2020-08-05
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Also significant beginning around 1600 AD was the English colonization of North America and the subsequent creation of American English. Some pronunciations and usages "froze" when they reached the American shore. In certain respects, some varieties of American English are closer to the English of Shakespeare than modern Standard English ('English English ' or as it is often incorrectly termed 'British English') is. Some "Americanisms" are actually originally English English expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost at home (e.g., fall as a synonym for autumn, trash for rubbish, and loan as a verb instead of lend).
The American dialect also served as the route of introduction for many native American words into the English language. Most often, these were place names like Mississippi, Roanoke, and Iowa. Indian-sounding names like Idaho were sometimes created that had no native-American roots. But, names for other things besides places were also common. Raccoon, tomato, canoe, barbecue, savanna, and hickory have native American roots, although in many cases the original Indian words were mangled almost beyond recognition.
Spanish has also been great influence on American English. M ustang, canyon, ranch, stampede, and vigilante are all examples of Spanish words that made their way into English through the settlement of the American West.
A lesser number of words have entered American English from French and West African languages.
Likewise dialects of English have developed in many of the former colonies of the British Empire. There are distinct forms of the English language spoken in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and many other parts of the world.
Global English
English has now inarguably achieved global status. Whenever we turn on the news to find out what's happening in East Asia, or the Balkans, or Africa, or South America, or practically anywhere, local people are being interviewed and telling us about it in English. To illustrate the point when Pope John Paul II arrived in the Middle East recently to retrace Christ's footsteps and addressed Christians, Muslims and Jews, the pontiff spoke not Latin, not Arabic, not Italian, not Hebrew, not his native Polish. He spoke in English.
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Indeed, if one looks at some of the facts about the amazing reach of the English language many would be surprised. English is used in over 90 countries as an official or semi-official language. English is the working language of the Asian trade group ASEAN. It is the de facto working language of 98 percent of international research physicists and research chemists. It is the official language of the European Central Bank, even though the bank is in Frankfurt and neither Britain nor any other predominantly English-speaking country is a member of the European Monetary Union. It is the language in which Indian parents and black parents in South Africa overwhelmingly wish their children to be educated. It is believed that over one billion people worldwide are currently learning English.
One of the more remarkable aspects of the spread of English around the world has been the extent to which Europeans are adopting it as their internal lingua franca. English is spreading from northern Europe to the south and is now firmly entrenched as a second language in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark. Although not an official language in any of these countries if one visits any of them it would seem that almost everyone there can communicate with ease in English. Indeed, if one switches on a television in Holland one would find as many channels in English (albeit
subtitled as there are in Dutch.
As part of the European Year of Languages, a special survey of European attitudes towards and their use of languages has just published. The report confirms that at the beginning of 2001 English is the most widely known foreign or second language, with 43% of Europeans claiming they speak it in addition to their mother tongue. Sweden now heads the league table of English speakers, with over 89% of the population saying they can speak the language well or very well. However, in contrast, only 36% of Spanish and Portuguese nationals speak English. What's more, English is the language rated as most useful to know, with over 77% of Europeans who do not speak English as their first language, rating it as useful. French rated 38%, German 23% and Spanish 6% English has without a doubt become the global language.
Study Guide
Introduction:
1. - What family of languages does English belong to? Refer to the other families of languages within the Indo-European group and provide examples.
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2. - What are ‘cognates’? Provide a dictionary definition.
Old English Period:
3. - When did this period begin and how?
4. - Who were the Angles, Saxons and Jutes and where did they come from?
5. - What’s the origin of the word ‘English’?
6. - What language was used in Britain before these invaders arrived and what happened to it?
7. - What influence did the Vikings have in the development of English and what words have a Viking origin?
8. - What features did Old English have? (TO BE DISCUSSED IN CLASS)
Middle English Period:
9. - Who was William the Conqueror and when did he arrive in Britain?
10. - Where did he come from and why was he interested in Britain? (IN CLASS)
11. - What was the impact of this arrival?
12.- What was the Norman contribution to the English language? Provide examples of words derived from the Norman dialect.
13. - What socio-linguistic phenomenon took place with the introduction of the Norman dialect? Analyse the case of the words ‘cow’ and ‘beef’.
14. - Prior to the Norman Conquest, what influence did Latin have in the development of English?
15. - What words have a Latin origin? Provide some examples.
16. - How did words combine, replace each other and coexist within the Anglo-Norman period?
17. - Why is the year 1204 significant in the process of consolidation of the English language?
18.- What was the impact of the Black Death in the development of the English language?
19.- Refer to the Statute of Pleading (1362): (TO ENLARGE IN CLASS)
a. - socio-political context
b. - content
c. - importance
20. - Who was Chaucer in terms of his importance to the development of the English language? (IN CLASS)
Modern English:
21. - What was the Renaissance and how did the English language develop during this period? (TO ENLARGE IN CLASS)
22.- Mention some features of Elizabethan English and the influences of Shakespeare. Provide examples and meanings of words and idioms first coined by him.
23.- How did the Great Vowel Shift affect the development of the English language? Provide examples of everyday words that started to be pronounced differently.
24.- How did the advent of the printing press influence the development of English? Refer to standardization and the publication of the first dictionary in English.
25. - What important historical events influenced the development of Late-Modern English? Explain and provide examples of words that appeared in each period.
26.- What is a ‘neologism’? Provide a dictionary definition.
27.- What changes were introduced during the twentieth century? Provide examples.
Varieties of English & American English:
28.- What happened with the development of English in regard to the creation of the United States? Provide examples of Americanisms and words derived from the native American languages.
29.- How did Spanish words enter the English language? Provide examples.
Global English:
30. - What does the following statement mean? ‘English has now inarguably achieved global status.’
31.- Provide figures that illustrate the spread of the English language at present.
32.- What’s the situation of the English language in Europe nowadays?
Comparison:
33. - Go back to this section of the text and read the passage in Old, Middle and Modern English. What is it about? How would a contemporary version read?
Final question:
Draw a timeline showing the different groups who lived in Britain and influenced the development of the English language in some way.
