History

• Pronouns changing


  • Personal pronouns Personal pronouns “thee”, “ye”, “thou” have became ARCHAEIC (stopped in use)
  • More relative pronouns used “Our father which art in heaven”
• Sentence structure


  • Much longer and more complex syntax
  • Filled with subordinating clauses, semi colons
  • 1700: Trend of sentences being shorter & syntax less complicated
  • NOW: Simpler punctuation making language less formal
• Contractions


  • 18th Century: poetry used contracted words to make sure words fit in metre of verse
  • Printers contracted words to make them fit on a page
  • Use of contraction on printed page often inconsistent

  18th Century: Johnathan Swift complained about contractions corrupted English

  20th Century: contractions became more frequent (led to present day use)
• Double negatives used to be common but when grammar books were published in the 18th century stating that they were incorrect, usage was stopped.