An empire can gain and maintain power when its subjects can understand those governing. This implies that in order to be able to have dominion over others, an empire must have a common language from which to govern. Without this, chaos and misunderstandings will prevail, which can lead to the destruction of empires from within. It has been said that "...empires spread English around the world," as is true with any empire and language. Once empires have staked their claim, those under their authority must succumb to the prevalent language, otherwise risking misunderstandings and confusion which often lead to conflict. No one likes conflict, so England was constantly "on its toes" to make sure everything they set out to do was running smoothly.
"The sun never sets on the English empire" can also be changed to say, "the sun never sets on the English language," as stated by the narrator. Both of these statements can be confirmed by the Empire of Britain colonizing in India, as a result of the East India Company's monopoly on spices. This "clash of cultures" resulted in the exchange of ideas, customs, and the morphing of the English language. Indian words like "shampoo" and "pajamas" were adopted into English usage. With languages constantly changing, where did they originate?
The scholar William Jones was able to discover that Sanskrit, English, and some other languages are similar and so "descended from one Indo-European language." This is evidence of the reality that languages are constantly being "modernized" and adapted to fit the needs of those actively using it. Since these languages descended from one language, it can be concluded that as time progressed, this first language was being changed by many groups which broke off and became powerful enough to establish their own empires with their own language.
Info:
Bragg, Melvyn. "The Adventures of English-Episode 7-The Language of Empire (1/5)." YouTube. RainbowEyes1000, 7 Oct. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Oh, things change...
John Locke believed in what is called "rational idealism." This is the belief that if you get the language clear, and the arguments simple, then the misunderstandings will be avoided and so peace will follow. This is brilliant in theory, but like many things, including communism, it is only good in theory. The problem is that language is constantly changing and being reformed by those who use it. Even in John Locke's time scholars were changing the meaning of English words to fit what they needed for their science discoveries. Jonathan Swift countered by saying "How could one undertake his work with cheerfulness...when in an age or two, hardly anyone can understand without an interpreter?" Swift also hated how people abbreviated English words. He, like many others, considered these shortenings to be "crude," and he wanted an academy to be created to correct English and keep it the same. One way to try to keep a language the same is by standardizing it through a dictionary, which is exactly what Johnson did.
Johnson's dictionary created national pride for England, but the dictionary is questionable today because some of the origins and definitions can be considered biased or inaccurate. This demonstrates that yes, languages and meanings do change over time even though some try to prevent the change because "no dictionary could embalm a language." Over time English rules were created like "better of two and best of three" and some even wanted the slang words eradicated from common use age. William C. was a lower class man who taught himself the rules of English because he believed that when you can't understand grammar, you can't write or speak correctly, so you will amount to very little. I agree. How can you amount to anything when no one understands you or respects you? This is what Thomas S. tried to fix with the Scots.
Thomas S. tried to teach the Scots how to speak correct English. The main problem was the gap between what the printing press wrote and how it was spoken. Standardizing this is difficult, especially in English where the same four letters, "ough" can have six different sounds. To help with this problem, Thomas S. created a book entitled British Education to help with pronunciation and such. He believed that if everyone spoke in the same way, that everyone would be considered equal. On the contrary, it divided the people into those that copied the pronunciation and those that didn't. Finally, the type of person Swift and Johnson wanted came along.
This novelist was Jane Austen. She became the "academy" for "fixing" the English language through her novels. Her novels did not include street language, references to body parts, or swear words. This showed that she could control her words and did not let them be vulgar or unladylike. She believed that if you "remove the words, you remove the thoughts." However, if you substitute words to mean the same as vulgar words, then those words still provoke the same thoughts you were apparently trying to avoid. These new substitutions also added to the changing English language as well as the new Industrial age.
When the Industrial Revolution hit, new words were created to describe the new inventions and old words were transformed to have new meanings. Factories and mills now became places of manufacturing. This all goes back to the idea that language does change over time and that no matter how hard you try, you can't successfully keep a language from developing. The writer Lewis Carol facilitated this change. He believed that if he used a word, it means what he chose it to mean. It is what "...the speaker intends...and what a hearer understands..." This type of person would have made Locke go insane. Lewis is the perfect example of how language does change over time by those who actively use it and that very little can be done to change that fact.
Info:
Klidstone1970. "The Adventure of English - Speaking Proper - Ep 6." YouTube. YouTube, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.
Johnson's dictionary created national pride for England, but the dictionary is questionable today because some of the origins and definitions can be considered biased or inaccurate. This demonstrates that yes, languages and meanings do change over time even though some try to prevent the change because "no dictionary could embalm a language." Over time English rules were created like "better of two and best of three" and some even wanted the slang words eradicated from common use age. William C. was a lower class man who taught himself the rules of English because he believed that when you can't understand grammar, you can't write or speak correctly, so you will amount to very little. I agree. How can you amount to anything when no one understands you or respects you? This is what Thomas S. tried to fix with the Scots.
Thomas S. tried to teach the Scots how to speak correct English. The main problem was the gap between what the printing press wrote and how it was spoken. Standardizing this is difficult, especially in English where the same four letters, "ough" can have six different sounds. To help with this problem, Thomas S. created a book entitled British Education to help with pronunciation and such. He believed that if everyone spoke in the same way, that everyone would be considered equal. On the contrary, it divided the people into those that copied the pronunciation and those that didn't. Finally, the type of person Swift and Johnson wanted came along.
This novelist was Jane Austen. She became the "academy" for "fixing" the English language through her novels. Her novels did not include street language, references to body parts, or swear words. This showed that she could control her words and did not let them be vulgar or unladylike. She believed that if you "remove the words, you remove the thoughts." However, if you substitute words to mean the same as vulgar words, then those words still provoke the same thoughts you were apparently trying to avoid. These new substitutions also added to the changing English language as well as the new Industrial age.
When the Industrial Revolution hit, new words were created to describe the new inventions and old words were transformed to have new meanings. Factories and mills now became places of manufacturing. This all goes back to the idea that language does change over time and that no matter how hard you try, you can't successfully keep a language from developing. The writer Lewis Carol facilitated this change. He believed that if he used a word, it means what he chose it to mean. It is what "...the speaker intends...and what a hearer understands..." This type of person would have made Locke go insane. Lewis is the perfect example of how language does change over time by those who actively use it and that very little can be done to change that fact.
Info:
Klidstone1970. "The Adventure of English - Speaking Proper - Ep 6." YouTube. YouTube, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
American Revolution of English
The American Revolution was the turning point in the future of English in America. It also marked the split between traditional British English and the new American English. "Political revolutionaries [like Thomas Jefferson] were also language revolutionaries." Thomas' elite use of the English language can be seen in the Declaration of Independence where all are entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Even though all Americans are supposedly entitled to 'liberty,' the slaves were not free citizens until the time of the Civil War, and women felt that they were not totally free either because of their subordination under the men of the household and the fact that while free blacks could also vote, white American women still did not have that privilege. In their speeches advocating for women suffrage they used their new form of American English.
After the American revolution the creation of "Americanisms," where they introduced new words including "belittle" and "advocate" into their everyday vocabulary, had an effect on the English language. Americans also modified some English words like taking out the "u" in honor, and ending theater in -er. These additions to the language helped further the distance between British English and American English and created a more distinct feature to the new developing form of English.
Noah Webster was instrumental in assisting American citizens in the development in their form of English. He was a lexicographer and created the Webster Dictionary that contained a pronunciation guide to help the many immigrants who were coming to America for the American dream and a better life. His dictionary was able to help standardize the new American English and aid immigrants including the Irish and Germans ease the transition into their new life by providing a reference for their new language.
English on the American continent was also influenced by the political loyalties of those residing there. Even though the American Revolution was Americans vs. the English, America was divided on their loyalties to either the colonies or Britain. When the English and the American loyalists lost the war, many of the Tories fled to Canada to escape persecution and there they "formed the basis of standard Canadian speech." These new American Canadians resisted American ways and words which further differentiated English from the original British English from which they came.
Info:
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 6 - Pioneers O Pioneers - Part 1 / 7." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Jan. 2013.
After the American revolution the creation of "Americanisms," where they introduced new words including "belittle" and "advocate" into their everyday vocabulary, had an effect on the English language. Americans also modified some English words like taking out the "u" in honor, and ending theater in -er. These additions to the language helped further the distance between British English and American English and created a more distinct feature to the new developing form of English.
Noah Webster was instrumental in assisting American citizens in the development in their form of English. He was a lexicographer and created the Webster Dictionary that contained a pronunciation guide to help the many immigrants who were coming to America for the American dream and a better life. His dictionary was able to help standardize the new American English and aid immigrants including the Irish and Germans ease the transition into their new life by providing a reference for their new language.
English on the American continent was also influenced by the political loyalties of those residing there. Even though the American Revolution was Americans vs. the English, America was divided on their loyalties to either the colonies or Britain. When the English and the American loyalists lost the war, many of the Tories fled to Canada to escape persecution and there they "formed the basis of standard Canadian speech." These new American Canadians resisted American ways and words which further differentiated English from the original British English from which they came.
Info:
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 6 - Pioneers O Pioneers - Part 1 / 7." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Jan. 2013.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Episode 5
Even though whites made fun of blacks through their caricatures depicting blacks in nicer clothes than they actually had and making fun of their spin on english (black english), many upper class whites had a creole influence in their speech. The whites pointed out that black english was "lazy and ungrammatical"yet black english still crept into the lives of the whites. The Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina are homes to many blacks because during the Civil War and Reconstruction Era, it was created as a place where blacks could settle without "disturbing" the whites. As a result of this isolation, this people's language has been "nearly unchanged for three-hundred years." A comment on this video is "they sound remarkably like us carribean blacks." This would be because since the slave trade of so long ago, these people in the Sea Islands are most likely decendents of the slaves from the Carribean. The Carribean slaves passed down their heritage and language to their deseendents who can only preserve this by passing it down. This is why they people in the video sound like Carribean blacks. "Why were the subtitles necessary? I could understand everything those two were saying," was also a comment on the video. This person is probably used to hearing this type or a similar type of language and so sees no need to have the subtitles. Even though it is English, I still had a hard time understanding some things becauase they tended to mumble and use some different words I didn't know. Their speaking would be even harder for those learning English or not very good at it. Becasue of the slave trade bringing a new kind of people with a new kind of language to America, it influenced the English language and the effects are still seen today.
Info:
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 5 - Black on White - Part 1 / 7." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 17 Jan. 2013.
Info:
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 5 - Black on White - Part 1 / 7." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 17 Jan. 2013.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Scottish-episode 4
I find it interesting that Scottish news is in English and that even if they say the news in Scottish, it basically sounds the same except for a couple of words and a different accent. This is because the Anglo-Saxons also settled Scotland and created a Northern variety of English. Scotland was able to keep its unique twist on English because of the many border wars fought between the Scottish and English that separated the two languages and helped foster the individual growth of the two. Scottish traditions and stories are taught orally because of tradition and many tribes still preserve their history through this method today. As was related in the video, Robert Burns was a poet who "shunned English" and "restored his nation's voice" by preserving and encouraging Scottish through his literary works. This video has helped me realize that Scottish is really annoying! Can you please speak correctly? I mean, you've got it all wrong....anyway sorry for my little random rant. I bet this looks funny in Scottish. I promise, I don't have ADD. So, once I had to do a report on the poet Elizabeth Bishop who was very talented in her work and won many awards for them. Robert Burns and Elizabeth Bishop were both poets who left their mark on the world by expressing their reality through an artistic form of language and writing. Through Robert Burns' work, he was able to help preserve a dying language!!
Ah fin' it interestin' 'at scottish bark is in sassenach an' 'at e'en if they say th' bark in scottish, it basically soonds th' sam except fur a coople ay words an' a different accent. thes is coz th' anglo-saxons also settled scootlund an' created a northern variety ay sassenach. scootlund maunt tae keep its unique twist oan sassenach coz ay th' mony border wars fooght atween th' scottish an' sassenach 'at separted th' tois languages an' helped foster th' individual growth ay th' tois. scottish traditions an' stories ur taught orally coz ay tradition an' mony tribes still preserve their history ben thes method the-day. as was related in th' video, rabbie burns was a poit fa "shunned english" an' "restored his nation's voice" by preservin' an' encooragin' scottish ben his literary works. thes video has helped me realize 'at scottish is pure annoyin'! can ye please spick correctly? Ah pure techt, yoo've got it aw wrang....anyway sorry fur mah wee random rant. Ah bit thes looks funay in scottish. Ah tryst, Ah dornt hae add. sae, ance Ah hud tae dae a report oan th' poit elizabeth bishop fa was huir uv a talented in 'er wark an' won mony awards fur them. rabbie burns an' elizabeth bishop waur baith poets fa left their mark oan th' warld by expressin' their reality ben an artistic f'rm ay leid an' writin'. ben rabbie burns' wark, he maunt tae help preserve a dyin' leid!!
Oh wow...
Info:
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 4 - The Guid Scots Tongue - Part 1 / 7." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 15 Jan. 2013.
Ah fin' it interestin' 'at scottish bark is in sassenach an' 'at e'en if they say th' bark in scottish, it basically soonds th' sam except fur a coople ay words an' a different accent. thes is coz th' anglo-saxons also settled scootlund an' created a northern variety ay sassenach. scootlund maunt tae keep its unique twist oan sassenach coz ay th' mony border wars fooght atween th' scottish an' sassenach 'at separted th' tois languages an' helped foster th' individual growth ay th' tois. scottish traditions an' stories ur taught orally coz ay tradition an' mony tribes still preserve their history ben thes method the-day. as was related in th' video, rabbie burns was a poit fa "shunned english" an' "restored his nation's voice" by preservin' an' encooragin' scottish ben his literary works. thes video has helped me realize 'at scottish is pure annoyin'! can ye please spick correctly? Ah pure techt, yoo've got it aw wrang....anyway sorry fur mah wee random rant. Ah bit thes looks funay in scottish. Ah tryst, Ah dornt hae add. sae, ance Ah hud tae dae a report oan th' poit elizabeth bishop fa was huir uv a talented in 'er wark an' won mony awards fur them. rabbie burns an' elizabeth bishop waur baith poets fa left their mark oan th' warld by expressin' their reality ben an artistic f'rm ay leid an' writin'. ben rabbie burns' wark, he maunt tae help preserve a dyin' leid!!
Oh wow...
Info:
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 4 - The Guid Scots Tongue - Part 1 / 7." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 15 Jan. 2013.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
The English language part 2 video explains how even though English and Sanskrit seem very different, they really are quite similar and can be grouped in the same language family with some other languages. This video also mentions that the Stonehenge stones are the "parents of the Indo-European group of languages," which contain many branches of languages created over the generations including Spanish and French. It is also stated that "the English language arrived in Britain in AD 449," implying that Britain originally did not have the English language. Germanic tribes including the Anglo-Saxons became the ancestors of England because they invaded Britain who was inhabited by Celtics and abandoned by the Romans.The video goes on to say that the Anglo-Saxons group name was created because these Eastern people had a similar language. Throughout the video it is shown how over time languages can be changed and adapted which results in words sounding similar in different languages. An example of this is the guy who lives in Holland whose language is closer to English than Dutch. Antoher example is of how there is still a Celtic influence in the modern Welsh language.
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 2 - The Mother Tongue - Part 1 / 7."
YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UG6vHXArlk>.
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 2 - The Mother Tongue - Part 1 / 7."
YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UG6vHXArlk>.
English Episode 1
This video mentions that "English is more influential than any other language." This statement is then supported by the evidence that an Italian airline, with Italian pilots, speaks the "airport language" of English, which is used in airlines in 157 countries across the world. It goes on to explain that English is infiltrating other countries other than Britain and the US, through newscasting, newspapers, mail, movies, songs, computers, TV etc. Even the countries themselves are producing these items in English which is not their native language. In this video, they refer to the word "variety" of English instead of dialect, because dialect is a loaded word that can denote segregation or grouping of different people. I guess you could say "variety" would be more politically correct. In public schools in England, they have taken groups of children that speak different varieties of English and have helped them develop the more "superior" English accent because this accent supposedly denotes that you are "intelligent, trustworthy, and good-looking." Maybe English has become a dominant language in the world because those who speak English are unwilling to communicate in any other way (because of pride/arrogance?) which forces others to learn to be able to communicate and understand the growing majority of people that speak English.
Info provided by:
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 1 - An English Speaking World - Part 1/7." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 Jan. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=7FtSUPAM-uA>.
Info provided by:
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English Episode 1 - An English Speaking World - Part 1/7." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 Jan. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=7FtSUPAM-uA>.
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