The English Language David Crystal

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¤ The English Language Today

0 Taking into account first- and second-language speakers, which proportion of the world’s population seems to be competent in English?

There are 400 million people for who English is the first language, 400 million people who are second-language speakers

and 700 million people who are foreign-language speakers. So, 1.5 billion people (which represent a quarter of the world‟s

population) are competent in English. Sometimes you hear that everyone can speak English but it‟s a great overstatement!

75% of the world can‟t speak English, or just a little bit.

> What are the main varieties of pidgin Englishes?

There are two big families in Pidgin Englishes: one is in the Atlantic and the other one is in the Pacific. The Atlantic varieties

developed in West Africa, and were transported to the West Indies and America during the years of the slave trade. In Africa,

they are still widely used in the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria and Cameroon. The Pacific varieties are

found in a wide sweep across the south-western part of the ocean, from the coast of China to the northern part of Australia, in

such places as Hawaii, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

In the Americas, they are found in most of the islands and on the mainland, spoken largely by the black population.

> Why do they often seem to be “in a no win situation”?

Pidgins quick disappear for two reasons.

The first reason is that many pidgins grew up for trading purposes between countries. But when the countries which were in

contact stopped trading with each other, the pidgins also stopped.

The second reason is that if a trading contact is very successful, and contact builds up over the years, the people will very likely

learn each other‟s language. There will then be no reason to continue using pidgins.

That is why pidgins are in a no win situation. It‟s rare to find a pidgin during more than a century.

> Are there exceptions to this “no win situation”? Explain.

Yes, there are.

In multilingual parts of the world, the pidgin becomes a common language (or lingua franca) because the people in contact

find it very useful.

It happened to Sabir, a pidginized form of French used along the Mediterranean coast from the Middle Ages until the 20 th

century.

It has also happened in Nigeria but, above all, it has happened in Papua Guinea. Tok Pisin is known or used by over a million

people – more than any other language in the country.

* A pidgin is the name given to any language created, usually spontaneously, out of a mixture of other languages as a

means of communication between speakers of different tongues. Pidgins have simple grammars and few synonyms,

serving as auxiliarly contact languages. They are learned as second languages rather than natively.

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¤ Grammar

0 Why do many people think that English does not have much grammar? (two main reasons)

For centuries, people had to know Latin to be accepted in educated society. Their knowledge of grammar was based on how

that language worked. When people started to analyse the English grammar in the 18th century, they compared it to Latin. As

English had no word-endings, it seemed it had no “grammar”.

People also feel that only the written language is worth bothering about, and that spoken English has “less” grammar. In writ-

ten language we usually have time to think about grammar but in spoken language, we do not have the time to plan what we

want to say.

0 Which factors is substantially more important than word-endings in English grammar?

Most of English grammar is taken up with the rules governing the order in which words can appear: syntax. The meaning of

the sentences alters sometimes dramatically once the order varies.

Example: The man with a dog saw me/The man saw me with a dog.

Native speakers usually know the order instinctively but explaining why this is so to anyone is a specialist skill.

0 What is the historical origin of the widespread prejudice that grammar is boring?

In the 18th century, when the first influential grammars of English were written, rules were taught at school and in high society.

The reason why older generations so strongly despise the English grammar is that they were severely punished if they didn‟t

obey the rules. They thought that a bad speaking or writing would lead to social criticism and reduce career prospects, and in

the short term to a more immediate form of suffering. (Physical punishment)

0 The main complaints about grammar (p 30-31):

> Think of one personal example in which it is preferable to separate „to‟ from the verb.

She decided to gradually get rid of the teddy bears she had collected. -> Getting rid is gradual

She gradually decided to get rid of the teddy bears she had collected. -> Deciding is gradual

The best way to avoid using split infinitives is usually via a change in lexical choices. However, in spoken language, phonetic

stresses and timing is usually all that is needed for a sentence's actual implications to be understood.

> What is implied by each ot the sentences: I only spoke to GW/I spoke only to GW.

I spoke andI only spoke to GW did nothing else.

I spoke to him and no oneI spoke only to GW else.

> Should „none‟ always be followed by a singular?

None should never be followed by a plural verb, as in “none of the cows are in the field”.

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But it is argued that „none‟ is a singular form, and should therefore take a singular verb. But usage has been influenced by the

plural meaning of none, especially when followed by plural „noun‟: “none of the cows are ill‟= “they are not ill”.

> „Different from‟ or „different to‟?

Different should be followed by „from‟ and not by „to‟ or „than‟.

The first syllable of „different‟ in Latin: „dis‟= “from”. But „to‟ has become the more frequent British usage, perhaps because of

the influence of „similar to‟, „opposed to‟, etc.

„Than‟ is frequent in American English

> In which situations are final prepositions normal?

In formal English, the rule tends to be followed (a sentence shouldn‟t end with a preposition).

But in informal usage, final prepositions are normal

That is the man to whom I wasExample: Formal talking.

That‟s the man I was talking to.Informal

> Is „I shall‟ as a future tense as compulsory as it used to be?

There has been a tendency to replace „shall‟ by „will‟ for well over a century. It is hardly ever used in American Irish or Scots

English, and is becoming less common in other varieties. Shall is still used for commands or for questions: “You shall do this.”

“Shall I open the window?”

> What is the alternative for “Here‟s the lady to whom I was speaking” in spoken English?

Here‟s the lady (that) I was speaking to.

> How correct is it to say “He hasn‟t done nothing”?

Double negative should be avoided. This construction is no longer acceptable in standard English. However, it is extremely

common in non-standard speech throughout the world. Note that in the non-standard use the two negatives don‟t cancel each

other out, and make a positive, they make a more emphatic negative.

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¤ Vocabulary

0 Give one personal example of a word with each of the eight more common prefixes in English, and do the same with each of the eight more common suffixes.

> Prefixes

1) Anticlockwise

2) Co-owner

3) To detect

4) Ex-wife

5) Non- stop

6) A superpower

7) Ultrasound

8) Unoccupied

> Suffixes

1) bearable

2) domination

3) engineer

4) successful

5) selfish

6) booklet

7) sturdiness

8) hopefully

0 What’s conversion ? Give three examples, using different kinds of words.

Conversion is the fact of making new words just by changing the way they are used in a sentence without adding prefixes or

suffixes.

1) verbs can be converted from nouns: to button a shirt

2) noun can be made from adjctives: they are regulars

3) verbs can be made from prepositions: to down a drink (vider un verre)

0 Why has English always been a “vacuum-cleaner” of a language? Are the main objections to this trend at all acceptable?

English has always been a “vacuum-cleaner” of a language because it has always sucked in words from other languages at

every opportunity. People were keen on incorporating loan-words. Howewer, people are right to complain when they perceive

that it can remove a useful distinction in meaning or add an ambiguity.

0 In particular, what should we think of the “etymological fallacy” ?

An etymological fallacy is a linguistical misconception based on the idea that the etymology of a word is its actual meaning.

For example, the meaning of the word prevent may be thought to signify "to go before" based on its etymology: from the Latin

prae + venire. This falsely deduced meaning is a fallacy due to the fact that it fails to take into account semantic changes over

time. Etymology is never a true guide to meaning because what a word may have meant at one point in its history is not rele-

vant for later periods. It is fascinating to see how it is changing but we must not condemn new senses.

Ex: nice: In Old French: silly

In Shakespeare‟s time: fastidious

In Latin: ignorant

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¤ Pronunciation

0 Why has it been necessary to develop a special system of phonetic transcription? Develop this point thoroughly.

We all think that there are only five vowels. In fact, there are 20 vowel sounds in most English accent. This set of vowel is used

in the Received Pronunciation. Because there are not enough written vowel symbols, it was necessary to create a special system

of transcription to identify each one. It is called “the phonetic transcription” (see the board in the book).

It is the same for the consonants. In the written alphabet, there are 21 consonant letters. In fact, there are 24 consonant

sounds in Received Pronunciation. Many sounds are spelled with two letters in writing (see the board in the book).

0 What is a phoneme?

When you change one segment of a word, you can change the meaning of a word. The sounds which can do this are called

“phonemes”.

For example: man, map, mat, met, let, lit, slit, split.

0 Why is it more accurate to write a transcription of a sentence with no separation between words? In which case is this particularly apposite?

I should be surprised if John and Mary were late.

Many people think that this sentence is made up of a sequence of single sounds and that words are separated by tiny pauses.

This attitude is the result of being brainwashed by years of thinking that language is a written language. In fact, there is no

pause between the words. The sounds run together. For having a better impression of how speech works, we should better

write the transcription without holes between the words.

0 What is assimilation? What is elision? Give one example of each.

Let‟s take the following sentence: I should be surprised if John and Mary were late.

Assimilation: when one sound is influenced by another.

Here, in “were”, the sound changes because it is followed by a word, here the word “late”.

Elision: when the sound is dropped completely.

Here, the “d” of “should” is dropped because the “b” of “be” / the “d” of “and” is dropped because of the “m” of “Mary”.

0 What is the most common pronunciation lapse by speakers of Received Pronunciation (as on BBC)? Explain thoroughly.

The speakers of Received Pronunciation put an “r” between vowels when there is no “r” in the spelling. It is called “the intrusive

„r‟ ”. Normally, only 4 vowels can be followed by this “r” (“four” / “car” / “fur” / “mother”) but over the years, people tend to

put an “r” in the end of nearly all words.

For example: Africa(r) / area(r) / drama(r) / idea(r)

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0 What do many BBC listeners still resent today in some new presenters’ speech?

When trying to sound friendly, some announcers use assimilations and elisions in their speech, which is normal when you

speak faster. But many listeners don‟t like it. In the same way, BBC presenters who don‟t use the RP are hated by many listeners;

some have even received hate mail. Also accents from Wales, Liverpool and southern England are criticized.

0 How come the accent associated with the south-east of England has eventually been ac-cepted as RP?

RP can be found anywhere in the country, but people who speak it mostly live or work in south-east of England. This is why RP

is associated with south-east of England.

0 Haven’t things changed to some extent in the last few decades?

- With the breakdown of strong social divisions and the development of the media mass, RP‟s importance has de-

creased these days

- It only refers to someone‟s education

- There are different varieties of RP. The most used remains the one heard on the BBC, but most people have devel-

oped a mix between RP and regional characteristics. It is called the “modified RP”.

- Not very used anymore, only 3% of English people still use it in a pure form.

0 What is “Estuary English”? How has it emerged?

It is a modified accent used since the 1980‟s. Actually, it didn‟t suddenly emerge at that time but it was built up during several

decades. People from London started to move outside the city and people from the outside came to London to find jobs (for

example). This moving process created a new accent, thus used by different social classes. The Estuary English refers more

precisely to the accent emerged in the counties around the Thames.

¤ Spelling

0 Is it accurate to say that English spelling is ‘chaotic’?

There is both regularity and irregularity in English spelling

Some words are spelled in a regular way

For example: the (I) sound in milk, fish, ship, little

However we have the impression that a lot of words in the English language are irregular

0 Which factor should be blamed for the difficulty to learn spelling experienced by many children?

Many people have the impression that they have devoted many time and energy to spelling in their childhood and have bad

memories of this period.

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Children have no being taught how to spell but have been forced to learn by heart, so to speak in a very unpleasant way, their

list of irregular words: a better pedagogy would give the reasons of these irregularities

0 What is the simple rule explaining the doubling of the consonants in ‘hopping’ or ‘shamming’?

First we have to distinguish short and long vowels

We can hear a short vowel in sit set, cot, cut, full

And long vowel in me, cars, say, go

The consonant sound is doubled is the verb contains a short vowel

For example: the verb „can‟ (pouvoir) is canning with two „n‟ because the „a‟ of can is spelled in a short way

But the verb „cane‟ (fouetter) is transformed in caning with one „n‟ because the „a‟ is in this case a long vowel

> What is the „r‟ doubled in „occurring‟?

Occurring has two „r‟ because the verb „occur‟ is spelled in one syllable so we know which syllable is stressed when it is trans-

formed in a longer word

In this case it is on the „u‟ occurring

Other examples:

Patrol → patrolling Permit → permitting

> Exceptions

There are relatively few exceptions. Several of which can be learned as „rules within rules‟.

× If the verb already ends in a double consonant, it keeps it, even if it has a long vowel sound, e.g. purr/purring,

err/erring.

× Verbs with a short vowel sound spelled with two vowel letters don‟t double the consonant, e.g. dread/dreading.

× Verbs ending in l, m, g, and (sometimes) p tend to double the consonant anyways, e.g. cancelling, programming,

humbugging, kidnapping. Usage varies between British and American English. Doubling is normal in British English,

for such words as travelling and worshipping. US English prefers the single consonant letter: traveling and worshiping.

× With a very few verbs ending in –s, both forms are possible, e.g. focusing/focussing, biasing/biassing.

× With verbs ending in a vowel followed by c, the doubling of c is spelled ck, e.g. panic/panicking.

0 Explain briefly some developments in spelling from medieval time onwards:

> In Old English

The English language spelling system is the result of changes for over 1,000 years.

The Roman missionaries used the 23 letter Latin alphabet which made no difference between I and J or U and V. They used

extra symbols from the local alphabet and create the „th‟ sound in such word as „think‟.

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> After the Norman Conquest

The Old English spelling wad replaced by the French scribes, they introduced the „qu‟ in „queen „ , the „gh‟ in such words as

„night‟ and replaced the „u‟ with an „o‟ in „come‟, „one‟

By the 15th century, the English spelling was a mixture of Old English and French.

> In the 16th century

The writers liked to show the history of a word and its spelling

> In the late 16th and early 17th century

There was a new wave of words in English from such languages as French, Latin, Greek, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.

These languages brought strange combinations of vowels and consonants (brusque, canoe, gazette, moustache, intrigue,

cocoa), which were un-English-looking spellings.

0 Explain the use of each correct word in the ‘dozen confusibles’ on page 81

to accept: to agree to

except: not including

the council: assembly

the counsel: advise

a license (usa), licence (uk): permit

to license: allow, authorize

a prophecy: prediction

to prophesy: to predict

the allusion: reference, mention

the illusion: false impression

the lightning: flashes

to lighten: to become clearer

to emend: to correct

to amend: to modify

stationery: material for the office

stationary: immobile

to be borne: to bear (carry, endure)

to be born: - in 1986

principal: main

the principle: theory

to complement: to harmonize

to sew: with the sewing machine the

compliment: kind word

to sow: to plant seeds(graines)

¤ English at Play

0 Among the numerous leisure activities discussed on pages 107-126, explain briefly what the following forms of playful language are:

> Riddles

Riddling is an intellectual verbal game. A riddle is a question and you have to guess the answer. Riddles are usually quite

short, and are largely found in children‟s games and conversation.

Ex: a women has 7 children, half of them are boys. How can this be possible? -> All the children are boys, so one half is boys

and so is the other half.

What has one voice, and walks on four legs in the morning, on two at noon, and on three in the evening? A man.

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The Exeter Book is the oldest collection of English poetry. It contains ninety-five riddles, probably dating from the eighth century.

Word-play has an enormous variety. It is found in every linguistic context used to express most emotions and subject-matters.

Puns for example are found in everyday context and are frequently heard in conversation.

> Puns

Pun: it is a word-play based on words which have different meanings but more or less the same pronunciation.

Ex: They replaced the baseball with an orange to add zest to the game.

Have you heard the joke about the airplane? No. Well, it was way over your head anyway.

Puns are not found with equal frequency in all parts of the English-speaking world: they are much less popular in the USA than

in Britain.

> English laugh at itself

English people laugh at the different accents of English users from different parts of the country or from other countries.

The English alphabet has also been a source of humour

Ex : K for teria (cafeteria)

N for mation (information)

Y for mistress (wife or mistress)

> Word games

Word games are another way to play with the English language. They can find hidden meanings in the words, they can try to

use them according to specially invented rules,….

The majority of British TV games seem to contain some kind of language element.

The crossword is the most popular of all word games. It was devised in the USA in 1913 by a journalist as a newspaper puzzle.

> Acrostic

Acrostic: it is a composition (read vertically) in which the first letter, syllable or word spells out another message.

Ex: Renee is

Energetic,

Never bored,

Extremely helpful

Extra kind.

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> Anagrams

Anagram: it is a word or a phrase formed by changing the order of the letters in another word or phrase. It is also possible to

find an anagram which relates to the original in some way.

Ex: astronomers: moon-starers

Eleven plus two : twelve plus one

> Rebus

Rebus: it mixes letters, pictures and graphic symbols to make words and sentences.

> Palindromes

Palindromes: these are words or phrases which read the same in both directions. It is the same if you read it backwards or

forwards.

Ex: madam, eye

No, it never propagates if I set a gap or prevention.

0 Which meaning is mostly conveyed by a short vowel + ck ; by the ‘-le’ word ending ; and by the ‘sl’ consonant cluster ? Give two examples for each case.

When we linked a particular kind of sound with a particular kind of meaning this is called « sound symbolism ». When it hap-

pens in poetry it is called « onomatopoeia »

Single syllable words that end in a short vowel + ck often convey a sense of « sudden movement or sound »

Ex: click, hack,…

Words ending in –le often imply smallness or slightness

Ex: bubble, little,…

The sl consonant cluster is perhaps the best-known candidate for sound symbolism in English. Words beginning with sl are

said to convey negative or unpleasant associations.

Ex: slander, sly,…

But not all words beginning with sl are negative

Ex: sleep, slice, slalom,…

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¤ The Effect of Technology

0 What are « the core linguistic properties » common to the main net-related media (E-mails, World Wide Web, chatergroups both synchronous and asynchronous, and virtual world ac-tivities)?

The Internet is a new medium of linguistic communication which takes some of the properties of the two traditional mediums,

speech and writing. There are different ways in which this Netspeak manifests itself. For example:

• E-mail is the use of computer systems to transfer messages between individual users. It is the most daily used system

on the Internet, far much than the Web. E-mail means „electronic mail‟. It is dialogic. It seems to be like it was a face-to-face

conversation.

• The World Wide Web is the full collection of all the computers linked to the Internet which hold documents that are

mutually accessible through the use of a standard protocol (the HyperText Transfer Protocol, or http). The Web is the least

dialogic situation, but even there, many sites try to make their pages as interactive as possible. That is why the Internet com-

munication is described as „written speech‟. Web pages look most like traditional writing because there are e-versions of

newspaper pages which are graphically the same that printed versions. But the language of Web sites is not like traditional

print because Web sites can continuously change.

• Chatgroups. There are two kinds of chatgroups: synchronous and asynchronous ones:

- In a synchronous chatgroup, people „talk‟ in real time with others from around the world by entering a virtual „room‟.

They can talk about anything, from an everyday subject to the most specialized one. (e.g.: msn, caramail)

- In an asynchronous chatgroup, people leave messages in an electronic location which can then be read and re-

sponded to by other people at any time, on any subject, from hobbies to research debates. (e.g.: forum)

• The virtual world‟s activities are also very popular and are originally stimulated by fantasy games, in which people

adopted imaginary characters and began fighting. In their Internet form, where they are known as MUD‟s („Multi-User Dimen-

sions‟), they offer plenty of opportunities for people to construct an imaginary world. The players send text messages to each

other or interact with programmed „objects‟ located within their virtual world, simulating real-life situations, playing competitive

games, or just having a good chat.

Each of these situations has its own linguistic conventions; but they all display the same core linguistic properties:

- In none of these situations can the communicative activities be seen as equivalent to traditional writing or speech.

Most of the interactions are written in a dialogic form.

- Moreover it is a fast-moving dialogue where people are exchanging messages as fast as they can type.

- Most of e-texts can suddenly change: lines can appear and disappear, the webmaster can change a part in the text,

or its presentation, or an image… The size and the shape of images and words can also change. There are always animations

and movements.

0 Give three reasons why Netspeak is drastically different from traditional speech.

Netspeak is not like traditional speech. There are basic differences.

• It is not really possible to convey the intonation, stress, speed, rhythm, and tone of voice of speech in Netspeak as it is

possible in spoken language. In order to make the intonation clearly, users exaggerate punctuation marks, repeat letters, alter

capitalization and spacing, and add other symbols. (e.g.: aaaahhhh, hiiiiiii)

• It is impossible to convey the facial expressions and gestures which add so much meaning to face-to-face conversa-

tion. Attempts have been made to express on screen the meaning conveyed by these non-verbal aspects of communication,

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notably in the use of emoticons, or smileys, that are combinations of keyboard characters designed to show an emotional

facial expressions.

• It is not unable to employ the feedback features that play such an important role in face-to-face conversation. Mes-

sages sent via a computer are complete and unidirectional. When we write a message, it does not leave our computer until we

„send‟ it, and that means the whole of a message is transmitted at once, and arrives on the recipient‟s screen at once. The

recipient can‟t react to our message while it is being typed.

0 Why are e-texts radically « dynamic » (three reasons)?

• In e-mails, we can manipulate a received message while responding to it. We can divide a paragraph in two and type

our response within the message. We can edit the received text in any way we wish, before sending our response back to the

sender. („Quoting‟ procedure is called „framing‟). E-mail exchanges become extremely complex with a „nested‟ appearance,

(that means there are messages within messages within messages…), and there is certainly nothing like them in traditional

written language use.

• In chatgroups, we can „talk‟ to an indefinite number of people and pay equal attention to everything each of them is

saying. This contrasts with traditional multi-party conversations, where we may be surrounded by thirty people but we cannot

take part to all of their conversations at once. But on a chat screen, the contribution of each person appears on the screen

soon after it is typed, and we can devote equal attention to each. It is possible to follow any sub-conversations which may

emerge.

• Messages are persistent: they stay on the screen for a period of time (before other messages replace them). This

means that if someone enters a conversation in a chatroom quite some time after it has been made, he can still see the con-

versation and react to it. So it is possible to search a peculiar topic in an archive, while it is impossible in a spontaneous (unre-

corded) conversation. Everything you say has been recorded and may one day be used against you.

0 How widespread have « dotcom », @ and the e-prefix become? Give some examples.

A popular method of creating Internet neologisms is to combine two separate words to make a compound.

• Some compounds are found in electronic addresses, as a kind of infix, seen in net.legend, net.abuse, net.police, and

net.citizen, and sites beginning with alt., with the punctuation mark often spoken aloud as „dot‟. Dotcom is now a commonly

heard phrase, which appears in writing in all kinds of advertising and promotional material. Dotcom has been used as a gen-

eral adjective in dotcom organizations and dotcom crisis and in a lot of funny ways. In English, we have made the link between

com and come. (e.g.: .com and get it). The „dot‟ element is now introduced in all kinds of phrases. An example of advertising

in a station: can‟t www@it?

• The word at, often shown as @, is now the universal symbol that links the recipient to his address. It has been created

by a computer engineer, Ray Tomlinson, who needed a character which did not occur in names (and which means „someone

being „at‟ somewhere‟). It is used as a prefix: atcommand, atsign, @-party, @-address, @Home. These examples show how a

similar funny trend applies to the symbol @. What it is ironic with the @ symbol is that many firms and organizations have

replaced the letter a or at in their name by an @ (@llgood, @tractions, @Home). (It has even been added to text where the

word at would not normally appear: a postcard with the name of the recipient followed by @ and followed by the address,

name@address.)

• The e-prefix is often used in the replacement of a word-element by a similar sounding item, as in e-cruiting [„electronic

recruiting‟], e-cruiter, and e-tailing [„electronic retailing‟]. By now the e-prefix must have been used in hundreds of expressions

as in e-text, e-zine and e-money. Example : e-tailing and e-tailers [„retailing of the Internet‟], e-lance [„electronic freelance‟]

and e-lancers, e-therapy and e-therapists, e-management and e-managers, e-government, e-bandwagon, e-books, e-

conferences, e-voting, e-loan, e-newletters, e-security, e-cards, e-pinions, e-shop, e-list, and e-rage. Some of these words are

likely to make the standard English rapidly change by comparison with previous language changes.

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The speed of language change is now unprecedented. Traditionally, a new word entering the language would take a decade

or two before it became so widely used that it would be noted in dictionaries. But thanks to the Internet, the language change

increases more and more because a new word or compound can now travel the world and be rapidly used by a lot of people

within a few days. But this does not mean that every innovation will enter the English language in a permanent way; but it is

certainly going to be greater than before.

0 What does the abbreviation ‘SMS’ stand for?

SMS stands for short messaging service, often referred to as texting or text messaging.

0 Which linguistic revolution has been brought about by this new medium? Give a few exam-ples.

The challenge of the small screen size and its limited character space (about 160 characters, without scrolling), as well as the

small keypad, motivated the evolution of an even more abbreviated language than emerged in chatgroups and virtual worlds.

Some of the same abbreviations appear, either because of their 'obvious' rebus-like potential (e.g. NE1, 2day, B4, and C U l8r

['later'], Z ['said']) or because the generally youthful population of users were familiar with Netspeak shorthand in its other situa-

tions (e.g. Msg ['message'], BRB ['be right back']). Basic smileys are also used. Capital letters can be given syllabic values, as in

thN ['then'] and nEd ['need'].

The medium has motivated some new forms (e.g. c%l ['cool']) and its own range of direct-address items, such as F2T ['free to

talk?'], Mob ['mobile'], PCM ['please call me'], MMYT ['Mail me your thoughts'], and RUOK ['are you OK?']. Multi-word sen-

tences and sequences of response utterances, especially of a stereotyped kind, can be reduced to a sequence of initial letters:

SWDYT ['So what do you think?'], BCBC ['Beggars can't be choosers'], BTDT ['Been there, done that'], YYSSW ['Yeah, yeah, sure,

sure, whatever'], HHOJ ['Ha, ha, only joking']. Users seem to be aware of the information value of consonants as opposed to

vowels, judging by such vowel-less items as TXT ['text'] and XLNT ['excellent']. The process saves a great deal of time and en-

ergy (given the awkwardness of selecting letters on the small keypad); in a creation such as ru2cnmel8r ['Are you two seeing

me later?'], less than half the characters of the full form of the sentence are used. Even more ingenious coded abbreviations

have been devised, especially among those for whom argot is a desirable safeguard against unwelcome surveillance. The

panel illustrates some of the commoner usages.

It is impossible to say whether texting, as a language variety, is a passing phase or something permanent. Certainly it will

change as the technology develops and in response to as yet unknown technologies. What is plain is that we are only begin-

ning to sense the effects of computer-mediated technology on the English language. As the man said, 'We ain't seen nothing

yet.'

15

¤ Personal English

There are different ways to speak English. So, standard English differs from many individual features that we can ear when we

listen very carefully to people. We don‟t often pay attention to these differences, but in some cases, this personal use of the

language is considered as very important.

0 Authorship research

A typical case in which a study of a personal style is unavoidable, is for example the discovery of an old poem that you cannot

identify but which seems to be a Shakespeare‟s one. You would have to make comparisons with some of his works in order to

find similarities. But it is not so easy. Indeed, maybe someone would have made a copy of Shakespeare‟s style, but in this case,

we cannot discern it!

0 The Alvar Ellegard study.

It is another example where a linguist tried to discover the authorship of a work. In 1962, Alvar Ellegard wondered about the

authorship of a series of political letters criticizing the government and dating from the eighteenth century, which were signed

„Junius‟. The letters were very popular but nobody knew who the author was.

So, the linguist counted and compared the words contained in the letters with others political works from the same period.

He examined the way of using some words in place of others (like until that Junius preferred to till) and found that only one

writer in seven used this feature. He finally related the use of similar words by Junius with an author corresponding to the same

period: Sir Philip Francis.

So, Alvar Ellegard concluded that Sir Philip Francis was the author of these letters.

0 The Timothy Evans case.

For some years, the authorship research is used in some court cases. Through tape-recording, we can compare the stylistic

features of the defendant and establish differences or resemblances. But yet here, it is not so easy to avoid miscarriages of

justice. If the suspect is very choked, he might be saying incoherent things under the pressure during an oral statement. It was

the case in the years 50 of a man accused of murder. In 1968, a linguist examined his statements (the oral and the other writ-

ten down by the police). He found that the language of the suspect contained lots of opposite stylistic features.

For example:

× I DONE my day‟s work and then had an argument with the GUVNOR then I left the job. He GIVE me my wages be-

fore I went home.

non-standard speech

× She was INCURRING one debt after another and I could not stand it any longer (…) I took her down to her flat below

the same night WHILST the old man was in hospital.

unexpected from an illiterate person

16

The suspect also denied he had said the last paragraphs. The linguist examined these and made a list of similarities and differ-

ences in the whole text. For example, the use of then or and. These words are not used in the same proportion in the last

paragraphs.

It corroborate the suspect‟s denial (last paragraphs aren‟t from him).

¤ Old English

0 Which German tribes invaded Britain in AD 449?

The Saxons, the Angles, the Jutes. They invaded north Western Europe. They came from regions known as the Netherlands,

Germany and Denmark. Our main source of information about them is Bede‟s account titled “Ecclesiastical History of the

English Nation” (see p. 164), written in Latin about AD 731. This work is a work by the Venerable Bede on the history of the

Church in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.

0 What are the main similarities and differences between Old and Modern English as regards spelling, vocabulary and grammar?

Distinctive spelling, unfamiliar vocabulary, many grammatical differences.

> Spelling

In Old English there are symbols representing sounds which are not contained in the Latin alphabet. That‟s why Old English

looks alien to us (voir page 167 et 168 pour les symbols)

Ex: … as thorn sound “th”

… is “eth” from Scandinavian name

… (mid-way between a and e) is “ash”; to modern ears it‟s more the sound in “set” than in “sat”

… = was

… = that

The spelling is less fearsome

> Vocabulary

The majority of the words in the extract are closer than we might think to present-day English but similarities with Modern Eng-

lish are sometimes obscured by the spelling or the use of a prefix or suffix which has since disappeared.

- Singan => sing is not difficult to recognize

- Ondswarede => answered

- Ontslepte => asleep

- Geleornode => learned

- Geseted => seat

17

Also most of the prepositions and pronouns (we can see in the extract p166) are identical in form (though not always in mean-

ing): for, from, in, … (at), he, him, his. But some of the words seem weird because they are not used anymore today.

Swefn -> dream or sleep

Gelimplice -> fitting or suitable

Frumsceaft -> beginning or creation

Neata -> cattle

…a -> when (voir p. 168 au milieu pour le symbole correspondant)

Se -> the

Old English contains also a lot of long compound words especially in poetry.

Sea = whale-road -> honrad

A person‟s body = bone-house -> banhus

A sword = a battle light -> beadoleoma

For the vocabulary, you always need a dictionary to hand of Old English to cope with these words.

> Grammar

It is a mixture of the familiar and the unfamiliar. The word order is much more varied than in present-day English but there are

several places where it is similar to Modern English:

The adjective -> prepositions, articles and similar words (the, this,…) are before the noun just as they do today. Some whole

sentences may be identical in the order of words. The main difference in the word order is the place of the verb in the sentence.

The verb is often placed before the subject especially when the sentence begins with “then” or “when”. The verb may be

put at the end with the object and the other parts of the sentence before it. This is probably the most noticeable feature of Old

English grammar.

In present-day English the word order is relatively fixed.

Ex: “The man saw the messenger” and “the messenger saw the man”. The significance is signaled by the order of the words.

In Old English the relationships between of a sentence were signaled by other means. Old English is an inflected language so

the function of the word is signaled by the kind of ending it had. Today there are no inflections (désinences) anymore in Mod-

ern English. But it is always clear who is doing what to whom, regardless of the order in which words appear (p.169).

Also there are more irregular verbs in Old English, they are a particular nuisance, as they also are today; but there are far

more irregular verbs in the Old English.

0 How long did the Romans stay in Britain?

The main roman invasion of Britain began in AD 43 and the Romans left Britain in the early fifth century when the first Anglo-

Saxon kingdoms appeared. The settlers prior to the Roman invasion were Celtic tribes. When the Romans came, the Celtic

tribes moved to the west and North of the country into areas we know today as Cornwall, Wales, Cambria and perhaps also

Scotland.

18

0 Who led the Roman missionaries into Britain?

The Roman Emperor Augustine, who came to Kent in AD 597. The missionaries produced a large number of Latin manu-

scripts (esp. the Bible and religious texts). Until the half of the ninth century, glossaries of Latin words were translated into Old

English and few early inscriptions and poems (+- 700) but there is very few material which remains because many manuscripts

were doubtless burned during the eighth century (Viking) invasions.

The main literary work of that time was “Beowulf” (made around AD1000, possibly 250 after it was first composed).

But the total corpus is extremely small.

0 What were the main Anglo-Saxons dialects until the Norman conquest?

The main dialect division reflects the settlements of the invading tribes.

(see map p174)

The West Saxons was talked from South of Thames to Cornwall, which was settled by Saxons.

The Kentish was spoken by the Jutes in the present-day Kent and in the Isle of Wight.

The Mercian was spoken in the Midlands, between the Thames and the river humber and as far west as the boundary with

present-day Wales.

The Northumbrian was spoken in the north of Mercian to eastern lowlands of present-day Scotland.

0 Which second wave of invasions brought about some major linguistic changes?

Danish (Viking) raids on Britain, from 787 to the beginning of the eleventh century brought the second big linguistic invasion.

0 Which linguistic traces do we still have of these invasions?

There were a large number of Danish settlements with Scandinavian names.

Ex: there are over 1500 place‟s names of Scandinavian origin in English

-by -> Derby, Rugby

-thorp -> Althorp, Linthorpe

-thwaite -> Longthwaite

-toft -> Nortoft, Lowestoft

There also many Scandinavian personal names, such as names ending in –son -> Henderson, Davidson.

In long term, over 1800 words, of definite or probable Scandinavian origin, are still present in English today (p178). There

are also several thousand more words which are still used in regional dialects, especially those of the north-east.

0 Which alphabet is used to write Old English?

Old English written using the runic alphabet. This alphabet dates from the third century. No one knows where it came from. It

was used in northern Europe, in Scandinavia, present-day Germany and in the British Isles. This alphabet is a development of

an alphabet of southern Europe, probably the Roman one, but no one knows exactly where it came from. It might have been

invented in the Rhine area because there were trade contracts between Germans and Romans in the first century of our era.

19

The common runic alphabet consisted of 24 letters (see p180). Each letter has a name. It‟s written both from left to right and

from right to left. The alphabet as a whole is called the futhorc (in Britain), such as our alphabet which is made of the first to

letters alpha and beta. We could find traces of runic alphabet on weapons, jewelry, monuments and artifacts. These inscrip-

tions date from the fifth or sixth century AD but are often unclear. The inscriptions tell who made or who owned the object,

that‟s all.

The runic alphabet is said to have a magical significance. It could be used in rituals by rune-masters because symbols where

associated with magical or mystical significance. By the way “runes” means “secret”. When they were used in manuscripts, they

were often used to convey secret information. Over the centuries, the symbolic power of runes has often been recognized.

Runes were still used in Scandinavia until the nineteenth and twentieth century (as in Tolkien‟s books).

The most famous runic inscriptions in Britain can be found on the “Ruthwell Cross” near Dumfries which is five-meter stone

monument. It dates from the early eighth century and represents the Northumbrian dialect (p183).

The earliest evidence of Old English is the runic inscription on the gold medallion (or bractaeate) found at Undley in Suffolk in

1982 (p181). It has been dated 450-480 AD.

¤ Middle English

0 How significant is the year 1066 from a historical and linguistic viewpoint (in particular in connection with the Peterborough Chronicle – grammar, spelling, semantics)?

The year 1066 (year of the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of Britain) marks the beginning of a new social and

linguistic era in Britain, but it does not actually identify the boundary between Old English and Middle English. Old English was

still in use after that date.

Peterborough was a monastery where manuscripts about the history of Britain from the time of the Anglo Saxon invasions until

the middle of the twelfth century were kept. They began to be compiled in Alfred‟s time. But many of them burnt in a fire. The

monks borrowed the text of the Chronicle from another monastery, copied it out and then carried on writing the history them-

selves.

If we have a close look at the Peterborough Chronicle (1137), we can see the changes concerning:

> Grammar:

- The system of Old English word endings is beginning to disappear.

- The word order is beginning to change, to become like today.

- There are lots of “double negatives” but they are used to increase the emphasis on the negative meaning. (still like in Old

English)

> Spelling:

- Mixture of old and new spellings

- The old English runic symbols are still being used but with inconsistency (e.g. runic symbol „ρ‟ used for „w‟ but is sometimes

spelled “uu” or “w”)

20

- The th spelling is occasionally used

> Semantics:

- Some words are no longer used today and have to be explained (e.g. pines for cruelties, namen for took,…)

- Of the words which are still found today, several have altered meanings (e.g. wunder (wonder) could mean “atrocities” as

well as “marvels”) so you have to watch out for false friends

- Significantly there are no French words (about one century after the Norman Conquest)

0 Which historical developments in the first decades of the 13th century (and on into the Hundred Years War) marked a turning-point in the development of the language? Why is 1425 usually acknowledged to be a historical/linguistic landmark?

- In 1204, King John of England came into conflict with King Philip of France, and had to give up Normandy. The status of

French diminished as a spirit of English nationalism grew. During the 12th century, English became more widely used among

the upper class.

- In 1362 English was used for the first time at the opening of Parliament.

- By 1425 it appears that English was universally used in England, in writing as well as in speech.

(for information: Hundred Years War :1337-1453)

0 Why is the 1200-1350 period a “dark age in the history of language” (p.191) ?

This period is a period of good relations between England and France (just before the Hundred Years War). But it is a dark

age for the language because there was hardly any written evidence of English. French was supplanting English (language of

government, law, administration, church) and threatens its existence.

0 What was this “dark age” followed by?

English outlived French. In the 14th century, we have the main achievements of Middle English literature, culminating in the

writing of Geoffrey Chaucer (?1340-1400).

Old English and French words often both survived and their meanings would begin to differ (doom –judgement). Lots of Latin

words were also used.

0 Vocab in Middle English. What are the French and Latin counterparts of the words “kingly”, “ask”, “fast”, “rise”, “holy” and “time” in modern English? Which different linguistic effects are conveyed by these words of different origin?

Old English French Latin

Kingly Royal Regal

Ask Question Interrogate

Fast Firm Secure

Rise Mount Ascend

Holy Sacred Consecrated

Time Age Epoch

21

The Old English word is often the more popular one, the French word is more literary and the Latin word is more learned.

These words are almost synonymous but there are distinctions in the way the words are used. We talk about the Royal Navy

but not about the Kingly Navy or Regal Navy.

0 Grammar in ME. To what extent was ME a break with OE?

- Nearly all of the Old English noun endings finally disappeared. The corresponding modern ways of expressing grammatical

relationships, using prepositions and fixed patterns of word order, became established. (the only noun case to survive is the

genitive)

- New verb constructions began to appear (had made – shall be)

- Use of “to” to mark the infinitive form

- Many irregular forms of Old English lost their irregularity (plural of words or verbs)

0 In what way was it a continuation?

The endings of the verbs remained close to those of Old English.

0 Spelling and pronunciation in ME. Mention three main developments from OE to ME.

- Norman scribes began to spell English according to the conventions they had previously used for French (e.g. qu for

cw (queen for cwen); ch for c (church))

- The /h/ sound which appeared at the beginning of many Old English words was dropped

- Thorn disappeared and was finally replaced by th; ng sound at the end of word

- The /v/ sound became much more important because of its use in French borrowings and began to distinguish pairs

of words (fan v. van)

0 Why is the second half of the 14th century the era of “Classical Middle English”?

At this period, a lot of poetry and prose texts are written in Middle English, especially on religious themes. (notably the Bible

inspired by John Wyclif). The most successful poetic achievement in Middle English is the work of Geoffrey Chaucer. He wrote

The Canterbury Tales (about a pilgrimage to Canterbury. At night, each character tells a tale)

Among the best-known are the poems Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight, the Pearl (both by unknown authors) and William

Langland‟s Piers Plowman

0 What is the “Great Vowel Shift”?

It is a series of changes in the sound of the six long vowels, soon after 1400. The sentence so it is time to see the shoes on the

same feet now would have sounded more like this, in Middle English: saw it is team to say the shows on the sarm fate noo.

The Great Vowel Shift marks the last major barrier between early English and the standard language of the present day.

22

0 Make sure that you can place the main ME dialects on a map of the country (p. 204)

Kentish in the south east it remains the same, West Saxon is now referred to as “Southern” (South of England), and Northum-

brian as “Northern” (North of England). Also the Mercian dialect area has split in two: there is now an eastern dialect (“Eas t

Midland”) and a western one (“West Midland). See map

0 Which dialect was the dominant influence in shaping Modern English? Why?

The most dominant influence was the dialect of the East Midlands because it was the largest of the dialect areas and contained

more population. It contained towns like London (which had an important Court), Cambridge, and Oxford, the main social

and political centre, and the main seats of learning (universities). The East Midlands „triangle‟ was a wealthy agricultural area,

and the centre of the growing wool trade. And it was also conveniently positioned between the Northern and Southern dialects,

acting as a kind of communication „bridge‟ between them.

The clinching factor was William Caxton, who in 1476 set up his printing press in Westminster, and chose to use the speech of

the London area as the basis for his translations and spelling.

¤ Early Modern English

0 Which invention hastened the advent of ‘modern English’? Why?

The printing was introduced into England in 1476. This invention helped to develop a standard form of English spelling and

punctuation. Indeed, writers chose to use the speech of the London area so that their works could be understandable for a

large number of people.

The printing gave people more opportunities to write and allowed a wider circulation of their works. As a result, more texts of

this period have survived.

0 Briefly spell out what historians have in mind when they speak about ‘the English Renais-sance’.

The English Renaissance was the period where the interest in the classical languages and literatures increased and many fields

of science, medicine, and the arts developed very quickly. In the sixteenth century also the Reformation, of Copernicus, and the

discovery of America took place and their effects on the English language were immediate, controversial, and far-reaching.

0 Do you agree with the phrase ‘the discovery of America’?

This phrase isn‟t correct. Indeed, we can‟t say that America was discovered in the 16th century, simply because the continent

was already inhabited. Before the European colonization, America was inhabited by indigenous peoples who began to immi-

grate to this continent about 35 000 years ago.

0 Which factor mostly account for the dramatic growth in vocabulary during the Renaissance?

As there were no words in the language to name the new concepts, techniques, and inventions, writers began to borrow them

from foreign languages. Most of the words were taken from Latin, and a goodly number from Greek, French, Italian, Spanish

and Portuguese. But, as there was also the period of world-wide exploration, many words came into English from over fifty

languages, including American Indian languages and the languages of Africa and Asia.

23

0 Which controversy raged in England over this new trend? What is the ‘Mulcaster view’, and why did it triumph?

A lot of Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese words came into the English language and some purists com-

plained about the obscurity of these words and about the way they interfered with the development of native English vocabu-

lary.

Others thought quite the opposite: it was really better to use Latin or Greek instead of English, especially in subjects such as

theology and medicine, because English hasn‟t the appropriate words.

Richard Mulcaster was sure that the right words could also be found in the English language. To him, it was a waste of time to

look for these words in foreign languages. His view triumphed and Latin words slowly disappeared.

0 Why was Shakespeare more influential on the development of Modern English than the King James Bible?

Firstly, the Authorized Version of the Bible was not written in a popular style, and often used older forms of the language. Then,

it does not contain many new words, as Shakespeare‟s plays did. Shakespeare‟s vocabulary contained some 20,000 different

words, whereas the Bible contained only about 8,000.

Secondly, the King James Bible preserves many older forms and constructions, the style was pretty conservative. Quite the

opposite, in Shakespeare, new forms and constructions are often used. So a large number of new words and idiomatic

phrases are found for the first time in his writing, and he put them into circulation, in a way that had not happened before.

0 In what ways did the language still have to evolve to become ‘modern’ in 16th century Eng-land (irregular verbs, word order, third person singular, second person pronouns)?

> * Irregular verbs

A lot of irregular verbs are still found in their older forms:

- „gat‟ or „gotten‟ for got

- „spake‟ for spoke

- „holpen‟ for helped

> * Word order

Older word orders are still used sometimes:

- follow thou me

- things eternal

The modern use of „do‟ is still missing:

- „They knew him not‟ instead of „They did not know him‟

> * Third person singular

The end of a verb used at the third person is –eth:

24

- „He cometh‟ instead of „He comes‟

> * Second person pronouns

Originally, „ye‟ was used for a subject form and „you‟ for an object or after a preposition. But the „you‟ slowly replaced the „ye‟

which disappeared at the end of the 17th century.

„Thou‟ was originally used for addressing one person and „ye‟ or „you‟ for more. But then, „thou‟ became intimate and infor-

mal and „ye‟ and „you‟ became polite and respectful.

0 Why was it increasingly clear in the 17th and 18th centuries that dictionaries were needed? How did Samuel Johnson provide a ‘solution’?

Since the 16th century there were more and more new words. It was necessary to collect them in a dictionary. There was The

Universal Etymological English dictionary in 1721 and A Table Alphabeticall already in 1604 in which 3000 definitions were

written. However by the end of the 17th century, there was no order, a lot of foreign new words, no norms of spelling and no

punctuation and the language was changing too fast. That is why some authors wanted an Academy such as the one in Italy or

in France. It did no happen but Samuel Johnson published in 1755 The English dictionary to protect the meaning and the

spelling of the words of the time. He wrote the definitions of 40,000 words and their use since the Elizabethans.

0 Who authored grammars to bring some order into grammatical usage?

Many people thought that the language was changing too fast and others complained about the foreign words coming into

the language.

Many writers were also worried. Given the rapid changes in the English language, they feared that their work would not be

understandable anymore a generation later.

So grammars were written. The most influential ones were Robert Lowth‟s Short introduction to English Grammar (1762) and

Lindley Murray‟s English Grammar (1794).

We find in this book, for the first time, controversies and rules around grammar.

0 Which grammar-related controversy was dividing scholars in the 18th century? Is this still a modern issue?

During the 17th and 18th centuries there were many attempts to classify the grammar (Robert Lowth‟s Short Introduction to

English Grammar in 1762 and Lindley Murray‟s English Grammar in 1794). However in the 1760‟s, there were many gram-

matical controversies about these books because scholars argued on the role of the grammars: was it to define or to prescribe

a usage? Today linguists continue to oppose on this point: the use of will and shall, the double negatives or the split infinitives.

0 Which ‘critical developments’ are likely to emerge this century in linguistic evolution?

It is unreasonable to focus only on England, when speaking about the English language. In one century or so, the influence of

the rest of Britain, of the former colonized areas and of America on the future of this language will be critical. In these areas,

the forms of the English have differently developed.

25

0 Modern English was fixated in the 18th century. In which field, though, have some dramatic changes taken place in the last three centuries? Give some recent examples of this process.

Because the language always changes in parallel with the society, new words appears during the three last centuries, espe-

cially after the Industrial Revolution and in scientific and technological fields. There only were changes in the vocabulary, but

not in the grammar and the pronunciation. In the 1960‟s and 70‟s, words such VAT, software, gay, male chauvinist, sexploita-

tion or disinformation appeared because these new concepts were born. Sometimes, these words already existed but their

meaning changed. In the 1980‟s and 1990‟s the revolution of the computer and the Internet give way to Web, multimedia,

email, DVD, spam or smiley for example.

¤ English around the World

0 Which language was spoken in Scotland during the OE period? Which historical event caused English to become the main language in the 11th century?

During the Old English period, Scottish people spoke Gaelic. Because of the French invasion in the 11th century, lots of Eng-

lish noblemen immigrated to Scotland and English became the main language.

0 Why did the English of Scotland and that of England became increasingly different in the 13th century?

Because of the split between the two nations, which followed a tentative of annexation. The two nation knew a long period of

conflict.

0 Explain the historical and linguistic importance of the year 1603.

In 1603, Scotland and England were unified and the king and his Scottish court moved to London. This led to the adoption of

Southern English in the upper classes. The Authorized version of the Bible was imposed in Scotland, so the Southern English

became a prestige form.

0 What is meant by “Standard Scottish English” ?

It is the standard southern English, spoken with any of the Scottish accents and containing some differences. (grammar, vo-

cabulary ,idiomatic phrasing)

0 Which major writers kept Lowland Scots alive in the 18th and 19th century?

In literature and poetry, by Robert Burns and in the tales of Walter Scott.

0 Which language was spoken in Ireland when the English first settled the country? When did a full-fledged settlement of country take place?

Ireland was Gaelic-speaking when first invaded. The English control throughout the country was established in the 16th century.

26

0 Why was 1803 a turning-point in Irish history? What was going to happen in the 1920s?

In 1803,the Act of Union made Ireland a part of the UK. In the 1920s, a separation was operated between north and south

Ireland.

0 Is English the only official language in the Irish Republic today?

No, the Gaelic has the status of official language too.

0 Which major writers have popularized the vocabulary and grammatical patterns of Irish English?

W.B Yeats in his poetry and J.M Synge in his plays.

0 What do you know about the three earliest British settlements in America?

* The first was a failure. They ad conflicts with the Indians so they asked help to England but had disappeared by the time help

arrived.

*In1607,the first permanent settlement arrived in a place they called “Jamestown” and was quickly followed by others.

*In 1620,the first Puritan settlement landed in Cape Code, Massachusetts. They were searching a new religious kingdom.

0 What are the three major population movements accounting for the main dialects areas in contemporary America?

* The New England people moved west into the regions of Great Lakes.

*The Southerners moved along the Gulf Cost and into Texas.

*The Midlanders spread out throughout the mid-western area, across Mississippi and into California.

0 To whom do we owe the first major dictionary of the American language, what was his aim in producing this dictionary?

Noh Webster published this dictionary because he wanted to show how the language was developing independently in Amer-

ica.

0 Why does the Canadian vocabulary and pronunciation appear to be a mix of US and British influences?

Canadian English has a great deal in common with American and British English.

*In the vocabulary, American and British items coexist. The British spelling is dominant but the American is becoming more

widespread (American spelling in newspaper and British one in learned journals and school textbooks)

*In pronunciation, the sound “ou”, like in words like out sounds more like aot. There is a contrast between the pronunciation

of words as out and house and of words as loud and houses. There is a preference for the British pronunciation for words like

tune, due and news

27

0 What is the language spoken by the overwhelming majority of African American called?

Black English Vernacular

0 Why did “Black English” become an influential linguistic force after the Civil War?

There was ab exodus to the industrial cities and black culture became known throughout the country. The result was a large

influx of new, informal vocab in general use.

0 Give three examples of grammatical features found in “Black English”.

*No final –s in the third person in present simple

*use of BE DONE in the sense of “will have”

*use of double negatives involving the auxiliary verb at the beginning of a sentence (Won‟t nobody o nothing about that)

0 How would you characterize the three main linguistic forms in Australia?

* Cultivated Australian English (10%) shows the importance of social prestige : accent close to educated southern English

* Broad Australian English (30%) is the opposite of cultivated English road Australian accent identified as typically Australian.

*General Australian is a continuum of accents used by the majority of the population.

¤ English Today

0 How has the Americanization of culture affected the use of language in, among the other countries, Japan and Mexico?

Americanization of world culture is the best example of external influence causing language changes. The American way of life

is considered modern, fashionable, and desirable to the younger. In Japan, English is even used in commercials, despite the

fact that the majority of viewers would not understand what was being said, because the prestige connotations attached to the

use of English are important for advertisers. In Mexico, the Tex-Mex phenomenon appeared. It‟s an informal speech style in

which English and Spanish words are combined (example on p.274).

0 How has the rise of feminism affected the use of grammar (2examples) and of vocabulary (2examples)?

- replacement of male words by neutral words. For example, Chairman has become chair or chairperson, salesman

becoming sales assistant.

- The vocabulary of marital status has also been affected : introduction of Ms as a neutral alternative to Miss or Mrs.

- Focus on the lack of a sex-neutral third person singular pronoun in English, which become a problem when it is used

after sex-neutral nouns. See example on p.275. To avoid the he, we now use (s)he in writing and they in informal speech or we

could also recast the sentence or turn it into a plural to avoid the problem.

28

- One study showed that between 1971 and 1979, the use of he and men in our sentences felt from 12 per 5000

words to 4 per 5000 words. Women‟s magazines showed the biggest decline.

0 Explain briefly why, in the subcontinent of India, “a newspaper account can appear unintel-ligible to outside eyes” (p277)?

There are many varieties of English spoken within the region, ranging from Pidgin English to a standard English, including the

use of RP. As a result, there are hundreds of distinctive lexical items. And so, a newspaper account can appear unintelligible to

outside eyes especially when the subject matter is specialized (religion, agriculture, politics). See p. 278.

0 What is “Seaspeak”? Why has it become vital for this type of language to be accepted worldwide?

In 1980, a British project was set up to produce Essential English for International Maritime Use, known as Seaspeak. It was

very important to reduce possibilities of ambiguity and confusion when receiving or sending a message. But the language is

much more restricted than everyday English. I‟ll give you an example: “What did you say? I can‟t hear you, please repeat that”

has been replaced by “Say again”.

0 It is argued on pp. 294-97 that a peculiar kind of bilingualism is likely to emerge in English Speaking countries in the 21st century. Explain.

It‟s the fact that people will use and already use one variety of English of the language at home, and slip into another variety

when they communicate with people from other communities. For example, a Scot talking to a Welsh will use a language

totally free of regional vocabulary or idiom. Home variety of English will co-exist with an English international lingua franca. So

people will become bilingual.