Standardisation of the English language

In a nutshell

Standardisation is by definition the process of making things of the same type all have the same basic features. In this summary you will learn about the standardisation of the English language. This process has several stages and changes that have led to the creation of Standard English as it is today.

The process of standardisation

Sociolinguists James and Lesley Milroy suggest that the process of standardisation is 'an idea in the mind rather than a reality'. Many linguists state that there is an ideology of standards that results in a consistent, protected language that can be the base model for other languages and dialects.

Standardisation of English

In somewhat of a global way, English has become standardised. Some linguists believe that Standard English is a claim of social power and so it changes and evolves along with society. English became standardised because the lexis, grammar, semantics and orthography were now uniform. Standard English gained power because it started being taught in schools and universities: it became the language of the educated.

the process of standardisation according to einar haugen
Stage 1: Selection	One variety of a language is selected to be standardised. The chosen variety of language reflects the powerful groups in a society. Since London is home to Parliament, the monarchy and the Church, the London variety of the Midlands dialect was accepted as standard.
Codification	Standard language is used in dictionaries and grammar.
Stage 2: elaboration	The Standard language is used in many ways in order to expand. A dominant emerging dialect's goal is to communicate effectively in different types of situations. The same thing needs to happen for Standard language. During the elaboration of lexis (in the Renaissance period), Latin was replaced by English. This was also applied to literature as a symbol of pride. In order for English to be able to describe every idea, polysemy was born, and between 1500 and 1700, over 30,000 new words were added. Shakespeare had an important role in the expansion of the vocabulary.
implementation	The Standard becomes the norm and any other variations are seen as low prestige.

Changes in grammar - Stage 2: elaboration

Shakespeare, also known as the one of the biggest literary figures in the English language, made a generous contribution to the evolution of grammar. He turned nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, created hyphenated compounds and added prefixes and suffixes. For example, the prefix 'un' joined with the verb 'friended' created the word 'unfriended'. In order for you to understand the importance of these changes, consider how the word 'unfriended' was created between the 16th and 18th century but in the 21st century is used daily by the users of social media.

Neologisms

The creation of neologisms continues today but the inclusion of words in Standard English depends on the context. Here are some examples of how neologisms can be formed:

Process	definition	examples
Initialism	A word is formed from the initial letters and each letter is pronounced. Mainly used in scientific and technological contexts.	CCTV (Closed-circuit television)
Acronym	A word is formed from the initial letters of a phrase and is pronounced as a word. Mainly used in scientific and technological contexts.	NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Back-formation	By the shortening of a word (e.g. through removing affixes), another word is formed.	Influenza $\rightarrow$ flu
Morphological derivation	A new word is formed out of old words. This is a creative function of English and this process can be done in many ways: Affixation: bound morphemes are added to a word in order to create a new word with a different meaning. Prefixes and suffixes are part of affixation; Conversion: creating a word from an already existing word without changing its form; Compound: linking two different words to create one word; Blend or portmanteau word: two words merge to form one word.	Affixation: email, multicultural and childish. Conversion: the noun 'green' used for a golf course comes from the adjective 'green'. Compound: life time $\rightarrow$ lifetime. Blend or portmanteau word: smoke + fog = smog.

Definitions

Polysemy: having more then one meaning in just one word.

Dialect: the form of a language that is spoken in one area with grammar, words and punctuation that may be different from other forms of the same language.

Lexis: all the words and phrases of a particular language.

Neologism: a new word/expression or a new meaning of a word.

References

Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/.

Haugen, E. (1996). Dialect, nation, language. American Anthropologist. 68 (4): 922-935.

Milroy, J. and Milroy, L. (1999). Authority in Language: Investigating Standard English. Routledge.