VARIETIES OF ENGLISH:

Phrases & Sentences

Readings:Y. Kachru & L. Smith, Ch 6;

Zuengler on Kenyan English

Who is Rush Limbaugh? Why was he in the news last year at this time? What’s your opinion of his actions in this

particular case? Why do you feel that way? Who are Terry Gross and Geoff Nunberg?A four-letter word Why did people find it offensive?

◦ What’s the difference, if any, between ‘slut’ and ‘player’?

◦ What’s the difference, if any, between ‘slut’ and ‘queer’? What’s the original meaning of ‘slut’? What’s the difference between a ‘naughty word’

and a sexist slurFrom NPR’s ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross

Understanding can be thought of in terms of Intelligibility (test = repetition, dictation)Comprehensibility (test = paraphrase)Interpretability (test = understand

speaker/writer’s intent) Differences in pronunciation among varieties

of English can lead to lack of intelligibility, comprehensibility and interpretability.

Misunderstanding can result from differences in pronunciation:◦ Stress patterns

REcognize ~ recogNIZE, sucCESS ~ SUCcess

◦ Spelling pronunciations Comb, climb

◦ Distribution of given & new information JOHN did it ~ It was John who did it.

◦ Simplification of initial & final consonant clusters ‘desk’ > /dɛs/, ‘school > /ɛskul/

◦ Loss of other phonological distinctions ‘then’ > /den/, ‘thin’ > /sin/

These differences in pronunciation are often the result of transfer of ways of pronouncing words from the speaker’s first language into English in Outer and Extended Circle contexts.

This is called ‘language transfer.’ When we speak with others whose dialect we

don’t share, our own speech becomes more like theirs.

Often, attitudes toward particular accents may become a greater barrier than pronunciation.

As interlocutors get familiar with each other’s system of phonological organization, they accommodate their habitual patterns to those of the other speaker(s).

Differences in varieties of English extend beyond pronunciation to phrases and sentences as well.

These differences involve the use of articles, count vs. mass nouns, verb tenses, prepositions, modals and the organization of given and new information, among other things.

Some basic concepts in historical linguistics◦Languages differ in innumerable ways.◦Languages can be said to be ‘related to each

other’ based on as assumed common ancestry.◦This is determined through a process called

‘historical reconstruction,’ a method of comparing similarities and differences among languages.

◦English belongs to a large language family called ‘Indo-European.’

◦There are other large language families around the world.

Indo-European: outline of family tree Indo-European: outline of family tree

Indo-EuropeanIndo-European

ItalicItalicGermanicGermanic CelticCelticBalto-Balto-SlavicSlavic

Indo-Indo-IranianIranian

Indic IranianIndic Iranian

................

1010

Possibly a third co-ordinate branch within Indo-Iranian— Nuristani in N.E. Afghanistan (e.g. Ashkun, Prasun)

Western EasternWestern EasternFarsi=Persian, Farsi=Persian, Kurdish, Kurdish, Baluchi,Baluchi,............

Pashto,Pashto,Ormuri,Ormuri,Ossetian,Ossetian,Yagnob,Yagnob,............

N.Western S. Western Central Eastern N.Western S. Western Central Eastern Panjabi,Panjabi, Sindhi,Sindhi, Kashmiri,Kashmiri, Romani,Romani,..........

Gujarati,Gujarati, Marathi,Marathi, Konkani,Konkani, Sinhala,Sinhala,..........

Hindi-Urdu,Hindi-Urdu, Marwari,Marwari, Maithili,Maithili, Nepali,Nepali,..........

Bengali,Bengali, Assamese,Assamese, Oriya,Oriya,..........

Many difficulties in deciding Indic grouping

Articles and determiners (‘function words’)◦ Articles

a / an, the, Ø◦ Determiners

this, that, these, those, any, each, etc. Count / Mass & Singular / Plural

◦ Count / Mass Cars, shoes, balls, etc. / gas, water, rice, etc.

◦ Singular / Plural Car / cars, shoe / shoes, ball / balls

Indefinite article ‘a, an’◦ Signals a singular entity of a count noun?

I bought a computer and a modem, but the modem was the wrong model.

BUT ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ created an oppressive atmosphere

for gays in the military.◦ Signals the ‘first mention’ of a count noun in a

connected text (as in the example above)?BUT Cells are the building blocks of life. A cell is composed of

a nucleus and cytoplasm.

Many languages of the world have no articles.

The article in English has three sets of functions:◦ Grammatical◦ Semantic◦ Pragmatic

A count noun in the singular must be preceded by an article or by some other determiner.◦ A dog is a man’s best friend.

A predicate nominal in the singular must be preceded by the article a or an.◦ My friend is a student.

Certain proper nouns must be preceded by the article the.◦ The Rockies, the Nile, the United Nations

Related to reference Definite / Indefinite

◦ I bought a computer and a modem, but the modem was the wrong model.

Specific / Non-specific◦ I bought a new motor scooter; it’s a Vespa.◦ I need a new motor scooter. Any suggestions?

Generic / Non-generic◦ Ø Bats are Ø mammals. ~ The bat is a mammal. ~ A

bat is a mammal. ◦ A bat flew out of the cave.

Related to the conventions of use Summary:

◦ A(n): indefinite non-specific, or indefinite specific, or generic (with count nouns in the singular);

◦ The: definite specific (with count and mass nouns), or non-specific generic (with count nouns only);

◦ Some: indefinite non-specific, or indefinite specific (with count nouns in the plural with mass nouns);

◦ Ø: generic (with count nouns in the plural, with mass nouns).

Other varieties (Outer Circle and Expanding Circle varieties) of English do not use articles in the same way as Inner Circle varieties because:◦ Their use in Inner Circle varieties is neither

transparent nor internally consistent.◦ The first languages in many Outer or Expanding

Circle societies do not use articles at all, or use them in different ways (‘language transfer’).

It’s not a matter of meaning

It has to do with a noun’s ability to combine with various determiners!

Huddleston: Six classes of nouns – ◦Equipment (fully mass)◦Knowledge (almost mass, i.e., ‘a good

knowledge of Latin’)◦Clothes (fuzzy quantifiers; i.e., many, few,

etc.)◦Cattle (fuzzy quantifiers & large round

numbers)◦People (collective noun; occurs with plurals

but not fully countable)◦Dog (fully countable)

In African, Caribbean, East, South, and Southeast Asian varieties of English, the complex system of marking count / mass distinction in English is simplified.

Stative / Dynamic◦I know him. He has two cars.BUT◦I’m meeting him. He is buying a new car.

Factive / Non-factive◦Bill doesn’t regret that he was rude.BUT◦Bill doesn’t believe that he was rude.

Volitional / Non-volitional◦He (deliberately) lost the key

ANDHe (accidentally) lost the key.

In the first languages of Outer and Expanding Circle societies, these distinctions are marked differently from English

So, those varieties of English often include characteristics that are present in the first languages of those societies (‘language transfer’).

Verbalization strategies◦ Your behavior tantamounts to disrespect.◦ It doesn’t worth the price.

Tense / Aspect◦ I was knowing him then.◦ He was having two cars.

Modals ◦ Rain is expected in the morning but would give way to

sun by noon.

Yes / No Questions◦ Q: Hasn’t the President left yet?

A: Yes, he hasn’t.◦ Q: Didn’t you see anyone there?

A: Yes, I didn’t see anyone there. Tag Questions

◦ You want it by six, isn’t it?◦ He didn’t go home, isn’t it?

Complementation◦ They were interested to grab power.◦ She is prepared for filing a law suit.

Prepositions◦ We can give some thought on the matter.◦ The police are investigating into the case.◦ The committee was discussing about politics. ◦ She has gone to abroad.

Focus and Theme◦ Q: Where did Sue go yesterday?

A: She went to the beach. Theme Focus

◦ Certain medicine we don’t stock.◦ And weekend (emphasis) you can spend with

your brother. ◦ My daughter she is attending college.◦ Tswana, I learnt it in Pretoria.

As an access to education during and after British rule (1895-1964)

As a catalyst for Kenyan nationalism through Kenyan intellectuals’ access to “habits of thought of [English-speaking] people”

There are still no institutionalized varieties of English in Kenya.

But it has become ‘nativized,” i.e., influenced by Kenyan (Kiswahili) cultural and linguistic patterns.

Direct lexical transfer: use of Kiswahili words in Kenyan English, e.g. baraza ‘an official meeting’

Semantic shifts: English words taking on new meanings, e.g., brat ‘illegitimate child’

Syntactic shifts: Items taking on new grammatical forms, e.g., ◦Nouns as verbs, e.g., school, tone◦Mass > Count nuns, e.g., ammunitions,

hardwares

Nativization of speech functions: ◦ Greetings, e.g., Is it well with you?◦ Forms of address, e.g., mwalimu ‘teacher’,

bwana◦ Abuses/threats, e.g., go away and eat ashes◦ Riddles/proverbs, e.g., the oilskin of the house

is not for rubbing into the skin of strangers (?) Kenyan English Register:

◦ I have to alight now.◦ This system should be stopped forthwith.

Stylistic devices: metaphors and similes

Kenyan English is not taught in schools. Kenyans shift between the RP taught in

schools, Kenyan English and Kiswahili, depending on the context, i.e., participants, topic, setting, etc.

Kenyan English is not yet popularly accepted as a variety on its own, like Indian, South African, Singaporean, etc. English.

Question: Will it some day become one? What would need to happen for that to occur?

What often appears to be ‘incorrect English’ by the norms of Inner Circle standard varieties is often consistent with the norms of Outer and Expanding Circle varieties of English.

These characteristics are often the result of language transfer from the indigenous or first languages of the areas in which those varieties of English are spoken.