ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



ENGLISH LANGUAGE 



Saxon grammar was far more complicated than 

 English grammar of to-day. The change has 

 been very gradual. 



The Middle English period began with tin 

 conquest of England by William, Duke of Nor- 

 mandy, who broke the power of Harold, last of 

 the Saxon kings, at the memorable Battle of 

 Hasting-s, in 1066. For two centuries after 

 that time French was the language of the 

 upper classes, of the law courts and of the 

 schools, but English lived on the lips of the 

 conquered people, holding its own as the speech 

 of. common life and finally becoming the dom- 

 inant language of the kingdom. About 1250 

 the two languages began to merge, English 

 absorbing almost the entire body of French 

 words brought in by the Norman conquerors, 

 and becoming thereby more expressive. 



Then a Middle English literature began to 

 develop. Three pronounced dialects were 

 spoken, the Northern, Midland and Southern, 

 but the Midland was given outstanding lit- 

 erary prominence because it was used by Geof- 

 frey Chaucer, England's first great poet. 

 Through his genius it became the standard 

 form of the tongue and the parent of the 

 Modern English literary language. During 

 this period great advance was made in the 

 simplifying of grammatical forms, a tendency 

 that is still noticeable. 



With the opening of the sixteenth century 

 began the development of Modern English, 

 and since that time the borrowing and assim- 

 ilation of foreign words have gone on continu- 

 ously. With the Revival of Learning (see 

 RENAISSANCE) came a considerable body of 

 Latin, Greek and Italian words. Through lit-. 

 crary. political and commercial relations with 

 other nations, and as a result of their coloni- 

 zation of lands in every section of the globe, 

 the English people have made wonderful ad- 

 ditions to their vocabulary. From the North 

 American Indians they have adopted such 

 words as" moccasin, tomahawk and wigwam; 

 from the West Indies have come canoe and 

 hurricane; Mexico has contributed chocolate 

 and tomato; canary anfl guinea are taken from 

 African tribes; Australia has lent boomerang 

 and kangaroo; China, tea and nankeen; the 

 Malays, bamboo and gutta-percha; the Per- 

 sians, bazaar and caravan, and so on. Science 

 and invention have also made their contribu- 

 tions to the language; such terms as hecto- 

 graph, automobile and motorcycle have come 

 into use as new words, coined to meet new 

 conditions. 



The number of words in the English lan- 

 guage at the present time is variously esti- 

 mated by authorities. Dr. Vizetelly, manag- 

 ing editor of the New Standard Dictionary, 

 said that in 1917 the total number of words 

 in the English language, including radicals, 

 derivatives, participles, obsoletes and foreign 

 terms, was about 600,000. See SLANG; also 

 DICTIONARY, for suggestions as to word study. 



Suggestions for Study. The principles of 

 correct English in writing and in speaking 

 are laid down in the science grammar. There- 

 fore to master the language one must under- 

 stand the fundamental laws of grammar. The 

 memorizing of a system of rules is not, how- 

 ever, the essence of language study. Many 

 a pupil who can repeat correctly the rule that 

 a verb agrees with its subject in number has 

 used such an expression as they was in familiar 

 conversation, and never thought of the rule. 

 Grammar is essentially the science of relation- 

 ships, and unless the student sees clearly tin- 

 logical relation that the words of a sentence 

 have to one another his memorizing of rules 

 will avail him little. In the article GRAM MAI: 

 in these volumes will be found a comprehen- 

 sive discussion of this phase of language study 

 and a list of related subjects. All of the im- 

 portant topics connected with grammar, such 

 as case, conjugation, gender, number, etc.. are 

 given complete treatment un^der appropriate 

 headings. 



The study of masterpieces of English and 

 American literature is also essential. In the 

 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin we read 

 that this pioneer in American literature gave 

 himself devotedly to the study of Addison's 

 Spectator essays, in order to perfect his own 

 style, and Robert Louis Stevenson testifies 

 that he achieved his eminence as a writer by 

 studying the masterpieces and trying to imi- 

 tate them. Each of the great English and 

 American writers has something to impart to 

 the student, and the study of the classics is 

 therefore of supreme importance. Addison. 

 Goldsmith, Lamb, Irving and Thackeray ;ill 

 wrote with grace, ease and clearness; Ruskin 

 and De Quincey achieved a style which com- 

 bines the best elements of both prose and 

 poetry; Macaulay should be studied for his 

 striking phrases and his effective use of con- 

 trast and balance in the construction of his 

 sentences. These are but a few of a great 

 host of writers whose works are truly a rich 

 storehouse for the student. See ENGLISH LIT- 

 ERATURE; AMERICAN LITERATURE. B.M.W. 



