The Effect of the Printing Press(Standardisation of English language)
By
1. Antai Goodnews Mfon - 19/AR/EN/1683
2. Anwani Ifeoma Sunday - 18/AR/EN/1626
3. Ideme Esther Okon - 19/AR/EN/1736
4. Essiet, Edidiong Nsikak - 19/ED/CP/1556
By the 15th century, the English language had changed considerably, partly due to the
introduction of the printing press. The printing press which was developed by Johannes
Gutenberg in the 1450s and brought to England by William Caxton had different effects on the
English language one of which was the standardisation of the English language.
Before letterpress was invented, there were two ways to reproduce texts in Western Europe:
Handwriting or block printing. Handwritten texts could be produced by only one perso and still
remain legible. Block printing was a way to mass-produce texts, but it was very expensive to
produce and purchase. The printing press solved these problems by creating a new mechanical
printing with movable type that promoted the spread of learning to the mass.
The introduction of the printing press caused the English language to develop in ways that
never existed. Meanwhile, while the language was fully utilised in a spoken form, not everyone
was able to understand the written form of English in its massive availability. In other words,
words the presence of the printing press caused illiteracy to become evident, hence opening
the door to a new social dilemma.
The bringing of the printing press to England stabilised spelling and grammar because more
books were being produced, there was a need to write Words in the same way, so a standard
spelling had to be agreed upon. Readers of this time, after the development of the printing
press, would have found Old English to be almost incomprehensible, just as 1most modern
readers find Chaucer's language impossible to understand today. This standardisation in
spellings, grammar, etc. led to the homogenization of the English language.
The printing of books and letters in high number standardized the languages and make them an
effective tool of communication by setting certain meanings of words, phrases, symbols and
signs. Caxton is credited with standardising the English language through printing-that is,
homogenising regional dialects and largely adopting the London dialect. This facilitated the
expansion of English vocabulary, the regularisation of inflection and syntax, and a widening gap
between the spoken and the written word.
One of the most important effects of the printing press was its influence on the standardization
of the English language. At first, most printers were not native English speakers. They printed
works as they were presented to them, and often did not catch errors. Spelling and punctuation
were the responsibilities of the author and not the printer. Because of this the printing press
did not have an immediate impact of the English language. After the printing press began to
grow in England, printers fixed these errors, as they pushed for standardization in publishing.
The English used by authors whose works were printed began to become the standard. Works
were published with standard uniform spelling and punctuation. Printed works became more
popular, leading more people to learn how to read. This grammar became standard as the
works that they read employed it. Most printers were located in London, which meant
The printing press brought communication revolution into society. English received influences
from other languages. Such effect brought in new words, hence expanding the language
lexicon. With every new publication, although later in the future, different words were penned
or different senses and meanings were attributed to them, which, in other words, caused the
nature of the language to become enhanced and revitalized. This is possible how people
developed more complex concepts for actual happenings.
The printing press made it easier and quicker to produce copies of works. It also helped spread
ideas and standardize the English language. Compared to previous methods of distributing
information, the printing press allowed these to be delivered accurately and at speed. This
helped new ideas in the worlds of science and philosophy in particular to spread, which opened
up debate on a global scale. It also allowed news and facts to be shared much more quickly
than before, in an accessible form for the masses. It’s no exaggeration to say the printing press
revolutionised the world we live in. The first press marked a clear shift away from handwritten
books to printed ones, but the changes the press initiated are far greater than this.
Over time the moveable printing press developed into faster, higher capacity presses which
ultimately changed the world. One of the main benefits of the printing press was that it allowed
ideas and news to be shared quickly which helped usher in the Renaissance, Reformation, the
Age of Enlightenment and the scientific revolution. It is thought that as the number of
newspapers, journals, magazines and books increased, so did people’s literacy levels. Prior to
the invention of the printing press, books were written by scholars one at a time which lead to
small pockets of knowledge but no widespread form of idea sharing. After the development of
the printing press, literary works were much more readily available and this meant more people
took an interest in reading and education. It wasn’t until after the printing press was invented
that public libraries were developed.
Today it is hard to imagine a world without printed material – even in the digital age, products
produced by presses are still an integral part of daily life.
