Science and language change

In a nutshell

The establishment of an objective scientific tradition in England required a codified language to support it. In this summary, you will learn how the development of science in English-speaking countries influenced the language on which it is built.

The history of scientific inquiry and language

With a change in science to adopt a more codified empirical approach, members of the Royal Society, founded in 1660, also advocated for a standard form of English. This was in order to establish a common consensus upon which replicable scientific research could be conducted.

Before the seventeenth century, New Latin was the preferred language of scientific research, with Isaac Newton publishing his seminal Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica in the language in 1687. In 1704, he chose to publish Opticks in English. 

Modern-day scientific inquiry is hugely influenced by the Latin that came before it, with various neologisms emerging as was common in New Latin. Lexis from Latin-derived terms exists to this day, particularly in the field of Biology, where species names and anatomy are a few examples where Latin-derived scientific vocabulary is used.

Science and voice

Scientific writing brought with it a change from subjective to objective. To reflect this, the voice of verbs shifted from active to passive. In passive verbs, the agent becomes secondary.

Example

Prior use: active voice - I measured the effect of temperature on reaction rate.

Current use:  passive voice - The effect of temperature on reaction rate was measured.

Science and verb regularity

Harris (1992) claims that English underwent a process of verb regularisation from the Old English period through to the 18th century. This resulted in, for example, past tense forms with the -ed suffix being used instead of the irregular forms.

Since then, though, the Standard English used in scientific writing has undergone a reversal in this process of regularisation. Now, Standard English contains a greater number of irregular verbs than most dialects of English.

Other language changes

The subjunctive

In line with the principles of Latin grammar, grammarians encouraged the use of the subjunctive mood form of the verb as a “speculative conditional”. The English subjunctive is used to express uncertainty and doubt, but its usage is dwindling. 

Example

Prior use: The board recommended that he be suspended.

Current use: The board recommended that he was suspended.

Pronouns 

The usage of object pronoun “whom” is steadily declining. Additionally, even in formal and scientific contexts, the singular use of pronoun "they", the gender-neutral pronoun for a person, is found.

Example

Prior use: The research subjects whom the scientists supervised were successful.

Current use: The research subjects who the scientists supervised were successful.

Example

Prior use: Each research subject took his own sample.
Current use: Each research subject took their own sample.

Modal verbs

In scientific writing, modal verbs have changed their meanings in subtle ways.

Example

The meanings of "shall" and "will" have converged, resulting in declining use of "shall".

Prior use: The doctor shall administer antibiotics for the infection.

Current use: The doctor will administer antibiotics for the infection.

References

​Harris, C.L. (1992). Understanding English past-tense formation: The shared meaning hypothesis. Proceedings of Cognitive Science Society. Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ. pp 100-105.​