The Influence of Changes in Technology on Spelling Practices, Word Formation, and Syntax - Coursework Example

The Influence of Changes in Technology on Spelling Practices, Word Formation, and Syntax The Influence of Changes in Technology on Spelling Practices, Word Formation, and Syntax A broadly debated issue amongst scholars and teachers is whether bit-sized messaging affects the user’s grammar, word order, and spelling. It is crucial to reflect and critically analyze evidence of how historical changes affected linguistic skills in order to gain a better insight into how changes in technology have influenced spelling tendencies and grammar. Key historical changes in technology include the generation and conservation of transcribed texts such as the quill and telegram. The most noticeable historical change in technology in literature was printing press. The invention of the printing press caused a paradigm shift in manuscript development and writing styles. This change extended to word formation and sentence structure. There is an ongoing nearly similar variation in grammar and spelling tendencies caused by texting. How do changes in technology for producing and preserving written texts (e.g. the quill, the printing press, telegrams, text messages, etc.) influence spelling practices, word formation, and syntax? Printing Press In 1458, Johannes Gutenberg invented printing and William Caxton takes this technology to England. The introduction of this new method of generating and conserving transcribed texts allowed for standardization to a certain extent (Yáñez-Bouza, 2012). However, standardization did not lead to any common type of spelling practice or punctuation benchmark. As a result, some publishers tried to cultivate an in-house regularity of syntax and word formation amongst their writers and editors (Howard-Hill, 2006). For instance, Caxton, along with the successors of his printing press Wynken de Worde and Richard Pynson, had common spelling practices since apprentices only worked under the oversight of one another. A close investigation of the orthographic tendencies of the three practices reveals that Pynson and de Worde tried to stick to a standard spelling trend. Starting with their predecessor Caxton, grammar and syntax rules used by these pioneers were evident in the first two versions of “Canterbury Tales” by Caxton in 1483 (Yáñez-Bouza, 2012). A influence of printing on these practices would be evident by analyzing any adopted spelling practices and punctuation tendencies in the works of apprentices Pynson and de Worde. A comparison of these works reveals a trend by Caxton to render authority to the spelling practices of other writers. Examples of this spelling include words such as “these,” though,” “much,” and “her,” which show a regularity adopted by de Worde from Caxton (Howard-Hill, 2006). Pynson failed to render the authority of Caxton’s spelling in his works. Pynson tended to adopt Chancery Standard spelling tendencies although Caxton seems to have emphasized authorial spelling deliberately. Chancery Standard was the language of the multitude of vernacular papers that the government published like the Chancery and the Privy Seal of the mid-1400s (Yáñez-Bouza, 2012). Even though Caxton was aware of the application of the Chancery Standard, the emphasis put on authorial spelling practice claimed superiority over his lean towards standardization. Pynson’s works leaned towards standardization to acquire greater study since Latin English language rules and text in alien languages with similar dialects were products of his printing press (Howard-Hill, 2006). This tendency most likely lead to a grander interest in grammatical precision by Pynson if merely for financial motives. Printing press also led to a deterioration in the quality of writing and syntax in printed material by various press houses. Workers with literary backgrounds caused this deterioration by handling the printing press (Yáñez-Bouza, 2012). In the above examples, Pynson and de Worde were not literary academics. Unlike Continental press houses, printing presses ran by men like Caxton and his apprentices used the English that required minimal proofing. The reasoning behind this is type of printing was that authors believed the printer could not entertain their readers. As a result, there was little emphasis on proofing aspects of writing such as grammar, sentence structure, and word formation. Caxton’s original motivations for the printing press involves setting up a domination over print material in vernacular language, which the only niche market not monopolized by Continental press houses. This motivation means Caxton’s general image of the early printing press was commercial and not a developer of consistent spelling tendencies or syntax (Yáñez-Bouza, 2012). As a result, early printing press left little academic supervision to correct errors made by respective nonacademic agents. There were consistent spelling practices, grammar, and punctuation rules only after the standardization of the printing press. A constant observation of language rules allowed readers to interpret writers’ materials and meanings more easily. Furthermore, this uniformity of language rules improved the general experience of the reader. Before the standardization of the printing press, distinct scribes would put down your texts manually resulting in irregular writing and syntax. The mechanization of the printing press realized more consistent typography and hyphenation of the print (Howard-Hill, 2006). In effect, readers responded to content on a printed page in different ways since they read in accordance with a parallel series of grammatical and syntactical rules that the writer applied while composing the text. Lastly, printing press saw the decrement and ultimate eradication of numerous inflectional endings. The most notable inflectional ends during this period were the last unstressed letter “e’s.” The silent letter “e’s” remained in the spelling practice but reshaped their role to a tool for indicating the value of the stretched vowels altered during the Great Vowel Shift (Howard-Hill, 2006). For instance, the pronunciation of words such as “mate,” “name,” and “while” no longer have an emphasis on the last letter. This change led to the reduction and gradual eradication of sounds such as the silent letters “k” and “g” in words such as “Knight” and “gnat.” In addition, a number of the remains of Old English such as old spirant consonants in words such as “neighbor” and “bough” faded away (Yáñez-Bouza, 2012). Telegrams Telegrams influenced grammar and syntax only through communication and not literature like the printing press. The telegram was the common means of distant communication during the 1830s before the invention of the telegraph. The immediate outcome of the invention of the telegram was nearly similar to Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. The telegram influenced the culture of composition and grammar application, compelling people who use the new mode of word formation and spelling to compose messages for communication purposes only. For instance, the word “stop” became mandatory for telegram users when creating messages (Freierman, 2006). Telegram messages had a strictly limited number of characters, which is eerily similar to the limitation of 140 characters when posting on the social network Twitter. As a result, telegram users had to use abbreviations such as “wx” for whether and “dx” for distance. Shortened writing became consistent among telegram users although some critics believed this technology was unappealing. Considering users had to pay word for word, the development of a different syntax involving shortened phrases and the constant usage of the word “stop” was virtually inevitable (Howard-Hill, 2006). Bit-sized Messaging Several study findings assert that bit-sized messaging is a huge change in technology that influences spelling practice and grammar of its users significantly. First, bit-sized messaging appears as if it is a “written” form of communication but bears the features of a “spoken” language (Ochonogor, Alakpodia, and Achugbue 2012). A study by PEW Internet & American Life found out that more than 85% of adolescents often involved themselves in a type of bit-sized messaging platform. Out of this demographic, 50% of those studied admitted to ignoring the appropriate pronunciation or syntactical rules when composing text messages (Lenhart, Arafeh, Smith, and Macgill, 2010). This compression of words and non-compliance with word formation rules and spelling tendencies by adolescent users of bit-sized messaging spread to their academic performance. Nearly 2/3 of the surveyed adolescents admitted to using vernacular styles of writing in their regular school writing projects. One out of four the lessons admitted to using emoticons in their school assignments and 38% said they had used contractions such as LOL or OMG in class assignments (Lenhart et al., 2010). Another study published in the first volume of the World Journal of English Language found out that new syntactic arrangements have pervaded into the etymological continuum of text messaging users. The same analysis revealed that the syntactic characteristics of SMS (Short Message Service) are centered on grammatical rules and word formation. Evidence gathered by this study showed how bit-sized messaging users carelessly shorten words through omissions, acronyms, and short forms (Ong’onda, Matu, and Oloo, 2011). These two studies are a revelation of how casual grammar used in bit-sized messaging has crossed over and influenced the manner in which users of this technology compose works in formal settings such as classrooms or workplaces. Conclusion Printing press was a change in technology that influenced spelling practices, word formation, and syntax positively while bit-sized messaging is influencing the same practices and rules negatively. The printing press also led to a deterioration in the quality of writing and syntax in printed material by various press houses before its standardization. Since telegram agencies charged users for each word, developing a different syntax involving shortened phrases and the constant usage of the word “stop” was virtually inevitable. Some researchers search for evidence that supports the idea that texting affects users’ grammar and sentence structure positively while some teachers worry that it ruins their linguistic skills. Users of text messaging compose words and sentences in a literal manner parallel to their pronunciation. This type of writing forces text-messaging users to overlook spelling and word formation rules. References Freierman, S. (2006). Telegram Falls Silent Stop Era Ends Stop. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/06/technology/06telegram.html?_r=1& Howard-Hill, T. H. (2006). Early Modern Printers and the Standardization of English Spelling. The Modern Language Review, 101(1), 16-29. Lenhart, A., Arafeh, S., Smith, A., and Macgill, A. S. (2010). Writing, Technology and Teens. PEW Internet & American Life Project, pp. 71. Ochonogor W. C., Alakpodia N. O., Achugbue I. E. (2012). The Impact of Text Message Slang (Tms) or Chartroom Slang on Students Academic Performance. International Journal of Internet of Things 1(2), 1-4. Ong’onda, N. A., Matu, P. M., and Oloo, P. A. (2011). Syntactic Aspects in Text Messaging. World Journal of English Language, 1(1), 2-8. Yáñez-Bouza, N. (2012). Grammar Writing and Provincial Grammar Printing in the Eighteenth- Century British Isles1. Transactions Of The Philological Society, 110(1), 34-63. Read More