Rise and Fall of Rome
Essay by review • February 5, 2011 • Essay • 624 Words (3 Pages) • 1,375 Views
The divergence of local culture is apt to occur. With this enculturation a new language or dialect of language often is born. This paper will discuss the factors which cause language to change. It will focus on the development of "New-Englishes". What are "New-Englishes"? They develop from areas, which have been in contact with an English-speaking colony the process involves five main steps Foundation, Exonormative Stabilization, Nativization, Endonormative Stabilization, and finally differentiation.
Foundation is the first stage, this involves a group of English speaking settlers who create an English speaking base in an area where English is not a spoken language.
The settlers previous accents and dialects play an enormous role in how the indigenous people learn English. As the settlers often have different dialects of English themselves, the most universal words and phrases of all the dialects are often included in the "New-English's" vocabulary where as the regionalisms of each English dialect will often be dropped. This stage is often awkward for both the parties involved as cross-cultural understanding is often minimal and communication is limited to a few. Thus communication between the indigenous people and the settlers is inhibited. Often with military installations no attempt is made to learn the native language and the emerging dialect is mainly based on the English language. This is not the case with examples like trading posts or Linguistic Anthropologists who attempt to learn the native language to facilitate trade or research. The "New-Englishes" that emerges from these would contain a solid base from both Native and English languages. During this period the native language affects the English spoken, often the first words frequently used of the Native language are place names such as in the United States with Chattahoochee, Mississippi, Milwaukee, Susquehanna, Chicago, Tallahassee, all these are of Native American origin.
The second stage is where an abrupt change occurs the indigenous people realize that it is beneficial to be able to communicate with the settlers. The settlers generally do not attempt to learn the local dialect, as they often believe that they are doing a deed for their country of origin and that once they return their language will again be the norm. This is theorized for both settlers who plan to stay in the foreign country and those who will return after
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