MODERN
ENGLISH
Since the time of Shakespeare, English has continued to chanSettlers from
Britain moved across the world - to the USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Asia
and Africa, and in each place, the language changed and developed, and look in
words from other lan-guages. For example, 'kangaroo' and 'boomerang' are native
Australian words, 'shampoo' and 'pyjamas' came from India.
With the increase in communication, travel, radio and television, British,
American, Australian and other Englishes have mixed. And words from many other
languages - French, German, Spanish, Arabic, even Nepali - have been borrowed.
So English continues to change and develop, with hundreds of new words arriving
every year. For better or worse, it has truly become the world's international
language. It has become the language of science, air traffic control, the world
of computers, and most of the Internet. And in many countries, where there are
other competing languages and people groups, English has been chosen as a common
second language. This has happened in Nigeria and Ghana.
This may not seem fair to other important and valuable languages, which are also
international! For example, those of us who know and love France, realise that
the French regret the way their language may not be so much of an international
language as it used to be. And it is sad that English people are often lazy, and
don't bother to learn other languages!
So, for many jobs and situations, English has become an essential gateway.
If you are learning it - best wishes and we hope you enjoy it!
THE VARIANTS OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
Where did English
come from? The obvious answer is England. However, in the past two thousand
years very many people came to England and changed the language. Perhaps most of
the language comes from the Anglo-Saxons who came to England in the fifth to the
seventh centuries. But there are also Roman words from the time when England was
a part of the Roman Empire. The Vikings brought many words with them, the
Normans governed England for many years and brought French words with them. Then
the English brought many words from different countries - 'kangaroo' from
Australia, 'pyjamas' from India, and 'anorak' from Canada.
But what is
English now? It is no longer spoken just in England and there are many different
kinds of English in different parts of the world.
There are two main families of
Standard English, the American and the British. American English is spoken in
the USA and in Canada. British English is spoken in the West Indies, Britain,
Australasia, and Africa. However, many other parts of the world also use
English. In India English is an official language still and there is a special
kind of Indian English. In several African countries, such as Nigeria and Ghana,
English is spoken in schools and colleges. In many sciences English is the
language of communication. There are about 3OO million people who speak
English.
Other Englishes
US or American English (see
Unit 93) is not the only special variety of English. Each area of
the
English-speaking world has
developed its own special characteristics. This is usually mainly
a matter of vocabulary and
pronunciation. This unit just gives you a small taste of I some of the
different varieties of English
by drawing your attention to vocabulary used in 1 various
English-speaking regions. All
the words covered in this unit would be understood 1 educated
native speakers of British
English although they might not choose to use them themselves.
They are all words which you
may come across in your own reading, listening \ viewing.
Australian English is
particularly interesting for its rich store of highly colloquial
words an expressions.
Australian colloquialisms often involve shortening a word. Sometimes the
ending '-ie' or '-o' is then
added, e.g. a smoko (from smoking), is a 'tea or coffee break' and a milko
delivers the milk; beaut, short
for 'beautiful' means 'great'. Because of the current popularity of
Australian TV programmes and
films, some of these words are now being used by British people
too.
Indian English, on the other
hand, is characterised by sounding more formal than
British English. It has
retained in everyday usage words that are found more in the classics of
the
nineteenth century literature
than in contemporary TV programmes from London, e.g. The bereaved
are condoled and the Prime
Minister is felicitated on his or her birthday. An India might complain
of a pain in his bosom (rather
than his chest) and an Indian bandit is referred to as a miscreant.
Scottish English uses a number
of special dialect words. Some of the more common of these are
Aye: yes
Loch:
lake
Dreich:
dull
Ben: mountain
To mind: to remember Janitor: caretaker
Brae: bank(of
river)
Bairn: child
Lassie: girl
Dram: drink (usually
wisky) Bonny: beautiful
Outwith:outside
Glen: valley
Burn:
stream
Wee: small
Kirk: church
Stay: live
Ken: know
Black English is the term used to refer to the English
which originated in the Caribbean
| islands and has now spread to
many parts of the UK, Canada and the USA. Some words listed
below are characteristic of
Black English but are also now used in other varieties of English.
Many are particularly
associated with the music world.
dreadlocks: Rastafarian
hairstyle
beat:
exhausted
chick: girl
dig: understand
jam: improvise
pad: bed