Assignment # 1

Subject

Eng501

Id

mc200205161

Q1. English language has been undergoing a lot of changes since its existence. Write a note
on the ‘progressive verb form’ and ‘progressive passive form’ of the 18th century English.

Answer:

 Progressive Forms
To be forms and the present participle are generally called progressive forms. Their most
common use is to indicate an action as being in progress at the time implied by the auxiliary. The
wide extension of the use of progressive forms is one of the most important developments of the
English verb in the modern period.

In Old English, such expressions as ‘he woes lærende’ (he was teaching) are occasionally found
but usually in translations from Latin. In early Middle English, progressive forms are distinctly
rare. Their number increases in the Middle English period and the credit of their development
goes to the sixteenth century. The chief factor in their growth is the use of the participle as a
noun governed by the preposition on (he burst out on laughing). This weakened to he burst out a-
laughing and finally to he burst out laughing. In the same way he was on laughing became he
was a-laughing and he was laughing. Today such forms are freely used in all tenses (is laughing,
was laughing, will be laughing, etc.)

In Shakespearean times one would ask ‘What do you read?’ not ‘What are you reading?’

The progressive marking signals continuing action over a period (‘John was working in the
garden’) or repeated action over a period (‘Smith is scoring a lot of goals this season’), but also
implies that the period in question is of limited duration. The fact that the duration is limited
explains why we can say ‘John was standing on the bank’, but not *‘London is standing on the
Thames’: the latter sentence implies that London may at any moment move to some other place,
so we have instead to say ‘London stands on the Thames.’
During the whole of the Modern English period, the progressive markings has become
increasingly common. In Early Modern English, the unmarked form of the verb is often used in
situations where we feel the need for the progressive.

 Progressive passive:
The extension of such forms to the passive (the house is being built) was a later development. It
belongs to the very end of the eighteenth century. Old English had no progressive passive. Such
an expression as the man is loved, feared, hated is progressive only in so far as the verbs loving,
fearing, hating imply a continuous state. But no such force attaches to the man is killed, which
does not mean the man is being killed, but indicates a completed act. The construction the man is
on laughing was capable also of a passive significance under certain circumstances. Thus, the
house is on building can suggest only that the house is in process of construction. This use is
found from the fourteenth century on, and in its weakened form the construction is not unknown
today.

The reason for the unacceptability in earlier times of ‘The house is being built’ is that it
combines the progressive with the passive. As we have seen, by late ME times there were four
main markings of the verb, namely the past, the perfect, the passive and the progressive. It
gradually became possible to combine these markings in various ways in most constructions, and
by the early modern period most combinations were possible. The sole exception was the
combination of the progressive and the passive. So in Shakespeare we find such things as ‘my
Ladies Hero hath bin false lieaccusde’ (Perfect + Passive), ‘The which had hid my princely
Trunk’ (Past + Perfect), ‘I have been drinking all night’ (Perfect + Progressive), ‘As if the
garment had been made for me’ (Past + Perfect + Passive), and ‘both the Princes had bene
breathing here’ (Past + Perfect + Progressive). But we never fi nd constructions like ‘She is
being falsely accused’ and ‘The garment was being made.’ These do not occur until the late
eighteenth century.

With some verbs the construction was impossible in a passive sense. Thus, the idea he is always
being called could not be expressed by he is always calling. At the end of the eighteenth century,
we find the first traces of our modern expression the house is being built. The combination of
being with a past participle to form a participial phrase had been in use for some time.
Shakespeare says: which, being kept close, might move more grief to hide (Hamlet). This is
thought to have suggested the new verb phrase. The earliest instance of the construction that has
been noted is from the year 1769. However, it is generally used only in the present and simple
past tense (is or was being built). We can hardly say the house has been being built for two
years, and we avoid saying it will be being built next spring.

Since the late eighteenth century, it has been possible to combine any two or three of the four
markings. In theory, indeed, it is possible to combine all four, as in ‘It had been being eaten’: it
may not be easy to think of a context where this is required, but it can hardly be argued that the
construction is ungrammatical.

The history of the new progressive passive shows that English is a living language. The use of
the progressive became increasingly frequent and spread to constructions such as the progressive
passive (‘the house is being built’) where it had previously been considered ungrammatical. This
process has continued in recent times: the progressive is no longer restricted to verbs which can
refer to continuous action, and is now even heard with verbs of emotion, as in ‘I’m love this
music.’ moreover, its grammar is not fixed. It will continue to change in the future as it has
changed already.

Q2. Ireland is the second largest island of the British Isles, the third largest in Europe, and
the twentieth largest on earth. The British invaded Ireland and impacted the language of
its inhabitants. Write a note on British and Irish English.

Answer:

 British English:
British English is the standard dialect of the English language as spoken and written in the
United Kingdom. Variations exist in formal, written English in the United Kingdom.Most people
in Britain speak with a regional accent or dialect. However, about 2% of Britons speak with an
accent called Received Pronunciation (also called "the Queen's English", "Oxford English" and
"BBC English"), that is essentially region-less. It derives from a mixture of the Midlands and
Southern dialects spoken in London in the early modern period. It is frequently used as a model
for teaching English to foreign learners.In the South East there are significantly different accents;
the Cockney accent spoken by some East Londoners is strikingly different from Received
Pronunciation (RP).Phonological features characteristic of British English revolve around the
pronunciation of the letter R, as well as the dental plosive T and some diphthongs specific to this
dialect.

 Irish English:
History

The earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had
emerged by the 1st century CE. The island was Christianized from the 5th century onward.
Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland.
English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century, the colonization,
and British settlement. A war of independence in the early 20th century = followed by the
partition of the island = creating the Irish Free State + Northern Ireland remained a part of the
UK. Irish English has its origin in 1169. Texts are first found from around 1250 but in Ireland
there was competition between three languages – English, French, and Irish. Loss of French
appears to have enhanced the status of Irish, rather than of English, at least until the seventeenth
century. Many of the present-day features of Irish English appear in the Wexford dialects.

 Features of Irish English

To a layman, Ireland and the UK may seem similar in many ways but the truth is that these two
countries couldn’t be more unique. Although most of the Irish population does speak English, the
English used in Ireland is very different to UK English. There are three main areas in which they
differ:

o Pronunciation
o In Irish English, the "r" after vowels is pronounced. In British English it is often dropped.

o The sound for "e" in Irish accents is more like "e" in "bet," instead of like "ei" in "bait."

o The sound for "o" in Irish accents is more like vowel sound in the "paw" instead of like
the "ou" sound in "coat."

o The sound for "th" in Irish accents usually sound more like "t" or "d" sounds."Thin"
sounds like "tin" and "this" sounds like "dis

o SYNTAX

 The differences in syntax and diction gives accents their unique qualities and meter.

 Irish people say "be" or "do" instead of "usually." I do work...= I usually work.

 Irish speakers use "after" for things that just happened. Instead of "I had just drank the
beer," "I was after drinking the beer."

 Irish people use "don't be" as an imperative, as in "Don't be worrying about that."

 Irish speakers leave out "if," "that," and "whether," as in the sentence, "Tell me did you
see the show."

 Irish speakers begin sentences with "it is" or "it was," as in "It was Sam had the best
wife."

 Irish speakers will often use the definite article where British speakers wouldn't. For
example, "I'm going to the Malone Road

o Vocabulary

There are many interesting differences in the vocabulary of the two versions of English. For
example, a cupboard in UK English is referred to as a press in Ireland. Some of the other
examples are as follows:
UK English – Irish English

Bacon – Rashers

Pencil sharpener – Pencil pairer

Airing cupboard – Hot press

Trainers – Runners

Police – Gardai