Modern English
For the '80s pop band, see Modern English (band).Modern English is the term used for the contemporary use of the
English language. In terms of historical
linguistics, it covers the English language after the
Middle English period; that is, roughly, after the
Great Vowel Shift, which was largely concluded after
1550.
Despite some differences in vocabulary, material from the early
17th century, such as the works of
William Shakespeare and the
King James Bible, is considered to be in Modern English, or more specifically, they are referred to as
Early Modern English, and most people who are fluent in the English of the early 21st century believe they can read these books with little difficulty.
Modern English has a large number of dialects, spoken in diverse countries throughout the world. Most of these, however, are mutually comprehensible. This includes
American English,
Australian English,
British English,
Canadian English,
Caribbean English,
Hiberno-English,
Indian English,
New Zealand English and
South African English. These dialects may be met in different contexts, for example the stereotypical villain in some American movies has a British accent, and many British pop singers (and some Australian pop singers) sing in an American accent.
According to
Ethnologue, there are over 508 million speakers of English as a first or second language as of 1999, a number dwarfed only by the
Chinese language in terms of the number of speakers. However, Chinese has a smaller geographical range: it is spoken primarily in mainland China and Taiwan, and by a sizable immigrant community in North America. In contrast, English is spoken in a vast number of territories, including
Britain,
Canada, the
United States of America,
Australia,
India and
Southern Africa. Its large number of speakers, plus its worldwide presence, have made English a common language for use in such diverse applications as controlling airplanes, developing software, conducting international diplomacy, and business relations.
The following is an outline of the major changes in Modern English compared to its previous form (Middle English). Note, however, that these are generalizations, and some of these may not be true for specific dialects:
Phonology
See the
sound changes c.1600-1725 and
sound changes c.1725-1900 sections of the
Phonological history of the English language page.
Syntax
*disuse of the
T-V distinction (
thou, etc).
*use of
auxiliary verbs becomes mandatory in
interrogative sentences.
*rise and fall of
prescriptive grammarians.
*(North America, after 1800):
Noah Webster and
spelling reform.
*influence of
Strunk and White,
USA Today on
prose styles.
Early Modern English lacked uniformity in spelling, but
Samuel Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755 in England, was influential in establishing a standard form of spelling.
Noah Webster did the same in America, publishing his dictionary in 1828. Webster's dictionary preferred simpler and more modern spelling, whereas Johnson was more conservative, preferring older spellings which reflected the origins of words rather than pronunciation. Some words from Webster's original dictionary were not adopted, despite these simpler and often more practical spellings. One example of this type of word is tung. It was to replace the English word "
tongue." However, the word never caught on. Public education increased literacy, and more people had access to books (and therefore to a standard language) with the spread of
public libraries in the 19th century. Many words entered English from other languages, as a result of contact with other cultures through trade and settlement, and the migration of large numbers of people to the
United States from other countries.
World War I and
World War II threw together people from different backgrounds, and the greater social mobility afterwards helped to lessen the differences between social accents, at least in the
UK. The development of
radio broadcasting in the early 20th century familiarised the population with accents and vocabulary from outside their own localities, often for the first time, and this phenomenon continued with
film and
television.
Modern English began in
England during the
Elizabethan era which is also around the time of the great poet
William Shakespeare.
English was adopted in regions around the world, such as
United States,
India, and
Australia, through
colonization by the
British Empire. So as Great Britain began colonizing
America,
Asia, and
Africa, the English language and other customs and ideas spread around the world. This is considered an aspect of the
Columbian exchange.
*
History of the English Language*
List of dialects of the English language*
Old English*
Middle English*
Ethnologue's "ENGLISH: a language of United Kingdom"*
World English Organization*
Shakespeare's Influence on Early Modern English
