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Why Did The English Language Change Over Time

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In the XIV century British society the Church had the power; therefore society was ruled by the religious laws. Latin was the language used in the churches, but in this epoch an important event took place: The battle for the language of the Bible. People wanted the Bible to be written in their spoken language, English, in order to make of English the language of real power. John Wycliffe was the main mover of this battle. He organised the translation of the first English Bible in Oxford. The language of this Bible was still difficult, but at least it was not Latin. Wycliffe proclaimed anti- clerical ideas and fought against the corruption of the Church. He was determined to win the battle but his ideas were hated by the Catholic and so he was …show more content…
They made a decision whether the English language should be spelled in the way it was pronounced at the time, or in the way it had been pronounced in the beginning, and the traditionalists won. The “Great vowel Shift” phenomenon also started to take place at this time.
The creation of the printing in the XV century marked the beginning of the informational age and English was pressed into service. Latin was still the language of religion, but books in English spread since that moment. Caxton thought it would be better to unify the English language so that it would be easier to work with the printing and as a consequence he decided on some words.
William Tyndale also played an important role in the expansion of the English Bible and some of the words that were found in this Bible, as still used nowadays. With him, the English people got a Bible written in their language and since then, the English became the language of power and returned not only to the Law and to the Estate, but also to the Church. With Protestantism, the Bible will be available for everyone, and that way the English language also

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