Changes in the English language

[Nightmare85]

Hello friends,
I would like to know if there have been any changes in the English language the last years.
The German language has been changed a lot of times for the last years.
Concretely said: New grammar rules.
Of course the language is still the same, but let's say it's something like an updated version.
Example:
The English word lock (on a door) was in German 'Schloß'.
However, they changed it to 'Schloss', because the 'o' gets pronounced very shortly.

I'm not aware of any changes in the English language, but I'm sure there are some...

P.S. I would have some ideas :-D

Cheers!

 

[konungursvia]

French and German are changed by convention, i.e. an academy of experts who make a decision. English doesn't have this, it changes by itself. This is of course far more organic, which is why most new words nowadays come from English. It's wildly creative and unfettered by conservatism. So, yes, it's changing all the time.

One example: "they" is now also a singular neuter pronoun. It's not in the books yet, but no one notices anything wrong if you use it to mask whether it's a he or she.

Another: "access" used to be a noun, but now it's also a verb meaning to gain access.

There are thousands of examples, in vocabulary, pronunciation, abreviation, grammar, etc.

 

[riquecohen]

When I was in school, I learned that you never end a sentence with a preposition. I still teach this although we frequently hear sentences which end in prepositons. E.g.-Who are you going with?; What did he ask for?