Language

1. Language The American Experience

2. The Importance of Language to Geographers Language and religion are two of the most important cultural traits for geographers to study. Geographers describe the spatial distributions of language and religion across the landscape because these distributions are useful measures of cultural identification.

3. Language and Religion Are Tied to Patterns of Migration Why do people living in different places speak the same language and practice the same religion? Because people migrate from one place to another. Why do people living in different places speak different languages and practice different religions? Because of lack of migration or other forms of spatial interaction.

4. Origin, Diffusion, and Dialects of English Origin and diffusion of English English colonies Origin of English in England Dialects of English Dialects in England Differences between British and American English Dialects in the United States

5. Invasions of England5th - 11th centuries

6. Old & Middle English Dialects

7. British English Southern English engages in r-dropping, that is, r's are not pronounced after vowels, unless followed by another vowel.� Cockney - Originally the dialect of the working class of East End London. Estuary English - From London down the Thames and into Essex, Sussex, and even Kent, a new working and middle class dialect has evolved and is rapidly become "the" southern dialect.� It combines some of the characteristics of Cockney with RP, but makes much less use of Cockney slang. East Anglian - This dialect is very similar to the Southern The dialect of the East Midlands, once filled with interesting variations from county to county, is now predominantly RP.� R's are dropped, but h's are pronounced. The West Country - r's are not dropped, initial s often becomes z (singer > zinger) & initial f often becomes v (finger > vinger). West Midlands - This is the dialect of Ozzie Osbourne! Lancashire - This dialect, spoken north and east of Liverpool, has the southern habit of dropping r's.� Yorkshire - This dialect is known for its sing-song quality, a little like Swedish, and retains its r's. Northern - The Northern dialect closely resembles the southern-most Scottish dialects.

8. Dialects in the Eastern U.S.

9. The Introduction of English to America Sir Walter Raleigh was the first to bring English to the New World when he established the colony of Virginia in 1584. Early American English borrowed many Native American words, such as skunk and chipmunk. The early Virginians had Raleigh's Western Britain accent from the area of Cornwall. The English accent of the inhabitants of Little Tangier Island, off the coast of Virginia, still sounds like the original American English from Cornwall. The Puritans of Massachusetts Bay restricted their English to the 8,000 word vocabulary of the King James Bible. The Puritans' accent came from Eastern Britain where the letter "R" is not stressed as much as in the West. This accent became identified with the New England states.

10. The Influence of Enslaved Africans on English Blacks living on islands off the coast of Georgia and North Carolina speak Gullah, which still sounds like the English of the slaves. The style and accent of Gullah can be traced back to the pidgin English of West African slave traders. This simplified, or pidgin, English is still spoken by West African traders today. The slave trade spread Pidgin English throughout the Caribbean Islands and the southern U.S. and became the basis for Plantation Creole. Plantation Creole sounds very much like Gullah, with common words such as voodoo and nitty-gritty. Black house servants learned to speak a form of English that sounded more like the "Master's English" as a way to advance themselves socially and economically.

11. The Influence of Plantation Whites on English Southern Whites had the �r-less� accent of southern England which became modified by the speech patterns of Plantation Creole, creating the Charleston accent of the southern White aristocracy. Many southern, aristocratic boys were sent to school in England to learn "proper English" so that they would not embarrass their families by speaking Plantation Creole. Southern, aristocratic girls were typically not educated and so kept the Plantation Creole sound in their speech. 

12. Modern American English and Slang Black English spread to the North of America with the migration of Blacks to northern regions. In 1934, Du Bose Heyward and George Gershwin wrote the opera Porgy and Bess which featured the vernacular of Blacks from coastal South Carolina, spreading this style of speech across the U.S.. The "jive talk" of Black musicians during the 1920s became the language of jazz and featured words and phrases such as: Cool cats; hip; groovy; and the joint is jumpin'. This style of speech was featured in the Cab Calloway song, Hepster's Dictionary, from which white musicians soon adopted many terms. Some modern Blacks feel that they have to lose their Black accents and "talk White" in order to get good jobs and increase their social standing. This sentiment is echoed by many educators, both Black and White. Black rap musicians are currently the foremost disseminators of Black English into the mainstream, U.S. culture

13. The 1986 PBS Series Program 1: An English Speaking World Program 2: Mother Tongue Program 3: A Muse of Fire Program 4: The Guid Scots Tongue Program 5: Black on White Program 6: Pioneers! O Pioneers! Program 7: The Muvver Tongue Program 8: The Loaded Weapon Program 9: Next Year's Words: A look into the future

14. English Dialects in the United States Dialects reveal a vivid geography American English is hardly uniform from region to region At least three major dialects, corresponding to major culture regions, developed in the eastern United States by the time of the American Revolution Northern Midland Southern

16. English Dialects in the United States The three subcultures expanded westward and their dialects spread and fragmented Retained much of their basic character even beyond the Mississippi River Have distinctive vocabularies and pronunciations Drawing dialect boundaries is often tricky

17. Languages and the Settlement Patterns of NC What impacts on North Carolina�s form of southern English can be attributed to the introduction of all of these groups of settlers? Germans Scotch Highlanders Scotch-Irish Swiss

19. English Dialects in the United States Today, many regional words are becoming old-fashioned, but new words display regional variations The following words are all used to describe a controlled-access divided highway Freeway � a California word Turnpike and parkway � mainly northeastern and Midwestern words Thruway, expressway, and interstate

20. English Dialects in the United States Many African-Americans speak their own form of English � Black English (Ebonics) Once dismissed as inferior substandard English Grew out of a pidgin that developed on early slave plantations Today, spoken by about 80 percent of African-Americans Used by ghetto dwellers who have not made their compromises with mainstream American culture Many features separate it from standard speech, for example: Lack of pronoun differentiation between genders Use of undifferentiated pronouns

21. English Dialects in the United States Many African-Americans speak their own form of English � Black English Not recognized as part of the proper grammar of a separate linguistic group Considered evidence of verbal inability or impoverishment In the Southern dialect, African-Americans have made substantial contributions to speech Southern dialect is becoming increasingly identified with African-Americans Caucasians in the Southern region are shifting to Midland speech

22. English Dialects in the United States American dialects suggest we are not becoming a more national culture by overwhelming regional cultures Linguistic divergence is still under way Dialects continue to mutate on a regional level Local variations in grammar and pronunciation proliferate The homogenizing influence of radio, television, and other mass media is being defied

23. Simplified Dialect Regions of America

24. Dialect Regions of America

25. Influences on American English It may be surprising how much of American culture and idiom derived from poker. Fair deal. Square deal. Double dealing. Fold. Underhanded. Stacked deck. Wild card. Ace up your sleeve. Which happens to say a lot about how Americans view life as more influenced by luck, people skills, and the right mix of patience and boldness than the master plans and brilliant concentration of a chess master.

26. The British and AmericansTwo Peoples Separated by a Common Language British block of flats chips crisps fag lift loo mince nappy pram queue rucksack spanner torch American apartment building French fries potato chips cigarette elevator restroom ground beef diaper baby carriage line of people backpack wrench flashlight

33. The Trail of Tears

35. Language Extinction in America Oklahoma holds highest density of indigenous languages in the United States. This Hotspot includes languages originally spoken in the area as well as the languages of tribes from farther east that were forcibly relocated onto reservations in Oklahoma during the 1800s. Many of these languages are highly endangered as the younger generations shift to speaking English.

36. Language Extinction in America The Northwest Pacific Coast and Western Plateau is one of the most endangered hotspots. Every language in the American part of the hotspot is endangered or moribund. As you go farther north and east, the languages are more robust, but throughout British Columbia indigenous languages spoken near urban centers are threatened because speakers of indigenous languages are likely to shift to speaking English.

37. An English Speaking World ? More than 320 million people - a tenth of the world's population - speak English as their first language; hundreds of millions more as their second language. English is the language used for all Air Traffic Control. Fifty percent of the world's telephones are in English-speaking countries. Fifty percent of the songs on the European hit parade are in English. Eighty percent of all computer data is in English. During World War II, BBC radio broadcasts in English were heard throughout Europe. The Edward R. Morrow, W.W. II Victory-in-Europe broadcasts of 1945, along with the subsequent decline of the British Empire, signaled the rise of the U.S. variety of English to prominence. U.S. English has been disseminated world-wide by U.S. business concerns and the military and is associated with economic and political power.

38. English Speaking Countries

39. Key Concepts Dialect Language branch Language family Language group Literary tradition Extinct language Creolized language Ebonics Shatter belts Multilingual states Isogloss Lingua franca British Received Pronunciation Pidgin language Franglais Spanglish Denglish Revived language Isolated language

40. Key Concepts Custom Folk culture Popular culture Taboo Habit Culture wars National culture International culture Subculture Acculturation Enculturation Cultural landscapes Monochronic cultures Polychronic cultures Cultural areas Indigenous cultures Globalization of popular culture Environmental problems of cultural globalization