American Division Literature [ 1 ]

American Division Literature [ 1] 

Vocabulary & Literature .

In understanding and discussing works of literature , vocabulary can be divided into the following four areas :

1-] Basic literary terms and related vocabulary .

2-] Advanced literary terms and related vocabulary .

3-] Extensive general vocabulary .

4-] Period vocabulary and poetic diction .

The Old English Period [ A.D. 449 – 1100 ]

            The British Celts , under attack by the Picts and Scots [ Irishmen ] , called on fierce Germanic warriors , when the Romans would not provide adequate help in A. D . 449 . After driving out the Picts and Scots , these Germanic Angles , Saxons and Jutes took over England and established the seven kingdoms of Kent , Essex , Sussex , Wessex , East Anglia , Mercia and Northumbria [ names that appear throughout English literature – even in those works written in Modern English ] .

The Middle English Period [ A.D. 1100 – 1500 ]

             Middle English began shortly after the Norman Conquest [ William the Conqueror ] in 1066 .Naturally , the impact was felt in the language , especially in vocabulary . During this time , the dialect of London became a standard English : however , writers continued to use their regional dialects    [ North , South , Kent , West Midland , and East Midland ] almost until the end of the period . Chaucer’s “ The Canterbury Tales [ 1386 ]” .

Modern English [ A.D. 1500 – 1800 ]

              English language underwent important changes during this time , especially changes in pronunciation , perhaps the most radical change being what linguistics call “ The Great Vowel Shift .” But while English was changing significantly in pronunciation , spelling in 1500s was not keeping pace . English spelling and usage was not standardized until Samuel Johnson was commissioned in 1746 to write “A Dictionary of The English Language”.

Modern English [ 1800 to present ]

                In terms of form and structure of English , the Modern English Period has seen little radical change with forms of standardized English being sustained in both England [ where British Standard is taught in schools ] and in the US [ where American English is the offspring of the British-speaking colonists and explorers of the 17^th century ] .

                  Surprising to some , words in American usage have found their way into the British vocabulary , partly as a result of advanced communications , commerce and American technology . Even so , there are significant differences between British and American word choices , even in Modern English and of course pronunciation [ e.g. British “ posh frock , American fancy dress ] .Spelling is another area of differences , due in part to Noah Webster , who took the “ u” out of e.g. colour [ color ] armour [ armor ] neighbour [ neighbor ] , changed “ re” to “ er” in theatre , centre , metre , manoeuvre [ theater , center , meter , manoeuver ] and changed the “ c” to “s” in “ defence” “ defense” [ to cite just a few of his influences ] . British English and American English have undergone and continue to undergo tremendous changes in the denotative and connotative values of English words . How and why do words change meaning and how are new words added to the English vocabulary ? Here are some of the more common ways :

1-] Words often have more than one meaning and usage can add even more meanings .

e.g. The word [ firebreak = a barrier meant to stop a fire in forest fire fighting ( often a gap in the combustible trees or vegetation)] .In the Nuclear Age it extended to mean : a barrier or gap separating conventional warfare and buclear war , meant to stop nuclear confrontation . Sometimes words gain so many meanings that they become very generalized and no longer carry the preciseness of meaning that once conveyed .

2-] Obviously , the meanings  of a word can also be reduced becoming rare , archaic  or even obselete .

e.g. buckle [ verb ] , brut  / bruckled [ griny ] , brut [ to browse ] .

corn “ once meant grain ; then it came to mean Indian corn or maize in America , wheat in England and oats in Scotland .

3-] Entirely new words can be coined or added to the language often due to new technologies  , exportations or any circumistances in which a never-before-communicated idea must be expressed , illustrated by the word             “ Kodak” invented by George Eastman in 1888 .

4-] words once thought to have negative connotations can be elevated in the public’s perception and become respectable for use [ e.g. nice once meant ignorant ] or the opposite when words fall into disrepute [ hussy once meant housewife ] .                                                                                                              5-] Words can come into use to avoid the negative connotations of harsher words . For example the Irish began referring to the little people  rather than saying fairie . the gentler kinder word is called a euphemism .

6-] New uses of prefixes , suffixes and compounding can add to a language’s vocabulary .

e.g. panorama / snacketeria  / splash down .

7-] Words also can be added to a vocabulary by abbreviation or clipping [ exam ] , blending [ broasted = broiled + roasted ] and by using acronyms

 [ NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ] .

8-] Borrowing from other languages has been a significant influence on English .

e.g. fork [ furca , from Latin ] .frankfurter [ from German ] .ffle [ rafle from French ] .spaghetti [ from Italian ] .serape [ from Mexican Spanish ] .