Реферат: Standardization Of The English Language Essay Research

teachers, printers and eventually by the general populace. The sign of maturity

for English was the agreement on one set of rules replacing the spelling free-

for-all that had existed.

Out of the variety of? local dialects there emerged toward the end of the

fourteenth century a written language that in course of the fifteenth century

won general recognition and has since become the recognized standard in speech

and writing. The part of England that contributed most to the formation of this

standard was the East Midland type of English that became itst basis,

particularly the dialect of the metropolis, London. East Midland district was

the largest and most populous of the major dialect areas. There were also two

universities, Oxford and Cambridge. In the fourteenth century the monasteries

were playing a less important role in the spread of learning than they had once

played, while the two universities had developed into important intellectual

centers. So far as Cmbridge is concerned any ist influence was exerted in

support of the East Midland dialect. That of Oxford is less certain because

Oxfordshire was on the border between Midland and Southern and its dialect

shows certain characteristic Southern features.

Written London English of the close of the fourteenth century as used by a

number of Middle English authors, such as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer, had

not achived the status of a regional standard but was soon to become the basis

for a new national literary standard of English. It was the language of the

capital. Geographically, it occupied a position midway between the extreme North

and the extreme South. Already by 1430, this new standard had assumed a

relatively mature form. It was spread throughout England by professional clerks

in the administrative apparatus of the country and also became the model for

business aand pri-vate correspondence in English. It was this Chancery standard,

the normal language for all official written communication by the time when

Caxton set up his Printing Press in West-minster (1476), which became the direct

ancestor of Modern Standard English. As a result of this developments, the use