The development of English， taking the word “industry”

【Abstract】：As an international language， English has a wide influence. In different historical periods， vocabulary and meaning were experiencing different changes. English has borrowed many words from other languages， like Latin and French. In the process， many languages has been absorbed into English language： some have new meanings; some expand or reduce. This paper will take the word “industry” for example and explore how the word reflects the development of English.

【Key words】：development， changes， industry， process

1.The original meaning of “industry”

The word comes from Latin language， and it means “do some diligent activity for a certain purpose” or “the quality of working hard”; later it developed into Old French word “industry”， which means “active”， “capacity” and “career”.

In history， Britain had suffered three invasions. Romans， the Anglo-Saxon and the Vikings may have raped and pillaged but around 2000 words were brought by them. Word “industry” was absorbed into English during three invades.

2.New meaning during industry revolution

During the industry revolution， the meaning of “industry” changed into “the people and activities involved in producing a particular thing， or in providing a particular service”.

2.1Impacts on English language during Industry Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. Indeed the British Industrial Revolution occurred in the whole British society was full of changes： economic， social， cultural and other aspects of changes.

Transition on vocabulary， grammar， tense is one impact.

There are change of vocabulary， semantics， phonology and other aspects. Raymond Williams summarizes the most important five words after British Industrial Revolution： industry， democracy， class， art and culture. And these words witnessed the change of humans’ attitude.

Standardized English is the most significant feature. Written English is widely spread and the industrial revolution affected roads， canals， especially the development of railway and made people communicate more. Charles Dickens wrote in his novel： “an Englishman can not open his mouth without despising from others.” Pressures from classes speed the forming of standard oral English.

Another impact is spreading of English.

Variety is a major feature of English. But until the 17th century， very few people spoke English and it was limited to the British Isles. In 17th century， English began its spreading on geography and population. In 1815， 25% of the Irish considered Irish as the first language， and in 1911 this figure dropped to 12%.

At the same time， from 1740， as the impact of the British Industrial Revolution to the European continent， other countries on the continent have experienced a burst of “British hot.”

3.The modern meaning of “industry”

Today， “industry” mostly refers the work and processes involved in collecting raw materials， and making them into products in factories.

3.1Factors of modern meaning

During European colonial period， several European powers established colonies in Asia， Africa， and America.

The use of English in the United States is a result of British colonization.The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America during the 17th century， followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since then， American English has been influenced by the languages of West Africa， the Native American population， German， Irish， Spanish， and other languages of successive waves of immigrants to the US. Indian English is another English dialects spoken primarily in the Indian subcontinent.

Another factor is the development of America English

The development of industry and material innovations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries was the source of a massive stock of distinctive new words， phrases and idioms. Already existing English words， such as store， shop， dry goods， shifted in meaning; some， such as mason， student， clerk were given new significations， while others such as tradesman retained meanings that disappeared in England.

In addition to the above-mentioned loans from French， Spanish， Mexican Spanish， Dutch， and Native American languages， other accretions from foreign languages came with 19th and early 20th century immigration.

3.2The impact of modern English

With the deeper development of English， English has many branches all over the world. The appearing of Hindi English， Chinese English and so on has played a more important role in promoting the process of English. Take Chinese English for example， nowadays， with the development of China in various fields， like economic， political， cultural， more and more Chinese English are created and paid more attention to. According to officials， The Oxford English Dictionary has the desire to embody some Chinese English， such as “Tuhao”， “Guanxi”. We can make sure that though native English may not be as influential as it used to be， the adding of new English words and other branches of English will together reflect the variety of English and promote the development of English.

4.Conclusion

In chronological sequence， it analyzes from the original meaning， new meaning and the newest meaning of word “industry”， as well as factors that make the word change into various meaning.

English development has never stopped as English has its uniqueness. Three invasions have witnessed the development of English in early period. Later， the greatest development of English began during Industrial Revolution. In this period， English showed its specificity in absorbing other languages. Finally， it comes to modern English， colonialism and globalization has forced English to be international and worldwide used.

Bibliography：

[1]Allen， Robert C. “Dying to Cross： The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective.” New York： Cambridge University Press， 2009.

[2]Li Funing. “English History.” Beijing： The Commercial Press， 1991.

[3]Xiong Kun， Hu Tianbing. “Influence of American English on British English.” Journal of Xinyang Teachers College 2 （1992）.