Standardising English & The English Dictionary

essay by cheryl yow


Question:
Read the extracts from the Preface to Dr Johnson’s
Dictionary and consider his objectives in creating such a
dictionary. Relate this particular pioneering effort to other
attempts to standardise English.
To what extent have all these efforts been successful?



‘Languages are pedigrees of nations’ Dr Johnson
proclaimed and with that he conferred a pedigree on the
English speaking nations. The nineteenth century in Britain
was a period of extraordinary technological, economical and
social changes- the transition from a medieval society to a
modern one. Many British people felt a sense of national
identity and confidence as the British empire expanded and
British technological inventions began to lead the world. The
growing middle class began to seek the English language as a
tool for a new social identity. The modern period of English
was developed as an expression of English nationality based
on the usage of an elite class located on the south-east.
Lexicographers and scholars emerged conquering the
daunting feats of standardising English in the confusing mazes
of great varieties and variation of the English language. The
idea of Standard English began in England and stretched
itself to Britain and eventually spread to the new
colonies- the English language has exploded from a
national language to an international one in a dizzy spin
of serendipity.



Dr Johnson (a lexicographer) was deeply disturbed
by the copious confusion due to the lack of established
standard principle of selection in the English language.
According to him, the influence of French and the frequent
intercourse of the merchants corrupted and degenerated English.
Johnson blamed the translation of materials into English which
had excessive French word; he was critical of the tyrannical
laws of the French academy and he wanted an English academy
based on ‘English liberty’. Like Johnson, writer Jonathan
Swift was concerned about the contamination of English. He
wanted to purify and polish English by eradicating variation.
In 1712 Swift had actively proposed the establishment of an
academy to protect, fix and standardise English usage.
His proposal failed.



Johnson went on to create a definitive dictionary to regulate
and standardise English usage. He wanted to refine it to a
level of excellence; of literacy correctness; of purity and
perfection. He believed all languages originate from primitive
rudeness before emerging perfect and refined. Johnson garnered
the rich vocabulary from writers of the English language of
the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries which include the great
literature of Shakespeare’s – an elegant, eloquent speech. He
had fixed Sidney’s work for the boundary and excluded the
laborious and mercantile usage because he believed that it
was too casual. It was a daunting task for Johnson as there
was no available resource except specialized dictionaries
that has the hardest, scholarly words. Somehow Johnson
managed to compile the Johnson’s dictionary; first
published in 1762 as a model of standard English. Johnson
defined some 43,000 words and elucidated their meanings with
more than 114,000 supporting quotations drawn from every area
of literature!



The aim of the dictionary is to provide as much historical
record of the word as possible. Dictionary entries chart
history, form and senses and show the origin of each word.
Records of literary past were scattered and some
unintelligible English words made it unattainable to chart
their origins so lexicographers try to take it back as far
as possible. Even if a word is recorded earliest it does not
mean they originate there. Oxford English dictionary (OED)
is seen as the sterling achievement of philological method,
decisions on what to include and how to present information
were considered in great detail. Abbreviation for Germanic
languages that are closely related to English shows the
different forms of the same word ‘folk’ – OS ( old Saxon),
OHG (old high German), MHG ( middle high German), ON (old Norse), ‘original’ old Teutonic form were then recorded in
great details in the Oxford English dictionary.
(EHDC pg 164-65) It was a decidedly
daunting and exhausting task!



The issue of pronunciation in the 16th century was in
serious predicament. The spelling of words in English
is confusing and irregular. For example, there are different
spellings and pronunciation of ‘such’ in Middle English of
southern England – swilk, sich, soch, sech, swich
(EHDC figure 2.29 p. 72). The overlapping of different
languages in English rendered the changes in its
pronunciation. If people were to speak with different
pronunciation, they will not to be able to communicate
efficiently with one another, this would disrupt the
progress of nationalism and there were competitive
competitions among European nations, each trying to outdo
each other to establish an exalted, credible national
identity. John Walker’s A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary of 1791, focussed his attention on Londoners and made it
the model of standard pronunciation. In the eighteenth
century the distinction between polite and vulgar denigrated
all popular dialectal speech in Britain. The wealthy in
Britain started to send their sons to public schools that
focused on Received Pronunciation and in 1870 compulsory
state education was introduced to eradicate local dialects
and promote standard English.



Noah Webster, an American lexicographer, asserted that it is
essential and functional to reform the mode of spelling,
so that words correspondent to the pronunciation. The same
letters in the English language could depict different sounds
and the same sounds are often exhibited by different letters.
He suggested the removal of all silent letters: bread/bred,
give/giv, friend/frend and substitute certain letters for a
definite sound by putting ee instead of ea: mean/meen,
speak/speek (EHDC p. 92). Webster wanted Americans to speak
with some degree of precision and uniformity so as to remove
prejudice. Perhaps it was the nostalgic sentiment or was it
the distraction of the many drastic social, political and
economical changes which hinder the reformation of spelling
that culminate in the present confusing sequel of
English pronunciation.



The lack of standard in grammar was a pressing problemas it would prevent or delay the translation of important
books like the bible which is vital in the progress of
nationalism. Johnson advocated that English grammar should
reflect English way of life and that the bible is the most
important translation that will represent the best standard
perhaps redeem the dignity of the English language. The first
national grammar book in 1523 was William Lily’s A short
intro of grammar, suthorized by king Henry VIII has
established the English terminology for English grammar
although its grammar structure closely resembled that of
Latin. In 1586 Bullokar’s Brief grammar for English was
published and it focussed on the description of English
language and the art of writing and it became symbolic of
the dignity of English by other European. Johnson’s
dictionary (1762) recommended certain grammatical usage
as ‘correct’ i.e. using just one negative particle
(not as in I do not know)not as in French ‘Je ne sais pas’
(two negative particles- ne pas). It seems that grammatical
structure that closely resemble the French structure would
appear illogical to Johnson; as he try to protect English
language from its existing rivalry with the French language.




Although all these difficulties persisted, the English
language still defiantly attempt to assert its new identity.
Eventually English language successfully transformed itself
from a vernacular language to a national language through
the four main processes of standardization: selection,
codification, elaboration and implementation:
The first standardisation process is the selection
of a distinct language variety. William Caxton,
the first English printer and publisher encountered some
serious problems. There was no veritable lingua franca and
English, lacking in uniformity had no common usage. These
would hinder everyday communication. Caxton played a vital
role in establishing standard English by effectively
choosing to print the dialect of the east- midland by
default. He helped to spread the usage of the new dialect
by rendering its familiarity.Next, the codification
process was a highly efficacious one in establishing a
standard. Johnson’s dictionary first published in 1762
has triumphantly served as model of standard English. The
codification of English grammar, spelling and pronunciation
has established for the first time a standard structure.




Followed by the elaboration of the English language.
Elaboration was essential by extending its grammar structure
and vocabulary for a wider range of functions. This has
resulted in the growth of newly elaborated English vocabulary
which gave birth to the great English literary tradition.
Literary English sought eloquence to create expansive forms
of expressions by extending its vocabulary with Synonyms,
Polysemy (two or more different meanings of a single word)
and homonymy (two or more separate words with separate
meanings of the same form) to create copiousness of eloquent
expressions. English writers vigorously expand the English
lexicon- 30,000 new words were added during 1500-1700.
Additionally, the rise of humanist science during the
reformation movement also resulted in the remarkable
expansion of new knowledge based on ‘evidence’ from
empirical observation and careful experimentations. New
discoveries required new words (noun phrases grew in
length and complexity). New forms of grammars were
constructed to express reasons and arguments and enable
scientists to develop complex, abstract argument in the
form of:
A happens; so X happens
or happening A is the cause of happening X.




The last stage of the implementation process of
standardisation was the exposure of the new language
in official domains and currency, helping users to develop
pride and loyalty to it. Printing and the introduction of
newspaper induce daily interaction- the interaction of the
literate. The printing of an English translation of the bible
(translated in 1526) in the mid sixteenth century is seen as
a significant moment in the creation of standard English. For
the first time identical works were distributed and read
simultaneously by many people.



Though the standardisation process has effectively
established English of the south-east dialect as the
national language of Britain, its status as an
international language has been greatly distorted. The line
between formal and informal English language usages became
distorted by expanding new colonies like Australia. New
colonies like Australia (Australian National Dictionary)
needed to add new words to the English language that reflects
the history of its immigrant population and provide evidence
of their culture, attitudes and preoccupation. These new
words originate in the new colonies because of the need to
name something new. The meanings of these new words have
greater currency and special significance in these new
colonies. The lexical cocktail of British English, American
English and words that originated in Australia and New
Zealand together with the local and regional expressions
were added to the Australian English language. Grammar
rules were changed to adapt to local usage that mirror the
structures of their native languages.
For example, old English singular and plural forms of ‘you’
mentioned by John Harris in Irish Gaelic construction ‘Tu’
( you- singular) and sib (you -plural) has been lost and
new colonies add in their own varieties of grammar as in
Guyanese Creole where they used the objective pronoun ‘me’
instead of the possessive pronoun ‘my’ as in –
‘me grandfather’ instead of ‘my grandfather’(AC1 band 6).



Although the standardisation process and the effort
of the pioneers has successfully created English as a
National language of Britain, it failed however to produce
identical results in instilling English as a standard
language of international domain. With its extensive
colonies and the present internet phenomenon- the explosion
of massive diversity of English usages will create more
variation and there is no stopping. Variation and varieties
are the viruses of British Standard English. With greater
exposure of the dominant American English and the
diminishing popularity of the royal family; the Queen’s
English fading immortality will be at stake; and posterity
will see American English rule the world while British
Standard English curtsy, recede and immerse herself in the
confined backstage of the exclusive yet elusive eloquence.

(2080 words)


Bibliography
Graddol, D. Et al. ( 1996) English: history, diversity and
change, The Open University. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

David, G., Dick, L. And Joan S. ( 1996). English: history,
diversity and change, The Open University, Routledge Taylor &
Francis Group.

Graddol, D., et al. ( 1994). Describing language, 2nd edn,
Open University Press.

Audiocassette 1 – Band 5/6 (2006) School of Arts &
Social Sciences, SIM university.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.ihtml;sessionid
=CCRFKVDRAOOBVOFIOMGSNAGAVCBOWJVC?xml=/arts/2005/04/03/bohit03.xml&sSheet=/arts/2005/04/03/
botop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=48729

http://www.hpisum.com/perspectives/issue50/06.lederer.pdf

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/events/johnson250.htm