Новое в английском языке

[Алексей Конобеев]

Мы все прекрасно знаем, что любой язык меняется, и довольно быстро. Английский, как один из международных языков, таким изменениям подвержен едва ли не больше, чем другие языки. На форуме мы делимся собственными языковыми наблюдениями. Я также нашел несколько статей, описывающих современные тенденции в английском. Итак, что же происходит с английским языком сегодня?

 

1. SHIFT FROM "THEY STARTED TO WALK" TO "THEY STARTED WALKING"

 

There are a number of verbs that can take a complement with another verb in either the "-ing" form or the "to" form: "They liked painting/to paint;" "We tried leaving/to leave;" "He didn't bother calling/to call." Both of these constructions are still used, and they have both been used for a long time. But there has been a steady shift over time from the "to" to the "-ing" complement. "Start" and "begin" saw a big increase in the "-ing" complement until leveling out in the 1940s, while emotion verbs like "like," "love," "hate," and "fear" saw their proportion of "-ing" complements start to rise in the 1950s and 60s. Not all verbs have participated in the shift: "stand," "intend," and "cease" went the "to" way.

 

2. GETTING MORE PROGRESSIVE

 

English has been getting more progressive over time—that is, the progressive form of the verb has steadily increased in use. (The progressive form is the –ing form that indicates something is continuous or ongoing: "They are speaking" vs. "They speak.") This change started hundreds of years ago, but in each subsequent era, the form has grown into parts of the grammar it hadn't had much to do with in previous eras. For example, at least in British English, its use in the passive ("It is being held" rather than "It is held") and with modal verbs like "should," "would," and "might" ("I should be going" rather than "I should go") has grown dramatically. There is also an increase of "be" in the progressive form with adjectives ("I'm being serious" vs. "I'm serious").

 

3. GOING TO, HAVE TO, NEED TO, WANT TO

 

It's pretty noticeable that words like "shall" and "ought" are on the way out, but "will," "should," and "can" are doing just fine. There are other members of this helping verb club though, and they have been on a steep climb this century. "Going to," "have to," "need to," and "want to" cover some of the same meaning territory as the other modal verbs. They first took hold in casual speech and have enjoyed a big increase in print in recent decades.

 

4. RISE OF THE "GET-PASSIVE"

 

The passive in English is usually formed with the verb "to be," yielding "they were fired" or "the tourist was robbed." But we also have the "get" passive, giving us "they got fired" and "the tourist got robbed." The get-passive goes back at least 300 years, but it has been on a rapid rise during the past 50 years. It is strongly associated with situations which are bad news for the subject—getting fired, getting robbed—but also situations that give some kind of benefit. (They got promoted. The tourist got paid.) However, the restrictions on its use may be relaxing over time and get-passives could get a whole lot bigger.

 

http://mentalfloss.com/article/51362/4-changes-english-so-subtle-we-hardly-notice-theyre-happening

[Алексей Конобеев]

Изменения в произношении, происходящие в английском языке в Британии, описывает Дэвид Кристал. Автор отмечает, что даже в RP сейчас есть четкая тенденция заменять финальные согласные на твердый приступ (glottal stop) - например, в слове hot. Подробнее про твердый приступ в английском:

[Radislav Millrood]

Изменения в произношении, происходящие в английском языке в Британии, описывает Дэвид Кристал. Автор отмечает, что даже в RP сейчас есть четкая тенденция заменять финальные согласные на твердый приступ (glottal stop) - например, в слове hot. Подробнее про твердый приступ в английском:

Да. Раньше это был признак Cockney а позже Estuary English. А вообще так говорить удобнее и сейчас final glottals - признак молодежного акцента.