their preface points out, 'spend
their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts
pointing at places'. Here are some examples from A to H.
Ahenny (adj.) The way people stand when examining other

* ,fu
{irffifr#ffi
-.i
i'i
I'
CITY STREETS
Part of a plan of the City of London,
taken from John Leake's An exact
surveigh of the sfreets lanes and
churches contaned within the ruines
of the city of London, published in
1667, after the Great Fire of 1666.
Studies of London's streets date from
the 'l6th century, and there are now
several name guides and dictionaries.
While the etymologies are sometimes
controversial, they are always.interest-
ing - and surprisingly little known.
Downing Street Named dfteT the sol-
dier and diplomat, Sir George Down-
inS (c. 1623-84), who held a lease on
the land.
Kingsway Named for King Edward Vll
(reigned 1901-10).
Oxford Street Named after Edwrd
Harley, second Earl of Oxford, who
t'' "'.
-:.
'r'F
\ (cf. p. 29s).
,t
owned the land in the early 18th
century.
Piccadilly Named after the ruffed lace
collars (known as pickadills) popular
in the early 17th century. According
to one theory these collars were
particularly associated with a certain
tailor, whose house came to be
dubbed Pickadilly Hall. The name
later transferred to its locality.
Regent Sfreet Named after the Prince
_Regent who in 1820 became
George lV.
Shaftesbury Avenue Named after
Anthony Ashley Coope seventh Earl
of Shaftesbury (1801-85), the factory
reformer and philanthropist.
Soho Originally a hunting-cry, and per-
haps the name of an inn in the area.
Strand The 'shore' of the Thames.
Tottenham Court Road 'the court of
Totta's village'.
although this programme
wrLL|AM PENN (1644-1718)
The founder of Pennsylvania, the
son of Admiral Sir William Penn,
after whom the state was named.
The younger Penn himself named
and planned Philadelphia ('broth-
erly love'). Because of his Quaker
beliefs, he did not want to name
each street after the most import-
ant person who lived in it (as was
the existing practice). People, in
his view, were equal before God.
He therefore introduced a num-
bering system, using the geomet-
rical layout of the city as a guide.
East-West streets were called Flrst
Street, Second Street, and so on.
North-South streets were given
names from nature, such as Wal-
nut Street and P,ne Sfreet. Many
other towns adopted the system,
with the result that American city
centre nomenclature is now very
different from its British counter-
part. There is no UK idiom cor-
responding to such US elliptical
expressions as'First and Vine' (for
the intersection of First Street and
Vine Street).
in Cambridge (1946), then
back in University College
(1951), finally in 1967 mov-
ing its chief office to its pre-
sent location, the University
of Nottingham, where it
came under the direction of
Professor Kenneth Cameron.
The Society aimed to pub-
lish a volume a yea; and
was given a setback by
World War 2, 75 volumes
had appeared by 1998. Fur-
ther volumes on Norfolk
and Leicestershire were in
preparation. Res-earch con-
tinues into several other
areas, a journal regularly
appears, and there are plans
for more surveys.
As the reports of its Secre-
taries show, the history of
the Society is a remarkable
story of enthusiasm, loyalty,
and scholarship. lt has
always been precariously
housed, with resources
barely adequate for its
work. Several other coun-
tries have well-funded
institutes devoted to place-
name study (such as those in
Scandinavia). By contrast,
the volumes of the English
Society have always been
produced on a shoestring.
The British Academy has
been particularly support-
ive, as has Nottingham
University, but the support
of the Society's members
has also been crucial, in
enabling the Society to
achieve so much in such a
relatively short time.
(See also p. 456).
people's book-shelves.
Amersham (n.) The sneeze which tickles but never comes.
Banff (adj.) Pertaining to, or descriptive of, that kind of facial
expression which is impossible to achieve except when
having a passport photograph taken.
C/un (n.) A leg which has gone to sleep and has to be hauled
around after you.
Detchant (n.) That part of a hymn (usually a few notes at the
end of a verse) where the tune goes so high or so low that
you suddenly have to change octaves to accommodate it.
Duleek (n.) Sudden realisation, as you lie in bed, waiting for
the alarm to go off, that it should have gone off an hour
ago.
E/y (n.) The first, tiniest inkling you get that something,
somewhere, has gone terribly wrong.
Ewelme (n., vb.) The smile bestowed on you by an air hostess.
Goole (n.) The puddle on the bar into which the barman puts
your change.
Happle (vb.) To annoy people by finishing their sentences for
them and then telling them what they really meant to say
Hoff (vb.) To deny indignantly something which is palpably
true.
WHERE NAMES GIVE WAY TO NUMBERS
This beautiful object goes by the name of NGC 6302. NGC stands
for New General Catalogue, a listing o 7,840 nebulae made by
the Danish astronomer Johan Dreyer in 1888. An earlier cata-
logue, compiled by Frenchman Charles Messier: lists objects using
Messier's initial and a serial number: the so-called Crab Nebula,
for example, is Ml. Several other catalogues provide names in
this way. With so many objects in the sky to be identified, numeri-
cal listing is the only practicable method.
Certain nebulae, galaxies, and clusters can also be identified in
other ways, with reference to the constellation or large-scale star
pattern in which they appear. Centaurus A, for example, refers to
the first radio source to be found within the constellation of Cen-
taurus. Greek letters are also used as identifiers, asin Alpha
Centauri.
Descriptive labels are used for a small number of well-known
stellar objects, based on their fancied resemblance to terrestrial
phenomena. Examples are the Crab Nebu/a and the Ring Nebula.
This approach, ancient in origin, provided the original names of
the constellations, and is most widely recognized in the signs of
the Zodiac.
 I 1rl P^t r' u rN(r.tsH v()cAIlrJt,,\ly 10 E'fYM()t_()(Y 1 /+9

pet forms, technically called hypocoristics (Netl, Jojo). PRESIDENTIAL INITIALS

PERSONAL NAME,S Tlrele is no problem wtrh Pete being felt to be the SHAKESPEARE'5 SIG NATURES
'same'name as Peter,L.ttttis Beth always felt to be the
The spelling variation found both in the form of the let- .,...' Jt j
There no linguistic irnpropriety more likely to irr.it-
i.s srre as Elizabeth? in personal names is well ters, and in the abbreviations , lt..' rt',i l .,
I - ,..1"

atc people than :r rnis-spelling of their name; and norh- Pelsol.ral names in English ar.e ger.rer.ally classifiecl illustrated by the corpus of used. (The parentheses
\..
ing more likely to fascinate them than an accounr of
theil namet origins. Very few, however., know where
into tlrree types. The rtrst Tktme (or giuu.t rtatne, for-
merly often callecl drc Clrstitu ttanrc) isdistinguishecl
six signatures known to
come from the hand of ;:::lii:,i[:! ;ir', 4

+'f
William Shakespeare. They known names, such variants
theil narne comes fi.om, though etyrnoiogical aware- fi'onr tlre sut"ntnle (or fmi nama) , ancl both f th... are all found in documents would present serious prob- ,,?'..*.*-ll
ness of first names often accompanies pr.egnancy. The
stucly of pelsonal narnes, in any case, suffer.s fi.orn the
fi'om the tnitlc/le narne (s), where pr.esent. In rhe early dated between 1612 and
1616. The last three belong
lems of identification.
'*t::
qe
f- -" f' f " '

Middle Ages, there wcre only fir.sr narnes. Surnames to pages 1 , 2 and 3 of his will &.i'I
srme kincl of research difficulties as cloes the str_rdy of came later' - adc{itional names usecl to aid iclentifica- (25 March 1616), which was (1) Will(ia)m Shakp(er) 2 5
place names (p. 140). The earlier.fonns of a name are Franklin D. Roosevelt written shortly before his (2) William Shakspe(r)
tion between people who had the same given name
death; the hand is slightly (3) W(illia)m Shaksper
often uncertain. Scribes may have introcluced errors (the term is from French sur + tt07?t, ancl is found in shaky, and the signatures do (4) William Shakspere
while copying fi'om one lnanuscript to another, or di English from the l4th century). The practice of using not end confidently. There is
(5) Willi(a)m Shakspere
felent clialect pronunciations my have lecl to diver- agreat deal of variation
one or more midclle names clid nor emer.ge unril dle (6) William Shakspeare
between each example,
gent spellings of the same name. The social pressure to 17th centur ancl there were soon clivergences between 3 6
use a standard spelling, moreover, clid nor ernerge Llnril Britain ancl the USA. The Arnerican fashion was ro use
the iSth cenruly, ancl eallier writers saw no pioblern the midclle nalne, rollrillely recl-rcing it ro an initial let-
Types of surname
in spelling a persont name in a var.iety of ways. In one ter', as in \,Villim P l{nott. The British fashion was PLAYING WITH SURNAMES But now, when the door-plates of Misters
Most surnarnes can be classified fi'om an etymological and Dames
stud over 130 variants of the name Minuaringwere eithe to ignore the rnicldle name, or to keep it in full, The comic possibilities of English sur- Are read, each so constantly varies
found among the parchments belonging to thaifarni- especially when it was needecl ro maintain a family tra- point ofview into one offour types. names have always attracted the writer, From the owner's trade, figure, and
ly. Nonetheless, thanks ro over cellrury of acaclemic clition, or to clistinguish otherwise iclentical names. In Harry S. Truman .'IheI derive fi'om a place llame or general topo- as can be seen in the cast lists of any com- calling, surnames
\X/elsh English, for edy by Shakespeare or Sheridan, or the Seem given by the rule of contraries.
stucly of personal narnes, a great cleal of reliable infor- exarnple, one might hear a John The 32nd and 33rd presidents graphical location, iclentifying where a person has
ofthe Unted States. The D characters of Charles Dickens or Mervyn
mation now exists, ancl is available for consultation in Arthur Jones being diffelentiatecl fi.om a John Bryn corne frot. This is by faL the largest class of nares. Mr Box, though provoked, never doubles
stands for Delano, but the S Peake:
his fist,
name clictionalies. Jonas, with the miclclle name actirlg as a kincl of sur- stands for - nothing. lixarnples: Nortnan, Moor, Hall, Chcxcrfeld, Strcet, Bottom, Fl ute, Sta rvel i ng, Snout... Mr Burns, in his grate, has no fuel;
The qrrestion of what cor.ults es a r)anle is not a sim- Truman's grandfathers were Abso ute, La ng u i sh, M a I a p rop,
name (ancl the tlue sLlrname often elided, with people Mr Playfair won't catch me at hazard or
I
Wood.
Solomon Young and Shippe O'Trigger...
ple one to answer. Variations ir-rvolving a single letter talking farniliarly abour 'John Arthur' and 'John Truman. As his daughter . 'IheI tepresent an occupation - also a lalge class of Pardiggle, Skimpole, Snagsby, Bucket...
whist,
Mr Coward was wing'd in a duel.
may be considered minor or. major: Steuan is usr-rally Blyn'). Sequences of rniddle nalnes are also to be Deadyawn, F I a n ne cat, Pru nesqua o t;
recalled: 'Dad owed the nrlrres. Examples: Coole, Thllor, Clrl, Sntith, 'llu"ner, Mr Wise is a dunce, Mr King is a whig,
I I I

considerecl the same name as Stephen(bLrt'spellecl with middle initial in his name to Flay...
founcl, especially when a farnily finds itself having to ()ooper. Mr Coffin's uncommonly sprightly,
a v') and Catherine as l(atherine, bu Cltristine is less both grandparents. To The verses below also continue an ancient And huge Mr Little broke down in a gig,
remembe particLtlar lelatives or ancesrors, or when placate their touchy elders, . They express kinship, the relationship to a parent or' tradition of word-play. They are a small While driving fat Mrs Golightly.
clearly tlre same as Christina, and Frncis is certainly religious ol orhel pracrices inrervene (sr"rch as adcling a his parents added an S, but
not the same as Frncas. Many names have more sub- studiously refrained from
ancestor being shown by the worcl-ending. A fir'st part of a work by one James Smith, pub-
Mr Barker's as mute as a f ish in the sea,
saintt narne). Eccentricity alouncls: there ar.e seveal lished in Ernest Weekley's The Romance of
Mr Miles never moves on a journey;
deciding whether it stood for tame lnay also be usecl without any special ending.
stantil varianrs - shortened fornts (Beth, Pete), forms casesof parenrs giving their child 26 names, each Narnes (1914).
Mr Gotobed sits up till half-after three,
Solomon or Shippe.' l'ixarnples: Johnson, Robartson, V(atleins, Nicholas,
with enclings marking farniliarity (Dary, Mike), and beginning with a differenr letrer of the alphabet. (M. Truman, 1973.) 'lhornas.
Men once were surnamed from their Mr Makepeace was bred an attorney.
shape or estate Mr Gardiner can't tell a flower from a
. They are nicknames, expressing some physical, (You all may from History worm it); root,
Short forms Regional forms There was Lewis the Bulky, and Henry the Mr Wilde with timidity draws back,
ELIZABETHAN FAMILY trrolal, or other characteristic. Examples: Long Little,
Bess Lisa Elspet, Elspeth, Elspie Great, Mr Ryder performs all his journeys on foot,
Bet Lisbet (Scottish) Elizabeth is an ancient name, appearing in the old restament as the name of Mooc, Fox, Brown, Young Rich. John Lackland, and Peter the Hermit. Mr Foote all his journeys on horseback.
Beth Lisbeth Aaron's wife, and in the New Testament as the mother of John the Baptist. lts
Eliza Liz Hebrew meaning is not entirely clear, but Etisheba might be interpretd as
Elsa Liza 'oath of God' or'God is perfection,. lts role in both Jewish and Cl.rristian
traditios made it a very common name in Europe. ln Britain, its popularity
grew after the reign of Elizabeth l, and it became one of the top three giri,s MEDIEVAL SURNAMES William le Boteler (Butler- a

names (along wirh Mary and Ann) for 300 years. bottle-maker) [*. &r$&fl'*!.F
The name has developed many variants and shortened forms, as can be An extract from one of the John de Cruce (Cross - someone who
ELIZABETH
seen from the figure. lt is normally spelled with an ,s, on the continent of medieval Hundred Rolls, part of the lived near an outdoor cross)
Europe, but this spelling has now entered English-speaking areas also, along list compiled for Sussex (Arundel). Henry le Waleys (Walsh -the
with such European forms as E/rse and ,'ette. These variations raise a majoi Such rolls provide an excellent western Celtic'foreigner')
issue of classification. rf two people were to examine all the names relate to
source of information about the Thomas le Clerc (Clark)
Elizabeth, would they agree that they are variants of the one name, or would early history of personal names. The Alexander de Leycestre (ester)
they think of some forms as different names? And which foreign equivalents following names have been taken Reginald le Blond (Blunt)
Foreign forms
from various 13th-century lists, with lohn Rex (King)
Elisabeth (common European are now so nativized that they would be considered English names?
one of its modern equivalents (and, William Neuman (Newman - a
spelling) . Elizabeth began to lose favour around the turn of the present century, and where needed, an explanation) newcomer to the area)
Babette, Elise, Lise, Lisette (French) has not been in the top 20 girl's names since then. This is rather surprisig,
given in parentheses. Ste p h e n Co rn eva e is (Co r nwa I I is)
Pet forms Elsa, Else, llse, Liesel (German) especially in Britain, as it is the name of two of the best-known Britsh I

Bessie Libby Bettna, Elisabetta (ltalian) women of the century, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who became the wife of King
Baldwin le Bocher (Butcher) Not all medieval names remain
Bessy Lilibet lsabel, lsabella, lsbel, lsobel, lzzie, George Vl, and her daughter, who became eueen Elizabeth ll.
Will iam de Paris (Parish) productive in modern times.
Betsy Lizzie Sabella (Spanls h/ Po rtuguese) Envoi Richa rd I e Paumer (Palmer - Examples of such dead surnames can
Bette Lizzy Elils (lrish Gaelic) 'People always grow up like their names. lt took me thirty years to work off someone who had made a be seen in the occupational names
Betty Tetty Ealasaid (Scottish Ga el ic) the effects of being called Eric. lf lwanted a girl to gro*'u beautiful l,d call pilgrimage to the Holy Land) o' Stephen le Hatter and Henry le
E lsie Bethan (Ulle/sh) her Elizabeth ... '(Letters of George Orwell, originally Eric Blair). Wimpler.
 150 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY
1O ETYMOLOGY l5r

Types of first name

There is no agreed way of classifying frst names, bur NAMING FASHIONS surrounded their marriage Shakespeare's character
Data sources about naming habits in other counrries, and ethnic
we can distinguish several rypes on etymological just four years previously. names have been little used. The lists given below, which do not give all the variant differences re now being more seriously addressed. A
There is no doubt that . Names with religious
grounds. there are fashions in
How many people do you spellings, are based on a diverse range of infol'mation significant proporrion of the people of Britain and the
associations form a major know called Portia, Romeo,
. They may identify a parricular physical characeris- naming. ln a particularyear, group. They include Old Cordelia, or HamletT
sources. They include British parish regisrers, probably USA have non-English-speaking backgrounds, and
ric: Keuin ('handsome at birth), Murice (,dark- one boy in three and one Testa ment na mes (./oseph, o Film, television, and the most important souce of early names. Modern the naming fashions of their original counrries are
girl in five are given one of Ruth, Eve, David), New popular music are
skinned, Moorish'), Adam ('red complexion'). \X/ithin names can be traced through the yearly indexes of the often included in modern name surveys. A Dictionary
the 10 top f irst names. We Testament nam es (Mark, undoubtedly the dominant
this category we might also include very general all 'know'which names John, Mary),saints' names contemporary nfluences,
various birth registry ofces. A popular source is the of First Names (1990), by Patrick Hanks and Flavia
descriptions, such as Charles ('man'), Thomas (;twin,).
wthn our culture are old- (Teresa, Bernardette, with people using the birth announcement columns published by national Hodges, provides supplements on rhe common
fashioned (Herbert, percy,
. They may relate ro a rime or place of origin, or to a Francis, Dominic), and names of the stars(Marlon, newspapers (though inevitably these lists are socio- names of the Arab world and the subcontinent of
Nellie, May), and which are especiallythe namesof Marilyn, Cary, Kylie, E|vis) or
,fpe of acriviry: Barbara ('foreign'), Francis ('French- modern (Karen,Joanne, patron saints (George, the characters they create.
economically biased). And name specialists have car, India. They re names about which most white
man' ), No e I (' Christmas'), G e o rge ('farmer').
Craig, Darren). But why do David, And rew, Patrick). . Some names attract ried out many surveys of their own, such as compiling Anglo-Saxons have no clear intuitions, even ro rhe
. They often express a real or desirable characteristic:
names come and go? We find the same influences disapproval in particular lists of students at various universities in English- extent of reco gnizing whether they belong to boys or
among English-speaking traditions (and approval in
Peter ('rocli), Agnes (ure'), Alexander ('defender of r Traditionallt members of immigrants whose origins others): for example,
speaking parts of the world. One unpublished survey, to girls - Arabic names such as Kamal ('perfection'),
men'), Hi lry ('cheerful'), Steph en ('crown').
the British royalfamily have lie outside ofthe Judaeo- Protestant names such as by C. V. Appleton, takes as its scope every frsr name Khlid ('eternal'), Mahmud ('praiseworthy'), and
been influential in the UK, Christian tradition: Krish na,
. utherand Ca/vrn would not used by the Smiths of England and \ales since 1837. Mnsur ('victorious'); Indian names such as Raui
Th.y can express a parenr's feelings: Amlt ('loved,), as shown by the popularity Arjun, Sanjay, Shakti, Kanti usually be found in Roman
Most studies to date have focused on Britain and ('sun'), Ram ('pleasing'), Vsu ('bright'), and Vish-
Abigail ('father rejoices'), Lucy (light;) , Benjamin (,son of such names a s William (from Hindu tradition), Catholic households
of my right hand').
and George. This influence Su ri nde r, Rupi nder (trom (though ths association is rhe USA, but information is slowly accumulating Lutlnath ('lord of all').
now seems to be waning: Sikhism). and Mu ha m mad, less strong among African-
o Some names are authors' inventions.
They may have El iza beth, Phi I i p, Charl es, Abdallah (from tslam). Americans).
an etymological meaning (as with Shakespeare,s
and Diana have caused no . Literature can have a TOP TEN FIRST NAMES
Mirnd, in The Ti:mpex, which means ,fit to be
upsurge in the use of these marked influence, as seen in There are also certain names

admired') or they may have no obvious meaning at all

names in recent years.
Neither Charles nor Diana
the history of use which are almost universally 1700 1800 1900 1950 mid-1960s mid-l970s mid-1980s mid-990s
surrounding A/ice (after avoided in English-speaking
(as with Wendy, devised byJ. M. Barrie on the bsis figured in even the top 50 Lewis Carroll), Jusflne (after
of names in the 1985 lists for
countries because of their
Girls in England Mary Mary Florence Susan Tracey Claire Sarah
a childt coinage, fwendlt-wendy, and used in peter pan
England and Wales, for
Lawrence Durrell), and taboo status (Judas, Adolf,
and Wales Elizabeth Ann Mary Linda Deborah Sarah Claire
Rebecca
Amy
Rhett (after Margaret Lucifer).
(1e04)). example, despite the Mitchell's Gone With the Ann Elizabeth Alice Christine Julie Nicola Emma Sophie
. Many names conrain an element derived from popular acclaim which had t/Vrnd). Surprisi n g ly,
Sarah Sarah Annie Margaret Karen Emma Laura Charlotte
Jane Jane Elsie Carol Susan Joanne Rebecca Laura
Hebrew Jehoualt or other designations for'God,: Margaret Hannah
John, Edth Jennifer Alison Helen Gemma Lauren
Jonathn, Josephine, Joan, Gabriel, Jeremy, Emnuel, Susan Susan Elizabeth Janet .lacqueline Rachel Rachel Jessica
Elizbeth. Martha Martha Doris Patricia Helen Lisa Kelly Hannah
. Names are often taken from plants, gemstones, and Hannah
Catherine
Margaret
Charlotte
Dorothy Barbara Amanda Rebecca Vctoria Jade
Ethel Ann Sharon Karen Katharine Emma
other natural objects: Susan('lily'), Fern, Holly, Rose-
Boys in England John William William David Paul Stephen Christopher Daniel
Rublt, Crytstal. This practice was very poular in and Wales William John John John David Mark Matthew Thomas
rytary,
the 19th cenrury. Thomas Thomas George Peter Andrew Paul David Matthew
r Surnames may emerge as first names another com- Richard James Thomas Michael Stephen Andrew James Joshua
- James George Charles Alan Mark David Daniel Adam
mon l9th-century practice: Baron, Beuerley, Fletcher, Robert Joseph Frederick Robert Michael Richard Andrew Luke
Mxwell. Many of these names were originally place Joseph Richard Arthur Stephen lan Matthew Steven Michael
Edward Henry
TT (p. 141): Clffird. ('ford near a slope'), Diugtas
James Paul Gary Daniel Michael Christopher
Henry Robert Albert Brian Robert Christopher Mark Ryan
(a Celtic river name, 'dark water'), Siirley (.bright George Charles Ernest Graham Richard Darren Paul Jack
clearing').
o Some names have a particular linguistic 1875 1900
structure, 1950 1960 1970 mid-1980s mid-1990s mid-1990s
which becomes espe.iaily noticeablehen rhe names (white) (non-white)
are in fashion. The prefxes De-, L-, and Sha- are Agatha Christie
Girls in the USA Mary Mary Linda Mary Michelle Jennifer Ashley Jasmine
Prince Albert Kylie Minogue Anna Ruth Mary Deborah Jennifer Sarah Jessica Brianna
common African-American elemenrs, for example: Elizabeth Helen Patricia
Some names have but a The nameA/bertgrew Karen Kimberly Jessica Sarah Brttany
Dejuan, Deshwn, Ladonn, Latish, Shirra, Shafaye. Some names are regionally
single resonance. Most enormously in popularity Emma Margaret Susan Susan Lisa Ashley Brittany Ashley
distinctive. Kylie is an
Several endings, such as - ene, - ette, - elle, - on, people know only one Alice Elizabeth Deborah Linda Tracy Amanda Kaitlyn
-irr, towardsthe end ofthe lgth Australian name, but it Edith Dorothy
Alexis
Kathleen
occur frequently in conremporary feminine^nd
forms:
Agatha - Christie
(1891-1975). Other
century, as a consequence of began to become popular in
Florence Catherine Barbara
Patricia
Kimberly
Kelly
Nicole
Megan
Nicole
Taylor
Emily
iessica
Chelsea
the marriage of Queen Brtain in the late 1 980s as a
Jolene, Marlene, Cltarlene, Darlene
... personality-dominant first Victoria to Prince Albert. lt
May Mildred Nancy Catherine Angela Katherine Megan Courtney
. Several names are of obscure or unknown origin: names include Raque/ does not appear in the ist of
result of the fame of
Australian actress and
Helen Frances 5haron Cynthia Pamela Lindsey Samantha Kayla
Katharine Alice
I
(Welch), Dustrn (Hoff man), thetop50namesin 1800, Karen Lori Chrstine Stephanie Katherine Sierra
Anton!, Artltur, Belinda, Maryt. singer, Kylie Minogue
and Errol (Flynn). Some but it had reached the top (1969 -). The meaning of Boys n the USA William John Robert Michael Michael Michael Michael Chrstopher
sources may not be real: 10 by I900. Surprisingly, the name is obscure: it may John William Michael David Robert Christopher Joshua Michael
llnus for most people is a Vlcforia was never derive from an Aboriginal Charles Charles James Robert David Matthew Matthew Brandon
cartoon character (from intensively used in the lgth word for'boomerang', or Harry Robert John James Jacob
James Joshua Joshua
Pea nuts), though perhaps century, probably because be an adaptation of another James Joseph David John John David Zachary James
not for chemists (Lrnus of the special respect in name, such George James William Mark
as Kyle or Kelly. Jeffrey Daniel Christopher Anthony
Pauling). which this Queen was held, Frank George Thomas Tyler
Steven Steven Ryan Devonte
though it became popular Robert Samuel Richard Thomas Christopher Andrew Brandon Jonathan
during the 1 940s. Joseph Thomas Gary William Brian Brian Andrew William
Thomas Arthur Charles Joseph Mark John Nicholas Justin
 152 PART II
Nicknames
The word nicname is first recorded in the 15th cen_
(an
tury: eke name' (Old English ehe, ,also,) was an
extra or additional name used ro express such attitudes
as familiarit affection, and ridicule. Nicknames are
usually applied ro people, but places and things can
have them too. All rhe US States have nicknames
(p.145), as do many rourisr and business areas (Cost
Bru itt Spatn, Silicon Valley in California), cities
(Motown for Detroit), counrries (The Emerald Isle for
'Ireland), and asrronomical bodies (Red plnet for
Mars). There are even nicknames based on nicknames,
such as Costa Geriatricafor the coastal towns in sourh_
em England where many retired elderly people live.
Among the objects which have been givenni&r,.*.,
are flags ol Roger), newspapers (The Tbundererfor
The Times of London), symphonies (Eroica),
clocks (Bzg Ben). A nickname can also have several
and.
applications: the Big Bang may have happened at the
beginning of the r-rniverse, bur it also ocurred at the
momenr of deregulation in the City of London Stock
Exchange in October 1986.
Personal nicknames are commonest among chil_
dren, but any closely-knit group will generate'nick-
names (such as the members of a family, sporrs ream,
or army unit). People who tend to be nicknamed are
special friends or enemies, those in aurhoriry (teach_
ers, officers, politicians), and anyonewho has achieved.
notoriery (especially criminals). It is an important
index of intimacy when we feel comfortable in using
someonet nickname to their face. Some nicknames
have come to be associated with parricular surnames:
THE LANGUAGE
OF VALENTINES
An extract from a page
of 5t Valentine's Day
greetings, taken from
The lndependent on
Sunday on 14 February
1993. Probably on no
other occasion is the
practice of idiosyncratic
nicknaming taken to
such great extremes.
The entries are also
notable for their use
of bizarre and deviant
linguistic features
operating at all levels
of language (p.400).
ENGLISH VOCABULARY
Chly goes with White, Nobby with Clarle, Spider
with \I/ebb, and Spudwith Murphy. Some first names,
likewise, have standard nicknams: Chuc (Charles),
Menace (Dennis), Spihe(Michael). Hair colour (Gin_
ger) or absence (Bldy), spectacles (Four-Eyes), size
lnrb|, and other feature, of phyriqi. o. b'.harriour
have long been a prime source.
Pseudonyms
Many people adopt a name orher than their original
name fo^r a parriclilar purpose perhaps ro convey an
-
image ofsome kind, to avoid an unpleasant association,
to make their identity more memorable, to hide their
identit.or simply to make their name more pro_
nounceable or easier to spell. Terminology varies, bur
pseudonym, pen-nltrne, nom de ptume,' stltge_nltme,
bynme, lias, and allorytmhavea[teen ur.d, ith di
ferent nuances, to identi$, the practi... hil. rh.
option is available to anyone, certain professions atrracr
the use of pseudonyms - notabl authorr, actors, and
media personalities. Among famous writers who usecl
pen-nmes are the Bront sisters, Charlotte, Emil and
Anne (Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell),Charles Dodgson
(Lewis Carroll), and Charles Dickens (Boz). Slage-
names have three mail.r methods of derivation _ th".y
may change a surname only (FredAstairefrom Fredei_
ich Austerlit), a firsr name o nly (Kim Nouafrom Mar-
in Nou), or the whole name (Boris Karlofffrom
(j-l!t1m (enry Pmx, CliffRichndfrom Haroid Rogu
Web| John Wayne from Mrion Michael Monison).
Single-item names are also known: T*iSg! (Lalelt
Horn fui), Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccoiej.
, 1
ONOMASTIC
UNIQUENEsS
President Andrew Jackson
(1767-1845), seventh
president of the USA, known
as OId Hickory, whose strong_
willed administration gave
him his nickname (a tree
known for its tough wood).
From time to time someone
given
is a nickname, in this
way. which remains unique to
that person. There is on ly one
Merry Monarch (Charles ll),
one Capability Brown
(Lancelot Brown, 18th-
century landscape-gardener),
Victoria).
one lron Duke (the Duke of
Wellington), and one O/d
Hickory.
Personal names abound in
idiosyncrasy. The telescoping
of certain British surnames is
a well-known feature which
defies predictability: there is
no way in which anyone could
guess the pronunciation
o Marjoribanks as
'Marshbanks', of
Featherstonehaugh as
'Fanshaw', or o Cholmondley
as'Chumley'. Social, not
linguistic, tuition is what is
1O ETYMOLOGY r53
(FE)MALE o The stressed syllables of female
SOUNDS male names are used much more
when rirst names are siven a :ifffif;:il*"#ff?i:'f;'"
phonological analysis (p.236), some Lisa, Tina, Celia, Maxine, and the
predictably. There are several male
names which have appeared on
interesting differences emerge archetypal Fif and Mimi.Male
every list of the top 20 names in
recent times (e.9. John, David), buf.
between males and females. lt seems names in lit are far less common no one female name appears on all
the sexes do not sound the same. (Steve, Keth, peter). lists. People are much readier to be
The results reported below were . Female pet names tend to be inventive and different with female
derived from an analysis of 1,667 longer than male. A bisyllabic pet
entries in a dictionary of English first name could be either male or
names.
Whatever the explanations, it
names, but the claims can easily be ferqale, but a monosyllabic one is would appear that a name such as
checked against the lists of popular much more likely to 6e male. Jackle
names given on p.37. could be either sex, but.rack is male.
Sabrina is as clear-cut a 'feminine'
name as we are likely to find: it has
. Female first names tend to be Several other pairs share this more than two syllables, an un-
Male names Number of syllables
longer than males, in terms of the expectancy, such as Biilt\iilie and stressed first syllable, and a strong /i/ 1: 24.3o/o
number of syllables they contain. BoblBobbie. vowel. Another example is Christne,
Males are much more likely to have . Female names are much more judged by men to be the most sexy
2: 60.20/o
a monosyllabic first name (Bob, Jin, likely to end in a (spoken) vowel, 3: 13.4o/o
female name, in one US survey. By
Fred, Frank, John), and much less as with linda, Tracey, patricia, contrast, 8ob is a highly'masculine' 415:. 2.1o/o
likely to have a name of three or Deborah, Mary, Baibara.lf no| a name. Such conclusions shed some
more syllables (Christopher, vowel, the lasi sound will very likely light on the way comedians and
few be a continuant (p. 2a2), especially
Nicholas). By contrast, there are scriptwriters obtain comic effects,
monosyllabic female names in the a nasal (./ean, Kathleen, Sharon, simply by selecting an inappropriate
list (Ann, loan, May), and many of Ann). By contrast, plosives are much name. Why else would British com-
them are trisyllabic or longer more likely to be found in male end-
edian Rowan Atkinson, in one of his
(Katharine, Elizabeth, Amanda, ings (Bob, David, Dick,./ock). lnter- series, call a pretty girl in soldier's
esting comparative questions arise. ls uniform Bob, or the British satirical
. 95 per cent of male names have a Kate more male-sounding than Katlr programme Sptting /mage advise its
first syllable which is strongly or Katle ot Katherne? Nthing is
lsteners to 'pretend your name is
stressed, whereas only 75 per cent of more likely to generate controversy. Keith'(in The Chicken Song, Virgin
female names show this pattern. lt is lt is of course difficult, perhaps Records, I 986)?
not difficult to think of female impossible, to explain these trends. (After A. Cutle J. McQueen &
names which begin with an un- Could the sound-symbolic associa- K. Robinson, 1990.)
stressed syllable (Patrica, Elizabeth, tions of /i/ (p.250), such as smallness
Amanda, Rebecca, Michelle), but and brightness, explain the bias of
male names are few and far that vowel? Can we relate the trend Female names Number of syllables
between (Jerome, Demetrius).ln towards use of an initial stressed syl- 1:
fact, none of the popular British Proportions of male
9.7o/o
lable to greater masculine aggres_'
male names n the past 75 years has siveness? One thing is sure: is names and female names 2: 54.2o/o
had an unstressed initial syllable- much more difficult to generalize with one, two, three, 3: 29.1o/o
and only three American names.
safely about female names. popular and fourlfive syllables 415: 7o/o
I'FAITH, KATE
llUhen Henry V of England meets
Princess Katherine of France (in
Shakespeare's Henry V,5.ii), he calls
her both Katherne and Kafe. But
he uses Katherine only wth a pre-
ceding attribute - usually fair, but
also dear, Ia plus belle, and eueen
of all - each a strongly female collo-
cation. When Henry uses a straight-
forward vocative, t is Kate - an
appropriate pet form, perhaps,
from a 'plain king'who knows'no
ways to mince it in love', and who
speaks to her as a 'plain soldier'.
Kenneth Branagh as Henry
and Emma Thompson as
Katherine in a scene from
HenryV (1989)
 t54 PAI1- II ENC]I,ISH VO(]AI]I,II,AIIY I O E'I'YMOLOCY t55

Names into words salne term is also sometimes used for the clerived
OBJECT NAMES TOCOMOTIVE NAMES
In this section we have been looking at tle mny form. So, the name of the Flench acrobat Jules
Most of the larger Britsh steam locomotives have been given individual names - a weys in which elements of the English language have Lotard (1842-70) as well as the close-fitting one-
In principle, we cn give an individual name ro any practice which dates f rom the earliest railway days. George Stephenson,s Rocket (1829)
been usecl in the formation of names. It closes with a piece costume which he inrroduced in his circus acr
takes ts place alongside such contemporary names as Novelty, Locomoton, and Catch Me
entity 01' concept; in plactice, we clo this in a very could both be referred rc as epl?U)mr Similarl
Who Can. Often, series of names have been devised on a single theme, such as -
brief look at the opposite process where names are
usecl in the fonnation of new lexemes.
selective way. There seems to be an intuitive scale of castles, counties, or universities. Some names have come to be particularly well known, a
t/hen from place names, as well
lexemes which are derivecl
'nameability'which motivates us ro name things on either because of the records they ach ieved or the routes they travelled, as in the case of
the Flying Scotsman,lhe Mancunian,lhe Mallard, and the Wetsh Dragon.Ihe naming of personal name is usecl in this wa it is known as an as the place names themselves, are often known as
the lasis of their closeness or lelevance to our lives. locomotives remains, however, a distinctively British practice. elltrytn, and the process as epon))nry. Conftrsingl the toponyms (p. 140).
People and the places where they live are ar rhe rop of
The Rocket
this scale. Anirnals come next - but those animals EPONYMOUS
EPONYMOUS WORDS
which we treat as pets (dogs, cats, rabbits, budgerigals, HERO(IN)ES
Pavlova A meringue topped Crufts The annual British maverick An independent teddy bear A soft toy in the
etc.) are much more likely to receive individuai narnes with cream and fruit. Source dog show. Source: British person who refuses to shape of a bear. Source: US Fictitious or mythical people
than are the 'lower animals'. \We clo not tencl to give Anna Pavlova (1 885-1 93 1 ), dog breeder and showman conform. Source: US president Iheodore Roose- can also be eponymous: He3
Russian ballerina. The con- Charles Cruft (1 852-1 939), pioneer Samuel Augustus yelt (1 858-1 91 9), whose a real Romeo; What a
pelsonal names to spiders, slugs, ar.rcl snakes - though
coction was devised by Aus- who organized his first M averick (1 803-70), who nickname was leddy. The Scrooge!
there is a 9-year-old exception to every rule, and tralian chefs, reflecting her show in 1886. did not brand his calves. usage emerged after a
popularity during a tour of atlas: Greek Titan, Atlas.
people have been known to develop all kincls of per- cartoon showed Roosevelt,
Australia and New Zealand. Cinderella: fairy tale
sonal relationships with flienclly insecrs (such as the known as a bear-hunter,
cha racter.
sparing the life of a bear
English student in a foreign bedsit who dubled her cub.
herculean: Greek god,
daily visiting cockroach Arnold Schwarzenegger).
Hercu I es.
lekyll and Hyde: characters
Objects which move us about in groups are also in a novel by Robert Louis
relatively high on this scale: we regr.rlarly name loco- it* ) Stevenson.
June: Roman goddess, Juno.
motives, aeroplanes, buses, ancl boats. (Curiousl our
keeping up with the Joneses:
personal chariots - our auromobiles, bicycles, morol.- characters in a US comic
cycles, and skateboards - are much less frequently strip (1913).
cardigan A knitted jacket man Friday: character in
narned.) Items of special value or usefulness, such as fastened with buttons, first Daniel Defoe's Robinson
washing-machines ancl wheellarrows, also receive worn during the Crimean nicotine Chemical com- Crusoe.
names. At the other end of the scale, we do nor War as protection against pound, known for its pres- mentor Mentor, a character
the cold winters. Source: ence in tobacco. Source: in Homer's Odyssey.
normally name objects which are easily replacecl, or volt The unit of electrical English cavalry officer James French diplomat and scholar magnolia A genus of quixotic: hero of Cervantes'
which have oniy an incidental role in our iives, such as COLOUR CHARTS potential difference and Thomas Brudenell, seventh lean Ncot (1 530-1 600), shrubs and trees with large novel, Don Quixote de la
pencils, stones, and hedges. electromotive force. Source: Earl of Cardigan (1797- who introduced tobacco showy flowers. Source: Mancha.
Part of the Atlas of the been devised to identify the Paint manufacturers tend
lian physicist Al essa nd ro
Ita 1868), who led the'Charge into France. French botanist Plerre Romeo: character in
It is important to appreciate the variety of reasons Munsell Color System, thousands of distinctions not to present their cus- Volta (1745-1827), the in- of the Light Brigade' at Magnol (1 638-1 71 5), Shakespeare's Romeo and
devised by the American which can be recognized: tomers with formulae, but
which iead Lls to nalne things. Pride, affection, and artist Albert Henry Munsell for example, in one system prefer such appealing and
ventor of the electric battery. Balaclava (1 854). known for his system of luliet.
plant classification.
nostalgia combine with such hard-nosecl factors as in 1915. This was the most a particular sample of memorable (albeit arbi- Scrooge: character in
placticabilit recognizabilit memorabilit and successful of many early emerald green is identifi- trary) labels as Serenade, Dickens'story,
A Christmas Carol.
attempts to construct a log- able by the formula 5.0G Monte Carlo, Buttercup,
saleability. Many objects, such as locomotives and ical basis for colour systems. 6.7 111.2 (which refers to Shylock: character in
and Forget-Me-Nof. How-
coloured paints, are unambiguously identifiable Standard methods of nota- values for hue and chroma). eve these names vary Shakespeare's M e rch a nt
tion have of Venice.
through their number', code, or formula. They do not greatly in their relation-
ship to visual reality: Thursday: Norse god, Thor.
'need' personalizecl names, but they
Pastel Green and Silver
ale often named nonetheless. And @LOE
gvfEM Grey are intuitvely
tuLL H
if a category of objects lecomes of ATLAS
meaningful (though
special human relevance, it will ooao"'o"'"t"'
the paint shades vary
greatly between man-
attract a set of individual names, as AOALE OF HUEA
ufacturers who use
Bor.l:o':'
we see in the case of food and dink .P.'1tP3'."'l:1 these names); [//ater
(potatoes, apples, cocktails), person- Lily and Cornflower
are plausibly recog-
al procL-rcts (lipsticks, perfumes, nizable; Early Dawn
EPONYMOUS PLACES champagne: Champagne,
Fra nce.
gauze: Gaza, lsrael.
gypsy: Egypt.
mazurka: Mazowia, Poland.
muslin: Mosul, lraq.
deodorants), and hobbies (roses, and Morning Sun are conga: Congo, Africa. hamburger: Hamburg, pheasa nt: Phasis, Georg ia.
doubtfully predict- Place names are a common
orchids, bircls), The exter.rt of the io source of lexemes.
copper: Cyprus. Germany. p/sto/: Pistoia, ltaly.
able; and Nocturne currant: Corinth, Greece.
phenomenon must be appreciated: o Teans: Genoa, ltaly. rugby: Rugby (School), UK.
and Sonata have no denlm: Nmes, France jersey: )ersey, Channel sardine'. Sardinia.
for example rhere are over 7,500 5o
visual basis at all (the a Isati a n: Alsace, France. (originally, serge de Nm) lsla nds. sherry: Jerez, Spain.
natnes in use for rhe 6,000 cultivars names being chosen balaclava: Balaclava, dol I a r: 5T Joach imsthal, kaolin: Kao-ling, China. suede: Sweden.
because of their Crimea. Bohemia (which minted I abrad or: Labrador, Canada
listed in the Ntional Apple Register of semantic relevance
tangerine: Tang ier.
bikini: Bikini Atoll, Marshall silver coins called I esbia n: Lesbos, Aegean turguolse: Turkey.
the United l{ingdom (1971). It is per- to a series of colours lslands. joachimstalers, island. tuxedo: Tuxedo Park
which the manufac- shortened to thalers,
haps r.rot surplising, then, to find that :-ij:;::J;.ji::: :i': l; ' '-
turer has called
bou rbon'. Bourbon County, marathon: Marathon, Country Club, New York.
Kentucky. hence dol/ars). Greece. Venetian b/ind: Venice, ltaly.
several countries have name socieries H.
'New Harmonies'). Erusse/s sprouts: B russels, duffle coat: Du'ffel, mayonnaise: Mahn,
which prornote an interest in onomas- (See also p.171). Belgium. Antwerp. Minorca.
tic stuclies (p. 140).
 II 'f II S' l{UC'l Ul.ti Ol 'l Hll I-lrXI(t()N t57

11 . THE
tion of how best to clefne a sernanric field: shall wc say
825 fHE HAD & FACE
SEMANTIC FIE,LDS thar ftactor belongs to the fielcl of 'aglicultulal vehi-

STRUCTURE OF
4.1

824 nouns & verbs : the eye ln dtl runsteady; seenr to go rapidly on and
cles', 'lancl vehicles', or jr-rst 'vehicl es'? is flauour part of
off: ?Tl
ship's lights hlinkcd a us aross the water. ? A fluitful notion in investigating lexical srrLrcrlrle is rhe tlre semarrtic fielcl of 'taste', or tnstepa of the seman-

THE LEXICON U]; lllAmE to wnk 4 [Cl an acr of blinking:

The blink of an eye.
wlnk 1 ['fl; I@] to shur and open (onc eyc)
ruckly, sonretimes with quick slight nrove-
si.tttlttttic or lct;icrtlfe/rl- a namecl area of meaning in
which lexemes interrelate and define each other in spe-
tic field of 'flavour', or are both members of some
broacler semantic field, such as 'sensation'?
ment of the head, t show friendliness,
musement, a shred secrel, etc: He winked
c,ific ways. Think, for exarnple, of all the lexemes we These ae typical of the problerns which keep
his left eye. She winked at him and smiled. i<r.lowto do with 'fruit', or'parts of the bocly', or'vehi- semanticists in work, s rhey try to relate the neatness
L.r seeking gr-ridance abour the lexicor.r of a 2 iCj an act of doing rhis: Hc gavc a fricndly
langr-rage ,
wink. or'buildings', or'colour'. We shall have no cliffi-
c,lcs', of their analytical categories to the fuzziness of the
no book is mole widely used or appr.eciatecl than the
irrlty assigning bananrt, nostril, lorry,.totun hll, and leal worlcl. At the same time, the existence of these
rlaclitional clicrionary (p. 452). Its alphabetical organi-
scarlet to theil respective telds. To what exrenr is ir difficulties musr nor hicle the fact that a very large
zatior.r is - ollce we have lealnecl how to spell straighr- 8,25nouns: klnds of noses [C]
- l,ossible to assigr.r all the lexemes ir-r English ro a seman- number of lexemes can be grouped rogerher inro
forwarclly efficient, and its sense-by-sense enrry
oplic
tic fielcl in an unambiguous way? fields ar-rcl subfields in a fairly clear-cur way. That
stlucture is sensible and succincr. Ve might be forgiv- The task is not as straightforward as it might appear, these accounts are illurninating can be seen from their
en, therefore, for thinking that the dictionary conrains fr sevelal reasons. Some lexemes seem to belong to growing use in such clomains as foreigr.r language
everything we would evel'wllt to know about lexemes
felcls which are very difficult to define, or which are teaching and speech therap whele it has provecl
(p. I I 8). Such a belief, however, would be qr.rite wrong.
virgLre - to what field shoulcl noise or dffinlt belong? helpful to present learnels with sets of related lexemes,
Conventional dictionalies conrain very little infonna- ,liome seem to belong to more than one field - does ather than with a selies of randornly chosen items
tion about rhe way the lexicon is srrucur.ed. Boman nose
orttnge l:elong to 'fi'uit' or 'colour'? And some lexemes (p.444). And young children, too, learn much of
tVhen we talk about rhe 'srrucrure' of d0ct
the lexicon,
we are leferring to the nerwolk of n-rear-ring relation-
sceffr to fall rnidway berween mo felds does tomato - tlreir vocabulary 6y bringing lexemes rogerher in this
llre ys Roman noge a nose that cuiles out ner the top
at the trridge
belor-rg to 'fruit' ol 'vegetable'? There is also the clues- way (p.434).
ships which bir.rcl lexemes rogerher - what is known as
eyebrow [C] the line of hairs above each of fhe
its semantic structtre.No iexeme exists in splenclid iso- two human eyes: He har very thick dark eyc-
THE STYLISTIC stylistically neutral lexeme THE VOCABULARY related to ref inement, than piquant. Acetic
lation. As soon as we think of one (sa uncle), a series brows; they unke hn look frer,e.
which identifies the field
oyelld_ lC] ne of thc pieces'of covcring skin FACTOR OF WINE elegance. smell, tart. An
of others colne ro mind. Some of these lexemes help wlrich can move down to close each eye-: Fiilr
do not have eyelids and some tearuies have as a whole is placed in the
centre.
firm Sound constitution, irremediable fault.
to clene rmcle (brother, fnther, tnothe), others relate more than onc on each eye. He blinked his Some of the lexemes llUine appreciation s an positive. A desirable sharp Acidity on the nose
of perspective
This kind interesting semantic field,
to it closely in meaning (unt, cotuirt, nepheta, ttiece), eyelds to clear his evu.
eylssh tcl onc of rre smalt bais of which a
belonging to the semantic
is essential if we wish to
quality on the palate. and palate somewhere
f ield of 'madness', so beca use its lexemes a re flabby Sofl, feeble, lacking between piquant and
othels have a loosel semantic connection (relntiues, number grou from thc crlge of cach cyelid i
arranged that it is possible see order n the long lsts largely figurative acidity on the palate. pricked. Usually
humans ancl rnost hairy lnimals: The eiclrches relrouss nose of lexemes found in a the-
fn*ib, uisit, outing), ancl there may be fgurative or lit- keep dust front the eyes. I hnve an eyelish in my
eye; tt s hutltil my eve,
to see differences in their
saurus (p. 158). When we
a ppl ications from other f/at The next stage after indicating a fault.
erary uses (Urcle Sam, Uncle Tont Cobleigb), as well as stylistic type (p. 394). At fields. Terms which we flabby, wellbeyond si newy Lean, muscular on
oyobtll [C] the whlebf the eye, including rhe are linking items in the lex-
the top of the circle are would normally associate bland. Total lack of vigour the palate. Usually a wine
a few pelsonal ol idiosyncratic associations (bir.thdny, part insidc the head, which iorms a norc or fetfous noae a lose that is turned back at thc icon, we need to take with music, textiles, food, on nose and on palate; of some potential.
less round bal lower end the items which are liter-
funeral, loon). lf we rnentally probe all aspects of the pupll [C] the small black round opening which ary, academic, or technical
account of the stylistic physique, personal ity, lack of acidity; oxdaton. strlngy A texture: on the
can grow larger or smaller jn the middl of the level at which they oper-
semntic network which sulrounds uncle, we shall in character; at the bottom morality, and behaviour rub heavy Over-endowed with thin and scrawny side,
coloured parf of the eye, through which light ate. From a structural
are the colloquialisms. shoulders with terms f rom alcohol, morethan full lacking equability.
soon builcl r-rp a lalge number of connections. But if
pses
semantic point of view, the

lrle [C] thc round coloured part of the eye which Items on the left are some- colour, chemistry, botany, bodied; clumsy, lacking supple Texture, balance:
we loolr at a dictionary entry for uncle, we shall sce very surounds the pupil
what dated or archaic; opposite of sane is insane, and nutrition. Because the fi nesse. pleasant combination of
whlte [C] the whir parr of the eye around lhc not bonkers.
few of our intuitions represented there. Some works iris, which shows all the time in trc humarr eye , those on the right are rela- topic is so subjective, the meaty Rich'chunky' nose, vigour and harmony.
but is usually hiclden in animals: The whitei tively recent in origin. The (After G. Hughes, 1988.) lexicon plays a critical almost chewable f lavour. tart Sharp, nose catching,
give the bare minimum of infor.mation: 'brother of a of h eyes were bloodshot lrom lack o! sleep- role.The relationships piquant A high-toned, over- tongue curling.
father or motlrer', says ore; ancl at rtult, 'slste of a The frghtened horse showed the whitis ofits
eyes.
snub nos between the lexemes defi ne fragrant, fruity nose velvefy A textural
insane the contrasts of taste which verging on sharp, usually
father ol mother'. Nowhere in this particr-rlar book ae bllnk I [Tl;I@] to shut and open (the cyes) description : si ky, smooth,
I

quickly, usu becausc of strong light- surprise, of unsound mind the wine enthusiast seeks to confirmed by an over- a certain opulence on the
we told of the meaning relatior-rship which binds drese tears, etc: Se /iz ked (her eyes) in surprise, 2 Snub n08e a nosc that is short and flat with the not in full possession of one's faculties identify. To learn about acidic end taste. palate.
two nouns, despite dre alphabetical clistance which [l0x/g) (of distanl lights) to sem ro be end lurned back
wine is f irst to learn how to p ricked Distnctly sharper
possessed neurotic
talk about wine. Th is can (After M. Broadbent, 1983.)
divorces them. psychotic
schizophrenic be seen in the following
\hen we stucly semantic stlucrure, we are trying to AN UNCONVENTIONAL up. The lexlcon deals only niece, and cousln are all definitions, taken from a
expouncl all the relationships of rneaning rhat relate DICIONARY with the central vocabulary grouped together. maladjusted popular introduction.
of the language - some The illustration shows a
lexemes to each other. However, because of the size ancl .Jemented unbalanced b/and lmplies lack of
A page from the Longman 15,000 items - but this section from'The body, its
complexity of the English lexicon, very little of this of Conte m pora ry nonetheless requires a book functions and welfare'. Note ,,nhinged character, too mild.

structure has been clescribecl. Thele have been a few

Lexi con
of nearly 1,000 pages. the differences between the
cr Firm, brisk,
English (1981), showing how
l,ereft of reason mad bananas refreshing, zestful.
theoretical ccounts introclucing such basic notions as lexemes are first grouped To find a lexeme, such as lexical approach and the ,ton compos mentis lndicates good level
into areas of meaning and uncle, you consult a 1 25- kind of exposition which
synonymy and antonymV @.164), some arremprs t bonkers of acidity,
then arranged in page alphabetical index at might be found in an nenta
particularly in dry
I

general classification, and the detailecl investigation of alphabetical order. ln this the back ofthe book. This anatomical textbook. The crackers
barmy whites.
way t is possible to see some refers you to a particular latter would not be much
some small areas of meaning. \e now know br.oadly cuckoo dry ln relation to wine
of the semantic links topic area - C1 5, in the case concerned with such round the bend
what kincls of lexical relationship exist; but the descrip- always means not
between lexemes more o uncle, which is one of a locutions as Roman nose and gaga off one's chump sweet; sugarf ully
tive task remains. The following pages can only be clearly than in a traditional series dealing with'family snub nose, nor with the use
fermented out.
dictionary. Howeve this relations' within the overall of the phrase thewhite, or batty
illustrative, therefore, ancl can do little more rhan incli- finesse An abstract
approach has its penalties - topic'People and the family' such functions as blink and potty etc.
cate the size of the task facing those who wish to ge t qualitative term
not least, the space it takes ln C15, uncle, aunt, nephew, wink. loony nuts
to grips with lexical srrLlcrule. daft ctazy
 cott( (^lfo^t
1 1 THE STRUCTURE OF THE LEXICON
158 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 159

ANOTHER WORD FOR neuzs?

THE THESAURUS PETER MARK ROGET Royal College of Physicians,
Two ways of f inding the answer to this
THE VISUAL DICTIONARY
(1779-1869) and also ofthe Royal Soci-
ety, where he eventually question are illustrated below. The first is from A picture from the Macmillan Visua!
The notion of semantic fields (p. 157) suggests that took up the post of Secre- general to particular, identifying that neuzs is a Dictionary (1992), showing the way a
It now nearly fifty years
is
tary (1827-49). He retired matter of the intellect, to do with detailed illustration can add meaning to
there rnay be other possible approaches to lexicogra- since I first projected a
communication, and moreover with a particular
system of verbal classifica- as a doctor in 1 840, but what would otherwise be a random listing
phy than the tladitional one using alphabetical order. continued to work at mode of communication. The second is to go to of terms:
ton simlarto thaton
The thesurusis such an alternative. Thesauri are based which the present Work is diverse projects - including the index, where the various meanings of news
are identified, and be sent directly to the
on the notion of grouping lexemes thematically - fo u nded. Co nceivi ng that a calculating machine and
relevant section (529). Most people use the
lintel, trefoil, pier, portal, tympanum, etc.
such a compilation might a pocket chessboard. The approach is obviously limited by the
a notion which can be traced back to 16th-century He started again on the latter method as the quickest way of answering extent to which items can be clearly
help to supply my own
schemes for the classification of all human knowledge. thesaurus project in 1 849, a specific query; but the former method has its
deficiencies, I had, in the drawn, and so the book is largely
uses, too, when we are trying to develop a sense
Fancis Bacon (1561-1626) andJohn \Wilkins (1614- year 1805, completed a retrement from his Royal
of the range of vocabulary avai lable to express
composed of nouns. However, with over
classed catalogue of words Society post having given 800 pages of diagrams covering 600
72), in particula wrote essys which outlined a way on a smallscale ... him the spare time he a concePt.
subjects, it is an informative guide to the
of dividing everything into a small number of major needed. After three years Some of the noun entries for news ate
use of some 25,000 terms.
Rogetwas born in Soho, of intensive work, the book illustrated, taken from two editions of Roget:
areas, each being progressively subclassified until all Dutch (1 962) and Kirkpatrick (1 987). lt is
London, the son of the was published, and was a
concepts are dealt with in their appropriate place. Such pastor at the French Protes- remarkable success, with interesting to compare the entries in detail, to
ttempts at a universal hierarchy fell out of favour until tant church in Threadnee- 28 editons published by see how the vocabulary has changed and
dle Street. He studied at the time of his death. He developed during the intervening period. The
the 19th century, when scientific interest in taxonomy WORD-FINDERS general headings are those of the 1 987 edition.
Edinburgh University, and died at the age of 91 at
became a dominant feature of the age, and the botan- became a doctor by the age West Malvern in Worces- I n the Chambe rs Thesaurus
ical metaphor of the rree came to be applied to lan- of 19. ln 1804 he was tershire. His son, John (1 99 1 ) cl usters of sense-
appointed physician to the Lews Roget, took over as CLASSIFICATION
guage as well as ro natural history. related items are arranged in
Manchester lnf irmary, and edito and /rrsson, Samuel alphabetical order. Several ABSTRACT EMOTION, RELIGION
it was there that he began Romilly Roget, continued 'fam ily word-f inder' books & MORALITY newness
Roget's Thesaarus to collect material for his the family editorial con- are organized in this way,
RELATIONS
origrulit'21 n.
The influence of natural history is evident in the work thesaurus. ln 1 808 he nection until Longmans, beginning 68 n.
silhouette n. conf iguration, SPACE VOLITION
moved to London, where Green & Co purchased the
which pioneered the thesaurus as we know it today. he held various medical copyrightfrom him in delineation, form, outl ine,
neu,ness 126 n.
nw poor
Rogett Thesurus, first published in 1852, divides the posts, and was active in 1952. Modern editions shadow-figure, MATTER
unlucla' person 731 n.
lexicon into six main areas: abstract relations, space, helping to found London showthe influence of the shadowgraph, shape. INTELLECT poor person 801 n.
University. He also became 1962 revision by Cam- silky adl. fine, satiny, silken, news
the material world, the intellecr, volition, and sentient/ the first Fullerian Professor sleek, smooth, soft, topic 452 n.
bridge scholar Robert
moral powers. Each area is then progressively subclas- of Physiology at the Russell Dutch, which reorganized velvety. informalion 524 n.
sified, giving a total of 1,000 semantic categories. In lnstitution. He wrote a the layout and headings, silly adj. absurd, addled, news 529 n.
COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS
great deal, on a wide range and introduced keywords asinine, benumbed, bird- broadcast 531 n.
his Introduction, Roget explains his aim and method: ofsubjects, and con- brained, brainless, childish, inporlanl nqtler 638 n.
in italics. Several modern
tributed to many encyclo- cuckoo, daft, dazed, news agency
The present \Work is intendecl to suppl with r.espect to the editions are now available.
pedias and journals. He dopey, drippy, fatuous, infornanl 524 n.
English language, a desidearum hitherto unsupplied in any MODES OF COMMUNICATION news blackout
became a fellow of the feather-brained, f ighty, I
prohihirion 757 n.
language; namel a collection of the words it conrains and of foolhardy, foolish,
newsagent
the idiomatic combinations peculiar to it, arranged, nor in f rivolous, gaga, giddy,
tradespeople 794 n.
groggy, hen-witted,
the alphabetical order as they are in a Dictionar but accord- in a thesaurus we have a meaning in mind, and wish idiotic, illogical, immature,
newscast
publication 528
ing to the ideaswhichthey express . . . The principle by which to check on the lexemes available ro express it. A the- imprudent, inane,
n.
news 529 n.
I have been guided in framing my verbal classification is the saurus such as Rogett, however, has obvious limira- inappropriate, inept, newscster
same as that which is employed in the various departmenrs of irrational, irresponsible, 529 News
tions. It does not provide any defnitions: if we do meaningless, mindless, N. neun, good n.; bad news 509n.
nessage, oral m., word of mouth,
word, advice. tip 524n. inforntu-
529 News
N. rews, good n., no news is good
message,oral m., word ofmouth,
word, advice. tip 524 innnution;
news reporter 529 n,
Natural History. Thus the secional divisions I have formed, brradcqsler 531 n.
not know the meaning of a lexeme in the thesaurus, muzzy, pointless, d isappointrnent ; tidings, glad t.; for,; communication 547n. n.; bad news 509 /rapponlment; communication 547 snal; wireless news flash
correspond to Natural Families in Botany and Zoology, and preposterous, puerile, gospel, evangel 973n. religon; sral; marconigram, wireless
we sdll need to look it up in a dictionary. It says noth- tidings, glad t.; gospel, evangel 973 message, radogram, cablegram, neu,s 529 n.
the filiation of wods presents a network analogous to the ridicu lous, scatter-brained, budget ofnews, packet ofn., message, radiogram, cablegram, rcgioa; dispatches, diplomatic cable, telegram, telemessage, wire, broutlcasl 531 n.
ing about the srylistic levels at which the lexemes are
natural filiation of plants or animals. senseless, spoony, stunned, newspacket, despatches, diplo- cable, telegram, wire, lettergram bag; intelligence, report, dispatch, fax, eectronic mail 531 leleconunu- newsletter
used: formal and informal items rub shoulders, as do stupef ied, stupid, unwise, matic bag; intelligence, report, 53 | n. te I e c o nnnn i ca ion: lefre\ wod, intimation, advice; piece of ,calior; postcard, pc. note, lettcrs, publicin, 528 n.
despatch, word, advice; piece of postcard, letters, despatches inl-ormation. something to tell. litbit dispatches 588 correspo rule nce, 53 | the press 528 n.
Roget assumed that his readers would be able to find items belonging to technical, professional, domestic, witless.
infomation, something to tell, 588n. c orre sp o ncl encel ring, 524 i nlorn a t i on : bullelin, comnru- postal comnnnicarrcrs; ring, phone newsmonger
their way through the Thesaurus by working intu- regional, and other varieties (Part V). There is no antonyms collected, titbit, flash 524n. infornation; phone-call; enand, embassy niqu, handout, press release; news- call, buzz, tinkle; errand, embassy nev's reporler 529 n.
itively down through his classifications. He added a principled basis to the way lexemes are organized mature, sane, sensible, bulletin, communiqu, hand-out; 751n. contnission. paper repoft, press notice; news 751 conntissiott. newspaper
wise. newspaper report, press notice; ne,sntonger, quidnunc, gossip, item, news flash 531 broadcast; nev's reporler, newspapenar or the press 528 n.
short alphabetical index, but it was left to his son, John within eqtry paragraphs. And the traditional the- fresh news, stining n., latest n., talker 584n. interlocut ori latller, fresh news, stining n., hot n., latest -woman, reporter, cub r., joumalist, reoding nnlter 589 n.
n. clot, dope, duffe
Lewis Roget, to develop this in the 1879 edition into saurus is limited, for reasons of practicabiliry to the goose, half-wit,
stop-press n.; sensation, scoop; chatterer; scandalmonger 926n. n., stop-press n.; sensation, scoop, conespondent, legman, stringer 589 (lndex: Kirkpatrick, 1987)
old news, stale n.; copy, filler; dcner; retailer of news. news- exclusive; old news, stale n.; copy, author: gentletnaa or lady othe
a major feature of the book. In modern editions, the more commonly occurring lexemes: users are often ignoramus, ninny, silly- Yam, story, old s., tall s.; broad- pedlar; newsman, news-hound, filler; yarn, story, old s., tall s.; press, pressrnan or' -woman, press
index takes up as many pages as does the thematic clas- left with the feeling thar, even though no lexeme is billy, simpleton, twit, wally. cast, telecast, newscast, newsreel news reporter, reporter, sob-sis- newscast, newsreel 528 publicitl,; representative 524 infornull: new s-
sification, and is the way inro the work which most listed for the meaning they have in mind, one may
528n. publ ic i t1'; news-value. ter, special correspondent 589n. news value, news-wofthiness. reader, newscaster 53 I broadcuster:
nanoar, unverified news, uncon- afor; newsboy, news-agen1, ntmour, unverified news, uncon- newsmonger, quidnunc, gossip,
people use. nonetheless exist, but have been omitted by accident. fimed report; flying rumour, newsvendor. fimed report; flying rumour, fame; tittle-tattler, talker 584 interlocutor;
In recent years, efforts have begun to be made to fame; hearsay, gossip, gup, talk, (Dutch, 1962) on dil, hearsay, gossip, gup, talk, tattlcr, chatlerer; nruckraker, scan-
talk ofthe town, tittle-tartle 584n. talk ofthe town, tittlerartle 584 dalmonger 926 defur; retailer of
New thematic models reduce these limitations, some using new techniques c ha t ; scandal 926n. ca hm n, ; clraf; scandal 926 calnnny; whis- news 528 publiczel; newsagent,
A thesaurus acrs as a complement ro rhe traditional of visual illustration, others aided by the vastly noise, cry, buzz, bruit; false per,buzz, noise, bruit; false report, newsvendor, newspaper boy or girl.
dictionary: in a dictionar we have a lexeme in mind, increased storage and retrieval power of the com-
repot, hoax, canard; grape-vine;
kite-flying.
hoax, canard: grapevine. bush tele- (Kirkpatrick, I 987)
graph; kite-flying.
and wish to check on irs mening or use; by contrast, puter (p.446).
 160 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 1 1 THE STRUCTURE OF THE LEXICON 161

one of contrasting meanin g(an ntoqtm), suchas sold. Investigating collocations of the node: often, collocational studies look only at ON LINE
LE,XICAL STRUCTURE, \fe might replace automobileby a lexeme
of more spe- The print-out of staple on p. 160 illustrates two useful the lexemes which are immediately adjacent to a node, The remarkable collocational
cific meaning (a hyponym), such as Ford, or by one of concepts in the study ofcollocations: there is a central or at those which fall within three or four places on range of an everyday lexeme.
One way of imposing order on the thousands of lex- There are nearly 150 predict-
more general meaning (a hypernym), such as uehicle. lexeme, o node, surrounded by a fixed amount of either side of it. For common lexemes, we need to able contexts for /ine, which
emes which make up the English vocabulary is to Or, of course, we might replace automobileby a lexeme language - the span within which the search for examine quite a wide span, and to look at many exam- can be grouped into 30 or so
group them into semantic fields (p. 157). But how are which has norhing to do with it in meaning at all, such senses. Traditional dictionary
collocations takes place. The span shown in that exam- ples of use, in order for clear lexical patterns to emerge.
these felds structured? How exactly do the lexemes as dress or pencil. The predictable links between lex-
entries do not give this kind
ple is quite large, allowing 10 or so words on either side Computational help is essential in such cases. of information.
within a field relate to each other? It is obvious from emes are called sense relations, and they re at rhe core
dictionary definitions and thesaurus groupings that of any account of lexical srrucrure (p. rcQ. LONG THIN QUEUE (Am ROW ROW OF (UNIT OF) TEXT ROUTE PATH TELEPHONE NOTE
some lexemes do 'belong together'. How can we define MARK form a - form a -. deliver a - introduce a follow a - (of
CHARACTERS CONNECTION drop someone
-what this'belonging togerher' consists ofi draw a - buck ('push picket - ndent a - go over one's -s (new) - reasoning) geta- a-
A well-established model of lexical srrucrure makes AND PARAD|GMAIC
SYNTAGMATIC broken - into') a - police - nsert a - rehearse one's discontinue a - follow the - give someone geta-onsome-
PARADIGMATIC $ubstitution) contour - get into - recervrng - (figurative) -s feeder - (of least a- one
us think of lexemes as being related along rwo inter- crooked - wait in - read between fluff one's -s main - resistance) the - is busy carry a -
secting dimensions, as shown in the figure (righ. curved - checkout - the-s dull - bus - (AmE) handle a -
llUe owe this two-
. On the horizontal dimension, \r'e sense the relation- dimensional model of It writhed on the
dotted - chow (= fe66) - witty - commuter - the - is introduce a -
tn excruc iating fine / thin - high-speed - engaged discontinue a -
ships berween lexemes in a sequence. There is a certain language structure to the heavy / thick - steamship - (BrE) drop a -
Swiss pioneer of modern -
mutual expecrancy between the main lexemes in the horizontal streetcar - (AmE) outside - complete -
linguistics, Ferdinand de parallel - tram - (BrE) party - full -
sentence It writhed on the ground in exruciating pain. Saussure (1857-1913). As a SYNTAGMATIC (sequence) perpendicular - supply -s hot -
Our linguistic intuition tells us that excrucitingtends result of his approach, the /

1t
relationships on the
My auntie has bought a red automobile
solid
unbroken -
CORD, FISHING
DEVICE
to occur with pin, gony, and a few other lexemes, and

vvvv
horizontal dimension are straight - cast a -
not with joy, ignoranc,, and most other nouns in the now described as syntag- vertical - reel in a -
matic, and those on the wavy - reel out a -
language. Likewise, writhe and agon! commonly co-
fishing -
occur, as do writhe and ground.'Horizontal' expectan-
vertical dimension as
uncle sold green car =7
paradigmatic. The model
cousin purchased HF POLICY
cies of this kind are known as collocations, or selectional
black Ford z1
adhere to a -
hired
is shown here being ROPE

restrictions, Excruciating, we can sa'selects' or'colloc- applied to the study of

mother coloured bike mO follow a - tINE throw a - to
semantic relationships;
hewtoa- someone
ates witl'r' pain. but it can equally be used
pursue a - plumb -
. On the vertical dimension, we sense the way in which to investgate intersecting
take a -
c firm - DtvtstoN
one lexeme can substitutefor anothe and relate to it in relationships in grammar
and phonology (S516, 17).
milkman crashed old pencil hard - cross a -
meaning. If the sentencewere M1t auntie hs bought accountant f ilmed second-hand dress m- official - colour -
z>
{ party -
red automobile,we can focus on any one of the lexemes, m TENDENCY
o
and replace it. lX/e might replace boughtby a lexeme of FLATTERING along certain -s
TALK on certain -s
similar meaning (a synonym), such as purchased; or by (colloquial)
give someone DYNASTY
a- ESTABLISHED CONVEYOR OCCUPATION CONTOUR TURN, establish a -
YOU SHALL KNOW attention to the crucial role (p.448). lt shows the examine the collocations: in important collocations, it hand someone POStTtON BELT what - are -s of a ship ORDER found a -
A WORD BY TH E of the lexical context which occurrences of stap/e, with particular, stap/e is used to apears f rom this corpus, are a- (military) assembly - you in? in - for CONFORMITY unbroken -
COMPANY lT KEEPS surrounds a lexeme, when enough context before and describe (1) the basic goods diet, food, industry,and
tnot
hold a - production - toe the - fine -
battle - bring someone -
l[i:i:i"i*J;:,"
WIRE, PIPE, BOUNDARY nebulous
iil'li';;ffil:1i"'Jl :il,i:l|i,,i'
LIMIT ALIGNMENT
-
dictum, i:i][,ifJluHl'n, city - - MISCELLANEOUS
rhe purpose or this - CONDUIT (sporti) cease-fire hold the - in - into thin -
which appears in the writing fuel - county - - the bottom - walk a straight -
below, using used in each. The
dance print-out varioui
a community food that eats, Stock, t 992.) oil - snow -
base
-
enemy -s
- be on the lay it on the - drawthe- outof- keep someone
in-
R.
of the British linguist, J. the Longman Lancaster
meanings of the lexeme
and (3) a basic item of house-
.
sewa9e - squall -
end
foul -
ata
ona- firing - on- get into -
Firth(1890-1960). istodraw Corpusof 30millionwords begintappearwhenwe holdfood. particularly sign on the - of duty
steam - state - goal - in the get out of -
40359 03 us 89 ns the beautiful, classy woman hr tong baen Hollylrgod Eapl, a alisturbing change hE taken place Ln th characte telegraph - town service - dotted - put something in - with
40180 02 wAF 90 ost of Lt produced locally. Maze is mor imPortnt aa a staple among th ethnlc groupg in the eouthern aavanna than telephone - -ship - side - credit - on the -
40180 02 wF 90 on the branching habit, nd petiole colour. caEeava lE stple among the ethnic aroups of southern Ghana partlcular high-voltage - tree- ata- Listings derived from a dictionary which specializes in collocational data:
30055 09 uK 02 he foul rek of the surrounding ewamp. rn one of hes alaple and chain, wlth a quantfty of gnar,red bons, showed w power - ona- The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English. (After M. Benson, E. Benson & R. llson, 1986a.)
0021'8 09 uK 01 ungry umbatl, and were among the mile-wtd green of, the staple cropg.<para> le ms a whtte-bearded and ffabre eld
30113 og AUs 80 egting thing about the group is that rnany of thm fom a st.ple diet for Aboriginal people, whlle others which look
o0o78 08 uK 66 mount.<para> That claret was conaldred a prt of the Etaple di6t, even of the or- dinary man, is cler from the
30113 08 Aus 80 to the camals later on, and stuck wlth rtat waE to be my stpl.e dlt! brown rice, lentlls, garlic, eurry oJ.I, panca
4oL35 o7 ux 88 water.<para>
WHAT MAY WE DO TO A dictum.Do we corn a dic- express. ls there a standard framed, excl aimed...). I cut doubt. We do not have trou-
rt waE simPl fruga. !fe. the African ataple dtt ws a 6orLd, stodgy porridge, crred Eazda, mad
tum, or formulate one, or my temporal losses, and ble with quench my
40180 02 lfr 90 portant i'tem of diet in inotitutlon. l{her it baomeE a stapl dtet lt ia lmportn that th whole grain ia ten t
43021 04 uK 87 <Para> 3."1her w5 no real labour ariatocracy in th stapt expor trades- coal and th main bra;che of textlle
DICTUM?
present one, or announce
collocaton in English?
Dictionaries exist to pro- changed the construction. picous
aus-
and
-,
00116 02 uK 59 al'I, whlle for eome distnce south of i.t rlce s not th 6tapl food of th lnhabltanto. the cll-mate in the ric r9
The panel on the opposite one? Made, given, and used vide remedies for failed The point of this anecdote
-,
spick and
many other such sequences.
-,
page begins:
40180 02 wAtr 90 reas). Both white and rd graln varletlea occur. I is stapt6 food in an area where both rafnfall and othr condlt seemed tame or not quite intuitions. Unfortunately, I is twofold: it provides a fur- But there are an uncertain
42075 07 vK 73 her, but none flts exactly. this aubstance was rsrael's stple food for 40 yearc, ceaelng abruptly r.rhen thy entere The purpose of this dictum. right. Pro p o u nd e d, p ro- could find no example of a ther warning against com- (and I suspect large) number
40180 02 {F 90 hat in much of west frlca, they are stilt the prefrred atapt food,anong moEt of the inhabltante of the foret zon nounced, and promu lgated transitive verb governing placency, when dealing with of where usage is not
40180 02 t9AF 90 rridg or added to <ff>other cereala ae mal. r i6 th6 staple food of mny seml,-Bantu tribB of north6rn Ntgria. However. it did not start lif; cases
like that. The first draft of seemed too official. Dellv- dictum. fhe Oxford English usage (p. 196); and it high- established, and where any
40075 07 uK 73 here, but none fits exctly. Thi6 aubatance was rsrasl's Etaplg food for 40 yeara, cesing abruptly when hey entere
this sentence was: ered, voi ced, advanced, Dictionary provided only an lights a typical difficulty in of us with confidence can
10116 02 uK 59 nd) crop but more uEually in w.rter. he rlpe sed i the Etapte f,ood ln many EEtern countrleE, rt is not, how'evr,
40180 02 wF 90 rn and Milt't, in the northern Part6 of Ghana. rt is the Btaple food In senegal, parts of the rvory coast, cambi, s introduced, adumbrated, instance of adduce in a legal the study of collocations. become an arbiter of usage,
This dictum, ed by the
40135 07 UK 88 on the comPound thy rere never dperately 6hort of the sple foodg, though it wag more difficult when sanctlons w -
Brtsh lnguist, J. R. Firth...
and several other verbs all context. An informant test Textbooks and teaching if we so choose. lf I had writ-
60465 04 uK 89 maltrted that the country is now deapertely short of Etapl fooda.<parai <tab>Food serf-Eufflclncy went long came to mind, but added on half-a-dozen people materials are full of the clear ten, 'This dictum, coined by
40100 04 us 34 all groups. Hunting nd fishing must stlll have provlded etaple foods. rrow-headE lndeed are - surprisl-ngly rar I puzzled for some time over distracting nuances for the brought no consensus - only cases of lexical collocation, J. R. Firth', would anyone
00091 09 us 71 ied, and the twisted rops was fastened to a strong iron Etaple in a havy wooden bean abov, .nar the f,ireprace. He which verb to collocate with neutral meaning lwished to more verbs (mooted, where intuition is in no have noticed?
 t62 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 11 THE, STRUCTURE OF THE LEXICON 163

Predicting lexemes
The notion of collocation (p. l6O) focuses our arren- BLANKETY _ IDIOMS
tion on the extent to which lexemes come together ran- This collocation
domly or predictably. Often, a sequence olexemes is has been used as
a euphemism
governed by chance - thar is, by factors which are con-
since the mid-19th
trolled by an individual speake and not by tendencies
in the language as a whole. For example, the sentence
century but it
received a new
lease of life from
I lie - gives us no clue about which lexeme will come
the popular British
next. Almosr anything that exists can be liked. It is up television game
to the individual to choose. Such sequences as (I) Iie show, Blankety
Blank,in the 1980s.
p-ztatzes or liefilns are said to be 'free combinarions'
The aim of the
f lexemes. They are not collocations, because there is
game was simple:
no mutual expectancy between the items. Thousands partcipants were
presented with a
oflexical juxtapositions in everyday speech and writ-
phrase in which one
ing fall into this caregory. of the items was left
By conrrasr, the lexical items involved in a colloca- blank, and they had
to guess which was the
tion are always to some degree mutually predictable,
missing lexeme. The game
occurring regardless of the interests or personality of relied on people's everyday
the individual user. All mrure native speakers use such knowledge of collocations,
and was perhaps so success-
sequences as commit murder and not, say, commit a
ts, even though the sense of 'carry out' would be
applicable in rhe latter case. And everyone sys monu-
ASSOCIATIVE RESPONSES
mental ignorance, not monumental brilliance. Colloca-
It s important to distinguish
tions may occur, moreover, with apparent disregard for
between collocations and associat-
Two central features
identify an idiom. The
meaning of the idiomatic
expression cannot be
___.
ilgD
deduced by examining the
meanings of the constituent
lexemes. And the expression
is fixed, both grammatically
(p.216) and lexically. Thus,
put a sock in it! means 'stop
talking', and it is not possible
to replace any of the lexemes
and retain the idiomatic
meaning. Put a stocking in it
or put a sock on it must be
interpreted literally or not
at all.
It is easy to forget just how
ful for that reason. Unlike on a universal linguistic skill
many idiomatic
some games, where intel- - our intuitve sense of constructions a lexeme can
lectual or physical strength 'which word comes next'. lt
enter into. The following list
s a prerequsite for success, was the most egalitarian of
of idiomatic uses of hand,
Blankety Blank relied only games.
adapted from the Longman
Dictionary of English ldoms
(1979), makes no claim to
City completeness.
No. at first hand
esponse
town
Total at second hand
1
cap in hand
catch red-handed
close at hand
come the heavy hand
cross my hand with silver
a dab hand
fight hand to hand
force my hand
a free hand
to get/keep my hand in
give/lend me a hand
give her the glad hand
go/be hand in'hand
hand in glove
hand it to me on a plate
hand over fist
have/take a hand in it
have him in the palm of my
hand
have me eating out of her
hand
have to hand it to her
his left hand doesn't know
what his right hand's
doing
his right hand (man)
hold your hand ('support')
in hand
an iron hand in a velvet
glove
live from hand to mouth
off hand
an old hand
on every hand
on hand
on the one hand...
out of hand
put/dip his hand into his
pocket
put/lay my hands on t
put my hand to the plough
raise/lift my hand against us
rule them with an iron hand
see the hand/finger of God
in...
show/reveal your hand
stay your hand
strengthen your hand
take it in hand
throw his hand in
to hand ('within reach')
try your hand
turn/sevput your hand to
the upper/whip hand
wait on me hand and foot
with a heavy hand
with a high hand
with an open hand
with one hand tied behind
my back.
quite different set of idioms:
CREATIVE
COLLOCATIONS
all hands to the pump
at your hands Many of Dylan Thomas's
change hands poetic effects rely on a
the devil finds work for idle deliberate breaking of
hands
get my hands on...
col locationa I conventions,
especial ly between adjective
hands down and noun, as can be seen in
hands up! this extract from 'After the
have clean hands Funeral',1939.
have his blood on my hands
Her flesh was meek as milk,
have my hands full
in good hands
but this skyward statue
l've only got one pair of
With the wild breast and
blessed and giant skull
hands
ls carved from her in a room
keep your hands off
with a wet window
lay my hands on it
ln fiercely mourning house
many hands make light work
a
in
a crooked year.
my bare hands
I know her scrubbed and sour
on/off her hands
our hands are tied
humble hands
Lie with religion in their
out of my hands
cramp, her threadbare
play into his hands
Whisper in a damp word, her
shake hands
wits drilled hollow,
a show of hands
Her f ist of a face died
sit on their hands
clenched on a round
soil/dirty our hands
pain...
take my life in my hands
take the law into our own
Wet wi ndow, h u mbl e ha nds,
hands and (possibly) mournng

the observable situation to which they relate: we may 2 Mnneapolis 353 a bird in the hand... know it like the back of my throw up my hands (in ouse are collocations with
ive responses. A lexeme might bring bte the hand that feeds him
3 state 121 hand It is important to note that horror) some degree of expectancy.
be green ith enuy, and a book may have a purple pas- to mind all kinds of 'free 4 country 74 bound/tied hand and foot lift a hand/finger the plural form enters into wash my hands of ...
associations'. lf I ask you to say the
a Skyward statue and giant
sage, eve though no colour is evident on rhe face or 5 square 69
skull are unusual, but at least
first word which comes into your 6 people 64
page. Collocations cannot be predicted from a know- head when I say whiskey, you might 7 street 32
they can be readily
lgdge of the world. Cffie with milk may look sepia, respond with Scofch, soda, dog 8 St. pul 32 Lexical phrases TYPES OF LEXICAL Phrasal constraints
interpreted. Crooked yea r,
(because Whiskeyisthe name of 9 buildinq(s) 24 \e can find other parrerns within lexical sequences, thread ba re whisper, da mp
hazel, beige, bufi fwn, hai, bronze, copper, amber, 10 btock(s) 22 PHRASE These are phrases which
word, and round pain go well
your dog), or Fred (because Fred is
and various other shades of brown; but we normally 11 bis 20 apart from the free combinations, idioms, and kinds allow some degree of vari-
beyond our expectations,
someone you know who drinks a One study of lexical phras- ation; they are usually
callft uhi. lot of whiskey); but only the first
12
13
New york 15 of collocation described in preceding pages. In par- es groups them into four quite short.
and force us to search for
house(s) 12 meanings. Critics of Thomas's
All that is required, for a sequence of lexemes to be two are collocations - linguistically 14 large 11 ticula there are the specially assembled sequences of main types. aslwas-(saying,
predictable sequences known by t5 verse are divided over
described as a collocation, is for one item to 'call up'
tishtG) 10 items which have been called (amongst orher names) Polywords mentioning) whether coherent meanings
mature English language users. 16 noise 9
or lexical phrases. (This good (morning, night)
another, to some extent, in the mind of a native rp."k- The last two are idiosyncratic, and 17 farm 8 sentence stelns, composite forms, Short phrases which -
ago (day, long time)
can be found for such
juxtapositions.
er. Sometimes the predictability is weak: heauy colloc- have to be nterpreted to make 18 village 7 feld of study is fairly recenr, so rerminology is nor yet function very much like a
-
as far as I (can see, know)
ates with quite a diverse range of kems (loss, wear,
sense. Psychotherapsts are often
19
20
block 7
fxed.) To adopt the last of these terms: lexical phrs-
individual lexemes. They - The breaking of
collocational norms is found
particularly interested in Chicago 5 cannot be varied, and their Sentence builders
trffic, burden, defeat, erc.), as does line on p. 161. associations of this kind, believing
21
22
dirty 5 al'e rather like the prefabricated component; used parts cannot be separated. Phrases which provide not only in poetry, but also in
busy 5 humour and religion. It is
Sometimes the predictability is strong i auspicious col- that these can throw light on 23 hatl 4 in building a house 01'a compurer. They are chunks in a nutshell the f ramework for whole
what is going on in a person's sentences; they allow easy enough to raise a sitcom
locates only with occtzsion, and a few other closely-relat-
24 traffic 4 of language in which all the items have been pre- by the way laugh with such lexical
unconscious mind. 25 dirt 4 so to speak considerable variation.
ed items (euent, moment, etc.); circuit collocates with The table gives the set of 26 dump 3 assembled. Hundreds of such phrases exist, of vary- sequences as a herd of traffic
so far so good not only... but also...
associative responses made in
27 home 3 ing length and complexit such as it seemt t0 me..., wardens, or I can hear
brea/ bro en, close (d), integrated, printed, s hort, mae, 28 round 3
once and for all my point is that. .. neighing; it must be your
1952by a group of American 29 uould you mind..,, 0n the one hnd... on the other l'm a great believer in...
a few figurative expressions to do with travelling (e.g. students to the item city. The water 3
lnstitutionalized mother. And prayers such as
30
hand..., and... liued happi euer ltrtet. Some resem- that reminds me of ...
lecture, rodeo, tal+how), bu little more. However,
ca(s) 3 'Litany for the Ghetto'
list shows several personal 31 expressions let me begin by...
day 2 present a theography (p. 368,
w_hen sequences are so highly predictable that they associations (e.9. Roclreste 32 here 2 ble formulae: let me start b! Xing a/the Y(e.g. ma- Units of sentence length,
Phrases from any of these 403) in which the divine and
Minneapolis), several 33 live 2 ing the point, ashing a questizn) or the Xer !0u Y the functioning as separate
allow little or no change in their lexical elements (as collocations of varying degrees 34 man 2 utterances. Like polywords,
categories may be used to the human are lexically
with spick and span or run amo), it is not very illu- of predictability (e.9. hall, 35 parks 2 Aer ltou B (e.g. the longer yu ait, the ngrier you get). they are invariable, and
perform the same social (or juxtaposed:
square, block, traffic), and 36 place 2 Such phrases are used frequently in both speech and their parts cannot be sepa- 'pragmatic') f unction. For
minating to analyse them as collocations. Such minim- 37 smoke 2 example, the function of O God, who hangs on street
several items which from a 38 writing, but they are especially important in conver- rated. They include corners, who tastes the grace
ally varying sequences are usually referred to as linguistic point of view would streetcar 2 leave-taking can be ex-
fixed 39 towers 2 sation, where they perform a number of roles - for
proverbs. aphorisms, and
pressed by a polyword (so of cheap wine and the sting
expressions, or idioms, and require a separre analysis. be free combinations (e.g. frere, other quotable utterances
people, large, noise).
4c-s2 (f=t\ 2
instance, expressing agreement, summing up an argu- (s 1 2). long), an institutionalized of the needle,
Ames, bustle, club, expression (have a nce day), Help us to touch you...
Surprisingly, some of the most conc.o+.
crowas, aa r[, ;;i;',,iJ
?.."
co u nty, cou rt, ment, introducing an example, or changing a topic. How do you do? or a phrasal constraint (see
central collocations of city are dust, Excetsior, exciil";l Duluth,
not in the list - notably, tun. sas, ha r,' i,iil.i:
11y.1toWn,
Fariba u , The full analysis of interactional functions of this Have a nice day. you later). Further exam-
f,?lto_'v. Give me a break. ples of pragmatic functions
capital.
i,i *;,i5; ffi* o n o, kind, involving reference to phonological and gram-
(After L. Postman & ;::"*"::"y, t I
rlJ,
matical factors as well as lexical ones, forms part of
Long time no see. are given on p.288.
You can fool some of the (After J. R. Nattinger &
G. Keppel, 1970.)
I! ; ::
JvrwdrK, sln, :i;i,,i*li;
,i ?h : f i,j".::
site, skvscrano,, the study of prgmatics (p.286). people some of the tme. J.5. Decarrico, 1992.)
zuou,u, suuway, ;#;::['#:;*i,'fl,t,
 r64 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 1 1 THE STRUCTURE OF THE LEXICON 165

Investigating sense relations

Antonyms (Greek'opposite' +'name')
Ne have a sense relation when we feel that lexemes IDEA AND WORD
cor
CHART a Antonyms are lexemes which are opposite in meaning One of the pairs of drawings by the
(p. I 18) relate to each other in meaning. Ifwe pick any HARlR.AMPFE LAIS American illustrator Joan Hanson in
rwo lexemes at random from a dictionar it is unlike- 4{ fAfrx 0t'a
- again a definition which sounds straightforward, her children's book Antonyms
until we begin to think about what is meant by 'oppos-
1O5
t^vourtt! 48.t orNXr9 6hb (1e72).
ly that they will bear any meaningful relationship to !rsavoul{t3 ..e rHAU lr.^ ite'. Unlike synonymy (where there is doubt about
each other. There is nothing which obviously relates
echo and malznnaise, or obedient and rainbow. But we
6rCtr
(sc racr
whether true synonyms exist at all), antonymy very ,,
definitely exists - and, moreover, exists in several
would feel otherwise ifwe picked out wide and namou) ta ttxtr6rrrfY
9t.c tRr!L forms'
or trurnpetand bassoon. '$'hat, then, are the chief rypes !ufflc t!3 o There are opposites such as largelsmall, hppylsad,
of lexical sense relation? and wetldry. These are items (adjectives) which are
capable of comparison; they do not refer to absolute
Synonyms (Greek'same' + 'name') r^fft!f,
IRAO Haarfl .ro qualities. \e can say that something is uery wetor quite
Synonyms are lexemes which have the same meaning PAOPHICY (ro xr)
dry, or wetter or drier than something else. Opposites
ftulS ar

- a defnition which sounds straightforward enough. orP^luRr

3Efg
A3CCtf
13
9.
ttl of this kind arc called grdble ntonym.r. It is as if there
However, when we think about it, the notion of syn- gatNr
is a scale of wetness/dryness, with uet a. oe end and
221
coivrYANc hl
onymy is really rather curious - for why should alan- no'sro gsl
ssl
dry at the other. Create
urrET
rAfRE9 gl Destroy
guage have more than one lexeme to express a AflotR
otaaxcl z9r 3 . There are opposites such as single lmarried, frst lkst,
pr'ticular meaning? One lexeme per meaning ought to lc and aliue ldead.Theseare not gradable opposites: there
a9.A
be sufficient. a9
80 is no scale of'aliveness'or'frstness'. In such cases, ifone KEEPING TRACK OF ANTONYMS antonymsfound in the corpus.Thetop line
In fact, there may be no lexemes which have exact- of the pair of lexemes applies, the other does not. To be The shutter aperture may be made larger or
of the f irst column tells us that there were
4,981 occurrences ofbd in the corpus, and
ly the same meaning. It is usually possible to find some alive is not to be dead; and to be dead is not to be alive. smaller by changing the foil area...
the third column thatthere were25,147
nuance which separates them, or a context in which To us and to every nation of the Free World,
t.
I Cr The items complement each other in their meaning, rich or poor...
occurrences of good. The fifth column gives
one of the lexemes can appear but the other(s) cannot. l it
and are thus known as c7rnplementar! antonlms.
the number of sentences in which both
New panels are exchanged forthe old...
o There may be a dialect difference: autumn and adjectives occul 5 1 6. The sixth col umn
fall CASC ta Au3a
coIrot
There are antonyms such as ouer I under, b4t I sell, and Am lright, am lwrongT
estimates the number of sentences which
are synonymous, but the former is British English
t3
IVIN t ArO i.^ uifelhusband. These antonyms are mutually depend- These extracts are taken f rom a 25-million- would be expected to have this happen by
and the latter isAmerican (p. 308); sndwichand butty ent on each other, There cannot be a wife without a word corpus of American English - a collec- chance (81.7), and the seventh column gives
re synonymous in Britain, but the former is standard tion of 550 texts of varying sizes compiled by the ratio of observed to expected co-
husband. \e cannot buy something without some- the American Printing House forthe Blind. occurrences. ln thecase of bad lgood, the
and the latter is regional. thing being sold. This rype of oppositeness, where one They show one of the most important observed frequency is 6.3 times more than
o There may be a stylistic difference: insane and loony KEY WORDS TO AtL SPECH features of antonymic use: antonym pairs what would be expected by chance. The
AilrOlYMS.
6YNONYMS - LllVCi item presupposes the other, is called conuerseness.The
frequently co-occur in the same sentence. f inal column then estimates the probability
are synonymous, but the former is formal and the lexemes afe conuerse terms. They often appear close together, linked by ofthis happening. The resultfor
latter is informal (p.157); sahand sodium chloride are seduce, draw into evil impish, mischievous The idea and word chart from
All these lexemes have a common feature: they can a single conjunction, or f unction 'in bl ack I white is especial ly striking, but al I of
Victimise injurious, bad, unjust Ha rtra m pf 929)
's Vo ca b u I a r i es (1
synonymous, but the former is everyday and the latter all be used in the question-answer exchange '\hat is
parallel', within identical constructions in the co-occurrences are statistically
frame, foist an imposition maleficient, mischievous - an early attempt to plot basic
different parts ofthe sentence. signif icant.
is technical, (colloq.) mischievous, bad sense relations. The twelve the opposite of X? Y.' In this respect, rhey are different The table shows an analysis of some of the (After J. S. Justeson & S. M. Katz, 1992.)
o There may be a collocational difference (p. 160): plant, frame (colloq.) naughty, perverse, bad word-pairs are claimed to
from the vast majority of lexemes in the language,
sell, betray 'underlie the fundamental qual-
rancid and rotten ae synonymous, but the former is Depraved
which have no opposites at all. It simply does not make Co-occurrences in the same sentence
victimise, dupe abandoned, dissolute ities in all ideas'. To use the
used only of butteror bacon; king, royal, and regalare Betray bad, wicked chart, the enquirer chooses a sense to ask '\hat is the opposite of rainbow? or of Number of occurrences in the corpus Observed Expected Rato Probability
synonymous (p.124), but the mailhas to be royal in betray, victimise treacher- corrupt, bad key-word (e.9. DISORDER), finds
chemistry? or of sandwich?'. 4981 bad 25147 good 516 81.7 6.3 3.36 x 10_237
ously criminal, wicked the required vocabulary head-
the UK. The other point to note is that there is usually an 11470 big 28360 little 483 212.0 2.3 3.13 x 10-se
There may be a difference of emotional feeling, or Conspire
abet, aid criminally
debased, corrupt
depraved, debased
ing, and goes to the page num-
ber. That page gives lists of intuitive certainty about the relationship berween the 9842 black 1 1698 white 1226 75.0 16.3 1.55 x 10_1046
connotation: yuth and youngster aresynonymous, but apostatise, desert principles dishonest, discreditable lexemes, each with a synonym,
lexemes. \e 'know' that X is the opposite ofY, in these 2174 bottom 6061 top 198 8.6 23.1 8.47 x 10-1es
cabal, plot dissolute, wicked and cross-references to opposite
youths are less pleasant than youngsters.
connive, abet felonious, criminal and associated items. An extract cases. This is what distinguishes antonymy from other, 2203 clean 1143 dirty 22 1.6 13.4 7.73 x 10-18
These are not the onlyways in which synonyms can conspire, concert in crime ill, evil
immoral, corrupt
from the page for crime is vaguer kinds of oppositeness, where the concepts may 5259 cold 4036 hot 204 13.8 14,7 1.51x 10-161
be differentiated, but the examples are enough to make i ustrative.
I I
be opposed but the lexemes are nor. For example, big 5716 dark 8123 light 306 30.3 10,1 4.86 x t0-1ss
the basic point: there may be no such thing as a and hrge are very similar in meaning, as are little and 4662 deep 501 shallow 19 1.5 12.5 4.13 x 10-1s
pair of 'perfect synonyms' - lex- eventually adv. a'ter all, at last, at length,
DICTIONARIES OF SYNONYMS
finally, sooner or later, subsequently,
small, but the antonym of little is big and of large is 2500 dry 1501 wet 68 2.4 27.8 9.56 x 10-73
emes which could substitute for A synonym dictionary is more tightly ultimately. smll. Large is not the antonym of little, even rhough 3866 easy 7921 hard 43 19.9 2.2 4.68 x 10-6
each other in all possible loca- constrained than a thesaurus (p. 1 58). ever ady. always, at all, at all times, at any they are conceptually opposed. And the ,"-. point 2507 empty 7386 full 44 12.1 3.6 8.84 x 10-13
tions. Slight but detectable differ- "t+v^q; The entries are shorter and the number
of items less wide-ranging. Such dict-
time, constantly, continually, endlessly,
evermore, for ever, in any case, in any
applies to more exrensive sets of lexemes. In relation to 1 1985 far 5851 near 121 45.7 2,6 9,77 x 10-21
ences are invariably presenr. SYNONYMS ionaries usually give some guidance circumstances, on any account, perpetu- the concept of 'awkwardness', for example, we find 3228 fast 2263 slow 61 4.7 12.8 .24 x 10-4s 1

Howeve for mosr practical ANT)

about antonyms, too. ally. antonym never. such terms as awward, clumqt, gawhy, and ungain, 15915 few 25640 many 487 265.9 1.8 3.62 x 10-3s
This extract from the Chambers Dict-
purposes, these differences can
AI{TONYMS ionary of Synonyms and Antonyms shows
everlasting ad_/. constant, endless, eternal,
immortal, imperishable. indestructible,
on the one hand, and shilful, dexterous, adroit, and defi, 32866 first 17439 last 764 373.6 2.0 4.38 x 10-73
be ignored: enoughlsfficient, how synonyms are available for all lex- infinite, never-ending, permanent, per- on the other. But it is not possible to pair these off as 3668 happy 1176 sad 20 2.8 .1 2.32 x 10-11
7

perplexed I bewildered, and cheru- emes in the language. not just those petual, timeless. undying. antonyms antonyms in any obvious way: any of the first set could 7921 hard 2345 soft 76 12.1 6.3 2.31 x l0-3s
which are literary distinctive, or difficult.
bic lngelic are so close in mean-
It also shows that multi-word lexemes
temporary transient.
everybody n. all and sundry each one,
be seen as the opposite ofany ofthe second. The con- 4004 heavy 8'123 light 10s 21.2 5.0 3.57 x 10-3e
ing that they can safely be can also be synonyms. everyone, one and all, the whole world. cepts are in opposition, certainl but rhere are no pairs 1 1016 high 4195 low 293 30.1 9.7 1.14 x 10-182
described as synonyms. of antonyms.
{.1 t.\ \ll, tiS
r \t{illJr,t
 l6() PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 1 1 THE STRUCTURE OF THE LEXICON 167

Hyponyms (Greek'under' + 'name') existence) that clea sense-relations between the

Hyponymy is a less familiar rerm ro most people than lexemes no longer exist. At any point along this path,
IncomPatibles
./hen we want to include one meaning within anorh-
either synonymy or nronymf @. 164, but it refers to a lexeme can be seen to have a hyponymic relationship
a much more importanr sense relation. It describes sr, we talk about hyponymy. \hen we want to exclude
with everything above it, though we usually take seri-
what happens when we say An X is a kind of Y' - A one meaning from another, we talk about incompat-
ously only those involving successive levels. So, in
dffi di I i s a h in d offlo w ibiliry. Under this heading are grouped sets of lexemes
e r, o r simply, A dffi
di I is a flo w - answer to the question, '\hat is Gorgonzola?', the
er. The relationship between the lexemes can best be which are mutually exclusive members of the same
expected nswer is'a kind of cheese'. If someone does
shown in the form of a tree diagram, where the more superordinate category. Daffodil, tulip, rose, and pansy,
not know exactly what Gorgonzola is, 'a kind of food'
general term is placed ar rhe top, and the more spe- shown on the facing page, are examples, because they
would be an acceptable first approximation; but to go
cific terms are placed underneath. In the presenr are all hyponyms of the same hypernym (flower).
higher in the hierarchy of abstraction by saying'a kind
ex"ample, dffidilis one of many lexemes which are all nhat this means can be seen by comparing these two
of substance' or'a sorr of thing'would not.
'included' within
flower.
sentences:
MUSICAL RELATIONS . idiophones ln this group, the sound is
I am thinking of a single flower and it is a daffodil generated bythe body ofthe instrument
flower HypERNyM HYPONYMIC HIERARCHIES down the page we travel, the less easy it and a rose.
The most familiar examples of the
interaction between hyponymy and
itself. They include several percussion
becomes to f ind clear hypernyms.
instruments, such as bells and the triangle,
A I arn thinking ofa single flower and it is a daffodil incompatibility are the classif ications of
le Eventually, al I classif ications and def initions lf we read the f igure in the reverse as well as the musical saw and a few others.
.
lE!
objects and organisms which we learn as
lead inexorably to some basic notion of direction, the point is reinforced. Thus, and a prizewinner. part of our basic education. The largest
membranophones ln this group, the
t BEING. Roget'sThesaurus, Part 1, Section l, there are a limited number of items which domain is that of natural history, where
sound is generated by a stretched
t 9,z The first sentence fails to make sense because dtrffldil
l5r is entitled simply EXISTENCE (p.158). The can answer the question 'What can be a
membrane. They include the various kinds
organisms are grouped into their presumed
figure shows what happens if we follow a cheese?' and 'What can be food?'. These and rose are incompatible. The second sentence suc- of drum, as well as such items as the kazoo
evolutionary relationships - the distinctions and tambourine.
set of lexemes through a dictionary, being
daffodil tulip rose Pansy... questions make sense. But such questions as ceeds because dffidiland prizewinnerare not; they are between species, genus, family, order, class, . electrophones ln this group,thesound is
H\?oNYMs guided only bythe hypernyms. Only one of 'What can be a material?'or'What can be a phylum (for animals) or division (for plants), generated
the senses is quoted in each case, and only substance? cannot be given a coherent
compatible. Here is another pair of examples - this by non-acoustic devices, such as
The included irems, as the etymology suggesrs, are rhe and kingdom (p.372). oscil lators. They include synthesizers and
one of the many possible paths. The further linguistic interpretation. time, using adjectives: The instruments of the modern symphony
hyponyml The lexeme at the top is the superordinate electric guitars.
orchestra provide another example. These
Gorgonzola emerald narcissus scarlet crawl I am thinking of an object which is painted in a Although the aim of any new
term, or hyperrym (Greek'above'+ 'name'). a blue-veined, a rich green variety a@esp.one a vivid the fastest single colour, and it is red and yellow.
are traditionally divided into fourtypes - classification is conceptual rather than
Hyponymy is particularly important to linguists red mineral whose,flowers are woodwind, brass, percussion, and strings- linguistic, there are always consequences for
Italian asa bornen separate I am thinking of an object which is painted in a and that is how we see them in the concert thewaythe language is used. The arrivalof
because it is the core relarionship within a dictionary. hall. However, it has long been known that
stalk/... single colou and it is red and dirty. a new level within the lexical hierarchyfor
The most illuminating way of defining a lexeme is to this classification is not entirely satisfactory:
provide a hypernym along with various distinguishing )-
Qeteqj!)
a series of
Again, there is a problem with the first senrence, it is diff icult to place certain instruments
talking about instruments alters the way we
express ourselves. ln the traditional
bccause red and yllow are both hyponyms under
a underthese headings, and the labels are classification, there is no problem with
features - an approach to definition whose history can .. a very any of various sometimes misleading. For example, some
ulated, saying this:
be traced back to Aristotle. For example, a majoretteis and
of colonr. Red and dirty, however, do not belong to the woodwind instruments can be made of
ium and
'a girl' (the hypernym) who twirls a baron and accom- resulting sare set, and can be used together without difficulty. metal (such as saxophones), and some brass I can play every kind of brass instrument,
nium... instruments can be made of wood (such as
panies a marching band'. It is usually possible ro rrace
m
Learning about sets of hyponyms is an important but I can't play any woodwind.
alphorns).
a hierarchical path through a dictionar following the ak
feature of lexical acquisition .a4$. To begin wirh, The standard classification in modern But in the modern classification, wecannot
say this:
hypernyms as they become increasingly abstract, until n9a resultin we may have no idea how to differentiate them. All musicology is different, and derives from
lly of the work of Erich von Hornbostel and Kurt I can play every kind of aerophone, but I
we arrive at such general notions (essence, being,
occurring solid we may know is that the lexemes relate to the same
tn, carbo- homogeneous Sachs, published in 1914. lnstrumentsare can't play any woodwind.
and fat crystalline
hypernym. An example is crocodile ad alligator. Most now divided into five types, according to the
a
people know that these are types of reptile, but are still physical characteristics of the sound source - lf we wish to enter into a conversation in
or carry
MISSING HYPERNYMS unclear about how to tell them apart. Similar difficul- the vibrating agent. this area, we need to do more than just
the
on an
. aerophones ln this group, the sound is 'learn the terminology'. We have to learn
There are many lexemes which belong to no hypernym. ties can be encounteredwithin anysemantic field: there generated by air. They include the brass, how the terminology is organized. And this
or
lf we try the formula 'X is a kind of Y, on such items as or is no doubt that second cousin and cousin once remoued reed, and woodwind instruments. means learning how the lexemes interre-
chaos, nightclub, interesting, and balloon, we shall be
tng
of be tng not process of ale types of
. chordophones ln this group, the sound is late in terms of hyponymy and incompati-
unable to assign any hypernym other than a vague gen- alive.,. relatiue, or rhr truntpetandflugelhornare generated by one or more strings. They
ts bility. Without an awareness of the lexical
eral term, such as state, place, or thing. Dictionaries types of musical instrument, but for many people that is include the stringed instruments and most structure of the field, we quite literally
grope for better alternatives, but not always successful-
as far as they are able to go without a reference book. keyboard instruments. 'don't know what we're talking about'.
ly: balloon, for example, is variously described as a bag,
ball, pouch, and toy. Abstract nouns are especially diffi-
a lor
part or
of
@ or
state
a or condition
cult, in this respect, and verbs and adjectives are more
condition
awkward still. Also, the SHOWING OUR mentaries. ln a large box The coloured balls can using a second colour
of
level of abstraction of a TRUE COLOURS of paints, several dozen be played only after a (b/ack being the'f irst'
lexeme may be difficult and essential colourswill befound, red ball has been potted. colour).
to determine. ls noise a nature Thewaythe linguis- including bl ack, wh ite, . By contrast, in the field .lnthefieldofSouth
kind of sound or sound tic world failsto cor- grey, brown, and a num- of health (for Cau- African racial relations,
a kind of noise? When respond to the ber of increasinglyfine casians), colourcan coloured excludes black
the answer is'neither', physicalworld iswell discriminations (/i/ac, mean onlyred, orat and white.
some other way of the or illustrated bythe mauve, purple, indigo, least pink (in th e colour o ln the cinema and on
analysing the sense essentia use of the lexeme etc.). came back to hischeeks). television, there is a con-
. ln publishing, a book
I

relation must be colour. A physical ln language, what is trast between films

found, such as by All definitions on account recognizes considered to be a printed in blacktype on made in colour (as in
using the notion of this page are taken red,yellow, and hyponym ofco/our white paper is not con- Technicolor) and in
synonymy (p.164) or herent character or from the Longman b/ue as primary dependsvery much on sidered to be in colour. black-and-white. Cam-
incompatibility ee consttution of a person Dictionary of the colours, and green, the context. Yet if blue, say, is intro- era f ilm and television
facing page). or English Language violet, and orange lnthe field of snooker, ducedtoadd interestto sets, too, are catego-
('rs87). as their comple- the colours exclude red. the page, this is called rized in this way.
 168 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 11 TI_IE STRUCTURE OF THE LEXICON 169

Other sense relations

trfaking sense belongs, and the specific features or attribures which SEMANTIC FUZZINESS
Notions such as synonymy and hyponymy (pp. HIERARCHIES The hierarchy of military ranks, showing the differences
A between British and American usage. This section has examined the main wys in which the distinguish that word from related words.Thus, cow
164-7) fundamenral ro semanric analysis, because
are lexical hierarchy is a Def initions are not always as
graded series of lexemes in English lexicon is structured. It has been an investiga- is an nimal which moosis a chilcllike arrempr at a de precise as we would like
they express basic logical relationships which are rep-

Ir
which each item holds a RAF USAF tion of what we mean when we say that something inition, but this might be sufficient to distinguish it them to be, largely because
resented widely throughout the lexicon. Certain other
l}
particular rank, being the entities and events which
'higher' or'lower' than iakes sense'. But there is one notion which we still from a dog is an animal which brs.In rhese cases, aaz-
kinds of meaning relationship, however, are much less we want to talk about in the
adjacent items. The need to recognize before this investigation is complete: malis the more general term (the hypernym, p. 166), realworld are not always
widespreacl, applying to restricted sets of lexemes. marshal of generl of
sequence corporal- the RAf the ar forcr
rhe def.nition A definition is the linguistic mechanism and rnooing and baring are the distinguished clear and determinate. lt is
Three such categories are illustratecl below: parts/
wholes, hierarchies, and series.
se rg e a nt-l i e utenant is part
of one such hierarchy. The ++++ which brings everyrhing together. It is a special type of attributes. In mature definitions, several atrribures not possible to give a
watertight def inition of
relationship between sentence which relates all the lelevant aspects of a lex- may be required, often involving both formal distin- factory in everyday
ar chlef general
corporal and sergeant s not mhl emet meaning, enabling us to understand it. Definit- guishing features (e.g. a cow has four legs, horns, a tail) language. How large is
one of synonymy (they are large? Can a small building
PARTS AND WHOLES +++ ions are listed in dictionaries, sometimes using a full and functional ones (e.g. a cow gives milk, lives in a
not the same n meaning), never be a factory? Must it
The relationship between wheel and ca or s/eeve and nor antonymy (they are not leutenant
serltence (A dres is a piece of clothing which...), some- feld, does not give lides). It can also be quite a rask contain machines? One of
lacket, illustrates a further kind of sense relation - that times in an abbreviated form (dress: piece of clothing working out the essential attributes needed in a defi-
genefl
opposites), nor hyponymy (a the dictionaries actually
between part and whole.The relationship is not as corporal is not a kind of builds this uncertainty into its
obvious as it may seem: in particula there is a strong ++ uthich. . .) . nition, as the fctory example (below) illustrates; and
sergeant, or vice versa). lt is def inition:' especi a I ly in
tendency for the relationship to be acceptable only really one of incompatibil- maior
The basic structure of a definitional sentence has the theoretical ploblems of working with clefinitions great quantities by
between adjacent items in a chain of more than two been known since the time of Aristotle, who distin-
general
ity, but of a rather special have kept several generations oflinguistic philosophers mach ines'.
items. Thus, a dooris a part of a house and a house is a kind:the relationship For the most part, such
part of a village, but it would be most unusual to say
+ guishecl rwo factors: a general category to \Mhich a word happily occupied.
between corporaland 'hedges'do not matter. We
that a door is a part of a village. On the other hand, sergeant is not like that brlgdier
tolerate a great deal of
general
certain chains do permit a relationship between non- between c/arnet and oboe. imprecision in daily
g
adjacent items: a cuff is a part of a s/eeve which is part WHAT'S A FACTORY?
Sergeant is'higher' than interaction. Only in special
of a shrt - but also, a cuff is a part of a s/rirt. Why some

r
co rporal, whereas neither of cases, such as an Act of
chains permit this and others do not is unclear. llUhen someone asks a question like

t
the instruments can be said captain (olonel Parliament or a legal conf lict
There are several other refinements to the part- to outrank the other this (a child, a foreigne a poltician), (p.374), is it necessary to be
whole issue, some of which have attracted the atten- (though soloists of either there are two ways of answering. One
truly precise, and to give a
tion of philosophers as well as linguists. One distinction instrument might disagree). way is to f ind a factory and point to it.
definition to such notions as
The other way, which is generally more

I
has been drawn between those parts which are an Several lexical domains 'large'.

t
wng leutenant
essential feature of an entity and those which are practicable, is to attempt a definition
are organized as hierarchies. <ommnder colonel
There are many areas of
optional: an arm is an essential feature of a (normal) They often reflect of the word factory. The first approach,
lexical fuzziness: when does a
male body, whereas a beard is not. There is also an relationships between which identif ies the word's reference
booklet becom e a book? or a
in the outside world, is of limited

I
uncertain boundary between allowing something to be people, as in the case of hil/ become a mountain? or a
maior
a 'part'at all, as opposed to an'attribute,: may we con- interest to linguists. The second, which

lt
military ranks or church '1:""::" village become a town? or a
sider a stout person's girth to be a part of the body? gives the sense of the word in English,
seniority: prlest- bishop- discussion become a dispute?
Part-whole relations can be seen in many areas of is centralto linguistic enquiry.
arch bishop.,. Notions of ln relation to attributes, how

t
the lexicon. quantty are also important, But how do we define facfory? The
essential is the feature 'able
. Clothing: zip, button, hem, colla lining, cuff especially in relation to units
flioht cptin first task is to examine the way in
to fly' for bird (allowing for

I
liutnant
which the word is used in spoken or
. Food: stalk, leaf, root, husk, shell, bone, seed of measurement: second-
written English. This is in fact what
ostriches and penguins)? or
. Vehicle: wheel, brakes, engine, door, steering wheel minute-hour... Some
lexicographers do when they write
'having a handle'for cup

. Animal: hoof, mane, leg, feather, claw, tail
o Container: top, lid, door, side, handle, back
. House: bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, roof, window,
door
SERIES
The number system is unique,
in the lexicon of a language,
because its tems are members
of an open-ended series in
which the place of each item is
defined by mathematical
rules. We might be tempted to
refer to such items as one,
two, three, four... as a
hierarchy, like military ranks,
but the number system is
different: from a lexical point
of view, 2 is not always
'higher'than
1 .
There are other lexical
series which are not open-
ended. The commonest
examples are the days ofthe
week and the months of the
year, which are cyclicalin
character: we reach the end of
the series then we start again.
I
hierarchies also represent
levels of abstraction, as can
flyng offlcet 1n their dictionary entries. But as factory
(allowing for paper cups and
lieutenant egg cups)? The more abstract
can be used in all kinds ofcontexts, it s
be seen in the levels of A large building in which machines the notion, the more difficult
grammar identified on still necessary to make a selection, to
make goods in quantity. it is to arrive at a watertight
p.217. decide which attributes are essential to
lexical definition.
pilot offcer le,fiunt the definition and which are not. A children's dictionary comes near to
Everyday language con-
Dictionaries do not always agree on th is:
tains many expressions which
ths matter, as the fol lowing a large building or group of buildings introduce imprecision into
definitions show. where goods are made (Childcraft
WHO IS Chambers: 'make, usually by what we say: typically,
NUMBER 1? Dictionary) roughly, practically, in the
factory machinery and on a large scale').
region of, thereabouts, well
ln The Prsoner, . a building or set of buildings where . the more general term is p/ace, more And a dictionary for foreign learners of
nigh, within an ace of,
the production of goods or processing English gives a two-level definition:
British cult specif ical ly, bu i ld i ng o r bu i I d i ngs.
verging on, virtually,
television series of raw materialstakes place (Longman . things are ma de or manufactured, abuilding or group of buildings where pe rhaps, usu a I ly, i nva ri a bly,
of the 1 960s, Dictionary of the English Language) more specifically (according to one of goods are made, especially in great
. a large building or group of buildings sort of, etc. They are also
Patrick the definitlons) produced and quantities by machines. found in technical and
McGoohan where goods are made in large processed. (Lo n g m n Dictiona ry of Co ntem pora ry
a
scientif ic discussion, which
finds himself quantities, usually with the use of . the things which are made are English) often uses such expressions
trapped in a machines (Col/lns Cobuild English goods, but (in one case) rawmaterials
It is easy to see how an oversimplif ied as there are perhaps 1,500
village where Language Dctionary) and (in another case) machinery are
. a place where goods are or careless defintion can be mislead- such cases a year. lt is too
everyone has distinguished separately from the
ing. ln one reported case, a mother easy to dismiss all fuzzy
a number, manufactured (Cha m bers Eng I ish category of goods.
replied to her young child that a factory expressions as manifestations
Number 2 is in Dictionary) o the goods are made with machines,
. a building or buildings containing was'a place where you make things'. of sloppiness in thought or
A calendar charge, but in one case described as p/ant or
The child then later referred to her speech. Rather, by enabling
subordinate plant or equipment for manufacturing equipment.
i lustrates us to get the gist of a point
I
NOVEM AER 2003 machinery or goods(Concise Oxford . the building kitchen as a factory! lndeed, on the
three types lHU Fnl 3Af to a hidden is large,and in one case
3UN t{oN lUE
WED basis of this response, it could be across, or to focus on a major
of lexical Number 1. Dictionary) the goods are said to be made in /arge
argued that none ofthe above books issue, they can play an
series: 7 Five main elements emerge from a quantities. important role in eff icient
2 3 a mentions the salient point, which is
dates, days, 1 5 comparison of these definitions (along a'minimalist' definition
On this basis, that the manufactured goods are for communication.
and months I 0 2 3
with the definition of manufacture in
6 7 I I 20 27 of factory would be: sa le.
26 27 20 29
2l 21 25
30
 12 LEXICAL DIMENSIONS 17r

T2. LEXICAL DIMENSIONS SNARLING AND PURRING these contrast, as in the distinction between a patri ot, co I o u rf u l, co m pact, p a rtne rsh i p, j ol Iy,
youngster and a youth'. green, and environment. People will often
The American writer on semantics, 5. l. Hayakawa disagree over whether a lexeme snarls or purrs, as
A group of youngsters stood on the street corner.
(i906-92), disti n g u ished between'snarl' words in the case of curiosity, hanging, communist, civil
A group of youths stood on the street corner.
The English lexicon is so vasr and varied that it is hand, because people do have some common experi- CONNOTATIVE and'purr' words, when discussing connotations.
You might well chat to the first group, you
se rva nt, re p u bl i ca n, and a m b iti ous.
ofthe problem of studying connotations
To take his examples: the senten ce You filthy scum as Part is
impossible to classi$' it into neat categories. It is not like ences, many lexemes in the language have connota- FUNCTIONS you're passed them by;you might well avoid eye contact that they readily change with the passage of time
is little more than a verbal snarl, whereas
a cake, which \Me can cut up into distinct slices. A single tions which would be shared by large groups of Connotations can play an the sweetest grl in all the world is the linguistic with the second. Similarly, politicrans are (p. 138). teuzdonce meant simply'of the laity',
lexeme (p. 1 1B) simultaneously contains information speakers. Among the widely-recognized connorrions important role in explaining equivalent of a feline purr or canine tail wag. somewhat less respectablethan statesmen and 'uneducated', but along with its change of
the way in which lexemes are There is lttle objectve content (denotation) in stateswomen, as are /odgers compared with meaning has come a distinctly negative tone.
relating to several linguistic climensions: when it came of ci4t, for example, are' bustle','crowds','dust','excite- paying guests, p/ots compared with p/ans, and Gentle, which comes f rom a word meaning 'clan'
used. A group of synonyms, either sentence.
into English (the historical dimension), how it is ment', 'fun', and 'sin' (see p. 162). for example, cannot by defi- The most ferocious snarl words raise distinct papisfs compared with Cafholics. or'people', now has very positive associations. lt is
frmed (the structural dimension), whether it is in \hen a lexeme is highly charged with connota- nition (p. 164) be distin- issues, and are best discussed separately un'der A random selection of snarl words includes
te rro rst, exp I oitati o n, ste a m-ro I I e r (vb.), sku I k,
particularly difficult keeping track of the way
connotations respond to short-term changes in
guished in terms of their such headings as invective and taboo (p. 1 72). But
standard use or restricred to a dialect (the regional tions, we commonly refer to it as 'loaded'. The lan- there are many other words which carry negative nag, cla mmy, cli que, loafi ng, pol iti cki ng, and fashion and social status - which is one reason why
denotation, but they usually
dimension), whether it carries resonances of gender, guage of politics and religion is full of such loaded display noticeable differ- or unfavourable connotations, as well as many pontfcate. Among the purrwords of the it is so difficult to make sense of 'political
class, formalit or ethnicity (the social dimension), expressions: cpitalist, fascism, radic\, federlism, ences of connotation, as in which carry positive or favourable ones. Often language are co mrade, enterprise, freedom, correctness' (p. 1 77).
whether it has special status in such domains as science, dernocracy, bureaucracy, politicin; priest, dogma, the case of car, automobile,
ru na bout, bug gy, ba n ger,
religion, or law (the occupational dimension), and P/tgn, orthodox, sect, lteresy, fundmentlisr, The lan- bus, hot rod, jalopy, old
much more. The lexicon is a particularly sensitive index guage of science and law, on the other hand, attempts crock, racer, and so on. COLOUR VITAMINS also often used symbolically blue SPRINGS
in many medieval religious + peaceful, trustworthy,
of historical, social, and technological change. As a (not always successfully) to avoid vocabulary which is lndeed, in describing an The symbolic or psychologi- paintings. constant, orderly The range of colours
unconventional design, the cal associations of colours
consequence, vocabulary is a relevant aspecr ofthe dis- highly connotarive. In general, the more a domain or connotations may become have a long history. ln the
ln modern times, the - 'holier than thou', recommended for Springs
cussion in many parts of this book, but especially in the psychological associations tiresome, predictable, (note the unusual
topic is conrroversial, the more it will contain loaded critical marketing considera- 12th century, a colour
tions (p.388). of colours, and thus the conservative countable noun, p. 209).
historical, regional, and social secrions (Parts I, V). vocabular providing people with the lexical ammu- sequence for the liturgical connotations of colour Carole Jackson advises:
Connotations are also an
\e conclude Part II by surveying several rourine nition they need to reinforce their point of view. important means of convey-
year in the Roman Catholic
vocabulary, continue to be
brown 'peach. apricot, salmon,
Church was outlined by + earthy, homely,
ways in which the lexicon plays a role in our lives - exploited in a wide range and coral, as well as all
ing personal attitude and Pope lnnocent lll, and con- gregarious
of contexts, such as in the peachy pinks, are for
sometimes quietly and unconsciousl sometimes
ALL THE RIGHT CONNOTATIONS . .
point of view. Bertrand tinues to be used today. For description of paint shades - safe, boring,
Spring...'
Russell, on a BBC Brains Trust example, red vestments are unsophisticated
aggressively and conrroversially. One important role
.

programme some years ago, (p. 1 5a), advertising lan- (After C. Jackson, 980.)
1

residence, dwelling, luxury, substantial, spacious, quiet, used at Pentecost or for the guage, and techniques of yellow
will be conspicuous by its absence: the humorous use of potential, benef it, views, well-appointed, well-screened,
gave a perfect illustration of
feasts of martyrs, the colour
this when he 'conjugated' self-imaging. The Color Me + cheerful, hopeful, active,
lexical items, which receives separare rrearmenr in S22. desirable, landscaped, select, prestige position, attrac- representing tongues of uninhibited
the following'irregular Beautiful system is a good
tive, refurbished, restored, mature, character, unspoilt,
tasteful, well-proportioned, individual, wel l-stocked,
verb':
fire and the shedding of
blood; black vestments are
example within the last cat-
egory. This consultancy was
- impulsive, tiresome,
whirlwind, volatile
.,

OW
convenient, modernized, immaculate, magnif icent I am firm. the colour of mourning; founded by Carole Jackson
THE LOADED LEXICON opportunity You are obstinate. violet vestments represent
in the USA in 1974, and
green
+ self-reliant, tenacious,
He is a pig-headed fool. the mitigation of black, in now has branches in many

|,,i,{ ooo
oPtimum Advent and Lent; and green nurturing, dependable
Most of our discussion about the lexicon has been ARAS AND
designed to Provide
asPecrs' The idea prompted the is the 'neutral' colour, used
parts of the world. lts aim is
- boring, stubborn, risk- 'iffifr'
cnac; with inieresting to help women discover
British periodical, Ihe

otoo offit
'in ordinary time', when averse, predictable
taken up with the dictionary meaning of lexemes - Court 'nd lavouts to meet
the neeos
New Statesman, to set a their natural beauty
to Osborne living' there is no special period or
what is often called their denottion. A denotation is of moern daY
compettion for its read- feast-day being celebrated.
through colou using the orange
metaphor of the four sea- + vital, funny, enthusastic,
the objective relationship berween a lexeme and the ers. Here are some of the These and certain other sociable, uninhibited
published entries. sons. ln much the same way
reality to which it refers: so, the denotation of specta- colours (notably white,
as each season presents a - superficial, common,
lam sparkling. blue, gold, and rose) are faddist, giddy
clesis the object which balances on our nose in fiont of distinct array of colours, a
You are unusually person's colouring said
the eyes; and the denotation of purpleis a colour with is violet
talkative. to be in harmony with + imaginative, sensitive,
certain definable physical characteristics. A denotation He is drunk. one of these palettes, and intuitive, unusual,
identifies the central aspect of lexical meaning, which Iam a creative writer. advice is given about how u nselfish
everyone would agree about - hence, the concept ofa You have a journalistic to enhance these natural - weird. impractical,
fla i r. colours, and about how to immature, superior
'dictionary definition'. choose additional colours
He is a prosperous
(of make-up and clothing). grey
Bycontrast, connotrttionefers to the personal aspect hack.
There are 1 1 key 'colour + respectable, neutral,
of lexical meaning - often, the emotional associations I day dream. balanced
vitamins', and these are
which a lexeme incidentally brings to mind. So, for You are an escapist. related to a range of posi- - non-committal,
He ought to see a tive (+) and negative (-) deceptive, uncertain, safe
many people, bushas such connotations as 'cheapness'
themel psych iatrist. attri butes.
and'convenience'; for orhers, 'discomfort' and 'incon- The atmosPhere as
a wnole black
elegance Many othertriplets red + formal, sophisticated,
venience'; for many children, ir connores 'school'; and is of sttmPtuous
mysterious, strong
or genera ." could be devised:
recailing the grandeur Entrance halls are + up-beat, confident,
for many American adults, in this connection, it has a
another age' soacious Providing
a comrot t- slender/thin /skinny, assertive, exciting - mournful, aloof,
political overrone (because ofthe 1960s policy in the recetve franki blunt/ - aggressive, domineering, negative, lifeless
atle area in whichto insolent,
an threatening
USA of 'lussing' children to school as a means of pro- o,rests, and theY aftord bossy, white
introduction to tne overweight/ + pure, clean, fresh,
moting social integration in ethnically divided urban lmoressive
t-iving rooms are plump/fat... pink
nortments + feminine, gentle, access- futu ristic
communities). Connotations vary according to the .i n"nu.ot" PtoPortions
wlrn
- clinical,'colourless', cold,
)' ible, non-threatening
experience of individuals, and (unlike colloc"iions, p. ins height accentuatecl neutral
""f,
i'ii P"r*"r covins
Light- - pathetic, unimportant,
160) are to some degree unpredictable. On the other safe, under-confident (After M. Spillane, 1991.)
':,l:jH:ililTrou''."'i^g
141 PART II ENGLISH VOCABIJI-ARY 12.. LEXICAL DIMENSIONS 173

Thboo exposed to them). More commonl it is a
A few dozen lexemes comprise the special category of standing between people, which occasionally becomes
tboo language - items which people avoid using in explicit in the form of a comment, correction, or sanc-
polite society, either because they believe them harmful tion (such as a parental rebuke). The comment may be
tacit under- GORDON BENNETT
A list of euphemisms involv-
ing the word God, and the
year of their earliest recorded
Swearing
.X/e need to draw a clear distinction between the lan-
gage oftaboo, the language ofabuse (inuectiue), and
ih. lrngn^g. of swearing. The three may overlap or
members of the group were relaxed, there was a notice-
able increase in the amount of social ('one of the gang')
swearing. This, the commonest swearing pattern,
This was a daring front page,

or feel them embarrassing or offensive. The possibility
of harm may be genuinely thought ro exisr, in the case
of notions to do with death and the supernatural, or
there may be merely a vague discomfort deriving fi'om
a halbelieved superstition. Embarassment tends to
be associated with the sexual act and its consequences.
Offensiveness relates to the various substances exuded
by the bod and to the different forms of physical,
mental, and social abnormality. t7ords associated with
certain other topics may also be called taboo, from time
to time, because sociery is sensitive to them. During
the recession of the early 1990s, newspapers would
talk about 'the R word', and after the 1991 Maastricht
conference would refer to the proposed federalism of
the European Community as 'the F word'. For some
people, indeed, all jargon is taboo (p.174).
The prohibition on use may be explicit, as in the law
directed to oneself ('Pardon my French') or ro orhers
('Ladies present'), and may be jocular ('\ash your
mouth out') or serious ('God forgive me for swearing').
There are various ways of avoiding a taboo item.
One is to replace it by a more technical rerm, as com-
monly happens in medicine (e.g. nus, genitlia, uagi-
na, penis). Another, common in older writing, is to
part-spell the item :-, bl-). The
method is to employ an expression which refers to the
taboo topic in a vague or indirect way - a eaphemism.
English has thousands of euphemisric expressions, of
which these are a tiny sample:
casket (coffin), fall asleep (die), push up the daisies (be
dead), the ultimate sacrifice (be killed), under the
wether (ill), after a long illness (cancer), not all there
(mentally subnormal), linle girlt room (toilet), spend
use in the Oxford English
D icti ona ry, would begi n with
go9 (1 3sOs), cokk (1 386), cod
(1 569), and include such later
forms as gosh (1743), golly
(1 7 43), g ra ci o us (17 60s), by
George (1842), Drat (= God
rot) (1 844) Doggone (= God-
or s a swear word. Wimp is a term of abuse which is
Damn (1851), and GreatScott
(1 884). Many pronunciation
everyday variants can be found, over
the centuries, such as adad
other distinctions are often drawn, some being given
bedad, begad, begar, begob,
dod, gar, ged, gom, gosse,
gud, gum, icod, and igad. Gor-
don Bennett and Gordon
Highlanders are more recent
coinages.
All swear words generate
euphemisms, sooner or later,
and the stronger the taboo,
the largerthe number of
avoidance forms. The number
coincide: to call someone a shitis to use a taboo word
as term of abuse, and if said with enough emotional
force would be considered an act of swearing. But
there is no necessary identity. Piss is a taboo word
which is not usually employed on its own as invective
audience, and became more frequent as condi-
rreither a taboo word nor a swear word. And hec is a
swear word which is neither taboo nor invective. Yet
legal definition, and invoking sanctions in certain cir-
cumstances. Probably the commonest notions are
obscenitlt, which involves the expression of indecent
sexuality - 'dirty' or 'rude' words; blasphemy, which
shows contempt or lack of reverence specifically
rowards God or gods; and profnitlt,which has a wider
range, including irreverent reference to holy things or
people (such as, in Christianity, the cross or the saints).
ffi
always depended for its effect upon an audience being
for a British newspaper
present, and varied in intensity according to the swear- in 1960.
ing habits of the participants - social swearing
diminished all round if a non-swearer was pre-
sent. Annoyance swearing was different: this
occurred as a reaction to stress, r'egardless of
witt pardon
l you
tions became more difficult. However, when a (", ;;;:;,!';;T,,,)
situation was extremely stressful, there was no
swearing at all, not even ofthe annoyance type.
One of the psychologist's conclusions was that
swearing is a sign that a stressful situation is
D OTU'T BE
s0 B[00DY
bearable, and indeecl may be a factor in help-
ing to reduce stress. It raises the intelesting
hypothesis that those who swear suffer less
from stress than those who do not. (After
H. E. Ross, 1960.) RUDEI PS

staut?
of euphemistic expressions
courts ('contempt of court'), the Houses of Parliament penny (urinate), be economical with the truth (lie), However, despite these distinctions, the rcrm swearing
based on God is quite impres- TO B_ OR NOT TO THAT IS THE BLOODY QUESTION
('unparliamentary language'), and the broadcasting adult video (pornography), let you go (sack), indust- sive, but the strongest taboo is often used as a general label for all kinds of 'foul- - -
media (words officially banned until after a certain rial action (strike), in the family way (pregnant), word, cund has accumulated mouthed' language, whatever its purpose. TO-NIGHT'S
*PYGMAIION," IN WHICH MRS.
around 700 forms.
time in the evening, so that children are less likely to be expectorate (spit), tired and emotional (drunk). In a narrower sense, swearing refers to the strongly
(After G. Hughes, 1 991.) PATRICK CAMPBEII IS BXPECTED TO CAUSB THE
elnotive use of a taboo word or phrase. 'Use' is perhaps
TABOO USAGE s too weak. Swearing is an outburst, an explosion, which GRBATBST THEATRICAT SDNSATION FOR YEARS
It is difficultto generalize aboutthe 'excrement' gives relief to surges of emotional energy. It is a substi- On 28 May 1714, Jonathan (rather more likely) claims a towards the end of the
(plural fe 5s'diarrhoea') gurative development, 1gth century ceased to be
usage of taboo words. They express tute for an aggressive bodily response, and can be Swift commented, in one of f i

varying degreesofforce, and notwo
are exactly the same with respect to
the way they are grammatically used.
It may seem strange to think of taboo
words as following grammatical rules,
but they do. Damn, for example,
cannot be used wlth a preceding
personal pronoun (*You damn!) and
arse cannot be followed by one
(*Arse you!); farf cannot be followed
by offor it; bugger, however, can be
used in all four ofthese contexts.
Taboo words, moreover. vary in their
ability to be used as nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs, or to form
part of compounds. Shit is a versatile
term, in this respect.
It is also difficult to defne the
'tabooness'of a taboo word. Shil for
example (represented as 5 in the
display), includes a great deal more
than its central, literal sense of
'excrement' (as in have a sfrit). lt has
several figurative and idiomatic uses,
which vary greatly in rhetorical force,
from insult and rudeness to intimacy
and solidarity, and it merges with an
interesting range of euphemistic and
jocular forms. The usage display is
already complex, but it is by no means
complete, because ofthe problem of
keeping track of the way such forms
are used among social dialects and
subcultures.
his letters to Stella, that'it meaning'the blood is up' regarded as swearing by
POSITIVE NEGATIVE aimed either at people or at objects (as when our head was bloody hot walking (solhat bloody drunk the 1 940s, and was often
general emotive response personal abuse makes inadvertent contact with a low roof beam). Its today'. Almost exactly 200 would mean 'ready for a heard in respectable set-
negation
(wonder, sympathy, forcefulness is reflected in its use ofshort, sharp sounds years later, the Daily Sketch fight'). There are several tings. Ths contrasts with
he's a regular/little/first-class 5, not gve a 5, ain't worth a 5, ain't got S,
of 1 I April 1914 used the popular etymologies the situation at the time in
embarrassment, etc,) they're Ss, on my S-lst, don't tell them S (p.251) and emphatic rhythms. Its function is to above headlineto report a (p. 139) deriving the word Britain, where the Lord
Aw S!, a cute little S, S-a rse/-bag/-breeches/-f ace/-
Sa brickl, hawk/-head/-heel/-hoIe/
trouble express a wide range of emotions, from mild annoy- sensation. when Mrs Patrick trom by Our Lady or rom Chamberlain's office was
be in the S, been through a lot of 5, be Campbell had to say the God's blood. Perhaps the still excising the word from
5hee-y-it, She-it, Sh-i-i-i-t!, -house/-poke/-pot,
in S street, 5 out of luck, take a lot of 5,
ance throlrgh strong frustration to seething anger, and
line 'Not bloody likely'for association of the word plays submitted to it, and
Hot 5!, S-hot, 5-kicker (AmE'rustic') when the S flies, when the S hits the not to make sense. Indeed, if we look closely at s\Mer-
Tough S! the opening of Shawt Pyg- with uncouth behaviour, people were being fined
dirty activities fan, up 5 creek (without a paddle), S on ing formulae, we may find no meaning at all fuching malion, thus using in public plus the popular belief that for using the word in pub-
5-work ('menial housework'), someone from a great height it might be profane, gradu- lic. But times were chang-
helland other such phrases are, literall nonsense. a word which 'is certainly
S-kickers (AmE, 'heavy work- ally led to its being used by ing, and indeed The limes
r
fear not used in decent society'.
boots') However, the view of swearing as an emotional phe- (Forthe full report, see the lower classes as swear- prnted it in full in 1941 (in
5 scared, S oneself, S bricks, scared 5-
hard cheese, less, beaVfuck/kick/knock the S out of nomenon is itself too narrow Swearing has important p.383). lndeed, public out- word. lt had certainly a poem containing the line
tough chedda someone, give one the Ss social functions. It can mark social distance, as when a rage at even the hint ofthe begun to fall from grace in 'l really loathe the bloody
stiff biscuits, word had caused Gilbert Britain by the end of the Hun'). The word's progress
deception/tease group of youths display their contempt for social con-
etc. and Sullivan in 1887 to alter 18th century, when it was towards renewed
are you S-ting me?, No
S!
ventions by swearing loudly in public or writing the spelling of their opera recorded as part of under- respectability has been
nastlness world slang, and dictionar- steady since then, though
obscene graffiti on walls. And it can mark social soli- R u d dyg ore to R u dd i g o re.
that's a S-ty thing to say, in a S-ty mood, The literal use of the ies began to refer to t as Prince Charles' comment in
drugs (cannabis, etc.) it's S-ting down outside \ darit as when a group develops identical swearing word can be traced back to 'vulgar'. lt was definitely a 1 989 that English 'is taught
want some S?, rubbish \ shirtv
habits. It is important to appreciate, in this respect, Old English, and was com- common swear-word by the so bloody badly' received
S was scarce, load of S, all that S, shoot the S, ' that swearing is universal. Everyone swears - though mon in Elizabethan drama: early 19th century, called a less publicity for what he
good for sale,
5 don't give me any full of 'O most bloody sight' (./u/ius 'horrid word', and printed said than for the way he
S, 5,
tlre mild expletive use of sugar or gol by one person
clean white S he thinks the Zodiacs are S Caesar. lll.2) is one of many as b_y. said it. The associations of
EUPHEMISTIC
ta
would probably not be considered as swearing by Shakespearian quotations. The word became a some 200 years die hard,
Shivers! Sugar! \ someone whose normal imprecation is sonofbitch or Its later use as an intensifer
(with the basic meaning of
major social issue only in
Britain. lt never gained
and many people never use
the word in public, feel
Shoot! Shutel bu ll-5, ruotherfucher,
5hucksl Sherbert! chicken-S 'very') has never been satis- popularity in America, and embarrassed if someone
\hen we join a new social group, it seems \Me are factorily explained. One in Australia it became so does so, and (in Britain)
much influenced by its swearing norms. Swearing is theory has associated it frequent that it quickly lost complain to the BBC if
DIALECT/JOCULAR bull, \ contagious. In one stud the swearing patterns of with the rowdy behaviour its pejorative associations. they hear it on air before
shite, shice, sheiss(e) chicken droppings, of the 'young bloods' of the The 'great Australian 9 pm.
etc. zoologists during an expedition to the Arctic were Restoration period; another adjective', as it was called
observed by a psychologist. She noted that when the
 174 P.RT II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 12 LEXICAL DIMENSIONS 175

Jargon standing, then we srart ro complain; and if we suspecr 30 WAYS OF GETTING

JaWn is itself a loaded word (p. 120). One dictionary that the obfuscation is deliberate polic we unre- THE SACK AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS party of economic growth, and hang the recession Osric: The king, si hath wager'd with him six Ba
defines it, neatly and neutrall as 'the technical vocab- servedly condemn, labellin git gobbledegoohand calling The following expressions
round the neck of the Government's monetary and bary horses: against the which he has imponed,
The way jargon enters into our lives, often with- fiscalstewardship. as ltake it, six French rapiers and poniards, with
ulary or idiom of a special activity or group', but this down public derision upon it. were all used in 1991 by busi- out our even noticing it, can be seen in this short . A mere yard off the fairway at the fourth, he
nesses which were having to their assigns, as girdle, hangers, and so; three of
sense is almost completely overshadowed by another: No area is sacrosancr, but advertising, political, and selection of published examples (from W. Nash, could only hack out from the clinging Bermuda
'let people go'. Presumably the carriages. in faith, are very dearto fancy,
1993).
'obscure and often pretenrious language marked by a military sraremenrs have been especially criticised in they felt that the jargon
rough, three putts adding up to a six. Much very responsive to the hlts, most delcate car-
. ... smells interestingly of f lowers and curiously the same happened at the par-five sixth for riages, of very liberal conceit.
roundabout way of expression and use of long words'. recent years by the various campaigns for Plain English would somehow provide jus-
of bath salts. but has tropical frut on the palate, another six. Hamlet : What call you the carriages?
For most people, it is this second sense which is at rhe tification for their policy, or
(p.376).In these domains, the extenr to which people perhaps it would reduce the with rough sauvignon blanc edges absent, except Horatio (asideto Hamlet): lknewyou must be edi-
front of their minds when they think abour jargon. Jar- perhaps on the finish A famous jargonizer fied bythe margent ['margin'] ere you had done.
are prepared to use jargon to hide realities is a ready trauma for the ex-workforce, . His breast of chicken with tarragon and girolles Literary examples show that jargon is by no means Osrlc: The carriages, sir. are the hangers.
gon is said tobea baduse oflanguage, something ro be source of amusemenr, disbelie[ and horror. A lie is a ln such cases, jargon is taking
goes back to the classic French repertoire: the skin only a modern phenomenon. Here, Hamlet takes Hamlet:The phrase would be more german to the
avdided at all costs. No one ever describes it in positive on the role of euphemism
lie, which can be only temporarily hidden by calling it (p. 172). of the fowl crisped to gold, oderiferously swathed issue with Osric over the pretentious use of car- matter, if we could carry cannon by our sides: I
terms ('that was a delightful piece of rousing jargon'). an 'inoperative sratement' or 'an insrance of plausible in a thick, creamy sauce ... ages - a term more appropriately used, in Ham- would it might be hangers untilthen.
career change opportunty . ... Labour hastoestablsh itscredentialsasthe let's estmaton, for guns (cannon) than for swords. (HamletV.ii)
Nor does one usually admit to using it oneself: the myth deniabiliry'. Nor can a nuclear plant explosion be sup- chemistry change
is that jargon is something o nly other people employ. pressed for long behind such phrases as 'energetic dis- coerced transition
sassembly', 'abnormal evolution', or 'plant transient'. decruitment
lVhile condemning unnecessary or obscuring jar- degrowing FIGHTING BACK
The up side
dehiring
The realiry is that everyone uses jargon. It is an essen- gon in others, we should not forget to look out for it in deselection When people get fed up with obscure or unnecessary jargon, there at f irst
seems very little they can do about it. Below are a few examples of the way
tial part of the nerwork of occupations and pursuits ourselves. It is so easy to 'slip into' jargon, withour real- destaffing some people have chosen to counter-attack using the weapons of satire and parody. On p. 1 76 is an account of the way one organization has successflly
downsizing orchestrated a much more ambitious campaign.
which make up sociery. All jobs presenr an element of izing that our own listeners/readers do not under- executive culling
jargon, which workers learn as rhey develop their stand. It is also temptingly easy to slip some jargon inro force reduction
a CARSPEAK: A SHOPPER,S GUIDE suspect, because the alternalor is in articulo
expertise. All hobbies require masrery of a jargon. All our expression, to ensure that others do not under- indefinite idling morfls(called, in thetrade,'dead dodgy')
involuntary separation To be, or the contrary? Whether the former or the specimen, a:very large, very, very shiny,
a
sports and games have their jargon. Each society stand. And it is just as easy ro begin using jargon which negotiated departure latter be preferable would seem to admit of some long-nosed motor car with leather seats.
and because he needs to get this car off his
forecourt in orderto make room fora
grouping has its jargon, The phenomenon rurns our ro we ourselves do not understand. The motivation to do outplacement difference of opinion; the answer in the present case
must be seen: a fairly large, shiny car with a specimen.
being of an affirmative or of a negative character
be universal - and valuable. It is the jargon element such apparently perverse things is not difficult to personnel surplus reduction
host of extras; alt., a rather peculiar foreign good runne a: a vehicle which has not had
redeployment according as to whether one elects on the one hand to
which, in a job, can promore economy and precision grasp, People like to be 'in', ro be part of an intellectu- reducing headcount mentally suffer the disfavour of fortune, albeit in an model that you might hesitate to buy the benef it of o ne careful, lady owner.ll
of expression, and thus help make life easier for the al or technical elite; and the use of jargon, whether extreme degree, or on the other to boldly envisage because ofthe rumoursyou have heard. will do you no credit at the Country Club,
redundancy elimination
but will trundle you round the houses well
workers. It is also the chief linguistic element which understood or nor, is a badge of membership. release adverse conditions in the prospect of bringing them to
host of extras: (usu. in conn. with must be
Jargon, rightsizing a conclusion. The condition of sleep is similar to, if not
seen), a sun-roof, stereo speakers, badge
enough. Sometimes abbreviated to a
shows professional awareness ('know-how') and social also, can provide alazywayinto a group or an easyway indistingu ishable f rom, that of death; and with the runne in which case it may not be good
schedule adjustment bar, and a horn that plays the opening
togetherness ('shop-talk ). of hiding uncertainries and inadequacies: when termi- selective separation addition of finalitythe former might be considered
strains of 'Dixie'.
enough to trundle you allthe way round a//
identical with the latter; so that in this connection it the houses, because it needs sorne
\hen we have learned to command it, jargon is nology slips plausibly fi'om rhe rongue, it is not essen- skill-mix adjustment
attenton.
transitioned might be argued with regard to sleep that, could the one careful, lady owner:boring ly sedate
something we readily take pleasure in, whether the tial for the brain to keep up. Indeed, it is commonly vocational relocation addition be effected, a termination would be put to and reliable; unscratched, over-hoovered, needs some attenflon; (usu. in conn. with
subject area is mororcycles, knitting, cricket, baseball, asserted that politicians and civil servants have devel- voluntary severance the endurance of a multiplicity of inconveniences, not taken through the car-wash once a week; runner), needs a new gearbox, clutch.
computers, or wine. It can add pace, variery and oped this skill to professional levels. And certainl voluntary termination to mention a number of downright evils incidental to called Belinda. offside rear wing panel, windscreen wiper
work force adjustment our fallen humanity, and thus a consummation motor, doorlock and window crank on
humour to speech - as when, with an important event faced with a telling or awkward quesrion, and the need snip, a: a vehicle priced at f50-f1 00 below
work force imbalance achieved of a most gratifying nature. driver's side; otherwise, in A1 condition.
the sum the vendor original ly thought of,
approaching, we might slip into NASA-speak, and talk to say somerhing acceptable in public, slipping into correctio n (According to Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1916.) (According toW. Nash, 1 993.)
because the reading on the mileometer is
about countdown, all systems go, and lifi-offVe enjoy jargon becomes a simple way out, and can soon devel-
the mutual showing-offwhich stems from a fluent use op into a bad habit. It is a sho rt step, then, to jargon's
of terminology, and we enjoy the in-jokes which first cousin, clich (p. 186).
shared linguistic experience permits. Moreover, we are THE FOLKLORE ARTICLE RECONSTITUTION KIT
jealous of this knowledge. \e are quick to demean
This aid to academic article writing was crculated anonymously in the 1970s by a disaffected folklore scholar. Anyone wishing to produce an acceptable
anyone who tries to be part of our group without being paper for a folklore jou rnal, the a uthor contends, has simply to construct sentences f rom the columns below, in the sequence -g-C-O.
prepared to take on its jargon. And we resenr it when A B c D
some other group, sensing our lack of linguistic aware- 1 Obviously, 1 a large proportion of intercultural 1 must utilize and be functionally interwoven 1 Propp's basic formulation.
2 Ontheotherhand, communicative coordination with 2 the anticipated epistemological
ness, refuses to let us in.
3 Fromthe nter- 2 a constant flow of f ield-collected 2 maximizes the probability of project success repercussions,

The down side

Iw cultural standpoint,
4 Similarly,
input ordinates
3 the characterization of critically
while minimizing cross-cultural shock
elements in
3 improved subcultural
compatibi lity-testi ng.
5 As Lvi-Strauss co-optive criteria 3 adds explicit performance contours to 4 all deeper structuralistic
Ifjargon is so essential a part of our lives, why then has contends, 4 initiation of basic charismatic 4 necessitatesthat coagulative measures be conceptual ization.
it had such a bad press? The most important reason 6 ln this regard, subculture development applied to 5 any communicatively-programmed
stems from the way jargon can exclude as well as 7 Based on my own 5 our fully integrated f ield program 5 requires considerable further performance computer techniques.
field-work in 6 any exponential Folklife coefficient analysis and computer studies to arrive at 6 the profound meaning of The Raw
include. \e may nor be roo concerned if we find our- rlla'; Guatemala, 7 furtherand associated contradictory 6 is holistically compounded, in the context of and the Cooked.
selves faced with an impenetrable wall of jargon when 8 For example, elements 7 presents a valuable challenge showing the 7 our hedonic Folklife perspectives
the subject marrer has little perceived relevance ro our 9 Thus, within given 8 the incorporation of agonistic necessity for over a given time-period.
parameters, cultural constrailts 8 recognizes the importance of other disc- 8 any normatve conceptof the
everyday lives, as in the case ofhydrology or linguis- 10 ln respectto essential 9 myproposed independent iplines, while taking into account linguistic/ holistic continuum.
tics. But when the subject marrer is one where we feel ' departmental goals. structura listic concept 9 effects a significant implementation of 9 the total configurational ratonale.
implicated, and think we have a right to know, and the 10 a primary interrelationship between 10 adds overwhelming Folkloristic 10 Krapp'sLastTape.
speaker uses words which act as a barrier to our under- systems and/or subsystems logistics significance to
 t76 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 12 LEXICAL DIMENSIONS 177

The Doublespeak campaign

During the 1970s in the USA, there was a marked AIR SUPPORT Political correctness don't like'. Ir was, according to an Economzieditorial -ISS AND -ISMS
Son.re of the most loaded words in the language are of the time, 'the most pernicious form of intolerance'. Suff ixes (p. 198) mark the
increase in concern about the way jargon was being Thewinnerof thefirstDoublespeakAwardin 1974wascolonel opfer,theunitedstates
Air Force press officer in Cambodia. After a U5 bombing raid, he told reporters: ,you those associated with the way society talks about itself, The arguments continue. Critics of PC believe that areas which cause greatest
used to confuse or cleceive by people in power. In
ancl especially abou.t groups of people whom it per-
concern. ln each case, the
always write it's bombing, bombing, bombing. lt's not bombing! lt,s air support!, the search for a 'caring' lexicon is pointless, as long as
1977, the National Council of Taches of English label identifies one way
ceives to be disadvantaged or oppressed. The most sen- the inequalities which the language reflects do not in which people can
passed two resolutions on language.
sitive domains are to do with race, gender, sexual change. Proponents of PC argue that the use of lan- discri minate aganst others
(physical or mental) personal by using language which is
affintty, ecology, and guage itself helps ro perpetuate these inequalities. At
On Dishonest nnd Inhumare Uses of Languge demeaning or offensive.
development. During the 1980s, an increasing num- present, the speed at which fashions change in the use
That the National Council ofTachers of English fnd Sexlst: discrim ination aganst
ber of people became concerned to eradicate what they of PC terms suggests that it is not so esy to manipu-
means to study dishonest and inhumane uses of one sex, typically men
saw to be prejudice (especially language prejudice) in late language as the reformers think. Dissatisfaction against women.
language and literarure by aclvertisers, to bring
these areas. The label rcialistwas already known from over one term tends to spread to its replacement, as has Racrst: discrimination against
offenses to public attenrion, and to propose classroom a race, typically whites
the tun ofthe century, and racistfrom the 1930s, been seen with such sequen ces as negrl ro black to Afro-
against non-whites.
techniques for preparing children ro cope with com-
Sexistwas added in the 1960s, and followed by a series Americanto Afican-Americn..6ove all, it is very di Abl e ist: discrim ination by the
mercial propagancla.
of other -zit terms which focused on real or imagined ficult to ascertain just how far linguistic attitudes are able-bodied against those
with physicalor mental
areas of linguistic discrimination. Many of the critics generallyheld. In one 1991 surveyof blackAmericans, difficulties.
On the Relaton of Languge to Public Policlt
wele members of progressive or activist groups (e.g. carried out in the USA by the black-oriented Joint Agerst: discrimination against
That the National Council ofTeachers of English find
a.lvocates of minority rights), especially in universities, Center for Political and Economic Studies, over 70 per those of a particular age,
mens to study the elation of language to public pol- typically the very young or
and thus, as the movement grew attracting hard-line cent of blacks said they preferred to be called blac,
ic to keep track ol publicize, and combat semanric the very old.
extlemists alongside moderates, it drew down upon norwithstancling the supposed contemporary vogue hti st: d iscrimination
H e ig
distortion by public offcials, candidares for office,
irself the antagonism of conservative academics and for the politically-co rrect Afiican-American. aga i nst those of a certa i n
political comrenrarors, and all those who transmit height, typical ly against
journalists. By the 1990s, this hard-line linguistic Political correctness has become one of the most
through the mass media. very short people.
olthodoxy was being referred to, pejorativel as contentious issues on the US socio-political scene in
Other such labels have been
po I i ticI conectness (PC). recent years, and attitudes continue to harden. Those proposed, such as fattyrstor
In 197 3 the Council decided on its way forward, form-
Anyone who used vocabulary held to be 'politically who adopt a PC line typically do so with an aggres- weightist (against fat people)
ing a Commirree on PLrblic DoLrblespeak - a blend of and heterosexrst (against
incorrect' risked severe condemnation by PC activists. siveness which creates antagonism even among those
newspeah + doublethinle from Orwellt Nineteen Eighty- homosexua ls of either sex),
Organizations, fearful of public criticism and litiga- who might themselves be concerned about traditional and the list has been
Foar (p.135). The Committee focused on classroom AND SOME OTHER THE GOLDEN BULL HE ORWELL tion, went out of their way to avoid using language labels. However, extreme positions quickly arrracr extended in many ways,
activities and on professional awareness, publishing a WINNERS AWARDS AWARDS
newsletter (later, the Quarter Reuiew of Doublespeale) .
which might be construed as offensive. The word ridicule, and it was not surprising ro find especia lly by those who have
little sympathy with the PC
1977 the Pentagon and These are the British It should not always be bad b/ttc, for example, was felt to be so sensitive that some several publications in the I 990s f rame of mind. A lphabetist,
and other materials; but its highest public profle came the Energy Research and equivalent of the news. While the thrust of the
Development Doublespeak Awards,
banned its use in all possible contexrs (including such beginning to saririze them. It for example, was proposed in
with the birth of the annual Doublespeak Awards in Doublespeak campaign has
instances as blcboard and the blc pieces in chess). 1 987 to label discrimination
Administration, for organized by the Plain been directed against may yet be humour which will
r974. explaining that the neutron against someone on the
English Campaign and the language misuse, there have The generic vse of mnwas widely attacked (p. 363). restore a balanced perspecrive grounds of al phabetical
So what is doublespeak? In the view of the Com- bomb was 'an efficient National Consumer Council. also been efforts to reward
Mental hndicapped people were to become people to the debate. order. lf your name begins
nuclear weapon that The f irst plaque was given
mittee Chair, it is 'language which pretends ro com- those who have helped to
tuith learning dfficubiet Disabled people were to be with an A, you are
eliminates an enemy with a in 1 982 to the author of direct publc attention to the
municate, but really doesn'r. It is language which minimum degree of damage Section 38 of the Criminal issues, and who themselves use dffirent abled. Third World countries were to be advantaged (e,9. in a pile of
to f riendly territory'. job applications); if with Z,
makes the bad seem good, the negrive seem positive, Justice Act, for writing as language well.
dcueloping nations. All but the most beautiful or you are not,
the unpleasanr appear arrracrive, or ar leasr rolerable. It . follows: The OrwellAwards were
1979 Thenuclearpower handsome were aesthetical challenged, And in the
introduced by the National
is language which avoids or shifts responsibilit lan- industry, for the euphemisms (4) An enactment in which
devised in relation to the
Council of Teachers of English academic literary world there would need to be safe-
guage which is at variance with its real or its pul.porr- section 3 1 (6) and (7) of the
to recognize a work which has guarcls against the unhealthy influence wielded by
incident at Three Mile lsland, Criminal Law Act 1977 (pre-
ed meaning. It is language which conceals or prevents made an outstanding
when an explosion was called 1 949 enactments) produced svch DWEMs ('Dead \Vhite European Males')
contribution to the critical as
thought' (\fl Lutz, 1987). h is stressed that such lan- 'energetic disassembly', a fire the same fine or maximum
analysis of public discourse. Shakespeare, Goethe, and Molire.
'rapid oxidation', a reactor f ine for different convictions
guage is nor rhe product of carelessness or sloppy The first award was given in
accident a'normal shall be treated for the
thinking; rathe! ir is the result of clear thinking. The 1975 to David Wise for his
aberration', and plutonium purposes ofthis section as if Critical reaction
book lhe Politics of Lying.
claim is that this language has been carefully designecl contamination'inf iltration'. there were om itted f rom it so Particularly appropriate to this In the early 1990s, many people reacted strongly to I
to change reality and to mislead. much of it as before 29th July
.1984 TheUSDepartment section was the award gven to what they saw as a trend towards terminological
1977 ..
Dwight Bolinger's book,
.

Judging by the media arrenrion given to the annual of State, for announcing that
i n reports or the sttus of Language, the Loaded absurdity. The inflexible condemnarion of incor-
awards, the emergence of similar societies in other The use of 'plain English'
human rights in other Weapon (1980). ect' vocabulary reminded some of the 'thought

e
involves much more than an
countries, the growth in public awareness of the prob- countries, the word killing avoidance of unnecessary A similar concern to develop police' of futuristic novels. Newspaper headlines
lem, and the way in which many organizations have would in future be replaced jargon, but must take into positive initiatives is found in
the UK, where in 1990 the contained references to 'McCanhyism' and 'the
responded positively to the demand for'plain English' by'unlawful or arbitrary account questions of
deprivation of life'. grammar and typography, Plain English Campaign end of academic freedom of speech'. And certain- makingthe most
as
(p. 376), the campaign to date has been remarkably this example shows. The introduced the Crystal Mark
scheme to recognize clarity in
l there were cases cited of academics who had
successful. But, in view of the examples which cont- issues raised by such cliticized the PC position being labelled racisr or
examples are therefore written documents (p. 376).
inue to be cited in the yearly award ceremonies, no one The choice of this title, it is sexist, and losing rheir courses or their case for
discussed later in this book
is suggesting that the problem is anyr,vhere near' (p.376). believed, does not derive from pt'omotion. According ro wrirer in the New
being solvecl. the name of any linguistics
Yorl Times (July 1991), PC had become'a lethal
author living or dead.
weapon for silencing anyone whose ideas you
 178
THE LIVING LEXICON
-We
know that something is alive when we see
and language is no exception. Spoken language, in par-
ticular, is always on rhe move; and the more alive a lan-
guage is, the more we see it change, as it adapts to new
demands and circumstances. English, by this crirerion,
is in the forefront of living languages.
In realiry, of course, this way of putting it is some-
w-hat misleading. It is not language, as such, which
adapts and changes. Only people do rhat. And it is
people who, as they try to
communicate fresh
thoughts and feelings, and look for new ways of mak-
ing an impact on each othe explore and stretch the
limits of the lexicon. This section examines some of
the main areas of vocabulary where we are likely to find
this energy and life most clearly displayed, (For other
examples of the 'life' of language, see Part V.)
Catch phrases
In catch phrases, we see the spoken language 'on rhe
wing'. As the name suggesrs, a catch phrase is simply
a phrase which is so appealing that people take plea-
sure in using it. It comes to be on everyonet lips, for
a while. In some cases, a phrase comes and goes with-
in a few weeks. More usuall it stays for a few years.
And, every now and then, it stays in use for decades,
at least among older people. It is even possible for
catch phrases to be so useful that they become per-
manent additions ro rhe language, in the form of
rather self-conscious and often jocular expressions
whose origins people may have long forgotten. Any-
one who says (or adapts) A
gotta do wltat a man's
man's
gott do, They went tltatway, or This town isn't big
enough for both ofus is 'recalling' the catch phrases of
a generation of cowboy \estern films, now several
decades old - though it is unlikely that anyone could
now recollect where they first heard them.
Catch phrases, typicall are nor like these last
examples, but have a clearly identifiable source. How-
ever, to identify them, we need to be part of the
culture which gave rise to them. The catch phrases
currently echoing around Australia are unlikely to be
recognized in Britain or the USA (and vice versa),
unless they have managed to capture international
attention through the media. The cinema was rhe
chief 2Oth-century medium, in this respecr. It is prob-
able that most native speakers of English will know the
following examples, though nor everyone will be able
to identify their sources with certainry (see foot of
faci ng p ge, if ne ede d.) . mock-Cockney pronunciation (with final lgl omitted
\X/hat's up, doc?
Here's another fine mess youie gotten me into.
You cannot be serious!
PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY
Most American viewers, on the other hand, would
CATCH STRUCTURES
have no trouble recognizing
The grammatical structure of a catch phrase may become popular in its own right. A
ir move; famous case occurs in the opening text of Star lre k: to boldly go where no man has gone Herls Johnny Used at the beginning of the US TV chat
before.lhis construction is often transferred to other contexts, retaining bold/y between programme, The Johnny Carson Show, to welcome the
to and the verb (p. 195), but altering the chief meaning-carrying lexemes: to boldty sptit
infinitives where no man has split before is one (somewhat abstruse) instance, heard at a i.,osr. It is echoed by the insane character:played byJack
conference on English usage n the l98Os Nicholson as he axes through the door at the climax
the film The Shining'
Wry interesting Spokenin a mock German accent,
with a lengthened 'meditative' first vowel, by the
'German soldier' on Rown and Martinls Lugh-In,
shown on US TV in the 1960s-70s. He would be seen
peering at other characters through foliage and
commenting on their idiocy.
The transatlantic sitr.ration is not a symmetrical one,
however, Far more American films and shows are seen
in Britain than move in the other direction. Thus,
most British people would have no trouble with Who
loues ya, bafui? (from Kojah) or Hi-yo, Siluer (from The
Lotte Ranger), and many other catch phrases from tele-
vision series, The 64-dollar (later, 64-thousand dollar)
qttestizn came to be used in Britain without hesitation
(arrd without any l'eplacement of the word dollr). k is
clistinctly more unusual for a British catch-phrase to
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures take off in the USA - though rhe Mon4t Python series
first shown on British TV had some impact in the
1980s, with such phrases as And nou for something
Heret looking at you, kid. clTnpleteb dffirent, and Nudge nudge, wink win, say
Phone home. no 7nore.
May the Force be wirh you! It is not just the media which generates catch
phrases, of course. Anyone in the public domain can -
On the other hand, mny examples will have a much wittingly or unwittingly - be the source of one. Politi-
more 'local' response. Most people in Britain will cians provide one breeding-ground, as illustrated by
know (and many will have used) such TV catch You neuer hd it so good, found both in the USA (as the
phrases as the following, though few English speakers
slogan of the Democratic Party in the 1952 presiden-
in other countries will have much of an inruition tial election) and the UK (by Harold Macmillan in
about them.
1957: most of our people haue neuer had it so goo.
Sports personalities provide another: a famous case is
Pass Used in the sense 'I dont know, ask me another' We wuz robbed, attributed to Joe Jacobs, the manager
in both the BBC TV quiz game Mastermind and the of boxing hear.yweight Max Schmeling, who lost on
US TV show Pasword.It is said by conresranrs who are points to Jack Sharkey in 1932. Generals, admirals,
unable to answer one question and who wish to move singers, archbishops, judges, the British Royal Family
onto the next as quicldy as possible before they run out
- indeed, anyone who is likely to atrracr the public eye,
of time. ancl be quoted in the press can, if they say the right
- o
words at the right time, fnd themselves taking up
Gissa job ,'Give us a job' - a Liverpool dialect form of residence in a Dictionary of Carch Phrses. And if what
'Give us (=me) a job', used by the unemployed charac- chey say is truly memorable, it might even be
ter Yosser in Alan Bleasdale's TV pla Boys fonr the Dctionry of
Quottions (p.134).
Blach Stuff(1982).
MYTHICAL CATCH PHRASES
Euenin' all 'Good evenin g, all' , typically spoken in a Laurel and Hardy
NIe Tarzan, you lane is not to be found in any of the
Tarzan films, though Tarzan and Jane do greet each
and a vowel-like version of /l/). The greeting was used other elliptically in some productions. Nor did Sherlock
Holmes ever say Elementary, my dear Watson in any of
in the 1950s by the TV character PC Dixon in the the books by Conan Doyle (though it does appear in a
series about a London policeman, Dixon of Doch rltm. Catch phrases are often adapted and renewed
Green, and is still widespread. with scant regard for accuracy.
12 LEXICAL DIMENSIONS 179
VOGUE WORDS forms of impasse, such as the positions in
an argument). The term buzz word is also
Vogue words, as the name suggests, are used to describe such a development, and
lexemes which take on a fashionable or cult in some ways is a more appropriate term,
status within the language as a whole, or with its suggestion of excitement, activity,
among the members of a particular group and change -the features of any fashion.
(such as teachers, government ministers, or The use of affixes (p.128) has come to be
of teenagers). They are similar in many ways an important feature of vogue words in
to catch phrases (which might, indeed, be recent years. The -gate of Watergate
called voguephrases), but vogue words retained its popularity into the 1990s, pro-
usually lack the specific sources which can ducing hundreds of expressions (Carter-
be found for most catch phrases. g ate, H o I lwood g ate, D a I I asg ate,
Vogue words do not suddenly appeaL Danagate, Camillagate, etc). Euro- in the
but grow gradually and unobtrusively, early 1990s also achieved vogue status,
until one day we are aware that everybody being attached to almost anything which
is using them. had - or could be given - a European Com-
Vogue words are not the same as neolo- munty application (Eurowisdom, Eu rocrat,
gisms (p. 130). A lexeme which has been in Eurodollar, Euromess, etc.). Other exam-
the language for years may become a ples of vogue affixes which emerged dur-
vogue word - as happened to absolutely in ing the 1980s include -athon (p. 131),
the late 1980s, which came to be used as mega-, -aid, -speak, and all the -rsms and
an emphatic substitute for 'yes I agree'. A -rsts (p. 1 77).
neologism must have a certan popularity, The trouble with vogue words is that
of course, otherwise it would not become they are transient and unpredictable. The
part of the language at all; but only a few vogue words of the 1980s (Yuppie and its
neologisms become so popular that they friends, glasnost, perestroika, Rambo, etc.)
could be called 'vogue'. are still in use, but were overtaken by the
To become a vogue word, something fresh tones of the 1990s (double whammy,
extra has to happen - a word has to be virtual reality, etc.). And in due course
taken up and used with extra frequency by many of these will lose their vogue and be
large numbers of people, and must be replaced. To be up-to-date with examples
extended to contexts beyond the one of vogue words, in fact, you will have to
which originally gave rise to it (as when put this book down, go out-and-about,
gridlock, a term describing a type of and listen.
unmoving traffic jam, is applied to other
TltE FAR stDE Bv 6ARY ARsoM
c
.o
E
o
c
o.
3
)
o
q
o
o
o
E
c
.g)
a Catch phrase origins
(see facing page)
Bugs Bunny
&rnn. Oliver Hardy, of
o
John McEnroe
Humphrey Bogart, in
Casablanca
ET, in Ef
Various characters in
Star Wars
so
F
 r80 PAR'1'I] !] N( ],ISFI VO(]AT]tJI,AIY 1 2 LXIC]AI- I)IMT,NSIONS tll

Slogans ( ]raffti . There is a great deal of straightfolwarcl plaise or' WHO WUZ HERE?
Originall the wocl slogan was usecl to clescribe the 'l'he worcl grffito originally referred to a drawing or invective, for or against particular gar-rgs, religious

battle-cry ol lallying-cry of a Scottish clan. 'lbcla the
application is different, but the ir.rter.rtion behincl mod-
ern slogans is rnuch the same - to form a for.cefi_rl,
catch mir-rd-gr:abbing Lrrrerance which will rally peo-
ple, in this case to buy somerllillg, or to behave in a cer-
tain way. Indeecl, the For.ce of the harcl sell witl-r wl-rich
some slogans are placecl before rhe public woulcl no
cloubt have received the enthusiastic approval of ar.ry
ar^cient Higl"rlander.
In their lingr.ristic srlllcrLlre,
slogans ar.e very like
@
Two of the longest-standng
Britoin ot its best. inscliption scrrtchecl on an ancient wall, such as those groups, political parties, protest groups, etc. The graff iti are Kilroy and Chad,
both of World War 2 origin,
r,vhich havc lecr.r founcl at Pompeii. In the present cen- group's symbols or logos ofte r-r piay a promirrent lole in and still being drawn around
1ul'y, the nrmc h:rs collc to be used for any spolltr- the clesign. the world in the 2000s.
lreous ancl unallthol'ized writing ol cirawing ou walls, .
THE UITIThAIE DRIVING TUIACHINE Likewise, a large allollllt of space is clevotecl to
vi:hiclcs, rncl othcr pr-rblic pl:rces. It is typically obsce ne
or political in chalacter, but a glcat clcal of humour
obsccnity and clirty jokcs in geueral, as is or-rly to be KILRoY
Woz
expcctecl fron-r data which oliginates on lavatory walls.
rrncl populal wisclom can also be four.rcl, which has
CENTRAL HEAIING -frr KIDS lirn.nccl thc basis of sever-al collections by folklorists . A cornmon tactic is to respond to a well-kr-rown quo-
ttion or slogan. Biblical quotatiol-rs are freqr"rently
HERE
rrncl humorists.
Graffti arc often occasional, in character, r'espor.rcl- vsed (Faith cnlt lnot)c ntountttins. She's a ltig girl ) as ale

hygena
proverbs (p. 184). Sentences tend to be shor.t, widr a
irrg to culrcnt evellts ancl pfcoccupatiol]s, such as an conrmercial slogans (I tbought that an itmttendo tults (tlt Klroy
stlor.rg lhythrn:
,,lcctiot.r or a famous scrr.rclal. Most graffiti, howevet, Itttlirut suppository tntil I discoucrcd Snrnoff). Kilroy began in America.
He may have been a
SrtJty First I)ar llo relatior.r to a particular time or place . The sarne . Glaffiti clialogues also exist, as wrters react to each Massachusetts shipyard
thcr-nes recur, ovcl thc years, as do some of the
Bcanz Mcanz Heinz S i nry , lte cr u t ffir. l. An d lt euut ffir I ly s i rnt le. othe r. nspecto James Kilroy, who
Bnn the Bomlt 'Lvourite lormulac of the graffiti-writers. Fclr example, in 1941 was marking the

f iherc must by now be tl-rousancls of valiants of the X Bc lert. phrase on equipment to

Walls Hrtue Ears

IBERIA^'
show he had checked it. Or
t ttlcs Olistrttcture, said to have begur.r as a British soc- Yortr cotur1t ncads lcrts. he may have been a
They often have a balancecl srr.ucure , especially if they (Arstal ru/cs, OIi?). A small sample frorl
,cr borst - No, Britain hts got crtouglt lerts nout, tltank you. Sergeant Francis Kilroy
get at all iengthy: whose arrival at a Florida air
onc papclback collection illustlates this sub-ger.rre in l3e aloof
base was anticipated by the
Mle loue, ilot tultr rrction (N. Rees, 1981): - No, real, la alnt. There's snfety in tutntbus. noTice Kilroy will be here
You'll ttever .\ee thittgs
Wen yotr nced mpirin, c/rittk Disprin rTuite tlte s0ne ug0itt.t'\l . Puns :urcl wold play abouncl. 'Ihese arc usually of next week. Several other
WARTI TO THE XPIRITII(T. Apatlry rulcs, oh der. theories exist, and the truth
There can be striking use of figr-rrative language: Ex,unples ntlc, c.g. the catcgory that rnight charitably be clescribecl as may never be known.
Ehtstcirt rulcs relatiue ly, OIi. cxeclable (Quasintodo - that nanrc rings a ball),bv
Terylene leeeps its prorrtises
llureaucrrtty rules OI( thcy arc sometimes highly ingcnious - in this case, oo
Stt,itc/ on the stnshine (Kelloggt cereai)
OTi playing widr the worcls of a once popular song ('Miss
Frequent use is made of alliteration (p.415) ancl oIi Otis reglcts she's unable to h-urch toclay'): V/qa, No BANANAS ?
rhyme ('jingles');
Scvcral other genet'al characteristics can also be LIFT'UNDER REPATR- USE OTHER LT]TT Chad
Chad (also known as Mr
Gttinness is goodJr 1,ou o[rscrved. Tltis Otis ragrcts it's utnblc to ltfi todal.

c TPOYBTLT'
Chad) appeared in Britain
Electrohtx brings lurury to life early in the Wa always
o
if sll obn f '.'
accompanied by a standard
Drinha pinta rnilka drry
Shoking rulos-
phrase of the type What, no
Put a tigar in your razla (Exxon/Esso)
-lhkfCCof -?. He turns up, often under

-
Yott'll tL,onder uhere the yellou, tuer a different name, n several

ilPERuTES-&
tfllten An Anterican I*gend Caring For The Land. @
countries (e.9. Clem, in Cana-
ltott lrruslt yotti teeth uith Pepsoclertt The freedom to see da). Again, many explana-

SLrur RULE qF
tions have been proposed,
Ancl several mimic a conversational style:
both for the drawing and for

OU CAN BE SURE OF
the name. A popular view is
fngerlicleii good (Kentucky Fried Chicken)
HELL
It's
that the face grew out of a
I
rr,'*
bet (s)he drinks Cdrling Blacl Label diagram, such as that of an
Thafll do uice (Anerican Expless). Absolule zero A"Ko alternating wave form,
which could have been part
As these exarnples suggest, slogans al.e usecl for. far
more than aclvertising commercial proclucts, but are DfitLtxlA RUIES Ko of a lecture to military per-
sonnel.

an essential part of all campaigrrs - political, safet

protest, health, environmental, ancl so on. Incieecl, one
American Sunflower Seed Bureau THE LAW OF THE EXCLUED V
ETHER RULES fi
rtfu
a
i4qIM
of the first steps in ar.ry campagn is to think up a goocl MOOtg
'-'o1r'Rt;'K-'
FOR A HEALTHY APPETITE The name Chadwas chiefly

ffi,nnt qilgrot
slogar.r, and some companies run r.egular comperirions Royal Air torce; Private
to obtair.r fresh iclcas fi'om rhe public. Invent a success- Snoops was the Army equiv-
alent, and The Watcher was
ftrl slogan tocla and (who kr-rows?) it coLrlcl be Sur.r often found in the Navy.
Leading the way to theUSA.
f,Hlffii%-it,' .urn
City for yolr romon'ow. Theories about its origins are
also highly speculative: they

7VA
include the view that it
derives f rom the name of a
aa forces lecture centre (Chad-

l*thctgy wick House), and that it

comes f rom the name of a
1 940s' film (Chad Hannah).
 182 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY 12 LEXICAL DIMENSIONS 183

Slang PTgEE
Slang, according to the American poer, Carl Sandburg THE USES OF SLANG the idealistic; of
(1878-1967) is'language which takes off its coat, spits immediacy and
According to the British
appositeness to the
-
on its hands and goes ro work'. The Oxford Engtish lexicographer, Eric Partridge
(1894-1 979), people use
remote. (ln the cultured
Dictionary provides a more judicious accounr: 'lan- the effort is usually
;:i:l:l"rtat
reast 1s premeditated, while in
guage ofa highly colloquial type, considered as below
the uncultured it is
the level ofeducated standard speech, and consisting I ln sheer high spirits, by almost always
either of new words or of currenr words employed in the young in heart as unconscious when it is
well as by the young in
some special sense'. In a related definition, it also years; Just for the fun of
not rather subconscious.)
9a To lessen the sting of, or
describes slang as 'language ofa low or vulgar type' and the thing'; in playfulness on the other hand to give
'the special vocabulary or phraseology of a paiticular or waggishness. additionalpointto. a
2 As an exercise either in refusal, a rejection, a
calling or profession'. This sums up the paradox of wit and ingenuty or in recantation;
slang very well. People look down on it, but can hard- humour. (The motive 9b To reduce, perhaps also
behind this is usually self-
avoid using it, for everyone has some 'calling or pro- to disperse, the
fession', even if the 'call' is only to watch foottall, display or snobbishness, solemnity. the 12 To induce either
emulation or pomposity. the excessive friendliness or intimacy
collect stamps, or go drinking. There is upper-class responsiveness, delight seriousness of a of a deep or a durable
slang alongside lower-class slang, the slang of do.torc in virtuosity.) conversation (or of a kind. (5ame remark.)
3 To be'different', to be piece of writing); 13 Toshowthatone
and of lawyers, the slang of foorballers and philatelists,
novel. 9c To soften thetragedy, to belongsto a certain
as well as the slang which cuts across social class and 4 To be picturesque (either lighten or to'prettify' school, trade, or
occupation, available ro anyone as rhe mosr colloquial positively or - as in the the inevitablity of death profession, artistic or
variety of language (p. 290). The word'mosr' is impor-
wish to avoid insipidity - or madness, or to mask intellectual set, or social
negatively). the uglness orthe pity of class; in brief, to be'in
tant. Let's haue a drinle is colloquial, but not sIang. Let's 5 To be unmistakeably profound turpitude (e.g. the swm'or to establish
dip the bill (Raymond Chandler, The Big She, *t t.t arrestng, even startling. treachery, ingratitude); contact.
6 To escape from clichs, or and/or thus to enable the 14 Hence, toshowor prove
means the same rhing, is both.
to be brief and concise. speaker or his auditor or that someone is not'in
The complexity of slang is immediately apparent (Actuated by impatience both to endure, to'carry the swim'.
when we examine its varied functions (see rt). tf with existing terms.) on'. l5 Tobesecret-not
7 To enrich the language. 10 Tospeakorwritedown nderstood bythose
forced to choose the primary function of slang from (This deliberateness is to an inferot or to around one. (Children,
Eric Partridge's list, it would have to be number 13 rare save among the amuse a superior public; students, lovers,
G OD FATH ER lV: T HE DICTIO NARY
(and its complemenr, l4). 'The chief use of slang', it well-educated, Cockneys or merely to be on a members of political Lexicography is not usually thought of as a dangerous
forming the most colloquial levelwith secret societies, and profession - though opinions might change after read-
has been wisely said, 'is to show that you're one oFth.
notable exception; it s either one's audience or criminals in or out of ing Partridge's account of data sources lor A Dictionary
gang'- and, in Chandlert novels, literally so. Slang is literary ratherthan one's subject matter. prison, innocent persons of the Underworld, British and American (1949).
one of rhe chief markers of in-group identity. As suih, spontaneous.) l1 Foreaseofsocial in prison, are the chief
8 To lend an air of solidity, intercourse. (Notto be Only a little of the underworld material that came to me
it comes very close to jargon (p.174). concreteness, to the
exponents.)
direct was in written form, professional criminals being,
confused or merged with (From Slang: Today and
abstract; of earthiness to the preceding.) Yesterday, 1933, Ch. 2.) with the exception of confidence tricksters ('con men'),
notoriously inept with the pen, even 'penmen' or
A MONUMENT TO material had run to 100,000 which the f irst editors of the 'scratchers'being useless - outside of forgery. Luckily,
SLANG words, and justif ied sepa- OED had almost completely famous criminals have employed'ghosts', and they and
CLA55Y TALK EARLYAUSSIE RHYMING SLANG TOUGH GUYTALK rate publication as a supple- ignored. The Di cti on ary was other criminals have frequently been tapped by journal-
ARGOT
The speed at which slang mentary volume. There is well received at the time, ists and authors; prison chaplains and governors, or war-
The upper-class dialogues of An adapted extract from one Best-known for its use by She's a grifter, shamus, l'm a There is a close link between moves can be sensed by trac- now an integrated edition. though when librarians dis- dens, are. to con a phrase, mines of information; police
Wodehouse are not usually of the slang vocabulary lists London Cockneys, these grifter. We're allgrifters. So slang and argol the special ing the natural history of An extract from both vol- covered that it had 'those officers, especially detectives, pick up many words and
obscure, though here the (for early 20th-century unusual formations are little we sell each other out for a language of a secretive social what many regard as the umes is shown, illustrating words'in it, many banned it phrases; tramps and hoboes, whether ex-professional or
quasi-legal phrase in durance Australian) compiled by Eric recorded before the mid- n ickel. Okey. See can you group. ln this piece of literary greatest publication on the first compilation, as well from their shelves, and for amateur, tend much more than criminals to write of
vlle ('in awful confinement') Partridge (1933). 1 9th-century. Probably make me. ... I haven't pulled invention, context is cleverly slang: Eric Partridge's Dictio- as the addtional informa- many years it was often their experiences; special investigators into prosttuton
might give pause. originating as part of a
cana ry A convict (c. 1 820- anything in here...lcame in used to aid the reader. nary of Sla ng a nd U nconven- tion discovered. Every page available only on restricted and the drug-traffic - that is, those of them who take
5he lugged the poorwench 900). criminalargot, the talking two C's. That's still the tional English.-lhis of the work shows its social, loan. their work seriously and are engaged therein for long
1
underworld assocations Our pockets were full of
offto Blandings, and she's clinah, cliner A sweetheart price. lcome because I monumental work first historical, and geographical fhe Dictionary conf irmed periods - learn much of the cant (the philologists'term
have now largely thought l'd get a take it or deng, so there was no real
been there ever since, (f rom Yiddish, c. 1900). appeared in 1937, with the range, and the meticulous Patridge in his chosen for'language of the underworld') used by the purveyors
disappeared. leave it, one right gee to need from the point of view
practical ly in durance vile, cobber A friend or mate sub-heading Collogu i a I isms care with which the author career. ln, 'Genesis of a Lexi- and their customers; police-court proceedings are occa-
of crasting any more pretty
her every movement (c. 1 89s). apples and pears stairs another. Now you're waving a nd Ca tch- p h rase5 5o/ecims approached his task. lt was a cographer', he wrote: sionally helpful. That is an incomplete though not a
polly to tolchock some old
watched. Butthis Myra seems cossie Swimming costume artful dodger lodger cops at me. You oughta be a nd Cata ch reses, N i ck n a m es, real labour of love, for Par- grossly inadequate list of the more accessible sources
ashamed of yourself. veck in an alley and viddy Although I have linguistic
to be a sensible, level-headed (c. 1 920). Cain and Abel table Vulgarisms, and such Ameri- tridge was no salaried aca- available to a researcher into cant.
him swim in his blood while interests other than lexicog-
girl, because, learning from derry Agrudge(c.1896). Chalk Farm arm (Raymond Chan dler, The Big canisms as have been natu- demic, but a free-lance But he who deals, or professes to deal, directly with
we counted the takings and raphy and etymology, and
her spes that Lady C was to dilly-bag A shopping or Gawd forbids kids S/eep,1939,Ch.25.)
ralized. The second edition enthusiast. Although he the underworld has to be very careful. Criminals are nat-
divided by four, nor to do shall, I hope, be able to in-
go to Shrewsbury for a hair- utl ity bag (c.1 885). Hampstead Heath teeth (1 938) contained a substan- lacked the means available urally suspicious of a stranger: and usually they either
the ultra-violent on some
do and wouldn't be around dingbat An officer's servant /suppose nose G/oss (for amateurs):
shivering starry grey-haired
tial Addendum. The third tothe Oxford English Dictio- dulge myself in expressing withhold information or supply'phoney' material... .
till dinnertime,
she phoned (dingo + batman, World grifter smal l-time criminal edition appeared in 1948 them, yet, being a passably More than one British, and more than one American,
Iean and lurch church ptitsa in a shop and go naryto give full authentica-
Bill that
she would be f ree shamus prvate detectve with a much longer Adden- tion to all his historical honest man, I am bound to journalist and social worker and philologist have had
War 1). mince pie eye smecking off with the till's
that day and would nip up to C 100-dollarnote dum, largely consisting of admit the justice of the their legs pulled.
dinkum Good, true north and south mouth guts. But, as they say, money observations on slang, his
London and marry him. gee man (first letterof guy) new items from World War charge, 'Once a lexicog-
(c.1 900). read and write light work was the first major col-
(P.G. Wodehous e, Se rvice
isn't everything. 2. By the time of the fifth rapher, always a lexi- The book took Partridge 1 3 years to complete. How he
drum Correct information tt for tat hat (Anthony Burgess, A Clock- lection of evidence about
avoided having more than just his leg pulled through-
With a Smile,1961.) edition (1960), the new cographer'. There are
(c,1912). trouble and strife wife the development of a genre
work Orange, 1962, Ch. 1 .) worse fates. out this time is difficult to imagine.
 184
PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY
Y 12 LEXICAL DIMlNSIONS 185

vaftan^t ls tlow a quotation again. But when

THE DYING AND DEAD ance finally serrles down as a quorarion,
an utter_
4rchaisms UNCOMMONLY DATED
LEXICON there is no
l:1t*.: any capabiliry for change. \X/e might.*,, [ archaism is a feature of an olcler state of the lan, Not all archaisms are ancent. Many
.on-
slder rr as a linguistic specimen, to be collected gtrege which continues to be used while retaining the items evoke Victorian or Edwardian
\Words in the times, and include a great deal of
can come alive overnight (as happene
d. rc sput_ manner ofa natural history or anatomy museum. arrrl of its past. Gramlnar and the lexicon provicle the
Such slang (p.182) and social usage, as
ni, on4 October tg57);buthey take'e.ades to catalogues, indeed, do exist, in the form drief exarnples, though older pronunciations will from well as outmoded technical names
die. ofdictionar_
Indeed, deciding that a word is ead is by ofquotations. However, the analogywith death rinre to time be heard, and archaic spellings seen. The and notions. ln such cases as the
no means ies
can
easy. For when z a word dead? presumab clearest cases are those which are separated by a sub- following, we may prefer to give
*hen no b_e taken only so far before it
too b.m., .n-.iburrd. them a less def inite label, such as
one uses it any more. But when can we be Unlfe an anatomicalspecimen in formaldehyde (hor_ srantial tirne-gap, notably those dating from Micldle
sure that ol d -fash i o ned or d ated.
tot,fil-: an.l Early Modern English (Part I).
Top]: are no longer using a word? How much time aside)' a quotation may still .*.r.ir a srrong beastly esquire
should we allow to go by before we can say
that a word and lively pragmatic effecr (p. Z6). . l,exical items include behold, damsel, ere ('before'), beau gov'nor
(father)
has.stopped 6eing obs.olescent (in occasional ('rather'), lither, ofi, quoth, sntite, unto, tuight
blest
use by a (if I know)
tew) and has come to be obsolete (used by no faitt grandpapa
one)? In ON MYTHS AND MEN (ire rson'), of ('know'), yonder, uarlet, bodice uncheon
forsooth, sire. I

the case of the standard lexicon, w. might

have to wait Many quotations have become well-known that they
. Grammatical features include present-tense verb breech es parlour
for a. whole generarion ro pass aw" bfore an so brougham pray (sit
inquest have enrered the srandard tanguage, *i
irr"i, errciings (-est, -eth) and their irlegular forns (wib, capital! down)
would rerurn anything oth.. th"r, open verdict. In all but forgotten. How many n* no* ttlu "ii",
"n
r," "li_i" sltottldst, etc.), contractecl forms ('tis, 'twas, 'gainst, e'en civil (of you) rotter
,,1. .T: of small-group slang, a word may be born and
schemes of mice and men is a quotation
from Robert confound you spiff ing
Burns'poem To a Mouse, orhatatt helt b-r;i;;;, ('even'), ne'er, o'er), past renses (spake, clothfi, pro- !

dre wtthtn weeks or months. damnable uncommon

rrom Mrtton,s pa radise Lost? (Of mice and
men is in fact a SO WHO WAS TOPSY? nouns such as thzt and ye, and vocative (p.220) con- (cheek) (n ice)
le.can rarely observe the birth of a word (but double quotation, as it was also rr"O U/rof,'si;i;#;k
p.139), and never its death something of a problem,
see
as.the title of a novel). Several Shakesparean;; "'''' 'Have you ever heard anv- srructions beginning with O. deuced wireless
- Biblical quotations have enterea the fnguagen
'Ihe hunter of archaisrns will find thern in an unex- FORM
thing about God, Topsy?,
of course, for. anyone interested in (lixi.alj ,r",u..I this
I

hlsrol'y. On the orher. hand, there are several

way (pp.63, 64). The child looked bewildered,
but grinned as usual.
pccteclly diverse range of conrexrs. Most obviousl " Good Heavens !
What a swelll What is it ?
clues Quite often, a quotation is adapted in the process.
An tl.rcy are usecl in many historical novels, plays, poems, Tea-fight ? Wedding breakfast ? "
which tell us rhar a word is dying, ,.u.."1 .o.rr..,
example is Ours not to reason why, which is 'Do you know who made
" Oh no ; only going to my tailor's. Mustbe
ancl films about such topics as King Arthur or Robin
a'n
adaptation o't Theirs not to reason why, from you ?'
of the lexicon which demonrta. "rrdrhe changelessness Tennvson,s decently dressed when I go to see him. He's
o- - Th.e Charge of the Light Brigade (1854i.
So;eti;;;l;;r" 'Nobody, as I knows on,,said Hood. Novelists who have used archaic language in a
thar we associare wirh death. suue processes are at work. ln 1 9g I, British
Conseivative the child, with a short lauqh.
caleful way include tValter Scott in luanhoe and
so beastly critical ! "
politician Norman Tebbitt included n ,,p".,
reference to his father,s search for emplovm"ntl
u--''-'" The idea appeared to amrise
her considerably; for her William Thackeray in Esmond.In poetr Spenser and
Quotations rrno The stereotyped nature of archaic language in children's comic strips about historical
A quotation is a fragment of socially_embalmed
the words He got on his bike and toodei io;r;;:ri.'i;". eyes twinkled, and she Milton were influential in maintaining an archaic characters can be seen in this piece from Beano (13 May ,l939). The occasional forsooth,
media headlined it with the older coltoquiatism added,-
guage. lt is language which has been placed
lan_
b/ke ('Go away'), and today it is this phie
, iiu 'l spect I grow,d. Don,t think
tradition of usage (p.125). Children's historical stories varlet, zounds, or gadzooks has been deemed enough to give such characters a histori-
on a peopte would confidently assert to be
w-h;c;;,"'
nobody never made me., also tencl to use them, albeit in a somewhar srereo,
cal identity.
pedestal, freely available or anyone ,o what Mr Tebbitt
ur, br, readily
sensitive to abuse. An error (misquomtion)
may nor
saro. LtKe topsy, the story just,grow,d,. (Harriet Beecher Stowe,
Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1B5i-2,
typed manner. Archaisms can be found in religious
ancl legal serrings (p.371,37 4), in nursely r.hymes and
GOOD flllo corc
always be noticed, but if it is, there is ,."1 ch.20.)
,irk ofp..r_ firiry tales, and (if the product warranrs it) in trade l lttl
group derision. Anything which someone "
has said or PROVERBS Look before you leap. names ancl commercial aclvertising. Rural dialects
written can be a quorarion, bur the term usually
refers A cat may look at a king.
water where the steer
ofen retain words which have gone out of use in the i
l' l1

to rhose insrances which have become ,famous, Proverbial expressions have

An apple a day keeps the
drowns')
(From D. Murison, ,l9g1.) llr 1t li
il t; tl
over been given a variety of standard language. And many older elements, such as I u
the years. Both To be or not to be and, Let doctor away.
:)1,

extracts from Hamlet, but only rhe former

me see one ae labels: adages, dictu ms,
maxi ms, mottoes, p recepts, A friend in need is a friend American
There's no such thing as a
tlmpe ('vlllage') and lea ('wood'), are preserved in place \ i
t
has come ro saws, truisms.fhe terms all indeed. names (p. 140). d
be treated as quoration. Every little helps. horse that can,t be rode
convey the notion of a piece
It can be useful to distinguish quorarions from Curiosity killed the cat. or a cowboy that can,t be
catch of traditional wisdom, throwed. o
Ask no questions, hear no THUS WROTE ISILDUR THEREIN
(p' 178). By definition, ,h. ,r,,.."n.es handed down by previous
ff."tt:
fall wirhin borh of rhese categories have impact
which generations. ln most cases, lies. Another day, another dollar,
Nothing s certain except The Great Ring shall go now to be an heirloom of the ts
It never rains but it pours.
and are the origin of a proverb is death and taxes. North Kingdom; but records of it shall be left in Gondor, ci
memorable, and most can be t."..d to unknown. The pen is mightier than the o
a specific sword. A friend in power is a friend where also dwell the heirs of Elendil, lest a time come
source. Catch phrases are, indeed, a species The effectiveness of a when the memory of these great matters shall grow dim.
ofquora- proverb lies largely in its Scottish
lost.
tion. But there a^re important differences. Catch The wheel that does the It was hot when I f irst took t, hot as a glede, and my
IN THE OLD STYLE
phras_ brevity and directness. The Fuils and bairns never ken squeaking hand was scorched, so that I doubt if ever again I shall be
es tend to be ofspoken origin, very is the one that
short, subject to syntax is simple, the images when they're weel aff. gets the grease. f ree of the pain of it. Yet even as I write it is cooled, and it Archaic spellings and styles of writing immediately add an extra layer of meaning to a
variation, relatively trivial in subject marrer, vivid, and the allusions ('Fools and children never The big possum walks just seemeth to shrink, text, whether it be a pub sign or a poem.
.rr pop_ domestic, and thus easy to know when they,re well
ular for only a short period. before dawn though it loseth neither
eutations tend to be of understand. Memorabilitv is off) Every man must skin his own its beauty nor its shape.
ln that open field
written origin, indeterminate in length, highly aided through the use of tak clean water lf you do not come too close, if you do not
restrict- Ye canna skunk. Already the writing
ur, 'r.-.nri_
ed in the conrexrs where rhey allteration, rhythm, and outoafoulwall.(,you come too close,
-.y"b. Never trust a fellow that upon it, which at first
On a summer midnight, you can hear the music
c{l mo5 profound, and capable of ,t"ndingih. t.rt rhyme (p.4.l5). These points
can all be identified in the
can't take clean water out wears a suit. was as clear as red
Of the weak pipe and the little drum
of a foul well,) Puttin'feathers on flame, fadeth and is
of time. There is a colloquial tone to the fo.-'.r, following selection. Muckle whistlin but little
a And see them dancing around the bonfire
buzzard don,t make it no now only barely to be
lite_rary rone ro the latter. There is no
id..rtif ' "nd " General
redd land. ('Much
whistling but little
eagle. read. . .
The association of man and woman
ln daunsinge, signifying matrimonie -
Somerimes, especially with political utterJnces, Too many Eskimos, too few (J. R. R. Tofkien, Ihe A dignified and commodious sacrament.
it is Children should be seen and ploughed land,) sea ls, Lord of the Rings,
possrble,to,see shifting berween the categories. not heard. Two and two, necessarye coniuncton,
Harold Stillwaters run deep.
There's aye some water (From W. Mieder, 1992.) 1 954-5, Part l, Ch. 2.)
Holding eche other by the hand or the arm
ivracmrlans neuer hd it so good (p.179) began whar the stirkie drouns.
life as, Once bitten, twice shy. ('There's always some J. R. R. Tolkien Which betokeneth concorde...
a quotation, became a catch phras. ,rariani (1892-1973) (T. S. Eliot, East Coker, 1944.)
and the
 186 PART II ENGLISH VOCABULARY
12 LEXICAL DIMENSIONS 187

Clichs he argues, are 'bad, indispensable, somerimes good'. NEITHER RHYME

In clichs $/e see fragments of language apparently On the one hand, they are 'comfortable', 'Musak of the NOR REASON fhe words wont lie down and pore over them, attributing ro rhem a fascination
dying, yet unable to die. Clichr .-.ig. *h.n expres- mind', 'a labour-saving device', 'a line of least resis- All of the following items
fhis quotation is from Dylan Thomas - or, at least, which no other quotations could possibly possess. The
sions outlive their usefulness as conveyors of informa- frorn a television dramatization ofhis last illness - and utterances are a source of pathos, humout iron jo
tance'. On the other hand, they 'srop us thinking of have been taken from pub_
tion. They are dying nor from underuse, as with the nothing', andprovide'social lubrication','verbal caulk- lished lists of 'clichs, in it acts as an effective epitaph to this part ofthe ency-
'$'hatever
bewilderment, sadness - indeed, all possible human
gradual disappearance of old-fashioned words (p. usage manuals. What is dopedia. else we may say about the lexicon, emotions. They provide an apposite coda to any study
ing', 'useful padding'. But, whetherwe like them or not, immediately apparent is th1
185), but from overuse. Such phrase s as at tlis moment one thing is certain: 'They are highly contagious, and such lists combine very differ_ and whatever we call the units (words, Iexemes, lexical of the lexicon.
in time and euery Tom, Dic, nd Harry, it is said, have there is no known immuniry except possiblyiilence ... ent kinds of expressions. lt is ircms, idioms...), it is undoubtedly the area of lan-
come to be so frequently used that they have lost their doubtf ul whether everyoq guage which is most difficult to systematize and con- LAST WORDS l've had eighteen straight Go on, get outl Last words
and even that only conceals the infection.' would agree that they are all
power to inform, ro enliven, ro mean. They have clichs, and, if they did, trol. Its size, range, and variability are both an
It has all been very
whiskies, I think that's the are for fools who haven't
become trite, hackneyed expressions. And yer they sur- which items should be the arrraction and a hindrance. It comprises the largest nteresti ng.
record ... After 39 years, said enough.
(Karl Marx, 1883)
'vive,
i
this is all l've done.
part of the forms and structures which make up a
. most penalized.
in a kind of living death, (Mary Wortley Montagu, (Dylan Thomas, 1953)
because people'con-
language. As a consequence, the present section is
1762)
tinue to use rhem, despite complaints and criticisms. to add insult to injury
Make the world better
They are, in effecr, lexical zombies.
much of a muchness
inevitably the largest in the encyclopedia. (Lucy Stone, suffragist,
a blessing in disguise
\X/hy do clichs receive such a bad press? Because, in to leave no stone unturned The words will not lie down. Even if we left them 1893)
the view of the critics, it is the clich-user who is the dead as a doornail alone, they would not, for vocabulary grows, changes,
zombie. To use expressions which have been largely
like a bat out of hell and dies without anyone being in charge. There is no
she who must be obeyed
emptied of meaning implies that the user is someone twelve good men and true Minister for the Lexicon, and in countries which do
who cannot be bothered to be fresh, clear, careful, or c'est la vie have an Academy with responsibility for the language,
sick as a parrot vocabulary rules (au Quai, for example, p. I B I ) with a
precise, or possibly someone who wishes to avoid clar-
Itella lie
ity and precision. The suggestion is that such people in this day and age blrrnd disregard for the pronouncements of academics,
are t best lazy or unimaginative, at worst ."..1.rr^o, warts and all politicians, and pedants. It is the most anarchic area of
a memory like a sieve
deceitful. In the case oflearnd clichs, perhaps they the fair sex
language.
also wish to impress, to show off. be that as it may
But we do not leave words alone. \7e do not even let
them rest in peace. There are linguistic resurrectionists, It would really be more
But clichs have their defenders, who point our rhar from time immemorial
than the English could Does nobody understand?
many of the expressions cited as clichs (such as those
it takes all sorts who try to revive words that have been dead for stand if another century (James Joyce, 1 941 )
listed below) have a value. Indeed, their value is pre- The arbitrary way in which centulies - such s the Anglo-Saxon enthusiasts began and I were still alive.
cisely the ability to express what the critics condemn.
usage books operate can be (p.124). There are reincarnationists, who recall the I am dying as I have lived - Now l'll have eine kleine On the whole, l'd rather be
readily illustrated. ln one beyond my means. pause. in Philadelphia.
If we wish tobelazy or rourine in our thinking, if we such book, the items in the previous existence of a word, and let it influence their (Oscar Wilde, 1900) (Kathleen Ferrier, 1 953) (W C. Fields, 1946)
wish to avoid saying anything precise, then clis are first list below are considered lives (p. 125). There are revolutionaries, who are trying
useful idiomatic phrases; the to change the lexical world toda and even that is too The rest is silence.
what we need. Such wishes are commonplace. It is not items in the second list are (Hamlet)
possible to be fi'esh and imaginative all the time. Life is said to be clichs. (From lhe late (p. 177). There are resuscitarors, who assail the
full of occasions when a serious conversation is simply RightWord atthe Right letter-columns of publications with pleas to preserve lf this is dying, I don't think
Iime, Readers' Digest, 1 985.) past usage; redeemers, who believe that all words can much of it.
too difcult, or roo energetic, and we grat.fu[y il (Lytton Strachey, 932)
be saved; and retributionists, who believe that, for
1

back on clichs. They can fill an awkward gap in a con- a bone of contention
the old school tie some words, hanging's too good for 'em. A few, well-
versation; and there is no denying that there ate some I am about to, or I am going
IN A NUTSHELL in the heat of the moment
intentioned souls think that the governmenr should to, die. Either expression is
conversarions which we would rather not have. In such a house of cards
used.
lf venture an opinion, when all is said and done, it
I may to take someone down a peg legalize lexical euthanasia.
circumstances, clichs re an admirable lexical life- would ill become me to suggest that lshould come down
(Dominique Bouhours,
or two Lastl there are the linguistic necrologists, who grammarian, 1702)
jacket. The passing remarks as people recognize each lke a ton of bricks, as large as life and twice as natural, a wild-goose chase
other in the street but with no rime to stop, the sel and make a mountain out of a molehill on this issue. should be given the last word in ny rrearment of the
the burden of proof (From J. Green, 1979.)
Fromtime immemorial, in pointof fact, the object of the lexicon. These are the people who collect last words
conscious politeness ofstrangers on a train, the forced exercise, as sure as eggs are eggs. has been, first and the happy couple
interactions at cocktail prries, or the desperate plati- foremost, to take the bull by the horns and spell it out in no uncertain terms
loud and clear. Atthe end oithe day, the pointottf," a tissue of lies
tudes which follow a funeral: these are the kins of to throw the book at some- LEXICAL GHOST readers assume that the ing'density'. Before long, Scientific terms have been defect, articulaton syn-
exercise is to tell it like it is, lay it on the line, put it on the
occasion which give clichs their right to be. one STORIES form is genuine. Some peo- the word was appearing in particularly prone to ghost d rome, misa rticulation, or
table - putting it in a nutshell, drop a bombshell and get ple may begin to use it. Cer- other dictionaries too. treatment, and none more any of over a dozen other
No one would be satisfied with clichs when we down to the nitty-grtty, the bottom line. lthink lcan a last-ditch attempt
A ghost word one which tainly other lexicographers so than medical terms. One
is This is a somewhat unusu- words or phrases. Dictionar-
expect something better from a speaker or writer. A honestly say, without fear or favour, that I have left no Plus a change, plus c'est la has never existed in real life will notice it, and it may al case, but fictitious forms study cites over a dozen ies of speech pathology do
stone unturned, kept my nose firmly to the grindstone, but which nonetheless turni
politician who answers a direct quesrion with clichs mme chose. Know what I then find its way into other are certainly not rare. lt s nonstandard approxima- not agree about which
and stuk to my last, lock stock and barrel, hok line and up in a dictionary. lt often
mean? dictionaries. very easy for a lexicographer tions for the disease whose terms to include as legiti-
can expecr to be attacked or satirized. A student who sinker. This is not to beat about the bush or upset the happens because lexicogra- Such was the history of to imagine that a form standard name is myelofi- mate alternatives, and in the
answers a teachert quesrion with a clich is, we hope, apple-cart, but to give the green light to the calm before
Phers are human, and make dord.ln the early 1930s, the exists, and to slip it into a brosrs. And the field of absence of lexical research
the storm, to hit the nail on the head. to bite the bullet,
not going ro ger awaywith it. Likewise, we complain if and thus at the drop of a hat to snatch victory from the
mistakes. An error in copy- office preparing the second dictionary, even though it speech pathology is well there is no guarantee that
ing, typing, programming, edition of Webster's New may never have been used. known for the uncertainty the terms a particular dictio-
we encounrer poems, essays, or radio talks filled with jaws of defeat.
or filing can easily lead to a I nte rn ati on a I D i cti o n a ry ls there such a word as of its terminology. Someone nary selects are the most
clichs. But a blanket condemnation of all clichs is as That's it. Take it or leave it. On your own head be it. All false spelling or hyphen- (p.452) held a file of abbre- a nti pa rl i a m e nta ri a n i sm? The suffering from a serious dif- commonly used ones - or,
futile good things must come to an end. I must love you and aton, and sometimes even a viations, one of which was Oxford English Dictionary ficulty in pronunciation, for indeed, whether there is
as unthinking acceprance.
leave you. I kid you not. Don,t call us, we,llcallyou. And completely fictitious item. 'D or d'for denslty. When gives evidence only of example, might be described anyone out there using
The need for a flexible view ofclich is reinforced by don't mean maybe.
I
Once the dictionary has the work was published, in a nti p a rl i a m e nta ri a n. O ur as manifesting an articula- them at all.
a collage ofquotations from various places in \alter Am I right or am I right? appeared, however, its 1934, the item appeared as intuitions very readily create tion d iso rde r, a rtcu latory
Redfernt book, Clichs nd Coinges (lq8l). Clichs, 'authorty' will then make Dord, and given the mean- these potential words. han d i ca p, a rti cu I ato ry
 (.
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of
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tr
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r
PART III
!tlout
--lr1I
',_,,' ,.,o ,raa LL
r':.'cr-:::L
in ::*,.r ata( ^ f/t^r .\(
" d*- tttt'^t
<w1 _ l+tt <
tuot*t -.-
^.rcU
^u
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(o *l
':":':'"i jccrcrr't ior
g
English grammar
no
r.iiY :el c:r'rl' '- l: Lt /flv,/rzcc
,)
r ho. t h^vo not
I h^q*qS
,^"chcrr bY tc ln:
- -. *n 5bo,
_ aLl !"'
''
or'lY bLootl

q
":.';;;" e
i,.;, 'oitt '
J'[re central role of grammar in the srudy of language has become inated the study of the subject for the best part of 200 years, and
an established tenet of modern linguistics; but outside the hallowed investigates some of the leading shibboleths of prescriptive gram-
Wl.1/\
[t\J4Ic)>{, t\xake- linguistic halls dre status of the subject has in recent decades been rnar. This leads to a consideration of current trends, and of the di
ttv llUa
the subject of much controversy. The pendulum has moved dra- ferences berween ancient and modern approaches to grammar.
sFrnt matically - from a time when few people questioned the place of The rernainder of Part III is devoted to a systematic presentation
6,,
ve
5':' t,(
l! the a.rea-. of ^b
I ryoks i-.r ii] e gea- = grammatical knowledge as an essential element of a pelson's educa- of the main areas of English grammar. It begins with morphology,
I s
th
e- tion to one when few people tried to defend it. Cr-rrrentl there is the study ofword structure, looking in particular at the various word-
a:aa a-
r f! a ci a c{efinite although erratic movement in the reverse direction, endings which have a role to play in expressing grammatical rela-
('tl ii/ el
179-T
towards position which once again recognizes the importance tionships. In S15 the important concept of the'word class' (or'part
y'"" c
iil
I
!t; 'J
Co:
of grammar in general education - though this is not the same of speech') is presented, and we identify the most important of these
'L'
I, o 3

rosition the pendulum helcl in the 1950s, when it started its

'< has
classes in English, as well as some of the less important ones. Final-
? cod a cu .C
."-r\ cf deie::c:ei:g
{..1:
,,JT
-' i 9--e:
ncre. U nprecedented swing. ly S16, the largest section in Part III, gives an account of the main
L'
o D:.a_ on p,
Part III therefore has a historical slant to it. It opens with an
.1

rl aspects ofsyntax, the study ofsentence structure. This is too vst

fr. t. domain to be comprehensively covered in a book such as this, but
l, ,'/tj ccount of the various belie and attitudes which people hold about
grammatical stud drawing an essential distinction berween'know- the section does look systematically at a wide range of basic syntc-
i* t-
t?. ing grammar' and 'knowing abor-rt grammar'. It then gives an
f'\ t,
iLc
,L L' /,
( ,6r a tic notions, and illustrates them from several areas of usage, from
Z..rr
4,
1...
.L
rccount of what was involved in traditional grammar, which dom- spontaneous informal conversation to established written literature.
I
.,t, c.
'/d
,'/" tt,{o
,t"
d! t)
4,\ tty
'I lv
lll
"t

;&-i"t
5
tt
,,r,'l
,:,/ Dar s"s
,1. It
*uY

w.:""
b:

,f

fu .e-.'f slwcu//
e v_(
,

ffi,*l
,oa Sir
::!:. David Cry5ial'
21st lebnrary' 19-a

:n:,!ish:'o1'
33C London,

)e :4r. 6ryira1,
! ltelcone the return of your seris'
You as:<ed for exanples of bad:ngllsh thatrtnd(e
ou blood boll'r. I should like to obllg ulth
the following:
1. qleonasclc use of the subordlnattna
conjunccion rlthat'i after a Dentheslst e.3.t
'r:{c slrl rhr, Lf it rvas ral-ni.n3, -g!1g he .cred
rroulC not :o't. ?l-!t locucloi is freoucntly
heard nolr, qcn frcr educled ')copter bu: I !to
to -v (noll,e.Jge no-on has drE n ttn:icn I
to it,
f o.?chcr:
;J:,::' eivon
-.i.]]'^.o. .r'ou r.
Some of the thousands of letters about English grammar sent in by
2. Phases ll:(e rr. . . ualr co a' old peog!.crr.
tl
rttre
l:
.r'o i" .,,. listeners to the BBC Radio 4 series, English Now (see further, p. 1 94).
iflnd you, I have heard the spe6:<er :nako up '1y urooa,
for !t by oaying ln the verT next sentence ')i!: t ;,i:_1";rl. .i se

rrus old }eo-D!e donrt 11:(a !t'r t

3. Sentences us!-ng the !rerfect {niin!tlvc
irhare the Presenl on rouJ.d be correct, c..3.,
rle noulrl ha'e li:(ed ro h.,e cone it't for
rr'l.le would h{r.re !.l:(cd to do it'l (or, ,.!tlt

I 3 . GRAMMATICAL MYTH OLO GY
The study of grammar goes back to the time of
the
ancient Greeks, Romans, and Indians, and from
THE MYTH OF SIMPLICITY
its
earliest days has caught the interest ofthe learned
and This advertisement (minus the name of the
the wise. As a resulr the subject has developed
around
itself a hallowed, scholarl and somewhat mysterious
firm who produced it) appeared in a
foreign Sunday paper a few years ago. lt
1t-orphlf:: In rhe popular mind, gram-", h", represents one of the most pervasive myths
about a language - that grammar is neded
becomedifficult and distant, removed .om real life, for writing, but not for speech.
dnd pracdsed.chiefly by a race of shadowy people
'English...has a grammar of great simplicity
('grammarians') whose technical appararus'and
ter_ and flexibility', wrote the auih ors of ihe '
minology require a lengthy novitiaie before it can be Story of English (on p. 47) - a book, based
mastered. The associated mythology has grown
with on a BBC television series, wh ich became a
best-seller in the 1980s. This
time, and_is now pervasive and dee_roore. Millions
kind of statement is often
ofpeople believe that they are failures ar grammar, made by those who identify
say
that they have forgotten ir, or deny that rhey know the complexity of a
language with the number
any grammar at all in each case using rheir grlammar
- of word-endings it has - an
convincingly to make their point. It i, ,u.h shame, unfortunate legacy of the
because the fundamerrt"l poirrt about grammar
is so
Latin influence on English
very importanr and so very simple. grammar(p. 192).The
reality can be seen in the
three kilos of paper
A matter of making sense comprising A
It is all to do with making sense. The fundamental
Comprehensive Grammar
of the English Language
purpose of language is to make sense _ to communi_ (1 985). Non-native
cate intelligibly. But if we are to do this, we speakers of English who
need to
have spent several years
share a single system of communicarion.
k would be learning the grammar to
no use if one person were usingJapanese and
the other an advanced level have
were using Arabic, or one knew only Morse code
and
little sympathy with the
view that English
the other knew only semaphore. Th rules controlling
grammar is'simple,.
the way a communication system works are known
as (Flexibility is a different
its grammar, and both sender and recipient need matter: see p.233.)
to
use the same grammar if they ,o urr.rrtand each
other. If there is no grammar, "r. there can be no effec_
tive communication. It is as simple as rhar.
see this by dipping inio the vocabulary
TAKE A WORD,
of
- Y..,."nand trying to do withour
English, grmmar. The lex_
ANYWORD...
icon has been investigated in part-Il. \ith its lf meaning
hun- resides only in a
dreds of thousands of words, it is certainly thc word, you will be able to
mosr understand the following
prominent aspect of the language; yet wirhout
gram_ utterance wthout diff iculty:
mar rhe value of this remarkbl r.rou... becomes
so Table.
limited as to be almost worthless. Ve might believe
The problem, of course,
that 'making sense' is a marter of ,rocabuLry _ that that too many possbilities
is
meaninglies in the lexicon. This is certainly the
ruper_
come to mind. The speaker
might have intended anv of
ficial impression we receive whenever *. ur. a dictio_
the following, which arjust
nar and ':k. rp a meaning,. However, all the some ofthe senses ofthis
lexrcon provides is a sense of a word,s meaning word:
poren-
tial - its semanric possibilities (p. l tB). T. di-
ou.
o A piece of f urniture.
this potential we need to add gr--"r. A dictionary . Anarrayoffigures.
o Agroupofpeople.
does. rhis
.unobrrusivel throu"gh its definitions and o Anoccasionofeating.
crtatrons (p. 156). Nhen we use a dictionary,
we are
. Anegotatingsession.
being fed grammar all the time, without ,r i"ingit. The task, you might con-
clude, is unfair, lt is impossi-
ble to say which sense is
intended without being
tr.,NGLISTI
tounsp
We teach You
given any context. ,put the
word into a context,, you
might say, 'and then I can
tellyou what it means,. But
to put a word into its lin-
guistic context is to put it
into a sentence. And putting
rt nto a sentence s to add
grammar.
o Thetablehasabroken
leg.
. There are three columns
n the table.
. We make up a bridge
table each week.
. l'll tell you all at
. They've come to table.
the
peace table.
There would be a similar
problem even if the possible
senses were restricted to the
first one. lf the only mean-
ing of table were ,piece of
furniture', it would still be
unclear what the speaker
BASIC
20 lessons
how to sPeak
muctr
so there's not
gfammaf'
wastalking about. lsthe
utterance smply identifying
a table, or saying that some_
thing has happened to one,
or asking us to put some-
thing on one? There are so
many possibilities, and
again, only by putting the making sense of such comments, which at first seem
word into context will it
become clear which one is
meant.
see a table.
I
The table is broken.
The paint is on the table.
l'm going to table the
motion.
With utterances such as
these, matters are becoming
clearer. We have put the
word into a sentence. We
have added some grammar.
We are beginning to make
sense.
13 GRAMMATICAL MYTHOLOGY 191
.TO KNO\'
OR'TO KNO\ ,WELL,
MARYANNE?' had an observation on hand
to offer to Miss Peecher,
'Number, They?'
ABOUT' Charles Dickens pulls no that she often did it in their
'Plural number.'
'Then how many do you
punches when he finds an domestic relations; and she mean, Mary Anne? Two? Or
opportunity to satirize the did it now.
4uch rnythology stems from a confusion berween
more?'
grammatica I tradtion 'Well, MaryAnne?'said 'l beg your pardon,
'knowing grammar' and 'knowing about grammar'. which held such power in Miss Peecher. ma'am,'said Mary Anne,
Two very different types of knowledge are involved. British schools during the
early 1 gth century (p.1 93).
'lf you please, ma'am,
Hexam said they were going
disconcerted now she came
to think of it; 'but I don,t
. If you have leached this point on rhe page and
Forexample, inTheOld to see his sister.' know that I mean more than
Curiosity Shop (l840-1) he 'Butthat can't be, I think,' her brother himself .'As she
understood what you have read, you must 'know' describes Mrs Jarley's efforts returned Miss Peecher: said it, she unhooked her
English grammar. You may not gree with what I say,
to attract vsitors from 'because Mr Headstone can arm.
boarding-schools to her have no business with her.' 'l felt convinced of it,'
or like the way I say it, but you are certainly able to waxworks'by altering the Mary Anne again hailed. returned Miss Peeche smil-
construe what it is I have said. Knowing gramma in face and costume of Mr 'Well, MaryAnne?' ing again.'Now pray, Mary
Grimaldi as clown to repre- 'lf you please, ma'am, Anne, be careful another
this sense, is a facility which developed with little con-
sent Mr Lindley Murray as he perhaps it's Hexam's busi- time. He says is very different
scious effort when we were young children. As adults,
appeared when engaged in ness?' from They say, remember.
we learn to put words together in the right ordet and the composition of his "That may be,'said Miss Difference between He says
acld the right endings. Moreove we have the abiliry
English Grammar' (Ch. 29). Peecher.'l didn't think of that. and Theysay? Give it me.'
ln Our Mutual Friend Notthat it matters at all.' MaryAnne immediately
to recognize cetain types oferror, and know how to (1864-5, Book 2, Ch. 1) he MaryAnneagain hailed. hooked her right arm
colrect them. If senfence the am writing I now con- uses an extended example 'Well, MaryAnne?' behind her in her left hand -
tains major errors, you are likely to immediately to satirize the way prescrip-
tive grammarians would
'They say she's very hand- an attitude absolutely nec-
50me.' essary to the situation - and
notice them. However, to be able to diagnose rhe tend to look for faults in 'Oh, MaryAnne, Mary replied: 'One is indicative
problems with such a sentence, you must 'know everyday expressions. The Anne!'returned Miss mood, present tense, third
English grammar' (at least, to tht extent). schoolteacher, M iss Peecher; Peecher, slightly colouring person singula; verb active
hasjust been speakingto Mr
Headstone, whom she
and shaking her head, a
little out of humour; 'how
to say. Other is indicative
mood, present tense, third
. All of this is an unconscious process. By contrast, secretly loves, and Charley often have I told you not to person plural, verb active to
'knowing about' English grammar is a conscious, Hexam. They have just left, use that vague expression, say.'
and Mary Anne, her notto speak in that general
'Whyverbactive, Mary
reflective process. It means being able to talk about favourite pupil, who now way? When you say theysay, Anne?'
what it is we are able to do when we construcr sen- assists her in her household, what do you mean? Part of 'Because it takes a pro-
wants to say something: speech, They?' noun after it in the objective
tences - to describe what the rules are, and what hap- Mary Anne hooked her case, Miss Peecher.'
pens when they fail to apply. It is not difficult to point
The pupil had been, in her right arm behind her in her 'Verygood indeed,'
to the errors in the previous paragraph; but it zi di state of pupilage, so imbued left hand, being under
as remarked Miss Peecher, with
ficult to clescribe precisely what they are, and ro srare with the class-custom of examination, and replied: encouragement.'ln fact,
stretching out an arm, as if 'Personal pronoun.' could not be better. Don't
the rules which have been broken. Ifyou are able to to haila cab or omnibus, 'Person, They?' forget to apply it, another
clo this (using such terms as 'word order', 'noun', and whenever she found she 'Third person.' time, MaryAnne.'
'definite article'), then you 'know about English
grammar' (at least, ro rhr extent).
WHY STUDY GRAMMAR? work out what went wrong. This is espe-
Fluent native speakers of English quite often say cially criticalwhen children are learning to
. 'Because it's there'. People are constantly emulate the stndards used by educated
that they'dont know any grammar, or rhar foreigners
curious about the world in which they live, adult members of their community.
speak English better than they do. One way of . Learning about English grammar provides
and wish to understand it and (as with
mountains) master it. Grammar is no differ- a basis for learning other languages. Much
ent f rom any other domain of knowledge in
of the apparatus we need to study English
tronsensical, is to apply the above distinction. It is
ths respect. turns out to be of general usefulness. Other
certainly true rhar many foreigners can talk about . But more than mountains, language is languages have clauses, tenses, and adjec-
English grammar more confidently than native involved with almost everything we do as tves too. And the differences they display
human beings. We cannot live without lan- will be allthe clearer if we have first
speakers can, because foreign learners have usually
guage. To understand the linguistic dimen- grasped what is unique to our mother
acquired their knowledge in a conscious way. It is sion of our existence would be no mean tongue.
achievement. And grammar is the f unda- o After studying grammai we should be
also true that many native speakers have little or no
ability to describe their own grammarical knowledge,
mental organizing principle of language. more alert to the strength, f lexibility, and
either because they have never been taught ro do so,
o Our grammatical ability is extraordinary. lt
is probably the most creative ability we
variety of our language, and thus be in a
better positon to use it and to evaluate
or because the potential fascination of rhis task has have. There is no limit to what we can say qr others' use of it. Whether our own usage in
been stifled by poor teaching methods. The pedagog-
write, yet all of this potential is controlled by
a finite number of rules. How is this done?
fact improves, as a result, is less predictable.
Our awareness must improve, but turning
ical quest has long leen to find ways of developing o Nonetheless, our language can let us that awareness into better practice - by
a person's 'knowledge about' grammar which are down. We encounter ambiguity, impreci- speaking and writing more effectively -
sion, and unintelligible speech or writing. requires an additional set of skills. Even
both enlivening and lewarding, and it continues to To dealwith these problems, we need to
after a course on car mechanics, we can still
be an importanr goal of contemporary educational put grammar underthe microscope, and drive carelessly.
rrngutstrcs.
 192
TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR
The study of English grammar may have its share of
mythology (p.190), but many people have unhappy
memories of an early close encounter with th. sub-
ject which was certainly no myrh. 'Dry', ,boring,,
ointless', and 'irrelevant' are just some of the criti,
cal adjectives which have been used. To anyone
coming to the subject fresh in the 2000s, and reflect-
'ihq on the positive reasons which motivare grammar-
ical enquiry (p.191), these attitudes migt appear
-be
puzzling. An explanation can, however, fond,
deriving from the approach to language study which
developed in the middle of the l8ih century (p.7g),
and which led to the first influential generation of
what were larer called traditionalnelish grammars.
The tradition that these grammars represenr devel-
oped rapidly in the lgth cenrury and ws strongly in
evidence even in the 1960s. \ell over a thosand
such grammars came to be published throughout the
English+peaking world, and many weni through
dozens of printings. For example, J. C. Nesfield, te
British aurhor of a highly successful series on English
grammar and composition, produced Engtish Giarn-
mar: Paff nd Present in 1898; ir was continuing to
sell in its 25th edition in 1961. Nor has the tradiiion
died. New versions of old grammars continue to
appear in the 2000s, though printed now in a glossy
livery and modern rypography which belies-theii
content.
Hallmarks
Tho chief hallmarks of the traditional era accounr for
much of the negative rection which can arise when
people talk about the subject of grammar.
. Tladitional grammars insisted that only cerrain
styles of English were worth studying
- in particular,
the more formal language used by the best oiators and
writers. Txtual samples selected for analysis or com-
mentary were typically erudite and sophisticated,
commonly taken from literar religious, or scholarly
sources. Informal sryles of speech were ignored, or
condemned as incorrecr. This meant th the lan-
guage which most children used and heard around
them received no positive reinforcement in grammar
lessons. To man accordingl the subject beme dis-
tant and unreal.
. Tiaditional English grmmars also treated their sub-
ject in a highly absrruse wa describing grammatical
p1tl.j": through the use of an analytical apparatus
which derived from Latin gramm"rr. Th. thniqu
went under various names (such as parsing ckuse
anasis, and diagrmming) but the end resuliwas the
same: students had to master a classification svsrem
PART III ENGLISF{ GRAMMAR 13 GRAMMATICAL MYTHOLOGY 193
and, terminology which was alien to English, and
apply it correcrly ro an array of senrences *hi.h, u..y
A ESTING TIME
A SE,zuOUS SUBJE,CT GUARDING THE GUARDIANS
The English language paper
often, were chosen for their difficulry. To man which was set as part of the
accordingl the subject seemed arbitrary and arcane.
London Matriculation exami_
nation for senior pupils in
English grammar has generally been perceived
iune 1899. and practised as a highly serious subject of stud
None of this amounts to a criticism of the task of
Although traditional with the aim of continuing the tradition which
grammarical analysis such: after all, this task defines grammar was the orthodoxy,
began with Classical Greek authors, and which was
as
modern linguistics as much as it does traditional not everyone approved of it,
as this writer demonstrated: held to have reached its heights in the work of such
grammar. But whereas modern linguists take pains to
srylists as Cicero. The focus was alwys on the writ-
set up their rules following a careful analysii of the
Grammar as a separate sub-
ject inevitably means defini-
ten language and on the elimination of what was
way rhe English language actually works, traditional
tions and difficulties. My ears considered to be grammatical error or infelicity.
grammarians assumed that all relevant grammatical
stil I recal I the voices of Stan- Rules of grammar were strictly defined and rigor-
distinctions and standards of use could be obtained
dard lV boys filling the air
ously enforced, either by physical punishment or
by automatically applying the categories and practices with their sweet jargoning as
(as in the case of such young ladies as Mary Anne,
of Latin grammar. This was a false assumption, but it
they chanted definitions of
relative pronouns. mood and p. 191) through social sanction. No one was
is one we cannot ignore, for grammarians of the
prepostions... What happens
exempt, not even the highest in the land, as
2000s are the inheritors of the distortions and limi- when grammar s treated as a
separate subject can be best !illiam Cobbett's letters demonstrate.
tations imposed on English by rwo centuries of a Lati- ilf ustrated byan example. The atmosphere of many grammar classes was,
nate perspective, and have to fnd ways of dealing Recently the girls in the as consequence, one ofuncertainty and trepida-
with them. Lower Fifth of a County Sec-
ondary School had to analyse tion. Because a large number of the grammatical
this passage: We can only rules stemmed from the arbitrary decisions of the
BREAK uP THEIR ANSwRS
INTo have the highest happiness, first grammarians, and lacked a solid basis in the
N.B. - cexporEs MUST Nor such as goes along wth beng
,*-*o t*"*. cREAT IMPoKTANcD wILLBE ATTAcHED
To
a great man, by having wide
English language, the only safety for the student
* occuRAcY oF E)$RESSI'N AND srYLE' thoughts, and much feeling lay in learning by rote, not by reason. 'Parsing'
"i"** for the rest ofthe world as (p.197) became an end in itself: it was satisfactory
I_LANGUAGE well as ourselves; and this
to have correctly identified the parts ofa sentence,
are tobe attemted) sort of happiness offen
Q'{otmore than sevenof tfusetenqtrtstions brings so much pain with it, and unnecessary to ask what this procedure
meant by ttle term "grammar"' Towards the end of William Cobbett's And what does
1. Explain carefully what is
thatwe can onlytell itfrom proved. The prospect of a grammar class being
with definitions and pain by its being whatwe English Grammar (1829), there is a series of the Speaker mean
Give the chief divisions "gram;a4"
ol
enjoyable was rare - though we do sometimes lessons 'intended to prevent statesmen from by 'in the same
examPles'
would choose before every-
thing else, because our souls hear stories of teachers who were able to make the using false gramma and from writing in an Session?' He may mean 'in one and
2. Coment on the following statements:- awkward manner'. He takes his examples the same Session;' but, what business had
"' spelling would be to destrov see good. (Romola.)
it subject come alive. For most young people, the
;i;ioil
is
vro"* onitn from speeches made by Lord Castlereagh, the word same there at all? Could he not
Really, it is nothing short of
e life-history of many of our words"' an outrage that girls of
aim was to satis/ their teacher or their examin- the Duke of Wellington, the Prince Regent, have said, 'during one Session, or during a
of Mdern English is little
better than a
;'; ;;i"tc fourteen and fifteen should ers, then to leave school and forget about gram- and others. Here is what he has to say about srngle Session?'
chaos." one sentence used by 'the first Commoner of
have Latin . have such exercises mar as quickly as possible. Comment
"' iftut
. p"os, and under what conditions' England', the Speaker of the House of Com-
inflicted on them... The Cobbett pulls no punches and is scared of
;;;"";;;;uced into English directlv or indirectlv? Unfortunatel society would never permit mons:
exercise is so far from nobody. One of his letters to his son James
GiveexamPles. exceptional that the unfor- school-leavers such friendly oblivion. The distance (p.77) is headed 'Errors and Nonsense in a
2. The subjectswhich have occupied our
*4. il;t"exn
"r*r;.
an:- Matrirulate' artian.ent' 2b' tunate girls have a book between the rules in their grammar books and the attenton have been more numerous, more King's Speech'. The condemnations are an
*i;ht; mention some derivatives from and f ull of similar passages and interesting mixture of personal taste
^d way they actually spoke was so great that for the
,o" -gntt". *ith these words'
pronouns"? Differentia the
have to dissect one each
rest of their lives they would find themselves bur-
various and more important than are usually
submtted to the consideration of Parliament
(coloured also by Cobbett's political opin-
5. wil 'eanibv "relative week. Surely no one will ions), acute observation, and common sense,
in Modern English' giving ln the same Session.
of the relative pronouns
uses pretend that such exer- dened with a sense of linguistic inferiority. This is but always filtered through the prescriptive
instances ofeach' it'
cises have any purpose,
the real source of such notions, widely held It is difficult to say what is meant, in Para- grammatical tradition, to which he regularly
" w;; ; th" following words- uorse' nar'but'
6. intellectual or emotional, graph No. 2, by the word various.lhe alludes.
*l*t, ye'first' Wedwsdo'y' useful or ornamental. The among native speakers of English, that they do speaker had already said, that the subl'ecfs Not all of his arrows are wide of the mark:
torstti"t, attns,
z. ii..ifv uu".s, according
to their origin and formation' one effect they certainly not speak 'correct English', or that foreigners were more numerout which was quite he often pinpoints a real ambiguity or lack
with instances.
achieve is to make the vic-
speak the language 'better' than they do (p.191). enough; for they necessarily diffe red lrom of clarity. thereby anticipating by over a cen-
() participles distinguished from tims hate English with
*
s. HD'tt,ives, and sx'' peculiar intensity. Additionally, the fact that a minority of students,
each otheL or they were one and the same;
and, therefore, the word various can in this
tury the methods of Sr Ernest Gowers and
the Plain English campaigners (p. 376). But,
il;,h;t ;*s of verbs? Write down and
discuss
(i) Ifinitive (G.Sampson, 1921.) through hard work or good fortune, did manage place have no meaning at all, unless it mean the average person might well think, if
"i"r*Jin".t tting the various uses of the
to master the intricacies of traditional gramma that the subjects were varegated in them- people of such eminence as the King and
and () the Present hrticiPle'
the For an earlier opinion, selves, which would be only one degree the Prime Minister are perceived to make
ft;;iLv
,. "defective verbs"? Discuss
see p.79. and thereby were perceived to be educated, gave above sheer nonsense. such gross errors. after presumably receiving
of anY thr'
iilJ"
conlugalson them a vested interest in preserving these norms, Next comes the 'than are'wthout a nom- a comprehensive grammatical education,
ro. u r"uolution every day
is the nature ofthe sun'
inative case. Chambermaids, indeed, write in what chance is there for the rest of us? The
*ttich God hath ordained and in imposing them on anyone over whom they
because of that necettuty tuttt this way, and in such a case, 'the dear unin- same question might be asked after reading
itlmm wt ict, it taonot swerve butby a hculty from that later found rhemselves to be in control. For
iice*ti.tt rst didgive it motion schoolchildren, secreraries, and subordinates of all
telligible scrawl' is, as the young rake says in Lowth's or Murray's criticisms of Shake-
speare's grammar (p. 79). One of the ironies
the words of Latin the play,'ten thousand times more charm-
(i) Analyse this sentence; () underline ing'than correct writing; but, from a of the prescriptive approach is that its uni-
kinds, the use of splir infinitives was one of sev-
origin'
eral sure signs of social linguistic inadequacy Speaker in his robes, we might have versal censoriousness promotes the very
expected 'than those which are usually sub- scepticism about grammatical correctness
(p. 195), and their avoidance a mark of successful mitted.' which it was designed to eradicate.
upward mobility.
194
PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR
Tiaditional grammar reflecrs the approach to language
known as prescriptiuism (p.366) - the view that one
variety of a language has an inherently higher value
than others and ought to be the norm for the whole
A GRAMMATICALTOPTEN
This table lists the 'top ten'com-
plaints about grammarfound in a
survey of letters written to the BBC
Radio 4 series En glish Nowin 1986.
One programme asked listeners to
send in a list ofthe three points of
grammatical usage they most dis-
liked, as well as the three they
most liked. The writers were also
asked to give their age. Over a
thousand letters arrived.
Of those writers who did men-
tion their age, the vast majorty
were over 50. Many were over 70.
Hardly anyone responded to the
request for'usages liked'. On the
other hand, only a few obediently
restricted themselves to just three
points under'usages disliked'. Sev-
eral letters were over four pages
long, full of detailed complaints.
The longestcontained a listofover
200 split nf intives which the lis-
tener had carefully noted over a
period of a month.
The language of most letters
was intemperate and extreme,
talking about'pet hates', and
using apocalyptic metaphors to
describe the writers' feelings. The
dozen reactions listed below are
typical, and perhaps help to
explain why it is so difficult to
make progress in any debate
about, for example, a grammatical
curriculum in schools. GrammaL
for some reason, raises the most
deep-rooted of hackles.
abomination appal
blood boil cringe
drive mewild grate
grind my teeth horrif ied
irrita nt pain to my ear
prostitution shudder
Many listeners felt that they were
observing something new in the
language - a trend of the permis-
sive 1 980s, or perhaps the particu-
lar result of slackness at the BBC
itself. Howeveri the usage issues
on these pages have a much
longer history: for example, many
are referred to by Dean Alford in
The Queen's Engstr (1869), long
before the BBC was born, and sev-
eral go back another century or
more. That is the way of it wth
grammatical shibboleths: they do
not readily die.
PART III . ENGLISH GRAMMAR
of the speech community. A distinction is often
drawn berween presuiptiue rules, which srare usages
considered to be acceptable, and proscriptiue rules,
which state usages ro be avoided - grammarical 'dot
and don'ts'. In fact the'Thou Shalt Not' tradition pre-
dominates, with mosr recommendations biing
phrased negatively.
Complaint
f should not be used in
/ Th is is aninteresting instance of the effect traditional grammatical atttudes can
between you and t.The
pronoun should be me after a
preposition, as in Gve it to me
(p.203).
2 Split infinitives should not
be used (see facing page).
3 Onlyshould be nexttothe
word to which it relates.
People should notsay Ionly
sauzJane when they mean /
saw only lane.
4 None should never be
followed by a pluralverb. lt
should be /one was left on
the table, not /Vone were left
on the table.
5 Different(ly) should be
followed by from and not by
to or than.
6 Asentenceshould notend
with a preposition. We should
say That was the clerk to
whom I gave the money, and
noT.That was the clerk I gave
the moneyto.
7 Peopleshouldsay I shall/
you will/he willwhen they are
referring to future time, not /
will/you shall/ he shall.
8 Hopefullyshould not be
used atthe beginning ofa
sentence as in Hopefully, Mary
willwin the race.
9 Whom should be used, not
who, in such sentences as lhat
isthe man whom you saw.fhe
pronoun is the object of the
verb saw, and should be in the
objective case (p. 203).
10 Double negatives should
be avoided, as in They haven't
done nothing.
THE SPLIT INFINITIVE
STORY
Traditional grammars have
long objected to the insertion
of an adverb between the
oarticle and the infinitive
iorm of a verb, as i n to defi-
nitely ask.Io ask makes a
drammatical unit, theY argue,
nd the two Parts should staY
Comment together. The fact that there
was no precedent for sePa-
ratng them in Latin (which
have on intuitions. Many educated people are unconsiously aware of the way
formed its infinitives, such as
these g ra m mars have criticized me in other constructons, rcom mend ing lt ll amare'to Iove', using a
instead of /f rsrne.Theyhaveavaguefeeling that/ issomehowthe moreiolite word-ending) madethe
form, and thus begin to use it in places wheie it would not normally go. usage ParticularlY unaPPeal-
ing.
The extent to which PeoPle
inveighed against the sPlit
The context usua lly makes it obvious which sense s intended. rt is wise to be infnitive in the 1 9th centurY
careful in writing, where ambiguity can arise; but spoken usage is hardly ever was remarkable. lt was con-
ofthe
ambiguous, because oniy is always linked with the next word ihat carris a strong sidered a solecism
stress' Note the difference between t only saw IANE (and no one else) and / only worst kind (p.86). Henry
to
SAW Jane (t didn,t talk to her). Fowler refers scathinglY
'the non-sPlit diehard' - using such phrases as'to sud-
Traditional grammars see none as a singular form (= ,no one,), which should 'bogy-haunted creatures...
therefore take a singular verb. But usage has been influence by the plura who would as soon be caught
I
meaning of none, especially when followed by a plural noun. None of fh e books putting knives in their
were left on the table means 'They were not on the table,. Concord (p. 22.l) is mouths as splitting an infini-
often affected by meaning in this way. tive'. A famous example is
reported in Andrew Lang's
Traditional grammarians were impressed by the meaning of the f irst syllable of
of Stafford Northcote,
this word in Latin (dls- = 'from'), and argued that the histrical meaning was the
Life Sir
the British statesman who
correct one (p. 1 36). But to has come to be the more frequent British usge, per_
was much involved in foreign
haps because ofthe influence o'f similar to, opposed to, etc. rhan is ofte objected
affairs in the 1 860s. Lang
to in Britain because of its supposed connection with American English (p.441). describes howthe British gov-
This usagewas probably first introduced by John Dryden in the r 7th century, and ernment was prepared to
shows the inf luence of Latin grammar, where prepositions usually precede make several concessions in
nouns. lt has never reflected colloquial practice in English, thoug n formal negotiating a treaty with the
English the prescriptive rule tends to be followe (p. iOZ). fo altr someone,s United States, but'tele-
practice can be dangerous, as in winston church ill's famous reaction to secretarial graphed that in the wording
of the treaty it would under
changes made to his usage:'This is the sort of English up with which r will not put,.
no circumstances endure the
Traditional grammars have tried to regularize the use of these auxiliary verbs nsertion of an adverb
(p. 212) since the 18th century, but it is doubtf ul whether the words between the preposition to...
ever followed
the.neat usage patterns recommended. certainly there has been a tendency to and the verb'.
replace shal/ by willor well over a century. lt is now hardly ever used in Amrican,
lrish, or scots English, and is becoming increasingly less common in other varieties.
Usages such as l'll be thirty nexf u/eek are now in the majority.
This is a fairly modern usage, so the fact that it has attracted such criticism shows
that the prescriptive tradition is alive and well. people argue that it is the speake
not Mary, who is being hopeful in this example, and so a better construction
would be /t rs o ped that or t hope that. But hopefully isone of hundreds of
adverbs which are used in this way (fran kly, naturatty, etc.), and this general
pattern has prevailed. lt is unclear why hopef uilyhasbeen singled orlt for
criticism.
The uzhom construction has developed very formal overtones, and in informal
speech people often replace it by who, or dropthe relative pronoun altogether:
That's the man you sauz. lt remains the norm for formal wriiing. Note thaa
stylistic clash would occur if the informalcontracted verb wer used with the
forma I relative pronoun: That,s the man whom you saw.
This construction is no longer acceptable in Standard English, though it was
normal in earlier periods of the language (p.70). lt is nowcommonln nonstandard
speech throughout the world. Traditional grammarians condemn it on logical
grounds -that the two negatives cancel each other out. as minus signs wJuld in
mathematics. HoweveL in nonstandard usage a different criterion pplies: here,
extra negative forms add em phasis. They haven't done nothing means ,They
really
hayentdone anything'and not,They have done something,.
13 . GRAMMATICAL MYTHOLOGY
George Bernard Shaw
lf you do not immediately
suppress the person who
takes it upon himself to lay
down the law almost every
day in your columns on the
subject of literary composi-
tion, I will give up the Chron-
icle. The man is a pedant, an
ignoramus, an idiot and a
self-advertsing duffer...
Your fatuous specialist... is
now beginning to rebuke
'second-rate' newspapers for
denly go'and 'to boldly say'.
I ask you, 5ir, to put this man
out...without interfering
with his perfectfreedom of
choice between'to suddenly
go', 'to go suddenly'and
'suddenly to go'...Set him
adrift and try an intelligent
Newfoundland dog in his
place. (Letter to the Chroni-
cle,1892.)
T. R, Lounsbury
More than twenty years ago
the late Fitzedward
Hall...showed conclusively
that the practice of inserting
words between the preposi-
tion and the inf initve went
back to the fourteenth cen-
tury and that to a greater or
less degree it has prevailed in
everycenturysince. (Ihe
Standard of Usage in English,
1908.)
Hall's catalogue of exam-
ples, with some supplemen-
tation by Lounsbury came
from a galaxy of writers,
incl udi n g Wycliff, Tynda le,
Coleridge, Donne ('specially
addicted to the usage'),
Goldsmith, George Eliot,
Burns, and Browning.
Macaulay, in revising an arti-
cle in 1 843, even changed 'in
order fully to appreciate'to
'in order to fully appreciate'.
(W. H. Mittins, et al., Atti-
tudes to Englsh Usage,
1970.)
H.W. Fowler
The English-speaking world
may be divided into (1) those
who neither know nor care
what a split inf initive is; (2)
those who do not know but
care very much; (3) those
who knowand condemn; (4)
those who know and
approve; and (5) those who
know and distinguish....
Those who neither know nor
care are the vast majority,
and are a happy folk, to be
envied by most of the minor-
ity classes...
We will split infinitves
sooner than be ambiguous
or artificial. (A D ictonary of
Modern English Usage,
1926.)
Otto Jespersen
This name ismisleading, for
the preposition to no more
belongs to the infinitive as a
necessary part of it, than the
definite article belongs to
the substantive, and no one
would think of calling the
good man a split substan-
tive. (Essent a/s of English
Grammar, 1933.\
Stephen Leacock
Many of our actual verbs are
in themselves split infni-
tves, as when we say to
undertake or to
overthrow...Many of us who
write books are quite willing
to split an 'infinitive'orto
half split it or to quite split
according to effect. We
might even be willing to
sometimes so completely, in
order to gain a particular
effect, split the inf initive as
to practically but quite con-
sciously run the risk of leav-
ing the to as far behind as
the last caboose of a broken
freight train. (How to Wrte,
1944.)
Ernest Gowers
It is a bad rule; it increases
the difficulty of writing
clearly and makes for ambi-
guity by inducing wrtersto
place adverbs in unnatural
and even misleading posi-
tons. A recent vistto Greece
has convinced me that the
modern Engl ishman fai ls
co m pl ete ly to recog n ise
that... Does the modern
Englishman completely fail
to recognse, or does he fail
to completely recognise?...
The reader has to guess and
he ought never to have to
guess. ..
Nor is this all. The split
infinitive taboo, leading as it
does to the putting of
adverbs in awkward places,
is so potent that it produces
an impulse to put them there
even though there is not
really any question of avoid-
ing a split infnitive. I have
myself been taken to task by
a correspondent for splitting
an infinitive because lwrote
'l gratefully record'. He was,
no doubt, underthe influ-
ence of the taboo to an
exceptional extent. But suf-
ferers from the same malady
in a milder form can be
found on every hand...The
split infinitive bogy is having
such a devastating effect
that people are beginning to
feelthat it must be wrong to
put an adverb between any
auxiliary and any part of a
verb, or between any prepo-
sition and any part of a verb'
(The Complete PIain Words,
19s4.)
r95
it Barbara Strang
Fussing about split
infinitives is one of the more
tiresome pastmes invented
by nineteenth century
grammarians. (Modern
E n g I i sh Structu re, 1 962.)
David Crystal
To boldlygohas one big
thing in its favour. lt is fol-
lowing the natural rhythm of
English -the te-tum te-tum
rhythm favoured by Shake-
speare and which is the
mainstay of our poetic tradi-
tion. lf the scriptwriter had
wrillen boldlyto go, thetwo
weak syllables would have
cometogether, and this
would have sounded jerky. lf
he had written to go boldly,
he would have ended up
wth two strong syllables
together, which sounds pon-
derous.To boldly go is rhyth-
micallyvery neat. The Star
Irek scriptwriter hasn't really
been linguistically bold at all.
(Who Ca res About E nglsh
Usage?,1984.)
Reader's Dgest
Bear in mind that purists do
still object to the split infini-
tive. lf you refuse to pander
to this irrational objection
of theirs, and if you are
unconcerned that people
might think you know no
better, then by all means
split your infinitives. But
remember the possible con-
sequences: your reader or
listener may give less credit
to your arguments (because
he thinks of you as a careless
speaker or writer), or he
may simply lose the thread
of your argument entirely
(because he has been dis-
tracted by your grammatical
'error').
At the same time, it is also
inadvisable to wrench a
sentence into ambiguity or
ugliness simply in order to
avoid splitting an infinitive.
Doing this can cause equal
distraction in your reader or
listene; or it might once
again reduce his regard for
your views - as being those
of a pedant this time, rather
than of an ignoramus. The
best course may be to skirt
such a predicament
altogether, and simply
recast your sentence,
wording it in an entirely
different way. (The Right
Word at the Right Time,
1985.)
196
THE, 2 1 ST:CENTURY LE,GACY
From the ourser, the prescriptive approach to English
grammar had its crirics, some of whom were prepred
to castigare the Latinate tradition in the strongesr lan-
guage, responding to what they saw as excessive
authoritarianism in the early grammars (p. Z8). By the
beginning of the 20th cenrury, however, the exrreme
positions had moderated somewhat. Many traditional
grammarians, while continuing ro operare happily
within a Latinate descriptive framework, began to
LOOK IT UP IN FOWLER to debunk the worst excesses
of purism, and - most unusu-
Fowler's Dlctlo nary of ally for the prescriptive tradi-
Modern English Usage (1926) tion - underpins his remarks
has long acted as a bible for
those concerned with ques-
tions of disputed usage. The
book was planned in associa-
tion with his younger
brother, Francis George. who
had collaborated 20 years
previously on their first influ-
ental work on usage, Ihe
King's English (1 906). How-
ever, Francisdied in ,l918,
having contracted tubercu-
losis in the trenches of World
War 1, and it was left to
Henry to complete the book.
It is a large, alphabetically
organized list of entries on
points of grammar, pronun-
ciation, spelling, punctua-
tion, vocabulary, and style.
Often referred to in the
revered tones which one
associates with bibles, it is
the apotheosis ofthe pre-
scriptive approach (p. 1 94).
Prescriptive in his aims
Fowler certainly is, but he
contrasts wth 1 9th-century
grammatical authors by the
way he combines a respect
for tradition with a readiness
HOW MANYTENSES?
How many tenses of the
verb are there in English? lf
your automatic reaction is
to say'three, at least'- past,
present, and future - you
are showing the influence
of the Latinate grammatical
tradition. lf you go for a
larger number, adding such
labels as perfect and
pluperfect, this tradition is
even more deep-rooted
within you. Twenty or more
tense forms are set up in
some traditional grammars.
PART III . ENGLISH GRAMMAR
with an elegant blend of
humour and common sense.
For example, he had no time
for the distortions imposed
on English by Latinate gram-
mars. His entry on case
judges these grammarians to
be:
guilty, of flogging the minds
of English children with
terms and notions that are
essential to the understand-
ing of Greek and Latin
syntax, but have no bearing
on English.
On the other hand, in a Soci-
ety for Pure English Tract
(No. 26) he defends the role
that tradtional language
study has played in shaping
contemporary consciousness.
Whether or not it is regret-
table that we English have
for centuries been taught
what little grammar we
know on Latin traditions,
have we not now to recog-
nize that the iron has
An example isA Higlrer
English Grammarby
Llewelyn Tipping, first
published in 1927, and with
a dozen reprintingsto its
credit bythe 1960s. This is
strongly Latinate in
character. Nouns are given
five cases, and solemnly
listed: nom inative (k i ng),
vocative (O krng), genitve
(king's), dative (krng), and
accusative (krng). Over40
forms of the verb in its
various tenses and moods
are recognized.
To see the extent to which
accept thr the influence ofcontemporary usage could
not be completely ignored, and became moi. prag-
matic in their approach. At the same time, there were
signs ofan increasing respecr for the value ofthe kind
of disciplined approach ro grammarical study which
the Latinate framework represented. As the comments
on pp. 194-5 illustrare, ir is unusual today ro see an
author unreservedly condemning a traditionally dis-
puted point of English usage though blanket con-
- on the structure of sentences (S I 6).
demnation is still commonplace in letters and e-mails
of complaint about usage sent ro newspapers and radio
feedback shows.
entered into our souls, that
our grammatcal conscience
has by this time a Latin ele-
ment inextricablycom-
pounded in it, if not
predominant?
The remnants of this con-
science are with older people
still. How far younger people
continue to be influenced by
it, after the reduced empha-
sis on grammar teaching in
many schools during the
1960s, is not at all clear. Sev-
eral generations of people
passed through school with-
out ever having been intro-
duced to basic grammatical
terminology, and were
therefore unaware of what
many of the traditional shib-
boleths are all about (p. 1 94).
On the other hand, the Lat-
nate influence on analysis
profound, and goes much
is
deeper than the occasional
dispute about usage. With
some areas of grammaL such
as the verb, where the Latin
model has caused English
tense forms to multiply well
beyond necessity, Fowler's
point has certainly to be
granted.
this is a distortion of the way
English works, we must be
sure of howthe word tense
was used in traditional
grammar. Tq,nse was thought
of asthe grammatical
expression of time, and
identified by a particular set
of endings on the verb. ln
Latin there were present-
tense endings (amo, amas,
amat...'l love, you love,
he/she/it loves...'), f uture
tense endings ( amabo,
a mabis, a mabit ..'l will/shall
love, you will/shall love,
he/she/it will/shall love...'),
1snry Watson
Fowler
perfect tense endings
(a m avi, a mavisti, a m avt...' l
loved, you loved, he/she/it
loved...'), and several others
marking different tense
forms.
English, by contrast, has
only one inflectional form to
express time: the past tense
marker (typically -ed), as in
walked, jumped, and saw.
There istherefore a two-way
tense contrast in English: /
walkvsl walked - present
tense vs past tense. English
has no future tense ending,
but uses a wide range of
13 . GRAMMATICAL MYTHOLOGY 197
THE, MAIN BRANCHES OF GRAMMAR
The field of grammar is often divided into rwo nouns, and the voice, mood, numbe person, and WHY?
domains: morphzllg/ and syntx. The former focuses tense of verbs, as well as the question of their classifi- Svrutex: from Latin
on the structure of words, dealing with such matters cation into regular and irregular types. syntaxis, and earlier from
Most of a traditional grammar was given over to
as inflectional endings and the way words can be Greek syn + fassein 'together
+ arrange'. The term is quite
built up out of smaller units (S14); the latter focuses accidence, following the Latin model. Although in often used in a figurative
Nesfield syntactic matters are to be found throughout way. Article titles
Modern grammars display a major shift in empha- the book, only two chapters are offcially assigned to encountered in the 1 990s
include'the syntax of
sis from that found in traditional grammars. A large the subject, and these are largely devoted to the tech-
cooking'and 'the syntax of
part of a traditional grammar was devoted to aspects niques of clause analysis and the parsing of parts of sex'.
of morphology - though not using this label, which speech. By contrast, most of a modern grammar of
MonpnolocY: ultimately
is a term from linguistics. The traditional term was English is given over to syntax. There is relatively from Greek morph 'form'+
accidence (from Latin accidentia, 'things which little in the language to be accounted for under the
/ogos'word'. The term is also
befall'), defined in Nesfieldt Grmmar as 'the collec- heading of inflectional morpholory, ad in some used in other contexts; in
biology, for example, it
tive name for all those changes that are incidental to grammars the notion of morphology is dispensed refers to the form and
cerrain parts of speech'. Thus, accidence dealt with with altogether, its concerns being handled as the structure of animals and
such matters as the number, gende and case of 'syntax of the word'. plants.
NEW GRAMMAR verbs and ...FOROLD
adjectives.
s1'tJI) EN'f'S
The chapter headings in 17 The noun phrase. The chapter headings
18 Theme. focus, and in Part l('Modern
S. Greenbaum & R. Quirk's
information English Grammar') of
A Student's Grammar of the
processing. J. C. Nesfield's Englrilr
English Language (1 990).
19 Fromsentenceto Grammar Past and
1 The English language. text. Present (1 898).
2 A general framework.
3 Verbs and auxiliaries. There are some clear 1 Analytical
4 The semantics of the parallels with traditional outline: general
Sirlrrr.t' rcelrlr:tttill
(
verb phrase. grammar, especially the (1rrl l\ definitions.
5 Nouns and determiners. opening treatment of l{iilr(1")h 2 Nouns.
6 Pronouns. word classes (Chs. 1-9), 3 Adjectives.
4 Pronouns.
7 Adjectives and adverbs. but over half the book is
5 Verbs.
8 The semantics and explicitly devoted to
grammar of adverbials. syntax, and a substantial 6 Adverbs.
9 Prepositions and part of the early chapters 7 Prepositions.
prepositional phrases. deals with syntactic mat- I Conjunctions.
9 lnterjections.
10 The simple sentence. ters too.
11 Sentencetypesand The approach which this 10 Analysisof
discourse functions. grammar represents falls inf luence of contemporary sentences.
11 The same
12 Pro-forms and ellipsis. well within the European lnguistic theory reverse this
13 Coordination. tradition of grammatical order of treatment, begin- word used as different
The minor role
14 The complex sentence. analysis, but it would be a ning with a systematic expo- parts of speech.
(l 858_1933)
15 Syntactic and semantic mistake to think that all sition of syntactic matters, 12 Syntax. played by syntax is to be
functions of modern grammars look like leaving matters of word 13 Punctuation,orthe noted, by comparison with
subordinate clauses. this. ln particular, many classif ication and mor- right useofstops. its major role in modern
16 Complementation of grammarswhich showthe phology to the end. grammars.
other techniques to express
Aru exnMpt
future time (such as
willlshall, be going to, be
about to, andfuture adverbs
(p. 224). The linguistic facts
PARSING why the noun
. Adjective:slate
is in that case.
kind of
object it governs.
Adverb: state kind
,ff,"1i;ff g,,;:;i,
The categories reflect the
way Latin grammar worked,
are uncontroversial. Parsing ptayed an important adjective, degree, and what of adverb, degree, with its complex inflectional
However, people find it role in traditional grammar word it qualif ies. and whatword it morphology, and also the
extremely difficult to drop . Pronoun: state kind of pro- method used in learning it
the notion of 'future tense,
teaching. The procdure modifies.
. Preposifion: state
",iii,;,,1.',1#;{',i,,"" (translation to and from
involved stating the part of noun. number, person,
(and related notions, such as
speech (Latin pars) to which a gender, and case, and why it the word it governs. English). Asvery few ofthese
imperfect, future perfect. word belonged, and giving is in that case. . Conjunction:slale types of word-ending remain
and pluperfect tenses) from in English, the technique of
kind (coordinating,
ni:*#,i,i*'*"",
certain details about it. Latin e Verb: state kind ofverb
their mental vocabulary, and grammars used to ask Quae (whether weak or strong, subordinating) and parsing is no longer seen as
to look for other ways of Pa rs o rati o n i s?'What pa rt of p.21), transitve or intransi- what t joins. having much relevance.
talking aboutthe speech?' (See further, 5 1 5.) tive, voice, mood, tense, . Interjection: Mary,{s More sophisticated forms of
grammatical realties of the . /Voun: state the numbe number, person, the subject state that it is an ,i."iiii"" sentence analysis have
English verb. gende and case, and say with which it agrees, and the interjection. replaced it (916).

14. THE STRUCTURE OF STIORDS
Morphology, the study of the srrucrure of words,
cuts across the division of this book into Lexicon The derivational f ield of
a
(Part II) and Grammar (Part III). For English, it single word (from
J. Tournier, 1 985).
means devising ways of describing the properties of
lnf lections are a quite dis-
such disparare irems as , hlrses, too, indiscribable, tinct group, always occur-
ring at the very end of a
washing macltine, and ntidisestablishmentrianism.
word (grace disg raced),
& widely-recognized approach divides the field into and following the deriva-
two domains: lexical or deriuational morphologt tional suffixes if there are
in which new irems of vocbulary any. lf there were several
studies the way
instances of gracelessness to
can be built up out of combinarions of elements (as be talked about, we could
in the case of in-describ-able); inflectional morphol- say (admittedly, not with
any great elegance) grace-
ag7 studies the way words vary in their form in rder
/essnesses.
to express a grammatical contrast (as in the case of
horses, where the ending marks plurality). The pro-
Tournier's detailed study
also includes extremely full
cesses of lexical word-formation are described in S9. listings of the derivational
In the present section, we examine the processes of
affixes in English. There are
a surprisingly large number
inflection. of them: excluding variant
An essential first step is to be able to describe the forms, he gives 386 prefixes
and 322 suffixes. The latter
elements (or morphemer) out of which words can be total includes dozens of
constructed. forms which are rare in
everyday conversation
. Many words cannot be broken down into gram-
(except among specialists),
such as -acea, -ectomy,
matical pari bq/, , !es, person, elephant, problem. -qynous, -mancy, and
-plod.
These words are said to consist only of a base form
(some grammars refer to this as the root or stem), All
we can do, in such cases, is describe what the words
mean (see Part IIi) and how they are pronounced or TYPES OF SUFFIX
spelled - such as rhe number of syllables they have, This table showsthe
or the pttern of vowels and consonanrs they display commonest English suffixes,
(see Part IV). though not all the variant
forms (e.9. -rble for -able).
._ English permirs the addition of meaningful, The list of inflectional
dependent elemenrs both before and after rhe Lase categories is complete; the
list of derivational suff ixes
form: these are called offint. Affixes which precede
has been limited to 50.
the base are prefixes; those which follow it re suf-
lnflectional suffixes
fixes. The possibility of affixes occurring within tLe noun plural, e.g. -s(p.201)
base (infixes) is considered on p. 128. genitive case. e .g.:s (p.202)
o Prefixes in English have a purely lexical role, 3rd person singular, e.g. -s
ing the consrrucrion of a large number of new
allow- (p.20a)
past tense, e.g. -ed (p. 2 I 2)
words: un-, de-, nti-, super-, etc. They are described contracted negative
(pp.20s,212)
-n't
as part of word-formarion on p.l2B,
. Suffixes in English are of two kinds. Most are objective pronoun, e.g. him
(pp.203,210)
purely lexical, their primary function being to -,ng form or present
change the meaning of the base form: exampls of participle (p.204)
-edform or past participle
these deriuational sffixes include -nes, -ship, and (p.204)
-able. A few ae purely grammarical, their rle being -ercomparison (pp. 199, 21 1)
to show how the word musr be used in a senrence: -esf comparison (pp. 199,
211)
examples here include plural - pasr rense -ed, and
comparative -r. Elements of this second type, which
Derivational suffixes
Abstract-noun-makers
have no lexical meaning, are the inflectiotil suffixes (p.20e)
-age frontage, mileage
(or simpl inflections) of the language.
-dom officialdom,
stardom
14 . -TI.lE STRUCTURE OF \ORDS 199
ADJECTIVES TESTING COMPARISON
e^e
An item from test designed
a screening
of the ways in which the
Inflections provide one to assess the language abil ity of 3- to 5-
-e
year-old children. This particular item
by an adjective (p.211) can be
ouality expressed tries to elicit the child's awareness of
mpared. The comparison can be to the same
ungracefully a-_ comparative and superlative forms. The "o
_unoracetul Vgraceully to a higher degree, or to a lower degree. speech and language therapist uses a
ungracefulnessf degree,
(ro) disgrace (to)
gracetutness structured prompt, while pointing
disgracefully-
disgraceful+
I . The base form of the adjective is called the absolute appropriately to the picture:
f disgrace
forn: big haPPY. This boy little, this one is big, this one is
dr59racetulness is
even - andthisoneisthe -.
gracelessly !-\\ The inflections identify two steps in the expression of
I / (After
gracetess
higher degree. S. Armstrong & M. Ainley, 1990.)
a
gracelessness
ungraciously r.- y' ya.iously . Adding -df produces the comparatiue form: bigger,
.1 ungracous
ungractousne55 grciousness hPPier' fartherlfarthest (the latter pair being
. IRREGULARS less
Adding -t produces the superlatiu form: bigest, common. and mainly used to express
There are very few irregular comparative physical distance, as in farthest north).
Affixes of this kind come suffix, with citations since hPPiest.
forms, but the ones there are do occur quite . O/d has regular forms (o/derlo/desf) and
and go: -nik, for example, is the 1940s, and seen in beat- frequently.
a development in English nlk and similar uses (beaclr- There are no inflectional ways of expressing the same also an irregula r use (elder I eldest) when
which became highly pro- nik, filmnik, jazznk, etc.), or lower degrees in English. These notions are . Eefterand bestare the comparison forms
talking about family members.
. Some adverbs (p.211) also allow
expressed syntactically, using r. .. as (for the same
ductive in the late t95Os, was productive into the o't good; torse and worst are the inflectional comparison (e.9. soonest), but
following the launch of
degree: X is a.s big s Y) and less or least for lower
early 1 970s, but seems to comparison forms of bad. most adverbs are compared periphrastically:
Sputnk f, and such subse- have since died out (after . Far has two torms: furtherl furthest and more frankly, most willingly.
quent operatons as the degrees (X is les interested thn Y Z is the lest inter-
L. Bauer, 1983).
launch of a dog into space lnflectional suffixes, by ested of all) .
(pupn i k, woofni k, muttni k, contrast, do not come and 'Ihete is also a syntactic (often called a
etc.) and the failure of a US go. There have been no very silent you are! lthink you must be in
periphrstic) way of expressing higher degree,
POETICAL SUPERLATIVES
satellite (Ya nkn ik, d ud n i k, changes in the system since love."Love !' cries the poetical young gen-
stallnik, etc.). This usage the Early Modern English rhrough the use of more (for the comparative) and I n his Skefches by Boz (1 836-7), Charles tleman, startng up f rom his seat by the f ire
seems to have died out in period (S5).
the early 1960s. A related most (for the superlative): A is more beautiful than B Dickens notes a popular use of the superla- and terrifying the cat who scampers off at
tive form by 'the poetical young gentle- full speed,'Love! that burning consuming
and C is the most beutiful of all. ma n'. passion; that ardour of the soul, that fierce
glowing of the heart. Love! The withering
When the poeticalyoung gentleman blighting influence of hope misplaced and
-ery drudgery, slavery -(r)an republican, Parisian THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT makes use of adjectives, they are all affection slighted. Love did you sayl Ha!
-ful cupful, spoonful
-hood brotherhood,
-r'st socialist, loyalist
The availability of two begin with un- do allow superlatives. Everything is of the grandest, ha! ha!'
-ite socialite, Luddite greatest, noblest, mightiest, loftiest; or the With this, the poeticalyoung gentleman
girlhood ways of expressing higher the inflection, as in the
Nounsfrom verbs degree raises a usage case of unhealfhier and lowest, meanest, obscurest, vilest, and most laughs a laugh belonging only to poets and
-rng farming, panelling
-age breakage,wastage question:which form unhappiest. pitiful. He knows no medium:for enthusi- Mr O. Smith of the AdelphiTheatre, and
-rsm idealism, racism
-ocracy aristocracy
-al refusal, revival should be used with any . The chief problem arises asm is the soul of poetry; and who so sits down, pen in hand, to throw off a
-ant informant, lubricant particular adjective? The enthusiastic as a poetical young gentle- page or two of verse in the biting, semi-
-sh friendship, with two-syllable
-atlon exploration, answer is largely to do man?'Mr Milkwash,'says a young lady as atheistical demoniac style, which, like the
membership
education with how long the
adjectives, many of which she unlocks her album to receive the young poeticalyoung gentleman himself, is full of
permit both forms of
Concrete-noun-makers -ee payee, absentee adjective is. comparison: Ihat3 a
gentleman's original contribution,'how sound and fury signifying nothing.
-eer enginee4 racketeer -er writer, driver
-er teenaget cooker -rng building, clothing
. Adjectives of one syllable qu ieterl more quiet place.
usually take the inflec- A few such as proper and
-ess waitress, lioness -rnent amazement,
WiliiElJ'^*
-ette kitchenette, tional form: big, thin, eagen ate straightforward:
usherette
equipment
-or actor, supervisor small, long, fat, red. But they do not allow the
inflection at all. Others,
The brightest knits in town
Jet booklet, piglet there are exceptions: real,
Jrng duckling, underling Nounsfrom adjectives
-ity rapidity, falsity
right, and wrong do not
allow * rea I leC *wrongest,
such as many adjectives
ending in -y, -e and -le, commerciaradvertising \||ASHIS C[IANIR
-ster gangster, gamester
favour it: happie cleveref
provides fertile
Adverb-makers (p. 21'l)
-ness happiness, kindness etc. Nor do participles
(p. 204) allow an inflection and genflest are ioirror adjective innecrions. THAN AN ()THDR MACHIND.
- quickly, happily Adjectivesfrom nouns
-ed ponted. blue-eyed when they are used as commoner than morel
-ward(s) northwards,
onwards
-esgue Kafkaesque adjectives: That's the most
burnt pece of toast t've
most happr, etc., but the
choice is often made on
THE RESULT:
-ful useful, successful
-uzrse clockwise, lengthwise
-ldal editorial. accidental everseen (not *the stylistic grounds. ln the
previous sentence, for
SMOOTHER, F'IRMER SKII\
Verb-makers (p.212) -ic atomic, Celtic urntest).
-l-
,E
example, there is little to
-ate orchestrate, chlorinate -rsh foolish, Swedish . Adjectives of three THE PURER WAY T0 ADD FLAVOUR
-en deafen, ripen choose between I :l
.,t'
I'
Jess careless, childless
syllables or more use only
-lfy beautify, certify
-ize/-ise modernize,
-/y friendly, cowardly
-ous ambitious, desirous
the periphrastic form: we
do not say *beautifuller or
commoner and more
common except the A s'T I H s The latest iru gas cooking
rhythm and the immediate
advertise -y sandy, hairy *rnterestrngest.
But here context (commoner avoids ]r ,t s Ll DECORATING?
Check with us first for all the latest tools and tips
Adj e cti ve-l n ou n-m a ke rs Adjectives from verbs too there are exceptions: an inelegant clash with
better, bolder, brighter than ever!
(p.211) -able drinkable, washable for example, a few three- the use of more two words
-ese Chinese, Portuguese -ive attractive, explosive syllable adjectives which later).
 200
NOUNS: NUMBER
Most nouns (p. 208) have both
form, expressing a contrast lr.m..J.one, and more
than one', and these are known as uariablenouns. A
small group of cases do not have a number conrrast
- the inuarible nouns (p. 20 l ). Most variable nouns
change from singular to plural in a wholly predictable
wa usually describecl simply as 'adding
(though the realiry is not so straightforwardl. thi, L
rhe regulrtr plur.al form, as seen in cats, oboes, egs,
pterodctyls, gfttmmars, and thousands more wordr.y
contrasr, there are only a few hundred nouns with an
irregularplural form - though it is these which artract
the interest of the gramm"iian,
which lead to difficulties in language
9yl for explanation. Why doesnl StandarJ English
(SE) say mouses, childs, and
foots?
ADDING AN -S?
ln speech
The -s ending is pro-
nounced in any of three
possible ways, depending
on the nature of the sound
at the end of the singular
noun. (An identical set of
rules applies to other uses
of an /-sl inflection:
pp.202,20a.)
o lf the noun ends in an
/l-like sound (a sibilant,
p.262) - /sl, /zl, /11, lsl,
/{/, and ld<l -ittsfol-
lowed by an extra syllable,
/tzl, asin buses, phrases,
dishes, beaches, sledges,
and (for ful, some pronun-
ciations of) mirages.
o All other nouns ending
in a voiceless consonant
add /sf as in cups, pots,
sacks, scruffs, growths.
o All other nouns ending
in a voiced consonant or a
vowel (including r-
coloured vowels, p. 237)
add lzl, as in cubs, rods,
bags, graves, tthes, farms,
guns, rings, pools, cars,
players, bees, foes, zoos,
etc.
ln wrting
The spelling rules are more
complex. The vast majority
of nouns in the language
simply add an -s. This
includes those nouns
where the singular form
ends in a 'silent -e', such as
p/ate. But there are several
types of exception (p.272).
P,A,RT
a singular and a plural
an
_y'
they are the ones
", learning, and
cry
. The ending is -es if there
sno slent -e, and the noun
ends in -s, -2, -x, -ch, and -sh
(all representing sibilants),
as in buset buzzes, boxes,
bitches, bushes.
. lf the noun ends in -o,
the plural is spelled -os in
most cases (as in studios,
zoos, pianos, solos, radios,
kilos), but there are a few
nouns which require -oes
(as in pofafoet dominoes,
heroes, tomatoes), and
some allow both (as in vol-
cano(e)s, cargo(e)s,
motto(e)s), though
modern usage seems to be
slowly moving towards the
-o5 norm.
o lf a common noun
(p.208) ends in - with a
preceding consonant, the
-y is replaced by -i, and -es
is added, as in skles, f/les. lf
there is only a preceding
vowel, the -ystays (as in
ways, boys), as it does in
proper nouns (old and
new Germanys, the three
M"ry'
o There are several
unusual cases, such as con-
sonant doublin g (quizzes,
fezzes), the use of apostro-
phes after a letter name
(cross your t's) or a number
(33), especially in British
English, and doubling a
letter in some wrtten
abbreviations, as in pp.
('pages'), exx. ('examples,),
and //. ('lines').
III ENGLISH GRAMMAR
ONE OR MORE
THAN ONE?
ln most cases, the distinc-
tion between singular and
plural corresponds to that
between 'one'and ,more
than one', butthere are
exceptions. The picture
shows a large number of
objects growing on a tree:
if we describe what we see
asfoliage, we use a singu-
lar; if we say we see /eaves,
we use a plural. Butthe
number of objects is the
same in each case. Simi-
larly, wheat is grammati-
cally singular and oats is
grammatically plural, but
the distinction is not
apparent to the combine
harvester.
EXCEPTIONAL PLURALS
There are several groups of native English
words which display exceptional plurl forms.
Although we cannot say why these particular
words did not follow the regular pattern, it is
at least often possible to see why they have
their distinctive form by referring to ihe types
of plural formation found in Old English i
Germanic (p.8).
. Seven nouns change their vowel (a process
known as mutatio n, or umlaut, p.19)i man >
men, foot > feet, goose > geese , mouse >
mtce, woman > women, tooth > teeth, louse >
/ice. The change does nottake place when
there is a derived sense, as when /ouse refers
to a person $tou |ouses!) or nouse to a charac_
ter (we've hired three Mickey Mouses thls
month).
o.Four nouns add -en, in two cases changing
the vowel sound as well: ox> oxe n, aurchi>
aurochsen, child > children, brother >
brefhren. The use ofl-nlas a plural marker
was a feature of an important class of Old
A vowel diagram (p.238)
showing the way the high front
position of the tongue (in the
vowel of the hypothetical
Germanic plural sufiix * I -iz l)
once 'pulled'the vowel of the
associated noun in its
direction (p. 19). The effect can
still be seen relating the singular
and plural forms of the surviving
nouns. Several other nouns were
also affected at the time (such as
bec, plural of bc ,book, in Old
English), though the mutated
man
forms have not survived in
/a>e/
Modern English.
I4'TFIE STRUCTURE OF \ORDS 201
NOUNS OF FOREIGN ORIGIN Source I ending Native plural Foreign plural Both plurals
Nouns which have been borrowed from foreign Latin -us + -es >., focus, fungus,
apparatus, campus, stimulus, bacillus,
languages pose a particular problem. Some have cactus, terminus,
circus, sinus, virus locus, alumnus
adopted the regular plural ending: They sang syllabus, radius
another two choruses (not *cori). 5ome have kept Latin/Greek -a + -s > -ae antenna, formula,
the original foreign plural: More crlses to deat with area, dilemma, drama alumna, alga, larva nebula, vertebra
(not *crlsrses). And some permit both: What tovety
cactuses / cacti !
Latin -um +-5 >-a aquarium, maximum,
There are no rules. People have to learn which album, museum, bacterium, erratum, medium, podium,
form to use as they meet the words for the first premium desideratum referendum, forum
time, and must become aware of variations in Latin -ex, -x + -es > -ices index, appendix,
usage. Where there is a choice, the classical plural is suffix, prefix codex, spadex, fornix apex, vortex, matrx
usually the more technical, learned, or formal, as in Greek -s
+ -es > -e5
the case of formulas vs f ormulae or curriculums vs
metropolis, clitors, analysis, basis, crisis,
curricula. Sometimes, alternative plurals have even
developed different senses, as in the case of (spirit)
glotts oasis, synopsis
Greek -on +-5 >-a
mediumsvs (mass) medra, or appendixes (in bodies automaton,
electron, proton, criterion, entozoon,
or books) vs appendices (only in books). The table polyhedron
(rght) shows the main types of foreign plural neutron, horizon phenomenon
formation. French -eau +-s > -eaux bureau, tableau,
Cointreau gateau plateau, chateau
Italian -o
+-s >., virtuoso, tempo,
solo, soprano, portico, timpano, graffito, libretto, allegro,
piccolo, supremo mafioso scherzo
English nouns. Several other family words
Hebrew nouns + -sl-es > -tm kibbutz, cherub,
showed this ending in Middle Engiish, such moshav, midrash seraph
as doughtren ('daughters,) and sustren (,sis_
ters'), both found in Chaucer. (See also
p.a29.) INVARIABLE NOUNS Singular-only nouns Plural-only nouns
. Double-plural nouns Words wthout end
A few nouns change their final fricative
consonant (p. 243) as well as adding /z/. Some
o Proper names (p. 208), such Names of 'two-part' items, Several animal names have A few nouns have the same
Many nouns do not as Francrs and York. SE does
change /-flto /-v l, as in wives,/oave and such binoculars,
as scissors, two plurals. There is the reg. form for both singular and
halves. The spelling reflects a changewhich
show a contrast between
singular and plural: the
not allow (except possibly in 7eans. 5E does not allow ular plural, adding an -s, and plural, even though they are
jest) *Yorksare nice places. *Your jeans is dry. there is a 'zero' pluralform,
took place in Old English, where/f7was i nva ri able nouns. These semantical ly variable, al low-
o Names of subjects, dis- . A few dozen nouns ending with no ending at all. ing a difference between
voiced between vowels (the plural of htaf are usually classified into
'loat' was hlafas). Some change l-0/ to l_1, as two types: those used
eases, and games, such as in -s, such as am ends, annals, 'one'and 'more than one'.
physi cs, mu m ps, bi I I ia rds. SE a u sp ices, co n g ratu I ati o ns, I have two rabblfs. ln such sentences as t like
in booths and mouths. House is unique, with only in the singular, and
does not allow *Physics are d reg s, o utsk i rts, rem a i ns,
/-slchanging to l-zlin houses. those used only in the They've been shooting you r sheep, only the context
fun. These nouns can mis- thanks, tropics. ln such cases, rabbit. enables us to know which
ln several cases, usage is uncertain: dwarf, plural.
lead, because their -s ending either there is no singular meaning is intended. Ihat
hoof , scarf , and wharf will be found with
makesthem look plural. form in 5E (*An outskirtof There is a clear difference in
both/-fs/ and /-vz{ and spelled accordingly sheep or fhose sheep would
Some have singular and the city) orthe singular gives meaning. lf the animals are resolve the matte; as would
(e.9. both scarfs and scarues); truth, oati,'
plural uses: compare Darfs a different sense (as in dregs being thought of as individu-
sheath, wreath, and (especially in American observation of the relevant
English) youfh will be found with both/-0s/
rs easyand Your darts are
broken.
of beervs He's a dreg! - als, the pluralform is used. lf f ield. Like s/reep are the
British slang,'worthless they are a category of game, names of some animals
and./-z/, but both spelled in the sameway, - . Nouns in a noncount use person'). they have a zero plural. The (e.9. deer, sa/mon) and
ths (much to the frustration of the foreign
learner). Exceptions to the exceptions inllude
(p. 209) : m u si c, h o mewo rk, . A few nouns which look professiona I hunter goes nationalities (e. g. Portu-
still Iifes andthe Toronto ice-hockey team,
snouz. SE does notallow */ singular but are always shootin' duck, never ducks. guese, Swiss), severaI nouns
like musics.lf the noun is plur al: vermi n, I ivestock, And visitors to the local pond expressing quantity (e.9.
the Maple Leafs.
used in a countable way, a cattle, poultry, people, and feed the ducks, never feed guid- British slang, 'f ',
plural is normal: compare folk. SE does not allow *Ihe fhe duck- unless, of course, p 'pence'), and a few others
They make beer andThey people is outsde. the pond contains only one, (e.9. a i rcraft, offspri ng,
had two beers.
i;t serles, species).
/u:>irl u>atl
1gooffi
SOME CONTROVERSIAL totally established, in fact,
as many idea of a single entity, whereas the The die is cast. However, pursts anx-
NOUNS who say thrs data baulk at saying a plural emphasizes that the entity is ious to preserve the original distinc-
data or two data. American English made up of individual units. Other tion continue to recommend the use
o Data causes a usage problem.
This seemsto be ahead of British, in this such nouns include barracks, steel- of a die whenever a single cube is
word was once found only as a
respect. works, and kennels. on the table.
plural, but is now often used as a sin-
gular, especially in computing and . With a small group of nouns usu- . Dice (meaning'a marked cube
other scientif ic c ontexts: Much of this
ally ending in -s, people sometimes used in games of chance') is now
data needs to be questioned (rather argue over whether they should be
used (like sheep) both as a singular
than Many of these data need to be
used as singulars or plurals: Ihe and a plural: The dice is on the table
questioned). This use continues to headqu a rters is nea rby vs...a re refers to one, ... are on the tabte
woman/u>r/ attract critcsm f rom those who
le>tl nearby. ln such cases, either form is refers to more than one. The singu-
were brought up on the older pat- possible depending on the intended lar usage, known from the 1 4th cen-
tern. The singular function is still not meaning. The singular suggests the tury, is now found only in the idiom
202 PAIT III ENGLiSH GRAMMAR 14 .THE STRUCTURE OF \(/ORDS 203

CH AM B
ER s S
ENC YCL o
NOI.JNS: CASE, POSSESSIVE Your father's mustache NEW IMAGES FOR OLD P IE D I A
Today in the UK, it is almost always omit-
DCTI ONA
POETRY My brother's keeper TH E AB ERRANT APOSTROPH E NY
UN V'&SAL
ted in shop signs, placards, and other The covers of the 1 935 edition of NO WI,' DCE
'The La plume de ma tante C h a m be rs's E n cycl o p a e d i a and
There are onlytwo cases left in Moclern English (p. 21): Possessive
The apostrophe was introduced into notces. lt varies greatly in place names:
Case', a poem by Le rnonocle de mon oncle English from French in the 1 6th century St Ann's Bayin Jamaica contrasts wth 5t their 1 993 English Dictionary, Chambers
a czmmoncase, where the noun has no ending at all, and Lisel Mueller showing the loss of the
the genitiue. The genitive is formed by adding an -r to (1977), in addition
His Master''s Voice
Son ofa bitch
(p.68), and became widespread during
the 1 7th; but there was much uncer-
Anns Bayin Cape Breton lsland, accord-
ing to the Britannica Atlas. The bias is apostrophe and extra syllable. English
the singular form of the noun. In writing, this appears to its ntrguing
Charley's Aunt tanty about its use, even until the def initely towards omission: of the sev- The change took place, after Dictionary
semantic great heart-searching, in the
with a preceding apostrophe (p.283, the 'apostrophe middle of the 19th century. Notonlydid eral hundred names of the 5tAnnstype
juxtapositions, Lady Chatterley's Lover inlhe Britannica, two-thirds have no 1960s. The f rm's 1966
it mark the omission of letters (as in
): the ct'sfood.With most plural forms, an -sending is provides an The Prince of Wales can'f), it was often used before a plural apostrophe. ln shopping centres we catalogue has the apostrophe;
already present, so the written form jr-rst adds a follow- interesting corpus ending, especially when the noun was a f ind Ladies rea r and Mans shop. On the their 1 969 issue does not.
The Duchess ofWindsor
for testing loan word ending in a vowel (as in the other hand, the 1 993 New York City Today most public names do ,,,:,Jii::.::,1
irrg sign (the's apostro phe') : t h e cats'fo o d. ln a few irreg- hypotheses about The Countof Monte Cristo not use the apostrophe, though
two comma's,which even today many subway map givesSt. Patrick's Cathedral
ulal plural instances, 3 is used (as in the men's boo les). ln the use of the two The Emperor of Ice Cream some businesses consciously '.ln r:,:j,1r:"*i,^*
people feel 'needs'an apostrophe). By and Grant'sTomb.
speech, thele is no difference in pronunciation between forms of genitive. The Marquis de Sade the 18th century, it was being regularly Many modern sign-writers and typo- continue with it as part of an image
of tradition, reliability, and other 'lr*r:liil;ii1.*;
The Queen ofthe Night used as a genitive marker in the singu- graphical designers leave the apostro-
cat's and cat, such values. ln a 1 992 issue of a
Mozart's Requiem la representing (according to the most phe out because they thi nk it looks fussy
The chief meaning of the genitive case is possession: likely theory) the omission of the letter e and old-fashioned; and in most cases its popular British magazine, less than
Beethoven's Ninth f rom the ending of the former genitive
1 0 per cent of the trade names ending in a genitive used an
the cat'sfood. But the case is used to express several other omission causes no ambiguity, asthe
Bach's B-Minor Mass case -es (p.44). Later, the usage context makes it clear whether the -s apostrophe, and most of those which did so had no choice in the
meanings too. The notion of origin is present in /re matter because their names already ended in a sibilant (p. 243), as
Schubert's Unfinished extended to the genitive plural, but ending refersto numberorcase, and
trueller's story. There is description irt a summer's dy. A even atthe beginning ofthe 19th cen- whether it expresses a singular or a in Ross3. For such names, the only alternative is to avoid the
Krapp's Last Tape genitive ending altogether - which is actually a popular strategy
period is measured in three months'leue.And the form tury there was inconsistency over plural genitive meaning. However,
Custer's Last Stand whether constructions such as fhe glrls' there are undoubtedly many occasions nowadays (e.9. John Lewis, instead of leuurs3).
can express the idea ofthe noun eirher doing the action
Howards End dresses should contain an apostrophe when the availability of the apostrophe
or receiving the action: in the hostage?s pplication, rhe Finnegans Wake (because no letter was being 'left out'). expresses a valuable written distinction,
hostage is the onewho applies;in tbe hostage's release,the The Malch of Time Later that century, printers and gram- and there is strong pedagogical pres-
hostage is the one who is released. marians tried to lay down rules saying sure on children to maintain its use,
The Ides ofMarch when the apostrophe should be used. especially in the USA.
There is a close similarity berween a noun in the gen- Unfortunately, with such a long period As a result of changi ng attitudes and
itive case and the sme noun preceded by of (rhe of- of varying usage to consider, the rules practices, some people nowadays feel
genitiue): the ship's nrtme = the nme of the ship. The ifil:ii*::i".i:h*-, which they devised were arbitrary and
incomplete, and it proved impossible to
unsure about the correct use of the
apostrophe, and add it before anything
choice is largely based on factors ofgender and sryle. The Hound ofHeaven establish a totally logical set of princi- they sense to be an -s ending, such as a
Personal nouns and the higher animals (p. 209) tend to Dante's Inferno ples. For example, the apostrophe was plural or a third person singular: *We
allowed to mark possession in nouns sell fresh pie's, * Everyone like's our
take the genitive ending; inanimate nouns take the af Vergil's Aeneid
(9irl3) but not in pronouns (hers), and chlps. These usages are universally con-
genitive. Thus we find Hilary's boole rarher than *the Homer's Iliad
even this rule had exceptions (one3). demned by educated writers, but the
The Fall ofthe City
book ofHilary,5ut apart ofthe dfficulryrather than *the Around the turn of the century, the uncertainty is understandable, given
The Decline ofthe West apostrophe began to be dropped from the long and confused history ofthis 5T. PAUL'5
dfficulty's parr. The genitive case is also used with many
nouns of special human relevance (my h.fe's aim, the
The Birth ofa Nation
The Declaration of Independence
the names of many British banks and
large businesses (e.9. Lloyds, Ha rrods).
punctuation mark in English (see
further, p.283). -
body's needs). But the of form is used for ties (The
The ride ofPaul Revere
Duhe of Kent) - always allowing for cases of contrived
informality (Englan d's Quee n) .
The Pledge of Allegiance -
The Spirit of '76
The Age ofReason GOODNESS GRACIOUS !!
The Century ofthe Common Man PRONOUNS: CASE subjective (formerly,
KEEPTNG UP W|TH THE JONES',(S) nominative) case. The objective case has long been a focus of there is now a widespread sensitivity about
The Psychopathology of Everyday Life Personal pronouns Five pronounsshowthis prescriptive discontent (p. 1 9a). their use, and this has led people to avoid
Not all singular nouns can add Portnoy's Complaint (p. 2 10) have a genitive distinction: //m e, we I us, them, even in parts of the clause where
a genitive ending. There are a Whistler's Mother form. as have nouns,but he I him, she I her, and . ln certin contexts, it is used where the their use would be grammatically correct:
few instances where the only they also have a n objective theylthem. Who also has Latin-inf luenced grammatical tradition
signalis the apostrophe. This is
The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi Between you and 1...(p. 194)
form, which nouns no an objective form (whom) recommends the subjective:
what happens with Greek The whore ofBabylon He asked Mike and lto do t.
longer have. This form is as well as a genitive form
names of more than one The Bride of Frankenstein chief ly used when the (whose ='of whom/
Who's there? lt's me. . There is also uncertainty over the correct
syllable and ending in -s: 5he's as tall as him.
The French Lieutenant's Woman pronoun is the object of a which'). The other form in sentences such as lt's no use mylme
Socrates' bust, not usually Ted and me went by bus.
A Room of One's Own clause (as in He saw me) pronouns have genitive asking her. Older grammars analyse words
Socrates3 bust. Names ending and when it is governed by forms, too, traditionally These usages attract varying degrees of like askrng as 'verbal nouns', or gerunds, and
in l-z lvary in their usage: we Bluebeard's Castle insist on the use of the possessive pronoun
a preposition (as in He described as the possesslve criticism in a formal setting. Me as a single-
find both Dickens's novels and Plato's cave gave itto me).The term pronouns: mylmine, word reply is now used by almost everyone, (my, etc.) or the genitive form of a noun:
Dckens' nove ls, Jesus's Santa's workshop oblective ref lects this our(s), his, her(s), its, and attracts little comment (despite the lohn's asking me. Modern grammars do not
name and Jesus' name. function, and replaces the thei r(s), and your(s),The publicity it received in the song sung by use the term gerund: asking in this example
Noah'.s ark
With the shorter form, older term accusatiye, alternatives identify two Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren in the film would be analysed as a verb (the -rng form,
the implied extra Ihe House ofthe Seven Gables favoured by traditional of p.204), as can be seen from the way it takes
constructions, in which the The Millionairess). The X and me type
syllable can still be The Dance ofthe Seven Veils grammar (p.1 92), which pronoun can either construction, however, is often criticized, an object, him.lhe possessive is the
pronounced: Dickens' Anitra's Dance was more appropriate for accompany a noun or especially when speakers reverse the normal preferred usage in a formal style, especially
could be /'drklnz/ or Latin. Similarly, when a stand alone: That is her order of politeness, and put the pronoun if the item is a pronoun or a short, personal
The Moor's Pavane
I'dktnazl. Pronoun is the subject of a book vs That book is hers. first: Me and Ted went by bus. noun phrase. The alternative is more
My Papa's Waltz common in informal styles.
clause, it is said to be in the lronically, as a result of the long-standing
Your father's mustache criticism of me and other objective forms,
204 PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR
VE,RBS THE IRREGULAR VERBS
There are two main features of irregular
The forms of a regukrlexical verb (p.212) can be pre- lexical verbs, both of which pose routine
problems for young children and foreign
dicted by rules. An irregularlexical verb is one where
learners (p.428):
some of the forms are unpredictable. There are rhou-
. Most irregular verbs change the vowel of
sands of regular verbs in Modern English, but less
the base to make their past or -ed participle
than 300 irregular ones. Many irregular forms are
forms. This process is known as vowel
surviving members of the highly developed system of gradation (p.21): meet> met(not
*meeted), take > took (not *taked).
'strong' verb classes found in Old English (p.21).
. The -ed ending is never used in a regular
r Regular verbs appear in four forms, each playing a way, and is often not used at all, as in cut,
different role in the clause (p.220). met, woni I have cut(not *l have cutted), lt
was won (not * I t was wi n ned).
. The base form - a form with no endings, as listed in
Using these features. it is possible to group
a dictionary (in one of its uses called the infnitiue irregular verbs into seven broad classes.
form): go, see, remember, prouide.
. The + form, made by adding an -(e)s ending to the Class 1 use the same form for both past tense and
About 20 verbs whose only irregular feature
base (sometimes with a spelling change), used for the is the ending used for both their past and
third person singular in the present rense: he/she/it sees. -edparticiple forms: have > had send>
sent
The pronunciation of this ending varies, depending Class 2
on the preceding sound, as already described with ref- About 1 0 verbs whose past tense is regular,
erence to nouns (p.200): l-sl, as in loohs, chops, and but whose -ed participle form has an -n
ending, as wellas a variantform in -ed:
jumps I -zl , as in ties, goes, and remind.s, and l-rzl , as mow > mown o mowed,swel I > swol len or
in passes, rushes, and buzzes. Does and sals are excep- swelled.
tions, in that they change their pronunciation when
the ending is added: ldml not*ldulzl and /sezl not
*lsetzl (except somerimes in reading aloud). A BURNING QUESTION
. The -ingform, or -ing participle, made by adding Several irregular verbs (of
-ing to the base (often with a spelling change):, run- Class 2) have alternative
-edforms, one regular
ning jumping going. In traditional grammar, rhis (with -ed), the other
would be called the present participle, but as the form irregular (with -t).
is by no means resrricted to expressing present time Thy include:
(as n He was going), this term is not used by many burned burnt
modern grammarians, learned learnt
. smelled smelt
The -edform, made by adding -edrc the base (often spelled spelt
with a spelling change). This ending is found in the spilled spilt The straw
The straw
spoiled spoilt burnt?
Pastformand in the -edparticipleform.The pasr form
The -tending
has just one use: to express the past tense, as in 1 is rare in American English
iced the ball. The -ed participle form has four uses:
(p.441). ln British English, however, there is
to help express past aspec (as in I'ue iced the ball,
a great deal of usage variation, and it makes
an interesting question to ask whether
p.225); to help express the passive voice (as in The some ofthis could be patterned, expressing
a subtle difference in meaning between the
ball was iced, p.225); in certain rypes of subordi- two forms.
nate clause and to begin a clause (as in Kiched and bat-
The close comparison of examples sug-
tered, I hobbled ofthefield, p.226); and as an adjective gests that the -edform may be more likely
when the duration of an action is being
(as in the cooed meal, p.2I1).The -edparticiple form
emphasized. Something which has hap-
would have been called the past participle in tradi- pened once, which hastaken up very little
tional grammar, but as its use is not restricted to past time, orwhich focuses on the result of a pro-
cess ratherthan on the process tself may be
time (as in I will be ased) this label also tends to be more likelyto attract the -tending. The fol-
avoided in modern grammar.
lowing examples can be used to testthis
hypothesis. Dotheyfeel different?
Irregular verbs make their - form and -ingformby
The heather burned for days.
adding an ending to rhe base, in the same way as reg-
The burnt heather looked awful.
ular verbs do, But they have either an unpredictable
The torturerslowly burned my arm.
past tense, or an unpredictable -edparticiple form, or I burnt my arm aga inst the stove.
both. Many irregular verbs therefore appear in fiv We've always burned wood in that stove.
forms, instead of the usual four. I saw a piece of burntwood in the shed.
Class 3
About 40 verbs which have the same ending
for the past and -ed participle forms, but
this is irregular; they also change the vowel
of the base form : keep > kept, sleep > slept,
sell> sold.
Class4
About 75 verbswhich have an -n ending for
the -ed participle form, and an irregular
of
past form; they also change the vowel
the base form: blow> blew> blown, take>
took > taken, see saw> seen.
>
Class 5
About40 verbswhich have the same form
throughout, as in cut, let,shuti I shut the
door (now), /shuf fhe door (last week), /
have shut the door.
Class 6
AboutT0verbswhich have noending, but
-ed participle; they also change the vowel of
the base form: spin >spun, sit> sat, stand>
stood.
Class 7
About 25 verbs, forming the most irregular
type. There is no ending; the past and -ed
participle forms differ; and the vowels
change with each form: swirn > swam >
swum, come> came> come, go> went>
gone.
straw?
Burntstrawo burned
The drink burned in mythroat.
(lt was whiskey.)
The drink burnt mythroat.
(ltwas acid.)
Sometimes the context does not bear one or
other ofthe above interpretations, which
could explain why in this next example
(which seemsto require a long period of
tme) the first sentence is more likely than
the second.
They burned with desire for each other.
?They burntwth desirefor each other.
However, on many occasions the choice
may well be random. because the verb or
context does not motivate the drawing of
such semantic distinctions, as in the case of
I spelled lspelt itwith an e. And at the other
extreme, there are some collocations
(p. 160) which permit little or no variation,
as n the adjectival burntsienna, burnt
almonds, burnt offering, burnt toast, and
T. S. Eliot's poem Burnt Norton.
14 . THE STRUCTURE OF \ORDS 205
ADDING AN -ED? nant even when the preceding vowel is unstressed. This is normal practice in
British nglish, but American English also permits the use of a single conso-
ln speech nant (though frequency va ries, in the fol lowi ng cases). The ch ief i nsta nces are
The -ed ending of regular verbs is pronounced in any ofthree possible ways, -1, -m(me), andsome verbs in -p:
depending on the nature of the sound at the end of the base form. (A similar
set of rules applies to way the /-sl inf lection is pronounced: see p. 200.) Always in BrE, Never in BrE,
often in AmE often in AmE
. lf the verb endsin a ltl or ldl (an alveolar, p.243), it is followed by an extra
signalled signaled
syllable, /rd/, as in wanted, boarded. Th is form has several pron unciation vari-
ants around the world; for example, it is pronounced /ed/ in South Africa. diagrammed diagramed
. All other verbs end ing in a voiceless consona nt add /t/, as in sfopped/stopt/, kidnapper kidnaper
boxed lbokstl.
. All other verbs ending in a voiced consonant or a vowel (including r- Verbs ending in a vowel + -cspellthe doubling with -ck, as in panicked. How-
coloured vowels, p. 237) add /d l, asin robed, died, barred. ever, when the base ends in a vowel + -s, there is great variation in usage, with
some publishers insisting on a double consonant, and others avoiding it:
ln wrting focussedvsfacused brassedvs brased. The present book uses a single -s- in
The spelling rules are more complex, and show several regional variations such words.
between British and American English. The chief patterns are as follows: . As with nouns (p.200), if the verb ends in -y, with a preceding consonant,
the -y is replaced by -r, and -ed is added, as in cned, tried.lf there is a preced-
.
lf the base form ends in a'silent -e', this -e is dropped before -ed (and also ing vowel, the -y usua lly rema ins (as in stayed). The same rule applies to the -s
beforethe-rngending), as in typed not *typeed (or *typeing). Mostverbs ending too: ces, fries. One difference from nouns s that the -ystays in cases
ending in -ye, -oe, -ie, -nge, and a few others, losethe -e before -ed(but keep where an -rng ending is used: crying, trying.
it before -rng), as in dyed (but dyeingl,singed (butsrngerng). This allows such . Even morethan with nouns, there are exceptionstothe exceptions. So, if
contrasts as slng i ng and si nge i ng to be d istinguished. a -yverb is preceded by -a-, the -y is replaced, a sin paid and laid. And if a verb
. Asingleconsonant letteratthe end of the base isdoubled before -ed(and end ing in -le adds -rng, the -ie chan ges to -,1 as in dyi ng and tyi ns. When a
also before -rng), if the preceding vowel carries a stress and is spelt with a word ends in a slent consonant, it is not doubled, as in crocheted and hurra-
single letter:Togged (joggng), permitted (permitting). This doubling does hed. ln the present tense, there are such exceptions as does and goet where
not usually happen when the preceding vowel is unstressed (enter> entered, an -e- has been added. And there are a few forms which present variation in
enterlng) or is written with two letters (greet> g reeted, greeting). usage, such as a geing and aging, arcked and arced, or verandahed and veran-
. Some final consonants are exceptions to this rule, allowing a double conso- dah'd (see further, p.274).
n't
RELAYING CARPETS AND MESSAGES
The contracted form of the
negative word not is used as
an inflection with some
verbs. The ones which allow
this are the auxiliary verbs
(p.212), most of which can
thus appear in two negative
forms:
does not doesn't
is not isn't
ln some cases, the form of
the verb is altered:
will not won't
shall not shan't
were not weren't
do not don't
/deunt/, not
lduntl
Some auxiliaries do not
permit the ending in
Standard English, notably
*amnt (though it will be
heard in lrish English, for
example). Some usages are
dated (mayn't, usedn't). But
the major contrast is with
lexical verbs, which never
allow the contracted form:
relayed or relaid or
*sitn't, *walkedn't.
relaid? relayed?
Spelling can be a criticalfactor in distinguishing verb
meanings. A message s relayed, but a carpet is relaid.
The first is a verb, to relay, which has been derived from
the noun rela;4 the second is a verb based on lay.The
first uses the regular -y spelling, but the second shares
the exceptional -ed spelling of lay (laid).

15. STIORD CLASSES
Tladitional grammars of English, following an
approach which can le traced back to Latin (Sl3),
agreed that there were eight parts of speech in
English: the noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb,
preposition, conjuncrion, and inrerjection. Some
books paid separare arrenrion to the participle; some
additionally menrioned the article. But none was in
any doubt that the definition of the parrs of speech
was an essenrial first step in learning about English
grammar.
\X/hy is ir necessary ro ralk about parts ofspeech
at
all? The main reason is to be able to make general and
economical srremenrs about the way rhe words of the
language behave. It is only a marrer of common sense
to generalize, when we norice that a set of wor.ds all
work in the same way. In a simple case, we observe
such sentences as
It is in the box.
It is near the fence.
It is on the horse.
It is by the table.
It is under the car.
It is for the book.
and note the idenrity of srrucrure. In each insrance,
there is an irem preceding thewhichseems ro have the
same sort of function, expressing some kind of prox-
imity relationship between ir(whatever that is) and the
following words. Rather. than talk about each of these
items individuall it makes sense ro group rhem
together into a single caregory. Latin had words with
the same function, which the grammarians called
prepositions (from prae + positio'placingin front'- that
is, in fi'ont of a noun), and modern English grammars
have happily conrinued ro use rhe rerm.
Modern grammarians are happy because this is one
of the areas where Latn and English grammar seem
to behave in a similar way. The norion of preposition
is a particularly useful one for describing English
(p.213). However, rhere is less happiness when
people try to apply the old part-of-speech labels to
English words rhar do not have a clear coLlnrerparr in
Latin (such as the, shll, or the tuin to go), or when
they use definitions of the parts of speech that prove
difficult ro work with. Indeed, when linguists began
to look closely at English grammarical strucrure in;he
1940s and 1950s, they encounrered so many prob-
lems of iclentification and definition rhar the rerm
prt of speech soon fell out of favour, word classbeing
introcluced instead. \ord classes are equivalent to
parts of speech, but defined according to strictly lin-
guistic criteria.
TH E TRADITIONAL DEFINITIONS
The defintons found in traditional grammars vary between authors, but they share a
vagueness and inconsistency of approach which has not endeared them to mdern lin-
guists. A set of def initions and examples (from Nesf ield, 1898: see p. i 97) is given
along with a note of the chief difficulties they present to anyone wanting t make a pre-
cise description of English grammar. The general intent behind the tradit]onal def initions
isclear enough; but several are insufficiently general to apply to all instances, and the lack
of formal detail about their morphology (S 14J or syntax (S i Oi mates ttrem diif icult to apply
consistently.
Definitions
A noun is a word used for naming
some person orthing.
Examples: man, house, paris,
height
An adjective is a word used to qual-
ify noun...to restrict the applica-
a wide range of elements (e.g. the, my, all)which have
tion ofa noun byadding
something to its meaning.
Examples: fine, brave, three, the
A pronoun
word used instead
is a
of a noun or noun-equivalent [i.e.
a word which is acting as a nounl.
Examples: this, who, mine
A verb is a word used for saying
something about some person or
thing.
Examples: make, know, buy, sleep
An adverb is a word used to qualify
any part of speech except a noun
or pronoun.
Examples: today, often, slowly,
very
A preposition is a word placed
before a noun or noun-equivalent
to show in what relation the
person or thing stands to some-
thing else.
Examples: on, to, a bout, beyond
A conjunction is a word used to
join words or phrases together, or
one clause to another clause.
Examples: and, befo re, as wel I as
An interjection is a word or sound
thrown into a sentence to express
some feeling of the mind.
Examples: Oh!, Bravo!, Fie!
below,
Comments
The notional def inition difficult to work wth; some
is
grammars add a separate reference to places, but
even that excludes many nouns which could not easily
be described as'persons, places, and things,, such as
abstract qualities (beauty) and actions (a thump).
No reference is made to morphology or syntax
(see p.208).
The def inition is too broad and vague, as it allows a
very different grammatical properties, and even
nouns in certain types of construction (e.g. her
brother the butcher) do not seem to be excluded.
No reference is made to morphology or syntax
(see p.21 1).
The def inition is almost there, but it has to be altered
in one basic respect: pronouns are used instead of
noun phrases (p. 222), notjust nouns. He refers to the
whole of the phrase the big lion, notjustthe word
/lon (we cannot say *the big he). Nothing is said about
morphology or syntax (see p. 2,l0).
On this def inition, there s lttle difference between a
verb and an adjective (above). Some grammars prefer
to talk about'doing words' or'action words,, but this
seems to exclude the many stafe verbs, such as know,
remember, and be. No reference is made to morphol-
ogy or syntax (see p. 2 1 2).
This is an advance on the more usual definition, in
which adverbs are said to qualify (or ,modify,) verbs
which is inadequate for such words as very and how-
ever. Even so, the definition leaks, as it hardly applies
to nterjections, and examples such as the very man
and slovenly me have to be thought about. Nothing is
really said about morphology or syntax (p. 21,l).
This is a good start, as it gves a clear syntactic crite-
rion. The definition needstightening up, though, as
prepositions really go before noun phrases, rather
than just nouns, and may also be used in other parts
of the sentence (p. 2 1 3). As with nouns above, more
than just persons and things are involved.
This captures the essential point about conjunctions,
but it also needs some tightening up, as prepositions
might also be said to have a joining function (the man
in the garden). A lot depends on exactly what is being
joined (p.213).
This vaguer than it need be, for elsewhere Nesf ield
is
acknowledges the essential point, that interjections
do not enter into the construction of sentences.
Despite the emotional f unction of these words, they
still need to be considered as part of sentence classifi-
cation (p. 21 3).
CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS
It is not possible to tell which word class a word
belongs to just by looking at it. \e need to look
carefully at ho\M it behaves in a sentence. The
word brlwn, for example, has three grammatical
uses:
o [s an adjective, when it is used in such contexts
as I bought a brown cr and My arms are brown.
o As a noun, when it is used in such contexts as 1
poccrcd the brown.
. Ar a v.rb, when it is used in such
Thc ast has browned nice.
Sorne words have even more uses. Roundhas five,
as ldiective, noun, verb, adverb, and preposition.
IDENTIFYING WORD CLASSES
A word class is a group of words which,
from a grammatical point of view behave in
the same way. ln theory, this means two
things.
. The words are the same morphologically
(514):they showwhich class they belong to
by using the same endings. For example,
verbs add such inflectional endings as -rng
and -s (p. 204); they can also be identified by
various lexical endings, such as - ize and -fy
(p. 1 e8).
. Thewordsarethesamesyntactically(516):
theyshowwhich classthey belong to by being
used in the same way within a sentence. For
example, adjectives can appear between the
and a noun, or immediately after a form of
be: the happy cat, the cat is happy.
word class identif ication is an
The task of
interesting one for linguists, as it is not
always obvious which are the best criteria to
-
use. For example, when trying to decide
what can be called a noun in English
(p. 208), there are several possible criteria,
each of which identifies a particular group
of words. One criterion is the use of a plural
ending. This includes cafs, dogs, horses, and
thousands of other words; but it excludes
manywordswhich do not have a plural
f orm, such as sh eep, police, information,
and./ohn. Another possible criterion is the
use of a distinctive noun-making suffix, such
as -hood or -tion. This includes in formation,
HOW NOUN-LIKE 15 PARIS?
Modern grammars recognize that
the largest word classes are conven-
lent fictions, to some degree. All the
words in a proposed class are seen
to be sharing some features, but
few share all of them. For example,
there are four important features
often suggested for nouns (p. 208):
15 . \ORD CLASSES 207
A round table. The yacht rounded the buoy.
contexts as
Round the corner came
a
fire engine.
It's your round. Walking round to the shops.
boyhood, and thousands of words; but it
SOME NEW WORD CLASSES
excludes thousands of others which do not
have such an ending. llUhen we look carefully at the way words behave in sen-
At the same time, we sense that certain tences, the differences can strike us as much as the simi-
larities. Many words, indeed, turn out to be unique. For
criteria have nothing to do with nouns at all.
example, there is no other word in the language which
For example. the use of a comparative or
superlative ending (p.1 99) does not seem has exactly the same formal properties as house, with its
relevant in dealing with such words as cat idiosyncratic way of forming a plural (p. 200). Likewise,
and dog;we do notsay *catteror *doggest. there are features of the formal behaviour of children,
good, lightning, say,will, and do (all identified in 514)
A different group of words can be identif ied
using that criterion - those we ca ll adjec- which no other word in the language shares. ldiosyn-
crasies of this kind are usually disregarded when dealing
tives.
with word classes. House is still classified as a noun,
Some criteria, although in principle appli-
cable to nouns, seem to identify such a lim- albeit a slightly individual one.
ited group of words that they are of little This approach brings to light several important
realvalue. An example is the use of the gen- groups of words in English which are syntactically so dis-
tive case. which has a marked preference tinctive that they demand separate recognition - which
for animate nouns (p. 202), asin the boy's means finding a new name for them. Here are three
back but not *the house's back. Although it examples of these 'new'word classes.
is a relevant criterion, which contributes to . Determiners A group of words which can be used
our sense of what makes a 'typical' noun, it instead of the and a in the noun phrase, expressing such
is not a very useful distinguishing feature, notions as quantity, number, possession, and definite-
because it excludes so many words that are ness. Examples include some, much, that, and rny. Tradi-
definitely nouns according to other criteria. tional grammars would callthese adjectives.
Traditional grammar did not have the . Conjuncts A group of words whose function is to
same interest in studying the actual linguis- relate (or'conjoin') independent grammatical units, such
ticbehaviourof word classes. ltassumed as clauses, sentences, and paragraphs. Examples include
that the crtera which worked well for Latin however, meanwhile, otherwise, and namely. Traditional
would also work for English (p.'192), and it grammars would callthese adverbs.
used definitions of the parts of speech . Auxiliaries A group of words whose function is to
which related more to their supposed assist the main verb in a clause to express several basic
meaning than to the way they worked in grammatical contrasts, such as of person, numbe and
sentences. Neither of these practices has tense. Examples include have, can, do, and was. Tradi-
proved to be of much help in the description tional grammars sometimes recognized these as a sepa-
of English. rate class of 'defective verbs'.
A They are words which can be the Deprivation is an 'excellent' noun, A Unlikely (apart from cases where
head of a noun phrase. because it satisfies all four criteria it becomes a common noun, as
B They are words which can be the in The Paris I used to know: see
A hate the terrible deprivation.
subject of a clause. I p. 208).
B Deprivation is increasing. B Paris is a captal city.
C They are words which can have a
plural form. C The deprivations were awful. C Unlikely (again, apart from special
D They are words which display a D deprivafion cases, such as How many Parises
suffix such as-tion or -hood. On the other hand, Pans is much less
doyou know?).
The more criteria a word satisfies, typica l.
D None.
the more'noun-like' it is.
 208 PART III . ENGLISH GRAMMAR
THE CLASS OF NIOUNS THE MAIN
SUBCLASSES
\hen we look at the way nouns behave, we find that Nouns can be
the following factors are involved: grouped into six
main classes. The
first division is into
c Syntactic stucture (516): a noun is the chief item (or
proper and common
'head') of a noun phrase (p.222), as in the new tele- nouns, Common
nouns can then be
phones.It is often preceded by one of a small class of
divided into count
determiners (p.207), such as tlteor some. and noncount types.
;o Syntactic function (516): a noun functions as rhe
And both of these
further
subject, object, or complement of a clause (p. 220), as
can be
divided into
in Apples are popular, I lihe apples, Those objects are concrete and
abstract types.
a.pples.
o Grantmaticalmorpholog (S14): a noun can change
its form to express a contrasr in singular/plural
number or to mark the genitive case (p. 202), as in SUFFIXES THAT FORM NOUNS
cat I cats lcat's /ct. Abstract nouns
. Lexicl mzrphzllg1 (S14): a noun can be formed by Suffix Add to
adding one of a small list of suffxes (e.g. -age, -ment, -age
-tion) to a verb, an adjective, or another noun,
Noun
-age Verb
-al Verb
In parsing nouns (p.I97), traditional grammar -(a)tion
-dom
Verb
Noun
insisted on noring gender as well as number and case. -(e)ry Noun
Modern grammars disregard this criterion, recogniz- -ful Noun
-hood
ing that gender has no grammarical role in English. Noun
-ing Noun
They do however find good grammatical reasoqs for -ing Verb
respecting the imporrance of several other traditional -ism Noun
-ity
contrasts, especially propervs common, and abstractvs Adjective
-ment Verb
czncrete, and have developed the contrast between -ness Adjective
mass and countovns into a major dimension of sub- -ocracy Noun
-ship Noun
classification.
PROPER AND COMMON NOUNS
THE THE HAGUE
Proper nouns are names of specific people. places, times,
occasions, events, publcations, and so on. They differ from A proper noun is a
common nouns in three main ways. single word, but
Proper nouns can stand alone as a clause element (p.220, many proper names
asin I like London, Fred is here,Today isTuesday), whereas consist of more than
only certain common nouns can (Chess is fun, but rEgg is one word: -/ohn
bad, *Book is red, */see cat, etc.). Smith, King's College.
. Proper nouns do not usually allow a plural (*Londons, ln these cases, the
*Freds, *Everests), whereas most common words work together
nouns do (books,
eggs pens, but *musics). as a single unit.
. Proper nouns are not usually used with determiners Names like
(p.207) (*a London, *the Fred, *some France), whereas The Hague look
common nouns are (a book, the music, some bread). as if they are being
ln some circumstances, proper nouns can behave like used with the
common nouns: definit article, but
Ihe is part of the
Look at all those Smiths. name in such cases. lt
I used to know a Mary Jones.
cannot be omitted,
I hate Mondays. changed, or
Proper nouns are written with an initial capital letter. But separated: we cannot
say *Hague, *A
not all words with initial capitals are proper nouns - as in the
Hague, *The
ironic laf3a 8ig Deal! (p.278). Also, there is sometimes
The Hague, or
uncertainty as to whether a word should be considered
*The beautiful
proper or common: is it the moo n or the Moon? This issue ,
Hague.
has important consequences when it comes to deciding the
size of the lexicon (p.122).
1' ' \ORD CLASSES )q
COUNTAND NON- (some music). Both types can ABSTRACT AND
Nouns COUNT NOUNS occurwith the (the book I CONCRETE NOUNS
the music).
Common nouns can be Some nouns can be either Both count and non-
count or noncount, depend-
divided into two tYPes. count nouns can be
Proper referto indi- ing on their meaning. Cake, divided further into
Common Count nouns
for example, is a count noun abstract and concrete
vidual, countable entities,
such as book eggs, and in this sentence: types (p.1 98). Concrete
horses. Noncount nouns nouns referto entities
Would you like a cake?
refer to an undifferentiated which can be observed
Count Noncount mass or notion, such as but a noncount noun in this and measured, such as
butter, music, and advke. book, car, elephanf, and
Noncount nouns are also
one:
A
such groups ofthings: a f/ock butter. Abstract nouns
OF KITENS of sheep, pride of |ions.
known as mass nouns. There Do you like cake? - a
English has some highly spe-
referto unobservable
are clear grammatical differ- Many noncount nouns have notions, such as diffi-
Concrete Abstract Concrete Abstract ences between them.
There are many such pairs.
an equivalent countable
cialized (but nowadays culty, idea, certai nty,
rarely used) collective nouns, and remark.The distinc-
The lights were amazing. expression using such words
. Count nouns cannotstand Light travels very fast. as piece or bit (pa rttve ot
especially for animals. The tion seems straightfor-
item which fillsthe gap
alone in the singular (*8ook ward, but in fact it can
rs red); noncount nouns can l've bought some bricks.
col lective nouns) fol lowed
by of:
aboveisoneofthem- a be quite difficult decid-
fun). It's built of brick. kindle of kittens. Other ing whether a word is
(Chess is
. Countnounsallowa
luck a piece of luck colourf ul collectives are: being used in a purely
l've had some odd grass a blade of grass
Example
Concrete nouns plural (books, eggs); non-
count nouns do not
experiences. bread a loaf of bread
an exaltation of larks
a muster of peacocks
abstract or concrete
way. Nouns such as
Suffix Add to Example l've not had much
(*musics). A common quiz question is a plump of waterfowl stru ctu re, ve rs on, and
mileage -ant Verb contestant . Count nouns occur in the experience.
to find the special collective a rout of wolves rnusic permit both
wastage -ee Verb referee singular with a (a book); term which describes a skulk offoxes abstract and concrete
refusal -eer Noun profiteer interpretations.
noncount nouns with some
explotaton
kingdom
-er
-er
Noun villager
Verb writer
slavery -ese Noun/Adj. Chinese
spoonful -ess Noun waitress o lnanimatenouns (bo&
GENDER ti g erlti g ress. The'lower ani-
boyhood -ette Noun kitchenette
carpeting -(i)an
advr'ce) pattern onlywith lt mals'(anf, cod etc.) do not
Noun/Adj. Parisian In many languages (such as
building -st Noun/Adj. loyalist
andwhich. normallytake helshe,
Latin and French), nouns can though an enthusiast for
idealism -ite Noun/Adj. socialite be grouped into types, Here is a box. /t is the box
ants (orcod) mightwell
rapidity -let Noun booklet based on the kind of end- rhich was in the street.
exclaim:
amazement -ling Noun duckling ingstheyhave, oronthe . Anrrnate nouns make vary-
kindness -or Verb lsn't he/she lovely?
suryivor way they pattern with other ing use of helshe andwho,
democracy -ster Noun gangster words in the noun phrase, and are divided into per- invariably an emo-
This is
friendship and these types are known
sonal and nonpersonal tional identif ication, of
as genderc/asses. For exam- types. course, given the difficulty
ple, in German, when nouns of identifying the true sex in
appear as subject of a clause, Here is a man. He is the man
such cases. FORTY-TWO
one type is preceded by der rho was in the street.
('the'), and these are called Here is a woman. 5e is the o ln British English, col/ec- Many nouns are given variable gender, depending on
woman whowas inthe tive nouns, such ascommit-
mascu/rne. Another type is whetherthey are thought of in an intimate way. Vehicles
preceded by dle ('the'), and street. tee, government, team, and countries are often called she as well as if (She can
these are called femi nine. . Personalanimate nouns army, and family, can take reach 60 in 5 seconds; France has increased her exports).
Those preceded by das refer to males and females, eilher tlwhich or theylwho, Pets are often he orshe. Acrying baby may become it.
('the') form depending on the point of
a third type, and and pattern with helshel It not obvious why some entities are readily personi-
s
view involved. The singular
these are called neuter. This who, as in the above exam- f iedwhile others are not. Nor is it obvious why most enti-
is a classification o gram- stresses the impersonal unity
ples, and also in such pairs as ties are given female personifications. lt is not simply a
maticalgender: it may or hosflhostess an d princel ofthe group; the plural the matter of feminlne stereotypes, forshe is used in aggres-
may not ref lect the biologi- personal individuality of its
pnncess, wherethe noun sive and angry situations as well as in affectionate ones:
cal sex of the entities members (p.201).
ending makesthe gender guns, tanks, and trucks which won't go remain she. The
involved (their natural clear. Some nouns can be The committee which has on ly consistently ma le trend in personif ication which the
gender). For example, in either'he' or'she' (they met...lt concerned... author has heard in recent years is in computing, where
German one word for'girl'
s
have dual gender), such as The committee who have word processors and other devices arewidely given male
(das Mdchen) is neuter. pet names and pronouns. Whythis should be so is beyond
artist, cook, cousin, and met...They are concerned...
English has nothing like him, though the reason is doubtless somewhere within the
singer.
this. lt has no grammatical Plural forms are far less answer given by the (male) super-computer Deep Thought
gender; but it does have Your cousin is a singer, isn't
common in American to the Ultimate Question, and quoted above as the head-
he/she?
nt,'tor
ways of identifying natural English: govern me ing tothis item.
gender. We can distinguish . Nonpersonalanimate example, almostalways
'There is an answer?' said Fook with breathless excitement.
animate beings from inani- nouns referto animals. Most takes a singularverb in the
rnate entities, p ersonal rom 'A simple answer?'added Lunkwill.
take itlwhich, butthose with U5A,
'Yes,' said Deep Thought. 'Life, the Universe, and Every-
nonpersona I beings, and a special place in human The topic of gender raises
maleromfema/e sexes. lt thing. There is an answer. But,' he added, 'l'll haveto think
is society take helshelwho, sensitive usage questions
about it.'
chiefly done by using pro- and some even have distinct that go beyond grammatical
nouns, which correlate with
(Douglas Adams, The H itch Hike r's Guide to the Galaxy,
male/female forms: issues; these are discussed
nouns in precise ways: 1979.)
bulllcow, doglbitch, on pp.368-9.
 210 PART III . ENGLISH GRAMMAR 15 . \ORD CLASSES 211

o Referring ro some unspecified event of the situation: ME, MYSELE

THE CLASS OF PRONOUNS (pointing) Loo t tbat! He's going to crash.
I

THE, CLASS OF ADJECTIVE,S ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES

lf people know anything at
Pronouns carry out a similar range of functions to nouns allabout pronouns, it is Many adjectives (e.g. brgl, thln) have no distinctive ending, but there are a few suffixes
Pronouns are words which stand for a noun (Latin pro (p. 198) which typically signal that a word is an adjective.
Xlords which express some feature or quality of a noun
and noun phrases (p. 208) - for example, they can appear usually aboutthe personal
- 'fut'), a whole noun phrase (p.222), or several nun pronouns, which occur more
phrases. They can also refer directly to some aspect of
as subject, object, or complement of the clau se (Shi saw
frequentlythan any other or pronoun are traditionally known as adjectives. To Suffix Addto Resu/t Suffix Addto Resu/t
me, That's yo). However, they differ from nouns chiefl y type. They are called decide if a word is an adjective, several criteria are -able Verb washable -less Noun restless
the situation surrounding the speaker or writer. In each 'persona l' because they refer
in not usually permitting modification (a big car, but not available. -al Noun musical -like Noun childlike
case, the meaning expressed is much less specific than *a to the people involved in the -ed Noun ragged -ly Noun friendly
big it), and in expressing a distinctive set f contrasts.
that found in phrases containing nouns. act of communication. . [n adjective can occur immediately before noun:
a -esque Noun romanesque -ous Noun desirous
Some pronouns have separate cases for subject and o The firstperson involved big house. This is called the adjectivet tnibutiue -ful Noun hopeful -50me Noun bothersome
praiseworthy
,o Replacing a noun: I'ue got a red hat nd Jane's got a object functions, as in lvs me, whovs wlom (p.203) . refers to the speaker(s) or
function.
-ic
-ish
Noun
Noun
heroic
foolish
-worthy
-v
Noun
Noun sandy
brown one, Some show a contrast betvrreen personal and nonper- writer(s) of the message:
. An adjective can occur alone after forms of the verb effective
. Replacing a noun phrase: My uncle Fred's just
l, me, my, mine, myself; -ive Verb
sonal gender and berween male and female (p.209): we, us, our(s), ourselves hr. The ltouse was big.This is the adjective's pred'icatiue
arriued. He's quite tired. he/she vs it, who vs which. (For the issues raised by r The secondperson refers to
function.
o Referring ro a very general concepr which includes gender, see p. 368.) the addressee(s), excluding
. An adjective can be immediately precede dby ueryand
spea ker(s) or writer(s): you, ADJECTIVE OR NOT? compare or take -/y appear in the position
the meaning of many possible noun phrases: I cn see Some distinguish singular and plural number, but not yo u r(s), yo u rse I f l-se I ves orher intensifitingwords: uery big terrib nice. (*fourer, *fourly). associated with adjectives:
son eone in the distance (where someoneincludes men, byaddingan -r(p,200), as in,Ivs we, hevs thEt.
. The third person refers to . An adjective can be compared (p. 199): biger/ biggest, The adjective is a good . Words ending in -ed or the garden party. They are
women, boys, girls, soldiers, etc.). . Some have different pers ons: I vs you vs he / s he / it. 'third parties', i.e. excluding
more/rnost beutiful'
example of a word class -rng could be either an no longer strictly nouns,
because (for example) they
the speake(s), writer(s), and with fuzzy edges. Some adjective or a form of a
addressee(s): he, him, his, . Many adjectives permit the addition o f - to form an words are much more verb (p. 204). ln tte have lost their capacity to
himself; she, her(s), herself; adverb (see below): sad> sad. adjective-like than others. interesting problem. we see pluralize: we cannot say
TYPES OF PRONOUN . I nterrogatve pronouns WHICH WAY it, its, itself; they, them, an adjective; in We are *the gardens party. On the
are used to ask questons their(s), themse/ves. /t is To count as an adjective, aword must be able to func- . Numerals, such as four interestng them in the other hand, they are not
There are many kinds of about personal and non- What problem, we see the -ing
and whrch permit a contrast between definite and included, even though it don in both attributive and predicative positions. The and forty, share some of strctly adjectives either,
word which can act as a personal nouns: who?, indefinite meaning. form of a verb. Sometimes because (for example) they
refers to nonpersonal enti- the properties of central
pronoun, but they express whom?, whose?, which?, ties, because it behaves in vast majoriry of adjectives are like this, and these form adjectives, but not others. there is ambiguity:She ls cannot compare: we cannot
different kinds of meaning, what? the same way as the others. rhe centralclass of adjectives. \7ords which can Ppear They can occur before a calculating. say *the garden est party.
and they do notall follow Rel ative pronouns (who, There are a fewadditional in only one or other of these positions are peripherl noun and after be (the four . Words which are They form a 'mixed' word
the same grammatical whom, whose, which, that) normally used as nouns may
personal pronouns. A thou cats, She's four), but cannot class.
rules. This meansthat dif- are used to link a subordi- series (thee, thy, thyself,
adjectives. They include utter and loath: we can say
ferent subclasses of pro- *the nonsense is utte6 and the man
nate clause (p. 226) to the thrne) is still sometimes found utter nTnsense,but not
noun haveto be *the loath man.
recognized. The first three
head of the noun phrase, in religious use (p. 371), and in ws loath to leaue, but not
as in lhat3 fhe b ook which some rural British dialects.
subclasses below are some- caused the trouble. There are also some nonstan-
times grouped together as
. Demonstrative pronouns dard forms, such asyouse in .
the central pronouns,
because they all express
(thislff ese, t h a t I t h o s e) northern USA, lreland, and THE CLASS OF ADVERBS TYPES OF ADVERB Adverbs which have no
distinctive element, such as
sideways, sai lor-fashion.
Coinages such as physics-
express a contrast between parts of Britain (e.9. Liver-
contrasts of person, Most adverbs are fairly easy lust and soon, or compound wl3e are very common in
'near' and'distant', as in pool, Glasgow). Southern
gender, and number. to recognize because they adverbs, such as somehouz American English.
Take this one here, not that USA hasthe pluralyou-all or The adverb is the most heterogeneous of all the word
are formed by adding an -/y and whereby. Because adverbs work along
c Personalpronounsare one over there.They also y'all. classes in English grammar. Over the years, words suffix to an adjective, as in o Afewotherendings with adverb phrases and
the main means of identi- have a range of extended have been assigned to it which perform a wide vari- quickly and happily. Less which mark a word as an clauses to perform their
fying speakers, addressees, uses: for example, flus may Special uses range of functions, they are
and others: /, yo u, he, she, be used to introduce a new The above roles are the usual ery of functions within the sentence. Tiaditional obvious are the following: adverb, used especially in
informal speech: new-style, discussed under the heading
it,we,they. topic in familiar speech (/ ones; but there are also a few grammar (S13) included under this heading not only ea rthwards, clockwise, of adverbial on p.221 .
c Reflexive pronouns, sawthis girl .. .), and that special uses.
such items as quichand soon, which are representa-
always ending in -se/f or- may express a negative What road shallwe take? (indefinite: an open choice) . Wecanrefertoasingle tive of large groups of words, but also such idiosyn-
selves (myself; etc.), atttude (IatRogerr). person in the'royal'or
'reflect'the meaning of a c lndefinite pronouns 'editorial' re: We are not
cratic items as no, nzt, and the (as in the slzner the AND IT'S THERE!
noun or pronoun else- express a notion of quan- amused. better) - largel one supposes, because there was no
where in the clause: Ihey tty. There aretwo main . Wecanrefertothe other class to which they could easily be assigned.
lowsmith passes
washed themselves. types. Compound pro- addressee, especially when beautifullyto Gray,
. nouns consist of two ele- talking 'down': How are we
Modern grammars try to make adverbs less of a'dust- who heads it veryfirmly
Possessive pronouns
ments: eyery-, some-. any-, foday? (nurse to patient). bin class by identifying their main functions and set- and deliberatelyto
express ownership, and
or no- + -one, -body, or - . Wecanrefertoathird Pritchard, who pushes it
appear in two f orms. My, ting up subclasses to handle the most divergent rypes.
you etc. are used as deter- thing, asin someone and partyiWe're n a bad mood nimblytowards the
anything. Of-pronouns today (secretary about boss).
Adverbs have two chief uses. Most can act as an post...
miners (p. 207) in the noun
phrase, as in my car, her consist of several forms . You and they can refer to element of clause structure (an aduerbial" p.220), Sports commentary is
bike. Mine, yourt etc. are which may appear alone or people in general, orto usually relating directly to the meaning of the verb (as one of several varieties
used on their own, as in be followed by of (/'ve some group within society: which greatly rely on
eaten all thecake I all of
in We're leauing tonight), but often to some other ele-
This is mine, Hers is over You never can tell, They keeP adverbs for their effect.
there. the cake). Their meanings puttng fares up. ment of the clause or to the clause as a whole (as in Several adverbs are
range from the'universal, o /tcan be used to refer in a A4orally be should resi.gn). Some adverbs affect the usually needed to
There are several other sense of a// and both to the general way to time, dis- describe David Beckham's
subclasses, meaning of an adjacent word or phrase by attaching
'negative' sense ol none tance, or life in general: /sn't activity on the field - seen
c Reci procal pronouns are and feu. Other items in this it a shame? lt's lovely out. themselves ro ir, as in uery anxious and quite a here in the England/
Party
used to express a 'two-way' class include ea ch, much. or the day before and somelne ele. These clausal and Argentina game in the
relationship: ea ch other, many, more, mosl /est Whch road shall we take? (definite: we are choosing 2002 World Cup (7 June).
one another.
phrasal fn.tion. are discussed further on pp. 22I-2.
fewer, some, and neither. from a small number of alternatives)
 212 PART III ENGLISH G1AMMAI
15 \ORD CLASSES 213

Finite and nonfinite

THE CLASS OF VE,RBS FINITE CONTRASIS
The fo-rms of the verb (p.204), and the phrases rhey are
The finite forms of the ve THE, CLASS OF PREPOSITIONS PREPOSITIONAL M EANINGS
partof, are usually classified into two broacl types, basecl are the -s form, the past
A sentence may contain a single verb, or it may use a on the kind of contrasr in meaning they express. The form, and some uses of the destination position destination position
cluster of verbs which work tgether as a verb phrase base form (p. 204). The I preposition expresses a relationship of meaning
notion of finiteness is the traclitional way of assi$ring
(p.224): I sw an elephant, Yiu didnl r ori, Thry the differences. This rerm suggesrs that verbs can b
nonfinite forms show no berween two parts of a sentence, most often showing to at (away) away
from from

+x
how the two parts are related in space or time: We sat on
variation.
couldnl haae seen one. The last rwo examples show 'limited' in some way, and this is in fact what happens referring to
min uerb (a form of seein each case) accompanied by" when different kinds of endings are used. Finite forms the bench, They lefi at three. Most of the common ol N+ X a
a point

one or more auxiliary uerbs. There can be up to four . Show a contrast in tense: prepositions consist ofonlyoneword; theyhave no dis-
auxiliaries, all going in front of the main verb, though
. Thefinite forms are those which limit the verb to a She works in London vs Sle
ri,r.ti,r. ending, and do not vary. Several prepositions
worked in London.

I
construcrions r.rsing all four are unusual: They ruust particular numbe tense, person, or mood. For exam- . Show a contrast in number consist of more than one word. on (to) on off off
haae been beingaduised by the gouernment, ple, when the -s form is used, the verb is limited to the and person: he works vs they referring to a
. Single-word prepositions include: about, at, before, by, a line or surface
third p-erson singular of the present rense, as in goes an, work; I am vs you are.
/61ttn, for, jiom, in, of on,
Three classes of verb can occur within the verb . Allowthe expression of out, ouer, round, since, ----t-
phrase. runs. If th.ere is a series of verbs in the verl phrase, the facts, possibilities, wishes, through, to, under, up, with.
finite verb is always the first, as in I was beng and other contrasts of mood:
. ashed. . Mtrlti-word prepositions include: (wvowords) ahed in (to) out of out of
Lexical uerbs (also called full uerbs) are those with a .,The nonfiniteformsdo not limit the verbn this way.
They suggested that the tn
meaning that can be clearly and independently identi- papers be delivered by hand. of; hecttuse of, due to, instead of, ner t0; (three words) .r referring to an
For example, when the -ing form is used, the verb can
ed (e.g. in adictionary), such as rur,u*p, wlh, want, be referring to any numbe tense, person, or mood:
They were.
far as, by mens of, in accordance with, in spite of on
"belnlf a
area or volume
Nonfinite forms of The words in these prepositions do nor vary
cogitate. They act as main verbs.
. Modal uerbs convey a range of judgments about the I' m I e u i ng (ftrs r perso n, singular., p resen r) There are three nonfinite freel they would in other circumstance s. In spite of
as
forms of the verb: *out spite ofor *in spite
likelihood of evenrs; they function only a, auxiliary
They're le u ing (thir dp erson, plural, p resent) . The -ing participle: /'m for example, cannot change to POSITIVE NEGATIVE
He was leauing(thirdperson, singular, past) Ieaving. r.
verbs, expressing meanings which are much less defin,
\X/e might be leauing romorrow (first person, plural, . The -ed participle: /'ve Most prepositions can be used in several nighf), cause (e.9. because of the fog),
able, focused, and independent than those of lexical asked, They were asked. Several prepositions are restricted in their fi'equency of different ways. Over, for example, is found method (e.g,wth a spoon), and possession
future, tentative) . in the sense of position (The picture was (a pianist of talent). ln addition, there are
verbs. There are nine verbs in this subclass: can, could, The base form used as an use, especially such foreign borrowings as nti, circll,
infinitive: They might see, He over the door), movement across (Ihey many figurative uses involving prep-
my, might, will, would, shall, should, and must, with As these examples show, a nonfinite form of the verb uerstu, and uis--uis. Unto is archaic, and used only in cl i mbedover the wal/), accompanying ositions: He's in a hole may literally mean
wants to see.
dare, need, ought to, and used to having a very similar stays the same in a clause, regardless of the grammatical religious contexts. There ae also some dialect uses, circumstances (We' I I ta I k over d i n ne r), what it says, or it may not. The diagram
function. variation taking place alongside it. suclr as tott ards (British) vs toward (American), outwith orientation to the speaker (Ihey live over shows the chief prepositions which express
the road), and other meanings. Othertypes spatial meanings (after R. Quirk, eta/.,
c Primary uerbs can function either as main (Scots,'except' ), and w h i le (Yorkshire,'until').
verbs or as of meaning include time (e.9. during the 1 98s).
auxiliary verbs. There are just three ofthem: be, hue, MULTI-WORD VERBS
Auxiliary verbs Main verb
and do.
Some verbs consist of more
advise than one word (and are thus AND INTERJECTIONS?
Main uerb use:
They rehappy. She ltsadog.They /osums. has
r5
been
advising
advising
better described as lexemes
(p. 118). The most common
THE CLASS OF CONJUNCTIONS SOME SUBORDINATE MEANINGS
llUe can make a wide range
Auxiliary must have been advising type consists of a verb fol, There are over a dozen types of meaning expressed by of emotional noises which
uerb use:
(rare) must have been being advised lowed by one or more parti- Conjunctions are items which join clauses or parts of subordinating conjunctions. Here are some of them. stand in for sentences, such
They are going. She has seenit. Dothey go?
cles: come in, sit down, drink
clauses together. There are rwo ways in which this can . Time: /stayed until you left. as Eh?, Oy!, Huh?, Tut-tut!,
up, put up with. The particles
be done: through coordination and subordination
. Place: I'll know where you are. Cool, and Yukl The impor-
are either spatial adverbs (e.g. o Condition: We'll get wet if it rains. tant point to note is that
AUXILIARY VERBS cantand
have). We can say TRANSITIVITY aback, ahead, and away), (p. 226). There are thus two types of conjuncrion: . Concession: He wasthre, though the buswas late. they are standing in for sen-
won? but not *walkn'tor prepositions (e.9. at, fo o Purpose: She wrote in order to get her money back. tences, not words, as the
Auxiliary (or'helping') *jumpn't,
The choice of the verb from), or words which in other ' Coordinating conjunctionslink units which have the . Reason: I can't buy it because it's expensive. punctuation marks indicate.
,il,ygg'
verbs assist the main verb o The first auxiliary in a
actually determines, to a contexts can act either as They are therefore better
in a clause to express sev- verb phrase has a distinctive large extent, what other adverbs or as prepositions
salne status in the sentence, such as two clauses, two treated as a type of sen-
eral basic grammatical con- role, as it can be used noun phrases, or rwo adjectives. The chief items are
trasts, such as in person, elements can be used in (e.9. by, down, in). tence (a minor sentence, p.
before the subject in order the clause (p. 220). Once appear happen Verbs which use adverb par- and, or, and but, and thee are a few 'pairs', such as 216) rather than as a word
numberi and tense. They to ask a question; this is not die The compound
do not follow the same we have 'picked' our verb, lie ticles are often c alled phrasal neither... nor. These conjunctions signal such mean- class.
possible with main verbs. digress subordinating conjunctions
grammatical rules as main certain other things are matter verbs, with those taking
We can say Have they gone fall irrgs as addition and sequence (n), the expression of boldly introducing the first .1n cnoieratfon
verbs, which is why they likelyto happen. rise prepositional particles being 't
home7, but not*sawthey go and last paragraphs are an
must be considered as a .lfwepickgo,wecan wat distinguished as prepositional alternatives (or), and conrrasr (but). Coordination
a car? important means of n( tom&,
verbs. ln some grammars, witb, and and or could conrinue indefinitely: We were icadd
separate class. stop the clause there, identifying the linguistic
The auxiliary class can howeveri the te rm phrasal
o Auxiliaries can be used itself be divided into two
without fear of being
ungranfmatical: The cat,s
;8fl,,,F?#y"' verb is used for both. What- wet nd dirlt and tired nd hungry and... structure of complex legal
documents.
before the word nof; main su bclasses:
going. Verbs ofthis type, bring keep
ever the terminology, one fact
is clear: the number of multi-
' Subordinating conjunctions join units which do not
verbs (in modern English) . The primary verbs have -s which can be used without have the same grammatical status in the sentence. The
carry like word verbs in the language
cannot. We can change / forms; the modals do not. an object, have long been typical case is when one clause is subordinated to
desre make grew remarkably, especially in
mght goinro I might not We f ind rs, has, and doe called i ntra nsitive verbs. find need the 20th century (p. 1 1 8), and arother, as in We went out when the rain stopped. Here,
go, but we cannot change / but not *mays, *wills, or get
sawit into *lsaw not it. *rnusts. o lf we pick enloy, another use they constitute one of the the main clause (We went out) is joined to ihe subor-
o The contracted form nt . Theprimaryverbshave element has to follow. We most distinctive features of
dinate clause (the rain stopped ty th. conjunction
(p. 205) can be attached to nonfinite forms; the modals cannot say *The cat's English syntax. Mi\ rit
almost allauxiliaries; this is do not. We find to have, enjoying. lt hasto be lhe Verbs which require an uhen. Subordinating conjunctions far ournumber
not possible with main having, and had, but not *to ca t's e nj oy i n g so m eth i n g, object are traditionally coordinating ones, and several consist of more than
verbs (apart from be and may, *maying, or *mayed. wth the object present. known as trans itive verbs g &r
olle word, d (:^.Ir"^.

16. THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES
The study of senrence strucrure is called slntax,
and because there is so little variation in the gram-
matical strucure of English words ($14), a syn-
tactic analysis forms the dominant element in a
modern English grmmar. The area thus provides
the main point of contrast with traditional gram-
,.'mars (S13), which because of their Latinate ori,
gins paid little arrenrion ro rhe synracric properties
ofsentences.
Sentences
The sentence is probably the most familiar of all
grammatical terms. \e are introduced to it in our
early school years, if nor before, and it quickly
becomes part of our linguistic awareness. .X/imag-
ine we speak in senrences, and we teach children to
write in them, making sure rhar they put in all the
periods. It might therefore be thought that sen-
tences are easy things to identify and define. The
opposite turns our to be the case.
Those who learned some rraditional grammar
will remember the old definition of a senrence as
'a complete expression of single thought'. Unfor-
a go out / we usually went out quite soon after that / - erm the children were always up7
tunatel this notionlapproach is too vague to be
of much help. There are many sentences which
seem to express a single thought, but which are not
complete, by traditional standards:
Lovely day! Taxi! Nice one! Tennis?
There are also many sentences which are com-
plete, but express more rhan one thoughr:
For his birthda Ben wanrs a bike, a compurer
game, and a visit to the theme park.
Theformalapproach to English grammar, bycon-
trast, tries to avoid these kinds of difficulry by
describing the way in which senrences are con-
structed - the patterns of words they contain. It is
an approach which can lead to some surprises,
especially when we look carefully at what happens
in everyday speech.
WORD ORDER
llUord order is at the heart of syntax, and most of Show me the last three pages (of one book). I Show
English grammar is taken up with the rules govern-
ing the order in which words. and clusters of words, The man with a dog saw me. /The man saw me wth
can appear. The importance of this domain can be
seen from the following set of examples, where the
meaning of the sentence alters fundamentally
once the order varies.
Dog chases postman. / Postman chases dog.
They are outside. /Are they outside?
Only I saw Mary. / I saw only Mary.
I6 .THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES 215
Three general points apply to any English sentence. sense' by themselves. This is an ancient and plausible
criterion, but it is never a straightforwarcl one. For'
r Sentences ale constructed according to a system of example, if we apply it to the sentences in the extract
rules, known by all the adult mother-tongue speakers opposite, we find that we need to do some editing to
SPOKENANDWRITTENSYNTAX of the language, and summarized in a grammar. A sen- make it worl<. We didn't see the chi/dren poses no prob-
opportunitytoplanwhatwewanttosay,and
formed in this way is said to be grmmatical. lem; but We u.sual uent lut quite sozn ltjer that does,
oneorthe resacies ortraditionarsrammar is i:i;J;:i j;t;:litff:'i,';:5'''"', rence
r Sentences are the largest constructions to which the for we have to 'fill out' the meaning of thtwith refer-
the view that the spoken la ng uage has 'less' tong ue, a nd host of other disturba nces
of grammar apply. (The formation of larger ence to what has gone before. Also, to make the sen-
grammar because it does not 'follow the rules' which take place while we are in full f low. rules
wh.ich are foundn writing (p. 192). There are Extracts of informal spoken conversation units, such paragraphs, is discussed on p.232.) This
as tences in the extract sound truly 'selcontained', we
indeed many differences between the two look weird in print, becuse it is not possble to
rneans that, before we can satisfactorlly carry out the have to fincl a way of dealing with the conjunctions
types of com mun ication (p. 29.l), and some of show a ll the me lody, stress, a nd tone of voice
the most importa nt of these a re to do with the wh ich made the spaker sou nd perfectly natu- task of identifying sentences, we need to know some- which appear at the beginning ofseveral ofthem - per-
notion of a sentence. Putting it at its simplest: ral in context; bui it does sho* ho*,pok"n thing about grammatical analysis. Once we have haps by analysing some as dispensable 'thinking'
Do we speak in sentences? The answer is that grammar differs f rom written. punctuating
workecl our way through a good English grammar, we noises rather than as true conjunctions with a genuine
we do, but the kind of sentence orga n ization the materia I in such a transcript is not easy, as
''
we find in speech is rather different f rom that can be seen by the second version be low, know what the possible sentences are, because the linking function (p.227) . The problem turns out to be
below
fou nd in writing, as the f irst tra nscript where an attem pt has been made to cut out gran-rlr has told us. quite a cornplex one - and typical of the intriguing
shows. hesitations and ialse starts, and to identify . S.nten.es are constructions which can be used on questions which arise when we begin the investigation
When we are writing, we usua lly have time possible sentences. The use of and in particu la r
to make notes, plan ahead. pause, reflect, makes it diff icult to work out where one sen- their own - units of meaning which seem to 'make ofsvntax.
change our mind, start again, revise, proof- tence ends and the next begins. Readers who
read, and genera lly polish the language u ntil dou bt the seriousness of thls problem m ig ht
we have reached a level which satisfies us. The care to pencil in their own imressions about
n
reader sees on ly the fi nished prod uct. B ut where the sentences end, an then compa re AND NOW FOR SOMETHING sentence before such words as and Magazine covers
everyday conversation, there is no time for their decisions with those shown below. There COMPLETELY DIFFERENT or but, and this rule is often taught destroy any simple
such th ings to happen. We do not have the will be severa I d iscrepancies. in schools. lts source lies in the
uncontrolled way in which young
definition of
Find the sentence
A sentence is something which sentences in terms
begins with a capital letter and children use and in their early of initial capital
As this is a transcript of speech, there are no capital letters. Major pauses are shown written work, reflecting its
units of rhythm byl. (After D. Crystal & D. Davy,1975.)
by -, and ends with a full stop? This letters and final
traditional definition, which frequency in natural conversation. fullstops. Here we
we had our breakfast in the kitchen / - and then we sort ofdid what we liked / and er got ready applies only to the written But there are other manuals which have a sentence
to accept that authors often do begin
language, is faulty on three which is all capital
th" .ra"k sentences in this way (usually to
ofdawn / with the farmer / -.and theywentin the milking sheds i and helped him teed "tthe pigs / cou nts. letters, and four
emphasize a contrast in meaning), others where an
and all this_/ you know we didn see rhe children / and r then we used to go out /
- - *. hd .We have to allowfor question and these do not condemn the unusual use of
'".about four
super weather / - absolutely super / - and so we went to a beach / usuatly foier but by marks and exclamation marks as usage. lt is a regular feature of the
capitals has
o'clock it we were hot and we had to come off the beach / - so we d generally go fo. ,om.*he.. well (as in the f irst sentence of this style of the present author, who replaced
"i."would go
/ just in case supper was delayed you know / and then we get ba"l .nd t.".hildren caption). finds it on occasion a much more conventional
straight back on to the farm / and have ponies / their own cildren had ponies / and theyd coe . Punctuation is often not used in dramatic and rhythmical way of punctuaton.
up and put them on the ponies' backs / and er - and rhe milking it was milking time / ad really we wrting, and yet we still know drawing a contrast than to use the
were commirred to geming back for milking time / when a constructon is a sentence. various alternatives available. To
Many advertisements, public replace but by howeverlwo
we had our breakfast notices, newspaper headlines, and sentences above, for example,
in the kitchen, and then we did what we liked, and got ready to go out.
1We
usually went out quite soon afte that. legal documents lack punctuation would be to slow down the
The children were always up at the crack of dawn with the farmer, and they went into the milking marks. movement of the paragraph quite
. People disagree aboutthe best
sheds and helpedhim feed the pigs. noticeably - in his view an
way to punctuate a text. ln unnecessary change of pace in a
\/e didn't see
children.
rhe
particular, some manuals of style piece of text which wishes to make
And then we used to go out.
Ve had super weathe absolutely super.
say we should never end a its point quickly and economically. -t
And so we went to a beach, but by about four o'clock we were hot and we had to corne off the beach.
So we generally go for a tea somewhere, just in case supper was delayed.
And.then we get back, and the childen would go straigit back on to the farm, and have ponies. THE END OF THE BEGINNING Winston Churchill, according to To those Frenchmen - and there were many in high
Their own children had ponies, and theyd come up and-put them on the ponies' backs.
the Chambers I og raph ica I authority-who had fought and suffered in 1870 itseemed almosta mir-
And itwas milking time, and reallywewerecommtted to getting backformilkingtime. D ctonary,'the last of the classic acle that France should have emerged victorious from the incomparably
orators with a supreme command more terrible struggle which had just ended. Alltheir livesthey had
of English'.
dwelt n fear of the German Empire. They remembered the preventive
Naturally, I got up. / lot up naturally (not awk- asterisk shows that the sentence is unacceptable). The quotation is from the end
wardly). of the thrd and the opening of war which Bismarck had sought to wage in 1 875; they remembered the
I walked to town. / *l to town walked. the fourth paragraph of Book 1 brutal threat which had driven Declass f rom office in 1905; they had
me the three last pages (oftlr ree books). Hardly had I left.../ *Hardly I had left... of The Hstory ofthe Second quaked atthe Moroccan menace in 1 906, atthe Bosnian dispute of
That's a f ine old house. / *That's an old fine house. Worl d Wa r. t he succinct, 1 908, and at the Agadir crisis of 1 91 1 . The Kaiser's 'maled f st' and 'shin-
a dog. John and I saw her. / *l and John saw her. dramatic effectiveness of the ing armour' speeches might be received with ridicule in England and
She switched it on. / *5he switched on it. contrast should silence for ever
There are also many rules forbidding us to put America: they sounded a knell of horrible reality in the hearts of the
those who unthinkingly
words in a certain order. Mother-tongue speakers Mother-tongue speakers instinctively know that French. For fifty years almostthey had lived under the terror of the
condemn the use of a sentence-
never th nk twice about them, because they uncon- the first is correct, and the second is not; but German arms. Now, atthe price of ther life-blood, the long oppression
i
initial conjunction as'bad style'
sciously learned these rules as children. But the explaining whythis is so to anyone who asks (such
But it won't. had been rolled away. Surely here at last was peace and safety. With one
rules are there, nonetheless, making us use the first as a foreign learner) is a specialisttask, which
of the following alternatives, not the second (the
passionate spasm the French people cried 'Never again!'
requires a professional approach if it is to succeed.
But the f uture was heavy with foreboding. ..
 216 PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR 16.THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES 2t7

TYPES OF SENTE,NCE
MINOR SENTENCES does he do 7 (without changing the sense LE,VELS OF SENTE,NCE, DISCOURSE LEVEL Sentence Connectivty

It is obvious, as we look through the pages of a novel, Minor sentences are not constructed in
or a daiiy newspper, that there musr be a large a regular way. They use abnormal
number of sentence parrerns in English. \hat is less
patterns which cannot be clearly
analysed into a sequence of clause
obvious is that these can be grouped into rwo main elements, as Can major sentences. There
types, on the basis of whether they are formed in a reg- are only a few minor sentence types, but
instances of each type are frequently
ular or an irregular way, Regular sentences are often used in everyday conversation and when
referred as mlzjor sentences, irregular ones as minor conversations are represented in fiction.
-.Sentences. They are also common in certain types of
written language, such as notices,
headlines, labels, advertisements, sub-
Major sentences headings, Web sites, and other settngs
The major senrences are in the vast majority. All the where a message is presented as a
'block'.
sentences in this book, apart fi.om the headings and Minor sentences do not follow allthe
some of the examples, ae of this type. Essentiall they rules of grammar. For example, in a
are sentences which can be broken down into a spe- major sentence the verbs can change
their persons: How do you manage? >
cific and predictable parrern of elements. The follow- How does he manageT But the greeting
ing examples show some of the possibilities. How do you do ? is a minor sentence, and
we cannot change the person to *How
visitor brought a book
The for you.
I gave the letter to Mary.
Mary saw Jane today. SOME MINOR
into something quite different). Nor can
we change the tense and ask *How did
you do?The sentence has to be learned
as a whole, and used as an idiom (p.162).
It will be seen from this example that
some types of minor sentence look quite
complex - so much so that on a f irst
impression they might be thought to be
displaying a major pattern. But in each
case there is something'odd'about
them. For example, one type uses an
archaic verb form (the subjunctive) to
express wishes, as in Godsaye the
Queen/ and H eave n forbidl Another
type uses question words idiosyncratic-
ally: How come she's gone out? These are
minor sentences because it is not possible
to introduce the full range of normal
grammatical changes into their
structure, to produce such forms as God
sayes the Queen or God doesn't save the
Queen. Only major sentences allow
systematic variations of this kind.
STRUCTURE
We arrived at the shop just as the butcher was clearing away. As a result
the big dogs enjoyed their unexpected bones, and the little puppies liked the scraps.
Jr{ajor senrences can be very simple
(I loue yu),
but they have the potential to contain a great del
SENTENCE LEVEL Sentence
of grammatical structure, as is evident from
almost every instance on this page. Literature, ora-
the big dogs enjoyed their unexpected bones, and the little puppies liked the scraps
ror and other sophisticated forms of communi-
cation provide particularly striking exmples of
senrerlce complexity (p.70). To demonstrte the
CLAUSE LEVEL Clause
ordel which controls this complexit all gram-
mars work with the idea of 'levels' of organization. the big dogs enjoyed their unexpected bones
A'level' is a way of recognizing the fact that a
senrence is not a simple linear string of items.
PHRASE LEVEL Phrase
Rather, items are grouped together into units,
which then work as wholes in relation to other
their unexpected bones
units. Adult ntive-speakers do not have to be told
that these units exist: they 'know' that they do,
subconsciously, as a result oflearning the language.
WORD LEVEL Word
(They may not be able to describe the elements
they se nse to be present, of course, for that is a more un- expect -ed

\e need a rerm to describe 'patterns of elements' of

SENTENCE TYPES collscious task - the difference between 'knowing
this rype, and many grammars use clause for the pur- o Formulae for about' rather than just 'knowing' language, p. 191.)
stereotyped social 'I'lre sentence The big dogs enjoyd their unex- FINDING GRAMMATICAL we'd generally go for a tea was delayed
pose. Sentences which consist ofjust one clause (pat-
situations, such as Hel/o, somewhere
tern of elements) are said to be simple sentences. How do you do?, Thanks,
pected bones quickly yields evidence of a hierarchy UNITS
just in case supper was delayed Word level
Sentences which can be immediately analysed into and Cheers/ of levels of organization. The smallest level of this The following sentences are The existence of several irreg-
o Emotional or functional hierarchy haLdly needs an explanation. Ifasked to taken from the regularized Phrase level ular forms makes the analysis
more than one clause are multiple sentences (described
noises (traditionally called Only multi-word phrases are of word structure more com-
further on p,227). divide this sentence into its pr'ts, most people monologue on p. 214.
listed below. However, it is
inte rj e ct i o n s), ma ny of plex than may appear at first
which do notfollowthe would immediately identily the seven words. But We usually went out quite important to note that in this sight: went, for example, is the
normal pronunciation this is not the whole story. soon after that. The children approach the notion of phrase past tense of go, and can thus
SIMPLE AND MULTIPLE SENTENCES patterns of the language, were always up at the crack also extendsto single words, be analysed as go + -ed.
such as Eh?, Ugh !, Ow!, Tut
. Four of these words contain smaller units dog+ of dawn with the farme and as long as they are potentially
The dfference between simple and multiple sentences tut, and Shh! -s, cnjoy + -ed, un- + expect + -ed, and bone + +,Th,e they went into the milking expandable into a larger unit: usual (a derivational suffix,
can be seen in the following two examples: . Proverbs or pithy sayings
use of suffixes and prefixes shows that there is a
sheds and helped him feed for example, supper is consid- p.211)
(aphorisms, p. 1 63), such as the pigs. We didn't see the ered an exampleo'f a noun went (an irregular pasttense
A book has fallen on John's foot.
Easy come, easy go or Least level of structure wirhin the word (the morpholog- children. So we'd generally p h rase (p. 222) because it form, p.204)
A book has fallen on John's foot and a book has fallen on
said, soonest mended. icallevel, SI4). go for a tea somewhere. just could be expanded into our children (the changed vowel
Mary's foot.
. Abbreviated forms, such in case supper was delayed. supper, the big supper, etc. of chld is not apparent in
The same clause pattern turns up twce in the second sen-
as are used in postcards, 'The frst three words, and the last three, both Grammarians can spend hours the written form)
tence; the only difference between them is the lexical instructions, or cornbine into larger LLitsi the big dogs and their Clause level debating the merits and were (another irregular past
change (the chan ge of name). lndeed, it is possible to commentaries, as in Wish tutexpected. bones. These larger units are called The conjunctions and other demerits of such decisions. tense form)
imagine a sen- you were here, Mix well, linking words have been omit- The point shows that even a milklng (a derivational suff ix,
tence in which this plttnses, and they show that there is a level of struc- p.208)
sentence (simple) and One lap more. ted below. Note that the sub- simple instruction as'find the
clause pattern is . Words and phrases used ture between the word and the sentence. ject of helped has to be under- phrases' raises interesting sheds (mllking sheds can also
used repeatedly,
with innumerable
as exclamations, questions, ' It would be possible ro mke the sentence bigger stood from the previous
clause, as has the subject of
questions of analysis. Simi-
larly, there are issues over the
be analysed as a compound
word, p. 129)

books falling on
innumerable feet,
andjustthe name
changing each
time. As long as
the speaker kept
adding and...and
...and.. ., or Some
other linking
word, the sentence
could continue
indefinitely.
The diagram
summarizes the clause + linking word + clause.
two possibilities.
.N0 PARKING
and commands, such as by linking it to a similar sequence of words: The
Nice day!, Taxi?, and All feed. Helped him feed the analysis of clauses (see above) helped
big dogs enjoyd their unexpected bones, and the little plgs presents a problem of and words (see below). him (objective form of he,
aboard !
puppies lihed the scrps. The sentence now consists analysis, as some grammarians p.203)
would take this construction went out pigs
cla use of two clauses (p.216), showing that there can be quite soon didn't (dld another irregular
as a single clause. is
a ftrrthe level ofstlucrure berween the phrase and after that past tense form)
sentence (multiple) we usually went out quite the children we'd
the sentence.
soon after that were...up general/y (another deriva-
the children were always up at at the crack of dawn
These four levels
- word, phrase, clause, sentence - the crack of dawn with the with the farmer
tional suffix)
somewhere (a compound
cotnprise the grammatical hierarchy summarized farmer
into the milking sheds form, p. 129)
tn rhe figure (above), which also gives further they went into the milking the pigs was (another irregular past
examples of the units which operate ar each level. sheds didn't see tense form)
helped him 'd...go delayed
The figure also suggests the possibility of a level of feed the pigs for a tea
we didn't see the children
Stammatical organization which is larger than the in case
sentence: this is discussed on p. 232 and in 19.
S
 218 PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR 16.THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES 219

SENTENCE, FUNCTIONS STATEMENTS

ln each case, the verb is in BUY NOW! PAY LATER! Ef
Almost all the sentences used in this book are statements. A DIRECTIVES
statement s a sentence whose primary purpose s to ,state,- its basic form, with no end- Lcngucge Schools
Tladitional grammars recognized four rypes of

6fr
sen- Directives are sentences ings (p.204), and there is Advertisements rely a great
tence functio ni to convey information. Two criteria usually apply:
which instruct someone to
f lnlatnatloa Language HolidaYs!
statement, question, clmmand, a\d usually no subject element deal on imperative sentences. !atuala lchl
excLtmtizn. Some modern grammars, especially
. The clause contans a subject (p. 220) - though in informal do something. TheY are present. Structures of this But not every verb can be used
Learn a language on location
conversation this is sometimes omitted. often called commands, type are called imperatives in a directive way, and there
stav with a welcoming local

llffi
those which wolk within a framework of speech acts but this term is misleading.
(l) Beg (your) pardon? - f rom Latin im perare 'to are several restrctions on the
familv' make friends with
(p.290), recognize a much larger range of funcrions. (l) Told you so. Commanding is just one of command'. use of those which can. ln
other visitols ftom around
Even if we resrricr ourselves ro rhe four 'classical' (lt) Looks like rain. the many uses of directive Some directives do not particula many verbs which
the world
sentences. use the basic pattern: express a state, rather than an
types, thoLtgh, there are cerrain refinements which . The subject precedes the verb. Here too there are a few activity, cannot be used as
. Commanding: . Hoidv Lnguage Centle
^'need to be introduced. In particular, the norion of
ffim,=
exceptons, such as when the clause begins wth hardly, Theyallowasubject, directives: we can say Euya
Sit down ! locations include Nice'
'question' covers severl different kinds of construc- barel or other'negative' words. . with a strong stress: new car butnot *Needa neul
drink.
lnviting: Have a Munich and Florence'
car. Nor may we use an
tion; the sentences called 'commands' express other Hardly had we left when t started to rain. (not *Hardly we . Warning: Mind your
You be quiet! imperative form of a verb along 3o
kinds of meaning in addition ro commanding; the had left...)
UK PJirn"
head !
with a pasttme reference: we
ol7l.40l
minirtu, . Pleading: Help me! Nobody move!
notion of 'exclamation' is unacceptably vague; and These sentences are traditionally said to have a declaratiye ony Blair . Suggesting: Let's walk. can say Buy tomorrow! butnot
.
r

there is an important senrence type (the 'echo' utter-
ance) which fits into none of these four categories.
QUESTIONS
Questions are sentences
which seek information.
They fall into three main
types, depending on the
kind of reply they expect,
and on how they are con-
structed. Sentences
formed in these ways are
saidto have an interroga-
tiye structure - a structure
which'interrogates'.
. Yes-no quesonsallow
an affirmative or negative
reply - often just 'yes' or
structure of a declarative
sentence, and onlythe
question-mark shows
their f unction in writing.
Mary's outside?
You've bought a new car?
. Wh-questions allow
reply from a wide range
possibilities. They begin
with question word,
a ence of a negative element,
such as wat, why, where,
or who.
Where are you going?
Why don't they answer?
structure - a structure which 'declares, or,makes something They begn with /et, *Buy yesterday!
. Advising: Take an aspirin.
known'. . lnstructing: Turn left.
followed by a subject:
THIS
' Permitting:
Help yourself.
Let me go.
Let us pray. COULD
. Requesting: open the
window please.
Let's go. BE
. .
EXCLAMATORY
QUESTIONS
RHETORICAL
QUESTIONS
.
Meditating: Let me see.
Expressing good wishes:
They begin with do or
don't:
YOU! ""i::.j, il:p;
Have a nice day! nclusive packaes
Some sentences resemble . {zss
These sentences also Expressing Do come in. _
{qss
questions in ther structure,
resemble questions in an imprecation: Don't laugh. F o bro chue
but are actually being used tel eph on
their structure, but they Goto helll Do not leave. (o 87 0) 6023 34 -60
as exclamations. They 30 30
are used as if they were
a express the speaker's strong emphatic statements.
of feelings, and ask the hearer The speaker does not
to agree. Despite the pres- expect an answer.
differentiates them from What a lovely day!
Who cares? EXCLAMATIONS The abbreviated exclamation, with its succinct and punchy
they are strongly positive in statements, questions, and What a mess!
How should I know? style. is highly favoured in dramatic newspaper headlines.
meaning. Exclamations are directives. Hownice!
What difference does it make?
Hasn't she grown sentences which show that
. Sentences of this kind are
Their first element begins
Public speakers, politicians, poets, and all who give
\
!
Wasn't it marvellous! monologues quite often use rhetorical questions as
a person has been
impressed or roused by withwhator how, and is said to possess an msrsgtt Top covenge ot Test & County cilcket
I

'no'. The subject follows
the auxiliary verb (p.207).
. Alternatve questionJ
require a reply which
Often, both positive and
negative forms of the sen-
What a farce!
a means of making a dramatic point. something. They often followed by a subject and a exclarnative structure.
Exclamatives wth subject c
take the form of a single verb, in that order:
ls man an ape or an angel? (Disraeli)

Are they ready?
ls the plumber here?
ln addition, a questioning
tone of voice (p. 248) can
turn a statement into a
yes-no question. These
questions have the
tdI
relates to the options tence can be used, with very and verb inverted are
There is always the risk, of course, in a public
word or short phrase - a What a lovelyday it is!
given n the interrogative little difference in meaning. possible, but rare. They can
minor sentence (p. 21 6)
sentence. They a lways ln such cases, the auxiliary
speech, thata memberof the audiencewill choose
such as Goshl, Oh dear!, or
What a messthey've made! sometimes be found in 'Joke ton'leaves
contain the connecting verb and the subject are
to reply, in the pause which follows.
Of all the nerve! But
How nice they look! literary or mock-dramatic Lancs star cold
word or. usua I ly strong ly stressed.
Poets tend to self-question more than others: . contexts: cL$lon(Ar nqrd
exclamations can have a They also occurfrequently tJ \htr.r r.n ( hr. hd lil -1. r.n
Do I wake or sleep? (Keats) major sentence status too, in a reduced form, using Howoften have lcursed
Willyou be travelling by Wasn't he angry! !d tr Fr E \rrrtf. bi.hd. r' n ir
train or by bus? Was he angry! (l'll say he but we are all prone to it: with a structure which onlythe first element: thatterrible day!
was!) Now, shall I stop here or add another sentence?

ECHOES Questions
TAG QUESTIONS many dialects, when the melody A: Have you got my knife?
TAGS, EH? INTELLIGENT ECHOES
is rising, the sentence is 'asking,; The traditional classif ication of major
Sometimes the interrogative structure is B: Havelgotyourwife?
when it is falling, the sentence sentences nto statements, questions, ln the film version of the novel Bei ng There, by
left to the end of the sentence, in the form lnformal English uses a few Directives
of a tag question, which expects a yeslno is'telling'. ln writing, the words which perform the
commands (or directives), and excla- Jerzy Kosinski, Peter Sellers played the role of a
punctuation can indicate the mations ignores one other type of A: Sit down here.
kind of reply. same function as tag simpleton gardener who repeats (in a sloq almost
difference: sentence: the echo sentence. lt is used B: Down there?
questions. They include eh7, meditative style) what other people say to him.
It's there, isn't it? only in dialogue, and its purpose isto Exclamations
They're not in, are theyi OK?, and rht? Dialects often The result isthat he isthoughtto be highly
She's not in, is she? conf irm, queston, or clarify what the A: What a lovely day!
(l really want to know) have a distinctive form, such intelligent.
The n'f ending of some tag questions is as Canadian eh? or Welsh ay? Previous speaker has just said. B: What a lovely day, indeed! A similar strategy is not uncommon in life off the
They're not in, are they!
replaced by not in formal English. ln legal (pronounced [ar]). A joke told The essential feature of an echo screen. Forexample, if wefind ourselvesoutof our
(l told you so) Echoes sometimes sound impolite,
cross-examination we might hear: utterance is that it reflects the struc- depth in a conversation, it is possible to convey an
by Welsh singer and unless accompanied by an apologetic
But in speech this contrast ture of the preceding sentence, whch intel ligent i mpression by occasionally echoing
They left early, dd they not? entertainer Max Boyce relies 'softening' phrase, such as I'm sorry or
can be unclear, prompting Itrepeats in whole or in part. Alltypes parts of what the other people are saying. Once,
on this last example: I beg your pardon. This is most notce-
This usage is conversationally normal in the complaint'Are you of sentence can be echoed.
able with the quesionWhat didyou the present author was even congratulated by a
some regionaldialects, such as northern asking me or telling me?' How do people in Bangor spell
Statements say?, which is often shortened to town councillor for having such sensible ideas,
British and lrish. Mississippi?
A: John didn't likethe film. What? Acommon parental plea to when al I he had been able to do was repeat, at
lf we change the intonation (p. 248), we Tag questions are illus- M, ay? double s, ay? double s, B: He didn,t what? children focuses on this form, often irregular intervals, f ragments of what had
alter the meaning of a tag question. ln trated further on p. 299. ay? double p, ay? considered to be bad manners: Don't emerged inthecouncillor'sown monologue.
say'What?', say 'Pardon (me)'.

 220 PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR 16 THE S-IRUCTURE OF SENTENCES 221

5+V: I / yawned. There are a few other kinds of construction which

CLAUSE, ELEMENTS
All clauses are made up out of eiements, each express-
ing a particular kind of meaning. Thaditional gram-
mars recognized two main elements, which they
called the subject and the predicate. These make a
useful srarting-point for senrence analysis, but the
predicate heading needs to be analysed further, in
order to distinguish several very different kinds of
- construction. The presenr gtammarical analysis rec-
ognizes fve types of clause elemenr, all of which
appear in the following sentence:
That cyclist / has called / Dave / a fool / rwice.
. The first element in this clause is the subject
The subject usually identifies the theme or topic of
the clause. \e are evidently talking about a.y[rt.
. The second element is the verb (V). The verb
expresses a wide range of meanings, such as actions,
sensations, or srates of being. Here we are talking
VOCATIVES
A vocative (from Latn vocare 'to call,) is
a name used for the person(s) to whom a
sentence is addressed. lt may be there to
attract attention (asin Mike, phone for
you), or to express a particular social rela
tionship or personal attitude (as in
DoctoD I need a tonic or Leave it alone,
imbecile !). ln traditional grammar
(p. 192), it was claimed to be a distinct
noun 'case', and glossed by the word O
a usage now found only in religious con-
texts (O God, who...).
MY LORDS, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN...
(S).
Vocatives can be of several kinds.
. Names, with orwithouttitles: David MrsSmith.
. Familylabels: mum, uncle.
. Markers of status or respect:sir, my Lord.
o Labels for occupations: waiter, nurse.
. Evaluative labels: darli ng, pig, dear.
CLAUSE TYPES
S+V + O: I / opened /the door. can be derived from these basic types. They include
. The vocative is an optionalelement: it combine into a very small number S+V +C: l/am/ready. directives (p. 219) and various kinds of elliptical
Clause elements
can be added to or removed from a sen-
; oatterns. In fact, most sentences can be analysed S+V + A: I /went/to London. sentences (p. 228).
tence without affecting the rest of the S+V + O + O: l/gave/him/a pen.
onu of only seven basic clause types, each
construction,
mnmally conssting
'-n,b of two, three, or four S+V + O + C: ll got/ my shoes/wet.
. lt may occur in various positions in a S+V + O + A: I / put/the box/on the floor
elements:
sentence, asin (John) I'd like auntie
(John) to be here (John).
. lt is not an element of clause structure . The subject usual ly appears before the verb in statements, and
H
ike subject or verb. There ' object elements usuallyfollowthe subject and verb in a clause.
I
aft er the first verb in questions.
I are two types: direct and indrect The direct object is the
A vocative belongs to a whole sentence,
however many clauses it contains, as in
The boyyawned. common one, typically referring to some person or thing directly
- Mary, come in, sit down, and tell me what
.
Areyou going?
subjectcontrolswhethertheverb issingularor plural inthethird
-The child
affected by the action expressed by the verb.
loslher ball.l remember the occasion.
The
happened.
of the presenttense (p. 204). . The indirect object typically refers to an animate being which is the recipi-
' 5he looks
oerson
fine. Ihey look fine. ent of the action. ln these cases, a direct object is usually present n the clause
. The subject controls the form of certain objects and complements: as well.
tshaved myself . Iheyshaved themselves. She gave fhe dog a stroke. I told thern my news.
. Some pronouns (p. 203) have a distinctive form when used as a subject: ln these constructions, the indirect object precedes the direct. ln such clauses
/can see her. She can see me. as I gave my papertothe boy,Ihe order is reversed.
. Subjects can be noun phrases (including single nouns), pronouns, or . Some pronouns (p. 203) have a distinctive form when used as an object:
certain kinds of subordinate clause (p. 226): 5he saw him. They asked rne.
The tra i n w as laTe. M a ry went home. . Objects can be noun phrases (including single nouns), pronouns, or certain
Bee crisps, and cheese are for sale. kinds of subordinate clause (p. 226):
/ like f ishing. What he said was f unny. (i.e. /twas f unny.) I saw o u r new house. We asked Fred. Now hea r tlrs.
. ln this analysis, a series of noun phrases is analysed as a single clause She said /'d bee n foolish. (i.e. 5he said thrs.)
element, not as a seq uence of d ifferent elements. There is on ly one su b- o As with subjects, a set of connected noun phrases is analysed as a single ele-

about the action of calling, performed by the cyclist.

. The thid element is the object (O). Objects iden-
tify who or whar has been directly affected by the
action of the verb. Here we are talking about Dave,
who is the object of the cyclist's attention.
. The fourth element is the complement (C). Com-
plements give further information about another
clause elemenr. Here, a fool adds to the meaning of
Daue - Dave zi a fool (according to the cyclist).
. The fifth element is rhe adverbial (. Adverbials
usually add extra information about the siruarion, such
s the time of an action, its location, or its manner
of being performed. Here, we are talking about rhe
frequency of the calling. The cyclist was plainly
very upset.
. General labels: /ads, Iadiesand gentlemen. ject recognized per clause.
o The pronoun you (an extremely impolite use):
You, where's the phone?
. Certain kinds of clause: Come out, come out,
whoever you are!
. Some vocatives can be expan ded: old man, . The verb plays a central role in clause structure. lt is the
you fat fraud !
most obligatory of all the clause elements, as can be seen
from such clauses as
That farmer drinks beer by the bucketful.
SVOA
ANALYSING COMPOUNDS We can omit the adverbial (That farmer drinks beer), the object
(That farmer drinks by the bucketful), and even the subject, in
casual style (Drinks beer by the bucketful, nodding in his
direction), but we cannot omit the verb (*That farmer beer by the
bucketful). There is just one type of exception - 'verbless' clauses
ment, in this analysis: He sawa cat, a dog, and a cow is 5 + V + O.
such as /f possible (i.e. if it is possible) arrive early.
The verb element must be a verb phrase (including a single
verb):
The bus is coming. The dog ate the crisps. l'm sorry.
ln this analysis, only one verb element is allowed per clause,
though this may consist of a sequence of auxiliary verbs as well as
a main verb (p. 207), all of which combine to express a single
grammatical meaning.
. The choice of verb largely determines what other elements are
used in the clause, such as whether an object s present or not
(p.212).

In Modern English, in about 90 per cent of the B4l . complements expressa meaningwhichaddstothatof another F . Adverbialsdifferfrom otherclause elementschiefly inthatthere
clauses which contain a subject, verb, and object, rhe lliLi,::.,:il';rf:ih;:H1,1^"'ub jectcomptement)or
H*!f"":;,'1i'lll""ff :?''.'ff i,?;'J:.:';:::'
subjecr precedes the verb, and the verb precedes the ' A subject complement usuallyfollowsthe subject and verb. The verb is . Adverbials can be used in several possible positions in the clause, though
most often a form of be, but it may also be one of a few other verbs that they are most common at the end:
object. The language was nor always like this (p.44),
are able to link complements to their subjects in meaning. These are Iwice I asked him. I trice asked him. I asked him tuice.
and there are several important types of exceprion, sunnse oilwell scarecrow ca I led copular ('linking') verbs. .
'the sun rises' (S + V) 'the well contains oil' Adverbials express a wide range of meanings, such as manner, place, and
notably in questions
(S + O) 'it crows' (V + O)
scares
(p. 218). Shersa doctor. The bull became angry.(i.e. lt wasangry.) time:
Compounds are an impor- Nouns chairperson The tune sounds lovely. (i.e. lt rs lovely.) I stayed qulefly at home all day,
tant part of the lexicon Subject + verb Subject + complement ' An object complement usual ly follows the direct object, and its mean- . Adverbials perform diverse roles in sentence construction. Some add
(p. 1 29), but they can be use- sunrise, headache, ('X is Y'or'X is like/for y') ing relates to that element. The basic identity between them is shown in information about an event; some link clausestogether; and some add a
fully classified into types hangman, popcorn, washing oak tree, handyman,
pa renthesis. comment aboutwhat is being expressed.
based qn the kind of gram- machine, working party, darkroom, flypaper: They elected Bush president. (i.e. He is president.) lwalked quietly.
ELEMENTS AND WORDS matical meaning they repre- dancing girl goldfish, birdcage, tissue It made me angry. (i.e. lwas angry.) The bus was full. However, I found a seat.
sent. Po p co rn, lor exa m ple,
Verb + object pape blackboard ' Complements can be noun phrases (including single nouns), adjective Frankly,I think it's wrong.
As the examples on this and the previous page suggest, can be paraphrased as'the haircu! tax-payeL scarecroq phrases (including single adjectives), pronouns, or certain kinds of sub- o Adverbialscan beadverb phrases (including singleadverbs), preposi-
a clause element is not the same as a word. An elemnt corn pops', and the relation crime report, chewing-gum, ordinate clause (p. 226): tional phrases, some nouns and noun phrases, or certain kinds of subordi-
Adjectives
may be a single word, or several words. The following of corn to pops isthat of sub- window-cleaner, sightseeing Verb + object She is aTournalrst. They became students. nate clause (p. 226):
sentences each contain a subject, verb, and object, but ject to verb. The order of the Verb + adverbial man-eating, breathtaking Arthur is very h appy. The car's ready. They ran veryquickly. Theywalked frorne.
there are varying numbers of words. elements (as in this example) living-room ('live in a room') Verb + adverbial Where's that? that's what I said. We walked ln the garden. She phoned methis morning.
does not necessarily corre- playgoer ('go to a play') law-abiding, handmade, ' When the complement is a noun phrase, it agrees in number with its I laughed when Isawyou.
I saw Fred. spond to that found in a Subject + object typewritten, widespread
corresponding element: . Some verbs require an adverbial to complete their meaning. These are
My uncle has seen Fred. grammatical sentence. A list motorcycle, windmill, oil The child is an a nget>Ihe children are angels. the 5 + V+ A and 5 +V + O + Aconstructions.
Verbless
All the kids know dear old Fred. of the chief grammatical well, gaslight, doorknob, homesick, camera-ready,
I find your chlld an angel > I find your children angels. The path goesaround the fleld. (We cannot say *Ihepath goes.)
relations involved follows. table leg, postman, I put the book o n the table. (We cannot say
*l putthe book.)
rock-hard, Franco-German
 222

PHRASES
PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR
r ofnoun Phrase structure
16. THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES a)?

A phrase is a syntactic consrrucrion which typically
conrains more rhan one word, but which lacks ih. sub_
NOUN PHRASE STRUCTURE
The noun phrase (Np) is the main con-
structon which can appear as the subject,
do not take one), but most noun phrases
do, and the commonest determiners (fhe
and a) are among the most frequent
words in the language.
spects
are so many facets to the structure of the noun Legal English displays a marked preferencefor postmodification in the noun phrase, as can be
Ttlere seen in this extractfrom an insurance agreement. When the structure is presented visually in this
ohrase rhat it is not possible to refer to all ofthem in way, the meaning isfairlyeasyto grasp. Withoutsuch assistance, the language becomes dense
is"n t^l book. No other syntactic unit in English pre- and confusing -and a target of Plain English campaigns (p. 376).

,ers su.h possibilities for structural variation. One

ject-predicate srructure usually found in a clause
(p.220). Phrases are tradirionaliy classified inro rypes
object, or complement of a clause (p. Z t ).
It consists essentia lly of a noun or noun_
like word which is the most important
The determiner can be the centre of its total amount
-the
consequence of this is that distinctive noun phrase
own cluster of words which share in the
expression of quantity. ln the present
I

of any instalment then remaining unpaid

based on the most important woid th.y.ont"in: if this
is a noun, for example, the phrase would be called a
constituent of the phrase: a fat cat, the approach, those which appear before the Darrerns are often part ofthe srylistic identity ofa text,
.r,.t b. seen iu such varieties as popular journalese
horses in the stable, the poor, ten Chi-
nese. Sometimes the noun appears alone
determiner are called (logically enough)
predeterminers; they include a il the -
l, I

of the rent hereinbefore reserved

noun phrase, ifan adjective, an djectiue phrase, and so in its phrase (Cats are nlce). More often, it people, twice the cost, half the money. (p. 3S0) and scientific writing (p. 372). Another is that and agreed to be paid during the
term
on. Six word classes (S15) - nouns, verbs, adjectives, is accompanied by one or more other con_
Those which immediately follow the sveral of the meanings expressed by the noun phrase the payment ----1
" adverbs, pronouns, and prepositions are found as the sttuents, some of which are themselves determiner, preceding any adjectives arc extremely subtle, requiring a careful consideration lof -
- fairly complex syntactic units in their own which may occur, are called posfdefer_ )
identifying elements (or ieads) of phrasal consrruc- right. As a result. noun phrases are more miners;they are chieflythe numerals (my of matty examples before their function can be con- to the owner
sciously appreciated. And even in the 2000s, not all of
tions. Howevet rhere are considerable differences varied in their construction than any and the further sum
three fat cats, the second big party) and'a
other kind of phrase in English.
berween the syntactic patterns which can occur within few other quantifying wordisuc as rhe rules governing the way noun phrases work are
I

of ten pounds
The parts of a noun phrase many and several).
e.1ch type of phrase, ranging from the very limited
pos_ . The pre mod ification comprises any fully Lrnderstood'
No matter how complex a noun phrase is,
sibilities of191oun phrases to the highly variable pat_ it can be analysed into one or more of the otherwords appearing between th
terns found within noun phrases. following four constituents: determiner and the head noun - mainly
THE ARTICLES head noun (cataphoric THE ORDER OF PREMODIFIERS The following example shows that not all
adjectives or adjective-like words. ln th
c Pronoun pltrases ate restricted . The head is the most important con- phrase fhose /ovelyold French wooden reference): premodifiers can be used in this random
to a small number of stituent, around which any other con- The article system is a Why do you think we make Nuttalll kind of way.
constructions, and tend not to be recognized as a pro_ spoon everything between fhose and Mintoes such a devilishly smooth cool
stituents cluster. lt is the head wh ich spoons is said to'premodify,the noun. (ln good example ofthe f've always liked the wnes
ductive ,ry: q English. Examples inlude Sil'me!, controls any agreement with other parts some grammars. the notion of premodifi_ subtle meaningswhich of Germany. creamy minty chevvy round slow velvety
fresh clean solid buttery taste?
a nice big cardboard box
of the sentence. Thus we have Hls new cation is broadel and includes e verything the noun phrase can not
Yo.u yhere!, she herself, we all, ner euerJ/une, an ,uch express. The contrasts are . Ihe can referto human
book is interestrng alongside Hrs new in the noun phrase which appears befor This advertising caption from the 1 960s *a big nice cardboard box
relative clause consrructions ihorc who new Fred books are interesting, and The girt in the not easy to define - nstitutions that we contains an impressive number of adjectives *a cardboard nice big box
the head, including the determiner and
^, a minor
. , .They are usually analysed as garden saw t herself alongsideThe boy despite the fact that most sporadically use, attend, in a single noun phrase. lt is of course a *a nice cardboard big box
rype of noun its satellites.)
in the garden saw it himsetf . features of the system observe, etc.: highly unusual example - not just because
phrase. o T he p ostmo d i f i cat
i o n comprises every-
. The determrner appears before the have been intuitively
.
Aduerb phrses are,typically found as short intensify- noun. This constituent decides (,deter-
thing which appears in the phrase afte;
grasped by the time a
I went to the theatre. of its length and its use of unexpected word or anyofthe other possible sequences. This
the head. The ch ief types are preposi- I watched fhe news on TV. combinations (e.9. taste being described as the kind of grammatical rule that most
is
ing,expressions, such as terrib slow and uery hppi mines') what kind of noun is in the phrase tional phrases (the car in the garage), child is 5 years old. round or sol id, p. 1 62), but because the people never think twice about. However,
- in particular, whether it is definite or Three concepts are
indeed, Also common .,.rh tim. phr.r., as-fuie f inite clauses (t/r e f itn that t iaw), and The indefinite article adjectives do not display any restrictions on working out the factors which make one
involved, two of which are
ofien.y! uer! soon, and"..consrructions of the type as
indefinite, proper or common, count or nonfinite clause s (the new car parked . Aln) does not presuppose their order. They could be shuffled and sequence acceptable and others not is an
noncount (pp. 208-9). Words such as a, familiar from traditional that a noun has been dealt out again, and the result would prob-
outside). Adverbs and adjectives are also intricate business, and one that is stil I not
quich (as I could). grammar: the deflnite
those, some, and any are determiners. lt is sometimes used to ,postmodify,the mentoned already. ln lhe ably bejust as acceptable. entrely understood.
c Adjectiue phrases are not essential for a noun phrase to have a a rtcl e (the), The i nd ef i n ite
usually combinations of an noun, as in thejourney home and some_ boo k arrived, the speaker
determiner (for example, proper nouns article (a or an), and the
thing different. assumeswe knowwhich
adjective.and a preceding intensifier, such as uery absence of an article (the
book is being referred to.
happy and n tuo awward. Other zero article).The use of
rypes include coid these forms affects the
ln A book arrived, no such
knowledge is assumed.
ADJECTIVE ZONES I Adjectiveswith an absolute orintensifying
enough and a wide range of cons,ru.iiorm which com_ meaning ofthe noun meaning come f irst n the sequence, immedi-
GROWING NOUN PHRASES . A(n) often expresses a
plement the adjective, such phrase - in particular, Examples such as the following suggest that ately afterthe determiner and its satellites:
as esy to please and. /oath to general state of affairs, or a
Buns allowing us to think of there are four main 'zones'within the pre- same, certain, entire, sheer, definite, perfect,
do it. are for sale. notion of quantity:
. Wrb phrases display very limired synracric possibili_
The buns
All the buns
are for sale. nouns in a specificway,
referring to individuals l'm training to be a linguist.
modifying section of a noun phrase, here
labelled l, ll, lll, and lV.
superb. Thus we say:
are for sale. theentireAmerican army nof *theAmeri-
ties: a main verb preceded by up to four alxiliaries All the currant buns are for sale, (A lthe dog is eating) or in He's scored a hundred.
l've gotthesame big red garden chairsasyou can entire army
(p.207), Not quite all the currant buns generic way, referri ng to Take this six tim es a day.
in my hue gone and wont hue been lis_
as Not quite all the hot buttered currant buns
are for sale. a
I ililt tv the perfect red suit not *the red perfect suit
are for sale. a general class or species
tening. However; this limitation does not prevenr rhe Not quite all the hot buttered currant buns on the table (A/the dog is an nterest- The zero article
verb phrase from expressing a wide range oimeanings Not qute all the hot buttered currant buns on show on the
are for sale.
ing animal, Dogs are nce). The article is often omitted
lV Wordswhich are usuallynouns, orclosely ll All other adjectives (the vast majority in
table are for sale. related to nouns, are placed next to the the language) occur in this zone: big, slow,
Not quite all the many fine interesting_looking hot buttered in idiomatic usage when
to do with rime, mood, and manner ofction. home_ The definite article head. They include nationality adjectives angry, helpful, and allthose in the advertis-
made currant buns which grandmaiooked n show on talking about human
r By contrast, notln phrases allow an extremely the table are for sale. . Ihe can referto the (Ame ri ca n, G oth i c), noun-l i ke adjectives

il
ing caption above. Thus we say:
wide institutions and routines,
Predeterminer Determ ner Postdeterm ner Premodification immediate situation or to which mean'involving' or'relating to' (medr-
range.of syntactic possibilities, fi.om such simpie con_ Head Postmodification means oftransport, a superb old house not *an old superb
someone's general know- cal, socra|, and straightforward nouns
periods of time, meals, and house (with a zone I item)
structions as the ht to such complex phrasei as zal ledge: (tourism brochu re, Lancashi re factory). Thus
an old stolen car not *a stolen old car (with a
quite ,ll thefine new ltts which weie on nle.They need Not quite all the many f ine...currant buns which...table
il lnesses:
we say:
Have you fed the dog? bed in winter
go to zone lllitem)
an old socialdisease nof *a socialold disease
to be described separately (see right). Hewaswounded in t/re bycar have lunch
travel an old Lancashire factory not *a Lancashire
c Prep.ositional phrases are combinations of a preposi- This postcard message shows
DearA4 l'ttsr 1i war,.., atdawn caught old factory (with a zone lV item)
. a number of 'bare minimum, . Ihe can refer pneumonia a bright medicalstudent not *a medical There are also signs of 'zones within zones'.
plus a noun phrase: in tbe back garden, beieaih the back to
1io1 NPs. consisting of a noun nother noun (what is bright student For example, we tend to saya beautiful new
hedge.They typically perform rhe ro"le of adverbial in a only, as well as several A common error of non-
Determiner + Noun
sometimes called lllParticiples and colour adjectives are dress not a new beautiful dress, suggesting
clause:..1 saw i.t n tbe garden anaphoric reference): native learners of English is that evaluative adjectives in zone ll precede
= I sw it tbere. They are constructons. The longest
placed immediately in front of any in zone lV:
to introduce an article in other kinds of adjectives there. We also tend
also adjecrival: the linguist utith the red beard. example also shows one Np She bought a car and a missing, deserted, retired, stolen, red, green.
those cases where it is Thus we say: tosay a recognizable zg-zag pattern not a
(the boat) being used as part bike, but she us ed the bike
impossible or inapprop- z i g-za g recog n i zable paffern, suggesting
of the postmodif ication of more.
riate, as in * I shall go to the an old red suit not *a red old suit that more abstract adjectives precede more
another. . Ihecan referforwardto bed now, * I have caught a the redtourism brochures not *thetoursm concrete ones. But, as the word 'tend'sug-
the words following the pneumonia. red brochures gests, the rules are not hard and fast.

Efu XX
 224 PARI' III EN(ILI.SH GRAMMAR
16 TFIE STRUC-'UIE OF SENTENCES 225

tence, and even by the meaning of par.ticular types of

VERB PHRASE, MEANINGS verb. For example, an accompanying aclverbial ln informalAmerican English, there is a strong ten- both tenses and with both perfectve aspects.
A5PECTS OF ASPECTS
(p.221) can clramatically alter the per.ioclof time to dency to use the past tense instead of the present Non-progressive forms are known as simple
fspect refers to how the time of action of the
\ith only a few verb endings to take into accounr which a verb form refers: Im leauing tomonowishovrs
perfective - a trend which has begun to affect forms.
verb is regarded - such as whether it is complete, n non-US varieties also.
(p.204) and a very limitecl range of auxiliary verbs ancl away from Im leuing (saicl while going rhrough the Simple
orogress, or showing duration. English uses two Progressive
sequences (p.212), the verl phr.ase would seem to cloor). And a verb which expresses a specific acrion iypes of aspectual contrast, which it expresses with
U5: Did you eat? Theyjump They'rejumping
auxi liary verbs: the perfective and the progressive.
You told me already. Theyjumped Theywerejumping
provide the lingr-rist with an easy task of syntactic works differently fi'om one which .*pr.ir., a srare of UK: Have you eaten? They've jumped They've been jumping
Such contrasts were called tenses n tradtonal
description. But appearances are cleceptive. It is true awareness: we can say I was leiching itbut not *I was orammar (e.9. the'perfect tense'), but far more is You've told me already. They'd jumped They'd been jumping
that the possible patrerns of constituents can be hnotuing it. Teasing olrt the vaious meaning contrasts volved than simply the expression of time, and . The pastperfective also expresses'anterior time', With the progressive, the usual implication is that
clescribecl qr-rite quickl but the meanings which each indeed the semantic analysis of aspect has proved
of tense, aspect, mood, ancl voice maL.s the verb to be one of the most complex areas of English lin-
but in an earlier time fram e. Ihus, I am so rry that I
have missed the tran, put into the past, becomes /
the activity is taking place over a limited period,
pattern can convey are extremely difficLrlt to srare, and is not necessarily complete. By contrast, the
phrase one of the most intriguing areas of English guistics. The examples below illustrate the topic, was sorry that I had missed the train. smple aspect tends to stress the unity or com-
being influenced by what else is happening in the sen- syntax. but by no means indicate the extent of ths com- pleteness of the activty. The contrast can be seen
plexitY. Specific events, states, and habitual actlons can all
in these sentences:
be expressed using the perfective aspect.
Perfective asPect live in France. (permanently)
TENSES FUTURE TENSE? . going to, followed by the inf initive: /,m
I
Be This is constructed using forms of the auxiliary He haslhad built (event)
a car. l'm living in France. (at present)
going to ask him. This common informal use verb haYe. The house haslhad been empty for years. (state)
One of the important f unctions of the verb is to indicate English has nofuturetense ending (unlike (often pronounced gonna) usually suggests . The presentperfective is chiefly used for an He'sl'd done it often. (habitual) Only a small proportion of all verb phrases appear
the time at wh ich an action takes place. The term fense is Latin, French, and many other languages). that the event wi I take place very soon. in the progressive form, and most of those are
traditional ly used to refer to the way verbs change their I
action continuing up to the present. This meaning Progressive aspect
Rather, f uture time is expressed by a variety ..The present progressive (p. 225), stressing found in conversation. On the facing page, for
form to express this meaning. On this definition, English of other means. One of these - the use of
of'current relevance' contrasts with the past tense Forms of be can be used along with the -lng form
the way a future event follows on from an meaning: example, the text contains 90 verb phrases
has only two tenses - present and past - though trad i- will or shall-is often loosely referred to as ofthe main verb (p.204) to express an event in
arranged plan: Ihe matclr is startng at (excluding the examples), but only a sixth of these
tionalgrammars would extend the notion to include vari- the 'future tense'. But this usage changes I've lived in Paris for a year (and I sti ll do). progress at a given time. This is the progressive
2pm. The happening is usually imminent. use a progressive.
ous kinds of auxiliary verb usage as well (p. 196). the meaning of the word 'tense, so that it . The simple present tense, often implying I lived in Paris for a year (but I don't now). (also called the continuous) aspecf. lt is used with
Time is often shown as a line, on which the present no longer refers only to the use of verb end- definiteness: / /eave soon, Go to bed.
moment is located as a continuously moving point. But ings. There are in fact six main ways of refer. . The use of be to, be aboutto, haye to, and
there is no identity between tense and time. present and ring to future time. a fewothers, allexpressing a future action
past tenses can referto all parts ofthe time line.
at various removes from the present:5he3 Most verbs which take an object (transitive
. Will, shall, or '//followed by the infinitve TWO VOICES from those campaigning for clearer forms of
to sit here, She's aboutto leave. verbs, p. 212) can appear in both active and pas-
without fo (/?s ee you then) or the progres- . The modalverbs (p.212), which also English in official documents (p. 376), and many
Past Time Present Time The action expressed by a clause can often be sive constructions: kick, jump, eat, break, etc. writers have been inf luenced by their argu-
Future Time sive form (l'll be seeing you).This is by far the convey a future implication: I maylmightl
(includes now) viewed in either of two ways. There are just a few exceptions, such as resemble ments. But passives cannot be dispensed with
commonest use. couldlshould travel by bus.
The dog saw the cat. and most uses of haye: I had a car does not trans- entirely. They give writers the opton of an
The cat was seen by the dog. form into *A car was had by me. impersonal style, which can be very useful in
PRESENT TENSE The passive is infrequent in speech. ln writing, contexts where it is irrelevant to state who actu-
PASTTENSE This kind of contrast is referred to as yoice. The it is more common in informative than in imagi- ally carried out an action. That elements X and Y
Three uses refer to present Most SHALL OR WILL? fi rst type of construction is known as the acflye native prose, especially in contexts which were mixedtoform compound Z is usually the
uses refer to an action
tme. or state whch has taken voice. The second, which is far Iess common, is demand an objective, impersonal style, such as important point, not that it was me, Mary, John,
. The stafe presenf is used for Traditional grammars drew a sharp distinction the passive voice.
place in the past, at a definite scientific and official publicatons. When it is or Dr Smith who did the mixing.
timeless statements or'eternal time, with a gap between its
between the use of will and shall (pJg. over-used, it tends to ttract criticism, especially
Iruths': Oil floats on water, completion and the present . To express future tlrne, they recommended
Two and two make four. moment. Specif ic events, shal/ with first persons, and rzr'l/with second
. The habitual present is used states, and habitual actions and third persons: llwe shallgo, youthelshel
for repeated events. There is can all be expressed with this itltheywill go. HOW TO FORM PASSIVES FROM ally because the addition of an agent This illustration, taken from The Cambridge
usually an accompanying tense: I arrived yesterday . To express an intenton to act, they recom- ACTIVES would be to state the obvious:-/ack fought Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences, shows a typical use of
adverbial offrequency: /90 fo (event), They were u pset Mike and was beaten (by Mike).Some- the passive in scientific prose. Each sentence has an
mended wll/with first persons, and shal/ . Move the subject (p. 22 1 ) of the active
town each week. (state), They wentto work times, though, the omission is deliberate, example, and (as is often the case with captions) two of
with the others: llwe will go, you/hetshelitl
. the i nsta nta neouspresent is every day(habiTual). they shall go.
verb to the end of the clause, making it the either because the agent not known (Ihe
is them have agents (by-phrases)
used when the action begins The past tense is also used passive agent. Add by. car's been stolen) or because the speaker expressed.
and ends a pproximately at the for present or future time. On this basis, sentences such as twill be 20 . Move the object of the active verb to the does not want it emphasized - as when
moment of speech. lt is . Ihe attitud i nalpasf ref lects soon were condemned as wrong, because f ront of the clause, making it the passive someone returning a damaged library
common in demonstrations a tentative state of mind,
(it was said) we cannot 'ntend,to be a cer- subject. book says, neutrally, l'm afraid this page
and sports commentares: giving a more polite effect tain age. . Replace the active verb phrase by a has been torn, rather than adding by me.
Smth passes to Brown. than would be obtained by Modern usage does not observe this passive one - usually a form of the auxil iary
distinction. lndeed, it may never have verb be followed by the -ed participle

@
using the present tense: Drd ACTIVE
Three uses referto other existed in the language, but only in the (p. 20a).

c
you wa nt to I e ave 7 (compare
times: minds of grammarians anxious to Verb
the more direct Do you want Getcan also be used auxiliary, Subject phrase
. The h isto ri c p resenf describes impose order on a 'messy' area of as a passive Object
to leave?) especially in contexts where we want to
the past as if it were happen- .The hypothetical past usage. The issue is of less relevance
focus attention on the (usually unpleasant) The dog chased the cat.
ing now: lhearyou've expresses what is contrary to today, al shal/ has come to be increas-
event affecting the subject. I got kicked at

resigned.
. ln jokes and imaginative
writing, a similar use promotes
dramatic immediacy: We !ook
outside (dear reader) and we
see an old man in the street.
. With some time adverbials,
the present tense helps to
referto a specific course of
action in futu re ti me (see
above right): We leave
tomorrow.
the speaker's beliefs: twish I
had a bike (i.e. t haven't got
one). lt is especially used in if-
clauses.
. ln indirect speech (p. 230), a
past tense used in the verb of
'saying' a llows the verb in the
reported clause to be past
tense as well, even though it,
refers to present time: Did
you sayyou had no money?
(i.e. you haven't any now).
ingly replaced by wil/ in several vari-
eties. Even in conservative southern
British English, it is now rare to find
shal/ in the second and third person
(Shall you go?, Mary shatt sit there),
and it is becoming less common in
the first person. Nonetheless, usage
variation remains, as shown by
these headlines, both appearing
on the same day and ostensibly
reportng the same royal remark.
3
the match reports the perception of a
somewhat more vicious event than / rzas
kicked at the mafch. The use of get is
avoided in formalstyle, and even in
rntormal style it is much less frequent than
The cat was chased by the dog.
be (apart from in invective, such as Get
, stuffed !). Subject Verb Agent
Another option is to omit the by-phrase phrase
agent. lndeed, this phrase is missing in
PASSIVE
around 80 per cent of passive clauses, usu-
 226 PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR 16 'fHE S-I'I.UCTURE OF SENl'ENCES 227

o Several instances of suboldination may occur 'at the COORDINATION AT

MULilPLE, SENTENCE,S The adverbial identity
MULIIPLE STRUCTURES same level'. The sentence What I say is wht I tbin OTHER LEVELS
of the subordinate
clause in B can be may seem complex at first sight, but in fact it has a A coordinating conjunction
Up to this point in Part III, most of the sentences illus, A tested using the simple three-part structLlre, just like That is that, as join any two syntactic
fioth compound and complex sentences can contain
can
trated contain only one clause (p.220): they are simple technique of units, as long asthey havethe
substitution. The clause severaI instances
of coordination or subordination. shown in tree diagram E.
sentences. But many sentences can be immediately sentence same status in the sentence. ln
when Mike dropped addition to linking clauses, it
analysed into more thar.r one clause: they are rrtultiple theplafes can be sentence
. Sith tnubiple coordination, the analysis is simple, as E can link noun phrases, adjec-
sentences. In fact, multiple senrences form the major- replaced by an adverb
seen in tree diagram C'
The continual vse of and tives, pronouns, and several
iry of the senrences in formal writing, and are of time, such as then: /
heard the noise then. up a long sentence is by no mens unusual, as
otherforms.
build c
common in everyday conversarion too. The kind of This example shows examPle on p' 214 suggests.
S I bought a paperand a book.
..rnonologue reported on p.214, although presenring main clause main clause the importance of the real-life We were hotand drrty.
It's fhern or us.
clause elements in
several problems of analysis, makes it plain that much carryng out the C sentence
subordinate clause subordinate clause There istheoretically no limit
of the spontaneous characte of convesational speech analysis of complex to the number of units which
is clue to the way it uses multiple senrence construc- sentences. lf one is can be connected in this way,
tions. These construcrions are ofren classified into two
unable to distinguish 5V s Coordination seems a
between subjects, maln cla use matn cla use clause simple grammatical matter,
broad types, both recognized in traditional grammar
ltsay
verbs, objects, but it has some hidden sub-
(p.192): compound sentences and czmplex sentences. complements, and tleties. To begin with, the dif-
adverbials in single
I like fish and I like eggs and I like ham.
What I is what I think. ferent conjunctions express a
clauses (see p.221), the range of meanings. For exam-
Compound sentences I saw his hat but I didn't see his gloves Cooldination
prospects of carrying . \f/irh nntbiple subordintion, we must take special and subordination may ofcourse occur ple, and can convey more than
In compound sentences, the clauses are linked by out a successful analysis simple addition:in lran hard
of a multiple sentence care to keep the different 'levels' of subordination in the same sentence, to produce a compound-complex
coordination - usually, by the coordinating conjunc- and (therefore) caught the
are slim. aparr. In tree diagram D, the main clause is He said sentence. This possibiliry is shown in tree diagram F. bus, it expresses'result'; in
tions (p.213) and, or, or but. Each clause can in pr.in- I woke up and (then) got
ciple stand as a sentence on its own - in other words, ontcthingl. The first subordinate clause tells us what These are among the most complicated sentence struc-
d ressed, it expresses'time
rhe speaker said ('\We will eat when the cafe opens'), tures to clraw, but the sentences these diagrams repre-
sequence'. When the meaning
act as n independent cluse, or min clause. Ti.ee dia-
and is therefore the object of the verb sid.Th,e seconcl sent are by no means unusual. A chilcl of 9 coulcl have is one of addition, we may
gram A (above right) shows rhe 'balance' berween rwo
B subolc{inate clause tells us when they would eat ('when said the sentence analysed in the diagram, which only reverse the order of cla uses:
clauses linked in this way. The same analysis would I take the bus andshe takes the
the cafe opens'), and is an adverbial modifying et. goes to show how much gramrnatical ability we have all
be made even if one of the clauses had elements omit- train can become 5he fakes the
sentence unconsciously assimilated withor-rt realizing it. train and I take the bus. When
ted due to ellipsis (p.228). ln I cycled as fr s Oxford other meanings are involved,
nd Mary as fr as Reading Mry as far as Reading can Sentence we may not: *l caughtthe bus
D F
- once the ellipsis has been 'filled out' - stand as a main clause Sentence and (therefore) I ran hard,
*l gotdressed and (then)
main clause: Mary cycled as far s Reading.'Main', in main clause
mainlclause I woke up.
this context, has a purely grammatical sense, and does Moreove when two
not have its everyday general meaning of inost SV SV o phrases are linked byand they

important'.
O A 5V A mayor may not retain their
subordi n ate clause
I

separate grammatical roles.

Compare the following two
Complex sentences
subordinate clause SV A subordinate clause subordinate clause sentences:
In complex sentences, the clauses are linked by subor- Matthew and Ben are strong.

+t
I

dination, using such subordinating conjunctions as subordinate clause

because, when, and since (p.213). Here, one clause
(called rhe subordinte clause) is made dependent upon
another (the main clause). This can be seen in tree dia-
gram B (below right). The subordinate clause cannor
stand as a sentence on its own. When Mihe dropped the
plates needs some orher clause before it can be used.
ELEMENTS AS CLAUSES
Subordinate clauses can replace the Clause as subject
whole of any clause element except
the verb. Their grammatical function
can always be tested by replacing the
clause with a simpler unit whose
identity is known, such as a pronoun,
adjective, adverb, or noun phrase. A
clause as adverbial has already been
illustrated above. Here are examples That he argued was
of clauses as subject, object, and (i.e. /twas a shame.)
complement.
s 5 o Matthew and Ben are alike.
V SV The two sentences look the
same, but further analysis
shows they are different. ln
the first case, we can say
I went when the rain stopped and after I found my shoes.
I
He said that we would eat when the cafe opened Matthew s strong and Ben is
I heard the noise when Mike dropped the plates. strong. Each phrase can be
MORE AND MORE USES OF AND expanded into its own clause.
But in the second case, this
There are several idiomatc uses of andwhich are especially cannot happen: we cannot say
common in informalspeech and often criticized in writing. *Matthew is alike and * Ben is
a/lke. There is something
' ln such constru ctions as
t'll try and see him, and is not
functioning coordinator; but as an informalequivalent
as a about a/rke which forces the
Clause as object Clause as complement ot the inf initive particle to (p.20 4): l'lt tryto see him. two nouns to work together.
Similarly, Arthur and Joanna
s c o ' Likewise, in such constructions as lhe roo m was nice and
s c warm, nice and is being used as an intensifying item (similar have separated cannot be
Io very),and not as a coordinator. He was well and truly expanded into *Arthur has
drunk is another example. separated and loanna has sep-
arated. Cases ofthis kind add
' By coordnating a word with itself, special meanings are
expressed. ln The car went slower and slower, the sense is complexity and nterest to
oneof intensification. ln They talked andtalke4 it is what initially seems a straight-
a shame. I said that itwastime. The result was what lwanted. continuous action. A particularly interesting usage is found forward area of English
(i e. I said something.) (i.e. The result waisgood.) ln Ihere are roses and roses, meaning 'Everyone knows that syntax.
some roses are better/worse than others'. and then there are roses!
 228 PART III ENGLISH GRAMMAR 16 TH STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES 229

. for lttentioni you know, you see, mind you,

OTHER SYNITACTIC ISSUE,S WHAT CAN BE A PRO-FORM? I have change. Do you want sorne?
ADDINC A COMMENT
Ashing
you have to admit,
Have you seen the new designs? l've as you may have heard.
. Pro-forms used in co-reference are usually bought seueral.
This exploration ofEnglish grammar is not intencled to defin ile pronouns (p. 2 1 0), such as she, I asked him to leave, and he did (so). \(/hen comment clauses become nodceable in conver-
they, myself, his, theirs, fhal and such. We people often wish to make a comment, or express an
be comprehensive, but only to convey some of the . Most pro-forms replace or refer to some sation through over-use, it is widely held to be a sign
interesting issues which arise when we engage in the
can also use a few def inite adverbs of time
or all of a noun phrase (p. 222); but a few
atritude, about what they are saying or the way they of unclear or evasive thinking. Fol example, they are
are slying it. How does the grammar of the language
or space such as then, there, and here.
task ofsyntactic analysis. The topics so far have related other constructions can be involved. often to be heard ro excess in rhe linguisric wriggling
to the analysis of clauses, and to the ways clauses com-
Mat's ill. He's got flu. Adverb pro-forms relate to adverbials, as in enable them to do this? The answers to this question of a politician faced by an aggressive interviewer - the
My hat's red. Hers is green.
requile novel terminology, as this issue was never
Martha went to the shops and t went there
bine into senrences. The remaining pages of Parr III l'm off to town. See you there. too. Do relates to a part of the clause 'yes, well, you know, to be honest abor-rt this, putting
containing the verb: Martha wentto the
in traditional grammar (p.192).
adclrcssed
deal with issues which go beyond the structure of an . Pro-forms used in substitution can be it in a nutshell' response. This usage has led some crir-
shops and I did foo (where did replaces
individual clause, involving senrences as wholes, and either definite or indefinite. They are
wentto the shops). 5o can replace an ics to condemn all comment clauses, whatever the
even sentence sequences (p. 232).
mostly indefinite pronouns (p.210), such as
object, a complement, an adverbial, or even
Pisjuncts context. But this is going too far. These clauses play an
one(s), some, none, either, few, many, sev-
eral, all, and both. We can also use a few a whole clause: fl,n irnportant ole is played by a type of adverbial important role in conversation, argument, and spon-
Abbreviating the sentence adverbs, such as so and thus, and the verb A: l'm not feeling well. ,221) here called a disju.nct. taneous monologue, helping speakers to 'think on
do plays an important role in such construc- B: lthoughtso. (i.e. lthoughtthatyou,re
There ale two main ways in which a senrence can be tions as do so.
Some disjuncts convey the speaker's comment about their feet', and giving listeners a chance to grasp what
not feeling well)
shortened, to avoid saying or writing the same thing the style or form of what is being said - expressing the is being said (p.291). The same effects can also be
rwice. cor.rclitions under which the listener should interpret introduced into elegant informal writing, where the
t A pro-form can be used a word which replaces or
- the accompanying sentence. In Fran (said Jane), judicious use of a comment clause can add personal
NEVER A TRUER WORD A. Onetravelsdown life's Q. Butwhatofthosewho
refers to a longer construction in a sentence. The first road. have no scrimping and not just saying
Chttrles should haue gone b1, bus, Jane is perspective, stfengthen writer-reader rapport, and
process, replacement (or substitution), can be seen in This extract, from one of Q. What kind of road is it? saving parents, and not that 'Charles should have gone by bus', but is adding improve the accessibility of a dense piece of text.
Ibe bought new cot nd Marlt bought lne tol, where
the articles written by A. Abumpyroad. even the right qualifica- colnment about how she is making her point - she
a
British humorist Miles King- Q. Howdoyoustart? tions?
the pro-form one replaces the noun phrase new collt. tonfor Thelndependent (26 A. Asyou meantogoon. A. is 'being frank'. There are many words of this kind,
They must make their ELLING THE STORY
The second process, referring to another construc- July 1993), relies for much of Q. Butwhat kind of start do own way in life. sucl-r as honest, literal, briefu, stict, and confiden-
tion, can be seen in The children hurt tbemselues, its impact on the succinct
style which the use of pro-
you need in life?
A. Agoodone.
Q. By what do they pull al. Alistair Cooke's best-sel ling
where the pro-form themselues refers back to the noun forms and ellipsis can Q. Howisthisacquired?
themselves up?
A. Their own bootstraps.
. Othel disjuncts make an observation about the America (1973) was acclaimed for
the way it captured the friendly
phrase the children. Here, themselues does not replace convey. The aim ofthe inter- A. By working hard to get Q. To what educational rruth of a clause, or a value judgment about its con- tone of the original commentary
view isto obtain advice on the rght qual if ications. establishments do they
the children, but simply refers back rc it. The children tent. In Fzrtun/fteb, Charles cught the bus, Jane is not in hs television series. One of the
howtogetthrough life Q. What does this involve? later claim to have gone? stylistic features which
hurt the childrenwould mean that some children hurt from'an expert on clichs'. A. Burning the midnight A. The university of life. just saying that'Charles caught the bus', but that (in
contributes to this warmth is the
some other children. \hen the pro-form has the Because clichs rely greatly oil. Q. ls this academy known by hel opinion) it was fortunare thar he did so. Other regular use of comment clauses
same meaning (or 'reference') as another construc-
on verbosity, and are usually Q. Butnotthecandleat any other name? words of this kind include uuious, foolish, regret- and disjuncts. Here are a few
found in full, to
see them in both ends? A. Yes. The school of hard
tab, undoubted, and hopefiil (which was arbitrar- examples (my italics) from the
tion, but does not replace it, we talk about pro-form an abbreviated, catechism- A. Oh, certinly not. At the knocks. .. first few pages of his opening
co-reference, like form produces a striking same time, all work and ily singled out for adverse criticism during the 1980s chapter.
. Ellipsis occurs when part of a senrence is left out
stylistic effect. no play makes a chap a by pr"rrist commenrarors on usage).
...my mental picture of the
dull boy.
because it would otherwise repeat what is said else- Q. What life?
is Q. What isthe chap's name? United States, and of such
where. In I'd lihe to et that biscuit, but I won't, rhe A. Life is what you make it. A. Jack. Comment clauses scattered human life as it
Q. What kind of life is it? Q. Howdoparentscon- supported, became sharper but
second clause is elliptical, with em tht biscuit being Disjuncts may be words or phrases, and they may even
A. lt s a hard life. tribute to this good start not, I regretto say, mote
omittecl. People usr-rally fnd the full form of such sen- Q. But is it a good life? in life?
havc a clausal character, as can be seen in the sequence accurate,
tences unnecessary or irritating, and use ellipsis to A. Yes, if you don't weaken A. They scrimp. regrcttab, tu rUt regret, and I regret to sa1t. When they But I believe that the
Q. Howdoesoneget Q. ls that all? of a large
achieve a more acceptable economy of statement. are clausal, they can be analysed as parr preconceptions about another
through life? A. No. They also save. Miles Kington country that we hold on to
Convesation dialogues are full of it. If ellipsis were number of constructions that have been grouped
most tenaciously are those we
not used, our sentences would become gradually togetler as czmment clauses. These are particularly take in, so to speak, with our
longer as a conversation progressed. cornlnon in informal conversation, where they are mother's milk...
HOW DO WE KNOWWHAT HAS required to make sense of ./ohn arriving
BEEN LEFT OUT? Holyhead station today 3 p.m. And we deal often spoken in a parentheric rone of voice, with So ljotted down a long list of
A: \here are you going? with newspaper headlines similarly, auto- incleased speed and decreased loudness. such places, most of them, lshould
B: To the shops. (i.e. I am going to the shops) Faced with an ellipticalsentence, there are matically adding a verb and articles in order guess, not much known to tourists or even to the
A: \X/hy? (i.e. \X/hy are you going to the shops?) three ways in which we can work out what
has been omitted.
to interpret
.
NURSE TO LEAVE, SAYS JUDGE. Tlrc rest, I suppose,will never be known. standard history books...

B: To get some bread. (i.e. I am going to the shops to

get some bread)
A: Is John going with you? (i.e. Is John going with
you to the shops to ger some bread?)
In most cases, the ellipsis refers to somerhingwhich has
previously been said, but sometimes it anticipates what
is about to be said: Don't as me uby, but the shop has
sold out of brealis desirably shorr for Don't s *i *hy
the shop hs sold out ofbread, but the shop has sold out
ofbred.
. We can look at the surrounding text. ln
I asked for some soup and then for some
bread the ellipsis in the second clause
(/ asked) can be easily identified just by
referring to the words n the first clause.
. We can use our knowledge of English
grammar. ln a telegram, where the amount
paid was based on the number of words
used, there was a naturaltendencyto omit Serves you
predictable items. These can be restored
using our intuition. We automatically read
in the auxilia ry verbs a nd prepositions
We can look at the situation in which the Yott uow, irt rime you paid me back. Most people, I believe, when they first come to Amerca.
sentence is used. ln conversation, a very
It's .ver whether as travelers or settlers, become aware of a new
common ellipsis involves the omission of the now, Im gloa ri toy and agreeable feeling: that the whole country is their
subject and/or auxiliary verb; but there is
Comment clauses express several kinds of meaning: oyster.
never a problem deciding what is missing.
Simply by observing the stuation, we see There are, in fact, largeregions of the Unted Statesthat
which people are involved and what the '.7ntuueness,I think, I assume, I suppose, I'm told, will challenge the hardihood of the most caref ree
time reference they sa it seems, rumou has it. wanderer.
is.
Undoubtedly, allthe land mass of the United States has
Want a drink? ' ,Canainty: I know, I'm sure, it transpires, I must sa
right. Ir's rrue, rhere's no doubt. been mapped, and the prospects for a livelihood in any
part of t are known.
You hungry?
Good to see you. ' Ernoonal attude, I'm pleased to see, I'm afi.aid, I
Fortunately,the broad design was drawn for us, nearly a
Itop., H."u.n knows, I'm dellghted to sa to
Told you so! be century and a half ago, by a Frenchman...
rloncsr, franldy speal<i ng.
230 PAR-f III ENGLISH GRAMMAR 16 . THE STRUCTURE OF SENTE,NCES 231

archaic, and forms such as *commented he or *laughed GRAMMATICAL is giuen. The distinction berween given and new infor,
REPORTING SPEECH thelt are unacceptable. Inversion at the beginning ofa CHANGES SENTE,NCE INFORMTION mation can be clearly seen in this dialogue:
sentence is found only in some nrrative styles, such as llllhen indirect speech is usel,
The usual way in which we reporr someonet speech is popular journalism: Declred brunette Luqt ... A: \here did you put your bike?
There are mny ways in which we cn organize the
speakers need to introduce
by using a special repolting clause, suclt as she sid, he . Indirect speech (also called reported speech) gives the grammatical changes to allory B: I left it I at my friendt house.
for differences between their information contained in a sentence, as can be seen
urote, theJr replied- somerimes adding extra informa- words as subsequently reported by someone. It r-rsually The first part of B's sentence is 'given' (by A); the
current situation and the situa- from these alternatives:
tion (He replied ngri). The accompanying speech or takes the form ofa subordinate clause (p.226) intro- tion they are reportng. second part is new.
writing is given in the reported clause,which. can appear duced by that Michael said that he lihed the colour.Th,e . lt is usually necessary to A rnechanic is fixing a car. Given information tells us what a sentence is
in either of two forms : direct speech and indirect speech. conjunction is often omitted in informal conrexrs: change the tense forms of the There's a mechanic fixing a car. about; it provides the sentence theme. Because the
k's a mechanic thatt fixing a car.
verbs used in the direct speech
o Direct speech gles the exact words used by the Michael sid he lileed the colour. (p.224.ln mostcases, a pre- information it contains is familiar, this part of the sen-
sent tense becomes past, and ft's a car that a mechanic is fixing. tence is not likely to be spoken with any extra promi-
bpeaker or writer. They are usually enclosed by quota-
This distinction has long been recognized in English a pst tense is sh ifted sti I I fu r- A car is being fixed by a mechanic. nence (p.248). New information, on the other hand,
tion marks: Michael said, 'I lie the colour'. The report- ther back, by using the perfec-
ing clause may occur before, within, or after the direct grammar. Older grammars used Latin names for the tive aspect (p.225). These sentences all express the same basic meaning, provides the point where we expect people to pay
speech. \/hen it occurs in the middle or at rhe end of two modes; zrutio recta (for direct speech) and oratio lsaid,'l'm leaving'. bur they convey several important differences of style special attention, or cul The part of the sentence
the sentence, the order of subject ancl verb can some- obliqua (for indirect speech). However, the basic dis- lsaid lwas leaving.
and emphasis. The analysis of these differences is also containing the focus is always spoken in a prominent
times be inverted: tinction does not capture the whole range of stylistic lsaid, 'lsawJohn'.
part of the study of grammar. way'
said I had seen John.
possibilities: mixed and modified forms are used in lit- I
In most sentences, the theme appears first, ancl the
'I think,' Michael said, 'that ir's time ro leave.' The rules governing the correct
erature, such as 'free direct speech' and 'free indirect Given and new information focus of the message last. But it is possible to bring the
'I think,'said Michael, 'rhat it's rime to leave,' relationship between the verbs
speech', conveying a wide range of dramatic effects in the reporting and reported There are usually rwo kinds of information in a sen- focus forwards, so as to emphasize an earlier part of rhe
This inversion is most common when the verb is said, (p.419). And the construction has also been used as clauses are traditionally rence. One part of the sentence tells s something new, sentence. This especially happens when we wanr ro
labelled theseq uence of
and the subject is not a pronoun. Sid she is literary or a fruitful source of humour (p. 409). The other part tells us something that we were awre state a contrast, as in The plates are new, not the cups,
fenses. They are actually much
more complexthan these ofalready (either from previous sentences or from our Conversations make frequent use of emphatic con-
examples suggest. For exam- general knowledge) - in other words, its information trasts of this kind.
REPORTING STYLES thing very close to death and to the cor- the van. We see your possessions leav- ple, if thetime reference of the
ruption of the body,'Jorge replied with ing the house. What else do we see?' original utterance is still valid
Several conventions are used to repre- a snarl. 'My pony.' at the time of reporting, the
. .
VARYING THE INFORMATION STRUCTURE FROM MOSCOW OUR CORRESPONDENT
sent direct speech in fiction. Some (Umberto Eco, The Na me of the Rose, 'They took that too?' tense shift is optional.
authors take great pains to vary the 1983, First Day: Compline) 'ltold you already.' Mark said, 'Oil floats on water.' There are several ways in which special sentence around so that the clause comes
verb ofthe reporting clause (p.41 9), to 'With the furniture? ln the same attention can be drawn to the theme of later. The original element is then replaced
B Mark said oil f loated on water. a
avoid the repeated use of said (see A van?' sentence. by the pronoun lt, which 'anticipates'the
'l'm afraid I missed the UTE conference Mark said oilfloats on water.
below). Some use said regularly, even in this year.' 'No, a separate one. Don't be bloody following clause:
place of other stalwarts (e.9. asked, And there are special strate- Fronting
'lf that's the one I attended here in silly.'
exclaimed) (B).fhe reporting clause is gies when it comes to report- Fronting occurs when we move to the What you say doesn't matter.
'79, then you did wellto avoid it,'said 'So there were two vans. Both at the
often omitted, f the identity of the ing sentences other than beginning of a sentence an item which It doesn't matter what you say.
Morris Zapp. 'l mean realconferences, same time? Or one after the other?'
speakers is clear from the context (C). statements (p.218). does not usually belong there. This item find reading comics fun.
international conferences.' 'l don't remember.' I
And in drama, the verb of the reporting 'Where was your father physically 'Are you in?'asked Pru. then becomes the theme, and in such cases I find it fun, reading comics.
'l couldn't afford to go to one of
clause is always absent, with quotation located all this time? Was he in the Pru asked if lwas in. it carries extra prominence:
those,'said Robyn. 'Our overseas con- ln examples like these, the clauses have
marks never used (D). study? Looking through the window,
ference fund has been cut to the bone.' 'Sit down,'said Pru. Across the road they ran. been moved outside their normal position
'Cuts, cuts, cuts,'said Morris Zapp, say, watching it all go? How does a man Pru told me to sit down. David I said my name was.
A in the sentence. The effect is thus said to
'thatt allanyone willtalk about here. like h im bear up - in his disgrace?' be one of extraposton.
Jorge could not keep from comment- c Time and place references
lnversion
First Philip, then Busby, nowyou.' 'He was in the garden.'
ing in a low voice. 'John Chrysostom 'Doing what?' also need to be altered: for Here the subject and verb appear in the Existentials
said that Christ never laughed.' 'That's what life is like in Eritish uni- example, tomorrow becomes
versities these days, Morris.' said Philip 'Looking at the roses.' reverse of their normal order: Sometimes we want to bring the content of
'Nothing in his human nature for- (John Le Carr, The Little Drummer Girl, the next day or the following a whole clause to the attenton of our
bade it,' William remarked,'because Swallow, presentng Robyn with a glass d ay, h e re becomes there. Here3 Johnny.
of rather warm Soave. 'l spend all my 1 983, Ch. 7) Down carne the rain. listener or reader, making it all new
laughter, the theologians teach, is
as I said, 'l saw it here yesterday.' information. To do this, there is a
properto man.' time on committees arguing about D
They were happy and so was l.
I said l'd seen itthere the day construction in which the f irst words have
how to respond to the cuts. I haven't
'The son of man could laugh, but it is STANLEY (gulckly). Why are you down before. The verb must be in its simple form (p.225); no meaning. They seem to act as a theme,
read a book in months, let alone tried
not written that he did so,'Jorge said here? we cannot say *Down was coming the rain, because they appear at the beginning of
sharply, quoting Petrus Cantor. to write one.' c Personal pronouns need to
McCANN. A short holiday. the sentence, but it is a 'dummy'theme.
'Manduca, iam coctum est,'William 'Well, I have,'said Robyn. be altered (p. 21 0). First and Cleft sentences
STANLEY. This is a ridiculous house to The main means of achieving this effect is
murmured. 'Eat, for it is well done.' 'Read one or written one?'said pick on. (He nses.) second person pronouns have Another way of altering the normal
Morris Zapp. to be changed to third person, to use the word there (without giving it any
'What?'asked Jorge, thinking he McCANN. Why? emphasis in a simple sentence is to split
stress) followed by the simple present or
referred to some dish that was being 'Written one,'said Robyn. 'Well, unless the original partici- ('cleave') the sentence into two clauses,
STANLEY. Because it's not a boarding past tense of be: News reporting frequently makes use of variations in
broughtto him. three quarters of it, anyway.' pants are still involved in the giving each its own verb. The first clause
house. lt never was. information structure in order to capture attention and
'Those are the words that, according 'Ah, Robyn,' said Philip Swallow,'you conversation. consists of the pronoun lt and a form of Many people are in danger.
McCANN. Sure it is. avoid monotony. The following extracts from radio
put us allto shame. What shallwe do Pru said to Joe,'l like yourtie.' the verb be. The second clause begins with There are many people in danger.
to Ambrose, were uttered by Saint STANLEY. Why did you choose this broadcasts illustrate the use of these techniques.
Lawrence on the gridiron, when he without you?' Pru said she liked histie. a pronoun such as thator who. These
house? Such sentences express the general
(David Lodge, Nice Work,1988, Ch. 6.) (ifthe speaker is talking to constructions are called c/eftsentences: It was in Junethat Horace Williams, an unemployed
invited his executioners to turn him McCANN. You know, sir, you're a bit existence of some state of affairs, and are
over, as Prudentius also recalls in the c depressed for a man on his birthday. someone otherthan loe) thus called existential sentences. Ee is not labourer, frst met the Smths.
Ted broke the plate.
Perstephanon,' Wil liam said with a And she won, she knew she did, STANLEY (shrply). Why do you call me Pru said she liked yourtie. It was Ted who broke the plate. the only verb capable of being used in this There were cheers inside the court today when a verdict
saintly air. 'Saint Lawrence therefore because Kurtz spoke f irst, which was sir? (ifthe speaker is talking to It was the plate that Ted broke. way, but others (such as exrsf and arlse) are of not guilty was returned...
knew howto laugh and say ridiculous the proof. McCANN. You don't like it? loe) rarer and more literary:
things, even f itwasto humiliate his 'Charlie, we recognise thatthis is (Harold Pinter, The Birthday Party, Extraposton ln the West Indian city of Georgetown. the f inal day of
enemies.' very painfu I for you, but we ask you to 1 960, Act 2) Where the subject or object element is a There exist several alternatives. the Fourth Test between the West lndies and England
'Which proves that laughter is some- continue in your own words. We have clause (p. 220), it is possible to change the There arose a great cry. has been washed out by rain.
 232 PART III . ENGLISH GRAMMAR 16.THE STRUCl-URE OF SENTENCES 233

BEYOND THE, SE,NTENCE BEWARE!

THF. PARADOX OF GRAMMAR DISCUSSING THE written in association with 'l like doing homework'?
PROBLEM the BBC television series 'Doing'said George.
A textis a coherent, Language File (1990). 'WRONG - it's like.'
In real life, a sentence is rarely used in isolation. Nor- complete unit of speech or
The linguistic literature abounds with metaphors lf teaching grammar is a
The teacher said: The teacher said:
writing. As such it typically problem, it can help to bring
mall sentences - whether spoken or \Mritten - appear consists of many sentences. rrying to capture the significance of grammar. Gram- the children into the A noun is a naming word. An adjective is a describing
in a sequence,such as a dialogue, a speech, a letter, or What is a naming word
rnar is said to be at the very'heart' oflanguage, at the
But it is possible to find a text discussion at the earliest word.
in the sentence What is the describing word
a book. Any set of sentences which'cohere' in this way which contains only one ,core' of communication. It is seen as the 'key' to our possible point, using role
sentence, and a short one at play, stories, poems, and 'He named the ship, in the sentence
is called a text - a term which applies to both spoken
that(p.216). understanding of the way meaning is expressed and other genres to focus their Lusitania'? 'Describing sunsets s
ancl written material (p.290). The coherence is 'Named'said George. boring'?
interpreted. It has been called the 'skeleton' ofnarrative attention on a linguistic
'WRONG - it's ship.' 'Describing' said George.
and the 'touchstone' of verbal humour. It has been
achieved through the use of a wide range of features issue. This poem by Mike
Rosen has been much
'WRONG - it's boring.'
- which connect sentences, some of which fall well out- The teacher said:
widely hailed as the 'mechanism' which, by manipulat- discussed in British A verb is a doing word.
'l know it is,'said
side the domain of grammar, but they are outlined ing a finite number of grammatical rules, enables us to secondary schools following What is the doing word
George.
RAM MATICAL CON ECTIVITY
here because it is not really possible to appreciate the
G N
its use in a publication
senel'ate an infinite number of sentences. It dominates in the sentence
specific role of syntax in connectivity without seeing it Several aspects of gramma already discussed in this section with reference to sentence
h. 'milestones' of language learning and acts as a 'yard-
in this broader perspective. structure, can also be used to connect sentences.
stick' during the course of language breakdown and
. (p.221) recoyety (p.436). There is
Generl knowledge. \e often make a link berween
Space and time adverbials We left Paris on Monday morning. By
the same evening we were in Rome.
no doubt, when we
that the field of grammar is fundamen-
read TAKING NOTHING
FOR GRANTED
Who urent first?
sentences because ofour general knowledge or expec- such accounts,
Pronouns and other pro-forms (p. 228) The children were back in time for dinn er. They
tal, clynamic, relevant, and real. One reason why on day Msndy snd
tations about the way the world funcdons. were very tired. Jay wont to olry

On the other hand, there is equally no doubt that grammar teaching can on tho sltdo. Mndy
Determiners (p.207) A Mercedes was parked in the street. Ihe car fail isthatthe notions lhe stldo lltst.
wgnt down

The summer ws one of the best they had ever had. looked new. grmrnatical study can lack all these attributes. This is
Jay went socod.
being taught take too lhen Jay sldr
The vintage was expected to be superb. Comparison(p. 199) Sixchildrentookpartnthesackrace.Jillwas the paradox of grammar: how can something which much for granted. For "ll'9
ny tum lo go lsl
0w..,
easily the fastest. ought to be so fascinating come to be so boring? The example, it is not So Jay wnt llrsl
and Mandy wont
Here there is no obvious connection in either grammar second.
Conjunctions (p.227) histoical reasons have been reviewed in earlier pages
possible to teach a
or vocabulary to link these sentences. But anyone who
Connectingadverbials(p.229)
Several people complained. And I did too.
Thereareseveralpoints. Firstofall,weneedto (p. 190), but even in a positive and optimistic intellec-
young child the
concept of letter order
* lh frst lme, the
la next mo, lhey
chdgn wenl
n one otdar.

knows about wine can readily supply the missing link, know the motive.
wont In nothor
otdat,
(in spelling) orword Mtndy flrat, Jty
Such techniques as inference, deduction, and presup- rual linguistic climate there is no gainsaying the fact a.cond i8 ong ord,
order (in sentences) if Jty flrtt, lndy
$cond
position are used in these circumstances. rhat the relationships of grammar are abstract and at the basic notion of
19 anothar ordor.

times intricate, and its terminology imposing and at 'order' is itself not
lho noxt day lim
.
camo to ptay
on the stldo wilh
Jy. Mandy wss
Vocabulary. Often the choice of words is enough to TRACING SENTENCE times abstruse. The level of diffculty is probably no clear. This point was
\
not the.,

appreciated by jessie
connect two sentences: CONNECTIONS wolse than that encountered in several other sciences, iiJ:,'i#,::'"i, *n*0,",

t1 'l -
oo,n
Reid and Margaret "ou,o

I
Look at that dachshund. Hed win a prize in any dog Often several features of but the informadon purveyed by those sciences is Donaldson, who Mko pictures lor
the two ordo,

Ut
grammatical connectivity are established in school curricula in ways that are far in gave it special
lhe ne
show. present to link a pair of attenton atthe day ltm ahd
Jay snd Mandv
advance of what is as yet available for grammar. The wec al ptcying
sentences, and in a longer beginning oftheir on lhe sldr.
Because we know that a dachshund is a kind of dog, we familiarity and accessibiliry of geography or chemistry reading and
Thg pctuos how
you how thoy

r
passage the various links wanl down.
have no difficulry in making the relevant connecion combine and overlap in many - is the result ofa long pedagogical tradition, in which the language
programme, &D \ W.lto the ordet ,of
ways. This can be seen in the
/

l
between the sentences. selection and grading ofinformarion has been tried and oach plelu.o n you.

\
book, ko lhlst
(1984), aimed at

c Punctuation and laltout. Graphic and graphological
features of a text (p.257) may be enough to show that
sentences, or even paragraphs, are to be connected in a
specific way. The use of panels, headings, special sym-
bols (such as bullets), and colour within a text to show
how the meaning is organized, provides a particulady
clear example - as on the present page.
o Prosody (p.248). Variations in pitch, Ioudness,
speed, rhythm, and pause combine to provide the
spoken equivalent ofthe visual organization and con-
trastiviry of a written text. Question-answer
sequences, parenthetic utterances, rhetorical climaxes,
and many other features of speech which involve
sequence ofsentences are usually signalled through the
use ofprosodic effects. Several spoken genres, such as
radio news bulletins and spolts commentaries, are also
notable for the way they use prosody to demarcare
topics and types ofactivity.
-r
following passage, where the
specifically grammatical
connections have been
highlighted. A n symbol
indicates a point of ellipsis
(p. 228). (Many other links
of the same kind are also used
to link clauses within sentences, but these
are not separately identified.)
The lmprobability-proof control cabin of
the Heart of Gold looked like a perfectly
conventional spaceship except that it was
perfectly clean because it was so new. Some
of the control seats n hadn't had the plastic
wrapiing taken off yet. The cabin was
mostly white, oblong, and about the size of
a smallish restaurant. ln fact it wasn't
a
perfectly oblong: the two long walls n were
raked round in a slight parallel curve, and
all the angles and corners of the cabin
were contoured in excitingly chunky
shapes. The truth of the matter is that it
would have been a great deal simpler and
more practicalto build the cabin as an
ordinary three-dimensional oblong room,
but then the designers would have got
miserable. As it was the cabin
looked excitingly purposeful, with large
video screens ranged over the control and
guidance system panels on the concave
wall, and long banks of computers set into
the convex wall. ln one corner n a robot
sat humped, its gleaming brushed steel
head hanging loosely between its gleaming
brushed steel knees. lt too was fairly new,
but though it was beautif ully constructed
and polished it somehow looked as if the
various parts of its more or less humanoid
body didn't quite f it properly. ln fact they
fitted perfectly well, but something in its
bearing suggested that they might have
fitted better.
(Douglas Adams, he Hitch Hiker's Guide to
the Galaxy (1979), Ch. 1 1.)
lau
testecl, and curricula devised which are principled and children from ilt, eond, .-
motivating. Modern approaches to English grammar around the age
of 8.
12
are not yet in this position, but there is plenty of evi-
dence to show that marrers are improving. The exam-
ples on this page illustrate just a few of the approaches
that are now being used to help people obtain insight DRAWING TO A CLOSE
into grammatical structur.e.
Animation, cartoons, and computer prod-
ucts are just some of the modern ways of
GIANTWAVES DOWN FUNNEL putting across a grammatical point. While
the sophistication of the software currently
lags considerably behind what is available
t#W,t,
Using sentences which are A sailorwas dancing with a
grammatically ambiguous in hardware, the way a child can be moti-
wooden leg.
can motvate an enquiry
Bus on Fire!
vated to learn about grammaticalstructure
Into the competing struc- is well demonstrated by the numerous pack-
Passenges Alight!
tures involved. (Examples ages which already teach aspects of gram-
from W. H. Mittins, A The airship was about to mar to special groups, such as language-
leavethe airport. The last disordered children (p.444). Cartoons are
Grammar of Modern
English,1962.) person to go up the gang- also now widely used. The following is an
waywas Miss Hemming. offering from Edward Mclachlan to a series
The only spectators were a
Slowly her huge nose of books for British secondary school chil-
Woman carrying a small
baby and a large policeman.
turned into the wind. dren by the present author, Language Ato Z
Then, like some enormous (1991). lt accompanies an entry which is
We sawthe EiffelTower beast, she crawled along attempting to explain to 1 5-year-olds what
flying from London to paris. a 'comment clause' is (p. 229).
the grass.
 i
l5
PART IV
l

ffi
1

ll
ffi B

u K for a' old Knife-grincter

stands,
W
Who rvheels iris own machine;
Ancl thus the cart before the horse
Is very plainly seen.
E lagrrrge under each of these headings. (Stylistic differences in the
It
E utl!
Lfor a br.isk Lamptighter.stands,
- Who lights the gas, and soon
Our streets will so ilhrminate,
l
Spoken and \ritten English
,4. mcssageconstructed in English grammar and vocabulary may be
transrnitted in either of rwo main ways: through speech or through
wriris. Part IV investigates the technical rsources provided by the
wal,spoket.r and written language are used are considered separatel
in Plrt V. S23 also discusses the extent to which a third medium has
beco,ne available in recent years - computer-mediated communica-
rion, as manifested especially through the Internet, which might be
consi.lel'ed as neither speech nor writing, lut a new phenomenon.
Wi begin with spoken English, the more natural and widespread
moclc of transmission, though ironically the one which most people
fincl rnuch less familiar - presumably because it is so much more di
day domains in which a knowledge of pronunciation can be useful
or illuminating, and includes a detailed examination of the way
sounds can be usecl symbolicall in a range of contexts which link
the poet Keats, breakfast cereals, and the British cartooll character
Desperate Dan.
Chapter' 18 adopts a similar approach to the writing systern,
beginning with the topic which is widely regarded as its centrai
domain - the alphabet. Here too some methodological prelirninaries
are in order, as writing is a subject studied by several fields, including
linguists, psychologists, typographers, and graphic desigr.rers, and
terms and approaches vary greatly. After looking at the history of
each letter of the alphabet, we turn to some of the interesting statis-

W'e shall not miss the rnoor. ficult to 'see'what is happening in speech than in writing. Chapter
i,
17 worl<s systematically through the sound system, after providing
\ sonr(' gereral perspective about the subjects of phonetics and
phonology ancl the nature of phonetic transcription. It introduces
ancl classifies vowels and consonants, emphasizing the differences
betwccr.l the way in which these notions appear in speech and in
writing. It then goes on to review the way sounds combine into syl-
tical and symbolic properties of letters, paying particular attention to
the approach associated with graphologists, and to different kinds of
graphic variety and deviance. 'S(/e then grapple with what is uncloubt-
edly the most rlotorioLrs aspect of the English writing system: its
spelling. The section reviews the reasons For the complexit discusses
the sources of irregularit and examines possible solutions, including
some of the proposed attempts at spelling reform. fhe chapter then

\ls lablcs, words, and sentences, and outlines the prosodic resources of
the language, which convey such important effects as intonation,
concludes with a close look at the history and present-day use of one
of the most neglected aspects of the writing system: punctuation.
emplrasis, and tone of voice. The chapter surveys some of the every-
l8
j

stancls;
I
t

O fou an OY't"*-*omarr
i
,l.he oysters rolv begin
I
is at the door'
To firrd sorne olre
:
I

to lreak in
I

1
Who's trYing
I
F @
@
I

' shall take''

P
1ve

for Policeman
His number' twentY'fivei
running at ftrll speed,
And there he's
alive'
To catch a thief Letters from an early alphabet book, The Amusing Alphabet, a popular
educational approach in Victorian times, promisng 'easy steps'to
Itteracy (see also p.407).
 17 . ^f HE SOUND SYSTEM 237

17. THE SOUND SYSTEM THE VO\ELS The vowels in Gimson Jones F&R Variants
sea, feet, me, field ir l: i
'Sl'e are used I good example of the speech-writing difference is i
to seeing the written language as him, big, village, women I I t
rhway we have to re-think the idea that'there are five
a
THE ORGANS OF ARTICULATION get, fetch, head, Thames e e
sequence of letters, separated by small segments of
vowels'when we begin to discuss speech. There are in sat, hand, ban, plait a
space. This is how we were taught ro write. \e formed The diagram shows the anatomical location of the vocal organs involved in the
facr some 20 or so vowels in most accents of English
sun, son, blood, does
our letters one ar a rime, then slowly and painstak- description of English vowels and consonants. lt is not a complete representaton of allthe calm, are, fathe car ot a
(rhe exact number often depending on the way the
OI
vocal organs - the lungs, for example, are not shown.
ingly brought them rogerher in 'joined-up' writing. dog, lock, swan, cough D c a
5ystern is analysed), and their sound qualities can vary all, saw, cord, more cl c
\e learned to call five of these letters 'vowels' (,A., E,
.I, O, U), and the orhers 'consonants'. \e may also ormourly from accent to accent. The vowel sounds put, wolf, good, look U u U
upper teeth
nose
soft palate (velum) offimerican English, for example, are clearly different soon, do, soup, shoe ut ut u
have learned that letrer Y is also 'somerimes' used as a g" (+ r)
hard fron those of British or Australian, and the vowels bird, her, turn, learn
^(+
r)
vowel. a lveolar n dge the, butter, sofa, about a(+r)
rypical of one locality in any of these countries can
palate e
Everyone born with the normal capacity to learn ape, waist, they, say ei e
differ appreciably from those of another. Indeed,
CI

acquires the abiliry to listen and speak long before the time, cry, die, high AI ai ay
vowel differences make up most of the distinctiveness boy, toy, noise, voice CI ci cy
ability to read and write. Moreover, when the English
upper lip which we associate with a particular accent (p.298). so, road, toe, know EU ou o
alphabet was first devised (p.258), its letters were 4
uvula The table on this page shows the set of vowels out, how house, found au, ou au aw, w
based on a consideration of the nature of the sounds tongue deer, here, fierce, near ie (i+r)
found in English, along with some common tran-
I
in Old English. The origins of the written language lower lip care, air, bare, bear ee e (e+r)
scriptions (for their place of articulation, see p.240). poor, sure, tou lure u (u+t)
lie in the spoken language, nor the orher way round. UE

pharynx The rnost striking feature of a list of this kind is the

It is therefore one of life's ironies that traditionally in
present-day education we do not learn about spoken
language until well after we have learned the basic
properties of rhe written language. As a result, it is
inevitable that we think of speech using the frame of
reference which belongs to writing. \e even use some
of the same terms, and it can come as something of a
shock to realize that these terms do not always have
the same meaning.
A BASIC PERSPECTIVE
Pronunciation can always be studied from two points of
view: the phonetrc and the phon ological.
Phonetics
lower teeth
larynx
phonetcian would be interested in describing exactly what
these differences of articulation are. A phonologist, how-
ever, would point out that both articulations are 'types of
/sl': lsetl, no matter how the /s/ varies, continues to con-
trast with /bet/, lmetl, and other words. There is just one
number ofspecial symbols (part of thep honemic tran-
TRANSCRIBING VOWELS
scription) which have to be devised in order to identify
each vowel unambiguously. \X/ith only five (or six) Several authors have devised sets of sym- Possible confusibles
in the traditional bols for identifying English vowels. The transcriptions use the same symbols in
vowei letters available alphabet,
The system used in this book isthe one intro- different ways, partly because of different
combinations ofsymbols, and diacritic
extra symbols, duced by British phonetician A. C. Gimson in views about the best way to analyse the
An lntroduction to the Pronunciation of vowel system, and partly because of the dif-
marks are needed to capture all the units in the system,
as well as all the variations in vowel quality which
Englrsh (lst edn, 1962), which has been par- ferences between British and American
ticularly influential in the field ofteaching English.
glottis distinguish different accents (pp. 240-l). English as a foreign language. . /a/ in the Eritish systems does not appear
. The Gimson system is given in the first as a separate phoneme. ln F&R it is used in
column, after a selection of words which such words as dog, reflecting more directly
TYPES OF VOWEL royal lrcrcll, tower ltauel,
Key illustrate each sound. ln several cases there is the way this vowel is articulated f urther for-
and lower leue/can all be a wide range of spellings forthe same vowel
. Monophthongs (or pure ward in the mouth. This is a major point of
tongue fip analysed in this way. No quality - a consequence of the mixed nature
1 possible confusion for British-trained stu-
vowels) are vowels with a new symbols are required,
2 b/ade of the tongue of English orthography (p.274). dents casually reading an American tran-
single perceived auditory however, as each can be
(the tapering part, Two other vowel transcriptiona systems scription, for they risk interpreting /lag/ as
quality, made by a move- seen as a combination of a
I

basic unit, or phoneme, involved. oppositethe alveolar are shown in the table. /ag instead o log.ln addition, the same /a/
Phonetics is the study of the way humans make, transmit, ment of the tongue diphthong +/e/.
and receive speech sounds. lt is divided nto three main When we talk about the'sound system'of English, we ridge) towards one position in the Often, in the history of . The system used bythe British phonetician, symbol is used by F&R in such words as
father, calm, and car, again reflecting the
branches, corresponding to these three distinctions: are referring to the number of phonemes which are used in 3 frontofthetongue mouth. The f irst l2 vowel English, a vowel has DanielJones in his pioneering description of
a language, and to how they are organized. To say there (opposite the hard qualties in the above table
typical sounds of these vowels in American
. artculatory phonetics is the study of the way the voca I changed its quality. There Received Pronunciation (p. 365). Gimson (a
are '20 vowels' in a particular accent means that there are English, whereas the British systems use /or/
palate) are all monophthongs. are two chief possibilities. student of Jones) modified this system in an
organs are used to produce speech sounds an important difference between the two
. acoustic phonetics is the study of the physical properties of
20 units which can differentiate word meanings: lel is dif-
4 centre ofthe tongue
. Diphthongs ate vowels When a diphthong attempt to show vowel qualities more accu- -sound
ferent from /it/, for example, because there are pairs of systems.
(opposite where the where two vowel qualities becomes a monophthong, rately. The Jones list does not include the use
speech sounds .
. auditory phonetlcs
words (such as set and seat) which can be distinguished
hard and soft palate can be perceived. The the soundis said to be of lcel,which in Jones's day was a common /e/ F&R refers to the vowel in such
n
is the study of the way people perceive solely by replacing one of these vowels by the other. All the
meet) remaining eight vowel monophthongized; con- pronunciation in such words as four, and dis- words as sa whereas the Britsh systems
speech sounds vowels in the list on p. 237 (and allthe consonants on show the diphthongal nature of this sound
qualities in the table are all versely, when a monoph- tinct from the vowel of ought.
This section gives details of the articulation of vowels and p. 242) owe their existence to this principle. 5 backofthetongue diphthongs. tn latl, for thong becomes a (p.239) as letl or leil .fhus, lmetl refers to
(opposite the soft . The system used by Victoria Fromkin &
consonants, and makes only passing mention of their acous- example, the sound begins diphthong, the sound is met in Gimson, but to mate in F&R.
Brackets palate) RobertRodman (F&R) in,4n /ntroduction to
tic characteristics and the mechanisms of audition. The audi- with an open /a/-type qual- d iphthong ized. An exam- . fu/ in the British systems refers only to the
To help separate the two ways of looking at pronunciation, Language (1stedn,1974), a widely used
tory perspective is more in evidence in the section on ity and ends with a close /i/- ple of the former is the vowel in such words as sun. ln F&R it is also
the practice has grown up in linguistics of using different teaching textbook in the USA. lt is a simpli-
prosody (p.248). type quality. lt is mportant Southern US pronunciation fied version ofthe influential system devised used for the vowel in such words as brrd
Phonology
kinds of brackets for the two approaches. Square brackets - to note that here we are of myman, which has byJohn S. Kenyon & Thomas A. Knott n A (along with a following /r/ consonant).
[ ] - are used when sounds are being discussed from a pho- talking about phonetic becomesomething more
Phonology is the study of the sound systems of languages, netic point of view-that is, purely as sounds. and regardless Pronouncing Dictionary of American English o /o/ in F&R refers to the vowel in such
diphthongs, not graphic like ma man (i.e. my lmatl
and of the general properties displayed by these systems. (1953), which aimed to provide a standard words as so. British students used to a diph-
oftheir role in the sound system ofthe language. Slant ones: the soundsin my, so, has become/ma/). An
By contrast with phonetics, which studies a// possible brackets -//- are used when sounds are being discussed transcription for the vowels of the main thongal transcription would therefore be
and how, for example, are example of the latter sthe
sounds that the human vocal apparatus can make, phonol- from a phonological point of view - that is, purely as part of ll dphthongs, even
dialects of American English. likely to interpret /kot/ as cot rather than
British mock-pronunciation
ogy studies only those contrasts in sound (the phonemes) the sound system, and regardless of the particular way they though each has only a . The f inal column in the table lists a few coat.
which make differences of meaning within language. o1 yes ljesl asyays ljeisl.
are articulated. Forthe most part, transcriptions in this book single vowel letter. lndeed, an even more exag- other symbols which are often seen repre- o F&R do not have separate symbols for the
When we listen carefully to the way people speak English, are phonological:they showthe phonemes, and use slant sentng certain vowels. Some are simply sounds in such words as deer, care, and
we will hear hundreds of slight differences in the way indi- ' Trphthongs are vowels in gerated form can some-
brackets, as in /pen/ps nd /skrul/screw. When the discus- which three vowel qualities times be heard, /jeies/, in typographicvariants; some represent a par- poor. These words are analysed as combina-
viduals pronounce particular sounds. For example, one , sion focuses on points of articulatory detail, however, as in can be perceived. The ticular sound effect, such as the presence of r tions of vowel + /r/, and their different
person may pronounce /s/ in a noticeably 'slushy' manner, which case we might say
the descrption of regionaldifferences of pronunciation, we vowels in such words as that the vowel has been 'colouring' (p. 245); and /a/ is often used as a status shown in the table by the use of
while another may pronounce it in a 'lisping' manner. A will need to rely as well on a phonetic transcrption. player lplercl, fi re simpler alternative to l1. parentheses.
lfarcl, triphthongized.
238 PART IV SPOKI,N AND \7I.IT-fI]N ENGLISFI 17 THE SOUND SYSTE,M 23()

Describing vowels a vowel (p.236).ln such word s as

Jlet, ir acs as a conso- THE LIPS
The vowel sYstem VOWEL FREQUENCY
All vowels have certain properries in common, which nant, occupying the same position as other consonanrs TYPES OF DIPHTHONG glide towards a higher
clistinguish them from consonanrs (p.242). (nxet, set, etc.). In such worcls as ntlt and trJ/st, it acts as a
Lip position is an important I long list of vowels, such as tht given on p. 237, is not From the point of view of
position in the mouth, and A study of the frequency
o From a phonetic point of view (p.236), vowels are
factor in the description of as illformative as a classification which groups them length, the diphthongs
are called c/osing diph- of vowels in a sample of
vowel, occupying the sarne position as orher vowels vowels, and three main typg5 conversational RP gave
into rypes, draws attention to the comlnon Properties (p.237) are like long
thongs.
articulated with a relatively open configuration of the (trust, me, etc.),) are recognized. the following results:
of each type, and notes the features which distinguish vowels; but the f irst part of . one type of closing diph-
vocal tract: no parr of the mouth is closed, and none .Vowels typically involve the vibration of the vocal . Rounded, where the lips diphthong in English is thong moves In the direc-
one rype from another. Becoming aware of the differ-
a %
of the vocal organs come so close together rhat we can cords (uoicing), and their distinctive resonances re are pushed forwards into much longerand louder tion of an [i] quality at the
the shape of a circle. ence berween a pure vowel, diphthong, and a than the second. When we front of the vowel area. lal 10.74
hear the sound of the air passing berween them (what rnade by varying the shape of the mouth, using the . Spread, where the corners stft (p. 239), but there is much more to
triphthong is a listen to the diphthong in These sounds are heard in
8.33
phoneticians call udible fiction). The mosr norice- tongue and lips. In English, rhere are no vowels whose of the lips are moved away about the way vowels work in English. (The lhaul how, for example, the words they ler/, cry larl,
be said lel
able vowel quality is rherefore [a], saicl with the from each other, as in a most of the sound is taken and toy ltrl. 2.97
chiefcharacteristic is the use ofnasal resonance (nsal
smile. following examples are all from Received Pronun- up with the /a/ part, the lal 1.83
mouth wide open. Consonanrs have a very different uowels) - unlike, sa French or Portuguese. English . The othertype of closing
. Neutral, where the lips are ciation (RB p.365); regional variants are shown on g lide to /u / being q u ite
diphthong moves in the 1.75
method of articulation. vowels are all orl uouels, and take on a nasal quality not noticeably rounded or short and rapid.
. From a phonological point of view (p.236), vowels only when they are being influenced by an adjacenr spread. -pp.240-1.) The eight diphthongs
direction of an [u] quality lel 1.71
A particularly impoltant factor is length (symbol- are usually grouped into
at the back of the vowel
tit 1.65
are units of the sound sysrem which typicaily occr,rpy nasal consonant, as in no, long and ntn. The lip positions of a selec- area (and thus adds some
izedby [r]).'!l'hen we listen to the 12 pure vowels, it is three types, depending on
lip rounding). These leul 1.51
the middle of a syllable (the nucleus, p.74e), n ,ot The chief task in describing the aticulation of tion of cardinal vowels are
eviclent that five of them are relatively long in duration, the tongue movement
sounds are heard in the
^,
lkatl and big lgl . Consonanrs, by conrrasr, are shown below. These photo- involved. ll 1.45
typi- vowels, accordingl is to plot the movements of the graphs were taken over 80 ancl seven are relatively short, Moreover, in several cases words so /eu/ and ow
cally found at the edges ofsyllables, shown also by these . The f irst group ends with laal. lol 1.37
tongue and lips. The most widely used method of years ago: the mouth
length seems to relate pairs ofvowels which are rticu-
examples. (It is reasoning of this kind which explains doing this was devised by Daniel Jones, and is known belongs to Daniel Jones. a glidetowardsthe [e] /c:l 1.24
latecl in roughly the same part of the mouth. In the fol- vowel in the centre ofthe The possibilties are shown
why lettel Y can be describecl either as a consonanr or as as the cnrdinal uowel system.
/tt:l 1.13
lowing examples, pairs of words are followed by the mouth, and are called cen- in the diagram below. This
0.86
fnng diphthongs. They are also shows the two types of
salDe consonant. If each word is given the same amount
heard in the words here triphthong, formed by /ct:l 0.79
THE CARDINAL of ernphasis, there is no doubt that the vowel in /sirt/ lt1, ar /eel, and sure /ue/. adding a central glide to larsl 0.61
VOWEL SYSTEM Front Central Back l'is much longer than that in lsttl sit; and similar The remainder end with a the closing diphthongs.
lzl 0.52
effcrs can be heard in lful foodvs /gud/ good, ldcnl ,
The cardinal vowel (CV) dia- Lip position of [i] leel 0.34
gram was devised to provide Close I v I tf UI u dwn vs ldonl don,andllo{r)dl lardvs lldl ld.There Dipthongs
lrcl o.21
a set of reference points for is also alength difference benveen ls:l and /e/, though
ltl o.14
the articulation and recogni- as the former occurs only in stressed syllables in RP centring closing
tion of vowels. lts dimensions luel 0.06
correspond to the 'vowel
(bird, seruant), and the latter only in unstressed sylla-
The total for all vowels was

,,,N 4\ /\
space' in the centre ofthe 6lcs (aboue, btter), this is not a contrast which enables
mouth where these sounds Close-mid e T o ending in ending in I ending in u 39.21 per cent. Consonant
a clifference of rneaning to be expressed.
are articulated. The positions figures are given on p.242.
ofthe front, centre, and back The contrast berween long and short vowels is nor (After D. B.Fry, 1947.)
e just one oflength (quantity);a different place ofarticu- IE EE UO EI AI JI U ao
of the tongue (p. 236) are Lip position of [o]
represented by vertical lines. lation (qulity) is involved. This is why Gimson, for
here air sure they cry toy 50 how

o At the front of the mouth,
[a] represents the lowest
point that it is theoretically
possible for the body of the
tongueto reach, and [o] rep-
resents the correspondingly
lowest point at the back of
the mouth. Vowels in the
region of [a] or [o] are called
open or /owvowels.
o [i] represents the highest
point at the front that the
body of the tongue can reach
while still producing a vowel
sound (anything higher, and
the tongue would come so
neartothe roofofthe
mouth that a consonant
sound would result). [u], sim-
ilarly, represents the h ighest
point at the back of the
mouth. Vowels in the region
of [i] and [u] are called c/ose
or high vowels.
. Two horizontal lines divide
the space between [i] and [a]
into equal areas. Vowels
made in the region of the
higher ofthese lines, repre-
Open-mid
Open
sented by [e] and [o], are
called mid-close or half-close.
Vowels made in the region of
the lower of these lines, rep-
resented by [e] and [c], are
m id-ope n or ha lf-open. The
term mid is often used to
describe the whole of the
area between these two
lines.
. The CV diagram also
includes informaton about
lip-rounding. ln most vowel
positions, it is possible to
hear a difference in vowel
quality depending on
whetherthe lips are rounded
or unrounded (spread), arfd
some languages (though not
e J
a CE
English) exploit this dimen-
sion of contrast quite consid-
erably. Thus, [i] is the high
front unrounded vowel,
heard in such words as see,
while [y] is its rounded equiv-nunciation the/i/of see is
alent, heard often in French
(tu), and sometimes in
regional English (e.9. Scots).
The rounded member of a
vowel pair is always the
symbol on the right in the
diagram.
It is important not to con-
fuse the phonetic symbols
used to identify the 'cardinal' reflecting a sound that is
points in the CV diagram
with the phonological sym-
bols used in the actual
^ thcse pairs ofvowels (/irl vs /l/, etc.) - clrawing attention
o o
description of English. Most
of the time the symbols cor-
respond quite well, but
sometimes they do not. For
example, in Received Pro-
very near the [i] pont of the
diagram (p. 240), and the/u/
ofshoe isvery near [u]. But
the /e/ of set is i n fact articu-
lated half way between the
cardinal values of [e] and [e];
and the/,r/symbol, when it
represents the vowels in such
words as does and cup, is
much f urther forward in the
mouth than the quality
shown in the CV diagram.
exirrnple, in his transcription gives different symbols to Tripthongs + +
to tlre quality differences berween them (p.237).If CIE AIE CI U AUE
lerrgth were the only factor, a transcription of litl vs lil player fre royal lower tower
would suffice.
Lip position of [u]
DANTEL JONES (1 881-1 967)
'DJ', as he was known within the profession, originally studied mathematics
at Cambrdge, and trained as a lawyer, but never practised. He first became
interested in language when he took a course in conversational French at the
age of 1 7, and found he had 'some aptitude for getting the pronunciation of
French right'. He encountered phonetics after a visit to a language insttute
in Germany in 1900, studied the subject under Paul Passy in Paris, and gave
Lip position of [al his f irst course in phonetics at University College London, in 1907. He built up
the Department of Phonetics there, becoming professor in 1 92 1.
Although he researched the phonetics of many languages, his name was
chief ly associated with two books, both on English:,4n Eng Iish Pronouncing
D i ct i o na ry (1 9 17) and.4n Outl i n e of E n g I ish Pho neti cs (191 8), both of wh ich
(in revised editions) are still used today. The cardinal vowels concept was also
developed at that time. By the 1 920s, DJ was being recognized as the British
authority on phonetcs. He served on the BBC Advisory Committee on Spoken
English from its foundation ('1926), and from 1909 was a strong supporter of
the Simplif ied Spelling Society (becoming its president in 1946). He also
served as secretary of the lnternational Phonetics Association from 1927 lo
1 949, when he retired from university teaching, and was president of the
Association from 1 950 until his death.
240 PART IV.SPOKEN AND \RITTEN ENGLISH T7 .TLIE SOUND SYSTEM 24r

VOWEL LOCATIONS AND VARIATIONS the RP location of each vowel (in black) and the many variants reflecting differences in age, social Vowels Articulation Some regionalvariants Vowels Articulation Some regionalvariants
location of major variants (in red). Diphthongal background, sex, and other factors. The vowel
This table gives a brief description of how each
English vowel is articulated, using Received
movements are shown by an arrow; pure vowels qualities referred to in the regional variant lzl Centre oftongue Closer in Birmingham, lel Centre oftongue Only in unstressed
by a dot. column, therefore, are intended to be illustrative, raised between half- Liverpool, Australian; raised between half- syllables in RP; replaces
Pronunciation (RP, p. 365) as the reference model. Comments about regionalvariation should be not representative: they relate to just one of the close and half-open; more open in conser- close and half-open; //as a stressed vowel
To put this accent in perspective, the table also lists interpreted with caution:tosaythat an RPvowel is
just a few of the hundreds of local and interna-
accents which are commonly associated with a l lips neutrally spread; vative RP; shorter II lips neutrallyspread; in many regional
diphthongized (p. 237) in Scots, for example, does region. Further details about regional norms can
no firm contact when followed by [r] in no frm contact accents; replaced by
tional regional variations which affect each vowel, not mean that this particular quality is to be found be found in 520, and a historical perspective is between rims and Scots, SW England, between rims and stronger vowel quali-
as well as some of the variations which are found
within RP itself . The cardinal vowel diagrams show
in a// varieties of Scots. Any major regional dialect given in 57. \ upper molars. American; diphthon- \ upper molars. ties in Caribbean and
area presents a complex phonetic picture, with gized in some regional other stress-timed
America n (bi rd lbctdl). accents (p. 249).

Pure vowels Diphthongs

Vowels Articulation Some regionalvariants Vowels Articulation Some regionalvariant5
letl Glide beginsfrom Noticeably more latl Glide beginsslightly Considerable variation

I lil slightly below half- open first element in a behind front open in f irst element, both
Front of tongue Often diphthongized ht Part of tongue Centralized variants
raised to slightly in Rfl with a slight
O
a nearer centre than common (e.9. Scots,
close f ront position, Cockney and broad
I position, moves further forward and
belowand behind glide from a more cen- front raised tojust Northern lreland);
moves upwards and Australian; monoph-
\\ upwards towards It]; further back; often

\ close f ront position;

lips spread; tongue
tral position; notice-
able glide leirl in
a
f above half-close
position; lips loosely
often replaced by [e]
in RP in unstressed
slightly backwards
towards [r]; lips
spread.
thongized to [er] in
many British accents;
closer start and more \\
Iips change from
neutralto loosely
spread; obvious clos-
centralzed, e.g. in
Canadian; further back
and often rounded in
tense; side rims make several UK accents spread; tongue lax; syllables.
firm contact with (e.9. Liverpool, Birm- central second ing movement of the broad Australian;
rims make light con-
upper molars. ingham, London), and element in Caribbean lower jaw. monophthongized to
tact with upper
in broad Australian; molars.
(Jamaica l$amiekal). [ir] in some Scots (die
shorter in Scots. ldi:l) and to [a:], or
with a weak glide, in S
U5A (part ofthe
lel Front oftongue Various diphthongized ll Frontoftongue Moreopenand
'southern drawl').
raised to between forms, such as [er] in raisedtojustbelow centralized [a]variants
half-open and half- Cockney, [ee] in half-open position; in N England, Wales;
lctl Glide begins Closerfirstelement in laul Glide begins in cen- First element more
between back half- Cockney; more open tral postion rounded and further
close positions; lips refined lips neutrally open; diphthongized [e] in
T loosely spread;
RP.
rimsmakeveryslight refined RP;triphthon- open and open in conservative RP; between half-close back in conservative RP
positions. moves longer f irst element and half-open, and Dublin; tendency
tongue tenser than contact with upper gized in some rural
upwards and for- to monophthongize in
for/t/; rims make back molars. American (man
wardstowards Ir];
in 5 USA. moves upwards and
back towards [u]; lips RP (goal [ggrl]); more
light contact with /meran4.
upper molars. lips open rounded neutral changing to open start in broad
changing to neutral. slightly rounded. Australian, and also in
Cockney, where the
Centre oftongue
glide is more exten-
Further back in many lo:l Tongue between Fronted to [a:] in many
raised to just above sive, with little or no lip
older RP speakers; centre and back in varieties, e.g. Liver-
f ully open position; more open and front rounding.
fully open position; pool, broad Australian;
lips neutrally open; in Cockney; half-close lips neutrally open; further back in refined
no contact between back in N England, laul Glide begins First element fronted lrcl Glide begins in posi- More open first ele-
RP ('far back'); shorter
a o tongue and upper often rounded [u].
no contact between
rims and upper
between back and in Cockney and broad tion for/r/, moves ment n conservative
backwards and
in American [r]-pro-
molars. molars.
front open positons, Australian, and more RP; second element
nouncng accents
moves upwards and noticeable rounding downwardstowards sometimesstrong in
/e/; lips neutral, with
(p. s3).
slightly backwards on second element; 'affected' RP (here
towards [u]; lips unrounded fronted slight movement /hjo/).
lol Back of tongue in No lip rounding in lcl Back oftongue Often a triphthong in
change from
neutrally open to
second element in
'royalfamily'
from spread to open.
fully open position; American; lengthened raised between half- Cockney (fourlforue/);
RP

slight, open lip and closer variant in open and half-close closer lip rounding in
slightly rounded;
jaw movement quite
(house [haIs]; mono-
phthongized close
rounding; nocontact conservativeRP(offas positions; medium lip refined RP; length
between rimsand /c:f/'orff') and ock- rounding; no contact reduced in parts of
extensive. rounded vowel in Scots
upper molars. ney. between rims and USA (especially New
(house lhursl); first ele-
a ment fronted towards
upper molars. England).
mid-open in West
Country and Dublin;
centralized first
ta lul ongue nearer Little variation, apart a lul Back oftongue Front rounded variant
\. centre than back,
raised tojust above
from some reduced lip
rounding; longer and
raised to just below marked in Scots;
element in Canada
(p.3a2).
a close position; lips centralized and
half-close position; closer in Scots and closely rounded; diphthongized in
leel Glide begins in half- Closer start in Cockney; /uel Glide begins in posi- Much variation in RP,
lips closely but some N England tongue tense; no Cockney.
loosely rounded; open front position, much more open in tion forlu/, moves with more open first
accents, firm contact
tongue lax; no firm moves backwards refined RP; centralized forwards and down- element; often
between rimsand
towards/e/; lips neu- long vowel in Eirming- wards towards /e/; monophthongized to
contact between
rims and upper
upper molars. H \ trally open through- ham [gl]; more open lips weakly rounded [cr], so that sure
molars. out. long vowel in Liver- becoming neutrally appears as [.[cr] 'shaw'
pool [er]; closer long spread.
vowel in Scots [e:].
 242 PART IV.SPOKEN AND \RITTEN ENGLISH 17 .'I'HE SOUND SYSTEM 243

CONISONANTS
The difference berween the number of letters and
sounds found in English, so dramatic in the case of
vowels (p.237), is far less significant in the case of con-
sonants. There are 21 consonant letters in the written
alphabet (8, C, D, B G, H, J, K, L, M, N, B Q, R, S,
more vibrant than the one ar rhe end of ooze lv,zl (to
voice this fully would produce an unnarural buzzing
effect at the end of the word).
. An alternative way of capturing the
between such consonant pairs as /p/ and /b/ is to com-
pare the force with which they are arriculared. Voice-
less consonants are produced with much greater force
than their voiced counterparrs, and the terms fortis
CONSONANT
FREQUENCY TYPES OF CONSONANT
behind the alveolar ridge. as in /r/ (for some accents).
. Retroflex: using the tonguetip curled back to well
. Affricate: acomplete closure is made at some
point in the mouth, with the soft palate raised; air
A study of the frequency 61
[ll English consonants are made with an air-stream behind the alveolar ridge, as in /r/ (for some accents). pressure builds up behind the closure, which is then
difference consonants in a sample of
from the lungs moving outwards
(unlike certain . Palato-alveolar: using the blade (and sometimes released relatively slowly (compared with the
conversational RP gave the
consonants n some other languages, which use the tip) of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge. suddenness of a plosive release), as in /{/ and /S/.
following results:
other types of air-stream). To differentiate the 24 with a simultaneous raising of thefrontof the Intermttent closure
o/o tongue towards the roof ofthe mouth, as n 4/ and . Roll or Trill:lhe tong ue tip taps rapid ly aganst the
% consonants from each other, phoneticians use a
classif ication based on the place and manner of /3f and the second elements in /[landl$1. teeth ridge, as in the'trilled /r/' heard in some
lnl 7.sB lbl i.sj articulation, in addition to the criteria of whether
. Palta/: raising the front of the tongue close to the regional accents; a trill in which the back of the

T, V \7, X,Y, Z), and there are 24 consonant sounds ('strong') and lenis ('weak ) have come to be used to Itl 6.42 lfl 1.7s they are voiced orvoiceless and oral or nasal, as hard palate, as in /j/.
. Velar: raising the back of the tongue against the
tongue taps against the uvula is also sometimes
/
in most English accenrs. The diffculty of transcribing identi$' the two types. Thus, lpl , ltl , lkl , lfl , l0l , lsl ,
ldl s.14 lpl i.7B described on the facing page. (For the names and
soft palate, as in lkl, lgl, and l4l.
heard regionally and in some idiosyncratic'weak
pronunciations.
lsl 4.81 lhl r.46 tocations of the vocal organs, see the diagram on
. G/otta/: using the space between the vocal cords . F/ap: a single tap is made by the tongue tip against
'speech is therefore less serious, as mosr of the written l[], and lfl are all fortis consonanrs; lbl , ldl , lgl , lvl, ill ltJl 1.1 s o. 236. For a full description of each individual
3.66 .onronrnt, t"" PP. 2aa-5.) to make audible friction, as in /h/, or a closure, as in the alveolar ridge, as in some pronunciations of /r/
symbols can be assigned individual phonetic values, l1, lzl, lsl, and l$l are all lenis. ll 3.56 lel 1.os the glottal stop (in some accents). and ldl.
and the resulting transcription thus looks much more . Unlike vowels, some consonnrs are primarily iden- lrl 3.s1 ly o.s6 Place of articulation Partal closure
. ateral: a partialclosure is made bythe blade of
We need to know where in the vocal tract the sound Manner of articulation
immediately readable than that of vowels. However, tified through their use of the nasal caviry. Normall lml 3.22 fil o.8B is made, and which vocal organs are involved. The We need to know howthe sound is made, atthe the tongue aga inst the a lveola r ridge, in such a way
because ofthe erratic history ofEnglish spelling, there in English, when we speak we keep the soft palate lkl 3.os ldsl o.o
important postions for English are the following: various locations in the vocal tract. Four phonetic that the air stream is able to flow around the sides
is no neat one-to-one correlation between letters and (p.236) raised, so that it presses against the back ofthe lwl 2.81 lil 0.41 possibilities are recognized. of the tongue, as in /l/.
souncls. In several cases, one consonant sound is throat and allows no air out through the nose. \X/ith the lzl 2.46 ll 0.37 . Bilabial: usingboth lips, as in /pf lbl,lml,lwl. Total closure Narrowing
. Fricative:Two vocal organs come so close together
spelled by more than one lemer (e,g. th in this) or one three nasal consonants, I ml , I nl , and l4l , however, the lvl 2.oo lsl o.1o . Labio-dental: using the lower lip and the upper
teeth, asin lfl,lvl.
. P/osive: a complete closure is made at some point
in the vocal tract, with the soft palate raised; air thatthe movement of air between them can be
consonant letter symbolizes more than one sound soft palate remains lowered (as it is when we breathe), The total for all consonants
. Dental'. using the tongue tip between the teeth or pressure builds up behind the closure, which is then heard, asinlll,lvl,lql,l1, 1,lzl,lY,/y, /h/, and the
released explosively, as in/p/, /bl,ltl, ldl,lW,lgl,the second element in /$/ and /{/. The consona nts /s/,
(e.g. xinfox ltoks/). There are rhus rwo answers ro rhe and the result is a series of sounds with a distinctive was 60.78 per cent. Vowel close to the upperteeth, as in /0/and //.
o Alveolar:usingthe blade ofthe tongue close to the f irst elements of lfl and l$1, and the glottal stop. lzl, [], and lSl have a sharper sound than the others,
question, 'How many consonants are there at the nasal resonance. figures are given on p. 239.
a lveolar ridge, asin ltl,ldl, lsl, lz|, /n/, /l/, and the f irst
. Nasa/: a complete closure is made at some point n because they are made with a narrower groove in
(After D. B. Fry, 1947, with
beginning or end of the word thic?':'Two' (in writ- elements of /$/and/S/. the mouth, with the soft palate lowered, so that air the tongue, and are often grouped together as
later correctons
. Post-alveolar. using the tongue tip close to just escapes through the nose, as in /ml,lnl,lql. sibilants.
ing); 'One' (in speech, /ork/). Consonant or vowel incorporated.)
The distinction between consonanr and vowel is fun-
It should be noted that this
Describing consonants damental, but some sounds sit uneasily benveen the particular study did not take
Allconsonants have certain properties in common, two, being articulated in the same way as vowels, but word frequency into account CONSONANT COM BI NATIONS and /skl-/ are highly restricted, appearing only with certain GAPS? SCHMAPS!
which identi$, them in contrast to vowels (p.238). functioning in the language in the same way as conso- in the sample analysed. All vowels.
o From a phonetic point of view (p.236), they are sounds in the sample were The 24 consonants found in RP and many other accents It is the consonant-vowel combinations which make the Traditionally, there s
nants. ljl as in yes and lwl as in we are like this. /j/ is no {n-/ initial word
counted, regardless of how may be used singly or in combination in syllables and words table particularly interesting. ls there really no word in
articulated in one of two ways: either there is a closing formed like a very short [i] vowel (as can be heard ifwe many times a particular word - but only a fraction of the millions of possible combin- the language (using an RP accent) beginning with three cluster in English, but
movement of one of the vocal organs, forming such a draw out r.he y of yes), but it occurs at the beginning of was used there. This is why ations actually occur. The table shows the possibilities for consonants and followed by /c/? No /splatJ? lsprct-l? the stuation has
narrow constriction thar it is possible to hear the sound //, in particula[ has such a three-consonant (C) combinations at the beginning of a /strcr-/? Or again, is there no /splau-/? No /skwo;/? lt is changed in recent years
the word, as do other consonanrs (4es, mess, best). Sim-
high place in the table: it is word, using data derived from the English Pronouncing fairly easy to check out the possibilities intuitively for with the arrival of a
of the air passing through; or the closing movemenr is ilarly, lwlis formed like a short [u] vowel, but acts as a largely due to the high Dictionary. These are: short words, though even here it is surprising how many number of loan words
complete, giving a total blockage. The closing move- consonant (we, me, see). These two consonants are frequency of this sound technical or rare words can be found with unusual initial from German and
ment may involve the lips, the tongue, or the rhroar, in the definite article s+p+1,;j clusters, such as squamous and sc/erosls. Proper names also American Yiddish, and
therefore sometimes described as semi-uowe ls. (the) and demonstratves s+t+r,j extend the range somewhat; for example, there seems to several other {C-l
but in each case the overall effect is very different from Certain other consonants are also somewhat vowel- (th,s, that, etc.). be nothing for /strau/ except Sfroud (and thus strouding) combinations are now
s+k+l,r,j,w
the reladvely open and unimpeded articulation found like, in that they can be sounded conrinuouslywithout and Strauss. The uncertain status of new loan words often heard.
ln other words, the sequence is lsl + a fortis plosive + one (p. 126) and the existence of mixed accents with varant
in vowels. any audible friction: the three nasals, /m/, lnl, and lql,
of the continuants (see above). Outside of this system, pronunciations (521) also make it difficult to be absolutely schnapps schlemiel
o From a phonological point of view (p.236), they are Al as in lie, and lrl as in red, These can all be classed there is. in addition, a single example of /smj-/ - the name definite that a particular consonant combination does schnitzel schmuck
units of the sound system which rypically occupy the together as (frictionless) continuants or sonoranrs, of a bird, thesmew. However, of the 12 possible CCC not exist. schnorkel schmaltz
sequences, three (/spw-, stl-, stw-/) do not occur, and lCQl (After A. C. Gimson,1970, 2nd edn of Gimson 1962.) sch nauzer schmo
edges of a syllable (the margins, p.246), as in dogs within which the four oral items (/l/, lrl, lwl, ljD are schnozzle schlock
/dogs/ and glad lgldl. They may also appear in often recognized as forming a distinct group.
sequences (clusters), as these examples show In fact, up I E , A O U E I: O: JI UI 3I EI AT CI U AU I E U

to three consonants may be used together at the begin- TRANSCRIBING CONSONANTS spl+++++ ++ +++
ning of a spoken word in English (as in string), and up
A grtish and an American transcription system for consonants: spr+++++ + ++ ++ +
to four consonants at the end, though not always very A. C. Gimson (1962) and V. Fromkin & R. Rodman (1974) (details on p. 237).8 spj + +
comfortably (as in twelfihs /twelfOs/ and glimpsed The coqsonants in
Gimson F&R
The consonants in
Gimson F&R str+++++ +++++ ++ ++
/glinpst/). pie, up p p so, us s s stj + +
o Some consonants involve the vilration of the vocal by, ebb
tie, at
b
t
b
t
zoo, ooze
shoe, ash
z z skl ++ + +
cords: these are the uoiced consonants, such as /b/ and
die, odd d d genre, rouge
J
3
5
z skr + +++ + ++ ++ ++
/m/. Others have no vocal cord vibration: these are the coo, ache k k he h h skj + +
uoiceles consonants, such as lpl and /s/. The distinc- go, egg
+++ ++
o o m
chew, each

{

, ts
me, am
no, in
m
n
skw++ + + +
tion is not absolute: depending on where in a word a n
jaw, edge 6 , dz hang T rj smj +
consonant appears, there may be degrees ofvoicing. At fee, off f f lie, eel I I
the end ofaword, for example, avoiced consonant ty- view. of row, ear (not RP) r r
thigh, oath e 0 way It is an interesting exercise to try to find examples of all the words marked as possible in the table
ically loses a grear deal of irs vibration (it is deuoiced). A schnauzer
they, booth you j v
One set is provided on p.250.
The lzl sound at the beginning of zoo /zurl is much
244 PART IV.SPOKEN AND \TRITTEN ENGLISH
CONSONANT LOCATIONS AND VARIATIONS affect certain consonants are also listed. The diagrams show
place of articulation only. As with vowels (p. 240), comments
This table gives a brief description of how each English
about regional variation are illustrative, not representative,
consonant is articulated, using Received pronunciation
and should be interpreted with caution. For further
(RP, p. 365) asthe referencemodet. To putthisaccent in
discussion ofvariation, see g2O; historical developments are
perspective, the chief regional and social variations which
summarized on pp. 18,42.
Plosives
Articulation: Bilabial plosives: soft palate raised;
complete closure made by the upper and lower lip; /p/
voiceless, /b/voiced (and devoiced in word-final
position); /p/fortis, /b/ lenis.
/ Some regionalvaranfs.' No important regionaI
variants, though the amount of aspiration (the force
lp,bl of air following the release of /p/) and the degree of
voicing can vary.
Articulation: Alveolar plosives: soft palate raised;
complete closure made bythe tongue tip and rims
against the alveolar ridge and side teeth; /t/voiceless,
/d/ voiced (and devoiced in word-f inal position); /t/
fortis, /d/ lenis; lip position influenced by adjacent
vowel (spread for tee, meat; rounded for too, foot);
tongue position inf luenced by a following consonant,
l,dl becoming further back (post-alveolar) in tr dental in
ehth; when in final position in a syllable or word,
they readily assimilate (p.247) to lp,kl or tb, gli
followed by bilabial or velar consonants.
Some regional variants.' ln American, and often in
informal speech generally, /t/ between vowels is a
lenis. rapid tap, resembling Id ]; dental in lrish;
affricate release as [ts] or Idz] in some urban UK
dialects (Liverpool, Cockney) and lrish; /t/ replaced by
glottal stop [?] between vowels and before / l/ (as in
bottle) very noticeable in Cockney, Glasgow English,
and urban speech generally; glottal stop increasingly
heard in RP, especially replacing /t/ before / n / (as in
butfon) and in final position (as in shut t/re gate).
Articulation: Velar plosives: soft palate raised;
complete closure made by the back ofthe tongue
against the soft palate; /k/voiceless, /g/ voiced (and
devoiced in word-final position); /k/forts, /g / lenis; lip
position influenced by adjacent vowel (spread for
keen, meek, rounded for cool, book; also, quality
varies depending on the following vowel (/k/ in keen
lk'el is much further forward, approaching the hard palate,
than /k/ in car).
Some regiona|varanfs.' No important regiona|
variations, apart from some variation in aspiration
and voicing (aswith tpl andtbt).
Fricatives
Articu I ation: La bio-dental f ricatives: soft pa late
raised; light contact made by lower lip against upper
teeth; /f/voiceless, /v/voiced (and devoiced in wor$-
final position); /t I fortis, lv I lenis.
Some regional varrnts; UK West Country/f/weakly
articulated, approaching [v];/f/in of often omitted in
lf,vl informal speech (cup o' tea), as is the / v/ in auxilia ry
have (could have).
Articulation: Dental fricatives: soft palate raised;
tongue tip and rims make light contact wth edge and
inner surface of upper incisors, and a firmer contact
with upper side teeth; tip protrudes between teeth for
some speakers; /0/voiceless, //voiced (and devoiced
I in word-final position); /0/fortis, // lenis; lip position
la,l
depends on adjacent vowel (spread in thef, heath,
rounded in though, oath).
Some regionalvarianfs; ln Cockney and London-
influenced varieties. replaced by labio-dental /f/ and
/v/; in lrish, replaced by a dental /t/ and /d/; often
omitted in clusters in informal speech (e.g. lkleaz/
for c/otes).
Articulation: Alveolar fricatives: soft palate raised;
tongue tip and blade make lght contact wth alveolar
ridge, and rims make close contact wth upper side
teeth; air escapes along a narrow groove in the centre
of the tongue; /s/voiceless, /z/voiced (and devoiced in
/ word-f inal position); /s/ fortis, /z/ lenis; lip position
depends on adjacent vowel (spread in see, ease,
ls,zl rounded in soup, ooze).
Some reg i o na I varianfsj U K West Country /s/ weakly
articulated, approaching [z]; several deviant forms in
speech pathology. especiallythe use of [0] and [] for
lsl and lzl respectively (an interdental lisp).
Articulation: Palato-alveolar f ricatives: soft palate
rased; tongue tip and blade make light contact with
alveolar ridge, while front of tongue raised towards
hard palate, and rims put in contact with upper side
teeth; /J/voiceless, /3/ voiced (and devoiced in word-
final position); /J/forts, /S / lenis, but both sounds laxer
than lsl andlzl; lip rounding influenced by adjacent
l.l, sl vowel (spread in she, bee, rounded in shoe, rouge),
but some speakers always round their lips for these
sounds.
Some regionalvaranfs.. No important regiona|
variation; some speakers vary between these sounds
and lil or lzjl in the middle of such words as issue,
casual; also usagevariation with I stl or lztl asin
apprecate, ratio: / [/ and lS/ are themselves
alternatves in version, Asia, and several other words;
lS/ often replaced byl{/ in word-final position (e.g.
garage, rouge).
Articulaton: Glottalfricative: soft palate raised; air
from lungs causes audible friction as it passes through
the open glottis, and resonates through the vocal tract
wth a quality determined chief ly by the position of the
tongue taken up for the following vowel; voiceless
with some voicing when surrounded by vowels (aha).
Some regional varanfs.' Occurs only in syllable initial
/h/ (followed by Ii] position, before a vowel; omitted in many regional
vowel)
accents, and wdely considered the chief sign of
'uneducated' Brtish speech; usage variation in initial
unaccented syllable (e.9. an hote/ vs a hote|.
17 THE SOUND SYSTEM
Affricates
Articu lation : Palato-a lveolar aff ricates: soft pa late
raised; forthe f irst element, closure made by the
tongue tip, blade, and rims against the alveolar ridge
, and side teeth; at the same tme, front of the tongue is
raised towards the hard palate, so that when the
closure is released the air escapes to gve a palato-
alveolar quality; /f/voiceless, /$/voiced; /$/fortis,
/f,S/ (stoP Phase /$/ lenis; lip position inf luenced by following vowel
(spread for cheap, rounded for choose), though some
only)
speakers always round their lips for these sounds.
Some regionalvarranfs: No important regional
variation; some RP speakers replace them byltjland
/dj/ (in such words as statue, tune, due).
Nasals
Artculation: Bilabial nasal: soft palate lowered;
total closure made bythe upperand lower lip; voiced,
with only occasional devoicing (notably, after[s], as in
smle); labio-dental closure when followed by lll or
lvl, asincomforf vowel-like nature allows/m /to be
used with a syllabicfunction (p.2aO, in such words as
bottom lbotrpl.
I ntl
So m e reg i o n a I v ariants.' No i m porta nt re g i ona I
social variations.
Articulaton: Alveolar nasal: soft palate lowered;
closure made by tongue tip and rims against the
alveolar ridge and upper side teeth; voiced, with only
occasional devoicing (notably, after Is], as in snap); lip
position influenced by adjacent vowel (spread in neat,
rounded in noon); much affected by the place of
articulation of thefollowing consonant (e.9. often
InI labio-dentalclosure when followed bylf/orlv/ (as in
rnfant), bilabial when followed by /p/ orlb4; vowel-
like nature allows/n/to be used with a syllabic
function in such words as button lb^f+|.
Some region a I varranfs.' No i mportant regiona I or
social variations.
Artculation: Velar nasal: soft palate lowered; voiced;
closure formed between the back of the tongue and
the soft palate; further forward if preceded by front
vowel (sing, compared with bang); lip position
I
depends on preceding vowel (spread in sing, rounded
t in song); this is the normal nasal sound before/k/ or
/g/ in such words as srnk and angr despite having
lnl only an n in the spelling.
ome reg i onal vaanfs: Heard as [l g ] in Midlands
S
and N England (srngrng as/srqgr4gD; ending -rng
replaced byn/in conservative RP (huntrn'and
shootrn') and widely in regional speech (now
perceived as uneducated in the UK).
Oral continuants
Articulation: Lateral: soft palate raised; closure made
by tongue tip against centre of alveolar ridge, and air
escapes round either or both sides; voiced, with
devoicing chiefly after fortis consonants (as in p/ease,
s/eep); front of tongue simultaneously raised in
direction of hard palate, giving a front-vowel
resonance in such words as RP /eap ('clear l'); back of
/ l/ (clear tI l)
tongue raised in direction of soft palate, giving a back
vowel resonance in such words as RP pool ('dark l'); lip
position depends on adjacent vowel (spread in /eap,
peef rounded in loop, poo[);vowel-like nature allows
/l/to be used with a syllabic function in such words as
bottle lbotll.
245
Some regional variants: ln RP, clear / occurs before a
vowel or /j/. and dark / in other places, but there is
much variation; dark / often becomes a back vowel in
Cockney, especiallywith lip rounding, sothatpee/
becomes more like Ipiro], and this is also heard in
some RP, especially London-influenced speech (as in
careful, beautiful); dark / in all positons in some Scots
/l/(dark It]) and much American; clear / in all positions in some
lrish; American uses syllabic /l/where RP has a
noticeable vowel (e.9. in fertile, missile).
Arti cu I ation: Post-alveolar approximant (or
frictionless continuant): soft palate raised; tongue tip
held close to (but not touching) the back ofthe
alveolar ridge; back rims touch the upper molars;
central part of tongue lowered; lip position
a influenced byfollowing vowel (spread in reach,
rounded in rooml; becomes a fricative when preceded
lrl by ldl (asin drive); becomes a tap between vowels and
after some consonants (as in ve ry, sorry, three); voiced,
with devoicing a'ller lpl,ltl,lkl (as in pry); lip position
influenced byfollowing vowel (spread in reed,
rounded in rude), but some speakers always give /r/
some rounding.
or
Some regional variants: More variants than any other
consonant; major division (p. 307) into accents which
use /r/ after vowels (rhotic accents) and those which do
not(non-rhotic accents); tongue tip curled back
(retroflexed) in much American, South Asian, SW
England, the /r/ articulation colouring the preceding
vowel (in blr4 9ir0; lingualtrillor rollagainstthe
alveolar ridge in some Scots, Welsh, and may be heard
in stylized speech anywhere (as in dramatic
declamation); uvular trill or fricative in NE England
and some Scots; replacement by lwl (redlwedl)
fashionable in England in early 1 9th century; use as a
linking or intrusive sound may attract social criticism
(p.366).
:
Articu lation Labio-velar semi-vowel : soft palate
K
/ raised; tongue in the position of a close back vowel;
lips rounded, wth greater tension than for [u r]
(compare woos and ooze); voiced, with some
devoicing after fortis consonants (twice, sweet).
Some reg ional va ri a nts: Severa I dia lects (such as
Scottish), and also conservative RB have a voiceless
variant Ihw] or [ml in such wordsaswhile, and this
may be contrastive (Walesvswhales); also common
regionally (very noticeable in Cockney) is a strong Iw]
element replacing a vowel in such words as door
[dowa]; forms suchasflowerlflawal may also be
heard in modified RP.
Articulation: Palatal semi-vowel; soft palate raised;
tongue in the position of a f ront close vowel; lip
position influenced by following vowel (spread in
year, rounded in you); greater tension than for Ii:]
(compareyeastand east); voiced, with some devoicing
after fortis consonants ure, huge).
tjt Some regi onal va ria nts: Variation between /ju l/ and
/u:/ in RP after certain consonants, especially /l/ and
/s/(suitas/sjurt/and/sultl salute as/salju:t/and
lsalul); ljl variant now less common. and absent in
most reg iona I accents; variaton between /sj, zj, tj, djl
and l[,5, S, 4/ in such words as issue, usual, statue,
and educate; also common regionally is a stronq Ul
element replacing a vowel in such words as where
Iweje].
246 PAI{T IV. SPOKEN AND'WI.IT'I-EN ENGI,ISH 17 THE SOUND SYSTM 247

S\'LLABLES
we may say to someone who is protesting too much.
.[!5 F
f,flq
CONNECTED SPEECH
And if we wanr ro emphasize a point, or speak plainl
4
ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE t
we may well try ro 'pur it in words of one syllable'.
Vowels and consonants typically do not act alone; People are also able to coulr rhe number of syllables in
Several features of con- ' tr',' llFq
Vowcl and consonant segments combine into sylla-
nected speech can be seen in i*
ir

l*
i t:'
there are very few worcls or word-like noises which a word, by beating out its rhythm, The rule is basically this acoustic display of a sen-
6ls5; syllables combine into words; and words com-
'

tence, using a machine ,i i!

consist of only one sound (they include I, eye, oh, m). sirnple: each syllable conrains one vowel or vowel-like A speech bubble from Co. i!l

The vast majority of English words contain a combi- cuts, popular among youno bine into phrases and sentences. But the process of known as a speech spectro- l,
nucleus. The word despitehas two such nuclei, so rhere
oroclucing connected speech affects the Pronuncia-
graph. Time is displayed hori
I

British children in the 1940i fl

nation of vowels (V) and consonanrs (C), such as CV are two syllables. The word po syllabichas five nuclei, The writers have introduced zontally: the utterance lasts
i;6 of these segments in a numbet of inter-
osever:al forjust over two seconds.
v
(go),YC (up), CYC (cat) , CCYCC (stops), and CCCV so there are five syllables. However, there are several a system of syllable division.
presumably believing that esring ways. Certain segments have a tendency to run The acoustic frequency of the speech . There is a perceptible pause af.er anyway.
(s c re tu, p. 243) . The co mbined unirs are called sy I la b I e s. rypes of word (notabl those which contain diph- this will help children to extra segments may be added to ensure sounds is displayed vertically, and their but otherwise the words have no silences
togerher;
In the above examples the words each contain only one thongs or triphthongs, p.239) where it can be difficult intensity is shown by the relative darkness between them. This is connectedspeech.
read.
,nioorhn"r, of speech; some segments adopt a less
of the marks. The vowels and vowel-like . There is elision of lhl in him,and a very
such unit, ancl are thus often caIIed monoslllbles, deciding just how many syllables rhere are. Is defined phonetic form; and some completely sounds are darkest, and the dfferent vowel rapid runni ng together of sounds at that
or monosyllabic words. This notion contrasts with meteoric foul syllables (me-te-o-ric) or three
clearly
Each ofthese possibilities has an associated qualities can be clearly seen in the changing point. lt is difficult to see any vowel in hlm.
disappear.
words that conrain more rhan one syllalle (po- (me-teo-ric)? Is seueral three syllables or rwo label fi'om the domain of phonetics. (Pro-
pattern of black bands (forrnants), which . The two /t/sounds of not and to have
technical represent varyng concentrations of acous- fused into one.
slllabic words) - most of the words in the language, in (se-ue-ral or seu-ral)? ls being rwo syllables
nuncitions shown are those of Received Pronuncia- tic energy in the vocal tract. . The vowel of to is very short and weak.
fact. The present sentence contains instances of a rwo- (be-ing) o one? Regional accenr, speed of or RB p.365')
rion,
syllable (disyllabic) word, despiteldrspart/ (CVCCVC), speech, level of formalit and conrexr of use can
and a three-syllable (trisyllabic) word, instances lnstan- all influence these decisions. For example, the ASSIMILATION STRONG AND WEAK FORMS and nd n, n
srzl (VCCCVCCVC), and the previous senrence has a number ofsyllables we assign to such words can that t et
ve-syllable word, posltllabic lpolitsrlabrk/, which depend on whether they are being spoken Adjacent sounds often influence each other so that they Nearly 50words in English can be pro- his htz tz
become more alike, or assimilate. These effects are more nounced in two distinct ways, depending on from from frem
despite its length has a simple syllabic srrucrure spontaneously or read aloud, and on whether common in rapidspeech, butsomedegreeof assimilation the degree of force with which they are of DV ev, v, e
(CVCVCVCVCVC). they are being said with emphasis, emorion, or will be found in all spoken styles. uttered. They are all words which perform a to tu: tu, t
People know about syllables. 'Not another syllable!' .ln anticpatory (or regressive) assimilation, a sound is grammatical f unction - determiners, pro- some s^m sm, sm
equanimity.
inf luenced bythe sound which follows it. ln the phrase nouns, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, con- there ee e
ten balloons, lten/ is likely to be pronounced /teml
junctions, and particles.Strong (or ful/) have hv v, v,
SYLLABLE STRUCTURE the nucleus. These make up (not anticipating the following bilabial consonant. ln the forms are used when the word is said in iso- were w3: we
Tumped is CVCCC
the syllable coda: am, ants, greeting goodn ight, lgudl isusually pronounced lgunl, lation or is being emphasized. Weakforms do du: de, du
CVCCVC), and fox is CVCC
syllable as sometimes shown in writing: g'night. are normal in connected speech: peripheral must m^st ms, mst
The structure of English ee/. They are traditionally (not CVC).
spoken syllables can be sum- known as'closed syllables'. .ln progressive assimilation, a sound is inf luenced by the vowels (those which are articulated towards
marized follows: . Manysyllables have both sound which precedes it. The second word in bridge score the edge of the vowel area in the mouth, ln many cases, we need to take note of con-
as Syllabic consonants
would typically emerge (in RP) as/Jkc:/, because of the p. 238) are replaced by those of a more cen- text. For example, there as an adverb of place
an onset and a coda: cat, There is one exception to the
. Minimally, a syllable con- iump. rule that a syllable must have influence of the palatal element in the preceding tral quality, and some consonants may be (Look over there) is always strong; but at the
sists of a vowel, or a vowel- . The combination of nucleus rhyme affricate (p. 245). Similarly, the second word in Church elided. Weak forms are sometimes repre- beginning of an existental sentence (p. 23 1 )
a vowel as its nucleus. This
like sound (see below), which and coda has a special signifi- Streetwould be found as{tri:t/. sented in writing, though not usually very it is a lways weak (There's no place like
occurs when certain vowel-
acts as the nucle us, centre, ot cance, making up the . A third possibility is coalescence - a reciprocal influence, accurately (bacon'n eggs, cup o' coffee). home). Also, different forms may appear
like consonants - lll, lrl, or a
peak ofthe syllable: l, or, rhyming property of a sylla- where two sounds fuse into a single new segment. ln ln the following examples, the strong before consonants and before vowels: com-
nasal - act as the centre of
ooh. Very rarely, a syllable ble: cat, sat; jump, clump. won't she,theinal /t/ and initial /J/ mutually assimilate forms are given on the left and the weak pare t mustgo(lmas/) and / musteat
the syllable, as in bottle
can consist of a consonant: to produce /ff resulting in the fused unit, /weun$i:/. forms on the right. (lmestl), or fortea (lfeh andfor Ann (lferl).
/bot!1, botto m lbotn l, onset nu
m, shh. ln analysing syllable struc- button 41, and (in those (centre, peak)
. Many syllables have one or ture in this way, it is impor- accents which pronounce /r/,
more consonants preceding tant to look for the p. 245) perhapslprhaps/. tn
the nucleus. These make up pronunciation behind a each case, the syllabic conso- ELISION LIAISON criticwillbe heard using an intrusive rin
the consonants would revert speech. (However, there are
the syllable onset: me, so, word's spel ling. Although such cases.) The BBC is one of several institu-
nant is shown by a small ver- to their normal coda value a few regional accents - in As speech speeds up, sounds are likelyto be left out, or /A sound may be introduced between
play. Traditionally, they are ooze ends in a written vowel, tical mark beneath the (such as/botal/); but these tions which have become so sensitive about
some parts of Wales, for e/ided. This is especially so when clusters of consonants words or syllables to help them run
known as'open syllables'. it ends in a spoken conso- public reaction to the usage that t warns its
symbol. ln a very slow articu- pronunciations are highly example- where the avoid- occur. lndeed, some sequences are impossible to articu- together more smoothly. The chief example
. Many syllables have one or nant, and ts structure is VC. lation of these words, the artificial, and would never be late naturally without elision. Try Henrythe Sxth's three
presenters of the risks of liaising with Laura
ance of syllabic consonants is of this in English isthe pronunciation of
more consonants fol lowing Similarly, a// is VC (not VCC), vowels would re-appeat; and Norder.
heard in usual conversational normal.) adv,sers. Tongue twisters capitalize on these difficulties. word-final /r/ in RP (and other non-rhotic
' Vowels in weak syllables are often elided in informal accents, p. 245). RP speakers pronounce the Got one
speech. lt is unusual to hear the f irst vowel in such words /r/ in such words as c/ear and mother on ly ln Robert Burchf ield's lhe Spoken Word: A
as police, tomato, and correct, which routinely appear as following vowel:we find BBC Guide (1981), there is a clear recom-
SYLLABLE BOU ND.A.RIES / because there are no syl lables in former analysis. lf we follow our do not necessarily correspond to p'lice, etc. A tip for novice public speakers s to give extra
when there is a
mendation about r liaison:
BOUN.DA.RIES English which begin with the conso- grammatical instinct, and divide syllabic boundaries in speech. The
lklal in clea r quesfion but /kl r ar f in clear
weght to the vowels of their unstressed syllables. answer. This is usually called /rnklng r. ln the formal presentation of the news or of
nant sequence /kstr/. Similarly, a between the base form and the inflec- following examples come from
It one thing to be able to count the
is division between /ekstr/ and lel tion (p. 204), we will prefer the latter. We bste r's Th i rd N ew I nte rn ati o n a I 'unlikely
Consonants in clustersarecommonlysimplified. We are Similarly, RP speakers regularly link adja-
cent vowels with an /r/ even when there is
other scripted speech:
number of syllables in a word. lt is would feel unnatural. But/ek/ . There are three syl lables in bound- Dictionary, where the editor is ref lec- to hear all three consonants articulated at the Avoid the intrusive r.
quite another to decide where the +lstral, leksl + lrral , and lekstl + lral ar but again we have the choice of a end of the f i rst w or d in Acts of Pa r I i a m e nt: I aks I is norinthespelling, as in lndia(r) and Pak- Some presenters evidently took this advice
ting general publishing practice.
boundaries between the syllables are all possible. People usually prefer normal. Similarly, we willfind nextday lneks det/, istan or media(r) lnteresf. This intrusive r
division on phonetic grounds (after n) very seriously, as is seen in this extract from
should go. English is fullof cases either of the first two options here, government f glvement/, and mashed potatoes/maJ can attract ferocious criticism from conser-
or on grammatical grounds (after d), aber.deen.shire ab.er.do.ni.an pcterteuz/.
a radio script, where the reader has spotted
where alternative analyses are but there is no obvious way of decid- preserving a semantic link with ab.er.rance abet.tor
vative RP speakers, when they notice it, on
the groundsthatthere is nothing inthe
a case in advance, and has marked his copy
possible. ing between them. bound. abeY'" 'Whole syllables may be elided, especially when there is of the script so that he does not forget
. There are two syllables in sfanding, a repeated consonant, as in British English pronuncia- spell ing to justify its use (p. 366). lt is espe-
about it.
. There are two syllables in extra cially disliked after an open back vowel, as
but is the divison to be made Hyphenation points There is no division afterthe a orab tions of /ibrary a nd particularly:/larbri:/, /patrkjulil/. II be
/ekstrol but where should the between sfan an d dng or stand and in Iaw(r) and order, flaw(r) in the argument, oe the questions ve
Some dictionaries add a mark to rec- of abetfo for example, because pub- ' Some words are especially prone to elision, such as of dealing wa th in todaY
PRESENTER
boundary between them fall? lt is rng? lf we follow our phonetic ommend where a printed word may or draw(r)ing. (lt is hardly ever noticed after
unlikely that people would opt for a instinct, and go for two evenly bal-
lishers would be unlikely to insert a before consonants (cup o'tea, /ots o'people). Other
a schwa vowel, as in the other examples progranme is the
future of
be hyphenated if it appears at the line-break at those points in the examples include gonna (=going to), wanna (=rs),
division between /e/ and /kstrel above, and even the mosttub-thumping in PoI and tle
anced CVC syllables. we will prefer the end of a line. Howeve these points word. and the weak forms of auxiliary verbs (p. 212). mart ial !.aw
is
Poles
is 9Ue acing the us
comPlex and to heIP
debate bave in the
a t we
peoPIe who have
stud o two
 248 PART IV.SPOKEN AND \RITTEN ENGLI.SH
PROSODY
The sound sysrem enables us ro express meaning in
speech in both verbal and non-verbl ways. Wrbl
meaning ('what we say') relies on vowels and conso-
nnts to construct words, phrases, and sentences. _/z-
uerbl mening ('the way rhar we say it') makes use of
such factors as intonation, rhythm, and tone ofvoice to
provide speech with much of its structure and expres-
'-Siveness. As the old song wisely says, 'ir aint what you
say, itt the way that you say ir'. So often, it is the non-
verbal meaning which is the critical elemenr in a com-
munication.
Prosodic features
How many'ways' are rhere ro say rhings? The chiefpos-
sibilities are dictated by the main auditory properries of
sound: pitch, loudness, and speed. These properties, used
singly or in combination (in the form of rhythm), and
accompanied by the distinctive use of silence (in the
form of pause), make up the prosody or prosodic features
of the language. This is a much broader sense of
rosody' than is to be found in poetr where it refers
only to the study of metrical patterning (p. 4 I 5).
. The most important prosodic effects are those con-
veyed by the linguistic use of pitch movemenr, or
melody - the intontiolt sysrem. Different pitch levels
(tones) are used in particular sequences (contours) to
express a wide range of meanings. Some of these mean-
ings can be shown in writing, such as the opposition
berween staremenr (TheyTe rea$t) and quesrion
(TheyTe ready?), but most intonational effects have no
equivalents in punctuation, and cn be written down
only through a special transcription,
Loudness is used in a variety of ways. Gross differ-
ences of meaning (such as anger., menace, excitement)
can be conveyed by using an overall loudness level.
More intricatel English uses variarions in loudness to
define the difference berween srrong and w eak(s*essed
and unstressed) syllables. The stress pattern ofaword is
an important feature of the wordt spoken identity:
thus we find nation, ot nton; ntionality, not
ntionali$r. There may even be conrrasrs of maning
pardy conveyed by stress partern, as with record (the
noun) and record (the verb). Stress parrerns make an
important contribution ro spoken intelligibilit and
foreigners who unwittingly alter word stress can have
great difficulty in making themselves undersrood
(p.24e).
. Varying the speed (or tempo) of speech is an impor-
tant but less systemaric communicative feature. By
speeding up or slowing down the rate at which we say
syllables, words, phrases, and sentences, we can convey
several kinds of meaning, such as (speeding up) excite-
ment and impatience, or (slowing down) emphasis
and thoughtfulness. There is a great deal ofdifference
between 1Vo said in a clipped, definite tone ('Nope')
and No said in a drawled, meditative tone ('No-o-o').
And grammatical boundaries can often be signalled by
tempo variation, as when a whole phrase is speeded up
to show that it is functioning as a single word (a the-
it- o r- Ieau e- it s itu atio n) .
NINE WAYS OF SAYING YES
No one has yet described all the nuances of meaning which can be conveyed by the intona-
tion system. Even if we restrict the example to a single word (yes), and a single i ontex|.(witt
you marry me?), it proves difficultto capture everything that is involved. (The accent repre-
sented here s RP, p. 365. The direction of pitch movement is shown between two parallel
lines, which represent the upper and lower limits of the speaker's pitch range. Th commen-
tary indicates the tone's general meaning, and parenthetically remarks on ihe likelihood of
its use in nuptialcrcumstances.)
lowfall
The most neutral tone; a detached, unemotional statementof fact.
(Unlikely, though it could be quite a dramatic answer, aftertempestuous
\ preliminaries.)
fullfall
Emotionally involved; the higher the onset of the tone, the more involved
the speaker; choice of emotion (surprise, exctement, irritation) depends
on the speaker's facial expression. (Possible, especially if accompanied by
othertones ofvoice, such as breathiness.)
mid fall
o\ Routine, uncommitted comment; detached and unexcited. (,1.m thinking
about it.' Wedding bells seem unlikely.)
low rise
Facialexpression important; with a 'happy,face. thetone s sympathetic
and f riendly; with a 'grim'face, it is guarded and ominous. (either makes
particular sense, in this context, though the speaker might be thinking,
a-/ 'What'sthe catch?')
full rise
Emotionally involved, often disbelief or shock, the extent of the emoton
depending on the width of the tone. (Unlikely, though it might be used
afterwards by the person popping the question, if he/she was not expect-
ng to get a positive answer'l don't believe you,ve said yes'.)
high rise
a-/ Mild query or puzzlement; often used in echoing what has just been said.
(Unlikely, though it mght be used to convey,Are you sure you knowwhat
you're saying?')
level
Bored, sarcastic, ironic. (Unlikely. lf used, it would have to mean some-
thing like'lf I really must'or'l give up'. or possibly, ,Here we go again, the
O- same old routine'.)
fall-rise
1
A strongly emotional tone; a straight or'negative,face conveys uncer-
tainty, doubt, or tentativeness; a positive face conveys encouragement or
urgency. (The latter is rather more likely than the former, whichwould be
distinctly cagey, in this context. Maybe there are some conditions to be
met.) Enthusastic in Australian English, and increasingly heard with this
nuance in the UK.
rise-fall
Strong emotional involvement; depending on the face, the attitude might
be delighted, challenging, or complacent. (Very likely. With a bit of
breathiness, the speaker cant wait.)
A REALLY INTERESTING HIGH RISE
INTONATIONl
Prosody, and especially intonation, is an impor-
tant feature of sociolinguistic identity (5520-21 ). A
well-known example is the way some regional
English accents routinely use a rsing tone atthe
end of statements, instead of thefallingtone people over 20, and people in the 2G-30 age
found there in most parts ofthe English-speaking
world. Rising-tone accents, often described as
,musical'or'lilting', include those typical of North-
ern lreland, Wales, and parts of NE England.
ln recent years, attention has been drawn to the
increasing use of a particular type of rising state-
ment ntonation in what are traditionally known
to be falling-tone accents. This is the use of the
high rising contour. Here are some examples of its
use, adapted from a recent study of New Zealand
English intonation (S. Allan, 1990). The high rising
contour is shown by 1.
... lt just saves on the wear and tear of all the other
clothesl
...and it's very rarely we get traffic round herel
...the next day we went into Paddy's Markett
Although this usage has been noted in several
other parts ofthe English-speaking world, it has
certainly been a very noticeable feature of Aus-
tralian and New Zealand English, at least since the
1 960s, and ts greater frequency in the latter
country suggests that it may well have originated
there.
Why is it used? Why should a statement end
wth an intonation pattern which would normally
THE FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION
. Emotional lntonation's most obvious role is to express
attitudinal meaning - sarcasm, surprise, reserve,
impatience, delight, shock, ange6 interest, and thousands
of other semantic nuances.
. Grammatical lntonation helps to identify grammatical
structure in speech, performing a role similar to
punctuation. Units such as clause and sentence (916) often
depend on intonation for their spoken identity, and
several specific contrasts, such as question/statement,
make systematic use of it.
. lnformational lntonation helps draw attention to what
meaning is given and what s new in an utterance. The
word carrying the most prominent tone in a contour
signals the part of an utterance that the speaker is
treating as new informalioni l've got a new pen, I bought
three books.
. Textual lntonation helps larger units of meaning than
the sentence to contrast and cohere. ln radio newl-
reading, paragraphs of information can be shaped
through the use of pitch. ln sports commentary, changes
tn prosody reflect the progress of the action.
' Psychological lntonation helps us to organize speech
Into units that are easier to perceive and memorize. Most
people would find a sequence of ten numbers (4,7 3, B, 2,
6, 4,8, 1,5) dffcult to recall; the task is made easier by
usng intonation to chunk the sequence nto two units
(4, 7, 3, 8, 2 t
6, 4, 8, 1, 5).
'lndexical lntonation, along with other prosodic
features, is an important marker of personal or social
ldentity. Lawyers, preachers, newscasters, sports
commentators, army sergeants, and several other
occupations are readily identified through their
orstinctive prosody.
17.1-HE SOUND SYSTEM 249
be associated with the function of a question?
Any explanaton needs to take into account the
descriptive findings of several recent linguistic
studies. One such study found:
o Women used it twce as much as men.
. Teenagers used it ten times more often than
g roup used it five times as much as those over 70.
. Working-class people used itthreetimes as
much as middle-class people.
. Ethnic minorities used it two to three times more
often than members of the majority group. Maori
speakers, for example, used up to 50 per cent more
the country's new status had been achieved.
such tones than Europeans. . An alternative explanation is that the high rising
tone is used as a natural and widespread feature
Broadly speaking, two kinds of explanation
have been proposed forthe phenomenon. of conversational interaction. A speaker might
introduce itforanyof several discourse reasons-
. One hypothesis focuses on the social differences, as an informal check to see if the listener has
and suggeststhatthetone is preferred bythe less understood. as a request for empathy or some
powerful members of society. lt acts as an (uncon- other form of feedback, or even as an indication
scious) expression of uncertainty and lack of confi- that the speaker has not yet finished speaking.
dence, perhaps even of subservience and One phonetic study found that the tone was actu-
deference. This viewpoint has been particularly ally not very common in speech situations of
debated by linguists in relation to gender: one view uncertainty, such as the giving of opinions (argu-
argues that women have come to use the tone ing against the f irst hypothesis). Rather, it was par-
because of their subservience to men. lt s also a ticularly associated with narratives, especially with
widely held view in relation to nationhood. ln a those parts of a story where the speaker wished to
Perth (Western Australia) radio programme in 1980, heightenthe interestof the listener. tf thisexpla-
several members of a studo audience expressed the nation is correct, the social trends could be
vew that Australians used the tone because ofther explained by variations in nteractive awareness
uncertain and stillevolving national identty. ln and narrative skills.
1993 one Australian republican pundit went so far (After D. Britain & J. Newman, 1992.)
as to predict thatthe tone would disappear once
RHYTHM PARALINGUISTIC
FEATURES
Features of pitch, loudness, speed, and silence
combine to produce the effect known as speech Prosody does not exhaust
rhythm. Our sense of rhythm is a perception that there all the non-verbal vocal
are prominent units occurring at regular intervals as effects available in
we speak. ln the main tradition of English poetry, this English. The various cavi-
ties of the throat, mouth,
regularity is very clea in the form of the metrical
patterns used in ines of verse. The iambic pentameter, and nose can each be
f
in particula wth ts familiar five-fold te-fum pattern used to produce'tones of
voice'that alterthe
(The curfew tolls the knell of parting day), has given
the language its poetic heartbeat for centuries meaning of what is being
(p. 415). said. These effects are
Allforms of spoken English have their rhythm, often called paralrngurs-
though in spontaneous speech it is often difficult to fk- a term which sug-
gests thatthey play a less
hear. because hesitations interfere with the smooth
flow of the words. ln fluent speech, howeve4 there is a central role in the sound
clear underlying rhythm. This is often called a stress- system than prosodic fea-
tures do.
timed (or isochronous) rhythm - one based on the use
of stressed syllables which occur at roughly regular The following exam-
intervals in the stream of speech. lt contrasts with the ples of paralinguistic
syllable-timed rhythm of a language such as French, effects are accompanied
by a gloss indicating the
where the syllables have equal force, giving a marked
rat-a-tat-a-tat eff ect. context in which they
The history of English is one of stress-tming, though commonly occur.
the alternative rhythm has been emerging in parts of
, . whisper- secrecy or
the world where English has been in contact with
conspiracy.
syllable-timed languages, such as lndia and South
. breathiness-deep
Africa. Syllable-timed English, however, is difficult for emotion or sexual desire.
outsiders to follow, because it reduces the pattern of . huskiness-unimpor-
stress contrast which adds so much to a word's spoken tance or disparagement.
identity. lf it is increasing, as some observers suggest, . nasality - anxiety.
there will be extra problems for the growth of an
internationally intelligible standard spoken
. extra lip-rounding -
intimacy (especially to
English (p. 360).
animals and babies).
250 l,Al'l' IV st,()Kl.tN ANI) \ltt'l"ftr,N LtN(t-tSlt 17 .'l'HE SOUNr) SYS'r'EM 251

Arreurpts at seeiug a symbolic meaning running sort in English, and in each of the categories listed
SOUND SYMBOLISM COMIC ONOMATOPOEIA corpus of onomatopoeic exclamatory
expressions emanating from objects or ,hro,rgtr ^ cluster
of lexical iterns carry different levels of below, the evidence for ancl against sor.rnd syrnbolisrn
Sound symbolic items are of two main events encountered by Desperate Dan
olausibility. Much depends on which sense ancl which must be carefr,rlly weighecl. The lists are not colnpre-
It frrndamental plinciple of linguistic enqr-riry that
is a kinds: those which are everyday words in n 1990.
ior.[ .l.st an item l'epresents. Httsh, for exarnple, car- hensive: a selection has been rnade from a dictionar
the language (see opposite), and those
inclividual souncls clo not have meanir.rgs. It does not which are special coinages - nonsense
bang, blam, blow, boing, boom, bop, chevy, an implication of suclclenness only in its velb use; focr.rsir.rg on rnonosyllabic worcls but ignoling clerivecl
chomp, clunk, crack, crash, creak, crump, ries
seem to make sense to ask such questions as 't7hat words (p. 130) and semi-phonetic rendi- cuirc rlre reverse, as a noun. Swtttp,likewise, conveys forns (e.g. floppyfromflop), idioms (e.g. gu the chop),
crunch, heave, hop, kerack, kerash, leap,
cloes [t] mean?' or''\hat cloes [a] mean?' Consonants tions of ongoing noises. The latter are par- and multiple meanings (e.g. the clifferent meanings of
ticularly common in comic books (for
niff, phft, phllt, phsst, phut, ping, plop, ou.,r",t, o,'tly in its rtse as a verb. To the extent that we
and vowels ale usecl only to give a clistinctive shape to children or adults), where words (usually in
pong, pop, rasp, roar, r-r-ring, rumble,
have ro quali$'
items in this wa identi$'ing particular clu.b). And in each category, before reaching a conclu-
scrub, shatter, slam, slurp, snatch, sparks,
worcls, and it is these - the worcls thernselves, along full capitals and followed by exclamation senscs or word classes, the case for sound symbolism sion, it is essential to consicler the existence of wolcis
splash, split, splooosh, spludge, splurge,
witlr their componerlt molphemes, such as u.n- and marks) identify a remarkable range of If a sound is creditecl with a certain intrinsic with the same phonetic shape which do notconvey tlte
squawk, swipe. tear (vb.), tinkle, tug, weakens.
noises. The illustration, from a UK children's
-rrcss (p.128) - which express a meaning. However, whiff, whirr, whizz, whoosh, whump, yank,
eanir.rg, the meaning should exist whelever the souncl range of meaning suggestecl. (Fol other examples of
annual based on an imaginary US characte yarf, yelp.
there are inte lesting number of apparent exceptions
ar.r shows some of these items. As a minor con- appexls. There are no totally convincing cases of this sound symbolism in pracrice, see pp. L34,147,153.)
-
to this general rule cases whele native speakers feel tribution to academic research in this field,
the following lines comprise a complete
This list excludes the following emotional
vocalizations used by Desperate Dan him-
that there zs some kincl of meaningfr-rl connectioll
self, on his journey through snide, sniff, snigger, snipe, roll, spiral;words which seem ni bble, niggle, pebble, . /-p/(preceded by a short
sOUND5 AND 5ENSES
between a souncl, or clustel of souncls, ar-rd properties life, or by other characters in snitch, snivel, snob, snoop, to lack this association: earl, iffl e, p udd e,
p i dd I e, p I vowel) conveys suddenness
of the outside world. The phenornenon is the stories. lnitial consonant clusters snooty, snort, snot, snout, girl, hurl,snarl. pummel, rabble, raffle, or shortness: blip, bop, chop,
with ls-l . /gl-/ conveys brightness
?
@ e
snu b, sn uffl e: words which
known as sormd syrnbolism, also called ru bb e, rustle, shuff e,
0
aw, bah, blargh, blurb, eek,
I I clap, clip, dip, drip, flap, flip,
0-
phonaest/tesirt (when focusing on the
r(
/ gee, giggle, glub, glumph,
. /sl-/conveys downward
movement, direction, or
seem to lack this association
snack, snap, snip, snooker,
and light: g/amour, glare,
glass, glaze, gleam, glimmer,
sn aff le,
sn ug g
sn iff le, sn uff
le, speckl e, sq u i gg I e,
I e, flop, gap, hop, Iop, nap, nip,
pip, plop, pup, quip, rip, skip,
guffaw gulp, har, haw-haw,
aesthetic values of sor-rnds) or 0/t0m/tt0oe;tt hee-hee, hee-hee-hee, ho-
position: s/ack, sl a I om, sla nt, snore, snorkel, snow, snuff, glimpse, glint, glisten, glitter, stu bb e, ti p p e, todd le,
I I slap, slip, snap, snip, stop,
(when focusing on the use of sour.rcl in ho, huh, mmm, mumph, slash, sl a ug hter, sl ave, snug.
.
globe, glossy, glow; olher to pple, tri ck e, twidd I e,
I tap, trap, trip, whip, yap, zap,

a o
slender, slice, slide, slight, /sw-/conveyssmooth or 'bright'words: g lad, glee, waff le, waggle, wiggle, z; words which seem to lack
poetry). oh-oh, oof, ooyah, ouch,
slim, slip, slit, slither, slope, wide-reach ing movement: g I i b, g I ide, g I ory; words wobble, wriggle;words these ssociations: cap, cup,
shucks, snort, ssshh, sssshhh,
Sound symbolic effects can be studiecl frorn t2 d
ulp, urrr, waah, wayhay,
slot, slouch, slow, sluggish, swadd le, swagger, swa I low, wh ich seem to lack or contra- which seem to lack these grip, hip,lap, lip, map, mop,
sluice, slump; often a gener- swamp (vb.), swan (vb.), dict these associations: g/and, associations: knuckle, ri d d e, ship, shop, swap, top, wrap.
valious points of view V'hich souncls or com- wow, yah, yahoo, yeeha,
I

yeow, yeuch, yeurgh, yikes, ally rregative association: swarm, swat, swathe, sway, gloom, glove, glue, glum, saddle, supple. . /-bl(preceded by a short
binations of souncl are most ofter.r involved? slag, slander, slang, slap, sweep, swell, swerve, swift, glutton. vowel) conveys largeness, or
yipes, yip-yip, yowch, yup, . /-fl(preceded bya short
Some of the most freqr.rently occurlir.rg types zowee.
sleazy, slime, slink, slob, slop, swill, swi ng, swi pe,swi rl, Final consonants lack of shape or direction:
sloth, slovenly, sludge, swish, swivel, swoop; words vowel and single consonant) . /-J/conveys swift or strong blab, blob, clobber, club, dab,
are ilh-rstrated below (the phonetic terminolo- slosh,
ln traditional grammar, slunt, slur, slurp, slush, slut, which seem to lack these conveys uncertain or movement: bash, brush, cash, flab, glob, gob, grab, grub,
gy is explainecl on pp.238-43): initial conso- o
these would be classified s; words which seem to lack associations: swe ar, sweat, repeated movement, or lack clash, crash, crush, dash, dish jab, lob, mob, rub, slab, slob,
nant clusters (especially involving /s-/), lateral separate part of these associations: s/ab, sweet, swim, swine, switch, of size, structure, or impor- (vb.), f lash, gash, gnash, gush,

w
as a stab, tub, yob; words which
- interjections slake, slam, sledge, sleek, swot. tance: babble, bubble, lash, mash, push, rash, rush, to lack these associa-
sounds (either alone, or ir.r a cluster'), and plo- speech seem
(p.213). However, con- s/eep, s/eeve, s/lck, slogan, ch u ckl e, cou ple, cu dd e, spl ash, whoosh; otherf orce- tions: bib, cab, crab, crib, cub,
sives (especially in final position) are notable.
I

ventional lists of interjec
i'-'
Then there is the question of how clearly we can 4all tions tend to concentrate
on the more genteel
identify a symbolic meaning. This is sometimes
examples (such as oh,
fairly easy to state, especially when there is a
noise to copy in the outside world: bnng clip- fl ow, and tut-tut), and fail
to include the range of
slumber.
. /sn-/ conveys unpleasant-
ness: snalTle, snafu, snag,
snail, snake, snare, snarl,
snatch, sneak, sneer, sneeze,
Laterals
.
/-::(r)l/conveys round-
ness: curl, furl, gnarl, pearl,
purl, swirl, twirl, whirl, and
whorl; also l-r-l/in barrel,
dabble, dapple, d iddle,
doodle, dribble, f iddle,
freckle, ga bble, g i g g le,
gobble, haggle, huddle,
joggle, juggle, muddle,
fu I words: brash , fresh, harsh, fib, hub, job, lab, pub, rib,
hush (vb.), posh, ssh; words rob, rub, snob, snub, sob,
which seem to lack these asso- stub, web.
ciations: b/ush, b ush, fi sh,
fl esh, ma rsh, wash, ?We lsh.

clop, cottg/t, utckoo, hrnck, murm!ff, r/tt-rt-t/tt, bizarre emotional

-1 expressions which any
tu/tooslt, ytcketl-yclz, zoont. But sometimes we LONE WORDS
comic provides. But IHE SOUND OF short first vowel, the effect Velars Final l-bl:boob,slob.
can do no more than cxpress a vague feeling that then, the characters SWEARING can only be vicious; with a Final /-k/: bohunk, chink, lnitial/p-l: pig, pimp, piss, Forlorn! the very word is like
who make up the vari- a bell
the word is somehow applopliate to the thing, long first vowel, it can lose crook, dick, dink, dork, poof, poop, prat, prick,
toll me back from thee to
A ous corpora of conver- Given the nature of swear- its unpleasantness, and dreck, dyke, fink, fuck, puke, punk. To
without being ablc to say why: become jocular. Similarly, the my sole self
sational English (p. 438) ing, and of invective in gen- hick, honk, lunk, mick, lnitial /-bl: bitch, bloody, !

. Do dintple, pirnple, and wimplc calry over an r

! tend not to get into
such scrapes as those
eral (p. 172), we would
expect the words involved to
use of a long central vowel
produces a notable soften-
prick, puke, punk,
schmuck, spick, wank,
bohunk, bozo, brat, Apart f rom raising the tone
bugger, bum. ofthe end ofthis page, these
association from simpl experienced by be short, sharp, and to the ing of force, in such words as wick. lines from John Keats's Ode
. Is there something in initial /v/ which can rein- Desperate Dan. Pont. Gentle sounds, such as berk and jerk, as does the lnitial /k-/: clap, clod, clot, Alveolars
to a Nightingale (1820) act as
long vowels, nasals, and use of a nasal before a final crap, creep, cretin, crone, l: brat, clot, dolt,
Final I -f
force a 'snarling' meanit-rg, as irt uenotttotts, uicious,
E a reminder that there are
o
sonorants (p.242) are fart, git, nt, nut, prat, shit,
ts I -kl, asin bonk, bonkers, crud, cunt, kraut. many individual words con-
uile, uindictiue, and uitiolic? 9 unlkelyto be much used, conk, hunk, and lunk. lnitial and finalvelar in same slut, tart, tt, twat.
taining elements about
Is there Final l-d/: clod, crud, sod,
a feeling of shortness in /-l.rt /, as sug- o whereas the harsher impact The really important word: cack, cluck, cock,
turd, yid. which we have phonaes-
of short vowels, plosives, and sounds are the velar conson- geek, gink, gook, kike,
gestecl by bl.tntt, dent, grunt, Pttt, ru, and stunt (bLLt GLOSSING THE THREE-CONSONANI COMBINATIONS TABLE (p.2q3) high-pitched f ricatives ants, especial ly the voiceless lnitial /-d/: damn, dick, dink, thetic intuitions, but which
kook, quack, skunk. defy any simple categoriza-
notby.front, hunt, ntint, pir, rrutt, and tant)? should be of great value to ones, and especially when Final l-gl: fag, frig, hag,
dolt, dope, dork, dreck,
tion. lt is an interesting lin-
. Is there a smallness associated with close vowels and split, splendid, splash, splutter, splosh, sclerotin, sclaff (in golf), sclerosis, scleroid anyone wishing to express these are used in final posit- hog,lug, mug, nig, pig, dyke.
guistic exercise to look for
splenetic, spleen, splurge, splay, splice script, scratch, scrump, scrofula, scream, an insult or curse. Try calling ion within a word. Also shag, slag, wog. Fricatives
a largeness with open vowels, as suggestecl 6y slit vs words whose constituent
sprig, spread, sprat, sprung, sprocket, scrawny, screw scrape, scribe, scroll, sorreone a meem or a rahl as notable is the use of central Medial /g-l: bugger, dago, Final /-s/: ass/arse, piss. sounds convey semantic asso-
slot, chit vs chop, wrinlele vs rumple, and tucc, titch, spree, sprawl, spruce, spran, sprite, scro u nge. viciously as you can then
- vowels, such as la l, and nigger. Final I -f l: oaf, poof. ciations in this way - such as
and little vs r)(tst, lrtrge, and gnnd (bu nor by big vs sprout. skeW skewer. compare the result with call- those at the extremes of the ragged, spiky, dawdle, fawn-
spume, spurious. squish, squelch, squat, squeeze, squaw, lng them a gack or a krot. vowel area, such as/r/and Bilabials (Data from popular
smttllor huge vs dunrf)? ing, and scrumptious.
strict, strength, strap, structure, strong, squirm, squamous, squre, Squeers, lhe language provides a lt I.ltis unusual to hear mid- Final l-pl: chump, clap, crap, intu ition, supplemented
The panels illustrate a range of instances where a strabismus, street, strata, straW strew sq ua re. genuine contrast of this kind vowels, such as I e I and I : l, creep, dope, drip, goop, by H. Rawson, 1991.)
plausible case for sound syrnbolisrn can be macle. straight, strike, strove, Stroud. Smew In the form of
the dual pro- in lexical invective, and front pimp, poop, sap, twerp,
steW Stuart. nunciation of bastard: with a vowels are preferred to back. wimp, wop, zip.
 PART IV SPOKEN AND \RITTEN ENGLISH 17 . ^THE SOUND SYSTEM 253

SOUND SYMBOLISM
IN PRACTICE CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
The muddy, mucky, murky Mouch Huffer and Cuffer
Children's literature is full of sound symbolic
On a small asteroid words, as these poems illustrate. Onomatopoeic Huffer, a giant ungainly and gruff
in the terrible void nonsense names also abound. Some rely on encountered a giant called Cuffer.
dwells a filthy old slouch, 'dark'sounds, full of voiced plosives, nasals, and said Cuffer to Huffer, l'M ROUGH AND t'M TOUGH
the vile m-m-m-Mouch. laterals, such as Spike Milligan's Bumbley Boo, said Huffer to Cuffer, l'M TOUGHER.
He sleeps in spaghetti, Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins, or Jonathan Swift's
looks just like a yeti, they shouted such insults as BOOB and BUFFOON
giants, the Brobdingnagians. Others rely on
and OVERBLOWN BLOWHARD and BLIMP
ADVERTISING and his grotty green wig 'light' sounds, full of short high vowels and
would embarrass a pig. and BLUSTERING BLUBBER and BLOATED BALLOON
voiceless consonants, such as Dick Bruna's Miffy
In commercial advertising He enjoys a good splosh
and SHATTERBRAIN, SHORTY and SHRIMP.
and Snuffy, or Swift's midgets, Ihe Lilliputians.
(p.388), the sound a product
in tomato juice squash, then Huffer and Cuffer exchanged mighty blows,
'. makes, and the emotion it is The cover of one of Dick Bruna's Miffy
while from swimming in sludge they basted and battered and belted,
claimed to generate in the books.
he's the colour of fudge. they chopped to the neck and they bopped
user, are often given ono- He gobbles green grottles in the nose
matopoeic expression swigs pond ooze from bottles and they pounded and pummelled and pelted.
(p. 250): a particular make of
and the stench of his breath
car might go Vr-o-o-m; a scares all known germs to death. they pinched and they punched and they smacked
smell of perfume or gravy He's a jumbo-sized pest and they whacked
might evoke M-m-m-m-m. falls asleep fully dressed, and they rocked and they socked and they smashed,
Brand names commonly use and far, far out in Space and they rapped and they slapped and they
sound (or letter) symbolism, the last of his race. throttled and thwacked
as the world of breakfast
he's
The vile m-m-m-Mouch I and they thumped and they bumped and they bashed.
cereals crisply demonstrates, doesn't run, jump, or crouch, I they cudgelled each other on top of the head
with its crunchies, puffs, but squats, gnarled as a gnome, >1 with swipes of the awfulest sort,
pops, and smacks. And slo- on his asteroid home.
gans often rely on it too. and now they are no longer giants, instead
Wes Magee (1985) they both are exceedingly short.
Polo, the mint with the hole.
Jack Prelutsky (1982)
Taste the tang in Tango.
Tingling tang, bubbles -
sparkles. New Sparkling
Tango. The poetic tradition Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;
Bubble Yum. lt's so much In literature, especially in poetry and poetic prose, rhe Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:
yum, yum, yum. lt's number Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;
phonaesthetic values of sound segments (p. 414) have
yum, yum, yum in bubble JwlLo
characterized the genre throughout its history. A short Hiding difference, making unevenness even,
gum.
PRIMITIVE POETRY selection of extracts is illustrative:
Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.
Cap'n Crunch fcereal ]: Robert Bridges,'London Snow', 1 880
the crunch always gives ln some approaches to the teaching of poetry, gatwtlrt
Ftlt, s'ttx,
you away. particular attention is paid to helping children Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you
appreciate the sound-symbolic power of words. ln the As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
illustrations, a 12-year-old has made up a sound- ovw-o*u,Iqs, That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me and bend
CHARACTER NAMES

, l+vflst
pattern using invented names for sweets, and a 7-year-
Pflo '
Your Force to break, blow, burn, and make me new,,. In adult humorous literature. personal names and place names are often chosen on
old has put down some impressions about the arrival of the basis of their sound pattern. Comic writers rely greatly on such effects (pp. 89,
a fair.
Flat+1f5, John Donne, Ho Sonnets,7633 '147): famous examples include the headmaster Mr Creakle in Charles Dickens's David
Coppertield, the 'hideous falboy' Uggug in Lewis Carroll's Sylvie and Bruno, the tutor
Nx, Na'x'
Putt,n uP thc ( o'r o{ af, A;^t#''u.t'kt
Yet let me flap this bug with gilded wings, Mr Thwackum in Henry Fielding's A History of Tom Jones, the quack physician Dr S/op
in Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, and US academic Morris Zapp in David Lodge's
bl,iw "9
This painted child ofdirt, that stinks and stings;
Changing Places. (Forother examples, see pp. 153, 414.)

ilJ l:"t sJ;:[

Vhose buzz the witry and the fair nnoys, Much of James Thurber's humour relied on the incongruous use of the sound

,yf
Yet wit ne'er tastes, and beauty ne'er enjoys... symbolic power of words, as can be seen in these cartoons from The Beast
3 Nu*{ryr,, Alexander Pope, Epistle to DrArbuthnot, 1735 in Me and Other Animals (1949).
OU2ZZ DuZL Tt/, -Tur'.l',
tolla -;;i.*" f ulr urwntfs, UL'l't His broad clear brow in sunlight glowed;
cloilc, r'oll uz-| L Lw q/vlL'0S On burnished hooves his war-hoise trode;
Pablcr clo Itcr Froni underneath his helmet flowed

ttf. b,p t,p His coal-black curls as on he rode,

As he rode down to Camelot.
fl

(,
Y''! w o,1 wi n a
w
From rhe bank and From the river
He fiashed into the crystal mirro fI (01l0l' fl0r.rs
NJ
'Tirra lirra'by o

ik"::i;ft:. w
the riuer
,;* kangoroo wlth travel tlcknosr? Sang Sir Lancelot.
6mmon. Wbolmbhnclmund,wlhlq thy
Lord Tnnyson, 'The Lady ofShalott', 1832
-J c,u4
M
u,ucl -t ClqJ Vhen men were all asleep the snow came flying,
bonSJ (From R. James
tn la.tge white flakes Falling
on rhe city brown,
& R.G. Gregory, 1966.) rteathily and perpetually sertling and loosely lying,
Hushing the latest traffic o rhe drowsy townl
lf, the llloan'
 254
PRONUNCIATION INI PRACTICE
The study of the sound sysrem of English is in princi-
ple no moe difficult than the study of its writing
system,but two factors complicate the task. Most
people are unfamiliar with the phonetic terminology
required to describe vocal effects; and even after this
terminology is understood it is not always easy ro
relate these descriptions to recognizable sound quali-
" ties. Matters are nor helped by the fact that we have
little conscious recollection of how we learned to talk
(unlike the tasks of reading and writing, p. 236), so
that the process of speaking and listening seems totally
natural and unproblematic. \e tend to take pronun-
ciation completely for granted, and notice it only
when it becomes distinctive in some wa or when
something goes wrong.
One way of sharpening our phonetic sense is to pay
ONGUE-SLIPPING
Analysing slips of the tongue can sharpen our sense of
syllable structure (p. 2a6) and sound categories. The
sounds which 'slip' are usually from the same part of the
syllable: an onset consonant swops with another onset
consonant in mell wade (for well made); coda consonants
are involved in wish a brush (or with); nuclei are affected
in fool the pill (for fill the pool). Several other such effects
can be seen in this children's poem by Rod Hull (1989).
They are often referred to as Spoonerlsms, after William
Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), Warden of New College,
Oxford, who had many such tongue slips attributed to
him (such as you have hssed all my mystery lessons).
Ronald/Donald
Ronald Derds (or was it Donald Rerds?)
Was a boy who always wixed up his merds.
lf anyone asked him; 'What's the tme?'
He'd look at his watch and say, 'Norter past quine,'
He'd spoken like that ever since he was two.
His parents at first didn't know what to do.
ln order to understand what he'd said,
His father would get him to stand on his head.
But ths didn't work, something had to be done,
So Pa and Ma Derds learnt to speak like their son.
'Mood gorning,' he'd cry, as he chat in his sair.
'Gorning,'they'd answer, without hurning a tair.
And Ron's Mum would say, 'Get a nice brofe of led,,
For Ron to return with a loaf of fresh bread.
Then one special day, young Ronald's voice broke.
He found it affected the way that he spoke.
'Good morning,' he said as he sat in his chair.
'Gorning,'said the others and started to stare.
From that moment on, thngs just got worse.
The harder they tried, they just couldn't converse.
Ron said to his parents, after a week,
'lt's driving me mad, the way that you speak.
I can't understand a word that you say.
You leave me no option, l'm leaving to-day.'
5o Ron joined the Navy and sailed to the Barents,
To get as far away as he could from his parents.
And although this story all seems rather sad,
Ron occasionally visits his Dum and his Mad.
PART IV.SPOKEN AND \RITT,N ENGLISH
particular attention to the special where features
cases
of pronunciation are drawn to our attention. There
likely to happen.'W'e may
are severl areas where this is
notice child with immature articulation, an adulr
with a speech handicap, a foreign learner with a
marked accent, or a native speaker with a pronuncia-
tion idiosyncrasy. A glear deal of spoken humour relies
on our ability to hear or manipulate sound effects,
both verbal and non-verb al (p. 248) . \We may also find
ourselves able to identify specific changes which are
taking place in the pronunciation of words, and we
will regularly hear letters read out on rhe radio from
people who have made it their responsibiliry to com-
plain about them. \e may also see distinctive pro-
nunciations reflected in the wrirren language,
especially when an aurhor has rried ro convey rhe
regional or idiosyncratic speech of a character. The
examples on this and the facing page illustrate a range
of contexts which focus on pronunciation in this way.
ORDERING WORDS
The prosody of the drillsergeant is
ingeniously captured in this poem for
children by Ray Mather (1989).
Attenton all
you words,
GET INTO LINE!
l've had enough of you
Doing what you w
ilt,
STAND STILLI
There are going to be a few changes
Around here.
From now on
You will do
What lwant.
THAT WORD!
You heard,
Stay put.
Youcomeouttoofast
Or per ulate
amb
GET IT STRAIGHT!
You are here to serve me.
You are not at ease
PRONUNCIATION IN PRINT
The novels of Charles Dickens (p.89) pro-
vide the best literary collection of data for
anyone wishing to examine pronunciation
id iosyncrasy. ln Pckwick Papers ( 1836-7,
Ch. 16), Mr Pickwick describes the speech of
Sam Weller as 'somewhat homely and occa-
sionally incomprehensible'. The homeliness
can be illustrated from his use of
Wellerisms, as they have been called - Dickensian characters share) of delaying a
everyday phrases applied to imaginary situ-
ations. The incomprehensibility is largely a
result of his idiosyncratic use of bilabial and
labio-dental consonants.
I7.-f HF. SOUND SYS'| [,M ,5S
CHANGING HABITS
cosSlNG ACCENT
BOUNDARIEs A PEA-sIZED I55UE
It is curious how fashion
changes pronunciation. l
fhe fact that PeoPle sPeak On 10 October 1992, BBC presenter Dave Lee Travis (DLT)
my youth everybody said
ndifferent accents means was hosting an edition of the Radio 1 competition pro-
'Lonnon' not'London,....
rhat, from tme to tme, gramme, Darfs, played between teams from two public
The now fashionable will be ambiguitY. A houses in different parts ofthe UK. He asked a team from a
pronunciation of several
there
word in one accent will be pub in Tyrone (Northern lreland) the following question:
words is to me at least verv different
oerceived as a quite What's the name of the piece of architecture which goes
offensive: contemplate - i
word in another. UsuallY,
bad enough; bulbalcony over the top of a door?
context sorts things out - but
makes me sick.
ot alwaYs, as the following The team conferred, and their spokesman (who had a
(Samuel Rogers, 1 763-185S.
examples show' Southern E ng lish accent) sa id what sou nded like /enfll then
The earlier pronunciation
paused and corrected t to /intel. The incongruity of the first
response led to much mirth in the studio, but DLT could not
had the stress on the second
accept the correction, as the ru les of the competition
syllable in each case.
allowed only the f irst answer to be accepted.
Forother illustrations of The complaints then started to pour in to the BBC, and by
pronunciation in practice, 5gs
the end of the programme DLT had to issue an apology, and
allow the Tyrone pub (which had gone on to lose) another
pp. 86, 91, 406, and 414.
chance to enter the competition at a later date. What had
said it aloud. As soon s it was out of his mouth, though, he
realized h is mistake and corrected it - but by then it was too
happened? late. His team had in effect been penalized for giving an
/r/ is widely pronounced in Northern lreland as a more answer using a Northern lreland vowel value spoken in a
open and centralized vowel, which to outsiders could easily Southern English accent - though it is hard ly surprising that
be heard as /e /. Presumably, while the team was conferring, the presenter was unable to recognize it for what it ws. For-
one of the members with a local accent had proposed the tunatelythe producton team in the Radio 1 studio recog-
correct answer, but pronounced lintel as Ientl]. The spokes- nized the validity of the complaints, as they started to come
To do as you please. man (from a different dialect background) at first misheard in from Northern lreland - otherwise the matter might well
Whenever I attempt to be serious this as /entil and in the heat of the moment spontaneously have ended up at the European Court of Justice !
You make a weak joke.
Always you have to poke
fun.
TERDAY GONE My f riend, the late Dr. Gee, going his and reading them... he saw
AS YOU WERE!
HERE
round ofthe hospital wards one day, thought his death-warrant; so he
as he
Don't stir.
TERMORRER
came to the bedside of a newly- whipped out of bed, and fled for his
lf ever I try to express Robert Bridges, in his tract On tl,e admitted patient. After examining ife; to add, no doubt, a new tale to
I
My feelings for someone Present State of English Pronuncia- him carefully, and finding little the the ferrers of the hospital.
You refuse to come out tion (1913), tells a storyto illustrate matter with him, he called for the
Or come out all wrong his disapproval ofthe standards of bed-card, and in his deliberate The point of the story rel ies on the
5o sense make none they can of it, English speech current at the time. manner prescribed thereon a diet consequences of the patient's failure
Yet you're so good once they've gone! with a p/acebo to be taken three to recognize that the two words are
He is particularly angry atthe pho-
Well, times a day. The man, frightened by written in Latin. He assumesthat
netcian Daniel Jones (p. 239), who
l'm in charge now his gravity and silence, feared the
had drawn ttenton to the way such they are a nonstandard spelling of
And you will say what ltellyou to say. worst...and was no sooner left alone
words as for, of, and to were nor- the English phrase to die, and inter-
No more cursing mally pronounced with an than he snatched down the board, prets ths according to the norms of
Or sarcasm, unstressed vowel Ie] (which Bridges and seeing cabalisticsigns, and atthe informal Received Pronunciation. To must know that the medical Latin for
Just state my thoughts clearly foot ofthem the awful words terdie,
transcribes as er): appreciate the joke, of course, one 'three times a d ay' is ter die.
Speak what's on my mind.
Got it?
Right,
F
FAXING UP A JUDGMENT This cartoon relies
A on a combination (.frl'
L Even the bar is not sacrosanct. Presumably of two accent
L OUT the increased number of accents in the SE of mismatches. The t'
England in which the []and [r] of clerk's RP now uses I
Received Pronunciation have been pulled in the diphthong I
the direction of Ia], underthe influence of /aul, which is I
He wants you particklar; and no one else'll Cockney, explains this story, reported in he phonetically very i
do, as the Devil's private secretary said ven Spectatoron 12 September 1992. close to the
I
he fetched avay Doctor Faustus. (Ch. 1 5) diphthong used by
the search for legal jokes not neces-
Ever on
Cockney speakers
Werry sorry to 'casion any personal sarily connectedwith the death penalty, I
inconwenience, ma'am, as the house- consulted a f riend who is still practising. She in such words as ;]
knouz. And his
I
t
breaker said to the old lady when he put her said a member of her chambers was in court
on the fire. (Ch. 26) one Monday morning when the judge said, pronunciation of
due, whether as
'l'm af raid we'll have to adjourn this case, I
Weller also has an interesting prosodic ldjul or ldsu:l,
have written my judgment out, but I left it
characteristic (which several other 'Arret interprets as
n my cottage in Devon and I can't get t sent
nere untiltomorrow."Fax it up, my Lord,' the assimilation of
syllable in a polysyllabic wo rd: co I-l ecti ng, do + you (p.247),
hex-traordinary (both Ch. 1 3). The hyphen
the helpful barrister suggested, towhich his
Lordship replied, 'yes, it does rather., interpreted this of [flrks], with
as a version which would be a
probably represents a lengthened the vowel receiving a more open quality. normal feature of 'Annrl.r: "Wot toinre his the next troine fer
consonant or vowel, but could also be The barrister must have pronounced fax as 'Ammersmith?" Cr-r.:nx: "Due Now."
The whole exchange seems to have taken her conversational
marking a brief pause. llksl insted of Ifksl. The judge then 'Annrlr: "'Contse Oi dawn't now, stoopid,
place using the most judicious of tones. style.
or I wouldtr't be harskin' yer!"
 18 -I'HE \7RI-f ING SYS-I-EM 257

I8.THE SRITING SYSTEM A BASlc PERSPECTIVE

as is found n English, the graphic marks rep-
resent, with varying regularity, individual
TYPOGRAPHIC TERMS

Through the normal educational process, the cl-rief
features of the English writing sysrem become famil-
iar and leadily identifiable in a way that the elemenrs
of the sound system (S 1 7) aLe never likely to be. Many
LETERLAND
Two of the characters from Letterland, an
alphabetically populated world devised by
characters explain what sounds they make,
and why their sounds vary in different
contexts. Teachers who have used the
system report that the children enjoy usinq
The study ofthe linguistic properties ofthe
wrtten language has lagged somewhat
behind the study ofthe sounds ofspeech.
Nonetheless, the efforts of typographers,
oraphic designers, linguists, psychologists,
nd others have introduced a number of
usef ul distinctions and terms, some of which
speech sounds (or phonemes, p. 236).
The standardized writing system of a lan- serifs ascender kern
guage is known asits orthography. English
orthography consists of the set of letters
(the alphabet) and their variant forms (e.9. cap
capitals, lower-case), the spelling system, height eight
and the set of punctuation marks. The lin-

children, before they are 3, have been given some British teacher Lyn Wendon to help children the story-like language to talk about the are designed to avoid the ambiguity inher- guistic properties of the orthographic
learn sound-letter relationships. ln sound-letter correspondences, and thus ent in the apparently simple term, writing. system can be studied from two points of
informal tuition in letter shapes and sounds, often in Letterland, letter shapes appear as make progress in their metalinguistic skills _ This ambiguity arises in severalways: view, analogous to the distnction used in serifs counter d escen der
the fonn ofa colouful alphabet book (p.407) bought pictographic body shapes, and take on life an important first step in the aquisition of spoken language between phonetics and
as people and animals. Stories about the written language (p. 436). . writing canreferto either a process ora phonology (p.236).
as a festival or birthday present; and in societies where
result: while we are actively engaged in the . Graphetcs, aterm coined on analogy with A limited terminology single character, as in
levels of literacy are high, almost all will have had some process, we are said to be'writing'; and phonetics, is the study of the way huma n exists to describe the many and ff.
A Letterland encounter kinds oftypeface and
systematic teaching - whether from parents, through when we have finished, the product (our beings make, transmit, and receive wrtten
'The Hairy Hat Man (h) hates noise, so he never typesetting in regular use. lower case Smal I letters,
the media, or in school - by the time they are 5. composition, ortext) is also called (a piece symbols. However, unlike phonetics, where as
speaks above a whisper in words.'
ol)'writing'. a comprehensive methodology for describ- Among the important opposed to any kind of
Letters attract most of the attention in these early '5ammy Snake loves making a hissing sound - . Wrtng can refer to either an everyday or ing the properties of speech sounds has terms are the following: capital letters (u pper case).
there aren't many hsses he misses!' (The'cases' were originally
years. This is as it should be, for lerrers are the main a professional activity. All literate people, by been developed, there is as yet no sophisti- ascender A part of a letter
'But... when 5ammy Snake is next to the Hairy def inition, can write; but only a tiny minor- cated graphetic classif ication, though which extends above the two containers placed one
units available for conveying meaning when writing in above the other in a
Hat Man in a word we ity are 'writers' (i.e. authors). typographers and printers have developed a height ofthe letterx, as in
English. But there is far more to the writing sysrem hear a "sh" sound . Written language, when contrasted with limited terminologyto handle the most d and h. lt contrasts with a
prnting house: the type
speech, referstoanyvisual manifestation of for capital letters came
than learning to recognize individual letter shapes - instead. Why? Well, salient features of letter shapes. descender, a part of a letter
remember what spoken lang uage - whether handwritten, . Graphology, coined on analogy with which extends belowthe from the higher container;
both 'big' and 'small' - and their associated sounds: the Hat Man hates? printed, typed, or electronically generated - phonology, isthe study of the linguistic con- foot of the letter x, as in y the small letters from the
punctuation and features of graphic design are impor- Noisel and this is how the term is used in the pre- trasts that wrting systems express. ln partic- orp. lower.) Upper-case letters
sent book. ln this sense, private letters, bus ular; it recognizes the notion of the are divided into large
tant elements of the meaning and identity of a wrimen bold A type with very thick
timetables, teletext, and books are allexam- grapheme, on analogywith the phoneme- capitals and small capitals
text; handwriting and typography provide subtle but ples of 'written text'. On the other hand, the smallest unit in the writing system capa- strokes, as seen n (B vs a). Small capitals are
pervasive dimensions of interpretation; and the rules boldface. similar in weight and
when people say'l can't read your writing', ble of causing a contrast in meaning. For
they are referring only to handwritten (not example, because sat and rat have different fount The set of characters height to a lower-case x.
governing letter combinations ('spelling') promote a So before Sammy Snake can hiss, the printed ortyped) text. meanings, <s> and <r> emerge as different of the one size of the same Large capitals are the
standard of intelligible and acceptable communica- Hat Man hushes him up like this: "sh".' graphemes; on the other hand, the contrast typeface, including height of an ascender.
tion (p.272) - though at the expense of presenting The writing system
Most obviously, writing is a way of commu-
between sat and sf is not graphemic, capitals, lower case, serif A smallterminal
young children with a long-term and unprecedented because the graphic difference does not cor- punctuation marks, and stroke at the end of the
nicating which uses a system of visual marks relate with a change of meaning. numerals; also spelled font. main stroke of a letter. A
exercise in conscious memorization, made on some kind of surface. lt is one kind Graphemes are usually transcribed in angle
italic Characters that slope seriftypeface is used in the
of graphc expression (other kinds include brackets. Punctuation marks (such as <.> main text on the facing
to the right, as in italic.
drawing, musical notation, and mathemati- and <? >) are graphemes also, as are such page. A typeface with no
LETTER FRIEZES justification the
cal formulae). ln an alphabetic system, such units as <2>, <&>, and <$>. serifs is called sansserlf
arrangement of lines of
The first eght letters of an /'san 'serrf/ (as in this
textso that there are even column).
alphabet frieze published
bytheWorldWide Fund GRAPHS mar gins. Left-j u stif i e d
setting standard practice.
is sort A sing le character of
for Nature in 1993: My Graphemes are abstract DIGRAPHS Digraphs are an type. A specialsort is one
ln ri g ht-j ustif i e d setti n g,
Rare Animal ABC Frieze. A units, and appear in a variety important part of the which the typesetter does
llUhen two letters the last character of each
variant of the alphabet of forms. The grapheme <e>, English writing system, not have routinely
represent a single sound, line is made to reach the
book, friezes are better for example, may appear as because there are far more available in a fount, and
the combination is called a phonemes in speech than right-hand margin at the
able to capture at a glance E, d e, e, or in other forms, which must be formed
digraph. Consonant same point (by adjusting
the notion of alphabetic depending on such factors as there are letters in the specially, such as a phonetic
digraphs include sh in sh the spaces between the
sequence, aswell asto handwriting style and alphabet (p. 237). There character.
convey the impression that and gtr in trough (h is by have been many proposals
letters and words).
tYpeface. Each of these
the alphabet is a fixed and far the commonest second to increase the number of Unjustified setling has a su perscri pt A smal I letter
Possible forms is known as a element); vowel digraphs 'ragged-edge' right-hand
f inite set of letters. Designs graph. There are thousands letters so that they are in a or figure set beside and
include ea in read and oa margin (as in this column). above the top of a full-size
are invariably eye-catching of possible physical variations one-to-one relationship
and imaginative, and in in boat. Some digraphs with phonemes (p. 236), kern The part of a letter character, as in x2; also
tn the shape of graphs.
the present case the lin- may be physically joined but historically the deficit which overhangs the body called a superior. lt
40 forms of the grapheme (ligatured), asin , , ff, contrasts with s ubscript, a
gustic content addition- has been made good by of the type, as in the top
ally conveys an mportant
<a>. though this is unusual in combining the 26 letters in part of f. small letter or f igure set
environmental message. modern practice. There is various ways, especially to beside and belowthe foot

AaAaA aAa
also the interesting 'split'
(Marcus Davies. 1993.)
or discontinuous digraph
used to mark long vowels
Ieading /'ledr/ rhe of a full-size character, as in
capture the range of
spacing between lines of 3n; also called an inferior.
vowel distinctions which
type. The term derives

(t^AoLaAa
exist. x height The height of the
and diphthongs (p. 272), from the former printing
as in rate and cone (which
Irraphs also exist - practice of separating lines printing surface of a small
three letters representing letter x.
of metaltype by inserting

aAa
also illustrate the'magic
e', so-called because its
AaAaz4 effect operates at a
a single sound. Examples
strips of lead between
include tch (watch lwofl)
and the British English
them.
These features would all
form part of a graphetic

A NaAa Aa
dstance, changing a short spelling o'f ma noeuvre, ligature Two or more analysis of printed

g
vowel into a long one: rat where the oeu represents letters joined together as a language.
- rate).
lul. (After J. Butcher, 1 992.)

,4 Aa[a &
 258 PART IV . SPOKEN AND \RITTEN ENGLI,SH 18. THE \RITING SYSTEM t<q

Old English was first written in the runic alphabet

THE ALPHABET

D
(p. 9), but the arrival ofChristian missionaries brought uscule
Modern Modern

I
the rapid introduction of the Roman alphabet. The23 Semitic Greek Latin italic Roman Semitic Greek Latin italic Roman
The letter-shapes of the modern alphabet in mosr
cases are part ofan alphabetic tradition which is over
Latin letters were applied to the Old English sound
system in a systematic wa with the addition of four
k A, A A A A A D D D

d
3,000 years old. The earliest-known alphabet'/as rhe new symbols to represent unfamiliar sounds: (ash),1 Minuscule Minuscule

22-letter North Semitic, which developed c.1700 sc
in the Middle East. Several alphabets were based on
this model, including the Phoenician, which c. 1000
BC was used as a model by the Greeks, who added let-
.^ ters for vowels. Greek in c. 800 sc itself became the
model for the alphabet used by the Etruscans (a civi-
lization in the Tirscany area of central ltaly), and ir is
from Etruscan that the capital letters ofthe 23-letter
Roman alphabet derived. The Christian era saw rhe
emergence of new styles of writing throughout the
Roman Empire, with
scribes developing smaller
scripts which could be written rapidly and smoothl
and in which the pen remained in contact with the
paper as much as possible. The distinctive shapes
a
(thorn), (eth), and 7 (wynn); also, g appeared in a Roman Roman Modern Roman Roman Modern Modern
cursive uncial Carolinqian italic Roman cursive uncial Carolinqian italic Roman
modified form as e (yogh). Following the Norman
Conquest, the distinctively Anglo-Saxon symbols " a a t\ d d d
gradually disappeared, at first because the French ^
A has been the f rst letter of the alphabet for the whole of its history. Origi- The fourth letter of the alphabet since Semitic times, D derives f rom Greek
scribes preferred more familiar lerters, and later de/ta. A right-rounded shape appeared in Latin, and this came into English.
nally a consonanl, a lep h (' ox'), i n the Semitic alphabet, it became the vowel
because Continental printers did not have the sorts alphain Greek. The lower-case'open a' is a development of the capital, with The lower-case letter is a development of the capital, written rapidly to pro-
(p.257) to print the earlier symbols. Ash was replaced the addition of a left-faci ng loop at the top and a lowering of the cross-bar. duce a form with a lengthened upper stroke and a reduced, left-rounded
The lower-case 'closed a' () is an italic development from the medieval lower element,
by a, thorn and eth by th,yogh chieflyby gh, and wynn period. D/d typically represents a voiced a lveolar plosive /dl though with devoic-
by a new letter, w. To this alphabet of 24 lerters were A/a has both short and long open-vowelvalues (as in //catand /o:/ ing to /t/ when it occurs immediately after a voiceless consonant (crossed
added, from the late Middle Ages, a and j, respecrively father), and a range of other pronunciations in specific contexts (such as a pushed, p. 242). lt combines with g to represent /S/ (badge), and is occasion-
closersound/cl/afterworbefore/,asinwaterandca//). lnspelling,itenters ally silent (handkerchief). Doubling is one way of showing a short preceding
distinguished from uand i, with which they had pre- into a number of combined forms with other vowels, both separated (rate ) vowel (bldding vs bidi ng).
viously been interchangeable $.al). The result is the and adjacent (say, rain, cause, saw, ear, goat).lt is occasionally doubled, but
26Jetter alphabet known today. One of the distinctive only in loan words(aardvark, Aaron). uscule
Modern Modern
features of this alphabet is irs lack of diacritics, aparr

E,
Semitc Greek Latin italic Roman
of several modern lower-case letters arose through from the dot over lower-case i andj,and the occasional .
B I
the constraints imposed by the need for efficient use of accents in loan words where a pronunciation Semitic Greek Latin
Modern
italic
Modern
4 E E E E,
handwriting. would otherwise be unclear (e.g. resum, nibe). 8 B B B B Minuscule

e
Roman Roman Modern Modern
Minuscule cursive uncial Carolinqian italic Romn

SOME EARLY FORMS
OF HANDWRITING
Majuscule
Relatively large letters
generally contained within
a single pair of imaginary
horizontal lines; now
usually called capital
/etters. The Greek and
Latin alphabets were both
originally written in this
way.
Minuscule
Relatively small letters
whose parts often extend
above and below a pair of
British lsles, where the style
of writing developed an
'insular' character of ts
own.
Cursive
Handwriting in which the
characters arejoined in a
series of rounded, flowing
strokes, which promotes
ease and speed. Often now
known colloquially as
'script' (US) or'joined-up
writing' (UK), it was widely
used from the 4th century
ac, and eventually replaced
uncial and half-uncial as
b N ?
THE BOOK OF KELLS Roman Roman Modern Modern
lnsular half-uncial
cursive uncial Carolinoian italic n (-
e e
script, illustrated by this
page from the gen- B b b b Ewas a consonant symbol in the 5emitic alphabet, but was used as a vowel in
ealogy of Christ, taken Greek, one of its shapes emerging in Latin and eventually in English asthe
from St Luke's Gospel Bhas beenthe second letterof the alphabetsince Semitictimes, where its capital letter. The lower-case letter developed as a smaller, rounded variant
(3.22-6). The text reads: name was beth ('house'). lt emerged in the later Greek alphabet as a capital ofthe capital in cursive style.
'facta est tu es filius letter with a shape close to its modern form. The lower-case letter developed /e represents both short /e/ (set) a nd long /i:/ (me) phonetic values, with
meus dilectus in te from a later uncialform. several other va rianTs (English, certain, ballet, serious).lt is often combined
bene conplacuit mihi. 8/b norma lly represents the voiced bilabia I plosive /b/ (p. 243), but is some- with other vowel letters, such as a (great, wear, ear) and i (rein, believe,
et ipse ihs erat incipiens times silent (fom b, lamb, debt). Doubling has been used since the early p. 272), less often u (Europe) and o (/eopard), and it is often doubled (meefl
quasi annorum triginta Midd le English period (p. 42) as one way of showing a short preced ing vowel beer). One of its major f unctions is to indicate a preceding long vowel,
ut putabantur filius (robbingvs robing). whether adjacent (die) or separated (the'magic e' in make, bite). lt may also
ioseph. qui fuit mark a change in consonant value, as in teethe vs teeth, slnge vs sing, and
heli...matha...levi... vice vs Vic.lt often has no f unction, being a silent testimon ia I to an earlier
le
melchi...ianne... period of pronunciation history (have, some, more). There are severalvaria-
Modern Modern

r
ioseph...mathathie... Semitic Latin italic tions in usage (7udg(e)ment, ag(e)ing) and regional differences, both in

I
the handwriting norm. Greek Roman
imaginary horizontal lines; amos...nauum...esli... spelling (US a UK axe) and sound (clerkwith ls-l (us) orlorl (UK)).
now usually called sma//
Ietters or lower-case
Dual alphabet
The use ofcapital letters
nagge...maath' 1 C C C
/etters. Minuscule writing The Book of Kells is a Minuscule

F
and small letters in a single large illuminated vol- Modern
was a gradual develop- Roman Roman Modern Modern

C I
system. This development ume containing a Latn uncial Carolinoian italic Semtic Greek Latin italic Roman
ment, known in cursive

Greek from the 7th-8th
took place during the
centuries AD.
renaissance associated with
the reign of Emperor
Uncial Charlema g ne (7 42-81 4), as
f
version of the Gospels.
Its date is uncertain, but \ C c C c F F F
it was evidently com-
Minuscule
piled in lreland over a

f
A form of professional part of the scriptwhich was Chas been the third letter of the alphabet since Semitictimes, developing its Roman Roman Modern
considerable period of

r
cursive uncial Carolinoian italic Roman

f
writing used in Greek and later cal led Carolrngian time (lvith some of the right-facing curve in the Roman alphabet. The lower-case letter is simply a

Latin manuscripts during
the 4th-8th centures AD. writing, promoted
The style consists of large
(the name means'inch-
high'), simple, rounded
letters. A later develop-
ment, now known as half-
uncial or semi-uncial,
prepared the way for
modern small letters. Half-
uncial is often found in
early manuscripts from the
F
F
mrnuscule. Carolingian ornamental work left smaller form of the capital; neither has changed much in shape during the
unfinished). probably Past 2,000 years.
throughout Europe, was an between the late 7th The pronunciation of C/c has altered greatly, however: originally repre-
important influence on senting a voiced sou nd, as in Greek gamma, it became a voice less vela r plosive alongwith U, V and W, all comefrom a single symbol used in the North
century and the 9th cen- F,
later handwriting styles. tury. The manuscrpt is / k / in Roman times, and entered Old English with both this 'hard'value, as in Semitic alphabet, This gave rse to two letters in early Greek, one of which
For example, modern klng (originallV s pelled cyning), and wit a palatalized valu e, l[ l, asin chitd was adapted by the Etruscans and Romans, and given the value of a voiceless
now preserved in the
Roman printed letters (originally spelled clld). Underthe influence of French, the letter also devel- labio-dentalfricative, /f/. The elongated lower-case form arose later, when
library of Trinity College,
derive from a classical style. Dublin. oped a 'soft'val ue /s/ before e a nd i (cell, city). Other sound values include /J/ scribes began to run letters together in the cursive style.
based on the Carolingian, (spec/a/), and silence (muscle). Both hard and soft doubled forms exist (occu ln Old Eng lish, the symbol was at f irst used for both voiced and voiceless
introduced in ltaly by accident). There is some usage variation, both in sound (Celticwith lkl or lsl) labio-dental f ricatives, but once /v/ emerged as a separate phoneme in
humanist printers in the and spel ling (co n necti on vs co n nexi on, d isc vs disk, U K /icence (noun) vs US English (p. 42), f was almost entirely used for the voiceless sou nd (an excep-
early 1 5th century. lrcense). tion being of). There is doubling in many words, indicating a preceding short
Phonetic terminology used in this section is explained in g 17
260 PAI-I- IV.SPOK,N AND \RI1'-fEN ENGLISH
1IJ 1'I_i \IRITIN( SYSl-EM 261

I
vowel (stuff waff le). Because other letters also represent the /f7 sou nd

K
uscule Majuscule
(cough, photo), there is occasiona I usa g e va riation (U S su/fu IJK sulphur). An
| ,",-
Modern North Modern Modern MINIM CONFUSION
interesting g raphic archa ism is the spelling of such upper-class surnames as Semitic

lx
Semitic Greek

I
Latin italic Greek italc Roman

K K
|

ffoulkes and ffrench, arising from a medieval practice of representing a capi-

tal letter by doubling the lower-case character. L I J, t K
ln some styles of medieval hand-
writing, sequences of m, n, v/u,
Heu! tectolum tutamina
Prostelnuntu ir-r platea;

k
and I (with no distinguishing dot,
I

scule Minuscule Minuscule Ecce. crates a culmine

I
a

G
at that time) would appear as an
Modern .Modern Roman Roman Modern Roman Roman Modern Modern
identical series of joined vertical Ruunt sine munimine!

r
Semitic cursive uncial Carolinqian italic cursive uncial Carolingian italic

I
Greek Latin italic Roman
strokes, or minims. Asequence of

t K L
Flatus saevi spirmina
1 G G G 1 l I I k six strokes could therefore be ium,
niui, inui, or several other
Haec fecerunt ludibria.
Minuscule possibi lities. The decoding Et nisi natalicia

O Roman /was a consonant in the Semitic alphabet, represented a vowel in Greek, and was a Semtic letter wh ich came into Latin via G reek and Etruscan. lt was in problem is apparent n this extract Pauli sancti sollemnia
Roman Modern Modern

t)
K

I
came into Latin with both vowel and consonant (y) values. The lower-case
cursive uncial Carolinqian italic fact little used in Latin (which preferred Cand Q), and is uncommon in Old from a late 7th-century work of Trerentur trementia
letter is a smaller form of the capital. The dot was originally a sma ll d iacritic,
5 o o English. The letter emerges in Middle English to represent the voiceless velar Aldhelm (Ca rm i na Rhyth m i ca,
Timidorum precorclia,
t) similarto an acute accent, added during the early Middle English period by
scri bes concerned to distngush the stroke of an i from the otherwise ideni_
plosive/kl which in Old English had been spelled with c. The need forthe
new symbol arose because of the arrival of many French words where c had a
preserved in a mid-9th century
manuscript), notably in such words Forsan quassato culn-ine
cal strokes (known as minlms) of adjacent letters (m, n, u).
G is found first in the 4th century fricative sound before e and i (centre, city), and after a period of uncertainty as munimine and spiramina. Quateremur et fulmine,
version of the Latin al phabet.
Bc, in a revised //i has a wide ran ge of sou nd values, both short (blg) and long (f i nd, sk i): it k became used in those contexts where cwould have had a plosive sound. ln
Previous a lphabets had used the Csymbol for the voiced velar plosive /g /, and is sometimes silent (sesslon). lt often combines as a digraph with e (lie, fietd),
this way, Old English words such as cyning cameto be written as king. The
the new letter was a simple adaptation of that, add ing a small cross-bai. The and appears doubled only when syllables become adjacent (radli ). There is lower-case letter arose in handwriting through a simple extension of the
lower-case form went through a complex set of changes to produce the Jre*rccpr.arrr+'
lfnlnltl-*
some usage variation with y (g i psy vs gypsy, US tire vs U K tyre), ref lecti ng a upright stroke above the line.
modern symbols - the g with a closed lower element (g), often found in print, time when i and ywere interchangeable. The choice of the capital / for the As a result, K/k in Modern English is common before e and i, but less so
and the 'open g' of ha ndwriting. An insular variant ws found in Anglo-
Saxon writing (J, p. 1 6), wh ich lasted into early M idd le Eng lish for the repre-
f irst person singular pronoun was a standardization introduced by printers in
before other vowels (kangaroo), un less it represents a Sca nd inavian sk- word Q ccrafaaJlrtrma.' lnrr3ntt
late M iddle English, after a period when r,l, I y, and y had a ll been used for (p, 25), such as sky. lt is not usua ly doubled, ck being the usua I form after
sentation of certa in pa latal and velar sounds until eventually replaced by gh.
I

this form. short vowels (but note such loan words as trekking and pukka). lt is some-
After the Norman Conquest, g is found as both a ,hard, sound, the veli
tmes silent (knee, know).lt is a common symbol when representing foreign fl^'f\*rt'fnrnrna'
d',,,-.lc.
plosive (go), and a 'soft' sound (the affricate /cB1 used before e, i a nd as in

age, gin, gym). French loan words with g a lso often retain a voiced f ricative
le
Modern Modern
names (Khrushc hev, Kaiser), names of aliens (Kruls, Klingons), and as a non-
standard spelling in trade names(Kwik-Fit) or humour (Keystone Kops). pJf..fo[k'r,*r.

J I I
(rou g e, ge n re). Popu lar letter combinations i ncl ude d (/edge) and n (si ng), Semitic Latin
Greek italic
currn*acmcrrut-' cr*L-;J,^.
There is also some usage variation (drsk vs dlsc, US check vs U K chegue, US
a n d there is f req uent dou lsling (egg, soggy, bigger). tr is often silent (g iome,
skepticvs UKsceptic).
phlegm, resign, foreign, high) and is famous for its silence in the -ough
J
frtgr1..^-crJ-.,rc qtrrer*-r(.t *rr.
spellings (p. 272).lhere is some usage varation, both in sound (rougl with
/c\j/.or /3/) and spelling ail, gaol, and especially in prop"r. namut us-ng u a Minuscule
North
'softg': Geoff vsleffl. Roman Roman
Modern Modern
Modern Modern Semtic Greek Latin italic Roman
cursive uncial Carolinqian italic

l A L L
H
uscule

Semitic Greek Latin

Modern
italic
Modern ) 1 t J j L 1 L man uscripts, it was common practice to replace m by a sma ll stroke over the
preced ing letter (p. 40), a practice which can sti I I be found i n the 1 7th century.

a
Roman Minuscule

H H
I
M/m represents a voiced bilabial nasal/m/, with some minor articulatory
E H Modern
The h istory of th is letter in Eng lish dates only f rom the medieval period. Orig Roman Roman
H inally a graphic variant of I (a lengthened form with a bottom left-facing italic Roman variations (p. 245). Doubl in g is usua I after a short vowel (co m ma vs co ma), bul

L I
there are many exceptions (cam elvs mammal), especia lly at the end of mono-
curve), it gradua lly came to replace I whenever that letter represented jcon-
t
h
Minuscule
Roman Roman Modern Modern
sonant, as in major and jewel. The lower-case distinction did not become l" syllabic words, where a single m is usual (am, time, seem), and learning how
many ms there are in a word remains a source of spelling conf usion into adult

I
cursive uncial Carolinqian italic standard until the mid-1 7th century, and there was uncertainty about the
life (accommodafion). The letter is silent in a few Greek loan words, notably

h
upper-case distinction even as late as the early 1 9th century. I was a symbol in the Semitic alphabet, and developed via Greek, Etruscan,
h
mnemonic.
l) h J/7 is chief ly pronounced as a voiced pa lato-alveolar aff ricate /
$/ a b),
and Latin into its modern capitalform, with a horizontal line replacing an

N
with a f ricative or vocalic sound in a few cases, such as foreign names earlier oblique. The lower-case letter arose in handwriting, when scribes
(lacques, lung, Jun). lt is unusual to find it joined I to adjacent letters by using an upper loop and turning the horizontal M
H was origina lly a Sem itic letter which came into Latin via Greek and Etruscan stroke into a curve. These linking features were om itted in the printed form. Modern Modern
at the end of a word (ra7). Many words with
to represent the g lottal f ricative I l't I. lhe lower-case l// represents a voiced alveolar lateral lll(lip, pool), with some variation Semitic Greek Latin italic Roman
initiall are from Frencholly, julce) or Latin
form arose with the develop-
ment of cursive script. A
(junior, jubilation), and it is a common
letter in personal names ("lanef John). lt is
according to context (p. 245). Other pronunciations may occur in loan words,
such as the voiceless latera I in Welsh // (tiangol/en). The letter is f requently Y N N N
rounded version, in the uncial

n r
style, led to the modern small
N
i\
also sometimes used as a nonstandard
spelling for the voiced affricate /c!/
doubled, usuallyto mark a preceding shortvowel (million,wel/), butthere
are many exceptions (such as we lcome, u nti I, wih / after a short vowel, and
Minuscule
Roman Roman
^/
Modern Modern
letter. (lnjuns, Roj = Roger). all,poll,wirh//afteralongvowel).1//isoftensilent(could, chalk,folk),wilh cursive uncial ita I ic Roman

n
H/h is widely used as a com- some variaton (almond wilh and without /l/). There is also some written
bining form in such digraphs as
ch, sh, th, and ph, but is not
usage va riation (US enroll, traveler, chili vsUK enrol, traveller, chilli). n

M
doubled (apart from such cases !ajuscu le
as ahh !) unless two syllables North Modern Nachieved its present-dayshape in the Latin alphabet after a history of vari-
italic l9!rqll ous angular forms. The lower-case letter resulted from scribal cursive prac-

4
come together (wi th ho I d). lt is Semitc Greek Latin
often silent (Sara h, exhausted,
rhyth m) and sometimes signa ls
adjacent sound quality (e.g.
t M M M M tice. lt appears in Old English, and has been used with very little change in
form since.
N/n represents a voiced alveolar nasal /n/, with minor variations depend-

rn
showing that c before e in Minuscule ing on the following consonant - /l/ before a v elar (ink), lt'ttl bef ore a bil-
chernrst is pronounced /k/). lt is a Roman Roman Modern Modern abial (lnput). lt indicates foreign sounds in a few loan words, such as the
cu rstve uncial ita I ic Roman
major source of usage variation, nasalized vowel often heard in restaurant, and the palatal consonant in
with several accents not pro-
nouncing h initially (p. 244), and ct) n m m lasagne. Doubling usually signals a preceding shortvowel (dinnervs diner),
but there are many exception s (money, flnrsh), especially in monosyllabic
some words varying between Tout words (an, fen). Spelling diff icu lties over the number of ns in a word are
regions (UK herb pronouncesthe M has come from a Semitc letter via the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman alpha- common, as a consequence, especial ly when un- and -ness fa I I adjacent to n
little bets (where it sometmes had four vertica I strokes) into Old Eng lish. The
h, US herb usually does not). in a root (unnecessary, openness). lt is occasionally silent (autu mn, condemn),
nor I lower-case letter appeared in a rounded form in uncialstyle. ln medieval but sounded in derived lexicalforms (autumnal).
262 PART IV . SPOKEN AND'T'RIT'I'EN ENGLISH 18 . THE \RITING SYSTEM 263

U
M uscule Majuscule
Nrth
Semitc Greek Latin
Modern
italic
Modern
Roman
WHEN Q- U =/KW/ Moderl Modern Modern

o o o o o S
Semtic Greek Latin italic Roman Semitic Greek italic Roman

Minuscule
0 Ina few cases (all abbreviations) Q appears without its accompanying
yet retains the /kw/ pronunciation. The name of this airline is probaby'
the most familia /'kwon tes/, standing for ,eueensland and Northern
U,
w t E . S Y Y Y U U

o u
Territory Aerial Servce', but there are several other examples, including Minuscule Minuscule
Roman Roman Modern Modern vlodern Modern
QAy ('Quality Adjusted Life Yea r'), eAMIS (,eudity Assurance Moni-

o
uncial n Roman italic curstve uncial italic

u
curstve Roman Roman

O o 0 o
O represented a consonant in the Semitic alphabet, and was used by the
Greeks for both a short and a long vowel, these later being distinguished as
two symbols, omicron ('little o' forthe short sound) and omega ('big o, for
the long sound). The Romans adopted omicron, giving it both short and long
values, and these values were also assigned to the letter when it was used for
Old English. The shape has shown hardly any change throughout its history.
The lower-case letter is simply a smaller form of the capital.
O/o has a wide range of sound values in Modern English, both short (back
quality as in cot, gone, rocket, lost; central quality as in son, love, brother,
onion) and long (diphthongal quality as in go, oboe, yellow, old; pure vowel
quality as in do, who, move, shoe).lt is commonly doubled, with both long
(moon) and short (good) values, butthere is much regionalvariation (north-
ern UK book/u I vsRP lul). tt is occasionally silent (people, the second
instance in colonel). There is also some regionalvariation in o-forms (US
color, plow, fetus, mustache vs IJK colour, plough, foetus, moustache).
scule
S I
toring lnformation System'), and QOMAC ('Quarter Orbit Magnetic
Attitude Control').
S s .t S \1"
fhe Semitic and Greek alphabets had a variety of symbols for sibilant sounds
@.2a3), one of which - a rounded form - was taken over by the Etruscans and
Romans and eventually entered Old English, usually written in an elongated
way. The lower-case letter is simply a smaller version of the capita l. though a
form resembling an f (but without the cross-bar) came to be used in hand-
writing in the 17th century, and is found in print especially at the beginn ing
ofsyllables until the early 19th century.
5/s represents an alveolar sibi lant, both voiceless /s/ (srster, bus) and voiced
lz,l (is, easy). Alterntions exst, such as a house (noun) vs to house (verb). A
palatal sound is used before certain endings (sesslon, vrslon) and in a few
other cases (sugar), but / [/ is usually spelled out as the combination sh. Dou-
bling is typically voiceless (hlss, possible), but there are exceptions (sclssors,
desserf). S/s is occasiona lly silent(island, corps). There is some regiona I usage
variation both in sound (U5 erase with /sl, UKwiIh lzl) and spelling (U5
defense vs UK defence), as well as some general variation, also in sound (lssue
with /s/ or /J/) a nd spelling (focused vs focussed).
u
u u
The ancestor of U is to be found in the Semitic alphabet, eventually emerging
in Latin as a Vused for both consonant and vowel. The lower-case letter
developed as a smaller and rounded form in uncial script. ln Middle English,
both v and u appear variously as consonant and vowel, in some scribal prac-
tice v being found initia lly and u medially (p. 41). This eventua lly led to v
being reserved forthe consonantand uforthevowel, though itwas not until
the late 1 7th century that this distinction became standard.
U/u typica lly represents a close back vowel, either lon g /u:/ (ruby) or short I
u/ (put), though not all accents (e.g. Scots) make th is distinction. Other values
include (in some accents) a more open vowel llkup), a semi-vowel/w/
(gulck), and a variant i n which /ur/ is preceded by a palatal glide I i I fu n t,
muse). The letter commonly combines with o to give various phonetic values
(south, southern, could, journey), and is qute often silent (vogue, quay,
bu i ld, biscu it). lt is hardly ever doubled (vacu u m, mu u m u u t a Hawai ian dress).
There is considera b le reg ona I variation, both in sou nd (duty, tune U 5 /u l/ vs
UK I ju: L route US often /au/ vs U K /u r/) and spel ing (US colorvs U K colour).
I

P V
North Modern Modern
Semitic Greek Latin scule
italic Roman

n
Modern Modern
1
Modern
7 P P P
Semitic Greek Latn italic Roman Semitic Greek Latin italic Roman

+ T T T Y V V V
p
Minuscule
cursive script. Old English preferred the sp elling cw (cwic'quick,), the qu-
Y Y

t
forms not coming into use unti I after the Norman Conquest. The use of qu
Roman Roman Modern was further extended in the north of England, remained in Scots in such Minuscule Minuscule

p
cursive uncial Carolingian italic Roman

V
words as uzhen (quhen) until Early Modern English, and is still seen today in Roman Roman Modern
p
Roman Roman Modern Modern
l) p uncial Carolinqian italic

Y
the occasional surname (Colq u hou n lka'l'ttt,t't l). Roman cursive uncial Carolinaian italic Roman
P
Pwas a Semitic letter which came into Greek, Etruscan, and Latin in a variety
Q/q represents a velar voiceless plosive /kl and is usually followed by u,
representing the bilabial semi-vowel /w/ (quiz, quack).lt appears without u
in varioustransliterated and loan forms (/raq, ern), and with a silent u in
f T ( t t \1" u u V
of forms. lt eventually standardized with a rounded upper element. The Romance loans (unlque, guiche). There is occasional regonal usage variation
fwas used in the Semitic alphabet, came into Latin via Greek and Etruscan, The history of this letter is the same as for U. Once a systematic distinction had
lower-case letter is a smaller version of the capital, with the additional dis- (UK cheque, /iquorlcevs US check, licorice).
and entered Old English. The handwritten form in uncialstyle was a smaller emerged between the two letters, a larger version of u became standard as a
tinction that the vertical stroke falls below the line of writing.
and rounded version of the capital, with a right-curved base. The vertical capital, and a smaller version of V became standard as a lower-case form.
P/p is usually pronounced as a voiceless bilabial plosive/p/(pop), with

R I
minor articulatory variations (p. 2ag. ln Greek loan words it often appears in North
Semitic
a digraph with h to represent /f/ (p hilosophy). Doubled forms usually indi-
cate a preceding short vowel (happy, upper), but there are many exceptions
(lip, drop, proper), and some regional variations (US often k idnaping, t)K kid-
stroke later became lengthened abovethe horizontal (forming a cross-bar), V/v represents a voiced labio-dental f ricative /v/, a sound which became
Modern Modern
Greek Latin Roman in order to distinguish handwritten tf rom c. phonemic only in the Middle English period (p. 42). Almost all instances of
I/t represents a voiceless alveolar plosive, with some minor articulatory initial vare loan words (valley,Viking), and in final position the letter is
1 P R R R variations (p. 244) and some major regionalvariants (e.9. dental in lreland,
retrof lex in lndia). ln some contexts, t may be pronounced as a f ricative ll I
usua lly fol lowed by a silent e (h ave, love). Forms such as sp iv and I uv are
colloquial and often nonstandard spellings. Doubling is found only in recent

r r
na pp i ng). lt is silent in Greek loan words before n, s, and t (pneu mati c, psal m,
Minuscule (patient) or an africate lI I @icture), though there is often usage variation coinages (navyy), because the doubled vwas appropriated for w in the
pterodactyl), in certain words fol lowed by b (cupboard), and in a few other

r
Roman Roman Modern Modern with /tj/ (questlon) or lsl egotiate). Doubling is common, and indicates a medieval period; as a result, vdoes not signal preceding vowel length clearly
cases (receipt, coup). curstve uncial Carolingian Roman preceding short vowel (bottle, slftlng); this is unusua I at the end of a word (lovevs move).

Semitic
le

Greek Latin
Modern
italic
Modern
R r utt). An important combination is with h to represent the voiced and voice-
less dental f ricatives /0/ and / I fthn, thr.rhe letter is quite often silent
(listen, cabaret, castle, Chrstmas). There is occasional usage variation with The external facade of Bush House, the location of the BBC World Service
Roman

a
appeared in the semtic a lphabet in a variety of forms, and was taken into -ed (srne/tvs smelled, p.204), and often is a famous example of a word where in the Aldwych, London. The classical architectural style is ref lected in the

O a
R

?
the pronunciation of t is optional. capta I letters, which retain the older use of V for U.
? ? Greek with a single descending stroke (rho). Aversion with an additional
short 'ta il' became the basis of the Latin f orm, with the ta il lengthened to

q
Minuscule avoid confusion with P The lower-case form arose as a simplified character
Roman Roman Modern Modern in handwriting, with the curve and tal smoothed into a single wavy horizon-
curstve uncial italic tal stroke. The letter appears in Old English.

\ q 9 q q No other consonantal letter has such a variety of sounds, and is prone to

The location of the distinctve stroke has varied greatly from the 5em itic
alphabet through Greek and Etruscan to Latin, until a curved,tail,atthe
bottom and to the right of the O became the standard form. The letter was
dropped in Classical Greek, but retained in Etruscan asthe representation of
such regional variation. Rhofic accents (p. 245) retan a sound value for r
after a vowel (far, work),whereas non-rhotic accents do not, unless a vowel
follows (far and wide - the 'linking r'- though th is is not heard in all non-
rhotic accents). All phonetic qualities of rcan be heard, such as retroflex r in
lndia and the USA, and trilled r in Scotland and Wales. Doubling is common
(carry, purr, correct, embarrass), but there is great inconsistency (he sti
harass), hence the frequency of such spel ing problems as the number of r's
I

lklbef ore a u vowel, and this practice was taken over in Latin. The lower-case in occurrence. Other common spelling problems involve the vowels which
letter developed in scribal writing as a smaller version of the capital, with the precede r in an unstressed position (altervs altar).There is also some
tai I lengthened below the I ine and moved to the right, to facilitate rapid regional variation (US cente theatervs UK centre, theafre).
264 PAI.T IV.SPOI(EN AND \RIT'i'EN ENCLISH 18 THE 'SII-fINC] SYS-I'EM 265

(p.260), began life in this way. However, it becomes MORSE AND OTHER
uscule
Modern Modern
the sounds which were represented byyogh (p. l 6). A dot was often added
above, to distinguish it f rom Old English letters thorn and wynn (p. 1 6). The
PROPERTIES OF LETTERS more difcult to see the linguistic function of letters CODES
Semitic Greek Latin italic Roman rounded lower-case letter developed as part ofthe cursive style, enabling when we see them combine. It is much easier to tamper The Morse Code is the best

\ Y Y Y V W \ scribes to write t in a sng le movement. The trunk of the letter ws place

below the line, a nd moved to the right to enable a smoother link to be made The tters of the alphabet are the basic elements of the
le with the written langr.rage than the spoken language - known of the signalling codes
devised inthe 19th century.

w
Minuscule with the following letter. wr.iting system. Like phonemes (p.236), they have no the history of English spelling is littered with attempts
Constructed during the 1 830s
Roman Roman Modern Modern
Reflecti ng th is m ixed h istory, modern Y/y now represents both the pa latal rneaning in themselves: their primary role is to com- made bywell-neaning individuals to improve the way by US artist and inventor

(lI
cursive uncial Carolinqian italic Roman se m i-vowel /.i/ Cyou, yes) a nd a n l -type vowel, whether short (pyramid), long
bine into linguistic units, each of the 26 letters, or writing reflects speech (p.274. Norman scribes were Samuel Morse (17 91 -187 2), iT
(byte), or intermed iate (happy). lt s an im portant element of certain
w \M digraphs (p/ay, they, boy).here is also some usage variation (pygmyvs sraphemes
(p. 257), playing a contrastive role (e.g. b it able to introduce spelling conventions reflecting is a binary code, in which char-
acters are assigned a distinc-
pigmy, UK pyjamas, tyrevsUS pajamas, tire). , lrrt, ,trtrt art) . Lewis Carroll once invented a game, French practice, such as tlu.for cw(queen) or rlefore tive combination of dots and
whiclr he called double based on the pairs of words (cell). And because there was a time when spelling dashes. Morse's choice of indi-

Z
This letter was introduced by Norman scribes in the 1 1th century as a means
vidual letter codes was guided
of representing /w/, replacing the runic symbol , wynn,which had been used which can be formed in this way. The aim is to change reformers felt that it was important for words to reflect
Modern by a frequency count ofthe
in Old Eng lish (p. 1 6). Although its shape is a ligature of two V,s, its name is
Semitic Greek Latin italic Roman one word into another in a series ofsteps, s few as pos- thei classical origins, we now have a bin debt, a gin quantities oftype found in a

I
'double u', ref lecting the state of affa irs in Middle English when y and u were
interchangeable (p. 41). The lower-case letter is simply a smaller version of
the capital.
L Z Z Z Z siblc, each intervening wold differing from its neigh-
botrrs in only one letter. 'Drive piginto sty'was one of
reign, andseveral other such emendations. As a result of
these developments, English now often looks like a
printer's office, the more
f requently occurring letters
beng assigned the shorter
Wlw usually represents a voiced bilabial semi-vowel, lwl @ig), and also
fo rms pa rt of d ig ra phs representi ng severa I long vowels or d phthongs (cow,
Minuscule
CaLlollt own examples: he did it in five step Pig- uig Romance ianguage, though it does not sound like one. dot/dash combinatons. ln this

Z
Roman Roman Modern
- tultg- wll)r - s/t! - rfl. Several other word games rely This is not all bad news, of colrrse. Becallse the lan- respect, his system is in princi-
i

saw, knew, owe). lt combines with h in many words, some accents pronounc- uncial Carolinoian ita I ic

z
ple much more eff icient than

Z
ing this as a voiceless bilabial/n l @here, white). The letter is no longer on the linguistic properties of the letters of the alpha- guage's histoly is preserved in the spelling mLlch more
v
sounded before r (wreck, wrlst), and there are several other silent for ms (two,
a nswe r, N o rwi ch, who I e).
z z ber (p.396), in particular their frequency and their than it is in the pronunciation, non-native speakers
that used in braille, where dot
combinations broadly increase
ability to combine. (especially those with a classical background) who in complexity as one

X
Z appeared in the Semitic and G reek alphabets, and although it was not -i'he 'descends'the alphabet, or in
le
needed for Latin the Romans later borrowed the letter to hel p transcribe linguistic properties ofletters are the most obvi- wish to gain only a reading knowledge of English find flag semaphore, where the
Semitic Greek Latin
Modern
italic Roman
Greek loan words, making it the last item in their a lphabet. lt was little used ous. The need to maintain a distinctive graphic form this relatively easy to achieve. And the semantic rela- simpler arm positions are

r motivated many of the changes in letter

in Old English, but became morecommon afterthe Norman Conquest. How-
X
tionships between words are often better preserved in assigned to the opening
X X X
has shapes
ever, it was never a popular letter, perhaps because it was diff icult to write
- letters. Thus l, for example,
L

smoothly in a cursive hand, and s was often used instead. The lower-case thloughout the history ofthe alphabet, such as the use thei written than in their spoken form: the links though the second most fre-
Minuscule letter is simply a sma ller version of the capital. of tl.re cross-bar in G (to preserve a contrast with C) or berween such pairs as sigtzlsignature or tehgrphl quent letter, turns out to have

X -r
Roman Roman Modern Modern Zlztypically represents a voiced alveolar fricative lzl oo, gaze), occasion- with
the lengthening of the second leg of R (to contrast telegrphy are straighdorward in writir-rg, but by no one of the most awkward f lag
a lly being used for pa latal (azure) or pa lato-alveolar soun ds (Naz, schizo).
cursive uncial Carolinqian italic lzl P). The dot, the English alphabet's sole diacritic in combinations - a fact discov-

)c
mens so evident
X became a distinct phoneme only in the Middle English period (p.42). Dou- speech.
ered with arm-aching empiri-
X X bling indicates a preceding shortvowel azz, dizzy), and is often used in a cism by generations of scouts
sound symbolic way (buzz, sizzle, p. 250). There is an exotic ,feel,to the letier
because of its f requent use in loan words f rom a wide range of languages LETTER FREQUENCY Cumulative Literature Religion Poltcs Physics Chemistry Morse Code and gudes.
Xemerged in the Greek alphabet (chi), derived from an earlier Semtic sb- (zodiac, zombie, bazaar, mazurka).lt is occasionally silent (rendezvous). This table summarizes the e 887,01 0 e 51,289 e 43,830 e 27,107 e 30,473 13,240 e 1 2,000
lant letter. lt ca me into Latin with the va lue /ks/, and was used in Old Eng lish
There is some usage variation, especially in suffixes (-rse vs -Ze), and the name 666,794 a 35,571 t 31,707 t 19,793 t 10,261 t 9,000

frequency ordering of letters a 21,717 i
typica lly as a variant spelling of cs. ln M idd le English it is found in some
t i 10,196 a
/ \A_i:-
of the letter is itself a source of division (US zee, U K zed). in all the text entries of lhe 611,202 33,790 i 30,520 18,861 i 19,901 a 8,000
dialectswithothervalues,suchasl.llQalforshatt),andasaspellingforyogh

(p. 16). The lower-case letter s simply a smaller version of the capital. Ca mbri dge E ncycl oped i a, 605,701 t 33,162 a 30,5 1 2 a 18,550 a 19,661 o 10,090 i 8,000
Becausethe English alphabetalreadycontains letterswhich can represent
(1 st edn) totalling 1.5 million n 578,826 n 32,051 n 27,s45 n 17,465 n 17,740 t 9,845 n 8,000 B
its sound (locks, tics, accident), xis often considered an unnecessary letter. lt The traditional alphabet book (p. 256), with its,A is for-,formula, words. Column 1 givesthe o 541,721 o 30,710 o 27,394 o 16,427 o 17,592 n 9,131 0 8,000
c
does however have a distinctive visual value, as can be seen from its use as a always found itself in trouble with such letters as X, which are much rank order for the book as a r s1 1,333 t 30,294 s 24,686 r 14,857 5 16,973 5 8,085 s 8,000
nonstandard spel ing (px for p ictures, soxfor socks, ax for ask), and from its more commonly used n medial and final position in the word. Xis more whole. Columns 2-6 give the s 501,098 s 28,644 r 23,976 s 1 3,983 r 16,434 ( 7,410 h 6,400 D
h 5,706 r
I

predictably associated with such words as box and fox - or perhaps, for rank orderings for five topic 331,639 21,018 h 20,237 h 9,3't7 c 1 1,196 6,200
classica I associations (he lx, index, matrx), which have given it some currency I I
E
in technicaltrade names (Xerox, unix, Xenix).lt is especiallycommon in final adults these days, sex and fax- than with such alphabet-book stalwarts categores. Column 7 gives h 326,573 I 19,085 d 14,864 I 8,735 h 10,143 c 5,635 d 4,400
position, usually after a short vowel (fax). lt also occurs with the sound /z/ as xylophone and X-ray. Morse's original order. d 302,965 d 17,755 I 14,124 c 8,350 I 1 0,1 09 h 5,248 I 4,000
F

(xerography), I gzl xit), and a few othe r values (X-ray, tuxury), and is silent Because it is a general c 285,436 c 13,266 c 13,777 d 8,215 d 8,613 d 4,872 u 3,400 G
at the end of French loan words (Gra nd Prix).fhere is some usage variation A frame from Asterx and Cleopatra, one of the many books in the
encyclopedia, all topic areas
re represented (though not
m 208,625 u 10,652 m 9,169 m 6,358 m 7,033 m 3,927 c 3,000 H
(i nfl ecti o n vs i nf I exion, Xm as vs Ch ristmas). Asterix series, by Goscinny and Uderzo.
with equal sample szes), and
u 206,020 m 10,057 u 9,167 u 5,488 u 6,873 u 3,546 m 3,000
thus the cumulatve total
f 176,923 f 8,901 f 9,016 p 5,1 6s p 6,045 p 2,586 f 2,500
p 8,678 p ,715 f 4,994 f 6,020 ,f 2,561 w

Y
uscule (over 7.5 million letters) is of p t 73,1 00 7 2,000 J

North Modern considerable interest. There s 48,1 03 w 7,911

1 s 6,632 s 3,782 s 4,632 v 2,223 y 2,000 K
Semitic Greek Latn italic Roman are severa I points to note. b 122,63s b 7,442 b 6,362 b 3,386 v 4,303 s 2,208 9 1,700
v 120,004 g 7,118 1,941 p L
Y Y Y Y Y Y ' Only e and v have the same
place in each cotumn. 10,832
1
s,254
y 6,583 v s,1 8s
v 3,1 58
3,071
b 3,901
2,903
b
1,292 b
1,700
1,600 M
. The second place for a in 76,395 v 5,089 3,325 2,3s4 2,676 967 v 1,200

v
Minuscule N
the cumulative total is unex- k 42,983 k 2,982 k 1,516 k 74s k 852 X s03 k 800
Roman Modern
j e3e i 1,179 359 q o

v
curstve uncial Carolinqian italic Roman Pected, as prevous counts X 5,860
1 384 759 k 500
:! \p_
v
12,429 x
!
j 1s2 j
v
have generally assigned this 814 718 z 258 q 658 z 400
v ir'r to t.
' lf we calculate a simple
z
q
11,162 z
9,772 q
7O5
326
z
q
478
257
i
q
290
132
i
z
361
360
q
j
155 x
392
400
200
a
measure of difference f rom
Y is a Greek adaptation of a Semitic symbol, representing high f ront
a the cumulative tota I (same 7,585,141 424,832 396/t45 221,225 247,928 122,218 106,400 R

rounded vowel (p. 2a0). ln Romn times, it was borrowed to help transcribe rank - 0, one rank difference 5
ingly distinct-the science o Differences of more than 1 gion, a (-2) and / (-2); in
Greek loan words into Latin, and given an unrounded value (similarto i ). lt = 1, etc.), we f ind that poli- topics, physics (20) and rank place (+ upwards, pol itics, a ( - 2); in physics, a T
was thus particu larly usef ul in the early h istory of Eng lish: it transcribed the tics is closest to the norm (-2), c(+3), I (-2), and q
Old English rounded vowel in such words a s cyning (king'), and th is later (scoring 12 points of differ-
chemistry (26). Morse is even - downwards) are tantaliz- 1',\u_
further away (32), for every- ing. ln literature, the only (+2); and in chemistry, I (+2),
enabled M iddle Eng lish scribes to use it as a replacement for i, in cases where ence), literature and religion thing afterthe first seven let- letters which differ so much o (+2), t (-2), c(+2), y (+2),
there would be minim confusion (p. 261). A further use was as a spelling of Getaf ix
Obelix come next (14), then
-strik- ters (especially w, p, and q). are 9 (- 2) and w(+3); in reli- andi ( - 2).
-.lw
Asterlx
X
Y
. z
 2-66 PAII-f IV.SPOKEN AND \RI'I']-EN ,NGI,ISH I8 THE '!RII'INC SYSTEM 267

Letter distribution
The rnotivation for George Udny Yulet classic work,
Thc Statisticttl Study of Literary Vocabulary 0944) , was
to solve a case of disputecl authorship (p.423).As part
rhe table shows letter pair (digram) f requencies, followed byA400times, and by B 12,100times.The sequences.Thetopten frequenciesare: lN, TH, HE,
Table A symbol I stands for a preceding word space, and ] for
,,sinq thewhole of thetextcorpusof the firstedition AN, ER, RE, ON, ND, OR, and ES. E isthe letter most
I fhe Canbridge Encyclopedia - over 6 million adja- a following word space: for example, B began a word likely to end a word; J is the least likely. Q is followed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9
ient character pa irs. The figures are raw data, and in 75,600 times and ended a word 1,500 times. by a surprising number of letters, but many of these
Bunyan Macaulay in
inousands (with decmals rounded up). The table The table can be used in a variety of ways, showing are due to the presence of abbreviations and foreign
Rank

of this task, he had to allswer the question of how Rank lnital Frequency lnital Frequency tnitiat Bunyan
Difference
ihoulcl be read f
rom left to right: for example, A was both the most frequent and least frequent names in the encyclopedia.
Macaulay of ranks
much variation rnight be expected in the vocabulary of
1 s 256 c 391 A 10 4 -6
clifferent works of the same general type from the same A c D F G H K L M
2 c 210 s 380 B 5 10 +5
E J

author. He chose some of Macaulay's essays (1825-42) 0.4 12.1 24.3 18.1 4.3 6.7 12.3 1.3 22.4 1.7 4.9 79.7 24.5
3 P 188 P 338 c 2 1
-1 A
as one sample, and some of Br,rnyan's works (1 678-82) 11.0 '1.0 1.4 0.3 28.6 0.04 0.02 0.09 7.7 1.0 0.02 12.9 0.2
4 D 153 A 249 D 4 5 +1 B

as another, and analysecl lists of noLlns raken from c 41.9 0.04 5.1 0.06 38. l 0.03 0.02 40.7 21.2 0.005 6.4 1 1.5 0.7
5 B 147 D 237 E 16 11 -5 10.6 0.2 0.5 1.9 49.2 0.2 1.6 0.6 30.7 0.2 0.02 1.8 0.9
each, putting each or a separare card. \ell into his 6 R 133 M 209 F 8.5 12 + 3.5
D
E 42.9 2.7 31 .8 81.3 16.9 8.1 9.1 1.3 7.7 0.2 1.4 32.9 20.7
investigation, he noticed somerhing: 7 M 124 R 191 G 14.5 15 + 0.5 t 9.5 0.05 0.05 0.0s 12.1 5.6 0.1 0.02 15.s 0.03 0.02 6.6 0.03
8 F 112 T 179 H 11 14 +3 6 11 .1 0.2 0.08 0.5 25.3 0.08 0.9 1 1.9 10.4 0.01 0.04 5.4 0.8
\hen tl-re work or.r Bunyan hacl beer-r finishecl, I happenecl 9 T 112 I 172 I 14.5 9 - 5.5 H 27.5 o.4 3.9 0.3 159.6 0.1 0.07 0.05 41.7 0.006 0.05 1.1 0.8
on one occasion to have oper-r before me at the same time tl-re 10 A 111 B 169 J 20 20 I 28.4 5.3 s3.8 17.O 26.7 1.1 15.0 0.'r 1.3 0.2 1.8 27.7 15.s
fir'st drawel of the Bunyan calcls and the first drawer of the 11 H 110 E 162 K 21 21.5 + 0.5 ) 2.4 0.003 0.001 0.005 2.7 0.0 0.001 0.006 0.4 0.005 0.02 0.02 0.009
cards for the thlee essay.s of Macaula A, B ancl C. One can 12 't00 F 150 L 13 13 K 2.0 0.1 0.04 0.06 9.2 0.1 0.2 0.5 5.8 0.02 U.U / 0.6 3.3
't3 44.0 0.8 1.0 10.2 51.7 2.0 0.9 o.2 40.1 0.03 1.3 31.5 2.3
obvioLrsly folm a rougl"r juclgrnent of the r-rumbers of nouns
L
L 84 L 122 M 7 6 -1 M 40.8 7.6 0.1 0.07 45.6 0.1 0.05 0.05 25.3 0.00s 0.02 0.3 6.4
fallir-rg under eacl-r initial letter from rhe distances between 14 G 72 H 112 N 19 19
N 28.7 o.7 26.7 91.8 40.1 3.8 57.6 1.2 25.9 0.5 2.4 3.2 2.1
guicle calcls - fol rny carcls 1 inch = 1 00 cards packed close
- 15 I 72 G 107 o 18 17 -1 o 4.4 4.7 11.6 13.9 2.8 69. s 6.4 1.4 5.8 0.3 2.6 25.9 32.7
aucl to rny surplise it was evident at sight that the clistribu- 16 E 69 89 P 3 3 P 21.7 0.2 0.04 0.03 30.3 0.03 0.008 9.6 11.9 0.007 0.03 13.7 0.9
tions of the two aurhors were quite substantially differer"rt. 17 43 o 73 a 23 23 a 0.05 0.004 0.004 0.0 0.007 0.001 0.0 0.0 0.08 0.0 0.001 0.003 0.002
The first ancl mosr conspicuons difference sirnply hit one in 18 o 41 64 R 6 7 +1 R 52.1 2.7 8.6 11.0 97.3 2.4 9.2 1.1 s8.3 0.04 7.0 8.5 14.2
the eye, fol while in Macaulay the A's were much more 19 N 40 N 52 s 1 2 +1 S 11.2 0.9 10.2 0.3 48.1 0.9 0.2 21.0 34.5 0.03 2.O 4.2 6.1

lumerous than the Bb, in Bur]yar] the B were rnore numer- 20 ) 22 J 27 T 8.5 I - 0.5 T 36.6 0.5 1.5 0.1 76.3 0.3 0.2 161.4 76.0 0.03 0.3 6.4 1.3
8.6 6.1 12.9 8.7 8.3 6.8 0.1 6.5 0.08 1.2 15.4 10.1
ous thn the A. Further inspectior-r showecl other.points of 21 K 18 K 22 U 22 21.5 - 0.5
U 1.1

22 9.4 0.002 0.008 o.02 43.8 0.006 0.01 0.007 16.s 0.003 0.01 0.06 0.01
difference. Relative ro the vocabulary of Macaula E's ancl U 16 U 22 17 18 +1
22.8 0.08 0.2 0.2 14.1 0.1 0.02 16.5 20.6 0.003 0.08 0.1 0.07
I'.s seernecl clearly deficient in Bunyan ancl \X/'s obviously in 23 a 7 a 14 W 12 16 +4 1.3 0.06 0.9 0.008 1.2 0.5 0.007 0.3 2.6 0.003 0.004 0.05 0.01
excess. . .The facts seemecl so oclcl, that rl-rey called for further 24 5 I X 26 26
X
Y 2.3 0.3 1.3 1.1 5.1 0.09 0.4 0.1 1.5 0.01 0.06 1.7 2.O
investigation. 25 z 1 z 4 24 24 z 1.9 0.08 0.03 0.02 4.6 0.006 0.02 0.1 1.3 0.0 0.01 0.1 0.02
26 X X z 25 25 157.5 75.6 86.5 41.7 41.8 68.1 27.0 56.9 1 13.5 7.8 1 1.3 39.5 61.1
t

Yule's first impressions are borne out by his analysis,

as can be seen in Tble A: the initial letters which show
the greatest clifferences of rank are A, B, E, F, H, I, and Table B N o P a R S T U X z
'Sl. 56
He that there was grearer consis-
ther-r establishecl 1 2 3 4 A 139.7 0.5 13.2 0.4 74.6 50.4 17.3 8.1 9.5 3.'r 1.3 10.3 1.3 28.4
Difference of rank
tency between samples taken fi'om within the same in total
B 0.2 16.8 0.03 0.007 10.8 2.7 0.5 10.4 0.05 0.08 0.01 15.2 0.004 1.5
Rank in sample X from c 0.06 46.7 0.03 0.3 9.5 2.6 25.5 9.9 0.007 0.005 2.4 0.2
author than t'om between the rwo aurhors. On this 0.001 19.8

basis, he was able ro choose a sample 'blind' fom

Letter Bunyan Macaulay Sample X Total Bunyan Total Macaulay D 0.5 8.7 0.1 0.1 5.4 8.7 0.4 11.0 0.7 0.9 0.003 3.3 0.03 160.5

eithel of the aurhols, allowing its initial letter distribu-

A 10 412 2 8
E 76.4 4.8 9.7 2.3 120.1
'16.3
82.8 24.1 4.5 11.9 5.4 10.2 5.9 0.7 267.9

tion to pleclict who had written it, as shown in Table B.

B 5 10 6 1 4
F 0.0s
4.4
24.7
6.9
0.03
0.07
0.001
0.009 13.5
0.7 8.2 4.0
5.8
0.005 0.02 0.01
0.02
0.3
2.5
0.002
0.03
68.9
43.3
11 3.5 1.4 0.01 0.1
G
E 16 15 4
Yulet explanation for his findings was baseci on a 20.2 o.2 0.1 5.6 1.2 6.7 0.03 0.3 0.001 4.3 0.04 45.6
1
H 1.7 5.1
F 8.5 129 0.5 3 168.7 42.1 5.8 1.0 19.5 68.0 65.1 2.1 19.0 0.09 1.1 0.09 5.0 7.6
close look at rhe vocabular where he found far more 14
I

H 11 11 0 3 0.08
0.02 4.2 0.009 0.0 0.01 0.009 0.009 2.4 0.005 0.0 0.0 0.009 0.001
words of Romance origin (p.126) in Macaula espe- 9
.J

14.5 '1.5
I 16 7 K 3.4 0.8 0.08 0.001 0.4 3.6 0.1 0.4 0.01 0.2 0.008 o.7 0.0 1 1.3
cially those which clerive fi'om Latin prefxes, such as W 12 16 8 4 8 L 0.3 27.8 1.5 0.01 0.2 1 1.6 7.5 10.9 1.9 1.6 0.006 26.4 0.06 55.7
b, attte, cum, contftt, ex, infi, and intft. \X/hile Yule Totals disregarding sign
M 0.6 20.1 14.4 0.003 0.1 5.5 0.8 7.1 0.02 0.1 0.02 2.3 0.005 29.0
10 37
stresses that this is by no means 'rhe whole story', this N 5.4 19.7 0.3 0.4 0.8 28.2 57.0 6.0 2.9 1.2 0.1 6.0 0.5 162.1
o 94.5 9.8 19.2 0.1 84.6 17.3 17.8 36.0 3.1 '18.0 1.7 2.1 0.3 45.1
early exercise in the analysis of style showed the poten- 1

Columns 2-5 in Table A showthe nouns from Who wrote sample X? P 0.09 26.2 6.4 0.01 26.3 3.5 5.1 7.3 0.005 0.09 0.002 o.7 0.08 8.7
tial of graphological analysis in ar.rthorship studies, and the Bunyn and Macaulay samples ranked in These seven test-letters nd their rankings a 0.0 0.008 0.0 0.008 0.005 0.006 0.0 7.1 0.001 0.002 0.002 0.001 0.0 2.4
lrelped to found the field of sqtlostatistics (see further p. order of frequency. Columns 6-8 list the rank of (Columns 1-3 in Table B) are then used to iden- R 15.7 s2.6 2.7 0.1 8.0 24.7 23.2 9.3 3.9 0.9 0.1 14.4 0.1 81.8
423). each in itial letter in the two authors, and tify a text sample, X. The rankings in the sample 0.6 13.8 2.9 21.0 71.0 0.007 0.0s 201.4
S 21.9 0.7 18.2 0.1 2.3 4.1
Column 9 g ives the differences between their are shown in Column 4. ln Columns 5 and 6 we T 12.6 0.5 100.6
0.5 51.7 o.2 0.003 31 .8 21.0 8.8 17.7 0.1 4.8 0.03
ranks in each case. For example, A is 1Oth in write down the differences of the ranks n ths U 25.5 0.7 7.1 0.02 32.7 32.2 18.6 0.08 0.3 0.07 0.4 0.2 o.2 1.8
order of frequency in Bunyan but 4th in sample from those in Columns 7 and 8 in Table
Macau lay, a difference of 6 points. A positive 0.03 4.8 0.002 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.02 0.3 0.001 0.0 0.002 0.4 0.0 0.7
A (paying no attention to whether it is plus or
sign means that the letter is lower in Macaulay; 6.4 1 1.5 0.06 0.001 3.0 1.7 0.4 0.08 0.008 0.0'l 0.0 0.3 0.0 9.7
minus). The sums at the foot of Columns 5 and 6
a negative sign, that it is higher. For most of the X 0.02 0.3 2.5 0.004 0.08 0.04 2.8 0.3 0.06 0.02 0.05 0.3 0.0 2.3
give a rough measure of the closeness of agree-
letters, the distributions are very simi lar, but Y 2.2 2.2 0.002 '1.0 6.6 0.3 0.02 0.4 0.08 0.02 0.1 88.6
ment: the higher the f igure, the less the likeli- 1.3 1.1
there are conspicuous differences n A, B, E, F, hood that this is the author of the sample. ln z 0.02 1.2 0.0 0.003 0.04 0.03 0.05 0.2 0.02 0.03 0.0 o.2 0.4 0.7
H, l, and W. the present case, the authorship is assigned t 29.2 111.1 73.1 1.9 45.1 1 00.1 187.6 21.4 12.5 68.7 0.5 4.7 1.5 0.0
(correctly) to Bunyan.
268 PART IV.SPOKEN AND \7RI-fTEN ENGLISH 1 I TH F, \RITINC SYS-f EM 269

thickness and consistency ofstrokes, and regularity of D TALES

CRAPHEMIC SYMBOLISM GRAPH ETIC CONTRADICTIONS
ANALYS ING HAN D\RITIN G letter sequence are all, in principle, capable ofprecise Seventeen types of D, with fea-
The associations conveyed by the graphic design, especial ly the choice of typeface, can description. Graphology has however suffered fi'om ture descriptions and personality
Graphemes, Iike phonemes, have no intrinsic mean- interpretations, as analysed by
reinforce or contradict the meaning of the words, as these examples show.
[n interesting asPect of graphic symbolism is the scepticism generated by the fortune-telling approach
Austrian graphologist Eric Singer
ing: it does not make much sense to ask'\hat does nz Reinforcing
exrent to which individr.ral variations in handwritten
Contradictng to handwriting, often encountered in caravans at agri- in The G ra p h o I og i st's Al p ha bet
men?' or '\hat does mean?' The role of graphemes cultural shows and seaside resorts, where characters (1950). The list is by no means
letrer formation can be reliably interpreted' The psy-
is to combine and contrast, and it is the larger units @te @pmt uncing J*lolnr lrrrnl sl6fclrs are told and futures foretold on the basis of a scrib-
complete, of course. The present
chological study of handwriting has been practised for author's D and d for example, do
(the worcls) which have mening. However, as with RETRENT RETREAT over a cen tury, the tet m grp h o lo gy (in a different sense bled signature. The subject has also been heavily not fal I neatly into any of the cat-
the study of speech, there are an interesting number of
cases where we would have to accept that inclividual ascent ascent fi.orn its later use in linguistics, p.257) being first used biased towards the famous or infamous, discerning egories, though he likes tothink
thatthere is a striking resem-
bva French abbot,Jean Hippolyte Michon (1806-81). the basis of success in a signature - but without objec-
blance to 5, 8, 9, and 11
.letters, and the way they are presented in typography
.

iraphologists are interested in finding out what hand- tive controls: it is not difficult to 'see'such qualities as
ADUANGE ADUANCE I Openatbottom
or hanclwriting, do permit some degree of semantic or writing can tell them about character and personalit ambition and dominance in Napoleont handwriting, 1) Wants to know
psychological interpretation, analogous to that which
is found in sound symbolism (p.250), though the UNDERTAKERS U DERTAKEKXS as well as about a persont suitability

In le cent years they have been

for different tasks.
employed in several pro-
when it is evident that the subject is Napoleon.
The field can do better than this, and current
himself
2 Left parts taste-
element of subjectivity makes it difficult ro arrive ar ltarmony hormony fessional contexts, such as personnel management and research is now much more involved with the hand- lessly exaggerated
Vulgarity
uncontroversial explanations. rnarr-iage guidance, and especially in forensic science, writing prctices of the general population, and with
where questions of handwriting identity and imita- carrying out properly controlled, 'blind' investiga- 3 Written in two

SAY ITWITH XXXX o 'Location.'X has K (kosher, used infood labelling), and K or KKK (for tion (forgery) are critical. tions. Still largely untapped are electronic resources, /) parts
lndividualism, lack
traditionally marked Ku Klux Klan, used as a terrorizing symbol espe- The subject plainly has the potential for scientific such as computational techniqr.res of magnification, of adjustment
Despite its low f requency and high redundancy the burial place of a cially in some of the southern states of the USA).
(p. 264), the letter X has more social and technical pirate hoard. lt is the 'V isforvictory.' Thesymbolic roleof this letter devclopment, as such variables as letter size, shape, enhancement, and pattem-matching, and more 4 Second arc broad,
uses than any other letter in the English alphabet. first-choice symbol merged at the end of World War 2, and is still angle, and connection, line direction and separation, sophisticated methods of quantification. with extended
It isthus more likelyto permitsensible answersto in marking any loca- widely used as a hand-sign of success. lts frequency, stroke
the question 'What does X mean?' Here are ten tion on a ma. however, istinycom- Underlining of own
possible responses. . 'MultiplV.' X is the pared to that ofthe importance

.
only letter which palm-reversed ges-
7 4
B D
D 5 Block letter

n
'Kisses.'A common use at the end of a letter or a functions as a sign ture, widely used in Simplification,
a*t !.^-
D
.D
card. This is one of the first functions of the letter X
that young children learn.
for one of the four
basic arithmetical
the English-speaking
world as a crude / /
"lt t
ec,^/
intelligence
o 'Wrong.' The standard sign for an incorrect operations. lt has a symbol of contempt 6 With claw to left
answer. No letter value is employed for its oppo- similar use in (the V-sign). Egoist
E F G H
site, though the tick (l) does bear some resem- I
elr't
expressing dimen- o 'Z is for sleeping.'A 6 7 Particularshape
blance to a V. A related use was the x-ing out of a sions (3x4), where X is read as 'by'.
. There are also several restricted functions.Xsym-
series of letter Zs
g
t0
0,C, U) cb
Erotic dreams, low-

T
wrong letter or word on old typewriters. drifting up from a ered resistance to
o 'Christian.' Based on the initial symbol of Christ
in Greek (khi ), the letter is still widely used as a
bolizes a capture in chess (RxP'rook takes pawn'). a recumbent figure is sex excesses and
drawn game in UK football pool coupons, a sexual the standard graphic
J perversions

I
K

ur
J
symbol of Christian identity, partly because of its hybrid in horticulture (Acerasx Herminiurn), a male way of suggesting
t2 J) 8 Stroke extended at
sim ilarity to the cross. lt becomes pa rticula rly in genetics (the X chromosome), magnif ication in thatthe person is r3 t4 @l g-.e$ <-*
7
Top Enterprise
noticeable at Xmas time. photography (50x), and 10 in Roman numerals. A asleep. The lan-
. 'Adult.' ln some countries, formerly used in rela-
(
J
sequence of Xs may take on a specific meaning, guage has even 9 Upper length
tion to films and other material on general release
but not suitable for children. Pornographic films
such as XXXX -the name of an Australian beer. adopted this con
vention in its lexi-
M
N
o P extended
Respect for spiritual
are also sometimes rated in this way (up to'triple- !,!rL a_t>y ..r-f -r1 integrity
Other letters con: we now catcl t5 t6 values,
X' level). Censorship boards vary in their use of con- t7 t8 t9
other letters carry associations which go

s
A few some Zs lzeezl (US) 10 Open attopand
ventions for this value. beyond the transiently fashionable or idiosyn- or say we've been rl ,J" broad, or in two
. 'Unknown.'Widely used when a true identity is
missing, as in criminal investigations (MrX). There
cratic.
. 'A is for excellence.' The role of A as a lphabet
zedding (UK).Oi
course, forthose
x J 4 R s T U
(au'
parts Talkativeness
c" Ao. c
(
is a similar use in mathematics, where x is the first opener has been used in many contexts where readers who were f 1 Simplified with
choice for a value to be determined. grading is required, and is now reflected in the lan- reared on a cer- arcto left laste
. 'Uneducated.' The simplicity of X has long made n
f, J
guage (l feel Al , She's got an A). The letters B, D,

$
tain populartelevision series, there will be no 20 zt 23
74 12 ln form of musi-

it the symbol to use in
place of a signature, for
someone unable to
write. lt continues to
have ajocular use,
imputing illiteracyto
someone ('Put your X
p
E, and Fcarry related overtones, especially B (B- doubt in their mind that'Z is for Zorro'. X cal notes or keys
movie,B-sde).E hasa mixedsetof uses, being
sometimes used as an abbreviation for excel/ent or
An awareness of graphic letter symbolism
/ ) a (*t
Y
z Musicality
Ecstasy, sometimes for a very low grade or its
seems to develop very early in life. lf young pre-
reading children are asked to say what individual
LU) altr
13 Open at bottom
euphemism (E for effort).The connotations of F,
likewise, are mixed, ihcluding failure, loudness
letters mean, they will try to make sense of the
question, and often give interesting symbolic G RAPHOLOGICAL PRACTICE q- Hypocrisy
14 Stroke to the
(forte), sex (vs Mfor male), and obscenity (efflng). responses (E. Ferreiro & A. Teberosky, 1 983). ln
l^-H^' o &"-*r N right Defensiveness

c
here.') .'K isforcornflakes.' ln manycases,thesymbolic addtion to 'X is for kisses', there was no doubt in
Eric Singer's Ma nual of Graphology (1953) contains a series
f $ ^-.'-ot^-t-&
o 'Choice.' Again, the of exercises designed to develop awareness ofthe distinc- 15 Enrolled
meaning of a letter is evident only if it is in a special some young English-language minds that 'M is for

simple clarity of Xhas
made it the chosen
typeface. Many advertisers have tried to appropri-
ate letters in this way - most successf ully in the case
!
tive featuresof handwriting. Here aretwo of them, which Secretiveness, family
mummy' or'McDonalds', 'J is for Jesus', 'K is for
suggest something of the fascination as well as the diff iculty 2 man or woman
&
cornf lakes', 'P is for parking', and 'H is for televi-

symbolto express a
decision on a ballot
iax *1*
of the subject. (Singer's answers are given on page 270.)
J /.44-t
of the cereal manufacturing firm, Kellogg, with its sion' (because of the aerial). There was also a '16 Loops Vanity
large, red, distinctive initial letter. Their product strong trend towards identifying a letter with 1 The word Dear has been taken from the opening of 24

/
-l- ..t1
paper. ln this case, any name, Spec/ K, carries this process a stage f urther. one's own name: 'C is for Carol'- if your name letters and cut in two. The task is to match the 17 Filled with ink

departure from the
norm carries a sanction:
the ballot paper is void.
Without this distinctve typography, the letter
appears in several other contexts, such as more
KKKK (used as part of a computer advertisement),
r
happens to be Carol. ln such cases, the letter is car- corresponding pieces. Sensuality
rying out the function of the ideogram, found in
early non-alphabetic systems of writing.
2 Supposethese are lettersapplyingfora job. Picka good
commercial traveller from among these applicants.
4dG-J-L
5
 270 PART IV'SPOKEN AND \RITTEN ENGLISH 18.THE \RITING SYSTEM 271

CRAPHETIC VARIETY .A,B CD EFcHIJKTMNOpQRSTU\rVVXyZ& EXTRA GRAPHIC DIMENSIONS "Mine is a long and sad tale!" said the Mouse, turning to
Alice, and sighing.

The hierarchical structure of the writing system is
most clearly displayed in the domain of rypography.
Each rypeface (e.g. Times) is represented by several
alphabets (e.g. roman, bold, italic, upper-case, lower-
case), and these consist of letters, punctuation marks,
and other symbols. The symbols may then be com-
bined into larger units of text, such as words (which
.ave a spoken language equivalent) and lines (which
do not), paragraphs (which have a partial spoken
ab c de fghij ktmnop qrstu\rvuxyz "It is a long tail, certainl" said Alice, looking down with
The choice of rypograph including the way a text is laid wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you call it sad?" And
A B CD EF G HIJK LMN O P Q R S T U VWXYZ B our on the page, can provide additional dimensions to she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking,
so that her idea of the tale was something like this:-
rhe rneaning conveyed by the words and sentences. In a
ab c d efg hij klrnn o q r s t uu w xy z Fury said to
neutral presentation, such as this paragraph, the rypo-
sraphic design adds nothing to the meaning of the
That
ABCD E FG H U KLM N O PQ RSTUVWXYZ& a mouse,
he met
iords. Indeed, the whole purpose of the design is to be in the
abcd efgh ij lcl m n o pq rstuvwxyz unobtrusive, so that it does not interfere with sentence house, The opening lines of lhe
rneaning. If some typographical feature were to draw
AB C DE FGHIJKLMNO PQRSTUV\ryXYZ &
'Let us True Story of the 3 Little
arrention to itself, it would be a distraction, and the
both go Plgs (1 989), told from the

ab c defghij klmnop qrs tuywxyz

equivalent) and pages (which do not). The visual to law: point of view of the Wolf.
design would, in that tiny respect, have failed. Of course, I will The opening letter sums it
efct of these larger blocks of texr, moreover, is nor
one must always be prepared for exceptions, such as
readily predictable from the graphetic properties of A BCD EFC H U KLMN O PQRSTUVWXYZI when an author wishes to make a particular pOINt.
Prosecute
l0u'-
all up, really. (Jon Scieszka
illustrated by Lane Smith.)
individual letters. The complex inreraction of type- Come, I'll
The opposite situation is found when an author wants take no
face, type size, letter and line spacing, colour, and
*'lrtt**Sdr to make maximum use of the possibilities in graphic denial;
\Ye must
other such variables combine to produce what has ,S* *s,*r
design to exPress a meaning, using features which the
An elegant Christmas message, sent lr lrfi,ifrlifr have a
sometimes been called texture - the dominant visual bythe Museum of Promotional Arts, cTo 0uf purely graphemic elements of the text cannot convey. tril:
quality of the typeset texr. ft is at this level that lower- oronto, Canada in 1992 in its 'Mdtrt who oserve Por
Because these features (such as colour, type size, and line really
level decisions about choice of type will ultimately be
newsletter Empa. The typeface is Crit@*
direction) belong to different dimensions of expression,
tLis
Poetica, devised by Robert Slimbach morning
judged. The point is effectively summarized by Pierre for Adobe Systems lnc, and ,{ HAPPY they permit more than one meaning to be expressed I'vc
lanows tte
ONE
&
nothing
Simon Fournier, a leading 18th-century typographer: modelled on a style of chancery story of the Three
handwriting developed during the simultaneousl and thus allow such effects as emphasis Sid thc
to do.'
Lite pigs.
Renaissance (p.41). lt is a highly (when the meanings reinforce each other), irony (when Or at least they
tlc cur,
think they do.
One letter measured singly may seem neirher appreciably
too big nor too small, but ten rhousand composed into
complex type family, with
considerable variation and
To,{tt they conflict), atmosphere (when they remind the reader
'Such .
dcer rir,
rrirl,
But lll let )ou in on a little
of other aspects of the story), and humour (when they With no secret.

F'frr*n,, I993.
printed matter repet the eror ten thousand times ove ornamentation, as can be seen iury or Nobody knows the
are incongruous), Equall the writer may have no subtle
ludc, real story
from the 58 designs for the would bc
and, be this never so small, the effect will be the opposite srtin8
because nobody
of what was intended. (Manuel typographique, 1764-6)
ampersand. The type choice and
{t* 4*** or profound semantic intentions at all, but wish to use ou brcth.'
'I'll b. has ever heard
typography are by Ed Cleary of ,ltr
The Composing Room lnc. * it{t? {f{F *fi*
hl
these features simply in the hope that the reader will find
them appealing - perhaps elegant, intriguing, charming,
&d
.ld F.t;
rny side of the
sto4t
"drre
/-
-.
'l l t
clever, beautiful. At this point, the semantic function of
d (t' er' d' & { f dlu d d Pd
. tol.
GRAPHETIC DEVIANCE .d

This advertisement goes out of its wayto break standard

u el the writing system merges with the aesthetic, and lin-
snd.m
rb
d..r..
typographic conventions. The effect is actually achieved guistics gives way to art (pp. 406, 416).

,,t d @ $ *.* & {Cf U g q &, e,

"You are not attending!" said the Mouse to Alice, severely.
by the regular use of only a small set of transformations.
"Vhat are you thinking oP"

{
ln particula serif and sans-serif features (p .257) are

Kffiaer u e, , U trr 6 p & I d,s

combined in the same lette as are angular capital and "I beg your pardon," said Alice very humbly: "you had got
rounded lower-case features. The greatest visual
deviance occurs when all four of these characteristics are
e 'Vision and prayer' (1945) is a sequence of 1 2 short poems
by Dylan Thomas. The first six are written in the shape of a
to the fifth bend, I think?"
(Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, 1865, Ch. 3.)
used in a single letter, diamond; the second six in the shape of an hourglass. The
such as E and N. The last item in the sequence is reproduced here.
technique also relies
greatly on a visual
b u rn Some lines from Alfred Bester's science f iction story'The Pi Man'(1959), showing his
ambiguity (a graphic
he corner
of pfa ye and oftypography to represent the disturbance in the mind of his protagonist. ln an
pun) between upper I tur n he u en
d d use
introduction to this story Bester remarks: 'l've always been obsessed by patterns,
and lower case, as in I n . b es n b damned rhythms, and tempi, and I always feel my stories in those terms. lt's this pattern
name of the
the case of I and R. Sun. ln the run obsession that compels me to experiment with typography. l'm trying very hard to
n back and
would tuf n d develop a technique of blending the sight, sound, and context of words into dramatic
To th h d d n
patterns. I want to make the eye, ear, and mind of the reader merge into a whole that is
sun
ANSWERS (p. 269) But the loud bigger than the sum of its parts.'
I 10, 2V, 3G,4A, 5U, 68, 7N,8H,9C, Christens down
10T, 1 1D, 12t, 13J, 14E, 1 5M, 16K,
The skY' Sometimes
Foyer
17 P, 18F, 19L, 20R, 21X, 225, 232,
24Y.
I Bedroom
Bath
I
Am found
am T
2 'l would consider Example 3 the
O let him
am am
Bath e
mostsuitable applicant. He is quick
drown 3.14159 + Living Room r
(quick wrtng), active (quick wrt-
Scald me and from from from Kitchen
ing, inclntiontothe right). He is
sociable, enthusiastic and likes to dili,
-tig""int worlds wound' this other that Dressing Room
r
a
get around (slant to the rg ht, broad
ui' 'i'il'', il"O. space space space Bedroom c
wrtng). He is persuasive (broad
cry. My vorce burns the blinding Terrace
writing, clearly shaped and spaced
Now I lo"--': pi"y.,;, *. Othertmes not
words).'
"*
One. The sun roars
t :i;
1a) PAIT IV.SPOKEN AND \RI-f'I'EN ENGLISH I I 'I'HE 'S'RITINC SYSl'EM 273

gives the impression of being more irregular than it A RULE WITH

ENGLISH SPELLING really is. DEFICIENCIES THE CHAOS Knowl edg e; done, but gone and
tone,
Worm and storm; chaise, chaos,
chair;
Doctr ne, tu rpe nti ne, ma ri ne.
Compare a/len wth ltalian,
O ne of the most famous One, a nemone; Ba I mora I;
Dearcst creature in Creation,. Senato i spectatoL mayo r. Da nd e I i o n wiT.h batta I i o n,
The two texts on the facing page represent conflict- The notion of regularity spelling rules-'i before e excepl Kitchen, lichen; laundry, laurel; Ivy, prvy; famous, clamour Sallywith ally; yea, ye,
Studying English Pronunciation,
after c' - is itse lf fa mous for ts lwllteach you in my verse Gertrude, Germ a n; wi nd and And enamour rime with 'hammer.' Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key quayl
ing views about the spelling system. The fir'st is a Much depencls, also, on how the notion of regr"rlarity is exceptions. The rule was mind;
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse Pussy, hussy and possess. Sayaver,but eve feve
Victolian saga which suggests that there is so little defined. \X/ith only 26 letters to handle over 40 devised as a mnemonic for su andworse. Scene, Me I pome ne, ma nk nd; Desert, but dessert, address. Neithef leisure, skein, receiver.
predictability in English spelling conventions that it phonemes, the criterion of one letter - one phoneme is words as receiye and deceiye It will keep you, Susy, busy, To rto se, tu rq u o i se, chamors-leather, G olf, wo lf; cou nte na nce; I ieute na nts Never guess - it is not safe;
and it also helps n conceit a;i half,tut
is unreasonalle to think of them as comprising a plainly too strong. English has never been a 'phonetic ake your headwith heatgrow Read i ng, Read i ng, heathen, heathe r. Hoist, in /leu of f lags, left pennants. We say calveg valves,
cel/ing, as well as in a ha ndf u I of dizzY; This phonetic labyrinth Rivet rival; tomb, bomb, comb; Ralfl
'system' at all. The linguistic ingenuity of this work language', in that sense. A system which systematically rarer words (cel lidh, enceinte Iear in eye your dress you'l I tear. Gives rnosg gross, brook, brooch, Doll and roll and some and home. Heron; g ra na ry, ca nary;
is so irnplessive that it is reprinted here in its entirety. used rwo letters to write a given souncl would also be reg- orcein); but it far outnum-
is 5o shall l! Oh, hear mypraye ninth, plinth. Sfrangerdoes not rime with ange; Crevice, and device, and eyrie;
bered by words where c is fol- pray, consoleYour loving Poet, Bil/etdoes not end like bal/et' Neither does devourwith clangour. F a ce bul p ref a ce, but effacg
The second is an extlact from the highly successful ular, and English employs this kind of convention a lowed by ie and words where a Make my coat look new, dear, sew it! Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet; Soul, bufoul and gaunt, but aunt' Phlegm, phlegmatic; ass, glass,
Dr Seuss series of childrenk readers, which suggests great cleal most clearly in such cases as sh for I I I and ng
- letter other than c is followed by Just compare heart, beard and Blood and flood are notlike food, Font, front, wont; want, grand, bass,'
that there is indeed a highly predictable spelling for lnl. Less obvious is the'magic y' rule (p. 42) which el. heard, Nor is mould like should and would. and, grant, rge, bul ta rget, g n, g ive, ve rg i ng;
La

system, with jr"rst a small number of irregular folrns

. c+le ancient, conscience, defi- Dies and diet, Iord and word, Eanquet is not n early parquet, Shoes, goes, does.1 Nowfirstsay: Ought, out, joust and scou but
changes the quality of the preceding vowel (rtevs rat). Which is said to rime with'darky'. finge
cient, eff icient, f inancie Sword and sward, retan and Brtan, scourging;
causing a disturbance. Supportels of each view Though the two vowel letters are, unusuail separated glacier, hacienda, j u icier, (Mnd the latter, how it's written !) Viscous, viscount; load and broad; And then: singet ginger, Iinger. Ear,bulearn; and wearand tear
would conclemn the other text as irrelevant. To chaos by a consonant, there is a rule here nonetheless, for thou- nescient, science, scient, society, Made has not the sound of bade, Towa rd, to f o rwa rd, to rewa rd, Real, zeal; mauve, gauze and Do not rime with 'here', but'ere'.
sufficient Say - said, pay - paid,laid,bul And your pronunciation's O. K. gauge; Seven is right, but so is even;
theorists, phonic texts are so oversimplified as to be sands ofwords have theirvowels lengthenecl in this way.
species,
plaid. When you say correctly croquet' Marriage, foliage, mirage, age. Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen;
no guide to the realities of reading. To ordel theo- Regularity implies the existence of a rule which can . Other+ei beige, buddleia, Monkey, donkey; clerk and jerk;
Now I surely will not p/aque you Rounded, wounded; grieve and Querydoes not rime with very,
cepheid, codeine, deicide, deic-
rists, poems full of irregularities are no more than a generate large nr.rmbers of words correctly. A rule tic, eider(down), eight, either,
With such words as vague and ague, sieve; Nor does furysound like bury. Asp, grasp, wasp; and cork and
But be careful how you speak, Friend and fiend; alive and Iive; Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth; work.
spelling fi'eak show, exercising a ghoulish fascination, which works for 500 words is plainly regular; one foreign, height, heir, leisure, say break, steak, but b/eak and Liberty, Iibrary; heave and heaven; Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath. Pronunciation - think of psyche ! -
but telling us nothing about what is normal. which works for 1 00 much less so; and for 50, or 20, or neighbour, neither, proten,
streak, Rachel, ache, moustache; eleven. Though the difference seems little, ls a paling, stout and spiky;
reign, seize, seizure, their,
The truth, evidentl is somewhere in berween. But 10, or 5 it becomes progressively less plausible to call it weigh, weir, weird.
Previous, precious; fuchsia, va; We say ha I lowed, bul a I lowed; We say actual, but victual, Won't it make you lose your wits,
Pipe, snipe, recipe and choir, People, leopard; towed, but Seat, sweat, chaste, caste; Leigh, Writing 'groats' and saying groats?
we must not expect to arrive at a definite figure for the a 'rule' at all. Clearl there is no easy way of deciding There are well over 1 00 such Cloven, oven how and low; vowed. eight, height; It's a dark abyss or tunnel,
amount of irregularity in English spelling. If we when the regularity ofa rule begins. It has been esti- exceptions. The only way to Script, recept; shoe, poem, toe, Mark the difference, moreoveL Put, nut; granite, but unite. Strewn with stones, like rodock,
inclucle proper names of people and places, and rare mated that only about 3 per cent of everyday English impose a degree of order on this Hear me say, devoid of trickery: Between moyet plove Dove eefer does not rime with 'deafer', gunwale,
muddle isto relate spellingsto Da u ghte I au ghte r and Terpsi chore, eechet breeches; wise, precise; Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer. lslington and Isle of Wight,
foreign loan words (as does the poem opposite), the words are so irregular that they would have to be grammar and pronuncition. Typhoi d; measles, topsa i I s, a isles; Chal ice bul police and /ice. Dull, bull; Geoffrey, George; ate, Housewife, verdict and indictl
proportion of irregularity will drarnatically increase. learned completely by heart, and that over 80 per cent One type of exception involves E xi les, si m i I es, revi les; Ca mel; constabl e, u nsta ble; Iate; Don't you think so, reader, rather,
If we include lengthy technical terms (such as are spelled according to regular patterns. That leaves aff ixes (agencles, seeing, Wholly, holly; signal, signing; Pri nci ple, d iscipl e; I a bel; Hnt. pnt; senate, but sedafe; Saying Iathel bathel father?
n ice ish, a bse ntee ism, nuclei e); Th a mes; exa m i n i ng, co m b i n i ng; Petal, penal and canal; Sce n i c, Ara bic, pa cifi c; Finally: which rimes with 'enough',
trichloroethane), the proportion will decrease, as most
d
some 15 per cent of cases where we could argue the another involves proper names Schola vcar and cigal Wat, surmise, plait, promise; pal. sci e nt if i c;
Science, co nsc i e n ce, Though, through, plough, cough,
oftheir syllables are spelled according to quite regular status oftheir regularity. But given such statistics, the (E i nste i n, O' N e i I l, Le i ceste r) ; Solal mica, war and far. Suit, suite, ruin; circuit, condut Tour,bul our, and succouti four; hough, or tough?
rules. Even if we restrict the question to everyday chief conclusion must be that we should not exggerate another involves the way lelel - admirable
From 'desire': desirable Rime with 'shirk it'and 'beyond it'. Gas, alas and Arkansas! Hlccough hasthe sound of'cup'...
sequences are sounded - a ll the from'admire'; But it
is not hard to tell, Sea, idea, guinea, area, My advice is - give it up
vocabular there are conflicting nswers. There seem the size of the problem, s some supporters of reform words in the f irst category, for Lumber, plumber; bierbut brier; Why it'spa/f mall,but.Pall Mall. Psa I m; M aria, but ma I a ria;
!

to be less than 500 words in English whose spelling is Charivarius (G. N. Trenit)
are prone to do. Nor minimize it either, for a great deal i nstance, have the le in an un- Chatham, brougham; renouzn but Muscle, muscular; gaol; iron; Youth, south, southern; cleanse
wholly irregular; but several of them are among the of confusion is caused by that 3-15 per cent, and some stressed syllable orwith a sound known, Timber, climber; bullion, Iion, and c/ean; 1 No,youarewrong.Thisisthe plural of 'doe'.
otherthan /i :/, and in the sec-
most frequently used words in the language. Because 2 per cent of the literate population never manage to ond category, such diphthongs

,IF
they are constantly before our eyes, English spelling resolve it(p.436). as/er/ play an important role.
THE ORDER \
WHY THE PROBLEM? by-letter act. And more things can go
wrong when we try to spell. Faced with
match
catch
June
July
picking
picked
A climactic moment in
Dr Seuss's The Cat in the
ffi \
hthe spelling system contains such regu- the word feep, there is really only one patch 5eptember learned Hat (1957).
larity, why isthere a problem?The answer possible way to pronounce it; but faced watch November reached
is complex, but a major factor is that chil- with the sounds firp/, there are several fetch ditch snatch everyone
dren are rarelytaught howto spell. They possible spellings (such as feep, feap, care infant tender
are madeto learn spellings by heart, and fepe, pheefl.fhe task facing a speller is careless darling gentle Then We aaw
hm pick up
are rigorouslytested on them, butfew always greater than that facing a reader. useless cradle weak Alt the things tha
attempts are made to explain what it is Learning aboutthe predictable links useful young dull were down.
He picked up
they have learned. They are not general ly between spelling and pronunciation is purse n urse fur beak the cke,
hammer too lunch And the aJre,
told why spellings are as they are, or about the keyto understanding the spelling and the gown,
how these spellings relate to the way system. lt is never enough to rely on the bench tool buy nd e nilk,
and the stringe,
words are pronounced. Without such a written language alone. An ntegrated blade stool beef And the books,
perspective, spelling becomes a vast, bor- approach can then act as a framework for wire fool cloth and the dish,

ing, and time-consuming memorytask. the task of mastering the exceptions that
blood goose geese cheese And the fan,
and the cp,
It comes as a surprise to many to realize history has imposed on the language - Some of the words from a page in Group 3 of F. Schonell's lhe
And shjp, and he
he
fsh.
that there is no simple correlation but ths task seems less formidable once it Essential Spelling trst (1932), which continues to be widely used And he pu them
away,
between reading and spelling ability. is accompanied by understanding. lf there in schools. The words are those that Schonell found often used ?hen he said,
is a daily battle being fought over
nat la tht.
Spelling involves a set of active, conscous in children's writing. The bringing together of words related in
And then he
processes that are not required for read- spelling in our classrooms, as some sug- grammar or meaning(carelcareless) is helpful; but it is not pos- rraa gone
ing. lt is possible to read very selectively, gest, it will be won only if children learn sible to see the spelling system when working through words in wirh a tip of his
bat.
as when we'skim' a newspaper. lt is not (as wartime generals did) to 'know their this way. Regular and irregular spellings (geese, cheese) are put 58

possible to spell selectively: it is a letter- enemy'. side by side with no apparent order.
 274 PART IV. SPOKEN AND \RITl'EN ENGLISH
The sources of iregularity
The English spelling sysrem is the result of a process
of developmenr rhar has been going on for over 1,000
years. The complications we encounrer today are rhe
consequences of the major linguistic and social events
which have taken place over rhis period.
r The origin of the problem lies in the atempt by
Christian missionaries ro use rheir 23-letter alphabet
for the 35 or so phonemes of Old English (the exact
". number depending on rhe dialect and method of
analysis). The adclition of four new symbols helped
(pp. 16, 258), but it sdll proved necessary ro use some
letters (such as r and g) to represenr more than one
sound, and to represent some sounds by combina-
tions of letters (such as .rc- rhe equivalent of present-
day sh).
o After the Norman Conquest, French scriles intro-
duced several new spelling convenrions. A number of
Old English forms were replaced, such as qu for cw
(quich). The scribes replaced hby gh in such words as
mightand enouglt, cby ch in churcl, and u by ouin
house. They began to use r before e and i in such
words as chy and cell. Because the letter z was wrir-
ten in a very similar way ro u, i, n, and m (p.26t),
they tried ro ease the reading task in some sequences
of these letters by replacing u wirh o (come, loue, one,
son) - thereby initiating a set of spelling exceprions
once the morivrion for the change had passed. By
the beginning of the 15th centur English spelling
was a mixrure of rwo sysrems - Old English and
French.
Further complications were caused by the intro-
duction of printing. Many early printers came from
the Continent, and brought their own spelling norms
to England. For a while, line justification (p. 257) was
often achieved by shortening or lengthening words
rather than by varying the word spaces. Variation in
the final of a word was a common result. A major
beneficial effect of printing, however, was to impose
order on the many alternative spellings found in
manuscripts. Stabilization gradually emerged after
Caxton's choice of the London standard as a printing
norm (p. 56), and the notion of a 'correc' spelling
began to grow
. Although spelling thereafter was much more stable,
pronunciation was nor. It is a particular irony that, at
the same time as printing was being introduced, the
vowel sounds of London speech were undergoing the
greatest change in their history. If printing had come
a century later, or the Great Vowel Shift (p. 69) a cen-
tury earlier, the present-day spelling sysrem would be
vastly more regular than it has turned out to be. As
it is, the spelling of thousands of words now refle'cts
the pronunciation of vowels as they were in Chaucer's
time. Nme, for example, has an because in
HOW DO YOU
SPELL... ?
llUe are brought up in a
literacy tradition which
insists on a definite
answer to this question.
We expect there to be a
single correct spelling for
any word in the standard
language; and if we do
not know what it we
is,
expect to find an unam-
biguous answer in a dic-
tionary. However, the
reality is somewhat
more complex.
A memorability, as in such famous cases as
Alternatives
There are a remarkable number of alterna-
tive spellings in Standard English. Some are
well known, such as the differences
between British and American English (-ourl
-or, -rel-er, consonant doubling, p. 307) and
optiona I e (j u dg(e) ment, ag (e)i ng).fhe
alternations can affect thousands of words
- notably, -ise I -isation vs -ize I -ization.
Other important choices include e vs oe
(f(o)etus') or ae (prim(a)eval) and -xion vs
-ction (inflection). The question of whether
a word should be hyphenated or spelled
(spelt? p. 204) with a capital letter will add
thousands mor e (p. 1 22).
The pages of an unabridged dictionary
will bring to light many examples. Here is
the result of a cul I ofjust one page of
entries: the beginning of letter B in Web-
ste r's Th i rd N ew I nte rnat o na I D i cti o n a ry.
The symbol * indicates that the alternatives
rnay also be capitalized.
baa / ba
baal-ha-bos / balabos
baa lshem / balshem
babacoote / babakoto
babasco / barbasco
babassu oil / babau oil
babaylan / babailan /
babalyan / babalian
babbitt / babbir*
babbittry/ babbitry*
babes-ernst / babes-ernest
babirusa / babirousa / babirussa
babu / baboo
babul / babool
There were in addition 19 cases where the
only difference between the words was the
use of a capital letter: baal Cism , -istic, -ite),
ba b b itti ca l, ba b b itty, ba bcock test, ba b e I
(-ism, ;zation, -ize), babi, babinski reflex,
babism, babist, babouvism, babouvist,
babylon, babylonian. lncluding these cases,
this page had 32 items with alternative
spell ing out of a total of 95 entries - a third.
Excluding them, we are stll left with 14
entries(a remarkable 15 percent). ltwill be
noted that almost all ofthese entries are
fairly exotic loan words, but they are part of eating potatoes that were sautd yesterday
the language nonetheless. lt is words like
these which present the English spelling
system with the biggest modern challenge
to its consistency.
or
Unknowns
There are some words which it seems impos-
sible to spell in an acceptable way. One
study collected examples of words with
unusual endings, and asked how an -edor
-rng ending might be added to them.
a(h) polka, verandah, visa, mascara,
umbrella, samba, sauna, aroma. bala-
clava, tiara
e(e) pure, flamb, recce (reconnaissance),
frisbee, tree
et parquet, bouquet, beret, duvet, chalet,
ballet
i ski, sari, jacuzzi, bikini
The problem is evident. What is the past
tense of samba? Does it look right to put
They sambaed or We're sambainq? Some
write samba'dor samba-ing.Iry the end-
ings with the other words above. Profes-
sional writers vary in their decisions: David
Lodge has'her heavily mascaraed eyelids'
(Small World, 1984, p. 125); Frederick
Forsyth has'5o get visa-ed up in paris, (Ihe
Dogs of War,1974, p. f 17). Dictionaries are
often silent on the point.
Sometimesthe addition of an ending
produces a conflict of readings (though con
text makes real ambiguity unlik ely): they
skied (from ski or sky); an anoraked figure
(where the spelling suggests a long vowel
pronu nciation /er/ for the second a); t/re
current arced (where pronounci ng c as lsl
before e does not hold, leading some writ-
ers to prefer arcked).
The author of this study concludes
by giving a short paragraph containing
some of his own preferences. What would
you do?
I wou ld rather be in a comfortable veran-
dahed house, sittlng pyjamaed in a duveted
bed and being fed pured frut by a
muumuued beauty, than be bivouacked on
a sparsely-treed plain, sitting anorak-ed and
shivering in the leaden-skied gloom and
before the power cables arc-ed.
(After G. Abbott, 1 988.)
I8 . THE \RITING SYSTEM
Middle English it was pronounced with an lo',1 vowel
flike that of modern calm),The change rc letlduring
rhe 15th century was ignored by the printers. And the
56e kind of reasoning explains the many 'silent let-
rers' of modern spelling (such as in nee and time),
where the letter ceased to be sounded after the print-
ing conventions had been established,
. Another kind of complication entered the language
when 16th-century scholars tried to indicate some-
rhing of the history of a word in its spelling (p.66).
The b in debt, for example, was added by people who
fehit was important for everyone to know that the
word comes from debitum in Latin. Similarl a bwas
adcled to doubt (from dubitare), a g to reign (from
regtz), and (a famous error) an s to is/and (thought to
come from Latin insula, whereas it is Old English in
origin). Although only some of the proposals became
standard, the ones that survived continue to present
modern learners with a problem (especially now rhat
awreness of Latin origins is no longer highly valued).
Other aspects of rationalization also had mixed
results. The attempt by some reformers to 'tidy up'
the spelling was often helpful, but it also increased the
number of irregular forms (the gh of night and light,
for example, was extended to such words as delight
and tight).
o In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a ne\r'
wave of loan words arrived in English from such lan-
guages as French, Latin, Greek, Spanish, Italian, and
Portuguese (p.60). They brought with them a host of
alien spellings, which greatly complicated the learn-
ing of longer words, in particular. Examples include
bizarre, brusque, caustic, cocna, epitome, gazette, grnttl,
idiosyncrasy, intrigue, and pneumonia. Many of rhe
items which are rhe butt of the Victorian spelling
critic (p. 273) are loan words in which the foreign
spelling has been retained or only slightly modified.
The situation conrinues ro rhe present
da with
inttfada, perestroiha, squari\, arbitrgeur, becquere[
cajun, and chlmydi jusr a riny fraction of the words
now in the language which have increased the size of
the task facing those who want ro masrer English
spelling.
The result of all this is a system which is an amalgam
of several traditions, notably Anglo-Saxon, Frech,
and Classical Latin/Gleek. Howeve these are but the
chief sources feeding rhe English habit of borrowing
words (and their spellings) from anywhere and every-
where (p. 126). k is said to be one of the strengths of
the language thar it has such a large and varied lexi-
con; but this is boughr at the expense of an increas-
tngly diversifi ed graphology.
1a<
DELIB'RATE MIS-SPELLI NGS
A noticeable present-day trend is the use
of deviant spelling as part of a trade name
or an advertising campaign. The motiva-
tion for the distinctive spelling is to pro-
vide an unambiguous, identifiable i"tjrg*;:.i::
product name which will not be confused
with an ordinary word in the language. ln .",..jffi*&.tlul
the case of slogans, the spell ing often aids
Beanz Meanz Heinz or the Kentucky Fried
(e.9. Wot, no butter?), used ironi-
callywith referenceto products in short
Chicken line They' re fi nger-l icki n' good. lt
supply (p. 181).
remains an open question whether such
. Sez ('says') An accurate transcription of
forms cause serious problems for children
when they are learning to spell.
the waysays is usually pronounced in spon-
taneous speech (whether formal or infor-
But abnormalspellings are by no means
restricted to the world of marketing. They
mal).
o /nnlt ('isn't it') A form which represents the
have long been a basis for characterization
elisions (p.247) found in colloquial speech.
in literature, where idiosyncrasy and
Spellings of this kind are sometimes used as
regional background are reflected in dis-
tinctive spelling (p. 416). They may also be
a rhetorical device by humorous writers as a
light-hearted way of making a persuasive
regularly seen in humour (p. 406) and in
journalism, where a headline can be made point. Other examples are dunno ('don't
know'), yeah ('yes', and other variants, such
even more eye-catching if it contains an
abnormal spelling.
asyup), c'mon ('come on'), 'trif(f)ic('ter-
ri'tic'), nuf(f) ('enough'), ?m ('them'), ya
Certain words and phrases have even
('you').
developed what might be called 'standard . Gawd('God') A spelling which suggests a
deviance'- accepted ways of writing a collo-
quialform: distinctive regional or class pronunciation. lt
is by no means restricted to the representa-
. Gotchal ('Got you !') An accurate portrayal
tion of uneducated speech, and is often
of a colloquial assimilation (p. 247). lt has used simply for its stylistic effect: Oh Gawd s
been used as the name of a television play, less seriousthan O God and would, one
and most infamously as a headline of lhe imagines, never appear in a liturgical
Sun newspaper when the British navy sank manual, even in prayers of the most sup-
the General Belgrano during the Falklands plicative kind.5ome forms, indeed, are dis-
War. tinctively upper-class (gels'girls'). The letter
. Wot('what') A spelling often used to r often plays an important role in signalling
signal an uneducated speaker (p.400). lt has the change of stylistic level, asin larf
a special place in Brtish post-war memories ('laugh'), /orra (' lot o'f'), I uwerly('lovely'),
as part of the exclamatory phraseWot, no- har har('haha' laughter), shurup ('shut up').
Bob Dylan's'Gotta Serve Somebody' (1979) illustrates a
trend in the lyrics of popular songs to spell words in a col-
loquialway (9o ='(l've) gotto'). Other examples
includewanna ('l wanna holdyourhand') and gonna
('l'm gonna sit right
down and write
myself a letter') -
spellingswhich por-
traythe normal
unstressed pronun-
ciation ofthese
verbs (p. 2 1 2). Such
American
spellings go well
television cop-star
beyond the world of
pop music, as seen Kojak (Telly Savalas)
in the 1 980s neolo- was known for his
catch phrase Who loves
gism wannabee, a
who'wants y+ aby? By no stretch
person
to be' like someone of the imagination
else. could he have said Wlo
loves you, baby?
276 PART IV . SPOKEN AND \7RI1'TEN ENGLISH 18.THE \RITING SYSTEM 277

SPE,LLING REFORM AN EARLY REFORMER and literally never

NEW ALPHABETS FOR OLD THE SHAW ALPHABET FOR WRITERS
took a day's
The enthusiasm and stamina of the 19th- holiday, or felt The first verse of a folk poem, shown in four late 19th-century versions. llr ftzl^(t ot \ l Jltq 1 /o\1 MEc AER suddnl! thting dwn her slich] I wont
A concern to eliminate spelling irregularities can be century reformers remains a source of that I wanted lo
^zQ
51\. ^
go anothcr stcp.
admiration. Here is lsaac Pitman, the flOU TU KU KOLD. tNonoctxsleading li/r] Oh, not
one; and J\tc\? [kttt! /kt.t) , \ri en, tn. agin, dc.
found from the 16th cenrury (p. 66). Hundreds ofpro- I GIosic
/\1'! Q )vt I llrl \pr 1^ /7e \ Whets the good of stopping every two miles and
inventor of the most widely used British worked on till HOU TOO CURE A KOALD S1\)? /r /711 )(1 \\
posals to reform traditional orthography (TO) have system of shorthand, writing in 1873 about 1864 wthout Qn Fonotipi.) Wun Bidi Broun, a kuntri daim,
lQ h /o\1 )o
I 0 \\(J1 lcD^zQ
!J \71. Q r /7(t
saying you wont go anotherstcp Wemustgeton
to the next village before night. 'fhcre are rvild
since been devised. his personal situation as part of a fund- the assistance Wrn Bidi Brouu, a krntri dem, as'tiz bei menitoald,
(rl1! rr
/\/. 7
rJvt: <rn2, qt 5r.
io\1 llcf / /ut I 1, h t
beasts in this wood: lions, thcy say.
MEcAER. I dont believc a word of it, You are
raising proposal to build a new Phonetics of a clerk or az 'liz bi meni told, went too dhe doktor, (Drensh bei naim,) Vr )ri^rQ /r /r( /rq (r!ls I /r(
. Standrdizingapproaches, such as New Spelling (see lnstitute in Bath, where he wished to take foreman. s'ent tu de doktor, (Drenq bi nem,) for shee had kaut a koald. 1u !o( <1 I /r t\lr /\\
^r r7rdo<r
always threatcning me with wild beasts to make
me walk the vcry sol out of my body when
further his projects on writing reform. During this r4 /?\ Jvi ttj I can hardly drag one foot beforc another. We
opposite), use familiar letters more regulady (typicall
'Phonetics' here does not refer to the period my income
for Ji had kot a kold. /l\l t!\ / Stl)/( (7^ \\1. ^7Qr. ^ havnt seen a single lion yct.

by adding new digraphs, p.257); no new symbols are modern subject introduced in S 1 7, but to from the sale of The open i ng exchanges of And rocles and the Llon, by George
'invented. his system of writing and printing words as phonetic books, after The Scotch Scheme Analogic Spelling
Bernard Shaw, printed in a special
they are pronounced, which he called paying the heavy expenses HOWTOO CURE A COLD HOWTU CURE A COLD Te Staw
c Augmenting approaches, such as Phonotypy (see parallel text. The alphabet (often fo! lvtrcrs
phonography and phonotypy. He writes in connected with the perfecting and Won Biddy Broun a cuntry dame, Wun Biddy Brown, a cuntry dame, ^lphebet

right) add new symbols; diacritics and invented letters
have both been used.
. Supplntingapproaches replace all TO letters by new
symbols, as in Shavian (see facing page).
. Regu/rizing approaches apply existing rules more
his Phonetic Journal, a weekly publication
'devoted to the propagation of Phonetic
Shorthand, and Phonetic Reading, Writing
and Printing'. There is a positively
Dickensian description of the present
lnstitute, in which he worked for some
extension of'Phonetic Printing,' dd not
exceed f80 per annum for the first ten
years, fl00forthe nextfiveyears, and f150
for the next three years. During the first of
these periods I was twice assessed for the
income-tax. I appealed, and proved that my
as'tis by menny told, as 'tis by meny told, called 'Shavian') was devised by
went too the doctor, (Drensh by name,) went to the doctor, (Drensh by name,) Kingsley Read, who won a competi-
for shee had caut a cold. for she had caut a cold. tion based on the terms laid down
in Shaw's will. The version in tradi-
tional orthography omits the apos- tot 4'- aua
Three modern systems of spelling reform are used in this item, an appendix to an
trophe (Shaw's usual practice). Both
etg \t( acc

consistentl or focus on restricted areas of the writing 1 I years. income was under f 100. The commissioners
article published bythe Simplified Spelling Society underthe heading'What
might an improved spelling look Iike?' extracts are set in type of the same
rn* s.r C:
ath* J'7 lcc
appeared surprised that I should carry on size, butthe Shavian one uses a ree ):
system, as in Noah lebstert changes to US English The Phonetics lnsttute is a single spacious an extensive business for the benefit of Wel, straet in at the deep end !
ton ado'/,:7
third less space. Writers are recom- up
(p. 82) or those approaches which drop silent or redun- room on the third floor above the ground posterity. Menshond abuv wos the revyzed orthograf i kauld Nue Spe/lng (NS), wich wos ths :
Q toy o \:O
-
mended to learn the alphabet in k
sed to be'moderatlistrikt' in uezing egzisting leters, combined with the so-kauld
dant letters, such as Cut Spelling (see facing page). floor of a large building formerly used as a
brewery in Parsonage Lane, Bath, and is
(The Phonetic Journal, 12 April 1873,
pp.114-1s.) dygrafik prinsipl, to repreezentthe sounds ofthe langwej. lnishali developt by
pairs, as shown right, the double 5:,-
w V:^ ae
the Sosyeti in 1 9 1 0, the sistem is shoen in th is paragraf in its moest reesent ver- lines showing their relative height. r,re (:
The chief arguments for and against spelling reform reached by a dreary staircase of fifty steps. our (:)
Ial/s are letters with ascending 2 mcasure
It is exposed to the extremes of heat nd shun as publishLin New Spelling 90. ol
have often been rehearsed. For: children and foreign cold, being under the roof, and the walls The British National Anthem, reproduced in Dhis paragraf and dhe nekst uez dhe preevyus vurshon ov NS, publ isht in 1 948. strokes; Deeps have descending churchl:
2 l,u .h'lll awe
learners would save vast amounts of time and emo- only six inches thick...Close to the street cursive Phonotypy in The Phonetic Journal, Dhis vurshon iz much strikter in traking dhe soundz ov dhe langgwej, and its ues strokes. Capital letters are not dis- re \r/,"*
ov'dh'for dhe voist'th' (az in 'then' in tradishonal speling) iz a noetabl feetuer. ar ,): o,
entrance is a slaughter-house, and 27 September 1873. tinguished. Four words (the, of,
tional energy when learning to write; and fewer lerters n,n l:
underneath and round about the U wil aulsoe hav noetist bei nou dhat NS results in a hie degree ov chaenj in
used more systematically would save time and produc-
and to) are given their own sym- d ,.n. alr ) : qJ err
building are the necessary appliances for dhe look ov wurdz, wich moest peepl f iend disturbing - or eeven repugnant - on bols, allshown in the extract.
tion costs. Against: those who have already learned TO keeping, killing, and cutting up sheep furst akwaentans. loil C: ) ro.
arrat /): f) ear
and cows for a large butcher's business. By way of contrast, we hav now swichd to Cut Speling, a wel thot-out exampl
would find it difcult to assimilate a fresh perspective; of a posibl partial revision. lt is based mainly on th principl of cutng redundnt -
The headline of a language
mimc./ : \ nu
Tdt
A more unsavory entrance to business reform publication from Canada. tn f: y", V
the many accent differences in \X/orld English greatly premises, lthink. does not exist in the and thus usuly misleadng - leters, plus limitd letr substitutions. Th resulting
complicate the choice of a model; and the break in city. Although the refuse from the chanje in th apearance of words is not nearly so intrusiv as with NS.
continuity between old and new spelling would build slaughtered animals is usually removed
every three or four days, it is
Wethr or not CS or NS as demonstrated here ar found acceptbl, som action is
seriusly needd to make english esirto use.
The Times 0v Toronto
a communicative barrier with the past. However, many sometimes allowed to accumulate for (After B. Brown, 1993.) 1 989 $2.00
of these arguments are academic, as there has never a longer period, and the smell thence
arising is extremely offensive. I have Canada's lnternasional Nuzepaper
been agreement among reformers about an optimum
occasionally been driven from my The word's furst nuzepaper tu be printed ln lhe Canadean langwale.
system. As Isaac Pitman causrically commenred: 'we desk by its pungency...The dampness
have long known that it is impossible to induce the of this office has several times been
the cause of loss in the damage of AMERICAN LITERACY COUNCIL
inventor of any scheme of reformed spelling to support
books by mildew. The roof is
the scheme of any other reform er' (The Phonetic repaired almost every year, yet a
The Simpler Spelling Board was founded in the USA in 1906, and since 1989 has been THE SIMPLIFIED The aim of the Society is to
called the American Literacy Council, with headquarters in New York City. ln a 1993 bring about a reform of the
Journal, 12July IB73). violent storm or snow-fall always
statement, the Council
SPELLING SOCIETY
spelling of English in the inter-
sends the water through the
That limited reform is possible was shown by the reaffirmed ts commit-
HOW TI{E PROGRAM I^/ORKS This society was founded in of learning and
ests of ease
ceiling...
ment to attacking what it
16th-century reformers and, later, Noah \ebster; and From the year 1837, when
sees to be the chief cause
it
What does, ancl what you see on the sceen Britain in 1908to promotethe
idea of planned change in
economy in writing.
the fact that reform bodies conrinue to be active testifies Phonography was nvented, to the
of English illiteracy: the I English spelling. lt fostered its To this end, it:
to a genuine and widespread concern. But the history of
year 1843, when I gave up my
private day-school in order to live
lack of 'phonic logic and Mey- t-------- Ifthe flrst is t4red "aB lt souils", the
computer wlll automatlcally own revision, called /ew . encouragesthe ideathat
the movement indicates that the disadvantages have simplicity'. The use of oousct the "aound spelllng'L Spe//lng, a system which reform is possible;
for and by the Writing and
computertechnology is 1a
(---------nomal
instutty tulng it lto brought sounds and spel lings . fostersdebateon reform
generally always outweighed the advantages. A research Spelling Reform, loccupied all my
now an important aspect ild ehowing th
Meny (---------prcnuclatlonbelow. closer together by extending methods;
spare time before and after
perspective is prerequisite for progress. \(/e know too of its work. the use of digraphs (p. 257). ln . devises, publishesand pro-
little about the way children actually learn and use
school hours, in extending
Phonography through the post,
hl ,"or;*rr* SoundSpe/erwas one
thls lotlows a rctpeoted
teaobltg ptolple.l
ImttttateoorrU auda good sigDala to mmoay.
the 1960s, a version which motes potentialreform
z /o^ of the ALC's products, used extra letters instead of schemes;
spelling systems, the kinds of errors adults make with and by traveling and lecturing oo 4'V4"/aV"n, designed as a remedial 2
e- (------ Th
digraphs was introduced into .
.
persuades and campaigns;
TO, or the nature of compatibiliry berween old and during the holidays. ln this
period lgained nothing by my 1," computer program for l.ly hat
Mey
of ily word tyDsil oouectly
l many schools as the lnitial hasaroleasanexpert
new systems. The strongest argument of the reformers
is that English spellingshould be allowed ro evolve nat-
system of shorthand, but spent
allthe proceeds of my books in
.! -.ncy'' z,cn. those having trouble
with literacy. This extract
prcmptly verlfled
by having
Teachi ng Al phabet (.t.a.). 5ev-
eral other systems have since
organisation on the subject;
o aimstobeof benefitto

::':r', a/y'e ,/ haw it8

extending their circulation. a tc, from a promotional - appeu lnstiltly emerged within the 5ociety, future generations by intro-
urally - that there is nothing sacrosancr about print. , Meny hav
o.nr, oocz,,/ brochure illustrates the on the low! lln. notably the partial-reform ducing a consistent spel ing.
From 1 843 to 1 861 I labored at
I

Their biggest problem remains the question of man- e, /rr, approach. There is also a approach called Cut Spel I ing
o"
agement: how can any such evolution be organized and
the cause from six o'clock in
the morning till ten at night, "g-:'' /o^'o')'o, computer-based
approach, Sound-WriterM
(1 992). The secretarat of the
Society is in London (p. a66).
(From the Society's publica-
tions, 1993.)
implemented? gzarl.:t 3" ,%r;,
 278 PAI-f IV. SPOKEN AND \RITTEN ENGLISH
PUNCTUATION
Punctuation plays a critical role in the modern writing
systeffl, yet its significance is regularly underesrimred.
At least four importanr funcrions can be distin-
guishecl.
r Its primary purpose is to enable stretches of written
language to be read coherentl by displaying their
grammatical stmcrure (Part III). Important features
here include the use ofsenrence-ending points, clause-
dividing commas, and paragraph-marking indenta-
tion.
It also gives the reader
clues about the prosody
(p.248) with which a piece of writing can be read
aloud, through such fearures as quesrion marks, excla-
mation marks, and parentheses. These are especially
important when directly represenring the intonation
and emphasis of spoken language.
r It may highlight semanric units or contrasrs presenr
in the text but not directly related to its grammatical
structure. Examples here include the choice of colons
vs semi-colons to show the rhetorical structure of a
complex sentence, and the use of line divisions and
stnzas in poetry.
r It
may add a semantic dimension, unique to the
graphic medium, which it would be difcult or
impossible to read aloud. Examples here include the
use of 'scare quotes' to show that a word has a special
sense, or capital letters drawing attention to a Very
Important Point.
To understand punctuation, a historical perspective
is essential. The modern system is the result of a pro-
cess of change over many cenruries, affecting both the
shapes and uses of punctuarion marks. Early classical
texts were unpunctuated, with no spaces between
words. The first marks were introduced as a guide to
phrasing in an age of orator when reading aloud was
a prestigior.rs and professional activity. More elaborare
and extensive marking is found in later periods,
reflecting a wider range of semantic distinctions. Bib-
lical texts, in particular, motivated a special concern ro
clisplay exact nuances of expression. Standardization
gradually emerged after the introduction of printing
(p. 56), but punctuation never achieved the same
degree of rule-governed consistency as appears in
spelling. Two authors might punctuare rhe same rexr
in very different ways. Some (e.g. Dickens) were very
concerned about punctuation, and took great pains to
check it when revising proofs; others (e.g. \ordsworth)
left the task to their publishers. Scribes and publishing
houses have always varied in their practices, and even
today punctuation remains to some extent a matte of
personal preference.
DOING WITHOUT
One way of sharpening a sense of the
role of punctuation is to remove it from a
piece of text, and attempt to decode the
result. Two variants of an extract from
Richmal Cromplon's I ust Wi I I ia m are
shown below: one with and one without
word spaces.
wellmissgrantsintel lectualfacel itup
whatabouthiscousindoritatheyrea bout
thesa mea gearenttheybothelevenwell
thetwoofthem inwh itesati nwithbunches
ofhollydontyouthinkwouldyoumind
havi n g hertostayfortheceremony
missg ra nta lwaysref erredtoherwedding
astheceremonyifyoudonthaveh ishai rcut
fora bithemi ghtntlooksobad
well grants intellectualface lit up
miss
what about his cousin dorita theyre
aboutthe same age arentthey both
eleven well the two of them in white
satin wth bunches of holly dont you
think would you mind having herto stay
for the ceremony miss grant always
referred to her wedding as the ceremony
if you dont have his hair cut for a bit he
mightnt look so bad
'Well,'- Miss Grant's intellectual face lit
up -'what about his cousin Dorita.
They're about the same age, aren't they?
Both eleven. Well, the tro of them in
whte satin with bunches of holly. Don't
you think? Would you mind having herto
stay for the ceremony?' (Miss Grant
always referred to herwedding as'the
ceremony.') 'lf you don't have his haircut
for a bit, he mightn't look so bad?'
HEAVY VS LIGHT STYLES
The followng text showstwo punctuaton styles, whose choice depends more on personal
preference and an awareness of contemporarytaste than on anything to do with grammar
and semantics. ln recent years there has been an increasing tendency to use the simpler,
'less cluttered'style. on the other hand, the writing of individual authors represents many
p.Jtions between these stylistic extremes, and preferences vary between contexts (e.g.
informal vs formal letters). The present author, for example, always writes letters in th
lighter style, but employs a somewhat heavier style in the present text (e.g. using a ,serial
comma' in such sequences as tall dark(,) and handsome).
PO Box 999
HolYhead
GwYncdd
LL65 IRC
I JanuarY 1994
MrJ KCalbLaith
AKToolsLtd
iThe Tert ace
Loncton NW3
2PP
DcrrMrGalbraith
and
vefv
FOUR FUNCTIONS OF
PUNCTUATION
Grammar
She had an idea that the son of a gentle-
man, if he intended to maintan his rank
as a gentleman, should earn his income
clergyman, or as a bartiste6 or as a
as a
soldier, or as a sailor. These were the pro-
fessions intended for gentlemen.
(Anthony Trollope, The Vicar of Bull-
hampton,1870, Ch.9.)
Prosody
'What do I mean? Oh, lsee. What do I
mean?Yes, quite. I oughtto have
explained that, oughtn't l? lt seems that
his name isn't Meriwether.'(P. G. Wode-
house, Service wlth a 5mi1e,1961, p. 86.)
Rhetorical structure
The English are apt to admire men
who do not attempt to dominate
events or turn the drift of fate; who
wait about doing their duty on a short
view from day to day until there is no
doubt whether the tide is on the ebb
or the flow; and who then, with the
appearance of great propriety and
complete self-abnegation, with steady,
sterling qualities of conduct if not of
heart, move slowly. cautiously, forward
towards the obvious purpose of the
nation. (W. S. Churchill, A History of
the E ng I ish-spea ki ng Peop les, 1956,
Book 6, Ch. 3.)
Semantic nuance
My'home'was a small mean nasty
flatlet in Bayswater, in a big square
red-brick block in a cul-de-sac. (lris
Murdoch. AWord Child,1975, p.1.)
P.O. Box 999,
Holyhead.
Cwynedd,
LL5 IRC.
I January, 1994.
Mr. J. K. Galbraith.
A.K. Tools, Lrd..
3, Thc Terrace.
London, NW3 2pp
DcarMr. Galbraith,
Thank you for your
letterof I I Deceber. and
for the enclosed sa nrples.
As wirh your
previous material,
I have found thesetobe
J
PUNCTUTION OVERTIME
One of the best ways of becoming aware of how English pLrncruarion
as developed is to see what editors do to a rext in a series ofeditions
over several hundred years. The following stanzas have all been taken
fi.orn Chauceis Troihu and Criseyde, Book 3, ll9-28 (p.33) in
edirions from the early 15th century to the present day (after M. B.
Parl<es,1992).
Ilecause the choice ofpunctuation responds ro rhe sense ofa texr, an
indication of the context of the extract follows, along with a free trans-
lation. Two verses previousl 'oilus has said he
what quod she by god ancl by rny trouthe
I not uat what 3e wilne that I seye
I rvhat quod he that ge han on hyrr routhe
For goddes loue and doth hym nought to
deye
Now thanne thus quod she I wolde hym
preye
1r telle me the fyn of his entente
Je t wist I neuere wel what that he menre
\)i/hat that I mene o swete herte deere
Quod Ti,oilus o goodly fresshe free
I / what (qad she) by god and by my
trouthe
I not nat what ye wylne rhat I sey
[.v / what (qad he) that ye haue on him
routhe
For goddes loue / and dothe him nat to dey
Nowe than thus (qzad she) I wolde him
prey
-lo
tell me the f'ne of his entente
Ye t wyste I neuer wel what that he mente
\/hat that I meane / O swete herte dere
(Quod Ti'oylus) o goodly fresshe free
I, what (qd she) by God ancl by rny rrourh
I nor nat what ye wilne rhar I seie
Eie, what (qd he) thar ye haue on him routh
For Goddes loue, and doeth him nar deie
Now than thus (qd she) I wolde him preie
'Ib tell me the fine
ofhis entenr.
Yct wist I neuer wel what that he mente.
What that I meane, o swete hart dere
({
)d Troilus) O goodly fresh fi.ee
I, what (qad she) by God and by my
trouth
I n'ot nevir whar ye wilne that I seie ;
-.ic, what? (qaad he) that ye have on him
routh
For Godd'is love, and doeth him nat ro
deie.
Now than thus (qad she) I wollin him-
preie
To tellin me the fne of his entente
Yet wist I nevir well whar that he mente.
I8 TH L \RTIN(
will kill himself if lie
(The earliestsurviving copy: Cam-
bridge, Corpus Christi, MS 61, fol. 65.)
The most notable feature is the
absence of punctuation, The reader is
helped only by the way sense units
coincidewith lines, and bythe posi-
tioning of quod ('said') towards the
beginning of a line, providing early
warning of a change of speaker - a
role also played bythe line space at
the end of the verse.
(1 532: W. Ihynne, The Workes of Gef-
fray Chaucer newl y printed, fol. 87v.1
1
There are two features of punctua-
tion: parentheses around a reportng
clause is a common 1 6th-century prac-
tce; and the oblque(virgula suspen-
siva) indicates a brief pause to show a
break in the sense (afterthe exclama-
tory utterances). No other pauses are
marked. The following verse is
indented, perhapsto emphasize the
swtch to a new speaker. The ita lics in
quod represent an expanded abbrevi-
aton.
(1 598:T. Speght,Ihe Workes of our
Antient and Lerned English Poet,
Geffrey Chaucer, newly printed,
fo|.167.)
"that that I mean, O my sweet herte dere"
f he virgula suspe nsiva has been
replaced by a comma, and there is
now a point unctus) marking the
end of the sta nza. I n the 1 602 ed iton,
Speght adds further punctuation at
line endings: colons in lines 2 and 4,
commas in 5, 6 and 9, and a point after
each qd.
(1 721: J. Urry,fheWorks of Geoffrey
Chaucer, p.292.)
Indentation now shows the rhyme
scheme ofthe verse: lines 1 and 3, lines
2, 4 and 5, and the final couplet.
Speaker turns are now indicated by
punctuation - semi-colon and two
a
points. The semi-colon may have been
used because ofthe close grammatical
dependency of line 3 on line
Quod Tioilus, "O goodl fesshe free,.
lthatye have is an el I iptical object of
2
seie). There is a question mark ren-
SYSTEM )'7cl
has failed to please Criseyde; her uncle Pandarus, much moved by his
grief, begs her 'for the love of God, to make an end of this, or kill us
both at once'. In the first verse ofthe exrracr, Criseyde reacrs to this
plea of Pandarus, who then replies to her. Tioilus inrervenes again in
the second verse.
Ah, what?' said she, 'by Gocl and by rny troth, I dor.r't know what you want me
to say.' lA.h, what?'said he, 'thatyou have pityon him, for the love ofGod, and
don't make him clie.' ''llell tl.ren', said sl.re, 'l will beg hirn to tell me whar l.re
has in his mircl, forI stilldo notkr-rowwhathe rneans.'''What I rnean, O sweet
dear heart, kincl, lovely and generous?' saici Ti'oilus, [is that with your clear
eyes you will sometirnes look kindly on me.. .]
\hat
that I mene, O my swete hert dere forcing the exclamaton in line 3.
(qad Tioilus) godely lreshe and re, Apostrophes now mark an ellipsis (2)
and the genitve (4) (p 283).
I, what? (quod she) By God and by my (1793: R. Anderson, AComplete Ed-
trouth
ton of the Poets of Great Britain,
I n'ot nevir what ye wilne rhat I seie. i.363.\
Eiel what? (quod he) that ye have on hirn Punctuation now being used to give
is
an indication of speech prosody
routh
For Godd'is love, ancl doeth him nat to
(p. 248). There are exclamation marks
in lines 3, 8 and 9, and an addtional
deie.
question mark. The ma in speech turns
Now than thus (quod she) I wollin him are now all marked by points, allow-
preie
ing the semi-colon a role separating
To tellin me the fine oFhis entente; the sentence of lines 5-7 intotwo
Yet wist I nevir wel what rhar he mente. sense units.
What that I mene, o my swete herte dere!
(Quod Ti'oilus) o godely Freshe and frel
"1, what" (quocl she) "by God and by my
(1810: Alexander Chalmert The Works
rrourh of the English Poets from Chaucer to
I not what ye wilne that I seye:"
r-rat Cowper, p.252.)
"Eye, whai' (quod he) "That ye have on lnverted commas now enclose speech
hym louth turns, as in the contemporary novel,
but the parentheses have been
For Gocles love, and doeth hym nat to dey:"
retained (perhaps to suggest a paren-
"Now than thus" (quod she) "l woll hyrn
thetic ntonaton). The omission of
Pfey, question and exclamation marks (1,3),
To tell me the frn of his entente,
Yet wist I neverwel what that he ment."
and the use of colons instead of points
(2, 4) helps to unify the three speeches
in the stanza into a single conversa-
(Quod Tioilus) "O goodl fresh and
tionalflow-again, as in a novel.
free,. . . "
"I! what?" quod she, "by God and by my
(1957: F. N. Robinson, The Complete
trouthe, Works of Geoffrey Chaucer,2nd edn,
p.422.)
I not nat what ye wilne that I seye."
"ll what?" quod he, "that ye han on hym Punctuation is introduced to help the
routhe, sense wherever possible, both gram-
matically (marking the parenthetic
For Goddes love, and doth hym nought to
status of ForGoddes Iove or by God
deye."
and by mytrouthe) and attitudinally
"Now thanne thus," quod she, "l wolde
hym preye
(the exclamatory nd interrogative
tones in lines I and 3). There is stan-
To telle me the $'n ofhis entente. dard modern punctuation around the
Yet wiste I neve re wel what that he mente." passages of direct speech.
"rhat that I mene, O swete herte deere?"
. "
.
280
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
WRITING SYSEM:A
COMPARISON
Emerging linguistic features of
handwriting and printing can often best
be seen by comparing two versions of a
text. This is a page from the manuscript
used by the printer for the 1 597 edition
of a book, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical
Politle (Book 5), written by the English
theologian, Richard Hooker (1554-1600).
(After M. B. Parkes, 1992.)
The copy, prepared by a scribe,
Benjamin Pullen, was corrected and
emended by Hooker himsell (4,22,27).
The compositor has marked up the page
ready for typesetting, showing the
beginning of a new page of print by a
pencilled Q12 in the margin (i.e. the
twelfth printed page of section Q of the
book) and a bracket around the word
coexrstence (21). The manuscript page
before this point corresponds to the last
1 6 lines of the printed text opposite.
Notable features of the manuscript
include the use of two types of
handwriting. Most of the text uses a
script known as Secretary Cursive,
distinguished by its prominent, often
looped ascenders and descenders
(p.257). There is a raised sign marking a
final -n, asin communion (2). This
material is printed in roman type
opposite. Quotatons and other kinds of
special comment are written in the less
ornate Humanist Cursive, seen in the
bottom ten lines of the page, and
printed in italic type opposite (beginning
with lhrs is my bodie). Later use of
underlining within this script (19-20, 23)
indicates that the material should be
printed in roman type. The inverted
commas in the margin highlight an
important section of the argument (not
quotation). Points are followed by
a
capital letters, commas are used to mark
pauses, and there is a question mark
(1 3). The word-break hyphen at the end
of 12 and 1 7 is a double line.
PAIT IV.SPOKEN AND \yRI'I-'I-E,N ENGLISH I8 . THE \IITING SYSTEM 281
The printed copy follows
the manuscript text quite
closely, but several spellings
have been altered, and
there s a great deal of
inconsstency: -le often
becomes -y, asin body (32,
cf. 1 opposite), holy (38,
cf.9), vertuously (40, ct.12),
but not in unnecessarie (33,
cl.3), varietie (41 , c'. 13), 5
certantie (44, cf. 18); final -
5 e sometimes added, as in
is
holde (34, cf.4) and bee
a, ct. 4), and sometimes
dropped, as in louing (37 ,
cf. 8); there are various
10
other vowel and consonant
changes, as in mefa)nt (35,
cf. 5) and wit(t) (38, c'f .10).
Already we can see an issue
10 over whether there should
be an e in iudgements (41,
15
cf. 13). Both styles show the
use of 'long s' in non-final
position (p.263). ln the
printed copy, v is used
initially, u elsewhere (2-5),
and / is used for / (8)
(p.260). There is an 20
15 abbreviation mark in 4 and
i 3 to help the word fit the
narrow measure (compare
the full form o'f Tran-
substantiation in 32). A
final e is also added or
25
subtracted to help the
justification (p.257), as in
bloude (25) vs bloud (32),
be (3) vs bee (34).
20
Punctuation closely
follows that used in the
30
manuscript, with occasional
variation (e.9. the extra
comma after f irst in 45,
cf. 19). The printed extract
also illustrates a semi-colon
(3). The location of the
35
25 hyphen is sometimes
different from modern
practice, as in sanctif-ed,
(30) and doub-ted (43).
There is no apostrophe
(Christs,20).
40
30
45
282 PART IV.SPOKEN AND NRIT"fEN ENGLISH
PUNCTUIION MARKS
Early English manuscripts presenr an aray of punctu-
ation marks which look very different from those used
today. Some have now fallen our of use, whereas others
have developed over the centuries into their modern
counterprts. A few appear not to have changed ar all
- but it is always important to take care when consid-
ering the function of such marks in a rexr, as modern
values often do not apply. A point, for example, was
commonly used to indicate a pause rarher rhan a sen-
tence ending, and differenr degrees of pause were
sometimes shown by varying the height of the point
relative to adjacent letters.
PUNCTUATION POEMS
A stanza from a 1 sth-century'punctuation poem', in
which two systems of marks compete (in the manner of
riddle) to give two very different readings of this text
about the nature of priests. The 'orthodox' reading is
obtained by following the points unctus); the
'unorthodox' reading follows the oblique lines (virgula
suspe nsiva). Both are reproduced in the transcription
below.
Tlvsty . seldom / ro their Frendys vniust. /
Gladd for to helpp . no Crysten creator / most frequent punctuation mark. attracting much
lVyllyng to greve . settyng all yei' ioy & lust
Only in f pleasour ofgod . havyng no cvre /
'Who
is most ryche . wth them fy wylbe sewer
'Wher
nede is . gevyng neyther reward ne Fee / EXTINCT SYMBOLS
Vnresonably. Thus lyve presrys . parde . /
Reading with ponts
Trusty. Seldom to their friends unjust. G lad for to help.
No Chrstan creature willing to greve. Setting alltheir
joy and desire only in the pleasure of God. Having no
care who s most rch. Wth them they will be sure where
need is. Giving neither reward nor fee unreasonably.
Thus live priests. ln the name of God.
Reading with obliques
Trusty seldom / To their friends unjust / Glad for to help
no Christian creature / Willing to grieve setting all their
joy and desire - only in the pleasure of God having no
care /Who[ever] is most rich with them they will be sure /,
Where need is, giving neither reward nor fee /
Unreasonably thus live priests in the name of God /
The modern punctuation system is extremely wide-
ranging, including such features as spaces, indenration, MODERN MARKS
the use of capitals, and a wide range of non-alphabetic
Marks that separate constructions
graphic cues (such as asterisks and footnote numerals),
as well as the traditional'marks'. There is grear deal of point (')
(also called a period, full point, full stop, or (Latin)
hierarchical organization. Some features identi$, large
ounctus)
units ofwriting, such as paragraphs and sections; some thefly used to identify a sentence ending
identify small units, such as words or word parts; some (typcally a statement); in print (and sometimes in
type) followed by a wider space than is usual
identi$' units of intermediate size or complexity, such
between words; marks an abbreviated word (,4.D.,
as sentences, clauses, and phrases. Most marks are fea- though modern practice varies, p.278); used in
tures that separate - showing the boundaries berween
such special contexts as times/dates (8.30,
grammatical constructions. A few express a meaning in 10.10.94), money units ($3.50), section numbers in
abook(2.2), and decimal numerals (5.006); three
their own right, regardless of the grammatical contexr points (suspension or ellipsis dofs) show
in which they occur. These include the question and incompleteness or omission (as in the middle of a
exclamation marks, the apostrophe, and such special quotation); also used in queston/exclamation
marks, colons, and semi-colons.
symbols as I, &, @,*, andl.
Semi-colon o letter (in crossword puzzle clues), replacing letters
Frst used in the 1 5th century to mark a pause mid-
GRAPHOLOGICAL ARCHAISMS way between the colon (longer) and comma
(shorter); now identifies the coordinate parts of a
The present-day punctuation system began to emerge quite rapidly after the introduction
complex sentence, or separates complex points in
of printing (p. 56), though differences from modern conventions con-
a list; closely corresponds to the conjuncton and;
tinue to be apparent until well into the 1 9th
more common than the colon, and no longer
century. The punc-
pausally distinct; especially used in formal writing,
tuation of this
text of 1 766 dif- PREFACB" where several complex ideas need to be
fers in only minor
respects from that
AUTHOR'S interrelated, and lower-level constructions are
separated by commas (as in this paragraph).
used today, but it is
notable that these
Colon o of silent surprise or enlightenment, as in the
Used in 15th-century manuscripts to show a major
are enough to alter
the visual impact of
pause or sense separation; now used mainly to
show that what follows is an amplif ication or
the page quite dra-
explanation of what precedes; also used to
matically. The large
introduce examples, and to separate numerical
dashes, accompa-
elements, as in the time or date (5;30); some
nied by a comma or
people use it after the DearX invocation in a
semi-colon, the use
a letter; infrequent, and usually restricted to one
of capitals on impor.
instance per sentence; first letter of a following
tant nouns (p.67),
sentence often capitalized in US English; often
and the fairly heavy
followed by a dash (:-) in older printing styles.
marking, allcon-
tribute significantly to
Comma (,)
the overall archaic
Wide range of uses, marking a sequence of similar
appearance of the text.
grammatical units (words, phrases. clauses), or
showing one unit being used inside another; the
personal variation; used in early manuscripts,
often accompanied by a subscript dot, to show a
minor pause or sense change; short semi-circular
/ form, in low position, accompanied early
development of printing; no simple rules
governing usage, which has built up over several
Over 30 obsolete punctuation marks have been identif ied 7
hundred years; no longer corresponds neatly with
in early manuscripts, most of them disappearing after the
) speech pauses, e.g. a pause after the subject of a
arrival of printing. Herearetwo of them: sentence (fhe chair in the dining room I has a
broken leg) is not reflected by acomma in
t'
I The virgula suspens/va was widely used in Middle Standard English; much divided usage, as n the
English to mark a brief pause in a text (p.68). ln the 14th 'serial comma' before a conjunction (p.278).
century many writers used the double form, //, to mark a
longer pause, or to indicate the beginning of a new para- 7
Parentheses ( )
7
graph or section. (also called roun d brackets)
An alternative to commas, markng the inclusion
I Th" t or ivy-leaf, is a very old mark, used in clas- of a grammatical unit in a sentenc; emerged
sical times "d"ru,
r r
to separate words, and in Anglo-Saxon tmes as towards the end of the 14th century; in British
separating major sections of text, or marking the English colloquially often called brckets (though
a symbol
end of a passage. lt was often treated very decoratively, In US and typographic usage this term means
and some printers continued to use t in an ornamental
role.
square rakets
, ll); curty brackets, or braces ({ })
lso used in scientific writing; pedagogical
18.THE \RITING SYSTEM
aversion to using too many parentheses in one
sentence, or to using pairs within pairs; special
uses, also showing the use of square brackets,
include:
o daT.es'. HenryVlll (1491-1547)
. glosses: HO (water)
o affiliations: Brown (USA)
. itony'. young [sic] people
. authorial comment: we will not go [my
emphasisl
. omitted text: it is [a] disaster.
Dash (-)
Used singly to show a comment or afterthought
the end of a sentence, or simply an incomplete
utterance; in pars, has the same function as
parentheses; in informal writng, often used
randomlyto replace other punctuation marks;
special uses include signalling a missing word or
in a taboo word (p.172), and separating elements
in dates (1 1-1 1-94) or page numbers (1 5-22);
handwriting makes no regular distinction
between dashes with different sizes and
functions; print differentiates the hyphen, the en
dashlrule (-), and the em dashlrule (-) (en and
ern ref lect the width of the letters N and M in
traditionaltype); en dashes usually mean 'and' (as
in Liberal-Labour alliance) or'To' (as in
London-Holyhead train); em dashes are often
printed with a space on each side.
lnverted commas (", " ")
known as q u otati o n ma rks, q uotes, or speech
(a lso
marks)
Derive from the use of a special sign (the dle) in
the margin of manuscripts to draw attention to
part of the text (such as a biblical quotation);
printers represented the marks by raised and
inverted commas, and eventually placed them
within the line; came to ndicate quotations and
passages of direct speech (hence the alternative
names); choice of single vs double quotes is
variable; latter are more common in handwritten
and typed material, and in U5 printing; both forms
used for speech within speech (Mike said, 'l heard
Fred shout "Yes" just now.); US usage prefers
placing inverted commas after other punctuation
marks; British preference is the reverse; also used
for technical terms (this is known as'edetc),
titles, glosses (Latin punctus'point'), and special
senses ('scare' or'sneer quotes', p. 278).
Hyphen C)
Marks two kinds of word division: a break at the
end of a line, and the parts of a compound word
(green-eyed); practice varies in the latter use
(p. 129), with British English often using hyphens
where US English would omit them; usage also
varies on where within a word a line-break
hyphen should best go: sometimes a contrast n
meaning is conveyed, as in re-cover('to cover
again') vs recover ('get back'); in some early
manuscripts, written both with single and double
strokes (p.280).
Space
Separates words and identifies paragraphs (first
sentence begins a new line; frst word usually
indented or extra space separates successive
paragraphs); it is a positive feature of
283
punctuation, as is illustrated by the way a space is
treated in computer languages as an individual
cha racter.
Marks that convey meaning
Question mark (?)
Chief function to show that the preceding
sentence is a question; occasionally found with
other roles, such as marking uncertainty (?), irony,
or astounded silence:
'We might go in your umbrella,'said Pooh.
'?,
at Punctus nterrogativus was originally a wavy mark
which slanted upwards and to the right above a
point, known from the 8th century; may have
originated in an attempt to ref lect the rising
inflection of the speaking voice; upright version
introduced by early prnters.
Exclamation mark (!)
(also called exclamation pont)
Pu nctu s excl a m ativu s (or pu nctu s a d m i ra tivus)
first appeared in 14th century to show an
utterance needed to be read with some
exclamatory force; in early manuscripts, appears
with two points under a short line, the whole
slanting to the right; printers represented it as an
upright; in modern usage, may be repeated to
show increasing degrees of force (! ! !); also used
ironically (Ifre car (!) was wating) and as a marker
sequel to the Pooh quotation:
'We might go in your umbrella,'said Pooh.
'!!!!!!'
For suddenly Christopher Robin saw that they
might.
(4. A. Milne, Winne-the-Pooh, 1926)
Apostrophe (')
lntroduced by early printers as a sign that a letter
or letters had been omitted; still used in this way,
as in grammatical contractions (He3, rsn,fl and in
such words as o'clock,fish'n'chips, and rn '93; use
later extended to distinguish the genitive from the
plural in nouns (dog3, dogs'vs dogs); some usage
variation (e.9. cel/o vs tel/o); some arbitrary uses.
unrelated to pronunciation, as when space
constraints force elisions (Stock Market Quot'ns
lor quotationsl in newspapers). (For the later
development ofthe apostrophe. and
contemporary uncertainty about its use,
see p.203.)
to be
twould be nice
an apostrophe
floatin9
above an s
ffi",",
il'ili.n"".."'o
of hats
1 976
Roger McGough"ApostroPhe"
 PART V

Using English
Parts II, III, and IV of this book investigate the structural proper-
ries of English: the inventory of elements in vocabulary, grammar,
phonology, and graphology which are used to produce meaningful
wordr a.rd sentences. The study of these elements is relatively
abstract: we can describe the way a sentence is constructed, or the
semantic links between words, or the system of vowels and conso-
nanrs, without having to say anything about who is using them, or
when, or where, or why. Part V turns this approach on its head.
It begins by introducing the notion of discourse (Sl9), which
includes the analysis of larger stretches of speech or writing than the
senrence, as well as a study of the factors which facilitate linguistic
interaction. This leads to the notion of texts - units of discourse
which belong to particular social situations, and whose distinctive
linguistic features identify range of varieties in the language. After
a review of the differences between speech and writing and between
monologue and dialogue, $20 looks systematically at these varieties,
beginning with those which convey geographical information abour
the user: regional dialects.
The section opens with an international overview-a range of
newspaper material illustrating a day in the life of the (written)
English language. It then looks in detail at the differences between
and within American and British varieties of English, rhe rwo chief
models of world language use. The three Celtic-influenced dialects
of the British Isles are each examined, with particular attention paid
to Scots, which has a much richer dialect literature, extending from
the Middle Ages to the present, than any other variery of World
English apart from Standard English itself. \e then follow the same
route as in Part I, complementing the historical perspecrive pre-
sented there with contemporary observarions on rhe features of
English in Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, and
South Africa. V/e look separately at pidgin and creole Englishes, and
also at the emerging range of second language Englishes in India,
Africa, south Asia, and elsewhere.
The more we study regional variation, the more we find we
cannot make sense of it without taking social variation into accounr.
The next section (S21) therefore looks at what is involved under this
heading. It begins with a discussion of two important issues - pre-
scriptivism and gender - which have been referred to at several other
places in this book, and then reviews the chief occupational vari-
eties, which provide the clearest examples of disrinctive social uses
oflanguage. Special attention is paid to the English used in religion,
science, the law, politics, the news media, broadcasting, and adver-
tising. The chapter concludes with a brief look at restricted varieties
of English, and at some of the ways in which new fashions and tech-
nologies are fostering new varieties ofthe language.
Part V then moves on to an examination of the nature of srylis-
tic deviance and the associated domain of personal linguistic iden-
tiry. Four broad areas are covered in S22. It begins with an ccounr
of the proliferating world of word games, in borh spoken and writ-
ten English. Next it identifies those varieties which are especially
likely to break linguistic rules, and looks at the kind of deviance
which emerges. The field of verbal humour is found to play a cen-
tral role in all of this, so the role played by different levels of lan-
guage structure in jokes and other forms of jocular activity is
separately examined. The section concludes with a similarly
detailed review of the way the various levels of language srrucrure
can be used to guide our observation when approaching the most
creative domain of language use: English literature.
Part V ends with an account of the kinds of variation being intro-
duced into English as a consequence of the electronic revolution
(S23). It describes the different forms of computer-mediated and
telecommunicational interaction made available by the new tech-
nology, notably the varieties oflanguage being encountered on the
Internet, and examines the effect they are having on contemporary
graphology, grammar, lexicon, and discourse.

This sequence of photographs, other Canadian expressions can be

taken by Jack Chambers in seen in the Hydro office (the
Toronto, anticipates several of the publicly owned electricity
themes of Part V: there is evidence company), the sign for take out
of distinctive regional variety food (not take away), and the Kiss
(520), oup1enal variety (521), 'n'Ride subway station (where
and creative usage (522). Canadian one's partner drops one off, and
r0entity is suggested by the gives one a kiss before one takes
unusual spelling combinaton of the underground the rest of the
tlre (US) and cenfre (UK), and way to work).

19. VARIETIES OF DISCOURSE
There is a major qualitative difference between study- pages to represent the range ofapproaches which
ing the components of English strucrure (as presented exist, and to give an indication, through
in Parts II, III, and IV) and studying the domains of examples, of the complexity which lies behind
English use. The structural properties of the language the apparently simple notion of 'using English .
are many and complex, but at least they are finite and
fairly easy to identi$': there are only so many sounds, GOOD MORNING,
letters, and grammatical constructions, and although GOOD MORNING!
there is a huge vocabular at least the units (the lex-
An apparently simple
greeting or leave-taking
emes, p. 1 18) are determinate and manageable. None
can hide some quite subtle
of this applies when we begin to investigate the way
conventons of use. The
English is used: we are faced immediatelywith a bewil- chief daily greetings (Good
dering array of situations, in which the features of morninglafternoonl
eveningl night), along with
spoken or written language appear in an apparently
their regional and colloquial
unlimited number of combinations and variations.
variants (such as Austra-
Sometimes the result is a use of English, or of a feature lian G'day, informal
'morni ng, ntimate night-
of English, which is highly distinctive and easily night), do not function in
explained, as is often encountered in regional dialects identicalways.
and in some of the more institutionalized areas of lan- . Good morning is conven-
tionally used just once
guage use, such as religion and law. Rather more often,
between any pair of people.
rve are faced with usage that is subtle and indetermi-
lf A meets B for the f irst time
nate, and which demands detailed and lengthy analy- in the office at 9 o'clock, it
sis before we can reach an understanding of what its would be appropriate for
each to say Good morning.l
purpose is and how it works, as is often found in social again at 9.05, the
A meets B
dialects and in some of the more creative areas of lan- greeting is not exchanged a
guage use, such as humour and literature. second time. lndeed, B
would find it distinctly odd
Recent years have seen considerable progress in the if A were to repeat Good
study oflanguage in use, and the emergence ofseveral morning, and might even be
paradigms of enquir as people probe the topic from upset or puzzled (if A were
the boss, did he/she notice
diflrent points of view. Some linguists favour a me? if B were the boss, is A
'bottom up' approach, studying the way sentences trying to gain my attention
combine into larger units of discourse, and focusing for some reason?). Howeve
the same constraint does
on the role played by specific features oflanguage in not applyto Good night.l A
facilitating successful interaction. In this approach, meets B on leaving the
whole books might be \Mritten on the communicarive office at 6 o'clock, then both
are likelytosay Good night.
role ofa tiny aspect oflanguage (such as the use of you
But if A forgets something,
now in conversations). Other linguists work 'top returns to the office to get
down', beginning with a broadly defined caregory - it, and meets B again five
minutes later, both may use
such as an area of knowledge (science, politics), a the exchange again without
social situation (gender, class), or a communicative a problem.
genre (poetr joke) - and examining the range of lin- . Consciously deviant uses
exist. There are circum-
guistic features which are found within it. Every con- stances where Good morn-
eivable kind of academic enquiry can be founi, such rng mqy be said in the
as heavily illustrated descriptions of data samples, afternoon, such as when
someone sleeps in very late,
meticulous statistical or experimental analyses of indi- and arrives in front ofthe
viduals and groups, ambitious taxonomies, and highly familywhen mid-day is long
abstract theoretical outlines. The various branches of gone. Correspondingly,
Good afternoon can be said
linguistics that investigare rhe ropic, such as sociolin- in the morning, such as by a
guistics, stylistics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, and sarcastic boss to a late-
arriving employee. Good
textlinguistics, presenr a remarkable range of method-
nightcan be said at anytime
ologies and emphases, Part V cannot give a compre-
of day, if someone seems
hensive account of all that goes on under these about to fall asleep (spoken
headings, but a serious effort is made in the following
19 ' VARIETIES OF DISCOURSE 287
CONSTRUCTING A DISCOURSE THE QUEEN OF sHEBA, AND OTHERS
A scene from the
Brtish TV series
!(/hen we construct a piece of connected speech or writing, Yes, Prme Minster
whether in monologue or dialogue (p.294), we are con- showing the
the stantly tapping the lexical and grammatical resources of the
characters Prime
Minister James
language to find ways of making our composition flow Hacker (left,
played by Paul
fluently while at the same time expressing the nuances \Me
Eddington) and
wish to convey. The examples on this page illustrate some Cabinet Secretary
of the remarkable range of devices which exist for this pur- Sir Humphrey
HELLO, GOOD
pose, and which most adults use and respond to with
Appleby (Nigel
EVENING, AND Hawthorne).
rrnselfconscious ease'
WELCOME!
This predictable Never (in a thousand years)
greeting from 5TWAYSOFSAYING NO
Not in million years
a
British media Yesand no are amongthe Noton your nelly
personality David most commonlY used words
I should say not
Frost became a catch phrase in the late in the language, butthey are
Definite (no negative
1960s. As a result, it was often used outside its original often insuff icient to capture
word)
time frame -the only case the author has encountered the various degrees of affir-
Are you serious?
of good evening being used in the morning. mation or disinclination
whichwe maywishtocom- Drop dead Some of the most acute Says you. You're asking meto
unicate by wayof a Fat chance observers of the discourse Some hope. swallow...?
m
Get lost/ knotted /stuffed... rules of the language are Pull the other one. You're going out on a limb
response. The prosodic
features of the language God forbid comedians and humorists. Tell thatto the Marnes. here.
POTTY THING TO SAY
(ntonation, in particular) Hard cheese Bending and breaking Do you think I was born You would saythat,
play an important role in I'd rather die these rules is a comic's yesterday? wouldn'tyou?
The Duke of Dunstable, having read all he wanted to
read in The Times and given up a half-hearted attempt adding nuancestothese lmpossible stock-in-trade. Here is a list What do you take me for - Well, l'm not saying you're
to solve the crossword puzzle, had left the terrace and words (p.248), but our social Over my dead body prepared by British a fool? wrong.
was making hiswayto Lady Constance'ssitting-room. survival requ ires lin guistic Push off newspaper columnist Miles Think l'm wet behind the Well, stranger things have
He was looking for someone to talk to, and Connie, competence in a much more Seeyou in hellfirst Kington in an honest effort ears? happened at sea.
Tough titty Are you trying toteach These are deep waters,
though in his opinion potty, like all women, would be extensive repertoire of to help tourists and
better than nothing.... responses. Here is a selection Unthinkable students of English your grandmotherto watson.
He reached his destination, went in without knock- of alternatives for no, used as You must be joking improve their ways of suck eggs? Much work still needsto be
ing, found Lady Constance busy at her desk, and a responseto a requestfor, You've had it expressing disbelief in each Give us a break. done on this theory.
other. And l'm the Queen of While in no way doubting
shouted'Hoy!' say, the loan of some object. Excuses
The monosyllable, uttered in her immediate rear in a They express a range of 5heba. the essential veracity of
lf twere upto me
tone of voice usually confined to the hog-calling indus- emotions f rom embarrassed I'm right out
oh? Are you taking the what you say, I am not
reluctance to forthright Oh, really? Michael? su re that this is the best
tryof western America, made LadyConstance leap like
antagonism.
It's morethan my job'sworth
Well. Are you extracting the momentto announce t,
a rsing trout. But she was a hostess. Concealing her
annoyance, not that that was necessary for her visitor
It's not in my hands
Well,well. urine? and it might be as well to
lnarticulate Loveto, but...
since early boyhood had never noticed when he was Well, lnever. And pigs can fly. put it on the back burner
Ah Euphemisms/Clichs for a while, so I am going
annoying anyone, she laid down her pen and achieved ls that so? I should cocoa.
oh Chance would be a fine thing Howvery nteresting. Liar liar, pants on fire! to recommend thatyou
a reasonably bright smile.
'Good morning, Alaric.' Apologetic/ Closed for business Howvery ve{y nteresting. Same to you, with knobs stallfor a time by
Uncomfortable Correspondence closed ls that a fact? on. announcing a public
'What do you mean, good morning, as if you hadn't
Alas lf wish were fatherto the Who'd have thought t? You're talking through enquiry, or a select
seen me before today?'said the Duke, his low opinion
of the woman's intelligence confirmed.'We met at Can't help deed You don't say? your hat. committee hearing, or
breakfast, didn't we? Potty thing to say. No sense in it.' Do me a favour Je regrette, mais... Tell me more. You're puttng me on. any ofthe usual delaying
(P. G. Wodehouse, Servcewth a Srnle (1961), Ch.2.) Give over Not my department Be that as it may. You'rewinding meup. tactics, before we ask the
l'm afraid... Not my remit With the greatest Horsefruit, sailor! media and the publicto
Sorry The editor regrets... respect... Moonshine! swallow a lie of quite
either by the tired one or by such as when we arrive at a Unfortunately The umpire's decision is final That's all verywell, but... Baloneyl this enormity...
an observer). Good evening hotel or telephone a switch- Would that it were possible I beg leave to differ. Fiddlesticks! Areyou not being
Evasive
seems to be the most con- board; even in the middle of Parents begin to teach their On the other hand... Stuff and nonsense! economicalwith the
ventional of all the daily the night, Good evening or
Any othertime... ls it not possible that...? Codswallop! truth?
AskArthur children to read between the
greetings, with hardly any Good morning will be used, lines in thisway at an early lf you say so. What a load of cobblers! ...with the actualit?
'Bye
I can see what you're
likelihood of hearing it used never Good night). On one
Must run age. Herearesomeofthe l'll believe you -thousands Tosh!
getting at.
at other times of day. international television negative responses used by wouldn't. Balderdash !
c Good morning, Good sports link-up, the commen-
Not right now
Well, l'llbe... Mullarkey! I can see what you're trying
to me later
Talk parentsto a request bytheir
afternoon, and Good tator welcomed the world- 4-year-old for another biscuit. Well, l'll be damned. Go and take a running to say.
Thething is...
evenrng may be used as we wide viewing audience with Well, l'll be hornswoggled. jump! I can see the point.
Whata pty You'vejust had one.
arrive or as we depart, thewordsHello, good You must be joking. Get lost! I see...
within the appropriate time inite (with negative It'llbeteatimesoon. lf you believe that, you'll understand...
eveni ng, good afternoon, Def I have my doubts. I
frame; but Good nghtcan good morning, wherever word) Ask Daddy. I begin to wonder. believe anything. l'm sure you're right...
be used only as a leave- you are. He did not use Nocan do I haven't heardthe magic Credibility gap ahead. I bet you say thatto all the Yes, sir. ..
word yet.
taking. Similarly, only the Good night-which would No chance A likely story. girls. Yes, Minister...
Atalltale. That'll be the day. Minister...
first three can be used as an have been an open invita- No go This is saying no without Yes, Prime
opening acknowledgement, tion to viewers to switch off! Noway(Jos) saying no. lsmella rat. Don't give me that. Of course, Your Majesty...
 288 PART V.USING ENGI-]SH 19 .VARIETIES OF DISCOURSE 289

MICROLINGUISTIC STUDIES DISCOURSE DIRECTION Summarizers: in a nutshell; that's about it; in

effect; to cut a long story short; wht l.m OH YEs? A colon marks a lengthened Receiving new information
syllable.) A: Hey, Henry, your girl-
Some items play a particular role in control- trying to say is Z
Oh is surprisingly frequent friend's here!
There is only one way to establish the exact function of lingthe direction of movementwithin a
in conversation, whether Correcting oneself B: [from living room]
discourse. They signal such broad Local macro-organizers think it was in seventeen:
the various elements which contribute to the organiza-
organizational features astopc identif ica- formal or informal, but I Oh yeh?
Exemplifiers'. in other words; for instance; to fifteen, or seventeen fifty
tion of discourse, and that is to subject a substantial pinning down its function
tion. change, and exemplification, and such give an example; it's like A
proves to be extremely five. l'm not sure when. Eh: Marking an intense
amount of linguistic data to a microlinguistic analysis. log ical relationsh ips as topic contrast and Relators'. nonetheless; however; and also; i1
difficult. lt has little by way oh l'm wrong. Seventeen reaction
In the case ofspoken discourse (p.291), a recording of
reinforcement. lt is never possble to present hastodowith B; t'sthesamewth B
of a dictionary meaning seventeen. lGrls' High still has a reputa-
a truly simple account, as several items have Evaluators: I think/don't think that C; as far
reasonable cousric quality needs to be made, then 'fuzzy' meaning (p. 169), and analytical which we can hold on to. tion.l
as I can see; seems to me; l'm absolutely
Ohl on its own, as a minor Correcting someone else A: But, like it did?
transcribed with maximum ttention to detail, paying categores (such as evaluating and summa- certain
sentence (P.216), is relatively [How about'Death of a B: Oh yes. Girls'High is still
rizing) are not always easyto apply consis- Qua/iflers: the catch is; it depends on D;
particular attention to its pauses, interruptions, false straightforward: it is an Salesman'?l rated. Y'know Girls'
tently. Nonetheless, several studies have that'strue but D; this doesn't mean that D A: Well that was a show
starts, hesitations, and other such features. Ideall a full exclamation, expressing a High is rated higher than
provided useful first approximations. sides: where was l?; I guess that's beside
strong emotion whose exact sure. Central.
prosodic transcription should be included (p.248), One such approach focuses on lexical the point; l'm getting ahead of myself B: Oh that was a movie too.
phrases (p. 1 63), recognizing eighttypes of value depends on the choice
here Some of these uses are easy
though the level ofspecialized training required to hear what it calls ma cro-organizers.These are of intonation and facial
The following extract f rom a meeting expression (P.2a8). What is Requesting clarification to recognize, such as the oh
prosodic effects accurately means rhar rhis is not always seen to operate attwo levels: g/obal of surprise (Oh yeah ! =' Gosh
between a teacher (T) and a student (S) to less obvious is why we use oh A: ls there anyone you
a practical option. Each instance ofa particular item of features determine the overall shape ofthe
discourse; /ocalfeatures mark changes of
talk about a thesis shows the use of several to begin an utterance - would uh:talk about- I never knew that') or bel-
interest is noted - the w ord well, the hesitation noise r, of these organizational features. This sometimes followed by a B: Oh you mean outside? ligerence (Oh yeah ! ='You
direction operating in a more restricted way. wanna make trouble?') or
the clause your- and its conrexr examined to establish exchange is typical of a discourse where seri- brief pause, sometimes not.
Global macro-organizers ous business is being transacted, and where Request for elaboration the oh of strong ntensity
what role it
may be playing ar rhr point in the dis- Topic markers: let's look at X; what do you care needs to be taken (notwithstanding Does he like opera? A: Does she come here or: (Oh really?, Oh God!, Ah
course. An immediate intuitive response to the item think of X?; have you heard about X?; let the informal style) with the manipulation of Oh maybe he's too young. B: No we go out to lunch, c'mon!): others require more
me start with x meaning. There are far fewer such features mostly, I stop over there. reflection before we can
can be sharpened by manipulating the data in various Here the word does not have
ways, such as omitting the item to see how this affects
Topic shifters'. by the way; let's move on to I in the more loosely structured language of
any exclamatory force. lt
A: Oh, where do you like consciously identify the
nuance; but all ofthe pro- board. lt may be a reformu- selves towards the other's
that reminds me of Y this is offthe everyday conversation. to go?
lation of what we already point of view. To leave oh
the meaning or acceptability of the utrerance, or con- (AfterJ. may be said with very little posed categories occur with
subject, but Y R. Nattinger & J. S. DeCarrico, 1992.)
know, or brand new infor- out can make an utterance
emphasis, often quite some frequency, and any
trasting it with another item. By comparing a large rapidly. ln such
Suddenly remembered
spontaneous conversational mation; it may come from sound immediately more
queston other people in the conver-
number of instances, the aim is to arrive at an informa- circumstances it seems to be exchange of some length abrupt or argumentative.
tWhat I wanted mainly to talk about was Oh listen, lforgot to sation orfrom within our- It should therefore be plain
tive classification ofuses, and to develop a theory ofthe Topic marker more like an introductory will provide copious
ask you... selves. Either way, we f ind why we use oh so often in
your part on the review ofthe literature. particle. The question is, examples,
organization of discourse which can then be tested
It seems to me that here you just list things, -
what function does this ourselves faced wth the task informal (f riendly) conversa-
Evaluator Knowledge re-orientation
against other kinds of utrerance. After more than a particle have? Whyoh? of replacing one piece of tion. The whole point of a
that here you list all this stuff you read, but ln a detailed study of oh A: Howcan I getan ls it possible to find a gener- information by another, conversation is to tell each
decade of research, there are now several theoretical you don't really discuss it. - appontment t'go down
and related words (e.9. wel/, alization which will apply to and the oh tells our listener other thngs. The state of
frameworks which have emerged in rhis way. Clarification 5: Huh? l'm not sure what you mean. ldo so, now, y'know), American
there t'bring my son on all ofthese oh-using con- that we are ready to carry knowledge of each partici-
linguist Deborah Schiffrin a tour? texts? Schiffrin believes that this out. pant is therefore continually
discuss it...see, in this part here, ltalk about it. B: Oh ldidn't even know
A SAMPLE I overlappingspeech
I Well, you sort of do. Here, you say that Qualif ier
argues the case for a
they gave toursl
they are all instances of a
single phenomenon -
The use of oh therefore
has an important role in dis-
changing. Oh marks the
points where speaker and
TRANSCRIPTION ... relatively long pause discourse function, a
these theories are the leading ones, in the hearer are jointly focusing
/ minor boundary marker
current literature these are important.
identifying several types of
context in which it Unanticipated information
signal that speakers are
preparing to shift their ori-
course interaction. Like rel/
and certain other response ther attention on matters of
A few lines illustrating // major boundary marker
the potential complexity commonly occurs. (All the Oh I didn't know that. entation to take account of words, it signals the nature real concern, where the
. lowfalling tone However, that's notall you need tosay here, Relator
following examples are of our participation in the information content
of a discourse transcript, . high falling tone you need to say that these are competing
- taken from her recordings of Display of recogniton
the information they have
just received. We use ol,, in dialogue. lt lets our inter-
is in
process of change. Oh is, in
the
including prosodic
features (from J. J. " falling rising tone theories, orat leastthattheyaredifferent Qualilier informal conversation, with A: We ate at the - we ate at other words, when we locutor know that we are short, a marker of informa-
Gumperz, 1982, p. 105). ^ rising falling tone theories, and also you need to say which you Relator a summary of preceding the: eh that Shanty? become aware that our actively paying special atten- tion management.
Note the way the speech - level tone chooseto baseyourstudyon. Not onlythat,- - Relator context in square brackets, Seafood Shanty? knowledge is in a state of tion to the point which has
ofthe two speakers (B r upward pitch registershift you have to say why you support that one. .. where needed. Transcription B: Oh yeh, l've heard that's change, and are prepared to just been made. lt also shows (After D. Schiffrin, 1987
and A) is laid out so that ' high secondary stress Comprelrension hsk you need to say why. OK? Do you see?
- conventions are unchanged. good. take the new knowledge on that we are aligning our- ch.4.)
the points of overlap can , lowsecondarystress
be clearly seen. For " (doubled mark) extra loud
Accepting response
- S' Yeah, I guess so. OK l'll try.
further illustration of T: OK so (/eve/ rntonation)you need to do Summanzer
acc accelerated tempo .
intonation contrasts, see
dec decelerated tempo - more than just list these and tell that they're PLEASE occur wth statements (/'d /rke some pudding,
p/ease), questions (May I have some pudding,
Give me more
o I think
pudding or l'll hit you, please.
you're beautiful, please.
p.248. important, you need to discuss them more and - The most nterestng property about p/ease (apart please?), commands (Glve me some pudding,
/ say why you're basing your study on a certain from its'magical'social role in persuading others These sentences are, respectively, a narrative state-
p/ease), and moodless clauses (Pudd i ng, please).
I get wonderin''whether to cooperate) is its discourse function. From a . lt has no easily stateable dictionary meaning. lf ment, a promise. an offe an nvitaton, a threat,
yeh but / somettmes one. OK, now (falling intonation)...lalso Topic slrifter
B: and a compliment. P/ease cannot be used with
' wantedtotalktoyouaboutyourhypotheses.- Topicshifter
structural point of view, p/ease is unique. we were to tryto define the'meaning' of p/ease at
such sentences, but only with those which are
it's,all related
// o lt all, it would have to be in terms of what it does -to
\cause Idon't think they are written well enough,- Evlutor is not easily assigned to any word class: gram- interpretable as a request. The point is not simply a
it is / rht they're not quite clear enough. How about mars tend to call it an adverb (p. 21 1), but it is like persuade someone to do something.
matter of common sense, as can be seen from the
A: \but ultim"ttlY " Exemplifier
no other adverb. lt cannot, for example, be modi-
- tn
who were '^ 1 and 4? They seem to me to contradict each - - Evaluator fied by very:we cansay very kindly,bulnot *very
Are there any sentences, then, where we may errors made by non-native learners of English,
who often produce sentences similartothe
started out /'people notsay please? That there are many such con-
I mearr'everybody other.
- P/ease. unacceptable ones above.
Accepting response .=-
-\ S: Oh yeah, that isn't what I mean... I guess ' lt can act as a minor sentence in its own right:
strants can be seen f rom the following:
ln short, p/ease is an item whose function is
nineteen hundred
/
\ maybe they do, I guess so. A: Would you like some tea?
. He ate more pudding, please. entirelydefined by its role in discourse-and more-
theY did e'/erythin'
/ rt // 1 OK so (/eve/ rntonaton')you need to state Summarrzer B: Please.
. I promise you can have some more pudding, over, in discourse of a very particular kind (request-
please. ing). More than any other word in English, it is a
thn / not o"*'\.1ii.,,,,,,',,.,, each one more clearly... - ' When functioning within a sentence, it s not . Would you like some more pudding, please? discourse-identifying feature. (After M. 5tubbs,
n' u""t-,^t's constrained bythesyntactictype (p. 218). lt may .
ili
'th-a.t's rt Do you want to come to a party, please? 1983, Ch. 4.)

A:
out nw //
theY it / so it's'all sPread
290 PARTV.USINGENGLISH
TEXTS AND VARIETIES
The notion of 'using English involves much more
than using our knowledge of linguistic structure (such
as the features described on pp.286-9) to create and
interpret sequences of sentences and conversational
interactions. It also involves being aware of the range
of situations in which English can be used in a dis-
tinctive and predictable way, and of the possibilities
available to us when we wish to produce or respond
to creative uses of the language.
These situations are enormously varied, and not
always easy to define, but we can begin to make sense of
them by looking at the communicative products, or
texts,wirhwhich they are associated, and at the linguis-
tic features which define these texts' identity. Prayers,
posters, road-signs, lectures, sports commentaries,
novels, speeches, interviews, and recipes are all texts, by
this account, They each have a particular communica-
tive purpose - easier to state in relation to a road-sign
than a novel, perhaps, but a communicative purpose
nonetheless. They are also relatively selcontained
units of discourse, whether spoken or written, and each
to some degree has a definable linguistic identiry.
Qualifications such as 'relatively' and 'to some
degree' are important, because not all texts have
boundaries which are equally easy to identifr, or use
language which is equally distinctive: for example, the
boundaries of written texts are typically more deter-
minate than spoken ones, and (within speech) most
sermons have a much clearer beginning and end than
most conversations. But when investigating uses of
English, it is usually practicable to work with a hier-
archy of the following notions: situations give rise to
texts, and texts make use of sets of distinctiue linguis-
tic fetures. A particular set of these features, repre-
senting a category of text, is known as a uariety. To
take just one example: O liuing God is a distinctive
feature (a vocative with O p.220) of a prayer text
which is found in a religious situation: it is therefore
a feature of the variety of religious lnguge.
Sociolinguistic and stylistic features
The features which identify avariery are not features
of the language s a whole, occurring anywhere the
language is spoken or written, in all possible social sit-
uations. Variety features depend on the presence of
certain factors in the social situation. Classifications
of these factors var but it is possible to group them
into rwo general types, which give rise to what are
here called sociolinguistic and stylistic features.
. Sociolinguistic fetures relate to very broad situa-
tional constraints on language use, and chiefly ideln-
tify the regional and social vaieties of the language
(e.g. Canadian, Cockne upper-class, educated).
CONCEPTS IN TEXT ANALYSIS
Church service
Text: liturgical prayer
our heavenly
mercy
didst on
Jesus Christ to
upon the I ogy (S1B)'
cross
our redemption
They are relatively permanent, background features
of the spoken or written language, over which we have
relatively little conscious control. 'W'e tend not to
change our regional or class way of speaking as we go
about our daily business, and usually do not even real-
ize that it is there.
. Srylistic features relate to constraints on language
use that are much more narrowly constrained, and
identi$' personal preferences in usage (poetry humour)
or the varieties associated with occupational groups
(lecturers, lawyers, journalists). They are relatively
temporary features of our spoken or written lan-
guage, over which we do have some degree of conscious
control. \e often adopt different group uses of lan-
guage as we go through our day (e.g. famil job, reli-
gion, sports), and frequently change our speaking or
writing style to make a particular effect (as when we
put on an accent while telling a story, or play with
language in an informal letter p.402).
The following pages illustrate many uses of English,
manifested in a selection of texts associated with both
spoken nd written varieties of the language. Chap-
ters 20 and 2l deal with sociolinguistic variation,
chiefly of a regional and social kind. Chapters 22 and
23 deal with srylistic variation, with particular refer-
ence to occupational and personal factors. But we
begin with a review of two very general dimensions
which must always be taken into account when con-
sidering the characteristics of a language variety: the
chosen medium of communication (speech vs writ-
ing), and the type of participation involved (mono-
logue vs dialogue).
Y 19 VARIETIES OF DISCOUlSE 291
we are faced with a genuine choice between speaking TWO ELECTRONIC
SPE,E,CH AND \RITING or writing. Normally, whenever two people are in EXCEPTIONS TO THE
RULE
earshot, they speak to each other. Only very special cir-
written language display a number of cumstnces - wicked children passing secret messages Speech normally inter-
is
Spoken and active - but not when talking
differences, over and above the obvious in class; partners who are 'not talking' to each other; a to a telephone answering
irporrant
disiinction in physical form - that speech uses the jury foreman passing a verdict to a court ofcial; some- machine, where we have to
'phonic substance', typically air-pressure one who cannot speak or hear (and who is unable to produce a monologue while
rnedium of pretending it is a dialogue
rnovemnts produced by the vocal organs, whereas use sign language) - would motivate the enormous (pp.294,393). This is not some-
writing uses the medium of 'graphic substance', rypi- trouble of writing down what we wish to 'say'. Con- thing which comes easilyto
most people -though ablities
cally marks on a surface made by a hand using an versel people who are separated by distance in space
improve with practice.
imil.ment. These differences are chiefly to do with or time, and who lack electronic means of communi-
Writing is not an interactive
laigu^g, use, arising out ofthe fact that speakers and cation (or the money to use them), have no alternative medium in the same way as
wriiers are operating in fundamentally diffeent but to write to each other. speech, because ofthe delay in
Distinctive fetures
comnrunicative situations, But there are also several Moreover, the status of the two mediums is not getting the written message
. Vocative + relative (p.210)
differences in language structure: the grammar and the same. -/ritten formulations, such as contracts, to the reader; and in many
kinds of writing there is little
Use o' thy, thine of speech is by no mens the same as that are usually required to make agreements legally bind-
vocabulary expectation of a reply (none at
Word order all, pace the other sense of
of writing, nor do the contrasts available in phonol- ing. Historical documents, ancient inscriptions, orig-
'medium', when the writer is
Archaic past tense
ogy (S17) correspond to those available in graphol- inal manuscripts, first editions, sacred writings, and dead). But the advent of elec-
Capitalzation other such material are given a kind of respect which
tronic mail and the fax
r is rarely accorded to speech (though archives of
t
Collocations (p. 162) is sometimes thought to be little more than machine have altered the time
\riting
parameters dramatically.
'speech written down'. Speech, correspondingl is lecorded sound are beginning to introduce a bal-
Questions and answers fly
Variety: religious English (p. 371) judged by its to writing (p.236). Nei- ance). Above all, written English provides the stan-
often closeness around the world now which
valid, The two mediums, though his- dard that society values, and its relative permanence are very similar to those that
rher position is
would be used if the partici-
torically related, function as independent methods of and worldwide circulation have given it a very special pants were talking to each
communication. There are few circumstances where place within the life of the community (p. 110). other (523).
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPEECH AND WRITING
. Speech is time-bound, dynamic, transient. lt is part of an interaction in o Writing is space-bound, static, permanent. lt is the result of a situation in
which both participants are usually present, and the speaker has a particular which the writer is usually distant f rom the reader, and often does not know
addressee (or several addressees) in mind. who the reader is going to be (except in a very vague sense, as in poetry).
. There is no time-lag between production and reception, unless one is . Writers must anticipate the effects of the tme-lag between production
deliberately introduced by the recipient. The spontaneity and speed of most and reception, and the problems posed by having their language read and
speech exchanges make it diff icult to engage in complex advance planning. nterpreted by many recipients in diverse settings. Writing allows repeated
The pressure to think while talking promotes looser constructon, repetiton, reading and close analysis, and promotes the development of careful
rephrasing, and comment clauses (p. 229). lntonation and pause divide long organization and compact expression, with often intrcate sentence
utterances into manageable chunks. but sentence boundaries are often structure. Units of discourse (sentences, paragraphs) are usually easy to
unclear(p.214). identify through punctuaton and layout.
. Because partcipants are typically in face-to-face nteraction, they can rely . Lack of visual contact means that participants cannot rely on context to
on such extralinguistic cues as facial expression and gesture to aid meaning make their meaning clear; nor is there any immediate feedback. Most
(feedback). The lexicon of speech is often characteristically vague, using writing therefore avoids the use of deictic expressions, which are likely to be
words which refer directly to the situation (deictk expressions, such as that ambiguous.
one, in here, right now).
. Some words and constructons are characteristic of writing, such as
Many words and constructions are characteristic of (especially informal) multiple instances of subordinaton in the same sentence (p. 70), elaborately
o
speech. Lengthy coordinate sentences are normal (p. 226), and are often of balanced syntactic patterns, and the long (often multi-page) sentences
considerable complexity. There is nonsense vocabulary ( p. 130). obscenity, found in some legal documents. Certain items of vocabulary are never
and slang, some of which does not appear in writing, or occurs there only as spoken, such as the longer names of chemical compounds.
graphic euphemism (e.g. ft**).
o Writing is very suited to the recording of facts and the communication of
r Speech is very suited to social or'phatic'functions, such as passing the time ideas. and to tasks of memory and learning. Written records are easier to
of day, or any situation where casual and unplanned discourse is desirable. lt keep and scan; tables demonstrate relationships between things; notes and
ts also good at expressing social relationships, and personal opinions and lists provide mnemonics; and text can be read at speeds which suit a person's
attitudes, due to the vast range of nuances which can be expressed by the ability to learn.
prosody and accompanying non-verbal features.
. Errors and other perceived inadequacies in our writing can be eliminated in
' There s an opportunity to rethink an utterance while it s in progress later drafts without the reader ever knowing they were there. lnterruptions,
(starting
again, adding a qualification). HoweveL errors, once spoken, cannot if they have occurred while writing, are also invisible in the final product.
be withdrawn (the one exception is when a sound engineer performs
wonders of auditory ptastic surgery on a digtal-recording of nonfluent . Unique features of writing include pages, lines, capitalization, spatial
speech); the speaker must live with the consequences. lnterruptions and organization, and several aspects of punctuation. Only a very few graphic
overlapping speech are normal and highly audible. conventions relate to prosody, such as question marks and underlining for
emphasis. Several written genres (e.9. timetables, graphs, complex
o Unique
features of speech include most of the prosody (p. 248). The many formulae) cannot be read aloud efficiently, but have to be assimilated
nuances
of intonation,
as well as contrasts of loudness, tempo, rhythm, and
other tones of voice cannot be written down with much efficiency.
visually.
)<\) PART V.USING ENGLISH
MIXED MEDIUM SPEECH
lf we choose to speak, we
The distincrion between the medium of speech and may intend our utterance to
be heard immediately. This
the medium of writing ar firsr sight seems clear-cur: is the normal state of
either things are wrirren or rhey are spoken. In prac- affairs. But there are several
tice, the situation is considerably more complex. nteresting alternatives.
\hen we choose to use either one of these mecliums, . We may ntend our utter-
the reason for our choice may require us to bear in ance to be heard at a later
mind the existence of the othe and that then influ- point in time, when we
as
use an answerphone (p.
ences the nature of the language we use. The figure
393).
below summarizes the chief alternatives which are o Wemayintendthatwhat
likely to produce distinctive sryles of spoken or wrirren we say should not be heard,
English, and the rexr illusrrares some typical situations as when we speak 50tto
voce ('under our breath').
under each heading. There are of course two fur-
ther options here: the gen-
uine softo yoce, which our
TELEPROMPTING
listener does not hear, but
A television presenter facing a teteprompter, also called which nonetheless makes us
(from the manufacturers' names) an autocue or auto- feel better for having said
scrt. The text s typed on rolls of transparent material, it; andthepseudosotto
and projected as large type, enabling the presenters to voce, which we intend our
read it. lt is so positioned that they can see it while facing listener to hear (usual ly for
the camera, conveying the illusion of direct speech to the jocular purposes). Uninten-
vewer. Any style of text can be used - informal or formal, tionally overheard sotto
monologue or dialogue. voce can lead to trouble for
the speake though this
depends on non-linguistic
factors (such as the relative
physical build of speaker
and listener).
o We may intend our utter-
ance to be written down. lf
so, there are two further
possibilities: we may leave
the task of representing
what we say to the listener,
thus speaking in a relatively
'natural'way (as in some
magazine interviews or
police statements); or we
may speak 'carefully',
instructing the writer
to ignore non-f luencies
and errors (as in letter
dictation).
CLASSIFICATION OF MIXED MEDIUM TEXTS
Now (norm)
To be heard
Later (telephone answering machine)
As if spoken (police statement. magazine
Speech To be written down
As if
To be unheard (sotto voce speech)
To self (memoranda, shopping list)
Medium mixing
To single other (co-authorship sessions, sharing a letter, with commentary)
E To many others (commentary on blackboard, handout, slides)
As if spoken (radio/TV drama, teleprompter)
Writing
As if
loud (broadcasting continuity summaries)
WRITING
lf we choose to write, we nor-
mally intend that what we have
written should be read; and the
norm, at least since late classical
times, has been forthe recipent
to read silently. Here too there
are several alternatives.
. We may choose to write with
the intention that what we
have written should be read
aloud. lf so, we must make a
further choice. We may write
in such a way that our end-
product, when read aloud, will
sound likewritten language. lt
will be relatively formal and
controlled. Those who prepare
the text for radio news-readers
fall intothis category. Alterna-
tively, we may write in such a
waythat the end-product will
not sound scrpted, as in those
who write materialfor radio
and television drama. The
latter are not always successful,
of course.
. We may choose to write with
the intention that only some of
what we have written should be
read aloud, the rest being
ignored. An example of this
rather unusual situation can be
found in a radio channel's conti-
nuity studio, where information
of potential interest to the lis-
tener (e.9. about the weather,
traff ic delays) is continually
coming n on a television screen
or being passed to the presen-
ter in note form. The presenter
selects what there is time to
incorporate into the running
order ofthe programme. The
material arrives in a variety of
styles, often highly elliptical,
reflecting the ongoing rush of
the live broadcast situation.
written (letter. dictation, recorded announcements)
written (radio/TV newsreading, teleprompter)
MIXING
There remain a few situ-
ations where speaking
and wrtng are mutually the early 1 940s. Joint
dependent: the languaqg
used is partly made up of
speaking/ listening activ- aqe of 25, he became
ties and partly of read-
ing/writing activities, in of ExPerimental
proportions that are
sometimes difficult to
disentangle. There are
three chief possblities, tnsttution (1954-66)
depending on the nature
of the addressee.
o We may address our-
selves in this mixed way,
as when we compile a
shopping list simultane-
ously questioning our-
selves about what we
want while writing down
some of what we say. tradtion of Michael
. Wemayaddressa
single listene as when
people work together in
a co-authorship situa-
tion, jointly poring over a
text (an academic pape on the different roles
a sitcom script) and each
contributing suggestions
to it.
. We may address a
group of listeners, as
when a teacher is using
the blackboard, keeping
up a running com-
mentary to a class while
doing so.
ln such cases, an audio
recording would tell only
half the story, as would a
photograph of the writ-
ten work. Both mediums
jointly work together to
produce a successful use
of language.
intervieq ghost writing)
19 . VARIETIES OF DISCOUISE 293
HOW TO LECTURE OVERLAPS BETWEEN SPEECH AND WRITING
5rWilliam Lawrence not talk. I must write The differences noted between speech and writing on
gragg (1890-1971). in t out.' I am tempted p. 29 1 are best thought of as trends rather than as absolute
to ask, 'Then why
distinctions. For example, while it istrue that a great deal
ebel Prize-winner lecture? Why not of speech depends on a shared context, and thus uses
with his father at the send a wrtten many situation-dependent expressions (such as th islthat,
account to your herelthere), it is nottrue of all speech. A spoken lecture is
cvendish Professor friends and let them usually quite self-contained, except when it refersto hand-
read it comfortably outs or board diagrams. On the other hand, such written
Physics at Cambrdge. at home; instead of material as office memos and personal letters regularly
s resident Professor dragging them all depend on a shared context. 'Followthat!', begins one
at the RoYal out to a lecture hall informa I letter. 'Have you got one for me too?', beg ins
to listen to your another.
he naugurated the reading the very It is therefore very likely that there are few, if any, abso-
weeklY'schools same thing?' lute differences between speech and writng, and that no
lectures' for children, We come back, it single parameter of linguistic variation can distinguish all
and became widelY seems to me, to the spoken from all wrtten genres. Rather, the range of
known for the claritY essential feature of a potentially distinguishing linguistic features provides a
of his own lecturing lecture which justif ies 'pool'of resources which are utilized by spoken and writ-
style. He wrote a bringing the lecturer ten genres n various ways. The different genres of speech
number of papers on and his audience and writing alwaysseem to overlap in thewaythey use a
the topic of lecturing together. lt is the particu lar lingu istic variable. For example, using the crite-
(following in the emotional contact rion of explicitness of reference mentioned above, one
between lecturer and study showed that, while written genres do tend to have
Faraday, who was also audience. lf a lecturer high scores (i.e. their reference is less situation-dependent)
much interested in the has to f ind his words and spoken genres have low scores (i.e. their reference is
subject, p.87), and his as he speaks, he will more situation-dependent), there were several exceptions.
remarks provide a be automatically Some kinds ofspoken language (public speeches and inter-
relevant perspective restrained from views) had relatively high scores, whereas some kinds of
going too fast written language (types of fiction, in particular) had rela-
of spontaneous vs because he is tively low scores. lt might be thought that, in a diagram
scripted speech. His thinking along with such as the one below. which represents the scores
comments on the his audience. Every obtained on a single scale, all the written varieties should
nature of transcribed lecturer knows the be above zero and all the spoken varieties below. ln
spontaneous speech trick of watching a practice, an overlapping situation obtains.
are echoed elsewhere few sympathetic (After D. Bibet 1988.)
in this book (p.214. faces in the audience
and ofjudging (by official documents
I feel so strongly noting their 7
about the wrongness response) whether he professional letters
of reading a lecture that my language may has been successful in making his points or 6
seem immoderate. lthink it is a dreadful whether he must put things another way. A
thing to do, something out of keeping with lecturer who reads is earthbound to his 5
all that a lecture should mean. The spoken script, but the lecturer who talks can enjoy
press reviews; academic prose
word and the written word are qute a wonderful feeling of being airborne and 4
different arts. Though the reader can pause in complete accord with his audience. lt is religion
and go back to a passage he has found the greatest reward of 3
diffcult, the listener cannot do so and may lecturing.
popular lore
lose the thread of the argument. lt is boring 2 _
in a written account to be repetitious; it is Footnote editorals; biographies
right in a spoken account to put a key idea It is my experience that when I have to read
in several ways to make sure the audience a literaltranscript of one of my lectures I
1
- spontaneous speeches
prepared speeches; hobbies
has grasped the point. When a man writes am quite appalled, even when I have felt 0 _
out his lecture he inevitably writes it as if it that the actual talk was rather a good one. press reportage; interviews
were to be read, not heard. The ideas The account taken from the tape-record is
follow each other too fast. lt is, of course, ungrammatical, with jerky unf inished
-1 - humour
science fiction
far easier for the lecturer to read than for sentences and repetitions, and one blushes -2
him to'think on his feet' by constructing his to read it. I have found that most of my
sentences on the spot. because he can colleagues have had the same experience.
frame his sentences at his leisure. I realize There may be some speakers whose
-3 - generalfiction
that many lecturers read their material personal letters; mystery and adventure fiction
language is impeccable in written form, but
from a feeling of modesty, thinking they I am not convinced that the pol ished talk is
-4 - face-to-face conversations; romantic fiction
will give a poor rendering if they have no necessarly the best. A talk can be 'craggy'
-5
script. While appreciating their reluctance, and yet very effective. just as a bust in
I am sure they are wrong. I feel that to which the artist has thumbed on rregular -6
telephone conversations
collect an audience and then read one's chunks of clay is often a far more brilliant
material is like inviting a friend to go for a likeness than one which carefully
is -7
walk and asking him notto mind if you go smoothed to the finest detail. lt is more
alongside him in your car. lt is easy for the 'live' just because t leaves more to the
lecturer to deliver well-considered
-8
imagination it exctes.
rounded phrases, but the audience has to
tollow and tothink. lf someone says,,l dare Advce to Lecturers
-9 - broadcasts
294 PART V.USING ENGLISH I9 VARIETIES OF DISCOURSE 295

long way from what can happen in everyday conver-

MONOLOGUEAND DIALOGUE SPOKEN MONOLOGUE SPOKEN DIALOGUE
UNEXPECTED FE,ATURES sation. The stereotype is that people speak in com-
A great deal Everyday informal conver- OF DIALOGUE, plete sentences, taking well-defined turns, carefully
of spoken
monologue is
sation is the archetypal
case of spoken dialogue.
listening to each other, and producing balanced
A factor which fundamentally influences the linguis- wrtten (Tra nscri ption conventions .ff/hen we investigate how dialogues actually work, as amounts of speech. The reality is that people often
tic character of a use of language is the number of par- English read arethe same, wth the found in recordings of natural speech, we are often in share in the sentences they produce, interrupt each
ticipants involved in the activity. Theoreticall the aloud, as in addition of punctuation to othe do not pay ttention to everything that is said,
this example show a question, and the for a surprise. \(/e are used to seeing dialogue in con-
distinction is clear-cut: there is monologue, in which and produce a discourse where the contributions of
of the Queen's use of parenthesesto show texrs where the language has been carefully crafted,
only one person is involved in the linguistic act, and speech at the a response that does not such as the script of a play or the conversations in a the participants are wildly asymmetrical. Yet all of this
there is dialogue, in which (rypically) rwo people are opening of interruptthe speaker's
Parliament- a flow. For the full transcrip- Ianguage teaching textbook. Such dialogues may be nonetheless produces a perfectly normal, successful
involved. \7e would also expect there to be a close cor- case where the tion, see D. Crystal & very effective for their purpose, but they are usually a conversatlon.
respondence with the rwo categories of medium expectation of D. Davy, 1 975, p. 65.)
(p.291): monologue is associated with the activities of response is as 72
THE STEREOTYPE Contrast the response pattern of the
writing and reading, and dialogue with speaking and
nearto a theo- A: buter. you'reteaching - following extract of dialogue from the
retical zero erm ata grammar
listening. As with so many of the theoretical distinc- point as it is school /aren't you?/ A page from Book 1 of a successful author's four-member household
course forforeign learners of English, around the dinnertable, on one ofthe
tions presented in this book, the outline is broadly cor- possible to B: yes/. yes/
taunched in 1968. The controlled rare occasions when all were present. 3i$1ii*itr*nilff
get. (To A: wellwhatdoyouthink
rect, but there are several cases where the distinctions nature of the dialogue appeals to the The participants are a father (D), a
emphasizethe about sex education /- non-native learner; butthere isstill a mother (M), a boy (Ben, aged l6), and a ,:fil* j',H,;
become blurred or overlap, and it is these which pro- factthatthis is do you think that er it er
considerable distance between this girl (Lucy, aged 18):
vide some of the most interesting examples of the way spoken lan-
guage, the
lmean. there's been a
great hooha about t/ style of nteraction and real jfuig"*r.ffi_*
we use language. transcription (B:m4 conversational English. The writers of D (fo lucy): Are you going outthis
'$(l'e
can see how some of these cases arise by paying the course would be aware of this- it is evening?
makes no use A: recently/ hasn't there?/ t^ftrrN O, look
of capitallet- only Book 1, after all - but it is (to wh i ch Lu cy' re p I i es) a r r
careful attention to definition. Monologue does not and erm - erabouta film
surprising how many people think that ftl:",Y;:,i,;!.* i",,,, .,,,.
ters. Units of intonation (p. 248) are shown by/; short pauses that was made /and so L: Where did I put my green skirt?
mean that a person is alone, as is typical of most autho- by . ; and longer pauses by -, - and --. Forthe full transcrip- onl real conversation is like this all the time.
(towhich Ben'replies)
rial writing - the 'lonely profession', as it has been tion, see D. Crystal & D. Davy, 1 969, p. 234.) B: mhm/ - tn the whole of this section, which
Passthesalt, Luce.
jii:'rilj*f,:,t,t*r
continues for another half a dozen B:
called. It refers rather to an activiry in which the lan-

ffiffi
A: well what are yourviews
exchanges, Martin speaks 1 1 times and (towhich M'replies', talkingto D)
my government / . reaffirm their su pport / . for the defence on it?/ -
guage producer does not expect a response, even of the free world / - the basic concept / . of the atlantic A: I f ind that - with so
Jillian 10; he produces 207 words, and M: She can never find that skrt.
she 21 1. lt is a perfectly balanced
though an audience may be present (and even though alliance / - - and they will continue to play their full part / in many of these problems/ (to which Lucy'replies', to herselfl
conversation. There are no
that audience ma from time to time, respond, as in the north atlantic treaty organization / - and in other organi. . marriage/sexeduca- L: I think I put it in the wash.
interruptions, or speaking at the
zations / for collective defence / - - they will review defence tion /.
as soon as you try
the heckling which can accompany a political speech). same time, and the two participants (to which D 'replies', talking to Ben)
policy / - to ensure / by relating / our commitments / . and our and make it. a sort of
In a monologue, the language is conceived as a sel resources / - that my armed forces / . are able to discharge / formallesson/ - the
respond carefullyto each other. D: There you are. (andpasses thesa/t) Ji.:l* o't .h by, rar,s Mar-
Notwithstanding the content of ths
contained presentation. By contrast, it is ofthe essence their many tasks / overseas / - with the greatest effectiveness wholething fallsflat/ - passage, their relationship seems safe '* tnt, *oo.,iy.
Issre your
and economy / B: m/
ofdialogue that the participnts expect each other to enough. 86 i;,"f?;:;.,1:
respond, and it
contains many linguistic features
WRITTEN DIALOGUE
Shdebh
if ,f .i:.,

which enable this to happen (most obviousl question

forms). The interesting cases, accordingl are those Questionnaires and registra-
ffi[g",^* THE REALITY A: ...so hewastalking aboutsentences in progress.
tion forms are classically B: Sentences in?
where the situation imposes special demands or con-
dialogic in form, their whole
*#.fFt ln many dialogues, the point of conversational turn A: Progress. lt's where one person starts, and another
straints upon the speaker/write and interferes with purpose being to elicit a / .. (when one person stops talking and another one B: Ohyes, lsee,chipsinandfinishesitoff. lknowwhatyoumean. l'vegotafriendwho'salways
*"*ff'*"*"';
r.-or**-.",
o,o, ,',
the normal expectations of response. response. They represent,
'
starts) often does not coincide with the end of a doing it. You're making a point, and then he comes in and f inishes it off for you. Uncanny,
however, a rather unusual - t,lo' ,r sentence. Rather there is a shared expectation that sometimes, how he's able to anticipate exactly
'*'-.u*"*-"r,,il
i

kind of dialogue, with one rrh, both people will be involved in completing the A: Whatyou're goingtosay. I know. Somepeoplearealmost-almost-
ors ,

participant asking all the .:l,t4F4ror

sentence. This is only likely to be frequent between B: Obsessive
Not all writers
believe that their
questons. The extract is people who know each other well, and in such A: Yes,obsessiveaboutit. lt'sasiftheycan'tstop. lmustsaylfinditveryirritating.ButLerner's
taken from the application circumstances the participants may be totally paper isn't about the obsessive types. He's suggesting that joint sentence formulation is quite
occupation is a
form enabling people to unconscious that it s happening at all. Twins, for common in everyday informal conversation, and that there are certain syntactic strategies
monologue.
Laurence Sterne
register under the UK Data *:* example, regularly complete each other's sentences which promote this kind of collaboration between speakers,
Protection Act (1984). Bl in this way. Conversely, it can be extremely irritating B: Such as...
(1 713-68) *,Be'\r%hl
G.k,.-&ss to be talking to an acquaintance who tries to A: Well,startingasentencewithanif-clause,forinstance,especiallyifyou'rebeingabithesitant,
*-*iH;S*,.;
certainly did not: , . i

complete your sentences when you are perfectly thinking something out as you go along...
Writing, when capable of finishing them off yourself. B: The other speaker is likely to chip in and finish it off
properly man- WRITiEN - The following extract was based on some of the A: And the f irst speaker is happy enough for this to happen, because the point is made, and
aged, (asyou may MONOLOGUE eatures observed by US linguist Gene Lerner in a B: Even better, the other person is making the point for him,
1991 study of what he called ,sentences in progress'. A: Whichiswhatanyconversationalistishappytohavehappen.Afterall,what'saconversation
be sure I think
mine is) but ais This page. % It is somewhat artificial, in that the various non-
f luencies which characterize normal spontaneous
aboutotherwise. if it isn'tabout getting your pointof viewacross?
B: And rapport.
different name
speech have been omitted, and the piece has been A: And?
for conversation.
*"**ji.li;ii,
e'q ,. j1 hhiry
written to illustrate several features in a short space;
.

(Tristram Shandy, uq*bq

B: Rapport. RAP
.rycr&bkdE*,: but all of the sentence-completing features shown A:
.__.i;i:r::*,

- l P O R T. Oh yes, rapport, of course.
1 760-7, Book l) .*d'*'cbbn*,,-'
nere reflect those which have been observed in
u,-,r6*1j:
,&.eF_; o. B: Becausewhenyou'reinaninformalsituationlikethat, limaginethiskindofthingisn'tbyany
Nhkr,Rsi naturalistic recordings, and provide a notable means restrcted to just one pair of utterances. I guess you could keep going more or less
:rmfi:':" 6dr*ra.r,.kd
*4b

6:r .
contrast with the finished conversational turns of
most stage and textbook dialogues.
A: More or less indefinitely.
B: lndefinitely, yes.
296
MONOLOGUE, VARITIONS
There are two possible situations in which someone
may choose to engage in a monologue, whether
Audience present
With an audience present, the likelihood is
thatthe medium will be speech (p.291),
and interruptability provides an interesting
basis for classification. Many spoken
monologues presented to an audience are
in principle uninterruptable (other than by
non-linguistic responses, such as applause).
Examples include a very formal speech
.294, a lecture, and a sermon (in
conservative religious tradtions). On the
other hand, there are several such
situations which do permit interruption.
The preachers facing many US black
congregations are reinforced in their
rhetoric by responses from their listeners.
and often adopt a questioning style in
order to elicit them (p. 371). Poltical
speeches, likewise, regularly play to the
audience in this way (p. 378).
An interesting category is the case of an
audience which is present but in no postion
to respond (a'pseudo-audience'). Examples
of these situations include the dentist who
carries on a conversation (even including
questions!) while the listener's mouth is full
of dental equipment, and the adult talking
to a prelinguistic infant (or the mother
talking to the baby in her womb). lt is a
moot point whether such events are best
described as monologue or dialogue.
Audience absent
Leaving aside the case of literary
expression, which can be defended as
either monologue or dialogue (p. 294), the
notion that there could be monologue
without an audience present at first seems
somewhat unusual. Why should we say
anything at all, if there is no one to hear
what we say?Why write anything, if there
is no one there to read it? Both speech and
writing, however, provide interesting cases
where monologic actvities do take place.
Speech activtes
There is little scientific data on the point,
but evidently people do speak to
themselves. The author has it on good
authority that academics have been known
to talk through solutions to their problems
while alone (e.9. in the bath). There is also
the common case of another kind of
pseudo-audience -this time, where no
human being is present-though it is
debatable whether such uses might not
better be called'pseudo-dialogues'.
There are, for example, people who talk
to plants (and who are ready to give
reasons for doing so). There are also people
who talk to their car - often to condemn it
for malfunctioning. lndeed, virtually any
object can be addressed as if it were a
person. 'Aren't you nice?', someone in a
department store was overheard to say to a
PART V. USING ENGLISH
spoken or written: there may be an audience present,
or there may be no audience. In each cse there are
several interesting variations which lead to linguisti-
cally distinctive texts. Few have received in-depth
stylistic investigation.
dress. (Whether we include animals within
this category or in the same category as the
infants mentioned above, presents a
further topic for debate.)
Writing activities
Here too we have the unusual possibility of
addressing ourselves. The diary is the classic
instance. Other examples include making
notes while preparing a talk, and note-
taking while lstening to talk being given
a ,utterances' were on display at the same time.
by someone else. That notes are written for
the benefit only of the note-taker is evident
if ever we try to use another person's
material- a situation which will be familiar
to any student who has missed a class and
tried to catch up in this way. The note-
taker's selection of information will have
been made with reference to what the
writer already knows, and this, along with
the elliptical style that comes with writing
under a time constraint, limits the
possibilities of shared coherence.
Pseudo-audiences for monologic writing
activities are also rather unusual. Written
examination answers are probably the
clearest instances. There has been a
dialogue in one direction (the examiner has
asked the student a question), but the reply
is a monologue (for the student has no
expectation of a response - except
indirectly, in the form of a grade). Some
party-games also provide pseudo-audiences
for written language. ln one such game,
participants each write a sentence about
someone else in the room and drop their
contributions (anonymously) into a hat. The
sentences are then pulled out randomly in
pairs and placed in a sequence. ln a
children's party, the enjoyment comes from
the juxtaposition of incongruous activities
(such as Michae I has got a new rabbit -
Jane's feeli ng hu ng ry). ln adult parties,
rather more risqu incongruities can
transpi re.
Lastly, there are cases where we can write
as ifan audience is present, because we
know that at a later stage one will be.
Activities here include preparing a handout
for a talk, writing an essay for a tutor, or
indexing a book. lndexing has sometimes
been described as a task where the
compiler is trying to antcipate every
possible query about content which future
readers of the book might have. lndexers
are in effect trying to provide answers to a
host of unasked questions - an interesting
reversal of communicative priorities. They
therefore need to work as if their audience
is present-though, without knowing who
this audience will be, and without receiving
any feedback as to whether their
judgments have been successful, the task is
a difficult ore, requiring exceptional
communicatve commtment.
FORETELLING
There is also the possibility that we may speak as lf an
audience were present. This can be writing-based, as
when we practise a speech before giving it, or an actor
rehearses lines, or it can be unscripted, as in the case of
talking to an answerphone (p. 291). Television weather-
forecasting is probably the most famous example of this
second category. The visual materal is prepared in
advance, but during the broadcastthe spoken
commentary is spontaneous * with a close eye on the
clock, which dictates exactly when the forecast must end.
At the BBC, each broadcast has to finish exactly on time,
because eight seconds before the forecast ends the next
programme starts to run - and cannot be stopped. Woe
betide the unfortunate forecaster who launches nto a
long subordinate clause just before that point is reached.
No other form of spontaneous language use presents a
speaker with so many constraints in such a short time.
This extract, from a day in a weather-forecaster's life,
hints at the diff iculties.
8.00 am: Start drawing up symbols maps for the
British lsles forecast which is a detailed forecast for the
southern region. ls it going to rain n Margate and not
in Brighton? ls it going to be colder to the north of
London than in Sussex?...Draw maps forthe 9am
national broadcast which cou ld be of as little as f ifteen
seconds duration.
8.30: Engineersarrvetoswitch on camera...
8.40: Place drawn electronic maps in orderto be shown
in the bulletin and copy them onto slide f ile.
8.45: Switch on lights, put in earpiece by which the
network director communicates during the broadcast.
Get dressed and ready for broadcast. Make sure the
countdown clock is working. (We work on a system
whereby a digital clock appears on the camera lens
counting the seconds down.) Practice broadcast.
8.56.50: South-east broadcast starts-clockcounts down.
8.59.20: Cue me to do the broadcast - has to f inish
exactly at 8.59.50 to link back to the national news at
9am.
9.00: National newsfollowed byfirst broadcastforthe
British lsles, lasting just fifteen seconds.
9.04: Switch off lights and prepare maps for 1Oam
broadcast.. .
(From B i I I G iles,
Th e Sto ry of We a th e r, 1 990, p. 97 .)
Y 19 VARIETIES OF DISCOURSE
DIALOGUE VARIAIIONS
One way of classi$'ing dialogues is to examine their
symmetry - to see whether the participants are co-
,qu^l!y involved. There may also be variation in the
Symmetrical dialogue
It is possible for people to use language
simultaneously, giving the impression of dialogue,
but probably with little meetng of minds. lf two
groups of protesters, both carrying placards
expressing their views, were to confront each
othet the juxtaposition of written texts would
produce a kind of dialogue, but one in which all
ln speech, any simultaneity is likely to be
unintelligible - but this does not stop it
happening, as is regularly heard in public political
confrontations. Dinner parties also bring up some
nteresting cases, where a person might end up
contributing to two conversations at the same
tme - introducing remarks into each in sequence,
but listening to both at once. lt s something
which succeeds only when one is either very sober;
or very drunk.
A further variation is for a dialogue to depend
on a third party, o intermediary. A common
example is in foreign-language interpreting and
translation, where A has to communicate with B
via C. Within a single language, there are also
well-known situations where one person (or
group) communicates with another via an 'official
spokesperson', or (in an apparently rather
different domain) a ventriloquist's dummy.
An interesting variant is for a dialogue to be
generated using the utterances of a third party.
A loud-voiced person in a restaurant may cause a
CLASSIFICATION OF MIXED PARTICIPATION TEXTS
first
Audience absent
Monologue
Audience present
Participation
Asymmetrica I structure
Dialogue
Symmetrcal structure
1 ---->
Multilogue
N->
The domains of lnternet interaction cut across this classificaton to some extent: see p. 433
297
timing of the language contributions relative to each
other. The norm is for there to be two participants,
who speak in sequence (but with a certain mounr
of
expected overlapping, p.2BB). However, several
types of dialogic situation depart from this norm in
interesting ways.
couple at another table to provide their own be used. ln such cases we are trying to make a
responses (sotto voce) to what is said, creating contribution to a dialogue over which someone
their own ongoing dialogue stimulated by the else has control. lf we do manage to get our
outsider's utterances. ln Franois Truffaut's Oscar- contribution published or read out, there is no
winning film, Day for Night (La Nuit Americaine,
way of knowing whom we shall end up 'talking
1 973), two of the film crew are seen passing a to'. Editors and programme presenters are adept
television set which happens to be showing a quiz in making dramatic juxtapositions of letters in
game about f ilms. They stop to watch, and try to
this way.
answer the questions ahead of the participants on
the screen. They talk to each other while
reflecting on their answers, engaging in a MUITILOGUES?
dialogue which is, once again, dependent on a
third party.
Asymmetrical dialogue
These are the most unusual dialogues of all, as
they take place with only one person apparently
present. The qualification 'apparently' is
mportant, because of course what happens is
that the participant is imagining someone else to
be present. ln some cases, the missing person is
the one who should start the conversation - as in
the case of a seance, where people sit waiting for
someone to talk to them. ln other cases, the
missing person is the one who should respond, as
when we call uncertainly into the darkness'ls
there anyone there?', and hope that we really are
engaged in a monologue after all.
Letters to the press or a radio station perhaps
also fall into the asymmetrical category, given
that there is only a remote chance that they will
To self (in bath)
peech To pseudo-audience (to plants, car)
As if audience present (rehearsing)
To self (diary)
ng To pseudo-audience (exam answers)
As if audience present (preparing handout)
Interruptable (interactive sermons)
To pseudo-audience (unborn child)
Not interruptable (lecture)
No initiator (seance)
No responder (possible intruder)
Sequential (norm)
Simultaneous (political squabbling)
lntermediary (spokesperson)
N (approaches monologue, as N increases)
Speech (unison prayer)
1
Writing (ioint letters)

20.REGIONAL VARIATION
Of all the sociolinguistic and stylistic factors which
promote variety in language use (p. 364), the one
which people most commonly enquire about is geo-
graphical origin. The fact that speech, in particular,
can convey such a clear answer to the question
''Slhere re you from?' exercises a peculiar fascina-
tion, and the terms dialect ad accent are a normal
part of everyday vocabulary. \We readily notice
regional differences in the way people talk, and
although we may be unable to describe these differ-
ences other than in the most vague and impression-
istic terms ('guttural', 'musical', 'lilting'), we have no
difficulty in responding to them intuitivel laugh-
ing at dialect jokes, en.ioying dialect literature and
folklore, and appreciating the point of dialect paro-
dies (p.410).
At the same time and this is the paradox of dialect
- ls it ready you are? vs Are you ready?
study - we find it easy to make harshly critical judg-
ments about ways of speaking which we perceive as
alien. These attitudes are usually subconscious, of
course, but it evidently does not take much to bring
them to the surface. Differences of opinion between
people of different dialect backgrounds can quickly
lead to mutual mockery of each othert speech, and
one has to be particularly thick-skinned for this
mockery not to hurt. Moreover, disparagement of
regional speech readily trnsmutes into disparage-
ment of the speakers, and newspapers occasionally
report disturbing or even catastrophic consequences.
Such matters have attracted a great deal of academic
stud especially by sociolinguists, but there is still
little popular awareness of the problems,
The study of regional linguistic variation has thus
more to offer than purely descriptive interest. The
more we know about regional variation and change
in the use of English, the more we will come to
appreciate the striking individuality of each of the
varieties which we call dialects, and the less we are
likely to adopt demeaning stereotypes about people
from other parts of the country, or of the world. An
essentil first step is to replace the notion that a
regional variety is 'only a dialect', because it lacks the
prestige of the standard language, with the realiza-
tion that every dialect is a source ofgreat linguistic
complexity and potential. It is not eas) to persuade
ourselves that a dialect or accent which we dislike or
detest is a variety of the English language which
deserves as much respect, and has just as much right
to exist, as the variety we speak ourselves. But this is
the breakthrough demanded by a genuinely demo'-
cratic dialectology.
ACCENT AND DIALECT
Throughoutthis book, and especially in this
chapteI a systematic distinction is drawn
between regional accent and regional
dialect.
. A regional accent refers to features of
which convey information
p ro nu nci ation
about a person's geographical origin.
Examples:
bath lba9l ('short a') vs bath /borO/ ('long a')
hold lheuldl vs'old /ould/ ('dropping the
aitch')
thanks /Oaks/ vs thanks farlks/ ('no th')
. A regional dialect refers to features of
g ra m m a r and vo ca b u I a ry which convey
information about a person's geographical
origin.
Examples:
They real goodvsThey are really good
so rong
fs o,n ccent
r*f,wl
REG IONAL ACCOM MODATION
When peoplewith differentregional (or
social) backgrounds meet, there is a tendenry
fortheir speech patterns to become more
alike, or converge. This process, known as
accommodation, can be observed in all
aspects of language structure, but is especially
noticeable in accents. Some people cannot
stop themselves unconsciously picking up the
accent ofthe person they are talking to. Less
noticeably, when people encounter others
with whom they wish to maintain a distance,
their languagetendsto become less alike, or
diverge. There have been several experimen-
talstudies which clearlyshow both conver-
gence and divergence in action, and which
demonstrate the way we unconsciously
associate regional variation with
psychological and social traits.
ln one3uch study, Anglo-Welsh listeners
(p. 334) were asked to rate a dialogue involv-
ing two suspects with Welsh accents who
were being interrogated by a policeman with
an RP English accent. (All roleswere being
played by actors.)The actorsthen altered
their accents, in one case adopting accents
that were more like RP (a convergence strat-
egy), in the other case adopting accentsthat
were /ess like RB and more broadly Welsh (a
divergence strategy). The content ofthe
interviews was keptthe same throughout. At
I'll visit in the fallvs I'll visit in the autumn.
. Speakers who have a distinctive regional
dialect will have a distinctive regional
accent; but the reverse does not necessarily
follow. lt is possible to have a regional
accent yet speak a dialect which conveys
nothing about geographical origin, as in
the case of Standard English (p. 1 10).
Regional dialects are also typically
associated with a range of regional accents
- some much 'broader'than others.
Within a country, there may be a prestige
or neutral accent which conveys no
information about geographical
background. The most famous example
occurs in Britain, with the accent that has
long been called Received Pronunciation,
or RP (p. 365). From an international point
of view of course, RP is distinctively
regional - perceived as the archetypal
British accent, and satirized accordingly.
Newspaper headlines
(especially in Britain)
often focus attention on
the problems which can
be caused by differences
of regional accent and
dialect.
no point, ofcourse, wasthe attention ofthe
listeners drawn tothe accent changes: asfar
as they were concerned, they were listening
onlyto the content of what was being said.
The results were clear-cut. The listeners
evaluated the subjects differently, depend-
ing on which accent strategy was being
employed. ln terms of social attractiveness
and nationalistic identity, the suspects were
rated much more favourably when their
accents diverged from that of the police-
man. They were also rated as less guilty in
this condition, and feltto be deserving of a
milder sentence. On the other hand, the
divergence condtion also attracted some
negatve ratngs, in terms of such factors as
intelligence.
This kind of finding istypicalof accommo-
dation studies involving regionalaccents. lt
seemsthere is a real dangerthat we will rate
unfavourably people whose accents diverge
from our own, and certain groups of people
seem especially at risk. For example, it is now
well established that immigrant children who
are a minority in a school classroom risk being
rated as less intelligent or poorer learners. 'He
even soundsthick' i llustrates the stereotype.
Needlessto say, there is no correlation what-
soever between regional speech distinctive-
ness and level of intelligence.
(AfterJ. Bourhis, reported in H. Giles. eta/.,
1991 .)
INTERNAII ONAL AND INTRANATI ONAL
It is inevitable that people traditionally think of dialects
as a purely
intranational matter - local to the country to
which they belong. Historicall the language
the British Isles
resrricted to a single geographical area - present century. Radio, television, and cinema links,
- and for centuries, until the growth of urban popula-
tions, the only regional variation which most people
would encounter would be that associated with neigh-
bouring communities and the occasional visitor from
further afield. Even when English began to move
around the world (SZ), only a relatively small propor-
REGIONALTAGS
Although dialects operate both intrana-
tionally and internationally, the features
which signal regional identity come from
the same stock ofstructural resources. Thus
t is not unusual to f ind the same construc-
tion being used in dialects associated with
different partsof theworld, though not
always with the same function. The tag
question (p.218) is one such item.
ln Standard English, tag questions agree
with the main verb of the clause: in its
chief functions, the tag verb changes from
positive to negative or vice versa (or adds a
corresponding form of do), and there is
agreement n tense, numbeL and person.
Typical examples are
They're outside , aren't they?
It's a Porsche. r'sntit?
You didn't resign, did youT
There are also several other possibilities,
expressing a range of attitudes and
emphases (e.9. They're going, are they?).
And there are distinctive falling and rising
uses of intonation (p. 248). permitting a
contrast between interrogaton and direc-
tion ('Are you asking me ortelling me?').
lnvarianttags
ln several parts of the world, typically where
English spoken as a second language, an
is
invariant tag construction has arisen - the
sameform being used regardlessof what
happens in the preceding clause. Such
invarant tags are standard in many lan-
guages (e.9. n'est-cepas in French), and
their use now seems to be growing in
regional varieties of English as a second lan-
guage, probably because an invariantform
avoids the syntactic complexity ofthe tag
construction in the standard language. All
the following examples of usage have been
observed.
An invariant rs it, sometimes alternatng
with rsn'tit,
is quite common:
You didn't see him, is it? (Zambia)
You arecomingtothe meeting, isn't it?
(5outh Asia)
lhey do a lot of work, isn't it? (Wales)
She's gone to town, is it? (South Africa)
You check out now, is it? (Singapore)
You don't mind, is it? (Malaysia)
2O REGIONAL VARIATION 299
tion of the population of each country would travel
widely enough for global differences in regional speech
was to be apparent. All this has changed, especially in the
coupled with a vast increase in travelling mobiliry and
the arrival of the Internet, have brought a universal
awareness that English dialects operate on aworld scale.
The study of local dialects has thus come ro be supple-
mented by an international approach to dialectology -
the study of 'world Englishes'.
He has arrived, isn't it? (Papua New Guinea) FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENCES
You are tired, isn't it? (West Africa)
Sometimes it is the function of a tag question which differen-
An invarant notso (compare German nicht tiates dialects. ln one study of British and American English,
wahr) is less common, but found in widely peremptory and aggressive uses of tags are identified as being
separated areas. characteristically British. These have a function which isthe
opposite of that normally associated with tag questons.
He will come tomorrow not so? (West lnstead of inviting the listener to join the conversation, they
Africa) freeze the person out. Their force depends on the way they
Your children are still schooling, not so? are said. The following utterance (B), spoken mildly, with a
(5outh Asia) lowfalling tone, s just a slight put-down; spoken more
They're outside, not so? (Papua New emphatically and with a level tone, t s unpleasantly rude:
Guinea)
A: When will the train arrive?
B: We'll know when it gets here, won't we.
Thisis similar to the use of no as a tag, here
seen under the influence of Spanish: One such use has become a catch phrase, used when someone
Those men were still singing, no? (SW USA,
publicly denies alleged wrong-doing. lt originated during a
British political scandal of the 1960s (the'Prof umo affair'),
Pueblo)
when Mandy Rice Davies, told in court that Lord Astor had
denied her allegations, remarked: 'Well he would, wouldn't
Such forms are similar to the use of tag
words, such as eh or rght,which also show
he'.
The aggressive tag usually spoken more forcefully, and
regional variation (p. 342).
is is
used after a statement whose truth or falsity the listener could
not possibly know. Because the tag implies that'everyone
Variant tags
Variant tags a lso d iverge reg ionally, but are
should know this', the addressee is made to feel an idiot. lt is,
in effect, a reprimand. Although formerly associated with
more likely to be found within a f irst lan-
working-class London speech. the usage is nowwidespread,
guage community, where the problem of
but still chief ly British. Examples are taken from British TV
syntactic complexity is not really an issue
(as the constructions are early acqu ired by
series:
children). A: What are you doing here?
(Coronation Street,
B: I came to finish those letters, didn't l.
Hetook hiscar, did he no? (Scotland) 1987)
You can't do it, can't you not? (Tyneside) A: [to a young man on the phone] ls that your brother?
We never be out, do we? (lreland) B: lt's my dad, nnit. (Eastenders, 1986)
l'm old enough to get n, amn't l? (lreland,
Scotland) A: You need to go to your local police.
B: l've done allthat, haven't l.
ln addition, there are variations which stem (Bergerac,1986)
from changing patterns of usage, as one (After J. Algeo, 1 988.)
dialect comes to inf luence another. The use
of ought and shal/ as tags, for example, is NO? Each of us has hisown viewof
characterstcally British, and is avoided in others, no.
You arecoming backon Friday,
US English. On the other hand, U5 usages
aren'tyou?Come backa day
However, as a standard tag is
are increasingly heard in the UK. used justbeforehand, in the
earliel soyou can attend Joshi
firstexample, no cannot be
RDC's farewell. He's retiring,
We oughtto help, oughtn't we? (chiefly UK) simplya tag. Theword seemsto
no, attheend ofthe month.
We ought to help, shouldn't we? (U5, and beacting more asa markerof
some UK) Thisexample, from Upamanyu emphasis and social solidari
Chatterjee's novel E ng I ish, ln mostcases itdoes not require
It should perhaps be added that ain'f is not August(1 988) shows a distinc- an answeI because the speaker
a regionally distinctive form: it is heard tive use of a particle no, which
assumesthe listener shares the
all over the English-speaking world. lts resembles a tag question. lt is same beliefs. (AfterJ. D'Souza,
non-standard status arses from social and usedthuselsewhere inthe 1991 .)
educational factors (p. 362). novel:
300 PARTV.USINGENGI-I.SH 2O REGIONAL VARIATION 301

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE THE, T\O MODELS

\X/hat would we find if we collected samples of the One of the first judgments to make, when comparing samples of written English from
English language in use all over the world on the around the world, is whether the language is British or American
same da talking about the same range of topics? English - or some mixture of the two.

CO{ST ITUTION
\ith variations in time-scale and content reduced,
would regional variety differences stand out imme- The front page ofthe

THE
PardY dqrdY
diately? Would we see clearly the linguistic differ- Atla nta Co nst tutlon shows Todv;s hldh, 97 s0 Ct':N1'
several signs of American O^ieht lo*' z 6' 199'
ences between Britain and the USA, Australia and Weaer rcPort' 88 'ftl Es t)Y. lul-Y
English. There is a spelling
Canada, South Asia and South East Asia, or between clue in behavior (col. 1 ) and

President
Ne\rc lrdx' A2
any other locations where the language holds a pres- lexical clues in /evee and
PI
yard(in the caption - f 0 DI NG N tlE t{ rs5 ss P

o@
O
tigious place? 3ra*9,rlt67 /Dl
)a
m sight
'garden' in British English). a

Is there any end

In a small-scale attempt to find out, 40 newspapers There is a minor grammatical
were collected from all over the English-speaking feature in the caption and
the political reporl.- Monday
world on 6 July 1993, and a selection of what they for on Monday-aswell asan
contained is shown on these pages. The results are instance of toward(British
quite clear, and testify to the outstanding power and towards). Local knowledge is

universality of the concept of written Standard Emotional fans chase singer's hearse
English. In the vast majority of instances, it is impos- By CLIFIORD LO
SCREAMING fnns brokc rhlough
sible to tell at a glance which paper belongs to which policc brrri yesler-
llc hcc crying Woilg
dry s
Kr-
country on purely linguistic grounds. Indeed, we kui. lerd voc.lisr of rhc rock brnd
BcyoDd, lcft thc Horgkong lun'
crl Honrc n Qutry tsy.
often have to hunt for distinctive linguistic features. Morc lhn 3,000 disrrnght
Another said: "We love Ka-
kui forever nd his spirit will al-
wys reilril iil our herls,'
WoDg. 31, died o[ cercbral
hacnorrhagc Isl Wcdnesday.
six days aflcr he fell fuor a stagc
set during a tclcvision pro-
grilnne rehcrsal iil Jpirn.
required to interpret EDf
('Eastern Daylight Tme').
by yeslerday norning,
were about 1.500 ontsde. The
there hour rbute
or TVBjflde.
10 Wong bmorow The business page of lhe
Pla i n Dea ler, r om Cleveland,
numbcr hd riseil to 3.000 Lry ID JpD, thcrewill bc neilL
oral ccremony at a lokyo teple
Ohio, shows further instances.
Inlidc lhc parlour, walls wcrc
covered by scolls. flowers and It was nilounccd o Sunday
There is spelling distinctive-
wrclhs - nany crrrying thc thr a fud would bc sct up jn Ge$ing real: Madlson
wordsi "Agrct loss of rlcnr." conilcmortion of wong's con-
lriburiotr ro rhc developmcnt of
ness: single -/- (pp. 307, 441) in Avenue ls rYing to
aoo

V'e will find them, if we persist

fns pcked lhc pavencrts,
- a distinctive lexi-
tarn rops and a footbrdgc otr!
side thc luDcrnl prlour in
cal item in paragraph B on page 3 ofone paper, a dis-
King's Rod. yelling "Ka-ki"
ild siging rbe bd's songs.
The were bo( 70 police of-
ficers, inclrdng 40 fron the
police tacticl unit. to control
the crowds and traffic yeslerdy.
Ilut as rhe hcrc lcfl. somc
Music nd radio indusky lig-
ures, includig pop str
Kwok Fu-siDg. (ended lhe
^aroo
nerl {long wilh lhe odrcr neD
be of the bnd - ilnong thcm
fueled (top su mm ary), trave l -
rock nusic in Hongkong,
li-
A fll hourc lrcndig a nc
ing andtraveler (main article). "'
ororl concert at the Ko Shtr
PLUS
Thearre ws tod tle fuDd would
And there is lexical distinctive-
help pay for bdding rock Nsi- "T#l1i;'.,li"i: pft I

tinctive US or UK spelling in paragraph 11 of page "Al(hough Ka-ktri

w hopc he ci
is't here.
her our voices
fns broke rough brriers ild
chased drc vehiclc along King's
Wong K'keuilg, rhc ltc
singer's brether.
citrs ro produce lbu.
Moey wotld b raised
ness in the headline (gas, mnonic
sum
British English pefrol) and lead
2. There will be rather more linguistic consequences Road between the jcrions of Afler a Buddhiil cerenony, lhrough lhe sle of coilrilen)or-

ffip{frlif*",
kept yelling his nme nnd sing- Jav Rod nd Hcllhy Strccl thc coffn was rkcn ro rhc Chi- live T'shifs, albuns nd pic
hst, article: gaso/lne, self-serve
arising out of the shared knowledge which editors ing soe of lheir songs to ex-
prss otr love nd support. a begtrn to gthr rt the Junk bfly.
lures, atrd a re-screeniDg o[
awrd-wirnirg filn Ctgeileil,
rhe
staflons (British s e lf-se rvi ce Atonlet of
assume in their readers - concepts unexplained,
l4-yeaold girl srid. furerl Drlour on Sunday nd, RTHK wll screen hlf- ir whch WoDg hd a rcle. rislc
Hlqh
sfations), and cen8. adlescome rtgger .

ln
dnggrcus behor
backgrounds assumed, and terms introduced without spelling arlour, programme) and vocabu- young womsn'
WHERE DID THIS STORY APPEAR?
gloss. But we can search for many pages before find- lary (pavements, tram, US sidewalks,
ing something which we could call a distinctively ls it possible to tell from the language alone streetcar) adds a pointer to a British-
the country in which this article appeared influenced part ofthe world (p. 306). But

r
regional use of grammar. on 6 July 1 993? The picture, the name ofthe apart from these hints, there is nothing to
'!l'e
would certainly find more regional differenti- reportei and the Chinese name ofthe dead help us. This article could have been found SPORTS

ation if we carried out this exercise based on the
spoken language, using radio broadcasts and 'vox
pop' interviews. \e would then hear immediately
the many phonological differences which identify
regional variet both segmental and prosodic ($17).
'Ve would be much more likely to encounter dis-
tinctive grammar, especially in the more informal
PLAINT DEALE R
singer may suggest that we are somewhere in many English language newspapers of
in the Far East, butthere are millions of the same genre, in several parts ofthe
people of Chinese ethnic origin in several world.
Western countres, reporters with Chinese Knowing that the item appeared as the
names are not unknown in the West, and it front page of the paper
lead article on the
is possible that the singer had a cult follow- would probably settle the matter. Only a oHlo,s
ing anywhere. Hong Kong paperwould be likelytogive
TARGEST
Clevelond, uesdoy,
July , 1993
A close look at some of the assumptions such prominenceto such an item. And,
made by the writerwould give us some indeed, the paperwasthe Hong Kong- 35.

varieties of local speech. And there would be a

clues. He assumes we know such places as published 5outh China Morning Post. 't'hc lll
(-orst
King's Road and Junk Bay, and what RTHK is.
marked increase in the amount of local vocabulary - N<'th
again, especially in more informal contexts. Such a
The paper's use of British
llcrort
**
study needs a different medium
of presentation than the
pages ofa book, however.
For present purposes, the
exercise leaves us with the
overriding impression of 56b 2222

limited but intriguing

diversit and above all of
the unifying power of the
standard language.
Tlo NAL
302 PART V.USING ENGLISH 2O REGIONAL VARIATION 303

TIIE AUS TRATIAN

The spelling of the word defence (US defense) in
the headline ofthe front page of London's The Daily MIXED MESSAGES

?OCDITS'
Teleg raph signals the British Engl ish identity of this lUESDAY iul,l r
NUMBD
paper, as does the spel ling of cance//ed in the first para- These extracts from Aus-
graph (US chiefly cance/ed). There is distinctive political Merger's combined tralian newspapers provide
vocabulary (MPs, Conservatives), though the terms reservation an illustration of the waythe
told are by no means restricted to Britain. Bl/lon would Engl ish of a country can be
be likely to mean different things to British and
backdown
influenced by both British

PM's flmrn Medicare Cobra keeps

American readers. and American models. The

AGE
The second extract is from a tourists' advice page
flying'roo
locality makes itself felt in
f rom the DallyStar. The headin gtraveller's cheques such cultural references as
would appear astraveler's checks in US English, and a pre m ie rs' co nfere nce, M ed i-
building societyis a savings and /oan assocration. There
is a great deal of informal vocabulary and slang in the
stFrtT. MEITURNE tro42t1 {Ctsgfd 6& 4{l
a hop ahead care, d o I la rs, interstate, and
federal. US spellings are seen
IOESOAY 6 JULY IS3
piece, some of which is distinctively British -such as hlgtr 70c infavorable, honor, and pro-
street, hole in the wall ('or cash dspenser) and holiday gram, with two prominent
(US vacation). Cashpoint card,likewise, is a British usage examples under IheAge
(= a card for inserting into a cash dispenser). TV masthead: Labo r and flavor.
On the other hand, there is a

Truckies fill up use of towards (nottoward)

nearthe end ofthe political

siciits interstate to
deals privatisation
SPORTS REPORTING piece. The combination of

dozen
sources is nicely juxtaposed
beat fuel tax
The reporting of national sports in the popular press
in the article on the fuel tax,
generally brings regional variety differences out into
where truck drivers (not
the open. The two reports (US and U K) shown here (the tqx'ltee Proflt lllo
By LYN DUNLEVY
the [ew Comonseallb vnue' l8n't tho waY to u[ the counlry," ouly Pld vry cloud over lhe lorry drivers) visiT petrol
openng paragraphs only, in each instance) are typical. 'llck drivers in Victoria stat goveroment cof le lse
were buying shsilm lormult recommend$ he sld. Th; conDonatlon, ln tbc fonn stations (not gas statlons).
f; :3 iliij !;' .',o':i"" T i To provide a linguistic'translation'of the unfamiliar
terms would be of limited va lue, in such cases, as what
fucl in other states, ud roadhouse
pctrlt statiotls nright have to Iay off
to
It
esruea lbls Ye bY the cBnG