The growth of grammar in modern english

THE GROWTH OF GRAMMAR IN MODERN ENGLISH

It is generally agreed that language, is an integral part of human society and culture today. The change in the pace of life of a modern person, the emergence, following the development of the scientific and technical base, new phenomena cause significant changes in the language. In an era of large-scale transformations English affecting almost all spheres of public life, and it became the language of global distribution, which is also subjected to certain changes. It adapts itself to the new conditions of the surrounding world. Following the society, it grows and develops, changes its structure and functions.

Development is a natural and directed change, as a result of which a new qualitative state of someone or something in terms of its structure and functions inevitably arises. There are two forms of development. The first is revolutionary development characterized by significant qualitative changes in structure of the object itself. The second form can be considered evolutionary development; it is based on gradual quantitative changes that, accumulating, lead to the emergence of a new entity.

Revolutions are, rather, in the sphere of politics and social relations, while for culture, smooth evolutionary development is more characteristic. Even in the era of sociopolitical transformations, the language has always had some properties that do not allow abrupt changes. Absorbing and displaying new sociocultural realities, it retained its previous forms, some of which continued to exist along with the new ones that appeared. Certainly, some part of it, which did not meet the newer needs of society, gradually "went out" of use.

Let us now turn to the history of the term "development". Modern explanatory dictionaries of the English language give the following definition:

Cambridge dictionary

• «the process in which someone or something grows of changes and becomes more advanced»;

• «improvement of a skill, ability, quality»;

• «a recent event that is the latest in series of related events» [4].

Macmillan Dictionary

• «change, growth, or improvement over a period of time»;

• «the process of creating a new product or method»;

• «a new event that changes a situation» [5].

The interpretation of the term "development" has not changed over time. Modern explanatory dictionaries give it the same definition as dictionaries published earlier. Thus, "development" is always and everywhere means unequivocally: it is a transition to a perfect state of something.

To analyze the development of English grammar, in order to determine the object of research, let us turn to the meaning of the word "grammar". In the Russian dictionary by A. A. Bykov "Anatomy of Terms" the word of Greek origin "grammar" is meant as "the science of correct writing" [1, p. 124]. As it follows from this definition, grammar as a concept historically referred only to written speech and, strictly speaking, did not refer to oral speech. Compliance with the rules at that time was required only for the unambiguous presentation and interpretation of written documents; the norms of oral speech as such were absent, which allowed a wide variety of oral speech expression.

Currently, the situation with grammar is different. Linguistic norms are related to the both, oral and written speech. The Macmillan Dictionary gives the following definition of the word "grammar": "the set of rules that describe the structure of a language and control the way that sentences are formed"[6]. Namely, the grammar of modern English in general is relevant for both written and oral speech.

The reasons, for the development of language as an inherent property of a person, are quite obvious. By power of its complete belonging to man as a biological species, language develops after it. Since development is a quality of living matter, then directed changes in living language are subject to the laws and rules of living nature. And since a person is inseparable from society, being its necessary component, then its language also follows changes in social life, reflecting socio-political and cultural transformations. As the famous British philologist, David Crystal writes: “All living languages change. They have to. Languages have no existence apart from the people who use them. And because people are changing all the time, their language changes too, to keep up with them. The only languages that don’t change are dead ones.” [2, p. 131]. All the rest, living ones, are in constant motion and development following the changes in people — their natives — and the society around them.

The development of the language occurs, as a rule, gradually, not on the basis of the destruction of the old and its replacement with more modern forms of speech, but by adding new “values” to the existing cultural and historical baggage, which over time replace the outgoing / obsolete ones.

First, both variant forms coexist in the language, and only then, under the influence of sociopolitical or other factors, another can replace one. Therefore, a concomitant condition for the development of a language is its variability. Species diversity in wildlife and linguistic diversity in human society are a necessary and indispensable condition not only for their existence, but also for productive development.

There is an opinion that, the English language becomes simpler: it unifies, and in some cases is simplified its grammatical structure, that is, the so-called phenomenon of "economy of effort" takes place. It would be more correct to say that the English language is not simplified, but socially diversified, reflecting the fullness and variability of its expression. This may be in response to a significant expansion of its functions in the world.

The active development of modern English occurs mainly “in breadth”, not “in depth”. The appearance of the variability of grammatical expression reflects the whole variety of forms of its existence. Following the expansion of its range, the English language, interacting with local languages ​​and cultures, locally adapts its structure to new conditions and, as a result, new functions for itself. The phrase "English languages" is already firmly entrenched in its variant forms in foreign-speaking countries. Each form has a number of its own, different from the national English. For instance, the European version of the English language with its somewhat "simplified" grammatical structure, adapted to be understood by a wide multilingual audience, has already become a recognized language of interethnic communication on the mainland of Europe.

English language, along with its existence and development as a national language in English-speaking countries, comes into contact with the culture of other countries and penetrates into their sociolinguistic environment. It has additional functions — the functions of intercultural communication. In an effort to meet its new functions, the English language adapts to them, including structurally. Hence, a plurality of its forms arises, which then follow each along their own trajectory of development in the "developed territories". Thus, the development of grammar of the modern English language is a gradual quantitative and qualitative changes in its structure, aimed at improving its functions as a language of interethnic communication in response to global processes occurring in the world.