Source: https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-6-late-modern-english

[Revision notes](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes.md) › [A Level](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level.md) › [English Language](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language.md) › [AQA](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa.md) › Late Modern English

# Late Modern English

English Language: AQA A Level, topic 3.6.6

## Prescriptivism

Late Modern English refers to the period from around 1700 to 1900, it is characterised by the rise of prescriptivism and prescriptivist attitudes. Here are a few important individuals/organisations to know about for your exam:

### Jonathan Swift

![Jonathan Swift](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-03/b044e71d-cffa-4072-91b2-517dd2ce075a/shutterstock_428992165.jpg)

- Swift was a writer (he wrote Gulliver’s Travels) and he was appalled at the state of English. He wrote about how spoken and written English was riddled with ‘abuses’ and ‘absurdities’. 
- He wrote a book about ‘Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue’. 
- Swift proposed that we eliminated ‘defective’ grammar and employed more archaic grammar systems.

### Académie française

![Académie française](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/memory-location-images/Paris,%20France-min.jpeg)

- Swift's core argument, however, was that we employ a system like the ‘Académie française’.
- This French institution controlled and limited what came into the French language – they confirmed or rejected new words and protected French grammar syntax.

### Robert Lowth

![Robert Lowth](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-04/7dce85b4-2c6f-408b-b10d-876aa030cfd2/shutterstock_667978948.jpg)

- Lowth’s grammar book became incredibly influential and many children were taught from it.
- Lowth’s personal bugbear (and this was a personal stylistic choice) was that multiple negation (double negatives) should be banned. 
- Before this, double negatives were very much in use – writers like Chaucer and Shakespeare often used double negatives.

### Multiple negation

![Multiple negation](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/dd9a5e37-3238-4caf-952a-e2b22969df54/minus-negative-.png)

- Originally, the more negatives, the more negative the phrase. Many languages still use multiple negation for this purpose. 
- Lowth’s reason behind suggesting this stemmed from the fact that two negatives make a positive in maths and therefore our language should be the same.
- He also believed that we should never start a sentence with a preposition.

### Lindley Murray

![Lindley Murray](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2025-09/a4cc82be-7517-4cc5-b62c-c53e370207c4/187ec415-30e4-4635-9525-5c5454f24580.png)

- Murray believed that we shouldn’t split infinitives. 
- For example, we should always use ‘to dance beautifully’ rather than ‘to beautifully dance’.

## Industrial Revolution and the British Empire

The biggest driver for change in this period was the Industrial Revolution and later the rise of the British Empire.

### Change

![Change](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-04/961ed026-976c-41c8-b921-b91214004a87/shutterstock_516231499.jpg)

- The Industrial Revolution saw change on a massive scale.
- Geographical movement towards cities (e.g. the Liverpudlian accent was formed as a result of mass Irish migration) and away from countryside.
- Vast improvements on technology (which leads to lexical change).
- Greater emphasis on social class.

### Social divides

![Social divides](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2025-09/aaa228b1-c9bc-4b81-94fc-555bfbf95f7b/fc9e8433-d831-4f05-a8f7-d9dd12ef13c3.png)

- The divides between the labouring classes and the capitalist bosses exploiting cheap labour became greater.
- This was evident through their use (or lack of) of Standard English.

### Empire

![Empire](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/6c4f07f2-bc4d-4b46-973d-d9b59d692f26/british-empire-.jpg)

- Towards the middle of this period, the British Empire began to rise. 
- The colonisation of countries led to English borrowing various terms from places like India (like ‘bungalow’). 
- Within this, we see the rise of America (but more on them later!).

### Global language

![Global language](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-04/49adf88e-7fda-4790-b4d9-ed6f424d60f7/shutterstock_374685553.jpg)

- At this point, English starts to become a global language – a language recognised around the world. 
- As we pillaged and imported global goods (and words), we exported our language. For more on this, see the section on ‘Global English’.
- The important thing to note on this section is that standard use of grammar becomes pretty much fixed at this point.

## Test yourself on Late Modern English

- Whose grammar book became incredibly influential?
- When did English start to become a global language?

[Practise this topic for free](https://app.senecalearning.com/classroom/course/1e248169-fb0c-4ca7-9692-7c46f316728b/section/058bd074-13ba-465d-ae57-5d7ad615040b/session)

- Previous topic: [3.6.5 Early Modern English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-5-early-modern-english.md)
- Next topic: [3.6.7 Present Day English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-7-present-day-english.md)

## English Language: AQA A Level contents

### 1 Language Levels
- 1.1 Assessment Objectives
  - [1.1.1 Assessment Objectives](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-1-1-assessment-objectives.md)
- 1.2 Lexis
  - [1.2.1 Introduction](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-1-introduction.md)
  - [1.2.2 Common, Proper, Abstract & Concrete Nouns](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-2-common-proper-abstract-and-concrete-nouns.md)
  - [1.2.3 Collective Nouns](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-3-collective-nouns.md)
  - [1.2.4 Adjectives](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-4-adjectives.md)
  - [1.2.5 Main, Auxiliary & Copular Verbs](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-5-main-auxiliary-and-copular-verbs.md)
  - [1.2.6 Dynamic & Stative Verbs](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-6-dynamic-and-stative-verbs.md)
  - [1.2.7 Transitive, Intransitive, Active & Passive Verbs](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-7-transitive-intransitive-active-and-passive-verbs.md)
  - [1.2.8 Mood of Verbs](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-8-mood-of-verbs.md)
  - [1.2.9 Adverbs](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-9-adverbs.md)
  - [1.2.10 Personal, Possessive & Reflexive Pronouns](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-10-personal-possessive-and-reflexive-pronouns.md)
  - [1.2.11 Relative & Demonstrative Pronouns](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-11-relative-and-demonstrative-pronouns.md)
  - [1.2.12 Determiners](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-12-determiners.md)
  - [1.2.13 Conjunctions](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-13-conjunctions.md)
  - [1.2.14 Synonyms, Antonyms & Phonological Features](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-14-synonyms-antonyms-and-phonological-features.md)
  - [1.2.15 End of Topic Test - Lexis](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-2-15-end-of-topic-test-lexis.md)
- 1.3 Grammar
  - [1.3.1 Morphology](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-3-1-morphology.md)
  - [1.3.2 Clauses](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-3-2-clauses.md)
  - [1.3.3 Phrases](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-3-3-phrases.md)
  - [1.3.4 Present Tense](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-3-4-present-tense.md)
  - [1.3.5 Past Tense](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-3-5-past-tense.md)
  - [1.3.6 Future Tense](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-3-6-future-tense.md)
  - [1.3.7 End of Topic Test - Grammar](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-3-7-end-of-topic-test-grammar.md)
- 1.4 Semantics & Pragmatics
  - [1.4.1 Semantics](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-4-1-semantics.md)
  - [1.4.2 Pragmatics](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-4-2-pragmatics.md)
- 1.5 Discourse Structure, Graphology & Orthography
  - [1.5.1 Discourse Structure](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-5-1-discourse-structure.md)
  - [1.5.2 Graphology & Orthography](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-5-2-graphology-and-orthography.md)
  - [1.5.3 End of Topic Test - Semantics, Graphology etc.](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/1-5-3-end-of-topic-test-semantics-graphology-etc.md)

### 2 Language, The Individual & Society
- 2.1 Children’s Language Development
  - [2.1.1 The Exam](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-1-the-exam.md)
  - [2.1.2 Phonemes, Vocal Tract & Articulation](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-2-phonemes-vocal-tract-and-articulation.md)
  - [2.1.3 Writing About Phonemes](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-3-writing-about-phonemes.md)
  - [2.1.4 Phonological Simplification](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-4-phonological-simplification.md)
  - [2.1.5 A Child's First Year & Consonant Acquisition](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-5-a-childs-first-year-and-consonant-acquisition.md)
  - [2.1.6 Beginning Stages of Language](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-6-beginning-stages-of-language.md)
  - [2.1.7 Lexical Development](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-7-lexical-development.md)
  - [2.1.8 Stages of Development](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-8-stages-of-development.md)
  - [2.1.9 End of Topic Test - Child Language Development](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-1-9-end-of-topic-test-child-language-development.md)
- 2.2 Children's Language Development - Theories
  - [2.2.1 Behaviourism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-1-behaviourism.md)
  - [2.2.2 Interactionism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-2-interactionism.md)
  - [2.2.3 Challenging Interactionism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-3-challenging-interactionism.md)
  - [2.2.4 Nativism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-4-nativism.md)
  - [2.2.5 Nativism - Exam Answer](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-5-nativism-exam-answer.md)
  - [2.2.6 Cognitivism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-6-cognitivism.md)
  - [2.2.7 Social Constructionism](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-7-social-constructionism.md)
  - [2.2.8 Writing About Spoken Acquisition](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-8-writing-about-spoken-acquisition.md)
  - [2.2.9 End of Topic Test - Development Theories](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-2-9-end-of-topic-test-development-theories.md)
- 2.3 Literacy Development: Reading
  - [2.3.1 Introduction](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-3-1-introduction.md)
  - [2.3.2 Phonics vs Whole Word](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-3-2-phonics-vs-whole-word.md)
  - [2.3.3 Debates in Reading](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-3-3-debates-in-reading.md)
  - [2.3.4 Modelling Reading Acquisition](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-3-4-modelling-reading-acquisition.md)
  - [2.3.5 Other Reading Theories](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-3-5-other-reading-theories.md)
  - [2.3.6 End of Topic Test - Reading](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-3-6-end-of-topic-test-reading.md)
- 2.4 Literacy Development: Writing
  - [2.4.1 Orthography](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-4-1-orthography.md)
  - [2.4.2 Kroll's Theory](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-4-2-krolls-theory.md)
  - [2.4.3 Barclay's Theory](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-4-3-barclays-theory.md)
  - [2.4.4 Creativity vs Accuracy](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-4-4-creativity-vs-accuracy.md)
  - [2.4.5 Other Writing Theories](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-4-5-other-writing-theories.md)
  - [2.4.6 The Exam](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-4-6-the-exam.md)
  - [2.4.7 End of Topic Test - Writing](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/2-4-7-end-of-topic-test-writing.md)

### 3 Language Diversity & Change
- 3.1 The Importance of Gendered Language
  - [3.1.1 Writing About Gender](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-1-1-writing-about-gender.md)
  - [3.1.2 Dominance Theory](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-1-2-dominance-theory.md)
  - [3.1.3 Interruptions - Zimmerman & West](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-1-3-interruptions-zimmerman-and-west.md)
  - [3.1.4 Deficit Theory](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-1-4-deficit-theory.md)
  - [3.1.5 Difference Model](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-1-5-difference-model.md)
  - [3.1.6 Difference Model - Men](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-1-6-difference-model-men.md)
  - [3.1.7 Diversity Model](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-1-7-diversity-model.md)
  - [3.1.8 End of Topic Test - Gendered Language](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-1-8-end-of-topic-test-gendered-language.md)
- 3.2 Social Groups
  - [3.2.1 Writing About Social Groups](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-2-1-writing-about-social-groups.md)
  - [3.2.2 Social Class](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-2-2-social-class.md)
  - [3.2.3 Social Class 2](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-2-3-social-class-2.md)
  - [3.2.4 Age](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-2-4-age.md)
  - [3.2.5 Age - Teen Speak](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-2-5-age-teen-speak.md)
  - [3.2.6 Milroy’s Belfast Study](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-2-6-milroys-belfast-study.md)
  - [3.2.7 Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Study](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-2-7-labovs-marthas-vineyard-study.md)
  - [3.2.8 End of Topic Test - Social Groups](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-2-8-end-of-topic-test-social-groups.md)
- 3.3 Occupational Groups
  - [3.3.1 Writing About Occupational Groups](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-3-1-writing-about-occupational-groups.md)
  - [3.3.2 Jargon](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-3-2-jargon.md)
  - [3.3.3 Conversations](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-3-3-conversations.md)
  - [3.3.4 Hierarchy & Power](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-3-4-hierarchy-and-power.md)
  - [3.3.5 End of Topic Test - Occupational Groups](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-3-5-end-of-topic-test-occupational-groups.md)
- 3.4 Accents & Dialects
  - [3.4.1 Writing About Accent & Dialect](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-4-1-writing-about-accent-and-dialect.md)
  - [3.4.2 Introduction to Accents & Dialects](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-4-2-introduction-to-accents-and-dialects.md)
  - [3.4.3 Accents - Matched Guide Experiment](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-4-3-accents-matched-guide-experiment.md)
  - [3.4.4 Accents - Received Pronunciation & Brummie](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-4-4-accents-received-pronunciation-and-brummie.md)
  - [3.4.5 Dialects - Dialectal Variations](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-4-5-dialects-dialectal-variations.md)
  - [3.4.6 Accent & Dialect Case Study - London](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-4-6-accent-and-dialect-case-study-london.md)
  - [3.4.7 End of Topic Test - Accents & Dialects](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-4-7-end-of-topic-test-accents-and-dialects.md)
- 3.5 Language Change
  - [3.5.1 Writing About Language Change](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-5-1-writing-about-language-change.md)
  - [3.5.2 Modelling Change](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-5-2-modelling-change.md)
  - [3.5.3 Modelling Change 2](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-5-3-modelling-change-2.md)
  - [3.5.4 Lexical Change](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-5-4-lexical-change.md)
  - [3.5.5 Semantic Change](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-5-5-semantic-change.md)
  - [3.5.6 End of Topic Test - Language Change](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-5-6-end-of-topic-test-language-change.md)
- 3.6 History of English
  - [3.6.1 Old English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-1-old-english.md)
  - [3.6.2 Old English 2](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-2-old-english-2.md)
  - [3.6.3 Middle English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-3-middle-english.md)
  - [3.6.4 Middle English 2](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-4-middle-english-2.md)
  - [3.6.5 Early Modern English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-5-early-modern-english.md)
  - [3.6.6 Late Modern English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-6-late-modern-english.md)
  - [3.6.7 Present Day English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-7-present-day-english.md)
  - [3.6.8 Global English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-8-global-english.md)
  - [3.6.9 American English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-9-american-english.md)
  - [3.6.10 Modelling Global English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-10-modelling-global-english.md)
  - [3.6.11 End of Topic Test - History of English](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/a-level/english-language/aqa/3-6-11-end-of-topic-test-history-of-english.md)