Chapter 5

1. Chapter5 Language

2. Norman Invasion: 1066 French Influence on English: During the Norman occupation, about 10,000 French words were adopted into English, some three-fourths of which are still in use today. Sky: Celestial Horse: Equestrian Man: Masculine Woman: Feminine

3. English Colonies: 1600-1950

4. English: an Official Language Fig. 5-1: English is the official language in 42 countries, including some in which it is not the most widely spoken language. It is also used and understood in many others.

5. Question • What are the important stages of diffusion for the English Language? • Indo-European Hearth • German Invasion of the British Isles • Germanic Branch • Norman Invasion • English Colonies • English as an Official Language

6. Question • How did the English Language Diffuse? • A. Expansion Diffusion • B. Hierarchical Diffusion • C. Stimulus Diffusion • D. Contagious Diffusion • E. Relocation Diffusion

7. What Role Does English Play Today? • English is the Language of the Skies. • English is the Language of the Oceans. • English is the Language of the Internet. • English is the Language of Science. • English is the Language of International Business.

8. Dialect • A dialect is a regional variation of a language distinguished by distinctive vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. • Generally, speakers of one dialect can understand speakers of another dialect. • Geographers are interested in differences in dialects because they reflect distinctive features of the environment in which groups live. • In a language with multiple dialects, like English, one dialect may be recognized as the Standard. British Received Pronunciation (BRP) is considered the standard.

9. Old and Middle English Dialects Five main dialect regions of English exist: Northern, East Midland, West Midland, Southwestern ,and Southeaster or Kentish.

10. UK Dialectical Pronunciations • People in the south don’t say grass or path but grahs and pahth. • People in the Midlands and North pronounce butter and Sunday as booter and soonday. • Southeasterners don’t say apple or cat but rather epple or cet.

11. British v. American English • The early American colonists spoke 17th century English. It became the dominant form of English in America. • Isolation during the 18th and 19th centuries accounts for the differences. • Native American words contributed to the development of American English. • New inventions received different names in the two places. (hood and trunk instead of bonnet and boot) • Noah Webster intentionally changed some spelling and grammar rules in order to establish a national language. (honour and colour are now honor and color.

12. U.S. Dialects • An isogloss is a word-usage boundary. • Overlapping isoglosses account for dialects within the U.S. • A Northern, Midland, and Southern dialect exists from early migrations. • A spider, skillet, and frying pan account for the difference.

13. Dialects in the Eastern U.S. Fig. 5-4: Hans Kurath divided the eastern U.S. into three dialect regions, whose distribution is similar to that of house types (Fig. 4-9).