Evolving English

1. HTAV Conference, July 2011 Alexis Watson Catherine Jones Mentone Girls’ Secondary College Evolving English ‘Language, never forget, is more fashion than science, and matters or usage, spelling, and pronunciation tend to wander around like hemlines’. - Bill Bryson, Mother Tongue

2. http://liek59.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/language1.jpg

3. English is like a Revolving Door... …but discards or rejects others. ‘THOU hast made me, And shall thy worke decay?’ – John Donne It readily admits new members... yuppie blog bling LOL d’oh

4. Old English – Modern English I bet your students can’t read this.... wæs se grimma gæstGrendel haten,   mære mearcstapa, se þe moras heold  fen ond fæsten; fifelcynnes eard          wonsæli werweardode hwile          siþðan him Scyppend forscrifen hæfde. An Extract from Beowulf: the Description of the Monster Grendel

5. But they could certainly read this... HEY M8 HOWS IT GOIN? C U AT DAVES 2MOZ? PARTY SHOULD B XLNT. AT WRK – GOIN HOME 4 DNR. PLS CALL ME L8R. :)

6. WHY?

7. Evolving English The English Language has changed through the following processes:

8. …And these can be taught in the National History Curriculum According to the Asia Education Foundation, ‘Knowledge of language and word origins is not only interesting in its own right, but it extends students’ knowledge of vocabulary and spelling’ (literacy) The National Curriculum for English does investigate the ‘influence and impact that the English Language has had on other languages or dialects and how English has been influenced in return’. The National Curriculum for English addresses the impact of the ‘globalisation’ of English, particularly at Year 7, 8 and 9. The History of the English Language can be investigated in the National History Curriculum in the ‘Depth Studies’. There is also scope for an integrated curriculum i.e. migration

9. Evolving English Currently there are 6000 different languages in the world being heard, spoken, signed, seen, read and written. There are also thousands more that were used in the past that are classified as ‘dead’ and are no longer spoken. These languages have been grouped into ‘families’. To be grouped together, the languages must have similarities or be traced to a common ancestor.

10. Evolving English • English belongs to one of the biggest language ‘families’ called the Indo-European family. • Other languages in this family include Greek, French, Gaelic, German and Spanish. They all share an earlier common language called Proto-Indo-European or PIE for short. • Some linguists believe that PIE was spoken as far back as 4000 BC, yet its origin is unsure with Russia, India and Turkey as possibilities. • Nevertheless, it spread as people migrated and settled in different parts of the globe. • The way each group of people spoke slowly began to change and what was PIE had transformed itself into hundreds of different languages.

11. http://anthropologynet.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/indoeuropean-language-family-tree.jpghttp://anthropologynet.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/indoeuropean-language-family-tree.jpg

12. Year 7 History - Overview ‘The Year 7 curriculum provides a study of history from the time of the earliest human communities to the end of the ancient period. It was a period defined by the development of cultural practices and organised societies.’ Overview content for the ancient world (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome, India, China and the Maya) includes the following: • the theory that people moved out of Africa around 60 000 BCE and migrated to other parts of world, including Australia • the evidence for the emergence and establishment of ancient societies (including art, iconography, writing tools and pottery) • key features of ancient societies (farming, trade, social classes, religion, rule of law)

13. The Ancient World Key Inquiry Questions: • How do we know about the ancient past? • Why and where did the earliest societies develop? • What emerged as the defining characteristics of ancient societies? • What have been the legacies of ancient societies?

14. Year 7 History Depth Studies are: Investigating the Ancient Past The Mediterranean World The Asian World Each of the depth studies has their own ‘Historical Knowledge and Understanding’ – refer to www.australiancurriculum.edu.aufor more details.

15. 1. Investigating the Ancient Past The First Alphabets The earliest form of writing came from Iraq in approximately 4000BC. It was called cuneiform meaning ‘wedge shaped’. Wedges were pressed into a soft clay, thus making symbols or signs to represent words and sounds. There were 1500 different combinations – compare this to our alphabet of 26 letters today!

16. 2. The Mediterranean World - Egypt The First Alphabets Egyptians carved or drew pictures to represent sounds or ideas. This form of writing was known as ‘hieroglyphics’, meaning ‘holy writing’ as it was mainly holy priests who used the language. In the writing systems like cuneiform and hieroglyphics, some of the symbols or signs represented sounds, whilst others stood for ideas or whole words. They could also be combined.

17. The First Alphabets It was the Phoenicians who are said to have developed the first actual alphabet. They lived north of Egypt near Lebanon and Syria. The first two letters were ‘aleph’ and ‘beth’. Aleph + beth = Alphabet! The Phoenician alphabet had 22 letters – all consonants. The first bible – written in ancient Hebrew, was based on the Phoenician alphabet.

18. The First Alphabets The Phoenician alphabet was also adopted by the ancient Greeks. In 1000BC they created additional letters (vowels). The ancient Greek alphabet turned into the alphabet for Russian, Bulgarian and additional languages in this area of the globe. The Greek alphabet was adopted and changed by the Etruscans in Italy who were an ancient people living in Italy before the Romans.

19. The First Alphabets The Romans adapted the alphabet used by the Etruscans, using it for their language – Latin! It is this alphabet which we use to write English as well as French, Spanish and Italian and.......... It is the most widely used alphabet in the world.

20. 3. The Asian World - China The father of Chinese writing is Ts’ang Chieh. The writing of China began with pictures and then evolved into symbols. The earliest inscriptions (scratched on bones and tortoise shells) were made in the Shang-Yin Dynasty by astrologers for the purposes of divination (the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means) ‘By the beginning of the Christian era a highly developed script had been formed which has hardly changed’. Chinese calligraphers – emperors, court and government officials (highly esteemed) Chinese language – mainly monosyllabic. Each character represents a whole word (we use a number of signs or letters to make words).

21. Year 8 History - Overview ‘The Year 8 Curriculum provides a study of history from the end of the ancient period to the beginning of the modern period. This was when major civilisations around the world came into contact with each other. Social, economic, religious and political beliefs were often challenged and significantly changed.’ Overview content for the ancient to modern world (Byzantine, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Ottoman, Khmer, Mongols, Yuan and Ming dynasties, Aztec, Inca) includes the following: • the transformation of the Roman world and the spread of Christianity and Islam • key features of the medieval world (feudalism, trade routes, voyages of discovery, contact and conflict) • the emergence of ideas about the world and the place of people in it by the end of the period (such as the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment).

22. The Ancient to the Modern World Key Inquiry Questions: • How did societies change from the end of the ancient period to the beginning of the modern age? • What key beliefs and values emerged and how did they influence societies? • What were the causes and effects of contact between societies in this period? • What significant people, groups and ideas from this period have influenced the world today?

23. Year 8 History Depth Studies are: The Western and Islamic Worlds The Asia-Pacific World Expanding Contacts Each of the depth studies has their own ‘Historical Knowledge and Understanding’ – refer to www.australiancurriculum.edu.aufor more details.

24. 1. The Western and Islamic World – The Vikings In terms of languages, English isn’t very old. Starting in England, it began approximately 1500 years ago. Prior to English, the people of the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) spoke Celtic languages. West Germanic invaders from Jutland and southern Denmark began populating the British Isles in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. The three groups of invaders were Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, together known as Anglo-Saxons.

25. Viking Invasions Invasion of the Angles, Jutes and Saxons

26. 1. The Western and Islamic World – The Vikings The words England and English come from the word Angle. The people spoke a mutual language that is called Old English. The Anglo-Saxons brought their own alphabet with them called runes, which is what Old English is written in! Christian monks from Ireland and other parts of Europe also arrived in ‘England’. They each wrote and spoke in Latin, thus using the Roman alphabet. Over time they began to speak Old English / Anglo Saxon too, but they used the Roman alphabet as it was much easier to use than runes.

27. 1. The Western and Islamic World – The Vikings The Vikings invaded England in the 9th and 10th centuries. The language they spoke, Old Norse, also used runes. Monks continued to use the Roman alphabet to write Old English. About half of the most commonly used words in modern English have Old English roots. For example, be, water and strong

28. 1. The Western and Islamic World – Medieval Europe William the conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded and conquered England and the Anglo-Saxons in 1066AD. He spoke in French, as well as his fellow conquerors, but they also used the Roman alphabet. The new royalty spoke a dialect of Old French known as Anglo-Norman. As William the Conqueror spoke French, it became what is known as an ‘official language’ of England. It is from this point that quite a few ‘silent’ letters infiltrated English from French, where letters like ‘h’ are not pronounced. For example, ‘h’ in ‘hour’ comes from the French ‘heure’ spoken as ‘er’.

29. 1. The Western and Islamic World – Medieval Europe People also started including letters in English words that weren’t even French in origin ‘to make them look more French’. For example, ‘u’ was added to ‘labor’ and ‘color’ – originally Latin words. People also felt that English should look more like Latin and as a consequence, a ‘b’ crept into words like ‘doubt’. Originally it had been omitted as people didn’t pronounce it.

30. 1. The Western and Islamic World – Medieval Europe The influence of the Normans can be illustrated by looking at two words, beef and cow. Beef commonly eaten by aristocracy, derives from the Anglo-Norman, while the Anglo-Saxon commoners, who tended the cattle, retained the Germanic cow. Many legal terms, such as indict, jury and verdict have Anglo-Norman roots because the Normans ran the courts. Over time, the French nobles lost their loyalty to France and began to speak a modified English instead of Anglo-Norman.

31. 1. The Western and Islamic World – Medieval Europe In 1349, the Black Death developed, killing about one-third of the English population. The middle class grew in economic and social importance, and along with them, English increased in importance compared to Anglo-Norman. The mixture of the two languages came to be known as middle English.

32. Year 9 History - Overview ‘The Year 9 Curriculum provides a study of the history of the making of the modern world. It was a period of industrialisation and rapid change in the ways people lived, worked and thought. It was an era of nationalism and imperialism, and the colonisation of Australia was part of the expansion of European power.’ Overview content for the making of the modern world includes the following: • the nature and significance of the Industrial Revolution and how it affected living and working conditions, including within Australia • the nature and extent of the movement of peoples in the period (slaves, convicts and settlers) • the extent of European imperial expansion and different responses, including in the Asian region • the emergence and nature of significant economic, social and political ideas in the period, including nationalism

33. The Making of the Modern World • Key Inquiry Questions: • What were the changing features of the movements of people from 1750-1918? • How did it contribute to change in new ideas and technological developments inthis period? • What was the origin, development, significance and long-term impact of imperialism in this period? • What was the significance of World War I?

34. Year 9 History Depth Studies are: Making a Better World? Australia and Asia World War I Each of the depth studies has their own ‘Historical Knowledge and Understanding’ – refer to www.australiancurriculum.edu.aufor more details.

35. 1. Making a Better World – Movement of peoples • In other words, migration and immigration • From 1715 to 1918 - the major movement of peoples that relate to Australia is the First Fleet and convicts and their impact on indigenous society. • These movements had an impact on the use of the English Language in Australia. People began to create the Australian variety of English.

36. Making a Better World – Movement of Peoples • At the time of European Settlement, there were around 600 different indigenous languages in Australia. • There were many misunderstandings between the early settlers and the indigenous people because the Europeans believed that there was only one indigenous language in Australia • The number of indigenous languages being spoken in Australia has decreased since European settlement. Some have become extinct. • Overall, approximately 440 indigenous words have been borrowed, which does not include place names.

37. Making a Better World – Movement of Peoples • One of the most well known uses of an Indigenous word in English is ‘Kangaroo’. It is the first word to be ‘borrowed’ and used in Australian English. • Joseph Banks reported on seeing a Kangaroo, and its killing, on 14 July 1770. In his diary he spelt it ‘kanguru’. Cook and Banks took the word with them back to England, and because of the strangeness of the word, its use grew. • Urban legend about its meaning.

39. Making a Better World – Movement of Peoples • Australian English was influenced by the backgrounds of those on the First Fleet. • It is a false idea that many of the new words from this era are to do with the ‘administration’. • ‘Flash language’ – language of the professional criminals, which many of the convicts would have learnt. Its primary function was to create solidarity, given their isolation from mainstream society. • 1793 Watkin Tench’s publication ‘A Complete Account of the Settlement of Port Jackson’ recorded that translators were often needed in court cases for those in administration to understand the convict dialogue.

40. Making a Better World – Movement of Peoples • In 1843 Charles Rowcroft, in Tales of the Colonies, wrote: • ‘I must warn you that we never speak of the convicts in this country by that term; we always call them ‘government men’; or on some occasions, prisoners; but we never use the term ‘convict’, which is considered by them as an insulting term’. • Therefore, a convict was often called a public servant. Which later became used as a term for someone who worked for the government.

41. Making a Better World – Movement of Peoples • The first version of Australian English was spoken by the children of those on the First Fleet • Children created a dialect of language, as there were many influences from the different regions of the British Isles that came over as free settlers or as convicts. The biggest of these groups was those that spoke Cockney English. • The children wanted to be able to have a common language, and so they borrowed words to create a new dialect. • Peter Miller Cunningham’s book Two Years in New South Wales (1827) described an accent that was different from the older colonists.

42. 2. Australia and Asia – Making a Nation The Gold Rush led to mass migration of people to the goldfields in New South Wales and Victoria. ‘Gold is revolutionising manners and language – everything is tinctured with a yellow hue, and ounces and grains have become familiar words’ – Geelong Advertiser, 16 Sept, 1851 There was even a call for a dictionary of mining related terms, such was the rise in new words or shifts in meaning.

43. 2. Australia and Asia – Making a Nation

44. 2. Australia and Asia – Making a Nation • There are several ways to approach this cartoon. It is still important to use it as a historical document. Have students analyse it to find the values of the society. • Go one level deeper to look at the way that language has been used to persuade, inform, and isolate members of the society. • New words in Australian English – opium was not a known term or concept, opium was imported into Australia by Chinese miners. • Pak Ah Pu - Its name came from the Cantonese baakgaap piu – literally meaning ‘pigeon’s note’ or ‘pigeon’s ticket’. • Fan Tan – card game.

45. 3. World War I Creation of terms during World War I – many more people participated and were effected. The masculine culture of war meant that slang and colloquialisms were used with greater frequency and with greater acceptance. ‘Pushing up the daisies’, ‘gone west’ were slang terms recorded for death. Letters home meant that the slanguage of the Diggers was not only recorded, but sent home.

46. World War I • ‘Anzac’ was first recorded in 1915, while words like ‘cobber’, ‘dinkum’, ‘digger’ and ‘mate’ were all synonymous with the war experience of Australians. • Language was used to distinguish what we ‘were’ and ‘were not’. A good example of this is in the Peter Weir film Gallipoli, where the Australians ‘put on’ British accents. • Students can use recruitment posters to study the words of the time.

47. The word ‘Dardenelles’ may not have been known widely by Australians until men were fighting there. The term ‘Coo-ee’ was an indigenous term, however, it was used be Australians on Cooee Marches, who shouted ‘Cooee’ to try and gain attention and encourage others to enlist.

48. Year 10 History - Overview ‘The Year 10 curriculum provides a study of the history of the modern world and Australia from 1918 to the present, with an emphasis on Australia in its global context. The twentieth century became a critical period in Australia’s social, cultural, economic and political development. The transformation of the modern world during a time of political turmoil, global conflict and international cooperation provides a necessary context for understanding Australia’s development, its place within the Asia-Pacific region and its global standing’ Overview content for the Modern World and Australia includes the following: • the inter-war years between World War I and World War II, including the Treaty of Versailles, the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression • continuing efforts post-World War II to achieve lasting peace and security in the world, including Australia’s involvement in UN peacekeeping • the major movements for rights and freedom in the world and the achievement of independence by former colonies • the nature of the Cold War and Australia’s involvement in Cold War and post-Cold War conflicts (Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf Wars, Afghanistan), including the rising influence of Asian nations since the end of the Cold War • developments in technology, public health, longevity and standard of living during the twentieth century, and concern for the environment and sustainability

49. The Modern World and Australia • Key Inquiry Questions: • How did the nature of global conflict change during the twentieth century? • What were the consequences of World War II? How did these consequences shape the modern world? • How was Australian society affected by other significant global events and changes in this period?

50. Year 10 History Depth Studies are: World War II Rights and Freedoms The Globalising World Each of the depth studies has their own ‘Historical Knowledge and Understanding’ – refer to www.australiancurriculum.edu.aufor more details.