Context Flashcards
Standardisation
The process English went through to create a unified system of speaking, writing and spelling. It was established by the 18th century, but occurred across many centuries.
Samuel Johnson
The inventor of the first established dictionary in 1755.
Education Act
This did not occur until 1870; thus, your 1600 data will be before this time period.
Diary genre
This genre was common in 1600. It has evolved as the text did not necessarily mean it was private. Diaries were often passed down as family legacies for relatives to continue writing.
Christianity
England was very religious in the 17th century and so expect to see religious references in the text you get.
The King James Bible
This taught language literary allusions, metaphor and morality. You can attribute any descriptive language not only to the Renaissance, but also to this 1611 document.
Early Modern English Period
The period between 1500-1700.
Printing press
Invented by Caxton in the 15th century; this helped to standardise the language and texts could be printed multiple times rather than multiple texts being hand-written. Time-saving device. Shows technology developing in this time period.
Renaissance
This occurred between the 14th-17th centuries and promoted individualism. Effects: language valued latinate terms as prestigious, but also favoured classical languages like Greek and French, as well as classical mythology. Writers become descriptive/elaborate.
Inkhorn controversy
As writers in 1600 valued Latin, some over-used Latin terms. This was called the Inkhorn controversy; there are many obsolete Latinate terms you may see that reflect this.
Newspapers
Modern newspapers have tabloids/broadsheets. These weren’t until the 18th century. Tabloids are informal and sensationalise content. Broadsheets tend to be informative and formal.
Online affordances
Look closely to see if the modern text us online. If it is, you should mention what we can do with online texts & how this medium is often used as a fast form of communication/easy way to share content, something you won’t find with the 1680 data that had no internet!
Monarchy
Mary I ascended to the throne in 1553. Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558.
World trade
The prospects of world trade opened up as colonising began of America and East Asia. As a result, more foreign phrases and words were brought back home - look out for borrowings/loanwords.
Science
Changes in society in 16th century meant that science began to emerge as an academic subject. Latin was the scientific lingua franca of Europe, but this meant that scientific texts were only accessible to an educated elite. Science books began to be written in the national languages of the writers, and this was to cause further expansion and changes in the language both in vocabulary, as specialist terms were developed, and in syntax, as the need for a clear, less ornate style was identified. Once again, the process of standardisation was enhanced.
Witchcraft and magic
The persecution of witches began in the 16th century, and hundreds were executed.
Religion
In the first quarter of the 16th century, England was a Catholic country and Latin the language of its church. The practices of the Catholic religion were questioned in the latter half, which prompted Protestantism.
Technology
We saw inventions including: the flush toilet, knitting machine and the pocket watch.
Gender
