ABSTRACT
In written English too there is a certain standard: an agreed uniform set of forms to which different users conform. We do not normally spel werds enihau, make up snooky words or use structures grammatical strange, because this would make communication more difficult. But achieving communication can only be one factor in shaping the standard written English, since many different kinds of non-standard written (and spoken) language achieve communication. Standard written English attains greater uniformity by restricting the range of language choices, not just to those that achieve communication, but to a socially approved set. So, for example, in Unit 8 we saw that single or multiple negation were options in ME (e.g. using ne, ne plus not, or other combinations of negative elements), but in standard written English the only choice is single negation. STANDARDISATION, the process by which a standard is achieved, inhibits variation. Broadly speaking, the standardisation of written English gets under way early in the fifteenth century, is intense in the sixteenth, and trails off into the late seventeenth century, being more or less complete by the eighteenth. However, the more detailed picture shows that what gets standardised when depends on what part of the standard you are talking about. Regarding punctuation, for example, little standardisation took place before the second half of the seventeenth century. Also, sometimes the progress of standardisation is less than smooth, with people’s usage of, for example, particular grammatical variants shifting towards the eventual standard, then receding and then going back to the standard.
