Okay, I am back for part 2 of my ramblings about the
evolution of the English language…As mentioned in Part 1, I took this History
of the English Language class a few years ago in one of my last semesters of
college and had to right a couple of research essays to complete the course. Since
posting Part 1 a couple of weeks ago, I ran across a perfect example of what I
was talking about in Part 1. I read an article that discussed the most
commonly used words in 2014. The most used word in the last year was
“bae”…what the fudge is that supposed to be?? I guess it’s a “word” to
describe one’s significant other but I always thought that words like “partner”
or “boyfriend/girlfriend” or “lover” were ways to refer to a special person in
one’s life…I guess I’m just old fashioned (or maybe just old) and not up to
speed on my 21st century lingo.
As the term seems to have been coined by teens and
early 20-somethings I would say this is a classic example of a new generation
making changes to the "norm"…but this isn't about the younger
generations coming along and stirring the pot of all that is good and well in
the world so back to my essay...
Anyway, as a music major, I was able to integrate the
evolution (yes I really just used a scientific term in an opinion post…) of
western music into the second of my required essays for this class.
Unlike the first essay, which was more of a specific depiction of the growth
and digression of the English language (and can be found here), this essay is more of a
contrast-and-compare narrative. It was also used as a summary for each
student’s thoughts on the class.
Again my disclaimer: this is a formal essay complete
with source list (I believe they are still calling it a bibliography) and
references…read at your own risk! ;)
Originally written in April 2012
I am a music major. I would take music classes all day long for the rest
of my life if I could! Unfortunately, even music majors have to take some
non-music classes. It has been nearly 10 years since I have taken an
English class and although I feel I can write well and have a good sense of
proper speech and grammar, English has never been a strong subject for
me. I am a slow reader and don’t really like to read much. Because
of this I have avoided literature classes as much as possible, however, as I
near the completion of my Bachelor Degree at Dixie State (University), I find
myself in need of some upper division non-music electives. I decided to
take the History of English class as one of those electives.
There are a few
reasons why I chose this class over some others that were being offered.
First of all, the course description made it sound interesting. Many of
the other available courses sounded like they may just bore me to tears!
I have difficulty staying interested in things that aren’t my main area of
study so I felt it very important to choose a class that I could stay
interested in throughout the semester. Luckily I have stayed interested
in this class and even enjoyed it. Although, I will admit that at times,
the amount of reading required has been very overwhelming and hard to get
through!
Another reason I chose the History of English course is that it was offered
online. With several other classes, full-time work, and a son, my time is
already spread pretty thin and the ability to complete a 3 credit class at home
and at my convenience was very appealing. This class carries a pretty
heavy workload as far as the weekly reading goes, but being able to work the
class around my schedule makes it worth it.
The main reason I
chose this class is that I wanted to see how the evolution of the English
language (and language in general) compares to the evolution of music.
There are many similarities in the ways that both music and language have
developed over the centuries. One of the most obvious similarities that I
have discovered in this class is that the innovations and developments that
have shaped both music and language are nearly identical. For example, in
the 14th century,
Chaucer transformed Middle English and began to use it in ways never before
seen. “Although he did not coin many new words, he deployed an emerging
vocabulary in a new and critically effective way” (Lerer 84).
Fast forward several
hundred years to the mid-19th century
and you have the same thing happening in the music world. One of the most
famous composers in history, Richard Wagner, was transforming the way music was
composed and performed. Like Chaucer, Wagner took the elements that were
available to him and found new ways to put them together to create a new
element. “Wagner found his own unique musical language…Wagner
experimented with modulation and the key system, discovering ways of moving
seamlessly to the remotest of keys with enormous emotional effect” (Burrows
252).
Another
similarity I discovered between the histories of music and English is that
there are a few “chosen” ones who have had such a great impact in their
developments, that, they now reign as symbols over them. Shakespeare
created hundreds, maybe thousands of new words in his time thereby expanding
the language and making it accessible to many more citizens. He also
began to use language in a theatrical setting which was a way to communicate
with people that had not been used before. Now, if someone mentions
theater, most people immediately think of Shakespeare. After learning
about Shakespeare, I decided that Mozart was the “Shakespeare of Music”.
Having written over 600 compositions in under 30 years, Mozart’s contribution
to music is very similar to Shakespeare’s contribution to English. Both
were such gifted, prolific writers and they each laid the foundations for
future developments of their respective fields.
I really enjoyed
learning how, from its beginning, English has been a kind of language
“soup”. I didn’t know that it was part of the Germanic family of
languages so I found that very interesting. I never realized how much the
Latin and French languages influenced early English either. I enjoyed
learning how new patterns were developed by the translation of French phrases
into English and also how the culture was divided by language. Just as in
the 13th century when
English was the language of the common people, French was the language of the
upper class and government, and Latin was the language of the church, I think
that even today, culture can be divided and labeled by its “voice”. Take
a modern city such as New York, New York. In that one city, there has to
be at least 10 different “voices”, each based on social status and probably
ethnicity. In this case, it isn’t always different languages that define
the classes but different dialects of languages. It’s like culture in 3
voices on a much smaller scale.
One of the things I enjoyed most about this class is that I can, in a way, step
back in time and imagine what it may have been like to exist before all the
modern conveniences we now enjoy. 500 years ago, you couldn’t just send
an email or make a quick phone call…you may not have been able to walk up to
someone on the street and just start a conversation. That person may not
even speak the same language as you, or worse, they may be in a different
social class and it could be against the rules to talk to them. How lucky
are we to live in the time that we do when a fair portion of the world speaks
the same language and communication is such an easy feat to achieve…or, are we
really lucky at all?
As strange as it sounds, I enjoyed writing my essays for this class. My
first essay was about the potential future of the English language and how it
seems to be digressing into an unrecognizable blend of syntax and
rhetoric. With the population of the Earth nearing 7 billion, it seems
like a good idea to have a universal language that is a well pureed mix of
languages from across the world but with that, we lose the purity and beauty of
what I would call native languages. That is one thing that I love about
music. No matter where you go or what language you may speak, music is
universal. Styles vary across the world, but the elements don’t
change. Middle C is middle C regardless, has been for hundreds of years
and will continue to be for hundreds more. As I worked on my first essay,
I was saddened to learn how badly “pure” English has been tainted over the last
30-40 years. Of course, English in its earliest form was a blend of
French, Latin, and English so the definition of pure English varies depending
on who you are talking to, but anyone who is old enough to remember a time
without computers would likely agree that the language has taken a brutal
beating over the last few decades.
In closing, I will say that I definitely learned more about our spoken language
and its journey over the last millennium. I have been able to use what I
know about the history and development of western music to help me understand
the evolution of English. I find that the similarities between music and
language are astonishing and I have enjoyed comparing them. Language and
music go hand in hand and form the basis and identity of every culture on the
planet; as language and music change, culture changes and as culture changes,
the world changes.
Sources
1. Lerer, Seth. Inventing
English: A Portable History of the Language. New York: Columbia UP, 2007.
Print.
2. Burrows, John, ed. Classical
Music. New York: Metro, 2010. Print.
3. Bonds, Mark Evan. A History of
Music in Western Culture: Combined Volume. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.
