History Of English

John Locke (Wrington, August 29, 1632 - Essex, October 28, 1704), said peace can be achieved by means of a universal definition of  English words. He was part of a rational idealism. He believed order could solve everything. In my opinion wanting to organize everything is what causes chaos. The methodical and perfectionist ways of the world became a flu that only serves to stress us even further. It is even more unreal to think that humans can tolerate all their differences. But isn't that the best option? Either way, Locke's wish didn't come true. Language nowadays is more diverse than what his rational mind could have ever imagined. It is these diversity which builds on the humor of each place and develops trends as time passes.

Some time after Locke, scholars were making there own language. Reframing the words and creating new ones. They had to because their discoveries had no names. They did as we do in school, they created a language only for them. That creation of neologisms, I wouldn't say is a phenomenon. It happens quite often in any type of community that has any sort of innovation.

Later on, Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745), voiced his concern for the growing conflicts with the understanding of English. This English being old but still considered the refined one. The strive for the endurance of the language persisted, and it still pointlessly does (seen in the prescriptivist and descriptivist arguments nowadays).

Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 [O.S. 7 September] – 13 December 1784), had the brilliant idea of making a dictionary. The English dictionary, which became extremely popular. He, the creator of the dictionary, admitted that nothing would balm a language. The so desired immortality of the language was nothing more than a fantasy. The capacity to evolve would take with it the language. I agree completely with his accidental discovery. Accidental because it penetrated his mind when he finished the dictionary and thus noticed the malleability of language. Language cannot be tamed. Anyone can shape it and make their own arguments with it. After all language is purely political.

William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835), known for his written work, Rural Rights, affirmed  that without understanding grammar you can't expect to do something better than a poor man's work. Writing or speaking "properly" will get you a better life. Yes, as he said, education in the written and spoken word is important. Isn't that the reason why private schools teach english? And, why even though we are latin we put effort into learning the ways of the English culture? I think so. My English will ensure me a better business life and a better college. English also alienates me from the lower class and, as raw as it may sound, that is indeed one of our purposes.

Oh! Johnson also thought that shakespeare had ruined macbeth by using the word knife. Because it was used by the workers and, in his opinion, wasn't worthy of being in the play. For the love of God just because of a word he makes such a comment.

At the end of the 19th century, when women were getting more education opportunities, Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817), wrote her novels. They showed and example of good English and set the norm. With industrialization came a change in language too. The terminology had mutations and new words were again needed.

Language will be forever in transition and it is, as I said before, pointless to desire the sudden stop of this movement.

Justin Unites Them All

The Story of English has finally arrived to American English. After a quick stop in Canadian English, and how there haven't been fights between Canadians and Americans but, there is resentment.  A type of resentment that keeps each one apart via their accents. 

I wonder how Justin Bieber has been so accepted in America. He is Canadian after all. Yeah, it surprised me too. Well he helps Unite, oh what a saint.

Your welcome.

In the video a scene of marines playing poker is captured. The video explains: "A player who had enough [from the game] would say: Deal me out!,"(The Story of English) this small fluctuations in the manner of speaking are what really makes a dialect. In Colombia for example each city has a different dialect. The common language is Spanish, but it has so many variations (just like we are noticing in english) that a citizen from Bogota struggles to understand a fast speaking cartagenero.

In class we we are reading The Stories of English by David Crystal. He explains that during the XIX century some authors called the Romantics used the English people talked in the streets for their works. They printed their own accents into their works, and at the time this was revolutionary. When they talked about Mark twain in the video they stated that he was the first to write a book in American English. Therefore, I would call Twain a late Romantic for the Americans.

Citations:
"“The Story of English episode 6 - An English Speaking World - Part 1 / 7” YouTube. YouTube, Aug 27, 2009. Web. Jan 17, 2013."

IRA

The Irish Republican Army was a Guerrilla which strived for the independence of Ireland from the British. The fourth episode of The Story Of English exhibits the history of English in the Irish territory. The video, talks briefly about this Irish movement that used illegal methods to overthrow the British rule. As a result of this resentment towards the British, they managed to keep their strong oral traditions. Conveniently, I watched a movie called Hunger about the Irish hunger strike that took place on a prison filled with IRA volunteers. The movie serves as a record of the strong accent the documentary (The Story of English) talks about. 

Just for fun I interviewed my Dad. I like to annoy him and my homework pretty much does the trick. 

He was kind enough to respond to only half of my questions:

Me: ¿What was the name of the prisoner that starved?

Dad: It is not only one it is many. But the most famous one is Bobby Sands.

Me: ¿What do you think about the IRA?

Dad: They had a right to seek independence for Northern Ireland but used the wrong method to get it.

Me: ¿Do you think the IRA is similar to las Farc?

Dad: They use similar methods, but their cause was different. The IRA wanted the independence of their country contrary to the Farc's desire to have power in their country. There is another similarity that they both want to be recognized as a political alternative and use terrorism to obtain this. Therefore, they are similar but not the same.

*smoking the Bible*

Th' videos huvnae bin huir uv a interestin'. th' first blog Ah did has a gantin' mistake Ah thooght each chapter was a nine minute video, insteid ay th' seven, nine minute videos, 'at makeup th' episode. weel, noo Ah struggle e'en harder tae fin' a topic fur th' blogs. definitely feel loch a trapped human, in a room filled wi' poop in th' walls (image above).

Tae honur david crystal's book 'at we ur readin' in class:.

One Direction Cookies

After watching Episode 1 of  The Story of English,  I thought about One Direction. One Direction, is an english band which became recently famous after participating on the British show The X Factor. Girls go crazy for the boys that make up the band for various reasons. One very popular reason is their accent. Their elegant yet uninterested form of speaking makes girls go like them. I, for one, like the British accent. How can an accent become a physical quality which depicts beauty? Well like the video footage shows: "The superiority of this accent lingers. Research in britain shows that people using this accent are thought: more intelligent, more trust worthy, even better looking,"(The Story of English episode 1 - An English Speaking World - Part 1 / 7). An accent can become a sort of trend that universally people seek. The video The Story of English shows the English language as a powerful entity that begins to take over the world. The video itself is a type of add for the language. I recognize the global push that English has, yet I don't think of English as the superior language. I think French, Italian or even Hebrew could be equally globalized. Well... maybe not. 

I feel learning English is very important. I want to pronounce everything right, almost to the point of trying to eliminate my accent. This pursuit generates controversy among my family: they say accents are good because they show where you come from, and feeling ashamed about them is just stupid. My argument is that any language should be learned aiming for perfection. We haven't solved the discussion.

Citation:

 "“The Story of English episode 1 - An English Speaking World - Part 1 / 7” YouTube. YouTube, Aug 27, 2009. Web. Jan 12, 2013."