Our Changing Language

Abstract

To the various causes of the rise of different varieties of a language we must add another: the lapse of time. Languages are constantly changing, and in course of time the changes are so numerous that a new variety of the language can be recognised as having come into existence. Varieties of this kind are most obvious to the student of literature, since he covers a much longer period of time than the student of the spoken word, but even within the lifetime of one person a careful observer can detect changes in vocabulary, pronunciation and syntax that are enough to bring into existence new varieties of language. Old-fashioned pronunciations and turns of phrase continue to be used side by side with the newer usages that are replacing them. The newer usages at first escape detection or are dismissed as mistakes, but in course of time it becomes clear that they are used by the majority of speakers. Pronouncing dictionaries and grammars of contemporary English lag behind actual usage, since they are generally written by older speakers who tend to describe the speech-habits of their own formative years.