Presentation in History of the English Language Essay Example for Free

Presentation in History of the English Language Essay When studying the development of English as a language, it can be argued that early modern English is perhaps the most vital point of reference. This period brings with it a richness in material that provided clues as to how the tongue developed phonetically and geographically from its roots as a secondary, regional language in an arena dominated somewhat by the French language, and largely by Latin. Although the amount of available information isn’t enough to paint a sufficient scenario of the linguistic lay of the land at the time, these materials are a great help in discerning the stages of development of the English language. During the latter age of transition from Middle English, the language was mostly spread about in regions. This period is â€Å". . . notoriously [known] as the time when linguistic variation is fully reflected in the written mode . . . † (Nevalainen 13). Due to the heavy presence of French and Latin as the dominant vernaculars, middle English didn’t have enough room to develop as a real language and was limited to regional variants that were shaped by the grammar rules of the more prominent languages at the time. This was, mostly, due to the lack of standardized spelling – it was difficult to come up with a fixed set of grammar rules if the people didn’t have any idea of how to spell the words to be used in each situation. This changed during the sixteenth century. With the shift to early modern English came the streamlined version of the language, thanks to major standardizations in the way words were spelled throughout various regions. But you can’t ever get rid of local variations in language, and the early form of modern English is no different. Most of the available materials from the period concern themselves mostly with grammar reforms and the instruction of the language. The most curious thing about these documents is that despite dealing with a language that was gaining more and more popularity as a serious vernacular, the method of instruction was still largely conducted in Latin. This proved to be difficult in unifying the language since the two tongues were different from each other both grammatically and in inflection. Alexander Gil wrote Logonomia Anglica in 1619 as an attempt to describe the chief variants of English according to region. These are the general, northern, southern, eastern, western and poetic variants. Interestingly, these are the same regional distinctions of middle English, save for the unifying general vernacular that could be similar to what we call standard English. The weakness in Gil’s study is his partiality to the northern style although this feature gives us an outstanding view of how the morphology of early modern English developed. His renditions of spelling and pronouncing some words are indicative of the Germanic roots of English, including the use of /v/ for /f/ (the example given by Nevalainen is vill for fill). Another method of dialectal segregation was recorded by George Puttenham in The Arte of English Poesie (1589). Here, Puttenham gives us a view of how early middle English was segregated according to social standing, and was focused mostly on improving the aesthetic appeal of the language by identifying the speech of the court and the aristocrats as well-sounding and favorable, as opposed to the speech of a craftsman, or that of the thieves (thieves’ cant). Still, the dominant tongue at the time remained to be Latin, and it was in Latin that the English grammar was taught and written. This was to accommodate foreigners who wished to learn English; these people learned English via the structure of Latin, whereas locals who already practiced English learned Latin through the structure of their mother tongue. The effect of Latin in the grammar manuals during the first part of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were apparent – the use of Latin categories, or at least a system derived from Latin, to describe English grammar left out a chunk of what formed the structural core of English, and while the regional dialects flourished, very little attention was given to them and the focus of learning instead went to the General dialect, which would eventually go on to become the basis for the structure of the language today. A lot of the development that transformed the English language occurred at this time. In Pamphlet for Grammar (1586), William Bullokar gives us insight to the transformation of the personal noun ye into modern-day you. He also noted the possible conversion of the suffix –eth ¬ (e. g. loveth) into the more economical –s pronounced with a /z/-like crescendo. The latter, incidentally, is an example of northern dialect curiosities that made it to the general dialect. The continuous development and popularity of English as a language both written and spoken led to the precursors of modern-day newspapers. Newsletters by eminent individuals were handwritten and sent out as manuscript circulations back in 1620 as a means of spreading important information around. A fair example is the Newdigate Newsletters that were addressed to Sir Richard Newdigate of Warwickshire from the Secretary of State’s office. A selection of the newsletters would go as follows: â€Å"The King of Poland desireing a nearer Correspondence with this Crowne then has been formerly and haveing sent Over to desire his Maty to be godfather to his Daughter, his Maty was preparing to send an Envoy ExtraOrdnary thither to stand for him, when the last post brought news ye young Princess was dead. † (21) This selection, in its original form, contains plenty of scripting nuances of the period – such as superscripts for the abbreviations – and resembled, in all intents and purposes, formal letters of the period. In closing, it is worth to note that while the instruction and growth of English as a language during the early modern period isn’t as clear as we’d like it to be, there really is no denying that this period yielded a huge wealth of material to study. Thanks to works like Gil’s Bullokar’s and the missives to sir Newdigate, we can continue to study and piece together the broken pieces of the puzzle of how today’s universal language evolved into what it is. WORKS CITED Nevalainen, Terttu. Introduction to Early Modern English, An. USA: Oxford University Press, 2006. 12-27

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Executive summary With the arrival of WEB 2.0, business communications are no longer one way, rather, they create interaction between messenger and receiver. An organization’s website allows visitors to share and participate in the discussion. Organizations are increasingly abstaining from releasing all communications at once; rather, they are releasing bites of information in order to create a â€Å"buzz.† Social media captures information, organizes it, and presents it in context. Organizations are imbedding social media applications on their websites for the purpose of gaining business intelligence. Organizations are shaping their business strategies based on this intelligence. It’s important for organizations to understand that as result of social media, a company’s image extends far beyond the contents of its website. Through social media, a single message can go viral very quickly. An organization must be quick on acting upon any measure of success. Just as positive information about a company and its products can go viral, so can negative information as well. Organizations have found the need to create professional teams in charge of monitoring all communications surrounding a company. These communicatons take place on a 24/7 basis. Web 2.0 is serving as an experimental platform for professional communicators. Organizations are hiring software developers to design social media applications that are industry specific and allow consumers to interact with the organization. Organizations are gathering data on consumers through social media channels. Organizations are developing their own communications applications. The communications field has evolved substantially in the last decade. The arrival of new technologies has transla... ...ating a vast number of professional opportunities for people entering the field and for those with prior professional experience. For professionals who have learned to use all of the tools brought on by WEB 2.0, it’s translated into professional advancement. On the other hand, professionals who have chosen not to participate in the technological frenzy are not being promoted and their careers have stalled. For professionals like Anne Canty, the arrival of WEB 2.0 has given her a change to â€Å"put into action, management philosophies that she longed embraced, and also a chance to learn how to work with social media.† Although Canty believes that there will always be professional opportunities for those with good writing and listening skills, video editing and infographics(See bottom of page 5) are two areas where she believes â€Å"there will be increasing amounts of work.†

Preventing Workplace Discrimination Essay

â€Å"Discrimination undermines employee loyalty, destroys employee morale, and reduces productivity and work quality. It can also lead to costly and painful lawsuits and do irreparable harm to a company’s reputation† (Guerin & DelPo, 2007, p. 119). Preventing workplace discrimination, therefore, is important to companies because this will make an organization stronger and will provide the employees a more harmonious working environment. Discrimination can take several forms and there are more than one way of managing such situations, which was demonstrated by the simulation exercise. One of the discriminating actions a company can show is by not accommodating people with disabilities because they believe that these people are not as competent and skillful as people who do not have disabilities. The simulation had an exercise where in job advertisements were shown and the user had to determine the phrases that can come across as discriminating. One of the phrases in the simulation stated that the company needed an employee that was â€Å"fully mobile to run around to meet client needs,† which was discriminating to people with disabilities, specifically those who are in wheelchairs. This exercise teaches companies not to judge employees based on their physical abilities. If a person wishes to apply for a certain position, the company should allow him or her and see if he or she is capable of doing the required tasks without his or her disability becoming in the way of his or her work. The job advertisement exercise also required the user to determine a discriminating phrase regarding drug use and abuse wherein future employees will be required to submit to drug testing. There is nothing wrong with wanting to know if a person has drug problems because it will ultimately be for the best of the company. However, this should not be included in job advertisements because one, it is discriminating, and two, pre-employment tests usually cover drug testing so the company should not worry about it. It is also important for companies to determine a job-seeker’s attitude regarding work to see if he or she has the same drive that the company is looking for. No one wants to hire someone who has no passion for the work that he or she applying for. This will only be a waste of time and money for both parties. The simulation demonstrated this by including some facts about the five applicants that were shortlisted for the positions. Information like religious beliefs and practices and personal stands regarding important national issues are included for the benefit of the human resource department. Title VII can definitely override the employment environment and conditions detailed in a written employment contract between an employer and an employee because title VII is a federal law and should be followed no matter what the written employment contract indicates. In addition, employees should not agree to a written employee contract that does not conform to the conditions that are stated in title VII because this can only lead to legal problems in the future when they encounter discriminating practices in the workplace environment. In conclusion, companies need to remember that they have to adhere to the conditions that are stated in title VII to avoid costly lawsuits and prevent their reputation from being destroyed. They have to provide a fair and unbiased working environment to employees, future or tenured, to maintain a structured organization that will work toward the success of the company. Reference

Masculinity Masculinity And Masculinity Essay - 1623 Words

The following phrase are a string of words that no heterosexual man wants to hear, â€Å"You’re acting like a girl!† To a straight or heterosexual man those words would be a shot to his manhood. To most men and boys in western society, masculinity is what separate the men from the women and the boys from the girls. However, what is masculinity and why do most men and boys’ try so hard to guard theirs? My understanding of masculinity, and as technically defined, is having customary qualities attributed to or usually applicable to a male. My position is that society encourages hegemonic masculinity thus forming basis for males to exhibit traditional masculine qualities to fit in, most women prefer men with these traditional masculine characteristics or qualities, and men try to assert their masculinity so they are not considered feminine. 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