By: Sammy Wang
Each passing year, month, day, and second, there are new experiences and memories being made to remember. And, as humans, we have the innate need to socialize in order to survive. From grouping together to hunt down prey with hand-made weapons, to creating machines capable of various tasks, humans have come far from their beginnings.
And as humans evolved, so did their language. The language we use now, English, sounds very different from what it has diverged from, an Ingvaeonic language brought to Britain during the fifth to seventh centuries, which then became Early Modern English (or as it’s more commonly known as “Shakespeare language”) in the 16th century with the process of time.
With the spread of technology and new cultures, English became a more casual language as people found new ways to replace old words. African slaves have left a big impact on English, especially with their descendants speaking a dialect called African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Many African American today carry the accent and language, as they too, had to learn English to communicate with slave owners.
There are many instances where words had a complete change in meaning over time like how ‘foolish’ had the former meaning of what we know as ‘shy’.
Even today, language is still changing with what we categorize as ‘slang’. WIth each new generation, new words will emerge to replace their older counterparts.
I believe slang is a way for a certain generation to bond together in a way where older or younger people can’t understand, creating an easier bond amongst their peers. Although it may be seen as a sign of rebellion, slang could be a good sign that someone is interacting with their peers well.
Sources:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_English
https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-926#:~:text=African%20American%20English%20(AAE)%20originated,creole%20language%2C%20Gullah%2C%20emerged.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z87pn9q#zhv9kty
https://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2003/ling001/language_change.html#:~:text=Language%20also%20varies%20across%20time,and%20morphology%20develops%20or%20decays