Lately I’ve been fascinated with language – specifically the English language, its history, the origins of words, and its usage. I’ve been reading a lot more this year since my local library branch reopened. I have been writing more. And I’ve been been listening to more podcasts – ranging from political commentary to comedy to lifestyle to intellectual debates. All of this has exposed me to a larger vocabulary, more conversations and new ideas about communication.
When I was a child, we were taught to use “formal English” rules in school. Every sentence began with a capital letter, had a subject and predicate, matching tenses, and ended with punctation. In conversations with adults, I remember being frequently corrected to not say “ain’t”, to use the the right pronouns as objects, and to say “May I?” instead of “Can I?” Spelling was critically important. We had weekly spelling tests, referred to a dictionary when needed and were criticized when we spelled words incorrectly.
Language has shifted a lot since then.
Ain’t is passe. It has passed from being not a word, to being common usage to being unremarkable. Nobody comments on its usage.
Using the right pronouns is now about gender identity. Texting, online media and the autocorrect has completely obliterated any concerns about the correct usage of your/you’re or there/they’re/their, let alone subject vs. object pronouns. Typing “Ur” is now acceptable.
I think there is nothing wrong with these shifts. At first they bothered me because people weren’t doing it “right”. I was aghast at missing apostrophes and typos in news articles, much less in texts.
But then I thought, I know what you are saying and you know what you are saying – isn’t that the point of language?
As I read through older books, I see many changes in the English language. Popular word choices change. Meanings of words change. Spelling changes. New words and usages are copied.
Sometimes, when I read something from the 1700s or 1800s or early 1900s, I have to infer meanings or deduce them from the context around them.
Sometimes, I have to do the same thing today.
I don’t think any of this is new. I think language has never been static.