PROJECT RESEARCH WORK «POPULARITY AND VARITIES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. AMERICAN VARIANT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE»

      Департамент Образования города Москвы

Северо-Западное окружное управление образования

Государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждении

Средняя общеобразовательная школа № 2077

THEME

«POPULARITY AND VARITIES OF THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

AMERICAN VARIANT OF THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE»

Authors:

Alina Berezina

Anastasiya Pazukhina1

Teacher:

Tasenyuk Olga Vasil’evna,

English language teacher

                                                 School # 2077

Moscow

 2014

Contents

                                                                                                   page

Introduction ………………………………………………………..       2

 I. General characteristic of the English language …………………..     5

1. The roots of the English language

        1.2.    Historic events influenced the development of

     the English language

II. Geographical spreading of the English language across the world     8

1. The expansion of English in different historic periods
2. Modern “English-speaking world”
3. Popularity of the English language

III. American variety of the English language ………………………    11

3.1.    The distinctive features of American and British varieties  

                   of the English language

3.2.    Conservatism of American variety of English

Conclusion  …………………………………………………………      18

List of literature …………………………………………………….      19

Introduction

         Having started to learn a new theme about popularity of the English language at our English lesson, we of course knew that in a lot of countries peoples speak English, study it; that this language is considered to be international and is called “Latin of the 21st century”. But we did not realize how wide English is spread and how many varieties of it exist. These varieties may be national and regional. But British English and American English, for definite historical reasons, are the two most influential dialects.

          The theme of popularity and variations of the English language, extent to which English has spread drew our attention with its actuality. It became interesting for us to gain an understanding of differences between American English and British English; to analyze and try to ground these differences. It has become the aim of our work. The object of the research is spreading of English and the existence of its variations. The subject is American variant of the English language. We have possibility to compare it with British variant as we study precisely this “classic” variety at school.

         The aim supposed the following objectives:

1. To consider geographical spreading of the English language across the  

world. To understand the reason why so many countries use this language.

2. To analyze information in which areas there are more differences between British and American varieties of English.
3. To determine which of the two variants is more conservative.

         In our work we used the following methods and ways: work with reference, scientific and popular literature, and work with dictionaries; collecting and analysis of information; choosing and systematization of illustrative examples.

         This activity was new and absorbing for us. We tried to do a kind of scientific research in such a complicated branch as linguistic. The most difficult thing for us was to work with literature in English and unilingual dictionaries as our knowledge of this language is not on the sufficient level yet.

         Our project work had a very definite practical meaning – we presented some stages of it at our English lessons in a form of short reports and excited the curiosity in our classmates as we had found out and told them about such things they had never head before.          

Popularity and Varieties of the English Language.

American Variant of the English Language

Plan

I. General characteristic of the English language

1. The roots of the English language

        1.2.     Historic events influenced the development of the English language

2. Geographical spreading of the English language across the world

1. The expansion of English in different historic periods

2.2.     Modern “English-speaking world”

3.  Popularity of the English language

3. American variety of the English language

1. The distinctive peculiarities of American and British varieties  of the English language in the areas of:

• Semantics
• Spelling
• Grammar
• Pronunciation

2. Conservatism of American variety of English

I. General characteristic of the English language

1. The roots of the English language

         The English Language rose from the Anglo-Saxon language (or Old English). This language was brought to Britain by Germanic tribes – the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes in the second half of the 5-th century when they crossed the channel and invaded Great Britain. These tribes gave England its name, which meant “The Land of Angles”, and they also made the base for the English Language and its vocabulary.  By that time the Romans, who had invaded Great Britain several centuries before, had to leave it. The island remained a Roman colony for more than 3 centuries and during that period the Romans built many roads, towns, and the town of Londinium on the river Thames, which became the capital of the country later; they built forts, bridges, houses, etc. The population of these towns used Latin alongside of their own native Celtic speech, but they did not use written speech a lot, that was why not very many Latin words remained at that time. In 410 the Roman legions were withdrawn from Great Britain, for the Goths were at the gates of Rome and the Romans rushed to defend their Empire. Anglo-Saxon invaders met stubborn resistance and succeeded in establishing themselves only after much fighting. That is why their advance was very slow and gradual – it took them nearly 4 centuries after the beginning of the invasion and it ended only at the beginning of the 9-th century. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes had little contacts with their motherland, they communicated with each other and with native population. Their dialects smoothed, and in the course of time it brought the birth and the development of a separate language – the English language.  And as they all lived on the same territory they had to defend it against the same enemy together. This “commonwealth” was gradually developing into one people – the English people.

2. Historic events influenced the development of the English  

         language

         At the end of the 6-th – at the beginning of the 7-th centuries monks from Rome came to Great Britain. Their aim was the introduction of Christianity. The population accepted not only this religion, but also the Latin alphabet, which substituted the Germanic alphabet – Runic. As a result, a lot of Latin words connected mainly with religion and science were adopted.

         At the end of the 8-th century the Anglo-Saxons began to suffer from the attacks of the Scandinavian tribes. In the 9-th – 10-th centuries these attacks turned into invasion. They occupied a vast territory of England. The Scandinavians lived side by side with the Anglo-Saxons and constant process of assimilation was going on for centuries, which influenced both languages. At the beginning of the 11-th century the Scandinavian influence became stronger as a result of a new series of Danish invasions which ended in 1017 in the complete occupation of England. For the next 25 years England was ruled by Danish kings.

         Most of all Scandinavian dialects influenced the vocabulary; several hundred words were borrowed during this period. They were common words naming things, objects and phenomena around people; words connecting with weather and nature. Great was the influence on English pronunciation as well.

         A very important role in the development of the English language played the Norman conquest of 1066. In that year a considerable army headed by William, duke of Normandy, crossed the Channel and defeated the English army. William, later known as William the Conqueror, became king of England. He suppressed mercilessly the numerous rebellions of the English. The greater part of the English nobility was either killed or fled from the country and their places were filled by William’s French followers. All the important positions in the government, army and church were occupied by the French. Thus the French language became the official language of the country and remained so for about three centuries. The English population, naturally, spoke English, but gradually many of them learned and practiced French, so that the number of people using both languages was constantly increasing. The two languages influenced each other, and when in the 14- th century English won in its fight with French, it was extremely greatly influenced by the latter. It was especially felt in the vocabulary of English and in its spelling. Among French loans were aristocratic words, words and terms connecting with government, administration, army, legal system, religion; words reflecting life and habits of the rich; words of arts and literature. Common words reflecting every day life, cooking food, and surrounding objects were borrowed too.

         There were several dialects of the English language at that time. But because of the fact that London had been the official capital of the country since William the Conqueror, that London became the political, cultural and economic centre of England; that the seat of the two universities was also here, in East Midland; that Chaucer, “the father of English poetry”, used the London dialect and made it a literary language – all these helped the London dialect to become a national language.

         In 1476 William Caxton printed the first English book. The introduction of printing was an event of great importance for the development of the English language. It helped to form a unified standard national language on the basis of the London dialect. And so, exactly the London dialect is the basis of the British variant of the English language. The territorial dialects did not disappear. They were developing together with the national language and became its regional variants, but they are subordinated to the national language.

         In modern English it is possible to express one and the same idea with the help of several different words. And these words are not simply synonyms. The fact is that during a long period of time English has borrowed and adopted words from different languages. Some borrowings have disappeared; others coexist together with English words.

For example:

English                                 French                               Latin

ask                                       question                         interrogate                 

end                                       finish                               complete

rise                                      mount                                ascend        

         We should notice that native words are stylistically neutral while borrowed words belong to lofted, poetic or formal style.

         Summary

There are three periods in the development of the English language:

• Old English – from the 5-th until the 11-th century (The Anglo-Saxons invasion)
• Middle English – from the 11-th until the 15-th century (The Norman Conquest)
• New English – from the 15-th century up to present day (The introduction of printing in England).

      Full of events the history of Britain, numerous invaders and conquerors having lived on the territory of the country for decades and centuries, introduction of Christianity, separate geographical position – all these could not but influence the English language: it consists of about 70% of  borrowings and 30% of words of the Old English period.                                                                              

II.  Geographical spreading of the English language across the world

2.1.    The expansion of English in different historic periods

         During the New English period English has spread far beyond the borders of England. The expansion of English, like the expansion of French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch can be accounted for only by historical, economic and political reasons. England was one of the first and the mightiest capitalist countries and colonial empires, and English was imposed upon the peoples of its numerous colonies.

         The beginning of the British Empire was in1583 when Queen Elisabeth I sent English ships to explore and join new lands. These expeditions were always successful.

         In 1603 Scotland and Ireland were brought under the English crown. In 1620            

The ship “Mayflower” took the first English settlers to America, and later the colonization of the New World began.

         In the 18-th century England occupied Canada, India and Australia. More and more lands on different continents became the part of the Empire. People said that the sun never set on the British Empire – so large it was. Its territories were on all continents, and its isles were in all oceans.

          Towards the beginning of the 20-th century the British Empire had the population of about 500 million people, i.e. ¼ of population of the whole world living on the territory of 30 million square kilometers were under the English crown then. And everywhere English was implanted after gaining new territories and national languages and cultures were suppressed.

         The other historical reason for the expansion and popularity of the English language (this time its American variant) is the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States of America and its status as a global super power state since the end of World War II. But now this process is not a “linguistic colonization”.  

 All mentioned stimulated the spread of the English language (its two main

variants) across the planet.

2.2.     Modern “English-speaking world”

         English is spoken as a first language by about 400 million people living in 12 countries. For more than 500 million people it is used as a second language. English is the main language not only in such countries as the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but it is also the main language in many countries of Africa and the Caribbean, on the islands of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

         Many of the countries which were once part of the British Empire belong to a voluntary association, the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is made up of 51 members which are independent states plus a number of dependences (such as Bermuda, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, and, until 1977, – Hong Kong). The British Queen is Head of the Commonwealth and in 17 countries she is also Head of State. Naturally, in all countries of the Commonwealth English has the status of an official language. In India it is also the second state language.

         Other countries in which English is an official language are: Botswana, Cameroon, Dominica, the Federal states of Micronesia, Fiji, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leona, the Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia,  South and West Africa.

         English is “semi-official”, i.e. not de juro, but de facto an official language of Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia, the Arab Emirates and Israel.

         In these countries the English language functions preserving its essential features, but it has gained some peculiarities in pronunciation, grammar, spelling and vocabulary. So, there exist variants of the English language. Variants may be regional or national. Regional ones are those which are spoken in different parts of the UK; while variants used in different parts of the English-speaking world are called national.

         The following varieties of the English language are distinguished: British, American, Australian, Canadian, Caribbean, East African, Indian, Irish, New Zealand, Scottish, South African, Welsh and West African.

3. Popularity of the English language

        The popularity of English is constantly growing.

         English is the most taught foreign language in the world. It does not substitute national languages but supplements to them.

         300 million Chinese pupils study English at schools. It is more than the population of the USA.

         In France pupils have to learn one foreign language. They may choose between English and German. Nowadays most of them, at least 85% choose English. Even more, France is very close to accept it as a second official language.

         Learning English is obligatory for everybody in the schools in Japan.  

         In Russian schools most pupils study English.

         In Norway, Dane and Sweden learning English is obligatory.

         Holland (the Netherlands), among all European countries, except the United Kingdom of course, holds the first place in quantity of people who speak English.

         Nowadays the English language is the language of international communication; it is the language of up-to-date global economy; it is the language of the advanced science and high technologies. English is the universal language of communications – from the international language of aviation and tourism to the language of e-mail, the Internet and computer language.

         According to the Bible the erection of the huge Babylon Tower stopped because of the lack of understanding among people who suddenly began to speak different languages. It seems that today mankind is going to get a chance to find some “mutual” language. For a great part of population of the planet English already successfully plays this role. Precisely, here we say about a simplified global variant of the English language, as most of those who use English today have never been to any country where English is the native national language. In this global universal language the influence of American variant is really great.  

         Summary

The expansion of the English language began with the birth of the British Empire.          The language was implanted by force and suppressed national languages and cultures. Towards the beginning of the 20-th century the British Empire was the biggest: it had the territory of 30 million square kilometers with the population equal ¼ of population of the whole world.

Modern English-speaking world is:

• 12 countries with English as the main language
• 62 countries with English as an official and “semi-official” status.

English is the most taught and the most studied language in the world.

English, precisely – American English is turning into universal global language.

Today milliards of people in the whole world speak English on this or that level.

Nowadays the English language is the language of international communication; it is the language of up-to-date global economy; it is the language of the advanced science and high technologies. English is the universal language of communications – from the international language of aviation and tourism to the language of e-mail, the Internet and computer language.

III. American variety of the English language

         As it has already been mentioned British and American variants are the most important among all other variants of the English language. To understand better the peculiarities of American variant of the English language it seems worth while to compare these two variants, as British variant is considered to be a standard of the national English language.

         Why people who know English, when they arrive to the United States, have got so many difficulties in communication with citizens of this country?  

1. The distinctive peculiarities of American and British varieties  of the English language

         These peculiarities and differences are especially seen in the following areas: semantics, pronunciation, spelling and grammar.

SEMANTICS

         There are two important types of differences in the meanings of words in the two variants:

1. The same object may have a completely different name.
2. The same word is used in both varieties, but it may have a completely different meaning.

      TYPE I: same objects, different names

         Some of the biggest differences are in the words used for basic everyday things, such as common foods, household equipment, the parts of a car, numerals etc.

For example:

             BE                                                                                          AE

mobile phone                                                                                    cellphone

petrol                                                                                                 gas

tap                                                                                                     faucet

cooker                                                                                               stove

dustbin                                                                                              garbage can

aubergine                                                                                          eggplant

sweets                                                                                               candy

bonnet (in a car)                                                                                hood

boot (in a car)                                                                                    trunk

windscreen                                                                                        windshield

holiday                                                                                              vacation

pavement                                                                                           sidewalk

information bureau                                                                            inquiry office

ticket agent                                                                                       booking clerk

billion                                                                                                trillion

milliard                                                                                              billion                                                      

                                                              etc.

  TYPE II: same word, different meanings

WORD                              BE                                                            AЕ

football             a game played all over the world              a game played in the US

                         with a round ball (it’s kicked, not              with an egg-shaped ball

                         thrown). Americans call this game            (can be both kicked and

                         soccer                                                         thrown). The English call

                                                                                             it American football

chips                long thin pieces of potato, fried                 thin flat pieces of potato,

                         and eaten hot. Americans call                   fried and eaten cold. The                    

                         these  fries or French fries                       English call these crisps

etc.

         Differences of this type are very confusing. They are called American/English “false friends”.

                                                    SPELLING

         There are many spelling differences between the two variants. Some of these affect individual words, so they simply have to be learned.

         But some spelling differences involve particular letter sequences, so they are more regular and predictable. We analyzed some common words and chose these ones:

                              BE                                                          AE

                             -our                                                          -or

        humour, colour, favourite labour                   humor, color, favorite, labor

                             -tre                                                          -tor

       centre, litre, theatre, spectre                            center, liter, theater, specter

                            -nce                                                        -nse

       pretence, defence, offence                               pretense, defense, offense

                            -l-                                                            -ll-

       skillful, fulfil, appal                                         skillfull, fulfill, appall

GRAMMAR

         In general, differences in grammar between the two variants are relatively slight. There are, however, a few noticeable differences in tense formation, subject-verb agreement, and the use of the present perfect.

Forms of the past tense and past participle

         In American English, the regular –ed form is always used in past tense and past participle of verbs like lean, learn, spell, and smell. Often used with burn, dream. In British English the irregular forms of the same verbs are used.

Subject-verb agreement

    In British English collective nouns (referring to groups of people) are often followed by a plural verb. This does not occur in American English.

     BE:  The football team are rather weak this year.

     AE:  The football team is rather weak this year.

Use of the present perfect

    American speakers tend to use the present perfect less than British speakers, often using the simple past instead, especially in sentences with words like just, yet, already.

    BE: Has Sam just left? Sam has left already.

    AE: Did Sam just leave? Sam left already. 

PRONUNCIATION

         In pronunciation especially we can see the difference, between American variant and British variant. Having analyzed some words it is possible to conclude: there are differences in pronunciation of certain vowels, different pronunciation of the sound / r / after vowels, nasalization of the vowels, differences in pronunciation of individual words, different patterns of intonation and different patterns of word-stress.

Vowel  a

                    BE                                                                     AE

                                                     /a:/       -      /э/

                                              after, ask, past, path, last, bath

                                                    /o/         -     /a/

                                               not,  possible, stop

                                                               etc.

                                              The sounds /ju:/ and /u:/

          In some words, British speakers say /ju:/ and Americans  speakers say /u:/ when after them follow  /d/, /t/, /p/, /l/, or /n/:

word                       BE                                           AE

tune                     /tju:n/                                             /tu:n/

stupid                 /stju:pid/                                        /stu:pid/

tulip                    /tju:lip/                                           /tu:lip/

duty                     /dju:ti/                                            /du:ti/

etc.

                                                 Vowels followed by /r/

         Vowels with an /r/ following them are called r-coloured. These are pronounced without /r/ by British speakers, but most American speakers pronounce /r/:

word                   BE                                     AE

bird                 /b3:d/                                  /b3:rd/

dark                /da:k/                                   /da:rk/

hard                /ha:d/                                   /ha:rd/

         However, if the /r/ appears in front of a vowel in the next word, it is pronounced by both British and American speakers:

…star is … /sta:r iz/.

          Nasalization of vowels, the so-called “nasal twang”, is also a characteristic feature of American speech.

         There are also numerous differences in the pronunciation of individual words: clerk, either, nephew, schedule, suggest, tomato, etc.

STRESS

         British and American variants have different stress patterns in words with two or more syllables.

word                   BE                                      AE

debris               /`debri:/                              /de`bri:/

         The same differences can be heard in words like chalet, garage, gourmet, parquet, etc.

         In words with several syllables like secretary American speakers emphasize the ending more than British speakers, so that the word has an extra syllable:

word                              BE                                     AE 

secretary                    /`secretri/                        /`secre,teri/

territory                     /`teretri/                          /`tere,tori/

          The same differences can be heard in words like conservatory, contributory, preparatory, etc.

         However, in words like missile, British speakers give more emphasis to the last syllable:

word                            BE                                     AE

missile                     /`misail/                               /`misl/

hostile                     /`hostail/                               /ha:sl/

         The same differences can be heard in docile, fragile, mobile, tactile.

Intonation

         American English differ from British English as it has less “rich” patterns of intonation. American speech is “flatter”. Rise – fall tunes with its specific variations are smoothed.

   3.2.  Conservatism of American variety of English

         We asked our friends and classmates which of the two variants on their opinion is more archaic and conservative, as we wanted to find out the opinion of “ordinary” people. Most people believe that British variant is more conservative and it is less exposed to changes. Probably they think so because they try to connect the language and their notion of English people: they are calm, pedantic, not very emotional; they do not want “great” changes in their lives, customs and  traditions. We also thought so. But reading about the history of English we learned that not British but American variant is behind in its development.

         Conservatism can be seen in all spheres we mentioned. Most of the peculiarities of American pronunciation, spelling, semantics and grammar are not innovations, but rather preserved features of British English of the 17-th and 18-th centuries. The basis of American variant is the language which was brought to America by the first settlers on the ship “Mayflower” in 1620. A lot of processes, which were taking place in the development of the English language, had not been completed yet. The settlers were simple, ordinary, badly educated people. They were very far from science and tendencies of the development of the language. That is why the Americans speak English which has not undergone all changes of the third period and remained at the level of the 17-th century. It concerns pronunciation of the vowels, differences in spelling and grammar, their preference to the old synthetic forms, some old forms of participle II, etc.        

          Quite often American English displays its conservatism in semantics. In the US some words have preserved the meanings they had in England in the 17th century, whereas in British English these meanings are now expressed differently.

                      BE                                                                                       AЕ

    autumn                                                                                             fall

    think                                                                                                 guess

    luggage                                                                                             baggage

    chemist                                                                                             druggist

    ugly                                                                                                   homely

    lend                                                                                                   loan

                                                             etc.

         Such words are considered rather archaic. But we should admit that at the same time American English displays democracy - it easily accepts words of European emigrants: ranch, tornado, San Francisco (Spanish), dollar, boss, cookie (Dutch), hamburger, noodle, pretzel (German), prairie, rapids, Detroit (French), pizza, pasta (Italian), etc.  

         Summary

         Differences in semantics, vocabulary, spelling, grammar and especially in pronunciation, as well as the existence of a great number of idiomatic expressions – these all are the reasons why people who know English, when they arrive in the  United States of America, have sometimes considerable difficulties in communication with its citizens. Only after spending here some time they begin to feel more or less, so to say, “in their plate”, i.e. they reach understanding.

         American variant is behind British variant in its development. That is why the Americans speak English which has not undergone all changes of the third period and remained at the level of the 17-th century. It concerns pronunciation of the vowels, differences in spelling and grammar, their preference to the old synthetic forms, some old forms of participle II. In the vocabulary of American English there are words which do not exist in New English and are not used now. They are considered to be out-of-date.        

Conclusion

         The object of our research work is spreading of English and the existence of its variations. The subject is American variant of the English language.

         The main result of our project work is that we have considered geographical spreading of the English language across the world and grounded the reasons why so many countries use this language. We have analyzed all found information in which areas there are more differences between British and American varieties of English and have systematized this information. We have concluded that American English is more archaic, conservative and is behind British English in its development; but at the same time it easily accepts new words of emigrants.  

         So, we carried out the aim – we have gained an understanding of differences between American English and British English; analyzed and grounded these differences.

         In our work we used the following methods and ways: work with reference, scientific and popular literature, and work with dictionaries; collecting and analysis

of information, choosing and systematization of illustrative examples. We used the principle of objectiveness, i.e. we considered opinions which of the two varieties is more modern, which of them has changed more and in which areas.

         And the main thing: we realized how important it is to learn English. Not knowing it may become a very serious obstacle to social adaptation and a person’s development in our new global world. Global English is gradually, and very fast, becoming the most spreading language in the world, and will probably be the second language of the mankind very soon.

         Our work on the project was rather hard and tedious, but very interesting and creative. We felt to be real linguists. This activity is quite new for us and has a very definite practical meaning – we have learned to work with dictionaries of different types, with scientific and popular literature in English though has been difficult.

         We should admit that our knowledge of English has improved considerably.  

          We can say with confidence that our project turned out to be a kind of distinctive work on professional orientation – we experienced what a job of a translator and a linguist is.

List of Literature

1. M. Benson, E. Benson, R. Ilson. The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English. – M.: The Russian Language, 1990. 286 p.
2. M. Goldenkov. Cool English. – Minsk: Galaxias, 1996. 96 p.
3. A. S. Hornby. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. – Oxford.: OUP, 1995. 1430 p.
4. A. Kunin. English – Russian Phraseological Dictionary. M.:  State Publishing House of Foreign and National Dictionaries, 1956. 1455 p.
5. Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners. – Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2006. 1692p.
6. A. I. Smirnitsky. Lectures on the History of English. – M.: “Dobrosvet”,  

2006. 236 p.

7.  http://miresperanto.narod.ru