Standardization

1
Standardization
of the English Language1600-1800A few aspects
2
The English Grammatical Tradition 1600 - 1800
Grammars published from 1586 to 1800 (including
grammatical treatises in dictionaries,
encyclopaedias, educational manuals etc.)
before 1600 2
1600-1649 8
1650-1699 24
1700-1749 34
1750-1799 198
There is a marked increase in the publication of
grammars after 1750, though the numbers need
qualifications with regard to the type of grammar
( a short abstract, a detailed de- scription
etc.), and the book in which a grammar is
published (a grammar book, a sports manual, a
secretarys guide etc.)
3
Grammars by decades 1700-1800
1700- 4 1750- 23
1710- 6 1760- 33
1720- 4 1770- 52
1730- 13 1780- 29
1740- 7 1790- 61

4
Grammars by decades 1770-1779
The random list shows you the type of grammar
published they ranged from encyclopedia entries
via short treatisesin a hospital magazine to
fully fledged grammatical descriptions. Out of a
total of 52 publications in this decade, 28 only
were grammars properly speaking
5
Grammars by decades 1790-1799
The random list shows you the type of grammar
published they ranged from encyclopedia entries
via short treatisesin a hospital magazine to
fully fledged grammatical descriptions. Out of a
total of 61 publications in this decade, 14 only
were grammars properly speaking
6
Grammars by places 1770-1779
The list shows you the distribution of published
grammars by place of publicationpublishing is
clearly London centered
7
Grammars by places 1790-1799
The list shows the development in the
distribution of grammar publication publishing
is no longer London based. This indicates a wider
interest in grammar, all over the country.
8
Standardization is the process of

• the selection of a prestigious variety
• the codification of grammatical rules and the
  lexicon in grammars and dictionaries
• the elaboration of the norm (by spread into all
  communicative domains)
• the acceptance of the prestige variety by all
  (at least in formal situations)

The English Standard is

• of regional origin (area around London, 1420
  Chancery English, c.1600 considered to be
  prestigious, by educated speakers)
• codified by writing grammars and compiling
  dictionaries (1600 1800)

9
English Standard codified in

Dictionaries
Grammars

• described by
• accepted by
• taught to
• imposed on
• non-standard use criticized by

whom ??
10
Codifying the English Language
Some basic terms and conceptsrelated to
codification
11
Codification
A systematic account of a language, especially of
its grammar and vocabulary. This task is often
undertaken when a language is being written down
for the first time, but it can also happen when a
language is developing a standard form, or after
a period of considerable creativity and change
(as in the case of the English grammars and
dictionaries of the 18th century). The task is
often delegated to an academy or special body,
but in many instances it is carried out by
individuals (as with Dr Johnson's dictionary). ?
academy English standard. Crystal, Penguin
Dictionary of Language, 2nd ed. s.v.

• connected with development of standard variety
• connected with planned endeavours of
  institution(s), such as academies, or individuals
• example Royal Society (John Evelyn)
• Codification often accompanied by attitude of
  prescriptivism

12
Prescriptivism
The view that one variety of language has an
inherently higher value than others, and that
this ought to be imposed on the whole of the
speech community. It is an authoritarian view,
propounded especially in relation to usage in
grammar and vocabulary, and often with reference
to pronunciation. The favoured variety is usually
a version of the standard written language,
especially as encountered in literature, or in
the formal spoken language which most closely
reflects literary style. Those who speak or write
in this variety are said to be using language
'correctly' those who do not are said to be
using it 'incorrectly'. An example of a
prescripte rule in English is the recommendation
to use whom, and not who, in such sentences as
did you speak to?. Some authors distinguish rules
of this kind, which recommend usages that are
acceptable, from proscriptive rules, which
identify usages that should be avoided (such as
'Never end a sentence with a preposition').
Linguists avoid both prescriptive and
proscriptive attitudes, concentrating instead on
the task of description and explanation. ?
appropriateness correctness description
grammar 1 Latinate normative purism solecism.
Crystal, Penguin Dictionary of Language, 2nd
ed. s.v.

• connected with notion of correctness
• connected with normatives
• example Royal Society (John Evelyn)

13
Correctness
An absolute standard of language use deriving
from the rules of institutions (such as language
academies) or respected publications (grammars,
dictionaries, manuals of pronunciation and
style). When applied to aspects of language where
there is no usage variation among educated users,
the notion is uncontroversial the spelling form
langauge is incorrect, as is the word order
Hardly he had left. The notion becomes
controversial only when it is sued to condemn
usages which are common within the whole or part
of the speech community, such as the sue of the
split infinitive (to really know) or regional
dialect forms (It do no harm). ? appropriateness
normative prescriptivism. Crystal, Penguin
Dictionary of Language, 2nd ed. s.v.

• connected with standard
• connected with academy
• example Swift, Letter Bickerstaff (c.1710)

14
Purism
A school of thought which sees a language as
needing preservation from the external process
that might infiltrate it and thus make it change.
Purist attitudes are a normal accompaniment to
the perception, which each generation represents,
that standards of language (as social standards
generally) are deteriorating. Purists are
concervative in matters of usage, emphasize the
importance of prescriptive rules in grammar and
pronunciation, and insist on the authority of
dictionaries, grammars, and other manuals. ?
academy language change linking
prescriptivism. Crystal, Penguin Dictionary of
Language, 2nd ed. s.v.

• connected with standard
• connected with academy
• example Swift, Letter Bickerstaff (c.1710)

15
Language planning
A deliberate, systematic, and theory-based
attempt to solve the communication problems of a
community by studying its various languages or
dialects, and developing an official language
policy concerning their selection and use also
sometimes called language engineering or language
treatment. Corpus planning deals with the
selection and codification of norms, as in the
writing of grammars and the standardization of
spelling. Status planning deals with the initial
choice of language, including attitudes towards
alternative languages and the political
implications of various choices. ?
ecolinguistics sociolinguistics standard.
Crystal, Penguin Dictionary of Language, 2nd
ed. s.v.

• connected with standard
• connected with academy
• example Swift, Letter Bickerstaff (c.1710)

16
Normative
Descriptive of a linguistic rule which is
considered to set a socially approved standard of
correctness (or 'norm') for language use.
Examples from English include the recommendation
to avoid a split infinitive, or to use whom (as
opposed to who) in such contexts as The lady I
asked... A systematic collection of such rules
constitutes a normative grammar. ? correctness
prescriptivism. Crystal, Penguin Dictionary of
Language, 2nd ed. s.v.

• connected with standard
• connected with academy
• example Swift, Letter Bickerstaff (c.1710)

17
Solecism
A minor deviation from what is considered to be
linguistically correct. English examples include
splitting an infinitive (to boldly go) and ending
a sentence with a preposition (the person I gave
it to). ? pleonasm prescriptivism. Crystal,
Penguin Dictionary of Language, 2nd ed. s.v.

• connected with standard
• connected with academy
• example Swift, Letter Bickerstaff (c.1710)

18
Standard
A prestige variety of language used within a
speech community, providing an institutionalized
norm for such purposes as the media and language
teaching. Linguistic forms or dialects that do
not conform to this norm are often called
substandard or (more usually, within linguistics)
nonstandard. Standardization is the natural
development of a standard language in a speech
community, or an attempt by a community to impose
one dialect as a standard. ? language planning
national language standard English. Crystal,
Penguin Dictionary of Language, 2nd ed. s.v.

• example Sheridan (1762)

19
Academies
In the context of language, an institution which
tries to protect a language from what it
considers to be undesirable influences, to
maintain excellence in its use, and to define its
rules through the writing of grammars,
dictionaries, and other manuals. Academies date
from the 16th century, the most influential being
the French Academy. Spain, Sweden, Hungary, and
several other countries have academies, but the
concept has never attracted much enthusiasm in
the main English-speaking nations (though there
is a body with such a name in South Africa),
largely on the grounds that any attempt to
control the development of a language by putting
it in the charge of a small number of people is
futile. ? Academy Française codification
prescriptivism purism. Crystal, Penguin
Dictionary of Language, 2nd ed. s.v.

• example Defoe (1697)

20
Defoe, Essays on Projects (1697)
The Voice of this Society should be sufficient
Authority for the Usage of Words, and sufficient
also to expose the Innovations of other mens
Fancies they shou'd preside with a Sort of
Judicature over the Learning of the Age, and have
liberty to Correct and Censure the Exorbitance of
Writers, especially of Translators. The
Reputation of this Society wou'd be enough to
make them the allow'd Judges of Stile and
Language and no Author wou'd have the Impudence
to Coin without their Authority. Custom, which is
now our best Authority for Words, wou'd always
have its Original here, and not be allow'd
without it. There shou'd be no more occasion to
search for Derivations and Constructions, and
'twou'd be as Criminal then to Coin words, as
Money....I believe nothing wou'd so soon explode
the Practice, as the Publick Discouragement of it
by such a Society, Where all our Customs and
Habits both in Speech and Behaviour, shou'd
receive an Authority. All the Disputes about
Precedency of Wit, with the Manners, Customs, and
Usages of the Theatre wou'd be decided here
Plays shou'd pass here before they were Acted,
and the Criticks might give their Censures, and
damn at their Pleasure nothing wou'd ever dye
which once receiv'd Life at this Original The
Two Theatres might end their Jangle, and dispute
for Priority no more Wit and Real Worth shou'd
decide the Controversy, and here shou'd be the
Infallible Judge. pp. 236-237, 250
21
John Evelyn, Letter to Peter Wyche (c.1665)
1. I would therefore humbly propose that there
might first be compil'd a Gram'ar for the
Praecepts which...might onely insist on the
Rules, the sole meanes to render it a learned
learnable tongue. 2. That with this a more
certaine Orthography were introduc'd, as by
leaving out superflous letters, c. such as o in
Woomen, People u in Honour...c. 3. That there
might be invented some new Periods and Accents,
besides such as our Gram'arians Critics use, to
assist, inspirit, and modifie the Pronunciation
of Sentences... 4. To this might follow a
Lexicon or Collection of all the pure
English-Words by themselves then those which are
derivative...then, the symbolical so as no
innovation might be us'd or favour'd at least
till there should arise some necessity of
providing a new Edition, of amplifying the old
upon mature advice... There follow other
considerations 5. as to dictionaries of
technical words 6. as to better definitions in
dictionaries 7. as to exotic words used by the
logodaedali 8. as to the use of regional
varieties 9. as to a dictionary or Florilegium
of the most quaint and courtly expressions 10.
as to obsolete words 11. as to model
translations from the classical or "even" the
modern languages. ed. Moore pp. 110-11 pp.
236-237, 250
22
Thomas Sheridan, Lectures on elocution (1762)
As amongst these various dialects in England,
one must have the preference, and become
fashionable, it will of course fall to the lot of
that which prevails at court, the source of
fashions of all kinds. All other dialects are
sure marks, either of a provincial, rustic,
pedantic, or mechanic education and therefore
have some degree of disgrace annexed to them. And
as the court pronunciation is no where
methodically taught, and can be acquired only by
conversing with people in polite life, it is a
sort of proof that a person has kept good
company, and on that account is sought after by
all, who wish to be considered as fashionable
people, or members of the beau monde. ed.
Crowley 199168
23
Jonathan Swift, Letter Bickerstaff (c.1710)
SIR,I cou'd n't get the things you sent for all
about Town --- I thôt to ha come down myself, and
then I'd h' brot'um but I ha'nt don't, and I
believe I can't do't, that's Pozz --- Tom begins
to gi'mself airs, because he's going with the
Plenipo's --- 'Tis said the French King will
bamboozl us agen, which causes many speculations.
The Jacks and others of that Kidney are very
uppish, and alert upon't, as you may see by their
Phizz's --- Will Hazard has got the hipps, having
lost to the Tune of five hundr'd pound, tho' he
understands play very well, no Body better. He
has promis't me upon rep, to leave off play but
you know 'tis a weakness he's too apt to give
into, tho' he has as much wit as any man, no Body
more. He has lain incog ever since --- The mob's
very quiet with us now --- I believe you thôt I
banter'd you in my last, like a country put --- I
shan't leave town this month, etc. thôt
thought I'd h' brot'um I would have brought
them ha'nt don't have not done it can't do't
cannot do it Plenipo's plenipotentiaries
envoys or ambassadors etc. etc. These says
Swift in his fictitious letter are the false
refinements in our style which you i.e. the
editors of the Tatler ought to correct first,
by argument and fair means, but if those fail, I
think you are to make use of your authority as
Censor, and by an annual Index Expurgatorius
expunge all words and phrases that are offensive
to good sense and condemn those barbarous
mutilations of vowels and syllables. In this last
point the usual pretence is that they spell as
they speak a noble standard for language ibid.!
24
John Dryden, Critical Essays (1693)
We have yet no English prosodia, not so much as a
tolerable dictionary, or a grammar so that our
language is in a manner barbarous and what
government will encourage any one, or more, who
are capable of refining it, I know not but
nothing under a public expense can go through
with it. And I rather fear a declination of the
language, than hope an advancement of it in the
present age. ed. Moore, p. 114
25
Prince of Wales (19th December 1989)
Looking at the way English is used in our popular
newspapers, our radio and television programmes,
even in our schools and theatres, a great many
people wonder what it is about our country and
our society that our language has become so
impoverished, so sloppy and so limited - that we
have arrived at such a dismal wasteland of
banality, cliché and casual obscenity...If
English is spoken in Heaven (as the spread of
English as a world language makes more likely
each year) God undoubtedly employs Cranmer as his
speechwriter. The angels of the lesser ministries
probably use the language of the New English
Bible and the Alternative Service Book for
internal memos. "Address of the Prince of
Wales, 19th December 1989," ed. T. Crowley,
Proper English? Readings in language, history and
cultural identity, London 1991 p. 9
26
Swift, Proposal (1712)
...so that most of the Books we see now a-days,
are full of those Manglings and Abbreviations.
Instances of this Abuse are innumerable What
does your Lordship think of the Words, Drudg'd,
Disturb'd, Rebuk't, Fledg'd, and a thousand
others, every where to be met in Prose as well as
Verse? Where, by leaving out a Vowel to save a
Syllable, we form so jarring a Sound, and so
difficult to utter, that I have often wondered
how it could ever obtain. p. 22
27
Robert Lowth, English Grammar (1762)
The principal design of a Grammar of any Language
is to teach us to express ourselves with
propriety in that Language and to enable us to
judge of every phrase and form of construction,
whether it be right or not. The plain way of
doing this is, to lay down rules, and to
illustrate them by examples. But, beside shewing
what is right, the matter may be further
explained by pointing out what is wrong.
Introduction p. x
28
Attitudes
Statements about the language tend to include
evaluations of the language (with ones own
feeling about the language as a yardstick) they
tend to debase the speakers who do not conform to
ones own standards, and thus to make
distinctions between good people and bad
29
Motivations to regulate 1. The writers

• Edmund Waller, Of English Verse, 1645
• But who can hope his lines should longLast in a
  daily changing tongue? ...Poets that lasting
  marble seekMust carve in Latin or in GreekWe
  write in sand, our language growsAnd like the
  tide, our work oerflows.

30
Statements about (ab)uses Spelling
Lord Chesterfield, Letter to his son, 19 November
1750 I come now to another part of your letter,
which is the orthography, if I may call bad
spelling orthography. You spell induce, enduce
and grandeur, you spell grandure two faults, of
which few of my house-maids would have been
guilty. I must tell you, that orthography, in the
true sense of the word, is so absolutely
necessary for a man of letters, or a gentleman,
that one false spelling may fix a ridicule upon
him for the rest of his life and I know a man of
quality, who never recovered the ridicule of
having spelled wholesome without the w.
31
Statements about (ab)uses Pronunciation
John Walker, Pronouncing Dictionary, 1791 Accent
and Quantity, the great efficients of
pronunciation, are seldom mistaken by people of
education in the Capital ... Though the
pronunciation of London is certainly erroneous in
many words, yet, upon being compared with that of
any other place, it is undoubtedly the best that
is, not only the best by courtesy, and because it
happens to be the pronunciation of the capital,
but the best by a better title that of being
more generally received. ... The great bulk
of the nation, and those who form the most
important part in it, are without these
advantages i.e. of living in London, and
therefore want such a guide to direct them as is
here offered i.e. his pronouncing dictionary.
... Harsh as the sentence may seem, those at
a considerable distance from the capital, do not
only mispronounce many words taken separately,
but they scarcely pronounce, with purity, a
single word, syllable, or letter. ... I would
advise a native of Ireland, who has much of the
accent, to pronounce almost all his words, and
end all his sentences with the rising slide and
a Scotchman, in the same manner, to use the
falling inflection this will, in some measure,
counteract the natural propensity, and bids
fairer for bringing the pupil to that nearly
equal mixture of both slides which distinguishes
the English speaker, than endeavouring at first
to catch the agreeable variety. ... The
vulgar pronunciation of London, though not half
so erroneous as that of Scotlöand, Ireland, or
any of the provinces, is, to a person od correct
taste, a thousand times more offensive and
disgusting. ...
32
Statements about (ab)uses Pronunciation
James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson,
1791 Besides, sir says Johnson to Boswell, what
entitles Sheridan to fix the pronunciation of
English? He has, in the first place, the
disadvantage of being an Irishman and if he says
he will fix it after the example of the best
company, why, they differ among themselves. I
remember an instance when I published the plan
for my Dictionary, Lord Chesterfield told me that
the word great should be pronounced so as to
rhyme with state and Sir William Yonge sent me
word that it should be pronounced so as to rhyme
with seat, and that none but an Irishman would
pronounce it grait. Now here were two men of the
highest rank, the one the best speaker in the
House of Lords, the other the best speaker in the
House of Commons, differing entirely.
33
Statements about (ab)uses Borrowing
Joseph Addison, Spectator 1711 I have often
wished that as in our Constitution there are
several Persons whose Business it is to watch
over our Laws, our Liberties and Commerce,
certain Men might be set apart, as Superin-
tendents of our Language to hinder any Words of a
Foreign Coin from passing among us and in
particular to prohibit any French Phrases from
becoming Current in this Kingdom when those of
our own stamp are altogether as valuable.
34
Language and class (1)
The Art of Speaking, 2nd ed. 1708The best
expressions grow low and degenerate, when
profand by the populace, and applied to mean
things. The use they make of them, infecting them
with a mean and abject Idea, causes that we
cannot use them without sullying and defiling
those things, which are signified by them. But it
is no hard matter to discern between the depraved
language of common People, and the noble and
refind expressions of the Gentry, whose
condition and merits have advanced them above the
other. James Harris, Hermes, 1751The VULGAR
merged in sense from their earliest infance, and
never once dreaming any thing to be worthy of
pursuit, but what pampers their Appetite, or
fills their Purse, imagine nothing to be real,
but what may be tasted, or touched.
35
Language and class (2)
Thomas Sheridan, Lectures on Elocution, 1762Nay
in the very metropolis two different modes of
pronunciation prevail, by which the inhabitants
of one part of the twon, are distinguihed from
those of the other. One is current in the city,
and is called the cockney the other at the court
end, and is called the polite pronunciation. As
amongst these various dialects, one must have the
preference, and become fashionable, it will of
course fall to the lot of that which prevails at
court, the source of fashions of all kinds. All
other dialects are sure marks, either of a
provinvial, rustic, pedantic, or mechanic
education and therefore have some degree of
disgrace annexed to them. And as the court
pronunciation is no where mthodically taught, and
can be acquired only by conversing with people in
polite life, it is a sort of proof that a person
has kept good company, and on that account is
sought after by all, who wish to be considered as
fashionable people, or members of the beau monde.
36
Don't (c.1880)
Dont speak ungrammatically. Study books of
grammar, and the writings of the best
authors.Dont pronounce incorrectly. Listen
carefully to the conversation of cultivated
people, and consult the dictionaries.... Dont
use slang. There is some slang that, according to
Thackeray, is gentlemanly slang, and other slang
that is vulgar. If one does not know the
difference, let him avoid slang altogether, and
then he will be safe.Dont use profane language.
Dont multiply epithets and adjectives dont be
too fond of superlatives. Moderate your
transports.... Dont say gents for gentlemen,
nor pants for pantaloons. These are inexcusable
vulgarisms. Dont say vest for waistcoat... Dont
say posted for well informed. Dont say balance
for remainder. Dont use trade terms except for
trade purposes. Dont a manual of mistakes
improprieties more or less prevalent in conduct
and speech, The Vellum-Parchment Shilling Series
of Miscellaneous Literature 9, New York and
London c.1880, pp. 61, 62, 65, 66
37
English Society
Language history is social history a basic
knowledge about the structure of society as well
as the historical and social developments in the
17th and 18th centuries is therefore necessary
38
English Society in the 18th century (1)

• Daniel Defoe, State of the Nritish Nation, 1709
• The Great, who live profusely
• The Rich, who live plentifully
• The middle Sort, who live well
• The working Trades, who labour hard but feel no
  want
• The Country People, Farmers, etc. who fare
  indifferently
• The Poor that fare hard
• The Miserable, that really pinch and suffer wantCC

39
English Society in the 18th century (2)
James Nelson (apothecary), Government of
Children, London 1753 Every nation has its Custom
of dividing the People into Classes ...
England, a mixd Government and a trading Nation,
have the Nobility, Gentry, Mercantile or
Commercial People, Mechanics, and Pesantry ...
Were we to divide the People, we might run it to
an Infinity to avoid Confusion therefore, I will
select five Classes viz. The Nobility, the
Gentry, the genteel Trades (all those
particularly which require large Capital), the
common Trades, and the Peasantry ... The latter
not only including the country Rustics but also
their urban counterparts, i.e. the lowest Class
of People, in London particularly. These People
possess indeed the Ignorance of the Pesants, but
they seldom equal them in Innocence.
40
English Society in the 18th century (3)

• Joseph Massie, Calculations, 1756
• Noblemen or Gentlemen landed income between
  4,000 and 20,000 p.a.
• Gentlemen landed income between 200 and 2,000
  p.a.
• Freeholders landed income between 50 and 100
  p.a.
• Farmers expending between 40 and 150 p.a.
• Tradesmen in London and Country expending
  between 40 and 300 p.a.
• Manufacturers in London and Country earning
  between 7/6d and 12/- p.wk.
• Labourers and Husbandmen in London and Country
  earning between 5/- and 9/- p.wk.