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THE RISE AND GROWTH OF STANDARD ENGLISH

Introduction

It is not easy to define what Standard English is but it is easy to understand that Standard English

is from 'Standardized English'.The former is the kind of model to be followed while the latter will be

unnatural without scope for creativity. No language can be standardised if it has to enoy a free

e!istence. "ut there are certain standards to distinguish superior and inferior varieties of English.

In the growth of the English language# there has always been the race to reach the prominent

place among the dialects of various regions. In such a race from among the $nglo%Sa!on dialects# we

have found the &est Sa!on or &esse! dialect in the region governed by the reat (ing $lbert winning.

This was because of a stable government there and because it enoyed the privilege of being the

language of prolific literary output. )uring the *iddle English period# the East *idland dialect became

popular for various reasons. This was because it was spoken around +ondon# the centre of English life.

,!ford and -ambridge used it making it the language of scholarship. -haucer and other writers

employed it# establishing it as a literary dialect and finally# -a!ton used it for printing his books.

The interactions of people of different regions and sections of the society led to the awareness ofthe language being used by each section or class of people. Naturally there arose the comparison of the

types of languages used in order to follow a model or Standard English to get social recognition. This

social consciousness gave rise to the concept of Standard English.

+anguage is a medium of communication whose primary concern is on what is being

communicated. $fter all every language is capable of conveying what is to be communicated. The

/uestion of standard comes up only when we consider how something is conveyed and which is the

right way of communication to be accepted as having 'good /uality'.

What is Standard English?

In his 0Short 1istory of English2 3rofessor 1. -. &yld defined Standard English as the language

0spoken within certain social boundaries# with an e!traordinary degree of uniformity# all over the

country2. This definition established the fact that the distinction between those who spoke Standard

English and those who did not was originally a social one ust as it remains day also. Though the social

barriers are breaking down# the speaking of non%Standard English definitely places a person outside the

social class of Standard English speakers.

3rofessor )aniel 4ones presents a more e!plicit definition it 05Standard English62 is the most

usually heard in every day speech in the families of Southern England whose men%folk have been

educated at the great public schools. 3rofessor 4ones7 definition clearly states what the social class iswith additional information of the locality of the class. 1owever# Standard English not confined today to

England alone but is distributed all over the world. "ut 4ones7 definition reveals two significant facts

about the nature of the emergence of Standard English.

5i6 It is the English of Southern England.

5ii6 It is the language of the cultured and educated classes.

Standards are set in spelling# pronunciation# grammar and the right choice of words. )ictionaries

and grammar books have to identify and learn the right spelling# right accent# the correct use and

appropriate words. $ll these criteria of orthography# phonetics# synta! and grammar and the appropriatechoice of vocabulary go into the composition of acceptable on Standard language.

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Develo!ent o" Standard English

There had been several forces that had gone into the making of Standard English. Standard

English has emerged as a natural product of certain historical# cultural and social factors. The dialects of

,ld English and *iddle English were subected to vast changes in pronunciation and grammar because

there were mostly spoken forms. Even when they were written the reading was much limited with low

circulation of manuscripts.

$t the advent of *odern English the language of the East *idland rose to prominence and it gotmore or less 8fi!ed7 with reference to its spelling and subse/uently pronunciation and in grammar also

by the aid of the printed books. "ooks printed in large numbers made it possible to follow the language

used in them in amore or less uniform way by many. $t this stage of the early development of *odern

English the language was still undergoing changes in pronunciation# grammar# vocabulary and to some

e!tent in spelling as well. "ut the accelerating forces of changes were curbed to a great e!tent by the use

of the printed medium which multiplied copies of writing in great speed. &hen changes did occur they

occurred uniformly through this medium.

The contribution of the $uthorised 9ersion of the "ible is monolithic in setting a standard for

English. This was the single book used every day at home and in the church and its diction and a very

strong hold on the users of the English language. The commonwealth period cultivated a dignified mode

of speech and helped to mould the character of the language for the ne!t two hundred years.

The :enaissance no doubt enriched the language# but it gave room for the emergence of an

artificial pseudo%classical style. This was largely checked by the 3uritans who maintained a standard of

their own which had a long standing influence on developing Standard English.

)r 4ohnson7s )ictionary in the eighteenth century made a double service towards the formation

of Standard English.

5i6 It reduced the chaotic system of spelling and got the English spelling 8fi!ed7 and

5ii6 It made a distinction of 8reputable7 and 8low7 words and thereby established the cleavage between

good English and not so good English

Towards the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of eighteenth century# many of the English

writers felt the need for an $cademy of +etters as in ;rance so that there could be an authoritative body

to fi! some standard for the language and its vocabulary. Even )r 4ohnson in compiling his dictionary

had a prescriptive attitude towards the use of English language. Though in the beginning he shared the

opinion of the other writers to form an $cademy he soon became convinced that it was not feasible and

that it was against the spirit of English liberty and opposed the idea stoutly. 1owever# the eighteenthcentury dictionaries held it as their mission to distinguish between correct and not correct e!pressions.

The dictum of the eighteenth century was that use should be made to conform to the precept. This

fundamentally unsound and scientific attitude contributed very little to the development of Standard

English. The flaw was in trying to standardise English on the false assumption that reek and +atin

literature had vitality and immortality through the 8standardised7 or 8methodised7 language.

The following century was the age of individualism which developed the theories of evolution

and a scientific /uest. The idea of setting and $cademy never gained sympathy during this time.

1owever# *atthew $rnold was in favour of 0influential centres of correct information2. This great

period of English e!pansion# Empire building and commercial development e!erted both broadeningand restrictive effects on the language. ,n the one hand the vocabulary was considerably enlarged

through foreign contacts and on the other hand the development of science and social theory led to new

recourse to classical tongues for the formation of words of an academic and technical nature. The latter

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tendency encountered a reaction. The national consciousness gave rise to a movement for the

purification of the language by e!cluding foreign terms and replacing them by words of native origin.

This is markedly found in Tennyson. 1e attempted how to give currency to some of the good old

English words7 that had become archaic. Eg. brand 5sword6# boon# purblind# spate# behave# deem# etc.

&illiam *orris was another purist. 1e wanted the well%established words o!ni#us and

dictionar$to be replaced by "ol%&ain and &ord%#oo%respectively. The purist movement helped to

preserve the predominance of native elements and checked the unnecessary recourse to foreign style."ut the drastic reforms of *orris met with failure while Tennyson7s new words such as hand#oo%5in

the place of older !anual6 and "ore&ord 5instead of re"ace6 have survived without ousting their

alternative terms.

,f the four distinct aspects of language# namely 5i6 vocabulary 5ii6 spelling 5iii6 grammar and 5iv6

pronunciation# the first three had been the focus of attention in the earliest move towards

standardization. 3ronunciation has become more or less uniform only comparatively recently.

It must be remembered that there are always two opposing tendencies towards language. ,ne is

the conservative tendency to preserve the language in its original form and the other is the liberalized

progressive view to allow the language to grow with the various influences on it. In English# it is the

second tendency which actually preserves the spirit and tradition of the past. The English tongue has

reached its present position because its ancestors were open to change and were ready to accept and

naturalise foreign elements. They had tolerance to new tendencies in style# grammar and pronunciation.

The present age has adopted a common sense attitude of compromise. It admits that precept is

determined by practice grammar by usage and in an enlightened sense retains its conservative position.

This healthy outlook preserves the originality of the language# by not allowing passing whims and

fancies or arbitrary departures from long accepted correct usage to gain currency. "ut at the same time

allows novelty by recognising as legitimate English any innovation which has come to say. ,bviously#there are intermediate stages when the old and the new are regarded as e/ually acceptable. That is how

we get the alternative spellings udgement and udgement and the alternative pronunciation of

controversy# respite# etc. at the present time.