1 / 27

What kind of English linguistics do we need? (of the ca. 65 fields available)

What kind of English linguistics do we need? (of the ca. 65 fields available). 0. Starter: Waltzing Mathilda 1. why linguistics ? 2. why English linguistics? 3. one answer to the topic: historical linguistics. Starter: example Waltzing Mathilda (1820s), now "national anthem".

una
Download Presentation

What kind of English linguistics do we need? (of the ca. 65 fields available)

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. What kind of English linguistics do we need? (of the ca. 65 fields available) 0. Starter: Waltzing Mathilda 1. why linguistics? 2. why English linguistics? 3. one answer to the topic:historical linguistics

  2. Starter: example Waltzing Mathilda (1820s), now "national anthem" • swagman = AusE old-fash. 'man with clothes and possession carried around'; swag slang 'stolen goods' • billabong ('temporary lake')  climate • coolibah tree = 'eucalyptus'  aborig. • billy = 'William', met. 'friend, pot for food' • jumbuck = Native Austr. jiimba, > jump-buck (folk-etym.), cf G. Bock • tucker = Austr. slang 'food' (cf to tuck) Slim Dusty+ 2003 songs preserve history/culture

  3. tucker in close-up: OED2 to tuck 'ausstaffieren' < ONFr or It. toccare? (Venice!)

  4. 1. Why linguistics? • Language, the object of linguistics, is the major tool of human communication and of social life. • as against animals • language = very universal and multi-purpose tool for • making statements • giving commands • performing a speech act ("I herewith declare ...") • praising sb. • arguing with sb. • communicating complex thoughts • ...

  5. 2. Why English linguistics? • E = world language • 104 countries (McArthur) • general lingua franca • diplomacy • aviation and navigation • tourism • international scholarship • WWW: "Universität" 28 mill vs "university" 649 mill • Sowi now offers its lectures in English. • EFL is a foreign language of a diff. calibre than Fr or It

  6. (1) geographical distribution of English:McArthur's circle of world Englishes, from Crystal 1995: 111 e.g. Chinese, Pakistani,Tok Pisin

  7. (2) GB was important, the US still are  E as a lingua franca

  8. (3) GB has one of the richest cultures of Europe • literature: from Beowulf to The Beatles • high culture, pop culture, medial culture (<US) • role of history, e.g. Alfred the Great • cultural history: e.g. Christianity • economic history: e.g. the railway

  9. 3. Why historical linguistics? • Orwell's warning: Newspeak (cf Essay in 1984, publ. in 1949) • many features • reduction of vocabulary • simplified WF (clippings: Agitprop, Gestapo; cf modern acronyms [NATO, Excel] and initialisms [BBC, Stuko] • simplified grammar (thinked instead of thought etc) • main point: Newspeak cuts off language from its history • quote: "When Oldspeak had been once and for all superseded, the last link with the past would have been severed." • implications of loss of history: no subtety of meaning, no unorthodox opinions; associations clinging to traditional words are cut out • a-historical language now: "Kollektivvertrag", "senior lecturer", "lector"

  10. "In need of history": special reasons in English Studies • English provides a particular wealth of language history • cf David Crystal 2004, The Stories of English • enormous range of material gathered to demonstrate the diversity of English through the ages (one of the reviewers) • 600 pages on selected language-historical aspects from OE to Tolkien's Hobbits (Crystal = synchronic linguist) Research deficits in view ofBritish dialects, spoken English and international Englishes!

  11. Selection of three features • (a) vocabulary: particularly rich and diversified • (b) sounds and spellings: particularly traditional (unlike in German) • (c) communicative and cultural aspects: exceptionally interesting

  12. (a) Lexis: Quantification of various English vocabularies (from Voigt, Langenscheidt/Longman, 1982)

  13. English lexis: towards a survey • lexicology: 1. word field 2. semantics: metaph. 3. etymology 4. pragmatics: please, terms of address 1. OE: heroic words, later relig. words (God, love, filth; later: sentimental)2. kenningar: the bent-necked wood, sea-farer for 'ship'; whale-road for 'sea'3. Roman, Celtic, Germanic; ON, Ofr, Latin in differ. times (Human.: debt, doubt) 4. Cultural background needed: please < Fr; change from four forms of address to one (you/yee/thou/thee > you) 

  14. morphol. and syntax: thou,thee, you and ye in England thou = sg. nom. (G. du) thee = sg. acc. (cf Shp.) you = pl. acc. ye(e) = pl. nom. Pl. acc. dominates over the other forms.

  15. Semantics: Explain word pairs • forgive/pardon • shirt/skirt • cow/beef • dish/disk • chief/chef • PN Laing/Laird – long, lord

  16. Etymologycreates transparency: cognate English borrowings from Fr. and Lat. (Bodmer n.d., pp. 282) • Latin Engl. Words < Frz. Engl. Words directly < Lat. • conceptum conceit (Einbildung) concept (Begriff) • constrictionem constraint (Zwang) constriction (Zusammenziehung) • collocare couch (sich legen) collocate (ordnen) • computare count (zählen) compute (berechnen) • quietus coy (spröde) quiet (ruhig) • dignitatem dainty (Leckerei) dignity (Würde) • defectum defeat (Niederlage) defect (Mangel) • aestimare esteem (achten) estimate (schätzen) • factionem fashion (Mode) faction (Partei) • facto feat (Kunststück) fact (Tatsache) • fragilis frail (schwach) fragile (zerbrechlich) • legalis loyal (loyal) legal (gesetzlich)

  17. 2nd example: sounds and spellings • Extreme deviation of present pronunciation and spellings – why: • English is more hybrid, i.e. it has been more under the influence of other languages than, e.g., German;  different sets of rules • Scandin.: to get, sky • French: employee, garage • In spelling, E. has been decidedly traditional since the late MAs (Caxton).

  18. some details • examples: • <-gh>: orig. (ME) a fricative [X], cf Scottish night, bright • -our, -or: orig. (ME) < Ofr (= ModFr –eur), weakened pronunciation in E today: honour, liquor • photo, phenomenon: = Greek, in frequent words  <f> • vowels changed most in the history of E, part. due to GVSh (15-17th c.), therefore their spelling is partic. misleading (rough, ought) • the present spelling is a mixture of diff. historical processes (English = hybrid)

  19. Rhotic pronunciation in England c. 1950 (from dtv-Atlas Englische Sprache 2002) r lost r kept

  20. Menorha model applicable to histor. English phonol.: correlation between historical stages and present varieties) varieties common words ESP dial. roots AE Austr Ld. North 19th c. 18th c. French ME Scandinavian OE Germanic heritage

  21. 3rd example: Cultural studies • What is the Doomsday Book? Bayeux tapestry Harold is killed.

  22. 1066 and all that • 1086 • William the C. • Relevance of the Doomsday Book "Grundbuch" (index of land ownership) • What happened in Britain in 1986? 

  23. 1986

  24. A stamp of 1986 ? ? ? ?

  25. Summing up: Historically conditioned complexity:Taking-leave formulas OED2: 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 151, I thanke your worship, God be wy you. 1591 — 1 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 73 God b’uy my Lord. • Goodbye! • < God be with you/ye!  (historical) phraseology; word field: religious • Good day! • arch./Austr.  register/varieties • Bye-bye! • iterative formation  baby language/infantilisms in dialect/Tok Pisin etc • Bye for now! Ciao! • inform./fashion  register/etymology • See you (later/next week/term). • idiomatic expressions: semantic/phonological implications • I hope to see you again! • Farewell! • Have a nice day/weekend! • Cheerio! (Br inf) • So long! (Br inf) • Hasta la vista, Baby! (US A. Schwarzenegger) • Piss off! F* off! • slang  sociolinguistics, pragmatics • I must be off!/ I must be going! / I've got to go. --> grammar conclusion: E allows many varieties/is difficult prep. adj.

  26. Fazit • Viele heutige Wissensinhalte sind geprägt von Schnelllebigkeit und immanenten wirtschaftlichen Interessen: Passwörter, Benutzer-Namen, Call-Center, Hotlines, Zinssätze, Aktienkurse, Akronyme • Umso mehr brauchen wir heute auch die klassischen, d.h. langlebigen und bewährten Bildungsinhalte: • Die Geschichtlichkeit der Sprache/des Englischen korrreliert mit unserer eigenen Geschichtlichkeit und der unserer Kultur. • Die strukturelle und quantitative Komplexität des Englischen heute, als Folge seiner komplexen Geschichte, bietet eine Vielzahl langlebiger und wichtiger Wissensinhalte. • Ahistorizität = menschliche Entwurzelung • Der Strukturalismus des 20 Jhds. (de Saussure etc) und die derzeit modische Beschränkung auf Anwendungsmodelle (Applied Linguistics) werden der Tatsache, dass wir sprachlich und kulturell historisch verwurzelt sind, nicht gerecht. • Und wenn Sie mich persönlich fragen, ...

  27. We can learn for our future by knowing our personal past. 1 year ago 30 years ago Thank you for your attention!

More Related