The past is a foreign country Texts 20, 21, 29

1. Key Words: Collocation – an established phrase which places words in a fixed order The past is a foreign countryTexts 20, 21, 29 Lesson Objective: To explore language change over time To examine features of scripted talk

2. Milestones in English 1066 – the arrival of the Normans establishes Norman-French as the language of the government; Anglo-Saxon (Old English) continues to be spoken by the majority of the population. Over time many French and Latin words are adopted. 1380s – Chaucer writes his epic Canterbury Tales in what is now known as Middle English. By this time various forms of Middle English are spoken in different parts of the country. 1476 – England’s first printer William Caxton sets up shop in London and starts to print books (including Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). 1590s – 1616 – Shakespeare’s plays and poems are published and performed. The time of Early Modern English 1755 – Dr Samuel Johnson publishes his dictionary – a detailed account of the vocabulary, spelling and meanings of the English Language 1795 – Lindley Murray publishes English Grammar – attempting to define the ‘rules’ of English – establishing what is ‘Standard English’ 1928 – the first edition of The Oxford English Dictionary is completed 1992 – the first SMS text message is sent via mobile phone

3. Titus Andronicus – Text 21 • Dates from 1590 • One of Shakespeare’s earliest tragedies • Lavinia, daughter of Titus Andronicus, has been raped and had her tongue and hands cut off by Chiron and Demetrius • Their mother is Tamora who is now married to Saturninus the Roman Emperor • Titus has had his hand cut off in an attempt to save his sons from execution by Tamora’s lover, Aaron...

4. Assessment Focus • AO 2 Holistic Appreciation • Demonstrate detailed understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in a range of spoken and written text In text 21 – Titus Andronicus you will notice that the lexis, grammar and phonology of the language is far removed from modern day language. You will need to consider how, over time, despite the change in language, the reader can still grasp the message behind the actions and words of the play. In text 20 – The importance of Being Earnest – you will not notice quite so many changes in lexis and grammar, however, the differences will probably occur in what the audience regards as ‘comedy’. The way the play is written like real speech gives it a sense of authenticity and keeps it ‘funny’.

5. A living language never stands still and is constantly changing in every way. The most obvious kind of change is lexical (with the constant stream of new words) and semantic (as words take on new meanings). Even the phonology and grammar of language changes over time, and we can see that in this text which was written over 400 years ago. Use a dictionary to help you find out about the words that are unfamiliar to you.

6. Commentary • Lexis All the examples in the text ‘forbear’, ‘goodly’ and ‘vild’ are obsolete words. Goodly and Vild clearly take their origins from words that are still used today, but in different forms (morphology) • Collocation The inversion of the word order in the question ‘Know you these two?’ would sound strange in today’s language, but we are familiar with the archaic contexts in which it survives • Phonology Many of the words in Shakespearean English are pronounced differently. However, it is partly to do with his fitting the words in to the Iambic Pentameter structure

7. Scripted and unscripted speech • We have previously looked at transcripts which show modern, spontaneous speech. As a playwright, Shakespeare had the task of creating ‘realistic’ speech. They have to make the characters believable but without including the features of real speech that would make it difficult to listen to. • Remember the features of spontaneous speech – write down as many features as you can remember.

8. The Importance of Being Earnest • Written by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895 • Cecily Cardew, an 18 year old girl and an older girl called Gwendolen Fairfax are having afternoon tea in the garden of Cecily’s country house. They both (mistakenly) believe that they are in love with the same man.

9. Now consider these features in Wilde’s play. How has he created the illusion of realistic spontaneous speech? Comment on the features that mark it out as scripted, dramatic speech.

10. Assessment Focus • AO 3 Context • Use integrated approaches to explore relationships between texts, analysing and evaluating the significance of contextual factors in their production and reception.

11. Contextual information Text 29 • The Warden was published in 1855 • Anthony Trollope was one of the most highly regarded of the Victorian novelists • The Warden was the first of the Barsetshire novels – set in the fictional city of Barchester • In this extract he is describing his breakfast parlour • Read this extract and then compare it to the more modern TEXT 13