Territorial varieties of English pronunciation (Территориальные разновидности английского произношения)
СОДЕРЖАНИЕ
INTRODUCTION 4
1. English varieties 5
1.1 Historical background of the spread of English 5
1.2 British English 6
1.3 American English 8
1.4 Canadian English 11
1.5 Australian English 13
1.6 New Zealand English 16
2. Comparative analysis of American and British English 20
2.1 Historical preconditions of American English changes 20
2.2 Spelling differences 21
2.3 Phonology 24
2.4 Differences in usage 26
CONCLUSION 31
REFERENCES 32
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays the English language has a status of the international language all over the world. Moreover, it has an official status in many countries. Consequently, the meaning of its knowledge has significantly increased during the last century. As we all know language change with time being likewise, English, as the international language which composed of the two major varieties, British and American English, they may change in dialects or another component of the language. When the change really happens, it, of course, causes systematic differences of language due to dialects or another component of language [1; 377]. When the change really happens, it of course, causes systematic differences of language due to dialect differences including pronunciation, vocabulary distinction, and syntactic rule differences. This is why languages become difference.
The aim of our work is to study territorial varieties of the English language in the countries where it has an official status.
The objectives of our work are as follows:
ces.
In introduction the main hypothesis, goals, objectives are stated.
Chapter 1 introduces us to the historical background of the spread of English, and different varieties of the language.
Chapter 2 presents us the comparative analysis of British and American English.
1. English varieties
1.1 Historical background of the spread of English
The English language evolved from a set of West Germanic dialects spoken by the Angles and Saxons, who arrived from the Continent in the 5th century. Those dialects came to be known as Englisc (literally "Anglish"), the language today referred to as Anglo-Saxon or Old English (the language of the poem Beowulf) [2; 17]. English is thus more closely related to West Frisian than to any other modern language, although less than a quarter of the vocabulary of Modern English is shared with West Frisian or other West Germanic languages because of extensive borrowings from Norse, Norman, Latin, and other languages. It was during the Viking invasions of the Anglo-Saxon period that Old English was influenced by contact with Norse, a group of North Germanic dialects spoken by the Vikings, who came to control a large region in the North of England known as the Danelaw. Vocabulary items entering English from Norse (including the pronouns she, they, and them) are thus attributable to the on-again-off-again Viking occupation of Northern England during the centuries prior to the Norman Conquest. Soon after the Norman Conquest of 1066, the Englisc language ceased being a literary language and was replaced by Anglo-Norman as the written language of England. During the Norman Period, English absorbed a significant component of French vocabulary (approximately one-third of the vocabulary of Modern English). With this new vocabulary, additional vocabulary borrowed from Latin (with Greek, another approximately one-third of Modern English vocabulary, though some borrowings from Latin and Greek date from later periods), a simplified grammar, and use of the orthographic conventions of French instead of Old English orthography, the language became Middle English (the language of Chaucer). The "difficulty" of English as a written language thus began in the High Middle Ages, when French orthographic conventions were used to spell a language whose original, more suitable orthography had been forgotten after centuries of nonuse [3; 146]. During the late medieval period, King Henry V of England (lived 1387-1422) ordered the use of the English of his day in proceedings before him and before the government bureaucracies. That led to the development of Chancery English, a standardized form used in the government bureaucracy. (The use of so-called Law French in English courts continued through the Renaissance, however.)
low the U.S. standard.
1.2 British English
There are slight regional variations in formal written English in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in written English within the United Kingdom, and this could be described as "British English". The forms of spoken English, however, vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken, and a uniform concept of "British English" is therefore more difficult to apply to the spoken language. According to Tom McArthur in the Oxford Guide to World English [5; 45], "for many people...especially in England the phrase British English is tautologous," and it shares "all the ambiguities and tensions in the word British, and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity".
aking to foreigners. This phenomenon is known in linguistics as code shifting.
1.3 American English
Written American English is fairly standardized across the country. However, there is some variation in the spoken language. There are several recognizable regional variations (such as that spoken in New York and New Jersey), particularly in pronunciation, but also in slang vocabulary [9;24].
Most traditional sources cite Standard Midwestern American English as the unofficial standard accent and dialect of American English. However, many linguists claim California English has become the de facto standard since the 1960s or 1970s due to its central role in the American entertainment industry; others argue that the entertainment industry, despite being in California, uses Midwestern.
African-American colloquial English (sometimes called Ebonics) contains many distinctive forms.
y"). Some of these, for example monkey wrench and wastebasket, originated in 19th century Britain.
1.4 Canadian English
In many respects, the spelling of Canadian English is intermediate between British English and American English. However, the spoken language is much closer to American English than British English. It is also influenced by Canadian French, as Canada has both English and French as official languages.
In general, Canadian pronunciation is almost identical to American pronunciation, especially in Ontario. In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, there is a strong Scottish influence and in Ottawa Valley there is an Irish influence. The pronunciation of people living near, or working with French-Canadians is greatly influenced by French and the island of New Foundland has its own distinctive English dialect [14; 416]
tish Columbia.
1.5 Australian English
Australian English began diverging from British English shortly after the foundation of the Australian penal colony of New South Wales in 1788. British convicts sent there, (including Cockneys from London), came mostly from large English cities. They were joined by free settlers, military personnel and administrators, often with their families. However, a large part of the convict body were Irish, with at least 25% directly from Ireland, and others indirectly via Britain; estimates mention that possibly 60% of the convicts were Irish [19; 386]. There were other populations of convicts from non-English speaking areas of Britain, such as the Welsh and Scots. English was not spoken, or was poorly spoken, by a large part of the convict population and the dominant English input was that of Cockney from South-East England.
comes Shazza. Most popular and common is the -z diminutive form, whereby Karen becomes Kaz, Barry becomes Baz and Sharon beomes Shaz.
1.6 New Zealand English
The English language was established in New Zealand by colonists during the 19th century. The most distinctive influences on New Zealand English have come from Australian English, British English in Southern England, Irish English, Scottish English, the prestige Received Pronunciation, and the Māori language. New Zealand English is similar to Australian English in pronunciation, with some key differences. One of the most prominent differences is the realisation of /ɪ/: in New Zealand English, as in some South African varieties, this is pronounced as a schwa.
2. Comparative analysis of American and British English
2.1 Historical preconditions of American English changes
A remarkable feature of the tendency for simplification in American English is that, at least in its historical beginning, it was a conscious and planned process. The historical context was provided by the War of Independence. A key figure in the “cultural and linguistic War of Independence” was Noah Webster [28; 163]. Webster wanted to have a new uniform English in the new country, a vision that was most fully shared with him by H.L. Mencken more than a hundred years later. However, the attempt to change American English in a deliberate manner was not merely a goal set by linguists.
Perhaps the most obvious domain in which Americans tried to simplify English is that of spelling. Spelling reforms started at about the end of the eighteenth century. Attempts at changing the complicated spelling system of English were not only numerous but involved some “big names”, including Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, and Mark Twain. Twain, for example, worked on what he called “a simplified alphabet”.
2.3 Phonology
Compared to English as spoken in England, North American English is more homogeneous. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast (for example, in Eastern New England and New York City), partly because these areas were in contact with England and imitated prestigious varieties of British English at a time when those varieties were undergoing changes. In addition, many speech communities on the East Coast have existed in their present locations longer than others. The interior of the United States, however, was settled by people from all regions of the existing United States and therefore developed a far more generic linguistic pattern.
2.4 Differences in usage
The differences here listed, most of them between words in everyday employment, are but examples of a divergence in usage which extends to every department of daily life. In his business, in his journeys from his home to his office, in his dealings with his family and servants, in his sports and amusements, in his politics and even in his religion the American uses, not only words and phrases, but whole syntactical constructions, that are unintelligible to the Englishman, or intelligible only after laborious consideration [33; 117]. A familiar anecdote offers an example in miniature. It concerns a young American woman living in a region of prolific orchards who is asked by a visiting Englishman what the residents do with so much fruit. Her reply is a pun:
CONCLUSION
The English language has been developing during all its history. Today, one may visit almost any country with knowing only two languages – his or her mother tongue and English – and that will be enough for successful interaction. Another question is, whether one knows the accent and peculiarities of that English people in that country use. That is why the problem of the English language varieties exists nowadays.