ENGLISH IN AMERICA

In 1607 a group of English people sailed across the Atlantic and reached what now is called Virginia. They called their settlement Jamestown, after King James I. They were not the first English people in America (in the sixteenth century fishermen spent the summer on the east coast, in 1585 and 1587 people had tried to settle in what is now North Carolina), but they were the first successful English settlers. (The Spanish had lived in Florida since 1565.)

In 1620 more settlers from Britain landed north of Virginia, in what became Massachusetts. These were people from the ship the Mayflower, who came to create a particular kind of Christian life. Others followed, and by 1640 about 25,000 English people were living in the area of America now called New England.

The first twenty African slaves were brought to America in 1619. Officially this business was ended in 1808, but people were allowed to own slaves until the end of the American Civil War in 1865. By that time there were more than four million Africans living in America.

During the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries more and more people arrived to America: English settlers created new Christian towns in Pennsylvania, and other settlers arrived from France, Germany, the Caribbean and northern Ireland (these were called the Scots-Irish).

In the nineteenth century, large numbers of people left Ireland, Germany, Italy, and other European countries for America. Many were Jews from Central and Eastern Europe. In the later part of the twentieth century people from Asia and Spanish-speaking countries also arrived, and by 2000 there were more than 280 million people in America (3).

American English developed from the languages used by these different people. The first English settlers created new words for the animals, birds and plants that were new to them (bluegrass, catfish), named places and rivers using the languages of the American Indians (Massachusetts, Mississippi, Potomac) and names given by French (St Lois, Illinois), Spanish (Los Angeles, San Francisco), Dutch (Brooklyn, Harlem, Bronx) settlers. They borrowed check and kindergarten from German, pasta and spaghetti from Italian. Jazz musicians who spoke African-American English brought words like jazz, cool, hip (modern), dude (man).

Some words from the English of the seventeenth century still live in AE, but no longer in BE. For example: fall (autumn), mad (angry), platter (dish), gotten (the past participle for got). Modern American pronunciation also shows the influence of the first settlers. They pronounced the a in grass as in hat. In England it changed in the eighteenth century. Americans pronounce r at the end of words (car) and before a consonant (hard) as the early settlers did.

At the time of independence in 1776, Americans began to take interest in their language. They wanted to be separate from Britain in every way, and to feel proud of their country and way of life. A teacher Noah Webster (1758-1843) wrote popular The American Spelling Book, a grammar and a reader for American schools, later published the first AE dictionary. In 1828 Webster’s famous An American Dictionary of the English Language appeared. Webster suggested new spellings accepted now as American (center, color, traveled). Webster also influenced American pronunciation by insisting that each part of a word must be clearly pronounced.

The three main regional accents of American English are Northern, Midland and Southern. Because the Midland dialect is spoken over the largest area, it is the best known outside America, and is sometimes called “General American”.

(After “The History of the English Language” by Brigit Viney)

Notes

1. The main periods of the history of English are:

- Old English (the heroic poem “Beowulf”);

- Middle English (Geoffrey Chaucer (1345-1400), “The Canterbury Tales”)

- Early Modern English (“The King James Bible” (1611), William Shakespeare (1564-1616));

- Modern English.

2. A bright example of a social dialect is “Cockney”. It transformed from the language of all Londoners who were not part of the court in the 16^th century into the working-class speech of East London in the 18^th century. Cockneys drop letters (yer (you), ol (old), didn (didn’t)) and use Rhyming Slang replacing the word with a phrase which rhymes with it (for example, “bees and honey” means “money”, “plates of meat” means “feet”).

3. The “melting pot” is a metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" into a harmonious whole with a common culture. It is particularly used to describe the assimilation of immigrants to the US; the melting-together metaphor was in use by the 1780s. After 1970 the desirability of assimilation and the melting pot model was challenged by proponents of multiculturalism, who assert that cultural differences within society are valuable and should be preserved, proposing the alternative metaphor of the mosaic or salad bowl – different cultures mix, but remain distinct.

Active vocabulary

1. Easy prize (for) (n) – легкaя добычa (для);

2. Defeat (v,n) – наносить поражение; завоевывать; поражение, крушение, отмена;

3. Christianity (n) – Христианство;

4. The Black Death – Черная смерть (название чумы в Европе 14 в., особ. Эпидемии в Англии и Ирландии в 1348-49 гг., унесшей около четверти населения);

5. Monk (n) – монах;

6. Ordinary (adj) – простой, обычный (people), заурядный;

7. Low/upper (adj)(class) – низший/высший класс;

8. Civil (adj) – гражданский, штатский; цивилизованный, культурный, вежливый;

9. Vary (v) – варьироваться;

10. Particular (adj) – особый, особенный;

11.Sail (v, n)– плавать под парусом; парус;

12. Borrow (v) (from) – заимствовать (у,из);

13. Settle (v) – поселиться; уладить, урегулировать; оседать.

Exercises

1. Fill the gaps with prepositions if necessary.

1. English as a first language is spoken … 370 million now.

2. Anglo-Saxon borrowed Latin words mostly connected … church and education.

3. Words beginning … “sk-“ are often taken from the language of the Vikings.

4. English people sailed … the Atlantic in order to start a particular kind … Christian life.

5. Webster influenced … American pronunciation by insisting that each part of a word must be clearly pronounced.

6. They called their settlement Jamestown, after King James I

7. Large number of people left European countries … America.

8. They wanted to be separate from Britain … every way.

9. The first English settlers named animals and plants which were new … them.

1. Match American and British equivalents. Use the dictionary.

BrE AmE

Angry Bun

Autumn Any place

Anywhere Studio

Roll Cop

Bed-sitter Cookie

Biro Mad

Biscuit(sweet) Reservation

Black or white?(coffee) Fall

Bobby Ball pen

Booking Drugstore, Pharmacy

Carriage Guy

Chap With or without?

Chemist’s Car

1. Fill the table with different parts of speech.

Verb Noun Participle II

defeat ---------- ----------

---------- variation ----------

accept ----------- ----------

--------- ----------- published

pronounce ----------- ----------

--------- suggestion ----------

--------- ----------- borrowed

1. Explain the meaning of the following phrases taken from “The King James Bible”:

· eye for eye

· the root of the matter

· eat sour grapes

· cast your pearls before swine

· in sheep’s clothing

· new wine in old bottles

1. Translate the following sentences into English using different kinds of the Past (Past Simple, Past Perfect, Past Continuous). Sometimes you will need Passive Voice.

1. Основой английского языка стали диалекты, принесенные в Британию германскими племенами англосаксов.
2. После завоевания Англии норманнами церковь, юриспруденция, литература использовали французский и латынь, но ежедневная речь простого человека была английской.
3. В первых отпечатанных в Англии книгах был использован лондонский диалект английского языка.
4. До того как англичане высадились на территории будущего штата Виргиния, испанцы уже поселились во Флориде.
5. К 1640 г. около 25 тысяч англичан жили в области, называемой сейчас Новая Англия.
6. Люди из разных стран Европы и Азии прибывали в Америку на протяжении нескольких веков, принося свой язык и обычаи в общий «плавильный котел» американской культуры.

Reading comprehension

Answer the following questions. Use information given in the text.

1. What events influenced the development of the English language in Britain?
2. What languages contributed English vocabulary?
3. What is “BBC English”?
4. What was the story of the first English dictionaries in England and in America?
5. Why is British pronunciation different from American one?

Extensive Reading

Text I

The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, the King James Bible or simply the KJV, is an English translation by the Church of England of the Christian Bible begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. First printed by the King’s Printer, this was the third such official translation into English. The translation was done by 47 scholars, all of whom were members of the Church of England.^] In common with most other translations of the period, the New Testament was translated from Greek, the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew text, while the Apocrypha were translated from the Greek and Latin. By the first half of the 18th century, the Authorized Version was effectively unchallenged as the English translation used in Anglican and other Protestant Churches.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 1962