Literary Language - Literary English

Literary English

For literary uses of English, see Literary technique. For formal English, see Standard English. For written English, see Standard Written English.

Literary language is a register that is used in literary criticism and general discussion on some literary work.(tahir) For much of its history there has been a distinction in the English language between an elevated literary language and a colloquial language. After the Norman conquest of England, for instance, Latin and French displaced English as the official and literary languages and Standard literary English did not emerge until the end of the Middle Ages. At this time and into the renaissance, the practice of aureation (the introduction of terms from classical languages, often through poetry) was an important part of the reclamation of status for the English language, and many historically aureate terms are now part of general common usage. Modern English no longer has quite the same distinction between literary and colloquial registers.

English has been used as a literary language in countries that were formerly part of the British Empire, for instance India up to the present day, Malaysia in the early twentieth century, and Nigeria, where English remains the official language.