Standardization Of The English Language

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England, which both contributed greatly to the rise of
English and fall of French. By the fourteenth century, English was again known
by most people, although French was not forgotten, and the people who spoke
French were generally bilingual. The  Statute of Pleading made it law that
English and not French would be used in the courts. However, it needs to be
emphasized that at the end of this statement, it says that after the pleadings,
debates, etc. in English were finished, they should be entered and enrolled in
Latin. English became the official language of the court in 1413, but French was
permitted until the eighteenth century.

More than the official bureaucratic changes in rules and law were the changes in
the use of the language by the everyday speakers. The changes that distinguish
Early Modern English from Middle English are substantial. The rules for spelling
were set down for the first time. The key is the new consistency used by
teachers, printers and eventually by the ...

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as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer, had
not achived the status of a regional standard but was soon to become the basis
for a new national literary standard of English. It was the language of the
capital. Geographically, it occupied a position midway between the extreme North
and the extreme South. Already by 1430, this new standard had assumed a
relatively mature form. It was spread throughout England by professional clerks
in the administrative apparatus of the country and also became the model for
business aand pri-vate correspondence in English. It was this Chancery standard,
the normal language for all official written communication by the time when
Caxton set up his Printing Press ...

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