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  3. The English language, like all languages, has evolved over time. Old English

The English language, like all languages, has evolved over time. Old English

游客2024-08-10  35
问题     The English language, like all languages, has evolved over time. Old English(OE), developed from the Germanic branch of Indo- European languages and was characterized by limited vocabulary with word endings that identified the gender, number and case of words. Middle English(ME)was distinguished by a large influx of French words into the language, and the shift to more simplified word forms. Modern English featured a move toward standardization of the language by formalizing both usage and spelling.

    Some 17 th and 18 th century writers held a rather low opinion of English. They felt that because French and Latin followed specific patterns and rules, these languages were more prestigious than English. Such writers as Jonathan Swift and John Dryden concluded that the corruption they saw in their native tongue could be improved by standardization of the language. A number of these writers advanced the idea of a language academy, modeled after the Italian and French academies, as a move toward standardization. The Italian and French academies had both set about creating dictionaries of their respective languages , so it was proposed that the English academy should create a standardized grammar and dictionary for the English language. An English academy was never actually established, but various writers did succeed in establishing a process of standardization by the end of thel700s.

    The first writer to publish a book of grammar rules for "proper" use of English was William Loughton, in 1734. This was followed by Joseph Priestley’s attempt at establishing grammar rules in his Rudiments of English Grammar. Priestly’s grammar was not nearly as famous as his later scientific work and his discovery of oxygen. Other grammar texts followed later. All of these works based grammar rules on the writers’ opinions of correct usage of the language rather than on an analysis of how people really used the language.
    The move toward regulation proposed by Dryden and others was to prescribe correct usage of the English language. A few of the rules proposed in the prescriptive grammar texts of Dryden’s time were changes in the use of double negatives, contractions, and spellings. Such rules are known today as prescriptive grammar. Later, another way of looking at the roles of English grammar developed. Writers of this second kind of grammar texts objectively described the rules native speakers seemed to follow. This kind of grammar was later referred to as descriptive.

    The debate between the prescriptivists and the descriptiv-ists has continued until the present day. For example, according to prescriptive grammar rules set up by Dryden and his colleagues, English sentences should never end with a preposition. In common usage, however, prepositions show up quite regularly at the end of sentences. Prescriptivists also view the usage of "ain’t" as a contraction of "am not" as inelegant and wrong, whereas many dictionaries list "ain’t" , indicating the word is used by speakers of English.
    The prescriptivists also disallow regional usage that does not follow the standard rules of English. Such regional variations in American English include the use of "y’all" by speakers in the South to mean "you all". Contraction of the same words can be heard as "youse" in the Northeast, especially used by working-class speakers of English.
    What then is right and wrong in language, and who decides? It can be argued that the final decision about correct or incorrect language rests with those who hold power in society. Language as cultural capital can be used to allow access to institutions or classes in society while excluding those who do not use the accepted form of the language. Most linguists would argue that the language of educated middle-class speakers is not better(or worse)than the language of other social groups. They would, however, acknowledge that some standardization of form is useful.
    Is corruption of the English language a problem, then, as some prescriptivists claim? The descriptivists’ answer is that English is changing, as all languages must, but that such change is not a corruption of the language. Living language must change, adapt, and grow. Whether change is good or bad is not the question, descriptivists say, because change is inevitable. The only languages no longer in flux are those no longer in use.
Questions 71 -75:
Complete the summary below with information front the passage, using no more than three words for each blank.
    The English language first developed from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the major changes in the language from Old English to Middle English was the【R1】______of French words into the language. During the shift from Middle to Modern English, 【R2】______were introduced for standardization. Writers who supported this【R3】______ of the language held the opinion that, compared to Latin and French, English was inelegant due to its lack of rules. These writers set down【R4】______of grammar and spelling for others to follow. However, some modern linguists argue that grammars should describe the【R5】______of the language rather than force rules upon native speakers of the language. The debate between prescriptive and descriptive grammar continues today. [br] 【R1】
选项
答案 influx
解析 (文章第一段第三句指出“Middle English(ME)was distinguished by a large influx of Frenchwords into the language”，中古英语的特色是涌入了大量法语词汇。influx涌入。)
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