Name That Language Change!

1. Name That Language Change! Based on the situations presented, determine whether the language change in English was caused by geographic/social isolation, language privileging (overt or covert prestige), cultural change, or language contact.

2. Proto-Indo-European Language • Single ancestral language • 6,000 – 4,000 BC • Europe and India • Nomadic

3. Question 1 Over time, nomadic groups of these speakers slowly separated from each other moving in different directions. Over many generations they began to develop their own unique languages. What was the cause of this language change?

4. Some Indo-European Languages • Germanic • Celtic • Romance • Slavic • Baltic • Albanian • Greek • Armenian • Indo-Iranian • Italic • Slavic

5. Question 2 Over time, the Germanic speakers subdivided and moved to different locations. Some Germanic speakers eventually found their way into a land that we now call England. What was the cause of this language change?

6. West Germanic • Germanic tribes called the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were hired by the Celts to move into this land (England) and protect them in 449AD. • The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes saw how weak the Celts were and decided to stay permanently. • There were two Indo-European languages being used in this land before the Germanic tribes arrived: Celtic and Latin. • The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes spoke West Germanic.

7. Old English • The Celts could not defend themselves against the Germanic tribes. • Over the next hundred years, more and more Germanic tribes arrived eventually taking over the whole land. • Soon, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes ruled all of what we now call England and their language developed into Old English. • Old English became the language of the land and not Celtic and Latin.

8. Question 3 • The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes developed their language into Old English which was the first form of English ever recorded. • They were more powerful than the Celts and therefore their languages died out. What was the cause of this language change?

9. Dialects of Old English • Just like there are different varieties and dialects of American English, there were different varieties of Old English. • Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Wessex, Kent, and Sussex

10. Latin • 597 AD the Romans spread Christianity in England • Romans spoke Latin at that time • Romans taught Anglo-Saxons Latin words so that they could keep up in church services • Also taught them words about products and practices in their lives • Old English’s vocabulary grew a lot to include Latin words they learned from missionaries

11. Question 4 Words in English adopted during time spent with Latin-speaking Romans in 597 AD: What was the cause of this language change?

12. Question 5 In modern American English today we typically add an -s or an –es onto the end of words to show that they are plural (e.g., dogs and busses). Latin uses an –i to signify this. This Latin form is still in some modern words today. Many speakers now are beginning to use modern American English endings like –es instead of the Latin –i. What was the cause of this language change?

13. Norman French • The Normans took control of all of England in 1066 • The Normans spoke Norman French. • End of Old English period • Normans were upper class, English were lower class

14. Question 6 • English did the work and Normans ruled the land • Many Englishmen who worked with the upper class Normans were forced to learn French to survive and find work What was the cause of this language change?

15. Question 7 • English was not outlawed and was still spoken in the homes of the Englishmen • Out of the Norman invasion, MIDDLE ENGLISH developed as French and English were spoken in such close proximity to each other • English today has many words and influences of French because of this experience What was the cause of this language change?

16. Early Modern English • 200 years later the first king to speak English fluently is crowned • By 1489, French is eliminated as the language of Parliament. • This begins the Early Modern English period

17. Question 8 English emerged as the national language of England • Literature translated into speech of everyday people • People began to learn how to read • Printing press invented making inexpensive printed works for everyone to read • Englishmen began to become proud of their country and their language • The middle class rose to be more active in local and national affairs What was the cause of this language change?

18. The New World • In the 1500s many Europeans, including Englishmen, Spaniards, and Portuguese, began exploring the New World (modern day United States) • In 1607 they established the colony in Jamestown and there began the first colony in the United States of America • This began the formation of AMERICAN ENGLISH

19. Question 9 • The English colonists then lived an ocean away from their homeland, England. • They began associating only with each other and forming their own variety of language. What was the cause of this language change?

20. Question 10 • In the New World, English colonists were constantly exploring new plants, animals, foods, people, and ways of life like farming. • The world of England that the colonists once new was replaced with new sights and smells that they would need to learn to describe because the language they had in English was not adequate enough to explain it. What was the cause of this language change?

21. Question 11 • One of the ways they described these new things were by borrowing words from the Native Americans. • Words like chipmunk, Eskimo, moose, opossum, pecan, and raccoon described animals, food, and people that the colonists had never come in contact with before. They had to learn new words to describe the new world around them. What were the THREE causes of this language change?

22. Answers • Each team will be asked to answer 2 of the previous 10 questions at random. • Please select one member of the group to provide the answer. • Right answer = 10 points • Wrong answer = -5 points • If a group answers the question wrong, the first team to raise their hand may steal the question for 5 points by answering it correctly.

23. Question 1 • Geographic and social isolation • Proto-indo-european nomadic groups of people moved away from each other and formed their own languages, communities, and cultures

24. Question 2 • Geographic and social isolation • Indo-european groups of people moved away from each other and formed their own languages (Germanic, Celtic, Slavic), communities, and cultures

25. Question 3 • Language privileging • Because the Germanic tribes were stronger and more power, the use of Celtic and Latin died out and Old English was formed to become the language of the land.

26. Question 4 • Language contact • Old English acquired many words and forms from Latin because of close contact • Latin became the formal language of education and reading in England

27. Question 5 • Internal Change • The use of –i to signify plural nouns is a Latin form dying out in modern American English. • Speakers have unconsciously begun to abandon this form because using –es to signify plural nouns is more logical, regular, and fits the pattern of modern American English.

28. Question 6 • Language privileging • French was forced on the English during the Norman Conquest because the Normans overtook England • French was the privileged language in government institutions because the Normans had the power

29. Question 7 • Language Contact • The English were not forced to give up their language so French and English were spoken in the country simultaneously

30. Question 8 • Cultural change • Changes such as English nationalism and the printing press encouraged middle and lower classes to read and have a voice in society using the everyday language as the Standard

31. Question 9 • Geographic & Social Isolation • The explorers settled in the New World and set up colonies to begin a life here. This distanced themselves thousands of miles away from other English speakers.

32. Question 10 • Cultural Change • They also had an entire new landscape to explore, new customs to create, and a new way of life to describe.

33. Question 11 • Language Contact • The settlers came into contact with Native Americans who had their own way of describing life in North America and the colonists integrated this language into their own.

34. BONUS Questions! • Name any TWO things that could have influenced American English since the 1600s into what it has become today. • You must identify THE CAUSE OF THAT LANGUAGE CHANGE.

35. Hints • Think of languages with which it has come in contact. • Think of cultural changes that have changed the way we speak. • Think of the privileging of one social group, one language or one dialect over another. • Think of the geography of the United States and what divides social groups. • Think of language patterns that have irregularities that speakers are beginning to abandon.

36. BONUS Questions! • Language Privileging • Privileging American English over British English (after American Revolution) • Privileging American English over immigrant speech (Spanish, Irish, etc.) • Privileging current Standard English over other varieties (African American English, Appalachian English, etc.) • Geographic/Social Isolation • Movement into mountains or coastal areas (islands) • Movement out West (Gold Rush) • Cultural Changes • Immigration (Chinese, Irish, Italian, African, etc.) • Technology (radio, TV, internet, cell phones, etc.) • Fashion (t-shirt, jeans, mini-skirts, shoes, etc.) • Politics (prohibition, political parties, laws, constitution, etc.) • Education (integration, public v. private schools, etc.) • Language Contact • African languages (slavery) • Spanish (Spanish – American war, immigration) • Native American languages (exploration of New World) • German (immigration) • Italian (immigration) • Internal Change • Plurals (oxen v. oxes, deer v. deers) • Third person singular –s absence (she walks v. she walk, he stops v. he stop)

37. References • http://portfolio.educ.kent.edu/carlit/HoEL/images/image003.jpg • http://i.imgur.com/hyTKD.jpg • http://www.verbix.com/images/maps/map_indoeuropean.gif • http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1792/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1792-98726.jpg • http://www.murphsplace.com/owen/arthur/images2/osprey4.jpg • http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cCJdvoMLTEg/SSDxKpfZ0eI/AAAAAAAAA90/McHC8GEh-A0/s400/map+saxons+jutes+and+angles.gif • http://www.yorkshiredialect.com/gfx/OEDia.gif • http://www.essentialnormanconquest.com/images/home/time_box.jpg • http://www.hull.ac.uk/middle_english_sermons/manuscripts/dur-cosin-f1r.jpg • http://www.watson.org/~leigh/shakespearetitle.jpg • http://people.southwestern.edu/~greenmue/tudstu.gif • http://www.oldbookillustrations.com/gallery/science/marinoni-printing-press1.jpg • http://www.fullissue.com/wp-content/uploads/history-of-christianity.jpg • http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/c/c1/1914_Panoramic_View_of_Iroquois.jpg • http://www.northamptonshire.co.uk/images/sulgrave_tudors_servant1_0701.jpg • http://cache2.artprintimages.com/p/LRG/20/2012/AYP6D00Z/art-print/nicholas-visscher-new-world-map-17th-century.jpg • http://ed101.bu.edu/StudentDoc/Archives/ED101sp06/emilyo/colonists%20farming.jpg