He was born in approximately 1422 and died in 1491: when the language spoken in England was only just recognizably the English language we use today. Myriad books delve into different aspects of the English language today. I quoted Richelieu above as having said that language “describes good usage and defends this from all causes of corruption.” But language is organic. There is nothing teleological about language change — it merely happens. In the same way that the tide comes and goes, so language changes, but the tide never gets anywhere, never stops, it just ebbs and flows.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald May 21, 2024 07:37 UTC