The 1832 Reform Act, or Great Reform Act, was passed to increase voting rights, to provide correct representation in the House of Commons of the British Parliament, and to dispel the fear of revolution. Leading up to the 19th century, not many people had the right to vote, and many people believed that it was time that all men deserved the right to vote. This belief led to the publics call for parliamentary reform. Voting rights wasn’t the only existing problem at the time, because the industrial revolution had changed the distribution of the population, where more people started to gather in the cities, causing rapid growth in industrial cities. This caused a problem for Parliament, because before the Industrial revolution people were generally evenly spread across the country.
He was able to gain a plethora of knowledge on his area of expertise as he read more intensively. However, these may have been the only books the person read in their entire life, narrowing their understanding of other topics to a primitive level. Birkerts emphasizes this when he says, “The villager, who knows every scrap of lore about his environs is blessedly unaware of cataclysms in different lands. News of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 took months to travel across Europe” (Birkerts 73). This quote is able to illustrate the lack of outside knowledge encompassed by those of previous generations.
English was not ideal for literature. It was merely a language of the street. In the mid-16th century, everything was slowly changing. English started developing into a respectable means of communication with the help of many factors. For example, the literacy rates were increasing which meant that
The English language first started as dialects spoken by the Angles and Saxons in the 5th and 6th centuries, and later on mixed together until there was an Angelo-Saxon, which also is known as Old English. Old English actually consists of a pinch of Scandinavian from Viking settlers. In 1066 when the French-speaking Normans became the ruling class in the country after beating the English at the battle of Hastings, French words were gradually added to the vocabulary which mainly had to do with law, dress, art, food, and politics. As mentioned, the English language were only spoken by about 6 million people in 1558, and by time, went from being a common language to be a global language spoken by about 1,8 billion people in the world. So, how is it possible that a language spoken by a few millions, suddenly becomes the most important language in the world?
But many others are so thoroughly implanted in the everyday language that, only pundits are aware of their foreign origin, for example: cheese, inch, war, or even they. Beyond doubt, it is impossible to talk efficiently in English without using words that were originally borrowed from other languages. Most of the loanwords go back to the Middle Ages, and to the influence of Latin-speaking churchmen, Scandinavian settlers, Norman conquerors, and Anglo-French administrators. Philip Durkin in his book the “Oxford guide to etymology”, he explained the history of words and how Latin and French prevail the scene in every period. Even the Anglo-Saxons borrowed
Not just people who live in English-speaking countries will be influenced by English hegemony, but also those people who don’t speak English. Obviously, the use and popularity of English are getting higher and higher and more and more countries choose to regard English as one of the official languages of the country. Moreover, there are many countries and regions making the education of English become the main focus of the whole national education in today’s English hegemonic global society. With the development of globalization, many people hold a strong point of that if they want to integrate into the international environment and survive in today’s English hegemonic global society, English is the most basic and vital language that they must master. Strictly, English will no longer just be a simple language, on the contrary, it have a lot of
Although Spanish had been ruling Trinidad for almost three centuries, the language did not become a language of dominance on the islands’ population. In 1797 Trinidad was moved under British rule; however, the main language of Trinidad population of that time was French and French Creole. It had become “a medium of thought” of the population from elite to masses. In last years of Spanish rule, French Creole speakers were not under such pressure, so it helped them to retain their culture and language. After British won power, they questioned the dominance of French at all levels of social life.
Barbarisms are words of foreign origin. They are considered as wrong non standard expressions. Even though we see barbarisms as inappropriate for an official language, they have merged with the native English vocabulary. Barbarisms are used more by people in conversations and writing. They have been part of English for so long that it has become very difficult or even impossible to avoid their use in
From 1970s, the world politics, economy, science, technology and education have changed enormously. Under the circumstances, a large number of neologisms have appeared in English. As a very important language and social phenomenon, new words develops and changes constantly with the development of the society, in turn, it promotes the development of society and reflect the development and changes of the society. So we should gain a better understanding about language and more about neologisms. Vocabulary is most active and most sensitive elements of
From 1970s, the world politics, economy, science, technology and education have changed enormously. Under the circumstances, a large number of neologisms have appeared in English. As a very important language and social phenomenon, new words develops and changes constantly with the development of the society, in turn, it promotes the development of society and reflect the development and changes of the society. So we should gain a better understanding about language and more about neologisms. Vocabulary is most active and most sensitive elements of