Week 11 Flashcards
What distinguished English colonisers from others (Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, French)?
English colonisers were more trade-focused and segregationist; they used language as a tool of colonialism.
What phrase describes the expanse of the British Empire?
The sun never sets on the British Empire.
What were key drivers of migration influencing the spread of English?
- Voluntary migration: seeking better opportunities (Highland clearances, Irish famine).
- Involuntary migration: penal colonies (Australia), slave trade.
Why did English become a lingua franca?
Large global population spoke English; rulers used it for unifying regions with many native languages.
How did globalisation and technology aid the spread of English?
The USA’s dominance post-WW2 and the Internet (largely developed English) solidified its status.
What are the effects of English on non-English-speaking populations?
- Marginalisation (a group being treated insignificantly) of non-English speakers (like US Hispanics).
- English-speaking elite in India, Nigeria, Kenya.
What languages have faced extinction or decline due to English?
Gaelic, Maori, Native American languages.
What might the future of English as a global language look like?
Emergence of varieties like Chinglish, Spanglish; debates about ownership of the language.
How was English spread within the British Isles?
- Policies like English-medium teaching in Scotland (after Jacobite rebellion).
- Highland clearances and Irish colonisation discouraged native languages.
- Wales and Cornwall remained largely Celtic-speaking until the 18th-19th centuries.
What is structural transfer?
Borrowing syntax/phonetics between languages (e.g., Irish “Tá sé tréis imeacht” → “He’s after going”).
What was the first permanent English settlement in America?
Jamestown, Virginia (1607).
How did Dutch influence American English?
Dutch words (e.g., boss, cookie) and place names (e.g., Brooklyn, Harlem) entered the language.
What Native American contributions exist in English?
Place names (e.g., Manhattan) and words (e.g., moccasin, skunk).
What differentiates pidgins from creoles?
Pidgin: Simplified, no native speakers.
Creole: Fully developed, native speakers.
What are common features of creoles and pidgins?
- Simplified grammar, fewer sounds.
- Lexifier language contributes most vocabulary.
- Reduplication for clarity or emphasis (e.g., tok → toktok).
What is substrate vs. superstrate?
Substrate: Lower-prestige language influencing structure.
Superstrate: Dominant language providing vocabulary.
What vocabulary examples are retained in American English?
Fall (autumn in BrE).
Mad (angry).
Sick (unwell).
How does American English differ syntactically?
Present perfect less common (e.g., “Did you book yet?”).
Use of “gotten” vs “got.”
How does American English pronunciation differ?
Rhoticity: Pronunciation of postvocalic “r” (e.g., “work”).
Different vowel pronunciations (e.g., “path” vs. “pahth”).
What factors contributed to the faster spread of linguistic forms in the modern era?
Universal education, improved transportation (e.g., 18th-century speed services, 19th-century steam trains).
What has replaced traditional rural dialects in many areas?
Modern dialects originating in urban settings, such as Estuary English.
What is supra-localisation in language?
Forms previously bound to specific regions spreading far and wide, like glottal stops and /l/ vocalisation.
How does the wave model describe linguistic change?
Linguistic forms spread evenly from a central region through sustained contact (not realistic).
How does the city-hopping model differ from the wave model?
Innovations spread between cities without appearing in intervening rural areas, eventually reaching smaller cities and rural areas (modern way).
What is dialect levelling?
The mixing and reduction of distinct dialect features due to increased mobility and communication.
Give an example of new dialect formation.
Milton Keynes in the UK, where dialects mixed to form a blend of RP, London English, and Estuary English
Why is geographical distance no longer a major obstacle to communication?
Increased mobility and technology allow for easy communication across distances.
How do social classes interact linguistically in cities?
Upper-class uses RP, middle-class adopts Estuary English, and working-class uses Cockney or MLE.
