【英專八級聽力訓(xùn)練】Mini-lecture History of English(3/4)

The other change is what is called the Great Vowel Shift. This was a systematic shifting of half a dozen vowels and diphthongs in stressed syllables. These two changes produced the basic differences between Middle English and Modern English. But there are several other developments that affected the language. One was the invention of printing. It was introduced to England by William Caxton in 1475. The invention of printing meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. Many new words and phrases entered the language. The period of Early Modern English was also a period of English Renaissance, which means the development of the people. New ideas increased. English language had grown as a result of borrowing words from French, Latin, and Greek. Next, let's talk about the Late Modern English. The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered 1/4 of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.