EL1102 Studying English in Context
Lecture No. 7
(Part 2)
FOLLOW ME!
Svenksa [‘Swedish’]
VIKTIGT “FOLLOW ME” = MONTERINGSANVISNING
Kontrollera först innehållet. Vad som ingår ser du längst ner på nästa
side. Om något saknas eller du får problem, kontakta ditt varuhus.
English
IMPORTANT “FOLLOW ME” = ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
First check the contents. There is a list of contents on the left of the
other side. If anything is missing, or you have a problem, contact your store.
Deutsch [‘German’]
WICHTIG “FOLLOW ME” = MONTIERANLEITUNG
Zuerst den Inhalt kontrollieren. Was dazu gehört, sehen Sie ganz links
auf der nächsten Seite. Sollte etwas fehlen oder sollten Probleme auftreten,
setzen Sie sich bitte mit Ihrem Einrichtungshaus in Verbindung.
Français [‘French’]
IMPORTANT “FOLLOW ME” = INSTRUCTIONS DE MONTAGE
Commencez par contrôler le contenu en le comparant à liste page
suivante, à l’extrêmie gauche. Si quelque chose manquait ou que vous aviez un
problème, contactez votre magasin.
Nederlands [‘Dutch’]
BELANGRIJK “FOLLOW ME: = MONTEAGEAANWIJZING
Kontroleer eerst de inhoud. Uiterst links op de volgende bladzijde staat
alles opgesomd. Als er iests ontbreekt of als je problemen krijgt, neem dan
kontakt op met het woonwarenhuis.
Español [‘Spanish’]
¡IMPORTANTE! “FOLLOW ME” - INSTRUCCIONES DE MONTAJE
Verifica primero el contenido. En la página siguiente, a la izquierda,
encontrarás la descripción del contendio. Monta el mueble siguiendo el orden
numérico y las indicaciones de los dibujos. Si algo hace falta o si tienes
dificultades, llama a tu tienda distribuidora. Al cabo de unas dos semanas debes
apretar nuevamente todos los herrajes.
Italiano [‘Italian’]
IMPORTANTE! “FOLLOW ME” = INSTRUZIONI DI MONTAGGIO
Controlla prima il contenuto. Il contenuto é segnato a sinistra nella
pagina seguente. Monta il mobile secondo l’ordine del disegno. Se manca
qualcosa o se sorgono dei dubbi, chiama il punto vendita. Ristringere tutte le
viti dopo alcune settimane.
- grammar (a bit)
- lexis (more)
- pronunciation (not much)
|
English |
words similar to English in other
languages |
other similar words with the same
meaning |
|
important |
important (Fr), importante (Sp),
importante (It) |
viktigt (Sw), wichtig (Ge) |
|
assembly |
|
monterings- (Sw), montier- (Ge),
montage (Fr), monteage- (Du), montaje (Sp), montaggio (It) |
|
instructions |
instructions (Fr), instrucciones
(Sp), instruzioni (It) |
anvisning (Sw), anleitung (Ge),
aanwijzing (Du) |
|
check |
verifica (Sp) |
kontrollera (Sw), kontrollieren (Ge),
contrôler (Fr), kontroleer (Du), controlla (It) |
|
first |
först (Sw), eerst (Du) |
primero (Sp), prima (It) |
|
contents |
contenu (Fr), contenido (Sp),
contenuto (It) |
innehållet (Sw), Inhalt (Ge), inhoud
(Du) |
- consider the words for
‘important’, ‘instructions’, ‘first’ and ‘contents’
- Group A – French, Spanish and
Italian
- Group B – Swedish, German and
Dutch
- English seems problematic?
- ‘assembly instructions’ or
‘instructions for assembly’?
- Group A languages seem to prefer
the noun + prepositional phrase construction
- Group B languages seem to prefer
the noun + noun construction.
- from the point of view of the
grammar of the noun phrase, English resembles the Group B languages more
than the Group A languages
How come?
(a) Hypothesis
I: These were originally different languages, but because of contact between
the different speakers, they were influenced by one another’s lexical items and
grammatical structures.
(b) Hypothesis II: These were originally one language, only they
gradually became different. Perhaps people migrated, and the language changed
in different ways: lexically, grammatically and phonologically.
Hypothesis I = centripetal
force (convergence)
Hypothesis II = centrifugal force (divergence).
- Cheating: the number one in the various
languages:
- en (Sw), un (Fr), ein (Ge), uno (Sp), un
(It) and een (Du).
- cf. onru (Tamil), hitotsu or ichi
(Japanese), moja (Swahilil), satu (Malay), yi
(Mandarin Chinese) and yat (Cantonese Chinese).
we can
imagine a common source for the ‘original’ Group A and Group B languages.
- Group B languages are usually called
the Germanic or Teutonic group of languages
- Other existing Germanic languages
include Afrikaans (sometimes called Cape Dutch and spoken in southern
Africa), Danish (spoken in Denmark), Icelandic (spoken in Iceland),
Norwegian (spoken mainly in Norway) and Yiddish (the language of the Jews
in Europe and America).
- The Group A languages are
commonly called the Romance (= vernacular) languages.
- These were originally all local or
vernacular spoken versions of Latin (‘vulgar Latin’) used
throughout the Roman empire.
- This group is called the Italic
group of languages.
- Other existing Italic (Romance)
languages include Catalan (spoken mainly in some parts of Spain and
France), Portuguese (spoken mainly in Portugal and Brazil) and Romanian
(spoken mainly in Romania).
The Germanic, the
Italic group and other groups of languages form a larger family of
languages. They call this the Indo-European family of languages
2. Internal and
external history
internal history and external history
- The nature of history
- presenting a narrative or story (what
happened; and what happened next?).
- some kind of interpretation of the
narrative (what does this event mean?).
- contested history: ‘Indian Mutiny’
(1957) v ‘Indian First War of Independence’; ‘American Revolution’
(1775–83) v ‘American War of Independence’
Dick Leith
I argue that telling any history is like telling a story which both
describes events and gives them a particular interpretation and value … It is
therefore important to ask yourself, in connection with any narrative, ‘Who is
telling this story?’, ‘Whose perspective does it represent?’ [p. 95]
3. Why is the history important?
It might be more helpful to think of history as a story (among
others) of a people, or a group of people.
- History is important as an element
of context. If we image events leading on to other events, we might then
compare history to piecing together various pieces of a puzzle.
- A knowledge of the history of
English will also expose us to different ways of using English in the
past. It challenges some commonly-held, but wrong, assumptions about
English, for example, what constitutes good English and what constitutes
bad English.
- Finally, a knowledge of the
history of English would show us that there are patterns of change
that are generalisable to many languages, and therefore throws light on
the features of language in general.
4. ‘Periods’ in the history of the English language
Old English (OE) — c.
ad 450 to 1100
Middle English (ME)
— c. 1100 to 1450
Modern English (MnE)
— c. 1450 to present
Many would also
subdivide Modern English to Early Modern English (EMnE, 1450–1750), Modern
English (1750–1950) and Late Modern English (LMnE, 1950– ). I also
use the term Present-Day English (PDE), which is self-explanatory.
A note on the labels: OE v A-S, ME, MnE
5. Examining an OE text
- Our Father in heaven, may your
name be held holy. (The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985)
- Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name. (Revised Standard Version, 1946)
- Our father which art in heauen,
hallowed be thy Name. (Authorised Version, 1611; original spelling)
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. (Spelling modernised)
- Oure fadir, þat art in heuenys,
halewid be þi name. (Wycliffite Bible, c. 1385)
- Du ure fæder, þe eart on heofonum,
sy þin nama gehalgod. (Ælfric, c. 990)
Spelling
‘Our Father’ is identical in 1–3, but is ‘Oure fadir’ in 4 and ‘ure
fæder’ in 5. Compare also the various versions of ‘heaven’, ‘name’ and
‘hallowed’
Grammar
- The Bible is that it is by nature
conservative.
- Take note of the ‘thy’ form of
pronoun in 2, when this form of pronoun would have largely died out from
common speech.
- You might also take note of the
so-called subjunctive mood of the clause (cf. ‘God save the
Queen’. We know this is not just a statement because of the verb form save
rather than saves or saved; the clause therefore means, ‘May
God save the Queen’). Note therefore that even in 2, the subjunctive form
continues to be used
- the word order: the subject is your
name (‘thy name’, ‘þi name’, ‘þin nama’). In 2 to 4, this is the last
element, and this arrangement is less usual in today’s English. Only in 1
has the subject been moved further to the front.
Further problem: Jesus’s own language was Aramaic. The modern version
of this language is still spoken by about 100,000 people in the Middle East.
The New Testament (including this passage) was written in Koiné (‘common’) or
Hellenistic Greek. The various English versions are therefore ‘constrained’ by
the original Koiné Greek, which in turn was constrained by the even more
original Aramaic. Therefore, examining English through the Bible is
problematic.
Writing developed only after the arrival of missionaries from Rome in ad
597, led by Augustine. But even then, writing was something that was regarded
as being highly specialised, and the vast majority of Old English speakers were
excluded from this reading and writing enterprise. The most famous works
written in this period are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, commissioned by
King Alfred (849–99)
|
443. here sent [= despatched messengers] britons
over sea to rome & them troops bade [= asked for] against picts. but
they there had not none. because that they fought
against atilla huns’
king. & then sent they to angles. & angle
people’s princes the
same bade [= asked]. |
1. Phonology
We will not focus on
the pronunciation of OE: in general, spelling reflects pronunciation.
Finally, you will also have noticed some unusual letters. The letter
that looks like a superimposed <b> and <p> is called a thorne
<þ>; and the one that looks like a crossed <d> is called an eth
or an edh <ð>. (The capital letters are <Þ> and <Þ> respectively.)
These two letters are pronounced as in thin at the beginning of
words, and as in this between vowel sounds. At once, we should be
able to recognise wið (lines 2 and 3) as with; and also þær (line
2), and perhaps also þe (line 3), þa (line 3) and þes
(line 4).
There is one unusual vowel symbol: the ash <æ>. This letter
is given the a sound as in RP apple. The other vowel symbols are
roughly pronounced as in many other languages like Malay, German or Italian.
In case some browsers don't support some of the symbols, here they are
again:
2. Orthography
- OE distinctive letters: <þ>,
<ð> and <æ>; symbol <7>
- full stops as indicating
‘breathing spaces’ rather than as indicating the ends of sentences
- roman (rather than arabic)
numerals
3. Lexis
Familiar-looking ones.
|
her |
sendon |
brytwalas |
ofer |
sæ |
to |
|
here |
sent |
Britons |
over |
sea |
to |
|
rome |
bædon |
wið |
peohtas |
þær |
|
Rome |
bade |
with |
Picts |
there |
|
nænne |
ætlan |
huna |
cinige |
anglum, angle |
cynnes |
ilcan |
|
none |
Atilla |
Huns’ |
king |
Angle |
kin |
ilk |
Not surprisingly, there are some unfamiliar words as well.
|
heom |
fultomes |
ac |
hi |
nefdon |
æðelingas |
|
them |
troops |
but |
they |
had not |
princes |
- specialisation: here generally refers to
a place today – OE her could refer to a place as well as time. The
use of bid (pass tense: bade) today seems more restricted.
Also: kin (cynnes) and ilk, wið.
- generalisation or a widening of meaning: pilot
was originally used in the context of sea navigation, but has now been
extended to include the context of air and space. Similarly automatic-pilot
or auto-pilot was used in the context of flying an aircraft, but
now its use has been extended metaphorically, and we can talk of people
being on ‘auto-pilot mode’.
- pejoration or deterioration. The word
silly used to mean ‘happy’ or ‘blessed’ in OE (sælig) – ME:
‘innocent’ (seely) – MnE: ‘deserving of compassion’, ‘week’,
‘ignorant’, ‘feeble-minded’, and today ‘foolish’
- amelioration: Luxury meant
‘lasciviousness’ or ‘lust’ in ME; today: ‘something that is not a
necessity, but highly desirable’
4. Grammar (Syntax)
|
C1 |
Her |
sendon |
brywalas |
ofer sæ to rome. |
|
|
X |
V |
S |
X |
|
C2 |
7 |
[brytwalas] |
heom |
fultomes |
bædon |
wið peohtas |
|
|
conj. |
S |
X |
X |
V |
X |
|
C3 |
ac |
hi |
þær |
nefdon |
nænne |
|
|
conjunction |
S |
X |
V |
X |
|
C4 |
forþan þe |
hi |
feordodan |
wið ætlan huna cinige |
|
|
conjunction |
S |
V |
X |
|
C5 |
7 |
þa |
sendon |
hi |
to anglum |
|
|
conjunction |
X |
V |
S |
X |
|
C6 |
7 |
[brytwalas] |
angel cynnes æðelingas |
þes ilcan |
bædon |
|
|
conj. |
S |
X |
X |
V |
- most clauses joined using
parataxis (with ‘and’ in clauses 2, 5 and 6; and ‘but’ in clause 3).
- one instance of hypotaxis (with
‘forþan’ [because] in clause 4)
5. Grammar (Morphology)
- Inflexions – word endings that do
not change the word’s part of speech or word class
- much more extensive use of
inflexions in OE, sometimes to represent grammatical categories that are
no longer relevant to PDE: these include gender and case
|
CASE |
Singular |
Plural |
||
|
Nominative |
se mann |
the man (subject) |
þa menn |
the men (subject) |
|
Accusative |
þone mann |
the man (object) |
þa menn |
the men (object) |
|
Genitive |
þæs mannes |
of the man |
þara manna |
of the men |
|
Dative |
þæm menn |
to the man |
þæm mannum |
to the men |
- two forms of Angle: anglum
(line 3) v. angel (line 4).
- nowadays, we rely on word order
to distinguish between subjects and objects generally
- MnE version contains prepositions
(‘of the man’, ‘to the man’). In other words, part of the
role of the OE inflexions has now also been taken over by prepositions in
Modern English. OE can be described as a more synthetic language,
- Modern English as a more analytic
language
- plural inflexions in OE were also not as predictable as
those in PDE.
|
Singular |
sunu (‘son’) |
word (‘word’) |
fæt (‘vessel’) |
|
Plural |
suna (‘sons’) |
word (‘words’) |
fatu (‘vessels’) |
|
Singular |
hand (‘hand’) |
tung (‘tongue’) |
beo (‘bee’) |
|
Plural |
handa (‘hands’) |
tungan (‘tongues’) |
beon (‘bees’) |
|
Singular |
boc (‘book’) |
lamb (‘lamb’) |
|
Plural |
bec (‘books’) |
lambru (‘lambs’) |
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© 2001 Peter Tan