English is a language spoken by millions of men and
women spread over the entire world belonging to different social class and
following different occupations. All these speakers of English neither use
identical sounds nor employ the same vocabulary, but because all of them are
shares of English speech they influence it to a certain extent. Of these
different forms three are the most important, the first is that of the local
dialects which are well defined in character and confined to restricted areas.
The second is that of a form of English speech spoken by some people in all
parts of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, while the third represents the
speech of the majority people in each region. The last two forms of English
language are commonly known as Standard
English.
Written English began acquiring a single standard form
after the introduction of printing and fixation of spelling by printers. The
dialects have gradually lost their importance and have become more and more
overridden by standard English, so that they are now mixtures of standard
English and dialect forms. Standard English rose into prominence as the speech
of metropolitan population and gradually spread over the whole country. Between
the end of the middle ages and the close of the 16th century there
were rapid changes occurring in shapes and sounds of English words and
effecting particularly the pronunciation of vowels. By the end of the 16th
century, however, the language has become standardized in the form it still
retains, except for minor modifications in spelling and pronunciation.
Modified standard which is spoken by the majority of
people in England is the most important variety of English now in use. It may
be defined as the speech of a large number of people who have been brought up
in a regional or occupational dialect and have corrected its sounds and usages
in the light of received standards taught in schools and colleges. It is seen
that this “Modified Standard” has innumerable shades and varieties and its
speakers far outnumber those who use the “Received Standard”.
It is true that the needs of the modern life call for
the use of a universally clear and apprehensive form of English and it seems
desirable that a “Received Standard” of pronunciation should be learned and
used by all. Standard English is preferred by speakers all over the world
because it has qualities far superior to those of any regional dialect.
However, it is true that “Received Standard” being the speech of the best
educated Englishman has a social value which is of some material advantage to
the speaker. So “Received Standard” is all the time gaining at the expense of
the “Modified Standard”, which having no social prestige to confer, gradually
becomes neglected and degenerate.
Like every living language, “Standard English” is
subject to change and development. Till some four hundred year ago the
conditions in England were not favorable for the growth of a standard form of
language, however, of late conditions have become quite favorable for bringing
about greater uniformity in speech. Universal education, rapid movement from
place to place and broadcasting have brought people of all classes together
which has resulted in greater degree of standardization of English which will
prevail more and more with passage of time. Sound change, is nearly always an
unconscious operation, going on all the time in all spoken languages. Change in
grammatical structure is another very important factor which can alter the
nature of “Standard English”. A third kind of change is the vocabulary. This
includes new words who enrich the vocabulary of “Standard English” and include
the poets, the scholars, the scientists and the creators of slang terms, that
is the common man.
Thus, to sum up, it is seen that though the unifying
influences are more powerful than they were ever before and though we expect
the English speech to become more standardized and homogeneous throughout Great
Britain, there is no possibility of its becoming completely uniform or static.
As different kinds of words are continually falling out of use and new ones are
being coined from time to time, hence, “Standard English” like other living
languages is likely to undergo change and development and cannot be expected to
remain as it is at present.
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