English language in multilingual context

PART 1: THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

BEFORE ENGLISH 400.000 BC – 450 AD----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

PREHISTORIC BRITAIN----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3
PREHISTORIC BRITAIN  HAVE TO CHECK WITH PPT------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4
LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN ROMAN BRITAIN----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

OLD ENGLISH (450 AD -1.100 AD)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5

SETTLEMENT OF THE GERMANIC TRIBES (449 AD)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6

A GROUP OF DIALECTS---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6
TIMELINE-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6
OLD ENGLISH 800-1100-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7
KING ALFRED (THE GREAT)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7
TIMELINE-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8
ORTHOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF OLD ENGLISH------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8
PHONOLOGICAL FEATURES OF OLD ENGLISH---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8
VOWELS (SHORT & LONG MONOPHTHONGS & DIPHTONGS FOR EACH)--------------------------------------------------------------8
CONSONANTS---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9
LEXICAL FEATURES OF OLD ENGLSIH------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9
MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF OLD ENGLISH-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
RICH MORPHOLOGY: INFLECTIONS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF OLD ENGLISH-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11
SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF OLD ENGLISH-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11
OLD ENGLISH INFLUENCE FROM LATIN--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12
OLD ENGLISH- INFLUENCE FROM CELTIC------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12
OLD ENGLISH -INFLUENCE FROM LATIN-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13
OLD ENGLISH- INFLUENCE FROM (OLD) NORSE----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14
OLD ENGLISH- INFLUENCE FROM (PRE-NORMAN) FRENCH----------------------------------------------------------------------------15

MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-1500)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16

TIMELINE (ALWAYS GRADUAL TRANSITION)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------16

SOCIETAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST------------------------------------------------------------------------------16

NORMAN INVASION: SPREAD OF (OLD/NORMAN) FRENCH (1066-1100)----------------------------------------------------------17
MULTILINGUALISM IN NORMAN BRITAIN (1100-1150)------------------------------------------------------------------------------17
RESURGENCE OF ENGLISH (1150>)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18
GENERAL LINGUISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF MIDDLE ENGLISH-------------------------------------------------------------------------19
INFLUENCE FROM OTHER LANGUAGES ON ME-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------21
INFLUENCE FROM OTHER LANGUAGES ON ME-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------23
PHONOLOGICAL CHANGES: THE GREAT VOWEL SHIFT----------------------------------------------------------------------------------23
GREAT VOWEL SHIFT: 15TH CENTURY--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------23

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH (1500-1800)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25

TIMELINE----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25
HISTORICAL ASPECTS---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------26
GENERAL LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF EARLY MODERN ENGLISH------------------------------------------------------------------------31
INFLUENCE FROM OTHER LANGUAGES ON EME---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------33

1
ENGLISH AROUND THE WORLD------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------36

INNER CIRCLE-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------37
OUTER CIRCLE----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------37
EXPANDING CIRCLE-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------37
PRELIMINARY TERMS & CONCEPTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------37
WHAT MAKES A STANDARD?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------38
STANDARD ENGLISH----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------39
STANDARD BRITISH & AMERICAN ENGLISH--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------39
EVOLUTION OF GA-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------40
STANDARD BRITISH & AMERICAN ENGLISH--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------40
TERMS & CONCEPTS---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------40
OTHER INNER CIRCLE ENGLISHES--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------41
INFLUENCE OF OTHER LANGUAGES ON STANDARD ENGLISH---------------------------------------------------------------------------42

VARIETY OF A LANGUAGE-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------44

AFRICAN-AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISH (AAVE)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------44

HISTORICAL CONTEXT : ENGLISH IN AFRICA--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------47
AFRICAN ENGLISHES---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------48
NEW ENGLISHES : CASE STUDY----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------48

ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------52

DEFINITION-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------52
TIMELINE----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------52
OTHER LANGUAGES AS LINGUA FRANCA------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------52
ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------54
OTHER GLOBAL LANGUAGES?-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------55
CONTESTING THE GLOBAL POWER OF ENGLISH-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------56
ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------56
LANGUAGE OF INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY : EUROPE---------------------------------------------------------------------------------57

Part 1: The Historical Evolution of English

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Pdf copies The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language, by David Crystal (CUP)
(highly recommended)

Before English 400.000 BC – 450 AD

Prehistoric Britain

 400.000-20.000 BC: Neanderthals originally inhabit Britain, increasingly alongside homo

sapiens  couldn’t produce the same speech sounds as us (more nasal sounds)
 10.000 BC (end of Ice Age before): Mesolithic period (Stone Age): homo sapiens is
dominant species. Cheddar Man = “The first brit”/ “first English man”: first (almost)
complete human skeleton found in Britain (blue eyes, dark skin probably because heavy
UV reflections  dark skin protects you better => after ice melted: more white skin.
USED as anti-racism, diversity & people are sometimes in denial that the original inhabits
of Britain were dark.)
 15.000- 10.000 BC: End of last Ice Age, Britain connected to continental Europe by land
bridge called Doggerland (sea level increased, there was land that is now submerged,
British Isles were connected to now Europe)
 8.000 BC: Agriculture in Britain
 6.500-6.200 BC: Doggerland flooded by rising sea levels; Britain cut off from continental
Europe by English Channel
 C. 1.000 BC: Germanic Indo-European living in parts of modern-day Germany (came
from further East, western part that is now Russia.)
 C. 500 BC:
- Celts inhabit much of Europe & begin to colonize the British Isles
- Britain inhabited by 20 major Celtic tribes
 324 BC: Greek explorer Pytheas writes about his travel (parts of Europe, Africa & Asia
develop a lot more) to the British Isles – refers to Celtic inhabitants as Pretanin and the
land as the Islands, or Pretania. Became Brittania in Latin & replaced Albion in 1 st century
(Romans changed it) BC as the prevalent Latin name for island of Great Britain.
 55 BC: First Roman raids on Britain under Julius Caesar; Roman settlements were short
lived  didn’t stay there that long because not much to be gained (Romans had most of
Europe land & not much to be gained in Britain)
 43 AD
- Roman occupation of England & (parts of) Wales under Emperor Claudius
- Beginning of Roman rule (decided to conquer Britain again because before that
conquered Europe most & abandoned Britain because there was not much profit
in Britain)
 122 AD
- Hadrian’s Wall (120 km) as defense against continuous invasions from Celtic tribes
(Picts got their name for Latin paint because often painted in blue, very hard to
conquer so decided to build a wall) from the north (Scotland)
- (second attempt to build a wall) Second wall (Antonine’s Wall) started in 144 AD
further north
 410-436: Gradual Roman withdrawal from Britain

Prehistoric Britain  have to check with ppt

3
 Romans formed alliances with (some) Celtic tribes, for political/military reasons and,
especially, for trade: Roman luxury goods or coins in exchange for British goods (grain,
iron, cattle)
 Also frequent resistance from Celtic tribes against Romans (king was murdered by
romans, wife Boudica managed to slaughter a few (up to 60.000-80.000 romans)
 revolt by the Iceni tribe led by Boudica in 60-61 AD  she eventually got killed
 Influence of Roman culture on local population (& the other way around)
 Inter-ethnic marriages
 Gradual development of Roman-Briton culture & identity in later stages (though not to
the same extent as Gaul= land conquered by the romans)

Linguistic situation in Roman Britain

 Latin became the ‘official’ language of Roman Britain, esp. in the south & east
 Mainly spoken by administrators, soldiers, traders (educated) natives, mainly in and
around towns
 Celtic languages still widely spoken
 Increasing number of Latin-Celtic multilinguals + emergence of a Briton version of vulgar
Latin
 Latif left some traces in British Celtic
 Unlike on the continent, Latin in Britain did not live on past the roman occupation & no
romance language grew out of it.

Old English (450 AD -1.100 AD)

Facts: only know major lines; key-points

 Celtic people Romanized so: in 450 everything changes

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 c. 450: Germanic settlement of Britain begins (Angles, Frisians, Saxons, Jutes)
 449 AD
- A Briton warlord or king called Vortigern (meaning Chief Leader or King in Celtic
Briton) invites mercenaries from Germanic tribes (Saxons) under the command of
two brothers, Hengist & Horsa. from over the channel (present day Northern
Germany & Denmark) to help him stop incursions from non-Romanized Celtic
tribes (Picts, Scots) from the North
- The Germanic mercenaries quickly turn against Vortigern & occupy & settle in his
territory (they trusted them, but they went against them)

450-550 AD: More and other Germanic tribes (Saxons, Jutes, Angles & Frisians) who conquer
or kill the local Celtic & roman-Celtic population or expel them to the west & north of the
British Isles & settle in their land (settle in their land)

 450 AD-550 AD

- Saxons: southern and south-eastern Britain.

- Angles: Mercia, Northumbria, East Anglia.
- Jutes: smaller numbers. In Kent, the Isle of Wight, and parts of Hampshire.
- Frisians: smaller numbers. Visited Britain already before 450 AD. Mainly in
southern and eastern Britain (though few long-lived settlements) (Frisians always
made a habit to return to their homelands)
- Indigenous Celtics and Roman-Celtics: pushed back into Cornwall, Wales, Cumbria,
and Scottish border.

 Mainly Saxons and Angles that took major parts of their land

Settlement of the Germanic tribes (449 AD)

5
 o Saxons, Angles, Jutes and Frisians were close neighbours, both on the continent and
in Britain, and spoke mutually intelligible West-Germanic languages (or dialects).
Spoke mutually intelligible West-Germanic languages (or dialects)

o Germanic invaders called the native (Roman-) Celts wealas (= foreigners, strangers,
others,) while the Celtics ARE natives and the Germans were the foreigners
o Celts called the invaders Saxons, regardless of the tribe
o Early Latin writers followed same practice in their chronicles
o The angles & Saxons were the most numerous and dominant tribes, and their
languages formed the basis of what was to be know Angelisc or Anglo-Saxon or Old
English

 450-480 Earliest Old English inscriptions (runic alphabets)  The Undley Bracteate: gold
medallion found in Suffolk. Inscription in Germanic runes: ‘This she-wolf is a reward to
my kinsmen)

A group of dialects

 600 AD: at least 12 kingdoms in England

 Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy: kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Kent, Sussex,
Wessex
 Four major dialects emerge (& gradually merge)
- Northumbrian: more Scandinavian influence (loanwords from Old Norse, all we
have is from runic Alphabet  closest to Danish & north German homeland
- Kentish: Latin/Old French loanwords, early development of features that
influenced Middle English (e.g. thou form)
- Mercian: <Latin/old French loanwords, runic alphabet
- West-Saxon: Latin alphabet (first to adopt; was going to be the main one) became
the OE, standard due to the influence of King Alfred (871-899) under whose reign
the first great periods of literary activity occurred  Most extant Old English
writings are in the West Saxon variety

Timeline

c.450 Germanic settlement (Angles, Frisians, Saxons, Jutes) of Britain begins

450-480 Earliest Old English inscriptions

597 St. Augustine arrives in Britain: beginning of Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons 
 tried to Christianize

c.600 Anglo-Saxon language covers most of modern-day England.

c.660 “Cædmon's Hymn” composed in Old English  he couldn’t sing before & received the
voice of god caedmons hymm; one of the earliest work of literary art in OE
6
731 The Venerable Bede writes “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People” (in Latin)
792 Viking raids of Britain begin

Old English 800-1100

2nd wave of Germanic invasions; come from Norway, Sweden, Denmark & occupy west-coast
Scotland & Ireland & west of wales. Danes invade England

Manage to occupy a large part of England  referred to as Danelaw

c.800 Old English epic poem “Beowulf” composed, based on earlier epic story transmitted
through oral tradition. Oldest surviving written manuscript: Nowell Codex (950-1020). 
~800 OE poem Beowulf it was written down in the form of verse; copied a few times  was
orally transmitted for years but now finally written  Latin alphabet which by then was
dominant

871-899 Reign of Alfred the Great  became the first king of the English/Anglo-Saxons

King Alfred (The Great)

- King of the West Saxons (Wessex) from 871 to 886

- First King of the Anglo-Saxons (and ‘England’) from 886 until his death in 899
- Defended Wessex against invading Danes and continues fighting the Danes
- Capital at Winchester (southern coast of England)
- Promoted literacy and learning:
 Learned Latin and encouraged translations into (Old) English
 Dictated that all people with means should learn to read English
 Developed and imposed an administrative and legal system
 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle begun during his reign (871- 1154): a collection of annals,
compiled in several monasteries, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons/English
on a year-by-year basis, written mostly in Old English (later entries more Middle
English in tone).

 (West-)Saxon variety gradually became the ‘standard’ of OE, leading to more uniformity,
at least in writing.

Timeline

7
c.800 Old English epic poem Beowulf composed
871-899 Reign of Alfred the Great.
871 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is begun, ordered by Alfred the Great  started in his first
year of reign 871
878 Danelaw established, dividing Britain into Anglo-Saxon south and Danish north

911 Charles II of France grants Normandy to the Viking chief Hrolf the Ganger ('Walker,
Marcher') => beginning of Norman French

Orthographical features of old English

 Old English runic alphabet: 28 letters (Runic alphabet also called futhor (first letters))

• Old English Latin alphabet: 24 letters

a, æ, b, c, d, e, f, ʓ, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, þ, ð, u, Ƿ, y

 5 letters not present in modern English: wynn (Ƿ), yogh (ʓ), thorn (Þ), eth (ð), and
ash (æ)
 No modern letters 'j', 'v', 'w', or ‘z’ , though the sounds represented by them were
represented by other letters in the OE alphabet. Eg. OE 'Ƿ' is equivalent to the
modern 'w’.

Phonological features of old English

VOWELS (Short & long monophthongs & diphtongs for each)

 OE monophthongs: 7 or 8 vowel qualities (depending on dialect), and each could appear

as either a long or short monophthong (so 14-16 distinctive vowel phonemes in total)

Eg. god ‘God’ and gōd ‘good’

wendon ‘turned’ and wēndon ‘believed’
āwacian ‘to awaken’ and āwācian ‘to grow weak’.

OE diphthongs: 1 to 3 diphthongs (depending on dialect), and each could appear as either a

long or short diphthong

Eg. seax ‘knife’ vs. scēap ‘sheep’

eoh ‘horse’ vs. bēon ‘bee’
hiertan ‘to hearten/encourage/revive’ vs. hīeran ‘to hear/listen with
compliance/obey’.

CONSONANTS

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 Most OE consonant symbols are pronounced in the same way as in ME, with some
exceptions:

- ‘c’ is pronounced [tʃ] and ‘g’ is pronounced [j] when these letters precede ‘e’ or ‘i’;
eg. cēosan ‘choose’, gēar ‘year’. Otherwise, ‘c’ = [k]; ‘g’ = [g]
- ‘f’, ‘s’, and ‘ϸ’ are pronounced voiced between vowels [v, z, ð], voiceless
elsewhere. eg. yfel ‘evil’.
- combinations ‘sc’, ‘cg’ usually pronounced [ʃ], [dʒ] respectively; eg. scip ‘ship’ and
ecg ‘edge’ are pronounced the same in OE and ME.

 Consonant lengthening. Doubled consonants are distinct from single ones; the ‘dd’ in
biddan ‘ask’/’bid’ is pronounced like the -d d- in the phrase ‘bad debt’.

 All consonants pronounced in OE:

eg. c in cnapa ‘servant’ (cf. Dutch ‘knaap’) r in gēar ‘year’

w in wrītan ‘write’
g in ϸing ‘thing’.

Consonants, most of them pronounced in same way (not a letter symbol K but letter c could
be pronounced in different ways. Same with j

Old English had consonant lenghtings. Short & long not only with monophtong & diphthongs
but also consonants

Lexical features of Old Englsih

 OE vocabulary was almost purely Germanic; except for a small number of borrowings (cf.
later), it consisted of native words inherited from Proto- Germanic or formed from
native roots and/or affixes (derivations; compounds).
 Only a few simple words are specific to Old English (i.e. they do not occur in other
Germanic or non-Germanic languages)
- eg. clipian ’call’; brid ‘bird’.
 Specific OE compounds:
- eg. wifman or wimman ‘woman’ = 2 Germanic roots (wif+man).
- hlāford ‘male head of household/master/ruler/lord’, = hlāf ‘loaf/bread’ + weard
‘keeper’ (later shortened to ME ‘lord’).
o Almost purely Germanic
o Were some compounding & few s-compounds were Germanic in nature & won’t be find
in German but specific to OE

Morphological features of Old English

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Rich Morphology: inflections

 Nouns: nouns belong to one of eight classes, each with their own set of declensions. 7
classes together form the strong nouns (a-stem nouns, ó-stem nouns, etc.), and one
class (n- class nouns) forms the weak nouns (‘weak’, because they are "weakly"
inflected; i.e. most of their inflections have the same ending, -an; eg. ēagan ‘eye’)
 Nouns, adjectives: marked for three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter)
Eg. se mona ‘the Moon’ (masc) - seo sunne ‘the Sun’ (femin), þay wif ‘the woman/wife’

(neut). Cf. German der Mond - die Sonne - das Weib

 Nouns, adjectives: inflected for four cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative

o Oe had different classes of nouns, and each noun had it own setting of inflections or
own version of inflection

Verbs: weak verbs and strong verbs (irregular vs regular)

Weak verbs:

- make up the vast majority of verbs in OE.

- mark tense, aspect, mood through suffixes, typically endings with -d- or -t- in
them, added to the stem.

- 2 major classes, each with slightly different conjugations (+ 3rd class with only 4
verbs: habban ‘have’, libban ‘live’, seċġan ‘say’, hyċġan ‘think’)

- eg. conjugation of weak class 1 verb dǣlan ‘share’

Strong verbs:

- Much more numerous and ‘regular’ than in ME.

- Mark tense, aspect, mood through combination of suffixes + ablaut: change of the
vowel stem (cf. ME shrink-shrank-shrunk)

- 8 major classes, each with different conjugation patterns, esp. different ablaut
patterns such as ⟨e⟩>⟨i⟩, ⟨æ⟩>⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩>⟨u⟩, etc. (cf. ME shrink-shrank- shrunk vs.
drive-drove-driven)

- Eg. conjugation of strong class 2 verb stelan ‘steal’

- Decline of the group of strong verbs already started in OE: new verbs (eg.
borrowings) tended to be weak.

- ME weak (regular) verbs that were strong in OE include climb, fart, float, flow, grip,
laugh, sleep, walk, wash
10
Anomalous verbs:

- bēon ‘be’ , wesan (sindon) ‘be’ , dōn ‘do’, gān ‘go’, willan ‘ want’
- Among the most commonly used verbs
- Own ‘idiosyncratic’ conjugation schemes

Pronouns:

- four case forms: nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative. Possibly a fifth,
instrumental case.

Determiners:

 no indefinite article (ME ‘a(n)’ later developed from the numeral ‘one’). Instead, a noun
is most often used by itself.

- e.g. OE: Ūs is lēofre þæt wē hæbben healtne cyning þonne healt rīċe.
- Literally: Us is dearer that we have crippled king than crippled kingdom. We'd
rather have a crippled king than a crippled kingdom.
- ME: Us is dearer that we have crippled king than crippled kingdom. We'd rather
have a crippled king than a crippled kingdom.

 Definite article is sē, which doubles as the word for "that." It comes in 12 different forms
depending on case, gender, and number.

Syntactic features of Old English

Varied word order

• Word order more flexible than in ME

• Cases mark syntactic functions in clauses:

Syntactic features of Old English

 Negatives: no Do-Support; preverbal negation; stacking of negators

- e.g. Ic ne þence ‘I not think’
- Ne spræc heo ‘She did not speak’
ða ða we hit nowæðer ne selfe ne lufodon ne eac oðrum mannum ne lefdon

‘when we it neither not ourselves not loved not, nor allowed it not to others’.

11
 - Ne eom ic na Crist ‘Not am I not Christ’
 Questions: no Do-Support; Subject-Verb Inversion
- e.g. Cweðe we, is þes Dauides sunu? ‘Say we, is this David’s son?’

Hagar, Saries þinen, hu færst þu oððe hwider wilt þu? ‘Hagar, handmaiden of
Sarai, whence/where come you [from] and whither/where want you [go]?’

- Hū meaht þū? ‘How may you?’ (= How are you?)

Old English influence from Latin

 Celtic
 Latin (present everywhere)
 (Old) Norse (quite a few influences)
 (Old) (Norman) French (pre-1066)

Always the vocabulary that is the most influences by other languages!

Old English- influence from Celtic

 (Surprisingly?) small impact on (Old) English

 First wave of Germanic settlers (450-550) in England had relatively little contact with
the original Celtic or Roman- Celtic population (who were either subjected and
forced to assimilation to the new language and culture, or killed or expelled to the
far west, south-west, and north of the British Isles); cf. arrival of the Europeans in
North- America

 Mainly in the domain of lexis, not in domains of phonology or grammar

(morphology, syntax)

Lexical influence: borrowings

 A few Celtic loanwords in some OE dialects:

- E.g. cragg 'deep valley', torr ‘peak’, dry 'sorcerer' (cf. druid), carr ‘rock’, dunn 'grey'
(cf. Dundee, Dunedin)
 Celtic-based place names:
 River names: Thames, Avon ‘river’, Don, Exe, Usk, Wye.
 Town names: Dover ‘water’, Eccles ‘church’, Bray ‘hill’, York, London(?) • Names of
Old English kingdoms: Kent (‘border land’), Deira, Bernicia
 Hybrid placenames (Celtic + Germanic or Latin):
o Man+Chester, Lan+caster, Win+chester (> Lat. caestrum)
o York+shire (OE scīr 'country'), Canter+bury (OE byrgan 'to hide, bury)

Old English -influence from Latin

12
  Through Roman occupation of Britain, the general influence of the Roman civilization
(already in the original homelands of the Germanic tribes on the continent) and,
particularly, the introduction of Christianity from the middle of the 6th century
onwards (Roman missionaries; language of the church was Latin).

 Cf. King Alfred, who encouraged the learning of Latin (mainly amongst the nobles).

 More extensive but again mainly limited to orthography (introduction of the Latin
alphabet) and lexis, far less in phonology or grammar (morphology, syntax)

Lexical influence : borrowings

Lexical influence : Latin loan-translations

E.g. days of the week were literally translated from Latin, with the Roman god being
substituted by the Germanic god.

Old English- influence from (Old) Norse

 Second Germanic invasion: 2 waves of Viking invasions: from 790- 886 and from 980-
1012 (with occasional raids lasting until 1066: Norse king Harald Hardrada)

13
 Vikings came from from south and eastern Norway, south-western Sweden, northern
Denmark. Spoke Old Norse dialects

 Esp. the Danes settled in England: Treaty of Wedmore (886): Danes agreed to settle in
north-eastern third of the country – the Danelaw. Alfred's son Edward the Elder in 800
started reconquest of Danish England.

 Viking > Old Norse vík, 'creek/inlet/bay' plus the suffix -ing, via the Old English word
wícing -> a person who came from or frequented the inlets of the sea.

 Substantial impact of Old Norse on OE (and ME) in various domains of language,

facilitated by the fact that OE and ON (esp. the Danish dialect) were still very much
related (similar grammar, prosody, many (near) cognates) and probably mutually
intelligible

 Phonological: the pronunciation of many OE words was influenced by or replaced by ON

words which use [sk-] sounds

- Eg. skirt (< skyerta, replacing OE cemes) sky (<sky 'cloud'), skin (> skinn, replacing
OE hid), scrape (> skrappa, replacing OE crapian).

 Morphological:

- Influence on personal pronoun system: ON pronouns þeir, þeim and þeirra (resp.
they,

- them, their) replace the OE forms hi, heo, heom.

- ON influenced the verb to be (wesan/sindan): sindon was replaced by are

- ON influenced the appearance of 3rd person singular –s verb ending in present

tense (he walk+s) ?

 Largest impact of ON on lexis of OE: over 1500 words were borrowed or otherwise
influenced by ON, many of which became part of ME

- Eg. landing, score, beck, fellow, take, husting, both, same, get, give.

 OE vs ON: OE and ON coexisted for a time. 3 possibilities for which word would be
propagated:

 ON word retained

- Eg. egg vs ey (OE), sister vs sweostor (OE), silver vs seolfor (OE)

 Old English words tayed

14
 - Eg. path vs reike (ON), sorrow vs site (ON), swell vs bolnen (ON)

 Both words retained, but with different meanings

- Eg. dike (ON)/ditch (OE), hale/whole, raise/rise, scrub/shrub, ill/sick,

skill/craft, skin/hide, skirt/shirt

Lexical influence : proper names

 On place names:
- by, (‘farm’ or ‘town’) e.g. Derby, Grimsby, Rugby, Naseby, etc.
- thorp (‘village’) e.g. Althorp, Astonthorpe, Linthorpe
- thwaite (‘clearing’) e.g. Braithwaite, Applethwaite, Storthwaite
- toft (‘homestead’) e.g. in Lowestoft, Eastoft, Sandtoft
 On personal names:
- Names ending in –son, e.g., Henderson, Jackson

Old English- influence from (pre-Norman) French

Pre-Norman French

 Many English monks studied in France (monastic revival)

 Edward, son of Æthelred II, lived in France for 25 years with his bride Emma, daughter of
the Duke of Normandy, and returned in 1041 with French courtiers (who were given
high positions)
 Some impact on lexis:
o Words with French influence: capun ‘capon’, servian ‘serve’, bacun ‘bacon’,
arblast ‘weapon’ (crossbow), prisun ‘prison’, castel ‘castle’, and cancelere
‘chancellor’.
o Some Old French words gave rise to related forms. Eg. prud ‘proud’, led to
prutness ‘pride’ and oferprut ‘haughty’
 In some respect paving the way for the next major invasion and influence on English: the
Norman conquest in 1066

15
 Middle English (1100-1500)
Timeline (always gradual transition)

 But sometimes, event will make a language change

 1 major event that influenced English: Normans (Vikings) invaded England (&
defeated England)  started Norman conquest of England
 Last time British isles conquered by English force (very proud of it now)

1066

 14 October: The Normans (from northern France) under William, Duke of

Normandy, defeat the Anglo-Saxon army of King Harold Godwinson, at
Hastings.
 Start of the Norman conquest of English
 William was crowned as King William I of England on Christmas Day 1066
(William wanted to know what was in his land actually; travelled through
England, how many people lived etc.)

1086 : “Domesday Book” compiled in Latin but with 'native' English terms

c.1150 : Royal Court of England moves from Winchester to London, which becomes the de
facto capital of England

1167 : Oxford University established (teaching initially only in Latin)

1204 : King John loses the province of Normandy to France

1209 : Cambridge University established (teaching in Latin)
1215 : Magna Carta (first document that limited the power & privileges, rights of ruling
king) (in Latin), limiting the rights and privileges of the monarch (king had too much
power before that)

1337 -1453 : One Hundred Years' War between England and France: after initial English
victories, the House of Valois ultimately retained control over France, with the
previously intertwined French and English monarchies thereafter remaining
separate.

1349-50: The Black Death kills one third of the British population (major event) (about a
third of European population died)

Societal consequences of the Norman conquest

 Normans were the (romanised) descendants from the Germanic Viking tribe
led by Rolf the Ganger (from southern Norway) who from 911 onwards
settled in present-day Normandy, France

16
 o Normans that settled in Romandie  romanised unlike the Vikings

 Norman conquest destroyed previous links with Scandinavia

 England in closer contact with France: England becomes part of the Duchy of
Normandy
 Almost total replacement of English aristocracy by Norman barons and
nobles

Norman invasion: spread of (Old/Norman) French (1066-1100)

 Within 20 years of Norman invasion, Norman French spoken across upper layers of
social hierarchy:

o Royalty and court: William of Normandy in power (spent most of his life in his court in
Rouen, Normandy)

o Aristocracy: French-speaking barons

o Clergy: French-speaking abbots, bishops

o Merchants and craftsmen from either Normandy (French-speaking) or from England

(who learned French for trade purposes).

Multilingualism in Norman Britain (1100-1150)

 French: government, law, administration, literature, and the Church

 Latin: administration, education, and worship

 English: very little written evidence, but spoken by the common people

 Originally little contact between the French-speaking upper classes and the (Old)
English-speaking common population => diglossic (or even triglossic) language situation
(French and Latin = High varieties, English = Low variety)  English was the low &
French high

 From ± 1100 onwards: gradual emergence of individual multilingualism:

o Baronial staff learning English to communicate with locals

o English people learning French to approach the aristocracy

o Intermarriage between Normans and English people

o Bilingual word lists compiled as early as the 1200s

17
Resurgence of English (1150>)

Political & societal reasons

 1100 onwards: political balance of power gradually shifts from Rouen (Normandy) to
London (England): Rather than that England becomes an overseas
territory of the Dukes of Normandy, Normandy becomes an overseas
territory of the English King. These trans-Channel possessions made the
kings of England the mightiest of the king of France’s vassals, and the
inevitable friction between them repeatedly escalated into open
hostilities (later leading to the Hundred Years War).

o More & more Normandie becoming overseas territory for England  makes king of
England more powerful than King of France  inevitable friction)

 1150 onwards: gradual emergence of a distinct English (rather than Norman) identity;
English language grows in prestige and spreads. (first upper class French,
gradually next generation more English & then their children exclusively
English. (gradual change)

 1204: King John loses Normandy to France -> Norman nobles lose contact with French
court

 1362: King Henry III: Statute of Pleading –replaces French by English as the official
language of the court, Parliament and law (although records continue to be kept
in Latin)

 1384: John Wycliffe publishes his English translation of “The Bible”

 1385: English became medium of instruction in schools = not French anymore (except
at universities of Oxford and Cambridge  Latin)

 1388: Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales, in English

 1399: Henry IV becomes first English-speaking monarch since the Conquest in 1066
1473: Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye , first book printed in the English language,
Bruges (translation from French)

 1476

- William Caxton establishes the first English printing press in London  had
a major impact on evolution of Language. Because normally English only
heard in conversations, or when people translate out loud from French texts.
More & more people could SEE the English language in written format.
 standardization of English end of the 15th century)

- Previously English was mainly heard in daily conversations or when read

aloud from manuscripts or decrees, now more people could read and see the
English language.

18
 - Gain in uniformity: Caxton's regional variety of London (influenced by the
dialects of migrants from other parts of England) gradually develops into an
unofficial norm/standard (esp. for writing and printing).

 Gradually English more than French being spoken

 led to Decline of Norman French:

- Norman French dialect spoken by Norman nobles (Anglo-Norman) gradually
evolved into a distinct dialect known as Anglo-Norman French
- increasingly different from the French used in France
- difficult for the Norman nobles to communicate with the French court
- led to a decline in the use of Norman French in England.
 Development of a more uniform, standard form of Middle English based on the
London dialect
 Increase in use of English in legal and administrative contexts, such as charters,
records, and correspondence
 Integration of Norman and English society

General linguistic characteristics of Middle English

Morphology: gradual decay of the OE inflection system

 Most likely due to change in word stresses:

 Indo-European, had a ‘free’ system of accentuation: stress within a word moved
according to specific rules
 Germanic languages, incl. OE: mostly main stress on first syllable
 Main stress on first syllable => auditory problems at end of word
 phonetically similar endings cause confusion (-en, -on, -an) => inflection decay

Verbs:

 Verb endings remained similar to those in OE.

 Infinitives: OE used inflectional ending –(i)an. Replaced by particle ‘to’.
 Progressive form (-‘ing’) used auxiliary verbs. E.g., I am running, I was running

Syntax

 Inflection decay => word order (syntax) becomes critical

 Gradual establishment of Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) order (eg. John kissed Mary in the
garden)
 Prepositions particularly critical when noun endings disappear.

- E.g. OE “þæm scipum”, with a dative ending on both the words for ‘the’ and
‘ship’
- ME: “to the shippes”, using a preposition and the common plural ending

 Verbs: verb endings remained similar to those in OE, with some changes:

19
 - Infinitives: OE inflectional ending –(i)an replaced by particle ‘to’.
- Progressive form (-‘ing’) now gradually used in combination with auxiliary
verb Be (eg. I am running, I was running)

 Emergence of postmodifying prepositional genitive:

- Uses of instead of genitive case in noun phrases: e.g. the roof of the house,
not *the house’s roof
- Possibly influenced by similar French construction using de (eg. le toit de la
maison)
- Inflectional genitive and prepositional genitives co-exist (until today)

 Negation: continuing use of the Old English construction involving ‘double’ or ‘triple’
negatives, mostly for emphasis

- E.g. “He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde in al his lyf unto no manner wight”
- > (He never, to this point, in any way said anything bad in all of his life to any kind of
person) = quadruple negation (Description of the Knight, Canterbury Tales, Chaucer)

• Emergence and spread of Do-Support (or: Do-Insertion): Unique feature of English (late or
indirect influence from Celtic?), used to form:

 Interrogatives (cf. other languages: Subject-Verb Inversion)

- Do you like coffee? (Dutch: Hou je van koffie? )
- Did you see that? (Dutch: Zag je dat?)
 Negations (cf. other languages: negator before and/or after the main verb)
- I do not like coffee. (Dutch: ik hou niet van koffie.)
- I did not do any sports at the time. (Dutch: Ik deed niet aan sport in die tijd.)
 Emphasis (cf. other languages: adverbs)

- We do have a lot to do for next week. (Dutch: We hebben echt wel veel te doen.)
- Well, he did behave badly.

 VP-anaphora (cf. other languages: adverbs , interjections, verbs, expressions)

- You ate a lot of chocolate -> Yes, I did. (Dutch: Ja, inderdaad/klopt)
- He smokes too much -> No, he doesn't.

> Question tags (cf. other languages: adverbs, interjections, expressions, intonation)

- You ate a lot of chocolate, didn't you? (Dutch: ..., niet?)

- He smokes too much, does he?

20
Influence from other languages on ME

Ortography: Norman influence by scribes

 cw became qu eg. queen (< cwen or cwene)

 gh instead of h eg. night (< niht) enough (< genog or genuh)
 ch instead of c eg. church (< circe)
 ou for u eg. house (< hus)
 'Minim' confusion: u similar to v, n, m –> u often replaced by o

- E.g. come (< cumen), love (< lufu), son (< sunu)

Lexis: loanwords from Old (Norman) French

 Loan words related to the crown and nobility:

- E.g. crown, castle, prince, count, duke, viscount, baron, noble, sovereign, heraldry
- But: Anglo-Saxon words cyning (king), cwene (queen), erl (earl), cniht (knight), ladi
(lady) and lord persisted.

 Government and administration:

- E.g. parliament, government, governor, city

 Court and law:

- E.g. court, judge, justice, accuse, arrest, sentence, appeal, condemn, plaintiff, bailiff,
jury, felony, verdict, traitor, contract, damage, prison

 War and combat: e.g. army, armour, archer, battle, soldier, guard, courage, peace, enemy,
destroy
 Authority and control: e.g. authority, obedience, servant, peasant, vassal, serf, labourer,
charity
 Fashion and high living: e.g. mansion, money, gown, boot, beauty, mirror, jewel,
 Food: e.g. appetite, banquet, herb, spice, sauce, roast, biscuit
 Art and literature: e.g. art, colour, language, literature, poet, chapter, question

French Loanwords VS English words

 Many of the Old French loan words replaced Old English words:

- E.g. crime replaced firen, place > stow, people > leod, beautiful > wlitig, uncle > eam

 French and Old English components sometimes combined to form new words

- E.g. French gentle and the OE man combined to formed gentleman

21
 Sometimes, both English and French words survived, creating near-synonyms, but with
significantly different senses (with the French-based words often suggesting greater
formality and refinement), adding to the precision and flexibility of English language

- E.g. Romance maternity vs Germanic motherhood, mansion vs house, infant vs child,

power vs might, battle vs fight, liberty vs freedom, desire vs wish, commence vs start,
close vs shut, demand vs ask, chamber vs room, forest vs wood, annual vs yearly,
odour vs smell, aid vs help, cordial vs hearty, mutton vs sheep, beef vs cow, veal vs calf,
porc vs swine, venison vs deer

Latin loan words

 Especially in the early Middle English period(1100 – 1350), Latin remained an important
component of Anglo-Norman society, esp. in the domains of religion, education
(universities), and the law.
 The simultaneous borrowing of French and Latin words led to a highly distinctive feature of
Modern English vocabulary: sets of two, sometimes even three, items all expressing the
same fundamental notion but differing slightly in meaning or style

- E.g. Kingly (OE): real-royal-regal (borrowing from Anglo-Norman, Old French, Latin) rise-
mount- ascend

 Words that had already entered the language through French were now borrowed again
from Latin, so that doublets arose:

- E.g. Count & compute, dainty & dignity, frail & fragile, poor & pauper, purvey & provide,
ray & radius, sever & separate, sure & secure.

Loan words from other languages

 Towards the end of ME period  loan words from other languages

 Dutch: poll (‘head’), doten (‘be foolish’), bouse (‘drink deeply’), and skipper (‘ship’s master’)

 Spanish: cork

 Portuguese: marmalade

 Russian: sable

 Arabic (mostly science related): saffron, admiral, mattress, algebra, alkali, zenith

Phonetic and phonological changes due to influence from Old French

 Anglo-Norman pronunciation vs French pronunciation in France

22
  Anglo-Norman consonant cluster [kw] rather than French single [k] for written qu- Eg.
quit (/kwIt/ vs /ki:t/); question; quarter
 Anglo-Norman velar plosive /k/ instead of French palatal-alveolar fricative /S/ for
written ch- Eg. carry vs charrier; cauldron vs chaudron
 Anglo-Norman retained the written –s- which was lost in French Eg. estate vs état;
hostel vs hôtel; forest vs forêt; beast vs bête

Influence from other languages on ME

 Old English allophones become new contrastive phoneme pairs (signifying difference in
meaning):
o Voiced vs voiceless labio-dental fricatives /v/ (from French) vs /f/; eg. veal vs feel
o Voiced vs voiceless alveolar fricatives /z/ vs /s/; eg. zeal vs seal
o Alveolar vs velar nasal /n/ vs /ŋ/: in ME /ŋ/ no longer followed by /g/

- e.g. OE cyng/cyning /kyŋg/ > ME kyng /kIŋ/ vs kinn /kIn/ ('kin', 'family')

 Simplification of certain OE consonant clusters:

o OE [h] before consonants in initial position was lost in ME (also reflected in
spelling)

- E.g. OE hring > ME ring; hnecca > necce/neck

Phonological changes: The great vowel shift

 major change that started in ME

 Complete restructuring of the English vowel system

 started in the late Middle English period (± 1450), completed towards the end of the
Early Modern English period (± 1800) sound changed a lot during that period!
 Multiple causes: social, cultural and linguistic factors:
o The emergence of a standardized form of English, first with a more uniform
spelling, then attempt towards a more uniform pronunciation
o Language contact: influence from (Old) French vowels
o Internal linguistic factors: changes in word stress (first syllable in Germanic words
vs all syllables in Romance words), decay of inflections, etc.
o (Started reading like it was written)

Great vowel shift: 15th Century

 Complete restructuring of Old English vowel system, starting with the articulation of one
or two vowels, triggering a chain reaction

1. Emergence of new diphthongs (first central diphthongs, from closed/high front and back
monophthongs)
 certain consonants at the end of a syllable were pronounced like vowels. Eg. OE
weg /weg/ was pronounced as [wej] or [wei] ‘way’.
23
  Influence from French loanwords: /oɪ/, /ʊɪ/, precursor of modern /ɔɪ/ in joy, point,
etc

Restructuring of Old English vowel system

2. Pure vowels changed (moved higher, more central, or lower)

- Eg. OE /ɑː/ moves higher, first towards /o/, then becoming a closing diphthong
[ou]
- Ban became bon ‘bone’
- swa became so.

 result : within the span of 200 years, Middle English and Early Modern English already
sounded like two different languages so that Chaucer and Shakespeare would have
found it hard to understand each other.

24
 Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Timeline

 1455-1487 Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought over control of the English
throne between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet:
Lancaster and York.
 c.1500 Start of English Renaissance
 1526 William Tyndale prints English translation of the New Testament of “The Bible”
 1534 Act of Supremacy (by Henry VIII): the Church of England (Ecclesia Anglicana)
becomes independent of the Catholic Church in Rome
 1536 Act of Union with Wales, enacted by King Henry VIII which effectively made
England and Wales the same country, the Kingdom of England and Wales, governed by
the same laws.
 1539 “The Great Bible”, first authorised edition of the Bible in English, authorised by
Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in church
 1549 First English version of “The Book of Common Prayer” published
 c.1590 William Shakespeare writes his first plays (Henry VI, parts I, II, III)
 1588 English fleet defeats Spanish Armada in the English Channel and preempts an
invasion
 1558-1603 Reign of Queen Elisabeth I
 1604 Robert Cawdrey publishes the first English dictionary, “A Table Alphabeticall of
Hard Words”
 1607 Establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English(–speaking) settlement in
the New World
 1611 The Authorized, or King James Version, of “The Bible” is published
 1622 Publication, in Amsterdam, of the first English-language weekly newspaper, the
“Courante” or “Weekly News”
 1649 Charles I beheaded. Start of the Interregnum (Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector)
 1660 Monarchy restored with Charles II.
 1666 Great Fire of London
 1702 Publication, in London, of the first daily English-language newspaper, “The Daily
Courant”
 1704 Isaac Newton writes “Opticks” in English (previous works in Latin)
 1707 Act of Union with Scotland: The Kingdom of England (which includes Wales) joined
with the Kingdom of Scotland to form The Kingdom of Great Britain.
 1755 Samuel Johnson publishes his “Dictionary of the English Language”
 1776 Independence of the United States of America
 1801 Act of Union with Ireland, creating a new political entity called United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland

25
Historical aspects

Events that affected the English language

 The Renaissance: started in Italy in the 14th century and spread throughout
Europe revival of interest in classical learning and the development of new
ideas in science, art, and philosophy  coining of new words and concepts.

• The Printing Press: The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the
mid-15th century  increased standardization of spelling and grammar, and wider
dissemination of English texts.

• The Religious Reformation:

o The Protestant Reformation (since 1517) translation of the Bible into English and
increased use of English in religious texts and worship services.

o The English Reformation (1530s) and the establishment of the Church of England under
Henry VIII  adoption of new religious terminology and the development of a new
religious discourse.

• Wars: France, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, Interregnum

• The Age of Exploration  European (incl. English) explorers and colonizers established
contact with new cultures and languages.

The Renaissance

 Cultural (artistic, philosophical and social) movement which started in 14th century Italy,
spreading to the rest of Europe in 15th and 16th centuries

 Wealthy merchants and patrons of the arts  Renewed interested in classical art,
literature and learning (cf. da Vinci, Machiavelli, Michelangelo)

 Focus on humanism and individualism  led to the Protestant Reformation (1517)

 In England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558 – 1603)  impact on the arts and
literature

o Elizabethan literature (e.g. Shakespeare, Marlowe, Milton, Spenser) influenced

by Classical mythology, philosophy and literature.

o Impact on science and philosophy (Francis Bacon, William Harvey, Isaac Newton):
more scientists and philosophers began to write in English  coining new words

Printing technology

 1436: J .Gutenberg–credited with the invention of the printing press

 1454: Gutenberg puts press to commercial use, producing thousands of indulgences for
the Church

26
 1455: Gutenberg prints 42-line Bible, first book printed on a moveable type press.

 1476: W.Caxton–first printing press in England, London

Impact of the printing press:

 Increased literacy and widespread reading

 Five major dialects at the time of the introduction of printing: Northern, West
Midlands, East Midlands (a region which extended down to include London), Southern
and Kentish

o Enormous variety of spellings: e.g. church was spelled in 30 different ways,

people in 22, receive in 45, she in 60 and though in 500!

o The “-ing” participle (e.g. running) was pronounced as “-and” in the north, “-end”
in the East Midlands, and “-ind” in the West Midlands
(e.g. runnand, runnend, runnind).

o The "-eth" and "-th" verb endings used in the south of the country (eg. goeth)
appear as "-es" and "-s" in the Northern and most of the north Midland area (eg.
goes), a version which was ultimately to become the standard.

 Standardization

o Spelling and pronunciation: Caxton most often used the (East-Midland) London
dialect as the basis for spelling words, but not always.

o Forms/word choices: eggs or eyren

o Pronouns: publishers preferred they, their, them rather than London dialect hi,
hir, hem

 Printing not only led to standardization and uniformisation of the language and of
spelling in particular, but occassionally also played a role in the inconsistencies of
English spelling: words were printed with different spellings before an orthographic
consensus emerged among writers/printers.

- Eg. The word "the" was originally written as "þe", but printing presses lacked
runic characters, so the letter "y" was used instead  resulted in the word
"ye", which should technically be pronounced as "the".
Cf. The recent revival of the archaic spelling for store signs (eg. Ye Olde
Pubbe) led to the modern pronunciation of "ye”

 17th century: appearance of first (weekly or daily) newspapers, further influencing the
standardization and the style of English, due to their easy availability and wide(r)
audiences

27
 o 1622: First English newspaper, the “Courante” or “Weekly News” (published in
Amsterdam, due to the strict printing controls in force in England)

o 1665: First professional newspaper of public record, the “London Gazette”

o 1702: First daily, “The Daily Courant”,

o 1790: First edition of “The Times” of London, and periodicals “The Tatler” and
“The Spectator”

The protestant reformation

 1517: Martin Luther publishes Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, or 95 Theses.

(will not ask this date !!!)

 Influenced by the rise of humanism and individualism, against corruption within the
Catholic Church

 Development of new printing technologies made it easier to disseminate information.

 Protestants rejected many of the teachings and practices of the Church, including the
authority of the Pope

 Significant political and social implications:

o Many rulers took opportunity to assert independence from the authority of the
pope

o establishment of Protestant churches in many countries

o Religious wars and conflicts à fragmentation of Christianity into various

denominations.

The English reformation

 Initiated by King Henry VIII (1509-1547) in 1534

o Wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn

o The Pope refused the annulment, so Henry broke away from the Roman Catholic
Church and established the Church of England (with both Catholic doctrine and
Protestant ideas), and made himself head of the Anglican Church

o Led to the dissolution of monasteries and confiscation of (catholic) church

property: major impact on English economy and society

o Triggered religious turbulence in England as Queen Mary (1553–1558) reinstated

Catholicism in England while persecuting and exiling Protestants, only to have
Queen Elizabeth I attempt to lead the country back toward Protestantism during
her reign (1558–1603).

28
 Impact on language: further expanded the functional scope and prestige of the English
vernacular, and led to changes in the vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and pronunciation
of English words

o The Book of Common Prayer (1549) introduced new prayers, hymns, and rituals

o The Bible was translated into English

o Distinctive theology of Church of England impacted religious language and

terminology  popularity certain words and phrases (eg. grace, vicar)

Wars and instability

 Anglo-Scottish Wars (1480-1550) - A series of wars fought over territorial disputes,

ended with the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560 which recognized Scottish independence
and established peaceful relations between England and Scotland.

 Tudor Conquest of Ireland (1536-1603) - Fought by the English crown to establish

control over Ireland, resulted in the subjugation of Ireland and the establishment of
English Protestant rule.

 The Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604) - Series of conflicts between England and Spain,
fuelled by English piracy and attacks on Spanish ships carrying treasure from the New
World. One of the most famous battles of this conflict was the defeat of the Spanish
Armada in 1588.

 English Civil War (1642-1651) - Fought between the royalists and parliamentarians over
the power of the monarchy, resulting in the victory of the parliamentarians, the
execution of Charles I and the establishment of a (puritan) republican government under
Oliver Cromwell.

 Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652-1674) - A series of wars fought over trade and colonial
expansion, ending with the Treaty of Westminster which recognized Dutch maritime
power and established peaceful relations between England and the Netherlands.

 Williamite War in Ireland (1689-1691) - Fought between the Catholic James II and the
Protestant Dutch William of Orange over the English throne and Irish sovereignty,
resulting in the victory of William and the establishment of Protestant rule in Ireland.

 War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) - Fought over the succession of the Spanish
throne and European balance of power, resulting in the Treaty of Utrecht which
recognized Philip V as king of Spain and established British naval supremacy.

 Jacobite Risings (1715-1746) - Fought by Scottish Highlanders and English Catholics to

restore the Stuart monarchy, resulting in the defeat of the Jacobites and the suppression
of Scottish culture.

 Seven Years' War (1756-1763) - A global conflict fought between European powers and
their colonies (England + Prussia+Portugal vs. France+Spain+Austria+Russia), resulting in
British colonial dominance and the emergence of Britain as a world power.

29
 American War of Independence (1775-1783) - Fought between the thirteen British
colonies in North America and the British crown over colonial autonomy, resulting in the
establishment of the United States of America (in 1776).

The Age of exploration

 A period from 15th to 17th centuries where European explorers, in the wake of Columbus,
Vasca de Gama and John Cabot, sailed the seas to find new trade routes, lands and
resources

 European powers (esp.Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, English) financed voyages of

exploration to expand their empires

 Explorers traveled to Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia, encountering new cultures
and establishing trade routes and colonies

 Led to significant cultural, economic, and political changes globally

 Queen Elizabeth I supported English explorers such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter
Raleigh during her reign from 1558 to 1603

 Expansion of English influence and trade in the Americas, Africa, Asia and (somewhat
later 18th century) Australia

Orthography

 Spelling was regularized

Marking length by double vowels; eg. soon vs son,

Marking length by silent–e; eg.name vs man

 Doubled consonant signifies preceding short vowel; eg. sitting vs siting

 1630s: standardized use of u and v.

Before used interchangeably;

- eg. =to haue the cure of =to have the cure of Sufficient vnto the daye, is the
trauayle therof (Great Bible, 1539

Later positionally distinguished (with v used initially and u medially);

- eg. vendor vs for euer

Finally fixed phonetic values: v=consonant,u=vowel;

- eg. veal vs. ugly; velvet (in ME veluette/ueluette, from Old French veluotte

30
General linguistic features of Early Modern English

Phonetics/ phonology/ pronunciation

A. Vowels: Continuation of Great Vowel Shift (15th – 18th century), while spelling became ±
fixed, leading to a mismatch between spelling and pronunciation.

 shifting of the pronunciation of long front vowels:

o ME:mite=/i:/,meet=/e:/,mate=/a:/

o EME:mite=/əi/,later/aI/;meet=/i:/,mate=/e:/,later/eI/

 Similar shifting of the pronunciation of long back vowels in bought and moot.

 Formerly distinct vowel sounds become identical in EME

o ME long vowel /a:/in mane merges with diphthong /eI/in main,may

o ME long mid vowel /o/ in sloe, so merges with the diphthong /ow/ or /əu/ in
slow, sow

o ME long back vowel /u/ in due merges with the diphthong /uw/ or /uə/ indew,
neuter

 These and other vowel changes contributed to the increasing mismatch between the
pronunciation and spelling of words.

B. Consonants: Changes in pronunciation of consonant sounds during the EME period

further contributed to the incongruity between spelling and pronunciation.

 Consonant sounds ceased to be pronounced in many contexts, while their letter symbol
in writing was maintained (becoming 'silent'):

o Initial k–and g–before -n (as in knight, gnaw)

o Initial w–before -r (as in write,wrap)

o final–band–g after nasal consonants (lamb,hang)

o medial–t–(as in thistle and listen)

o ME voiced glottal fricative [ɦ](as in Dutch graag), written h, first became voiceless
and then no longer pronounced (as in honour, hour, heir, exhausted, ghost,
stomach)

o ME velar fricative [x](as inloch),written gh,no longer pronounced (as in

night,bought)or pronounced as [f] (as in rough, tough).

o Silent gh introduced into words where it did not etymologically belong (delight,
inveigh, sprightly).

31
Grammar

 Further spread of grammatical changes started in (the end of) the ME period:

o Fixing of SVO word order (John kicks the dog) instead of freer word orders (The
dog John kicks; John the dog kicks) but exceptions still found, esp. in literature

- Eg. From Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare):

Never was seen so black a day as this.

And all the better is it for the maid.

Towards him I made, but he was 'ware of me.

o Do-support inquestions, negations, but 'older' forms still occur

- Eg. Hath not a Jew eyes? (The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare)

o Decline of multiple negations, though again older forms still occur; use of ME ne
and nay gradually giving way to no and not.

 Eg. And that no woman has; nor never none shall be mistress of it (Twelfth
Night,Shakespeare)

 New grammatical features in EME:

Adjective gradation: periphrastic degrees of comparison (more/most) alongside inflectional

ones (-er/est); eg. easier, more easy, more easier are all used.

Pronouns: 3rd person possessive of it was his until±1600. Then various alternatives arose,
including it (eg. ‘it had it head bit off be it (= by its) young’, King Lear); its first appeared in
print in the 1590s and was rapidly accepted into the standard language.

o Thou vs. you

Pronouns thou VS you

 OE: thou (and related forms) for addressing one person(singular); ye (and related forms)
for more than one person (plural).

o Thou/ye: subject/nominative case; thee/you: object/accusative case

 Late ME and early EME: ye/ you used as a polite singular form alongside more informal
thou/thee

o probably influenced by French distinction between vous vs tu.

32
 - E.g. Raleigh: I do not hear yet, that you have spoken one word against me;
here is no. Treason of mine done: If my Lord Cabham be a Traitor, what is
that to me? Attorney: All that he did was by thy Instigation, thou Viper; for I
thou thee, thou Traitor!

 Late EME: you became the norm in all grammatical functions (singular and plural) and
social situations (formal and informal).

o the distinction between subject and object uses of ye and you gradually
disappeared

o Ye and thou still used today in formulaic/archaic/religious/literary contexts

Lexis

 Expansion of vocabulary: great number of new words in the EME period, reflecting the
ongoing processes of (a) modernization and scientific, technical and cultural advances
and (b) the spread of English in a wide variety of fields and domains (legal, religious,
scientific, academic, literature), replacing Latin and French.

 common complaint of the 'insufficiency' of English to cope with its new functions
and roles

 vocabulary expansion through several, sometimes competing methods, esp.

coining (based on native word formation processes such as derivation and
conversion) and borrowing

 publication of monolingual dictionaries and glossaries (on architecture, science,

cosmography, philosophy, physics, mathematics, minerals)

Influence from other languages on EME

Lexis: Borrowing and loan words

 “Neither a borrow, nor a lender be” (Hamlet: I. iii. l. 561).

 Yet: extensive borrowing, mainly from Latin (and Greek), followed by French.

 But also borrowing from other European languages such as French, Italian, Spanish,
Portuguese (collectively: Latinate loan words). Additionally, some words have their
origins in indigenous languages of North America, Africa and Asia.

 Sources of new words listed in the Chronological English Dictionary of the year 1604

 Interest in classics led to borrowings from Latin/Greek, either as a whole or adapted to

the phonology and/or morphology of English

o E.g. catastrophe, manuscript, lexicon, paradox, anatomy, excavate, meditate,

absurdity, complex, climax, tragedy, sarcasm, chaos, explain, concept

33
 Greek-based suffixes "ize" (mesmerize) and "-ism" (baptism) introduced

 Latin-based adjectives for existing Germanic nouns

o No available adjective; e.g. marine for sea, pedestrian for walk

o Adjectives with different connotations; e.g. aquatic for watery, equine for horsey

o Additional synonym; e.g. masculine/manly/male, feminine/female/womanly,

paternal/fatherly

 Literature and Academia: rise of nationalism and increased preference for English in all
contexts  Coining of new words, often based on Latinate root forms plus English
derivational suffixes or prefixes

o Sir Francis Bacon: thermometer, pneumonia, skeleton, encyclopaedia

o Sir Isaac Newton: lens, refraction (Opticks, 1704)

o Sir Thomas Elyot (English scholar & classicist, early 16th century): animate,
describe, dedicate, esteem, maturity, exhaust, modesty

o Sir Thomas More: active, communicate, education, utopia, acceptance, exact,

explain

o John Milton: lovelorn, fragrance, pandemonium

o Ben Jonson: damp, defunct, strenuous, clumsy

 Inkhorn Controversy: reaction against perceived foreign incursion into the English
language: deliberately attempt to resurrect older English words, or to create wholly new
words from Germanic roots. Most of these were short-lived.

- Eg. gleeman for musician, sicker for certainly, inwit for conscience, yblent for
confused, etc).
- Eg. endsay for conclusion, yeartide for anniversary, foresayer for
prophet, forewitr for prudence, loreless for ignorant, gainrising
for resurrection, starlore for astronomy, fleshstrings for muscles, grosswitted
for stupid, speechcraft for grammar, birdlore for
ornithology.

 The Age of Exploration led to loanwords from the languages of many other countries
throughout the world, including those of other trading and imperial nations such as
Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands:

o French:

- E.g. bizarre, ballet, sachet, crew, progress, chocolate, salon, duel, brigade,
infantry, comrade, volunteer, detail, passport, explorer, ticket, machine,
cuisine, prestige , garage, shock, moustache, vogue

34
 o Italian :

- E.g. carnival, fiasco, arsenal, casino, miniature, design, bankrupt, grotto,

studio, umbrella, rocket, ballot, balcony, macaroni, piano, opera, violin

o Spanish: e.g. armada, bravado, cork, barricade, cannibal

o Portuguese: e.g. breeze, tank, fetish, marmalade, molasses

 Dutch:

- E.g. bluff, bulwark, buoy, bush, cruise, dapper, deck, dollar, dope, dune,
easel, freight, fraught, frolic, gin, kinky, landscape, offal, pump, puss, scum,
sketch,splinter, split, smuggle, snoop, spook, yacht

 The Age of Exploration (&colonisation):

o Arabic :

- Eg. harem, jar, magazine, algebra, algorithm, almanac, alchemy, zenith,

admiral, sherbet, saffron, coffee, alcohol, mattress, syrup, hazard, lute

o Turkish : eg. coffee, yoghurt, caviar, horde, chess, kiosk, tulip, turban

o Russian eg.sable, mammoth

o Japanese : eg. tycoon, geisha, karate, samurai

o Malay (via Dutch) : eg. bamboo, amok, caddy, gong, ketchup

o Chinese : eg. tea, typhoon, kowtow

o Polynesian : eg. taboo, tattoo

o Indian languages : jungle, shampoo, veranda, avatar

o North American Indian languages : eg. caucus, hickory, pecan, squash, toboggan,
tomahawk, totem, moccasin, wigwam, powwow

To the colonies and around the world

 In the wake of the Age of Exploration, Britain established aglobalempire spanning

virtually all continents. It was not only influenced by the other languages and cultures it
came into contact with, mainly through lexical borrowing, but it also started to influence
those other languages and their cultures and societies.

 And the global spread of the English language,as it was exported by its native speakers
to the furthest reaches of the Earth, also had an impact on the internal evolution of the
language itself, independently from the other languages it come into contact with.

35
 English around the world
Kachru’s concentric circles model (1985)

Effect of mass-media

Concentric circle categories different variants of English

- Inner circle: English first language & dominant language

- Outer circle: Eng = second language
- Expanding circle: English = foreign language

The expanding circle

Inner circle
36
 - ENG = First/ Native language
- Standard/ norm providing

Outer circle

- ENG was transported as a colonial language  now used in major constitutions

(governments, school etc)
- Official lingua franca in multilingual status
- Spoken as a second language = ESL
- More typically at school alongside other indigenous languages
- Norm developing: New Englishes

Expanding circle

- English as an international lingua franca

- No English being transported ; just seen as something that is important to have
- No official status
- English doesn’t have an official status but accepted by everyone that English should
be learned (at school etc)
- ELF: English lingua franca

INNER CIRCLE ENGLISH

- British, American, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian & South African English
 More focused on BR & AM
- Standard language= a variety of a language (English) but seen as norm or “correct”
variant
- Media = news, tv (e.g. BBC)
- Chosen dialect one spoken by the more powerful

« there has been since at least 18th century a tendency to regard the usage of upper- and
middle-class life, education, publishing, law administration, & government as more proper,
polite, legitimate, & ultimately real than anything used by other English-speakers.”

(slide 6 as an e.g.)

Preliminary terms & concepts

 Standard language – what is it?

 At ‘national’ level (especially in the UK)  development of a national
curriculum for English in Primary & Secondary school.
 At ‘international’ level  decide which national standards to use in teaching
EFL
 What is standard English (SE)? Is the variety of English that has undergone
standardization. SE can be defined as: “a minority variety (identified chiefly

37
 by its vocabulary, grammar, & orthography) which carries most prestige & is
most widely understood”.

What makes a standard?

The process of standardization

A "standard" is a variety that has undergone a process of standardization

Standardization is much more concerned with the written language (e.g. lexical,
morphological, and syntactical)

rather than the spoken language, for instance phonological language features (Wardaugh
2006) Standardization consists of 4 processes:

 Selection: The process in which a vernacular/dialect is chosen for standardization

purposes. The chosen dialect is likely to be one spoken by the more powerful and
better educated groups living in or near the capital.
 Codification: The norms and rules of grammar, use, etc. Which govern the variety
selected have to be formulated, and set down definitively in grammars, dictionaries,
spellers, manuals of style, texts, etc.  can be a bit random sometimes
 Elaboration: For the variety selected to represent the desired norms, it must be able
to discharge a whole range of functions that it may be called upon to discharge,
including abstract, intellectual functions (Holmes: 2001)  Cambridge/Oxford
dictionary if you want to check a word
 Acceptance: The ‘acceptance’ by the community of the norms of the variety selected
over those of rival varieties, through the promotion, spread, establishment and
enforcement of the norms. This is done through institutions, agencies, authorities
such as schools, ministries, the media, cultural establishments, etc. (Holmes: 2001)
 done through agencies, constitutions, culture establishments etc.

Wide variety of accents  tells us where people come from

- Use more standard form if someone doesn’t speak the same dialect

Standard English

Characteristics

38
  It has 5 essential characteristics (Crystal, 2019:118)

1. SE is a variety of English.

 No local base

2. Linguistic features of SE: mainly matters of grammar, vocabulary & orthography.

- Wide variety of accents.
3. SE is the variety of English which carries most prestige within a country.
4. Its prestige is recognized and pushed by influential members of the community.

- Desirable educational target

- Norm of communication

5. Although SE is widely understood, it is not widely spoken.

- Most people speak a variety of regional English

- It is mostly found on print.
- It is usually the way the media communicates (BBC, for example)

Standard British & American English

There are 2 major standard varieties of English, regionally defines within the inner circle:
British English & American English.

- AM way more dominant in entertainment, music, social media etc than BR

- Very close relationship of migration & contact of people (language variation& change
because of people talking)

Evolution of GA

Geographical expansion

 Chronology of the arrival of English


• 1607. First expedition from England
to permanently settle in the New World (The outer banks)
- Rhotic dialects.
• 1620. "Pilgrim fathers". Religious refugees (Cape
Cod and New England)
- Non-rhotic dialects
• 1650. Religious refugees (esp. Quakers) rhotic +
non-rhotic dialects

39
The changing society

 Processes that shaped GA:

o Migration: 18th century: immigration from Europe – skilled artisans in search of
employment after industrial revolution – Later unskilled labour as well (letters
home à more migration) – WWI – other events (Gold Rush, Transatlantic Rail,
etc)
o Contact: People speaking different languages settled in different regions:
German, Dutch, French, Spanish
 18th & 19th centuries:
o Scottish and Irish immigrants arrive in Mid-Atlantic area
o Population movements: North – South but mainly East- West
o Spanish and French

Standard British & American English

Major linguistic differences

• Phonological differences (pronunciation)

• Spelling differences
• Lexical-semantic analogues

Slides 15-18 examples

Terms & concepts

Standard English : main issues

 Internationalism: the relation that a nation has with its broader global context.
o Nations impulse the learning of English in its citizens so they have access to what
the English-speaking world has to offer
o Linguistically, it demands for an agreement in the standardization in
grammar,vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, and conventions of language use.

 Identity: the relation that a nation has with its citizens and what unites them in terms of
societal structure and psychology.
o To preserve the uniqueness of a nation, its citizens need to look for ways of
differentiating themselves Linguistically, this calls for distinctiveness in grammar,
vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, and conventions of language use.

Other inner circle englishes

Canadian English

40
 Loyalist Base Theory (Bloomfield 1948; Avis 1954): the basis of Canadian English à
American colonists migrating to Canada during the American Revolution (1765–1783).
 Counterargument à effect of migration from the British Isles, mainly from northern
England, Scotland and Ireland (Walker 2015:49).
 Borrowing from Indigenous (First Nations) languages:
o kayak, anorak, husky, and mukluk (a type of knee-high boot) from Inuktitut
o Chipmunk, moose, and muskeg (a type of organic bog) from Ojibwe and Cree
(Fee 1992:182).
o Toponyms such as Quebec and Canada ß Iroquoian kanata meaning ‘settlement’
or ‘community’.
 Distinctive Montreal lexical items: Montreal - trio for a ‘sandwich-fries-drink combo
meal’, chalet for a ‘summer cottage’, and dépanneur or dep for a ‘convenience store’
(Boberg 2005:36)

The Eh particle stereotype: 2016: Empirical analysis of 1938 utterance final tags (UFTs) in
Toronto English shows "eh" is rare, accounting for only 3.1% of the variable context - major
variants within the UFT system are "right" and "you know", with the former increasing in
apparent time.

Australian English

Lexical

• 18th- and 19th-century British regionalisms

• billy ‘makeshift container for boiling water’ (Scotland); fossick ‘to rummage’ (Cornwall);
stone the crows ‘expression of surprise’ (London Cockney); cobber ‘mate’ (Suffolk).

 Words from early AmE à semantic shift

o squatter ‘one who settles upon land without legal title’ > ‘respectable pastoralist’
o bush ‘woods, forest’ > ‘the country as distinct from the town’
o bushranger ‘woodsman’ > ‘criminal who hides in the bush’
 Borrowings from indigenous languages: kookaburra, boomerang, koala, wallaby

Phonological

 AusE is generally non-rhotic, but has ‘linking [r]’ (beer-in), as well as ‘intrusive [r]’ (idea-
r-of it).
 Centering diphthongs pronounced as monophthongs: e.g. poor /pɔ:/; tour /tɔ:/;

NZE used to be similar ot AusE. But diverged more after WWII

South African English

Lexical features

Loanwords : refer to items included in South African Englishes that are “borrowed with
sound changes only” (Branford & Claughton 2002, 200).
41
e.g., the word “gogga” (an insect or bug or spider) is included in South African Englishes (an
Afrikaans word initially borrowed from the Khoe word xoxon), and it takes the usual English
plural in the form of “goggas” (Branford & Claughton 2002, 200).

Loandblends : re words “of native origin with borrowed lexical morphemes” (Branford &
Claughton 2002, 200).
e.g., the Zulu word umuthi means herbalist or doctor. When it is combined with the English
word man, it forms “muti-man” in South African English (Branford & Claughton 2002, 200).

Calques : usually from Afrikaans, e.g., the particle verb “think out” (from Afrikaans dink uit,
to mean “conjure up”) and “off-saddle” (from Afrikaans afsaal, to mean “unsaddle”).

Influence of other languages on standard English

Lexical / vocabulary

Loanwords from

1. indigenous languages in the former colonies

 Kayak (Inuit, from qajaq, a means of transportation for hunting and fishing in icy
waters)
 Moccasin (Powhatan, from makasin, soft-soled shoes or slippers)
 Avocado (Nahuatl, from ahuacatl)
2. From Asian languages:
 Pyjamas (BrE)/pajamas (AmE) (Urdu and Persian, from pāy ‘leg’ + jāma ‘clothing’ )
 Jungle, bungalow, juggernaut, veranda (Hindi)
 Tsunami (Japanese, from tsu 'harbor' + nami 'wave')
3. From African languages:
 Boogie-woogie (West African term buukeru which refers to a style of drumming +
hoogie a slang word used in African American communities to describe a party)
 Banana (Wolof, from banaana)

4. aboriginal languages (entering Australian and New Zealand English)

 Boomerang, Billabong, Dingo, Kangaroo (>Aussie), Kiwi, Haka (>NZ)
5. Dutch and African Languages

 Entering British English through British soldiers serving in the Boers war
 Remained in South African English

o Apartheid
o Biltong
o Ja
o Boer /bɔː(r) BrE / vs [buːr] (S.A)

42
B

1. (b) Other languages that English have come into contact since the Early Modern English
Period
2. From Dutch:
- Yacht (from jaghte)
- Waffle (from wafel)

3. From French
a. Cuisine> In French 'kitchen' entered English as 'a particular style or type of
cooking'
b. Entrepreneur > from entreprende, 'undertake'
4. From German: ubermensch (adopted into English as ‘superman’), Schnitzel
5. From Italian: espresso, latte (semantic shift: milk à coffee-based drink)
6. From Spanish: Armada, ranch (rancho), guerilla (diminutive of guerra), cockroach à
derived from cucaracha

43
 Variety of a language
Standards & non-standards

 Languages can have multiple varieties.

 Dialects can be defined as: ’a regional, social, temporal or individual variety of language
differing in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary from the standard language, which
is in itself a socially favoured dialect; if the variant differs only in pronunciation it is often
called an accent.’ (Hartmann & Stork 1972:65)
 Varieties of a language could depend on different aspects of the user’s background:
o Regional – geographic

- E.g. Liverpudlian English, Swiss German, Belgian French J

o Social group

- Social class or occupation

- Ethnic community, e.g AAVE, Jewish American English, Italian American
English, Pennsylvania Dutch (*variety of German)

o Temporal – age
o Individual – ‘style’

African-American vernacular English (AAVE)

Case study: African-American vernacular English (AAVE)

 AAVE is variety of (American) English spoken by

members of the African- American community in
the USA.
 Origins: pidgins and creoles developed in the
multilingual settings in plantations in the Southern
th th
states of the USA in the 17 /18 centuries.
 These pidgins and creoles were based on English
but also had influences from West African
languages spoken by slaves brought over from
various parts of the African continent.

Linguistic features

• Phonology:

o Reduction of final nasal to vowel nasality : man → [mæ̃ ]

o Loss of second consonant in word-final consonant clusters: cold → col_ [coul]
hand → han_ [hæn]; child → chil_ [ʧaːl]
o Deletion of Post-vocalic r: four → [fou], store → [stou]
o Transposition/Swapping final /s/ + stop: ask → [æks]

44
• Grammar (Syntax & Morphology):

o Multiple Negation
 He ain’t got no car
SE: He doesn’t have a/any car
 Ain’t nobody gonna spend no time going to no doctor
SE: Nobody is going to spend (any) time going to a/any doctor

• Verb Forms:

o ‘do’ 3rd person singular:

 “He don’t know what he talkin’ about.”

o Use of “be” to indicate habitual actions

 The children be at school when I get home.

SE: The children are usually at school when I get home.
o Use of “been, done” to denote past tense.

 They done washed the dishes.

SE: They have already washed the dishes.

THE OUTER CIRCLE

Pidgins

• Pidgin: a variety of language which emerged among people who do not share a common
language, but who needed to communicate with each other, usually for utilitarian
reasons.

o Limited vocabulary
o Very little grammatical structure e.g. little/no inflections, one/no determiner,
one or two pronouns used irrespective of object/subject case.
o Narrow range of functions

• Pidgins may develop in different language contact situations:

o Trade: "Chinook Jargon" - Developed in the Pacific Northwest region of North

America in the 19th century: incorporated elements from several different
languages, including Chinookan languages, Nootka, French, English, and various
indigenous languages.
o Colonialism: "Bazaar Malay" - Developed in the 19th century as a means of
communication between British colonizers and the local population in Malaysia
o Slavery: "Gullah" - Developed in the 18th and 19th century in the coastal
regions of the south-eastern United States. It incorporated elements from
several African languages including Kikongo, Kimbundu, and Gola.

45
Creoles

 Multilingual communities: pidgin development à increasing number of people use pidgin

à vocabulary, grammar, functions expand à domains and functions also expand à this
language becomes the mother tongue of the next generation à Creolization.
 Creole: “a pidgin language which has become the mother tongue of a community”
(Crystal, 2019, p. 366)
 E.g. Gullah developed into a creole.
 Haitian Creole: (Haiti) mixture of French and African languages
 Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea): English and local indigenous languages
 Jamaican Creole (Jamaica): mixture of English and West African languages
 Bislama (Vanuatu): English and local indigenous languages

New Englishes

New Englishes: distinct varieties of English which have emerged in multilingual colonial and
postcolonial settings and countries around the globe, and have acquired linguistic and
cultural characteristics of their own

 English retained after independence

 Recognition in domains: government, law, education
 Mass media: print, radio, television channels
 Literary tradition in (local) new Englishes
 Formed as a result of various language contact scenarios:
o the movement of one group into another group's territory
o immigration of small groups or scattered individuals
o importing a labour force
o cultural contacts through long-term neighbourhood

some common linguistic features :

 Phonology: often distinct pronunciation patterns that differ from the (standard) inner
circle English, with influence from native languages
 a lexicon that contains items(words/expressions) that reflect the local culture and
context
o borrowings from local languages
o coining of new words and expressions.
o Semantic shift: The change of meaning of a word or expression over time,
including expansion, narrowing or drift.
 Different word order patterns than Standard (inner circle) English
 Invariant tags: In Standard English, tag questions agree (in tense, number & person)
with main verb of clause. In new Englishes, there is often no agreement.
o E.g. He will arrive tomorrow, isn’t it?
o That was a very nice speech, no?

Phases of development of new Englishes

46
Schneider’s dynamic model of the evolution of postcolonial Englishes (2003):

1. English language moves to a new territory

2. Growing number of settlers in new area, but standards determined by old (input)
variety
3. Increasing bilingual population (indigenous speakers with L2 English) à emergence of
new linguistic constructions (lexical, grammatical)
4. English retained for different functions (even) after independence à establishment of
local standards and norms
5. Development of 'new' regional and social varieties ('dialects')

Differences

Pidgins > creoles : New Englishes:

Start from a mixture of 2 (or more) languages
Distinct grammatical structure usually
different from English/ French/ etc.
Often primary language of its speakers
Start from standard English (mostly in
colonies)
Structure: standard English with variation
due to influence from local language/ dialect.
Often spoken alongside other languages (ESL)

Historical context : English in Africa

West Africa

 English began to be used as a lingua franca in West African coastal settlements from the
late 15th century.
 By the early 19th century, English had spread throughout the West African coast due to
commerce and anti-slave-trade activities.
 Due to the hundreds of local languages, English-based pidgins and creoles emerged
alongside the standard varieties of colonial officials, missionaries, soldiers, and traders.
 Sierra Leone; Ghana; Nigeria; Gambia; Cameroon; Liberia

East Africa

 The Imperial British East Africa Company was founded in 1888, and colonial
protectorates were established as other European nations vied for territorial control.
 Five modern states with a history of British rule gave English official status when they
gained independence in the 1960s, and Zimbabwe in 1980: Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda;
Malawi; Zambia; Zimbabwe
 Influenced by large numbers of British emigrants who settled in the area and introduced
a British model into schools à variety of mother-tongue English more similar to South
Africa or Australia than West Africa.

47
 Settled population with British English as first language à incentive for Africans to learn
English as a second language
 With Standard English (and Swahili) becoming widespread as a lingua franca à minimal
motivation for development of pidgin varieties, a noticeable characteristic of West
African countries.

African Englishes

Phonological features

New Englishes : case study

Nigerian English: historical context

 Population of almost 220 million people - 53% speak a variety of English.

 Former British colony (1882 – 1960).
 English is a co-official language in Nigeria alongside three indigenous languages: Hausa,
Igbo, and Yoruba (+ 450-500 minority languages).
 In practice, English is used as the sole official language in almost all official contexts:
education, government, media.
 There is a growing number of young Nigerians who speak Nigerian English as a first
language.
 Lingua franca: Nigerian Pidgin, which is an English-based creole language that developed
as a result of trade relations between Nigerians and Europeans (British & Portuguese).

48
NIG.E : phonological features

 Case study : Nigerian English

 Lexicosemantic features

Vocabulary:

o Gist (gossip)
o catching fun (going out for the night)
o go-slo (traffic jam)
o a smallie (younger girlfriend)

Semantic shift:

o He has a stranger (visitor) this evening - Drift

o Musa hears (understands) English language very well - Drift
o Kerosene is more expensive than fuel (petrol) - Narrowing
o The family has a boy, now they are expecting a baby (small girl) - narrowing
o His machine broke down (machine for motorcycle) - expansion
o PHCN took the light in Sokoto (light for electric power source) - expansion

Grammatical features

 Omission or addition of articles:

o I don't want to start from the scratch(NE) vs I don't want to start from scratch
(SBE)
o I have bright future (NE) vs I have a bright future (SBE)
 Multiple pronouns:
o That your sister (‘That sister of yours’)
o This my book (‘This book of mine’)

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• Reduplication

o Give me half-half bag of rice and beans (‘Give me half bag each of rice and
beans’).
o Please drive slowly-slowly because the road is bad (‘Please drive very slowly
because the road is bad’).

Indian English : historical context

English introduced to India in 17th century: through trade, missionary work and politics

East India Company: founded in 1599 by the Royal Charter (backed by Elizabeth I) – trading
posts in Mumbai à rules

English made language of education in 1830s

Replaced Persian as the official language in 1835: language of instruction in schools

1857: Great Rebellion (Sepoy mutiny) à End of Company rule: 1858 – power handed over to
the Crown à Independence in 1947

Associate official language of India: domains à administration, law, education, business

Phonology & Grammar

 Phonological features:
o Alveolar plosives /t/, /d/ realized as retroflex /ʈ/, /ɖ/
o Dental fricatives /θ/, /ð/ realised as dental plosives /d̪/, /t̪/
o Diphthongs /eɪ/ à /ɛː/; /əʊ/ à /oː/

 Grammatical features:
o Articles: Most Indian languages do not have a definite article.
o Verbs:
 -ing form for stative verbs
- I am eating lunch in the cafeteria every Tuesday.
 Usage of prepositions with verbs
- Confirm: “please confirm me”
- Say: “That’s what he said me”
- Appreciate: “I would appreciate if you send the documents”

Case study : Indian English

Lexicosemantic features

• Loanwords:

o bandh (BrE strike)

o challan (BrE bank receipt)

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 o coolie (BrE porter)
o crore (BrE 10 million) and lakh (BrE 100,000)

• Creation of new words/expressions:

o batch-mate (BrE class-mate)

o to by-heart (BrE to learn by heart)
o to off/on (BrE to switch off/on)
o shoebite (BrE blister).
o hero/heroine (film/movie star)
o Timepass – v. to pass the time “to do timepass”

 Calques :
o Good name
• Semantic reduplication
o Revert back

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 English as a Lingua Franca
Definition

Lingua franca: a language used as a means of communication between populations speaking

languages or dialects that are not mutually intelligible.

 During the middle ages, the term is derived from the Italian word for “language of
Frankish origin”
 Sabir: Spread as a common language for trade in the Mediterranean until the 19th
century (a hybrid of many Mediterranean languages such as Italian, French, Spanish,
and Arabic).
 19th Century: the term “lingua franca” no longer referred to the specific language,
but instead began to be used as a systematic term to describe “bridge languages”
between speakers of different languages.

Timeline

 Times of the Roman Empire. Latin was the primary language of administration, law, and
education throughout the Mediterranean world and much of Europe.
 1635. Creation of the French academy of language
 By the 18th century, classical French took over Latin in international treaties
 17th – 18th century: the enlightment period. Originated in France. Gave French its
eminent "cultural status". The courts in Europe were speaking French.
 18th century: Industrial Revolution. Science and technology increased. English
dominated the economy around the world
 19th century. Britain was the world's economic power (colonies in India, Australia, West
Indies, South America, several African Countries, S.E Asia and The Middle East)
 WWII. Britain goes bankrupt. United States comes to the rescue (also speaking English!)
 1946: Iron Curtain: Cold war era - Russian fighting for its position as World's lingua
franca
 1991. Collapse of the Soviet Union. English as the first global Lingua Franca

Other languages as lingua franca

Through history

 Aramaic: LF of the Persian Empire, from the 6th to the 4th centuries BCE.
 Sanskrit: LF of scholars, religious communities, and political elites across South Asia

during the 1st and 2nd centuries BC.

 Persian: LF in the Islamic world during the middle ages (along with Arabic)
 Latin: LF of the Mediterranean world during the middle ages.
 Arabic: LF of the Middle East and North Africa since the 7th century CE.

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Present

Regional Lingua Franca in parts of Africa

• Yoruba
• Hausa
• Portuguese
• Tamazight

National Lingua Franca:

 Pakistan - Urdu
 Philippines – English and Tagalog
 India – English and Hindi

Across multiple countries:

 French
 Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic)
 Swahili

Emergence of a lingua franca

Reasons & mechanism

Main reasons for the emergence of a Lingua franca

 Places/countries that do not share a common language (eg. Different ethnic groups)
 Trade between countries with no common language
 Professional situations (eg. A conference) where there is no common language

How is a lingua franca chosen? Based on:

 Perceived cultural prestige of the language

 Economic/Political/Military power of the countries that speak the language
 Perceived ease of learning and perceived relative linguistic simplicity

These factors drive the emergence of a language as a lingua franca, but being used as a
lingua franca increases the perceived cultural prestige of the language, and
economic/political/military power, etc.

Reasons for emergence as a LF

• Military/Economic Imperialism:

o Extent of British Empire à English in former colonies

o Emergence of USA as political and economic power after WWII

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• Global spread of English media: Cultural Imperialism
o Mass media (tv, radio, popular media...the internet)
• Education & Academia
o English is taught as foreign language in Expanding Circle
o Used as medium of instruction in Inner and (some) Outer Circle countries.
o ~90% academic journals published in English
• Science & Technology

English as a lingua franca

Numbers

• English is the official language in 58 countries.

o Mostly former territories of the British Empire.
o Exceptions:
- Rwanda and Burundi, which were formerly German and then Belgian
colonies
- Liberia, the Philippines, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall
Islands, and Palau, which were American territories.

• English as a first language (L1): approx. 388 million.

• India, Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria, Philippines, and Sudan: 1,170 million people

• Number of people who are in theory routinely exposed to English: 3 billion (>40% world
population)

Domains

English is the language of:

 International banking (world bank)

 Global commerce (world trade organization)
 International diplomacy (united nations)
 Air traffic control & maritime communication
 Science & technology
 Academia
 Mass media: films, popular music, international advertising, tv, radio
 Internet
 …

The language of global commerce

 Global international transactions are conducted in USD.

 International contracts are often in English.
 The official languages of the World Trade Organization are English, French & Spanish.
 Working language of the World Bank group is English.

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 IMF official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, English,
and Spanish)

Language of international diplomacy

 English often has semi-official status in Outer (India, Ghana, Singapore) and
Expanding Circle countries, as an associate language or working language, etc.
 Implicit, unofficial status as a lingua franca in in multinational/multilingual
organisations/institution such as the EU, UN, WHO, NATO, Red Cross
 English is the sole official language of the Commonwealth of Nations and of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
 The language of diplomatic interactions in the public domain

Mass media

• Traditional media (radio, television, newspapers):

o Outer Circle: Exists in English in most former colonies

o Expanding circle: Television broadcasts English programmes with local subtitles
 Depending on channels, a large fraction of the content is English with
subtitles
 Larger language communities, e.g. French – American/English programmed
content still dominant, but often dubbed.
 In several countries, there are laws mandating the quantity of local-language
programmes.

• Entertainment industry: the use of English around the world allowed content to be
broadcast (and accepted) on a global scale.

o Popularity increased after WWIIàhigh prestige accorded to USA and English

o Advance of mass mediaàglobal spread of English

Language of popular culture

During the 60’s to 2000’s dominance of English in the popular culture:

- Music
- Film/ TV industry

Other global languages?

Spanish

 Almost 500 million speakers (2nd most widely spoken language in the world)

 Important language in international communication (It is one of the 6 official languages

of the UN)

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 Popular culture: Music and Film/Television in Spanish.

 Some countries: law for min. 20% music in the radio to be in Spanish (1999)

Contesting the global power of English

Note that while some data shows that the Korean language has gained more interest with
respect to previous years, it is not a strong potential challenger to English as a global lingua
franca because:
a. Its use has increased only in

specific domains
b. It is far behind in terms of total number of speakers with adequate proficiency.

English as a lingua Franca

The internet & social media

The internet in its starting years was entirely in English.

Two features of electronically mediated communication in comparison to face-to-face

communication

 Multiple interactivity: indefinite number of conversations sustained + participants

can monitor all incoming contributions
 Simultaneous feedback impossible (message received/message read?): Delay before
sender receives response – sometimes no response at all.
In face-to-face communication

The advent of the internet has aided the expansion of the use of and exposure to English
language content across the world.

The language of Academia : history

 Arabic was the language of science in Islamic countries during the Middle Ages
 Latin was the primary language among scientists in Europe
 Other languages such as German, French, Italian, and English were used for science in
their respective countries
 Dominance and use of these languages changed over time ---- Growth and decline of
science ---- economic state and culture of each country
 French declined after WWI; German became more dominant à After WWII, English
replaced German as primary language of science
 English remained the primary form of communication among scientists as U.S. became
global leader in technology and research

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The language of academia : present

• Most international conferences held in English

o Except conferences on a specific language
o Even in such cases: increasing pressure to conduct all official proceedings in English
• English is the dominant language in academic publishing:
o Science Citation Index Expanded (2022):

 9551 journals
 8423 in English (+ 151 English and other languages)
 977 in other languages (10%)
 Challenge: “more than 9,000 peer-reviewed scholarly journals are being
published in other languages, with French (3,500), German (2,700), Spanish
(2,300) and Chinese (1400) contributing the highest numbers. Most of these
journals are excluded from prestigious journal indexes, thus perpetuating the
ideology that English is the global academic lingua franca”

The language of higher education?

• Medium of instruction across Inner Circle and most Outer Circle countries

• English often the first and/or only language taught as a foreign language in national
curricula in many Expanding Circle countries

• Increasing number of English-taught study programmes in higher education in the

Expanding Circle (where English has no official status): e.g. Norway, Denmark,
Netherlands and Germany

• Many countries have laws to control the use of English and safeguard the national
languages:

- In France, theses must be written in French

- Germany: theses in English are acceptable

- Flemish law mandates that the language of instruction must be Dutch or

English.

Language of international diplomacy : Europe

European Parliament: sessions conducted in 24 languages: translation and interpretation

Reasons for rise of English as a lingua franca in the European Parliament:

 Use of English as a Lingua Franca increased (previously French) with accession of

states from Northern and Eastern Europe
 Staff from these member states tended to speak English
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  English accorded prestige: language of international trade and banking, USA
economic & political power
 MEPs may choose to speak in English to be heard by more people

Influence of native languages (and decrease of interaction with L1 speakers post-Brexit) à

new variety: Euro English

• Euro English may evolve the same way as New Englishes:

o Formal variety in speech and writing

o Regional speech or writing reflecting (unified) local cultural identity with
distinguishing lexical and syntactic features

Examples

EU-specific usages in written documents and spoken in-house discussion.

 “This proposal for a new basic regulation is justified because there is a need to
precise the objectives of the CFP”
o Precise used as verb
o In SE: “precise” adj. marked by exactness and accuracy of expression or
detail.
 “...regular (generally monthly) meetings of the general committee, and punctual
expert groups meetings where appropriate”
o Punctual to mean “occasional/periodic”
o SE: “punctual” adj. happening or doing something at the agreed or proper
time
 “...concerning structural funds which have been decommitted”
o Meaning ‘cancel’
o Derivation from ‘commit’; does not exist in SE.
 “An important part of the system is the role played by the Control and Finance
Section which has to visa all transactions before they can be authorised”
o Visa used as verb/noun to mean “approve/ approval”
o SE: “visa” n. an endorsement on a passport indicating that the holder is
allowed to enter, leave, or stay for a specified period of time in a country.

A world standard English ?

 Two competing pressures currently influencing the development of English:

o one acts to maintain international intelligibility, promoting a uniform World
Standard English
o the other acts to preserve national identity, promoting a diverse set of Regional
Standard Englishes.
 How could a more uniform World Standard English arise?
o A current variety could gradually come to be adopted by the leading
international institutions, and emerge as the world standard.
o Different varieties of English could gradually merge, to produce a new distinct
variety E.g. Euro-English
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 o A new variety could be created, based on a set of assumptions about those
aspects of English which are most useful for international purposes. E.g. early
1980s proposal to develop a ‘nuclear’ kind of English including only the most
communicative features of grammar and vocabulary.

Linguistic simplification

• When a language is learned and used as a second/foreign language, do non-native

speakers tend to simplify it?

o E.g. Adverb marking:

 I have to read this article quick. (SE: quickly)
 Hold that firm/tight. (SE: firmly)
 Drive safe. (SE: safely)
o Characteristics of simplification by L2 users:
 Exceptions to rules tend to disappear
 Distinctions start to blur (e.g. adj. vs. adv.)
 Emergence of new varieties in Outer Circle & Expanding Circle
o If language is learned as L2 or foreign language by adults, mastery of the language is
incomplete  the language tends to lose some complexity  simplification
o If language is learned by children à try to be more expressive in the language 
complexification

The killer language

Impact of English as a global Lingua Franca on the learning and use of other languages:

 Threat to linguistic diversity, especially to minority languages (languages with fewer

speakers):
o Indigenous and minority languages face marginalization and displacement by
English in education, media, business, etc.
o Several minority languages do not have a written tradition à easily
supplanted by English
o More access to media in English and exposure to English language à more
influence on the local language
o The smaller the communities, the greater the risk of being replaced entirely
by English
 Linguistic Inequality: The dominance of English in various domains can lead to linguistic
inequality, where those who are not fluent in English may be excluded from
opportunities, such as international academic or professional positions.

Use of English as medium of instruction:

 e.g. Netherlands: concern that increasing use of English first in higher education,
then secondary, then primary à next generation use of first language limited to home
and informal domains à threat of language attrition/loss of Dutch (25 million
speakers)

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  If a student learns English first à less motivation to learn other languages to a higher
proficiency: communicative goals are usually already met.

Impact of English as a global Lingua Franca on the learning and use of other languages:

 Cultural Imperialism: the spread of English is sometimes associated with Western

cultural values and norms  seen as a form of cultural imperialism or domination 
lead to the erosion of local cultures and languages.
 Economic Dominance: English is the language of global trade, finance, and business
 use often seen as requirement for success. English is seen as necessity for
economic advancement  exclusion of non-native speakers who may not have
access to English education or training. The global dominance of English gives
English-speaking countries a powerful position in international affairs, leading some
to view English as a tool for exerting influence and control over non-English speaking
nations

Definition & example

Linguistic attitudes: beliefs, values, and assumptions that people hold about a language and
its use: impacts behaviours and motivations to learn.

The linguistic attitudes towards the English language are generally positive:

 Advantage with regards to tourism & travel, education, business

 Language of cultural exchange and international communication
 Associated with better opportunities for higher education and employment (Fluent
English helps upward social mobility)

Negative attitudes to English

Linguistic attitudes of inner circle English speakers:

• Concern about spread of nonstandard varieties, especially those that show a mixture of
linguistic influences  threat to standard variety
• Concern about substantial growth of immigrant language in their country à threat to
language (prestige/dominance)
 Linguistic attitudes towards English in Outer and Expanding Circle
countries:

 Rejection of ‘excessive influence’ of English; some countries try to legislate against it

(e.g. Italy)
 Fear of lexical invasion – English threat to minority languages
 Rejection of English as an official language:
o because of its associations with colonial history
o because a country wants to develop or maintain a national identity

Negative attitudes towards English à countermovement to protect the status and maintain
national languages – assisted by ease of access to digital media.
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Definition of lingua franca: a language used as a means of communication between
populations speaking languages or dialects that are not mutually intelligible.

Pros: Cons:

- Facilitates communication and - Can reinforce existing power structures à

understanding between people of different may create a cultural hegemony (cultural
linguistic and cultural backgrounds imperialism)

- Promotes cooperation and exchange; - May marginalize other languages and

Helps to break down geographical barriers
- Is efficient and saves time in international
business & diplomacy
cultures à threaten linguistic and cultural
diversity
- Poses challenges for language policy and
education (preservation & development

Do you think English will continue to be the global lingua franca in the future?

Linguistic attitude: the perception you have of someone speaking (e.g. French)  national,
societal level

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