Lingua inglese 1: Language is one of the democratic forces, English and French in Canada, Internal evidence, the origin of English, the Changery English, Standardisation

ENGLISH AND FRENCH IN CANADA

In Canada there are 2 official languages: English and French. The most part of the

Canadian people speak English, with the exception of the province of Quebec, that is

called “a French island in an ocean of English”.

Both these languages, competed in colonizing the North America; this completion

ended in 1759 with the victory of English people over the French.

After the independence of Canada, French settlers believed in a relationship with the

English, but they were confined to Quebec.

CHAPTER 2

The history of language includes the internal history (linguistic history) and the

external history (where, when and who spoke the language). There are 2 evidence

(prove):

- Internal evidence – linguistic evidence

- External evidence – archeological or scientific information (non-linguistic

evidence)

INTERNAL EVIDENCE comes from texts and documents

EXTERNAL EVIDENCE comes from archeological sites or contemporary written

histories, such as the Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, where Bede

said that each tribe spoke its own dialect.

THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH

The history of the English language started with the arrival

of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during

the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles,

the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the

North Sea from what today is Denmark and

northern Germany. At that time the

inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic

language. But most of the Celtic speakers

were pushed west and north by the invaders -

mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The

Angles came from "Englaland" [sic] and their

language was called "Englisc" - from which

the words "England" and "English" are

derived.

The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar dialects, which in Britain developed into

Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English

speakers now would have difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless (tuttavia),

about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots

(radici). The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old

English was spoken until 1100.

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OLD EGLISH vocabulary and grammar

English vocabulary has been enlarged since Anglo-Saxon times by adoptions from

other languages. There as a greater freedom in word order in Old English than in

Modern English, because relationship between words could be signaled by the “shape”

taken by individual words. These endings are known as inflection.

A linguistic change occurred thanks to the invasion in the 747 by Vikings (Norwegians

and Danes), whose Old Scandinavian language was related to Old English.

In 878, King Alfred of Wessex defeated (sconfisse) the Dane, and led them to the

Danelaw. Scandinavian influenced on English that changed – from being an inflection

language with free word order, to one where grammatical relations are signaled by

word order rather than inflection.

In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France),

invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought

with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the

ruling (classe dirigente) and business classes. For a period there was a linguistic class

division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French.

The Norman Conquest represent a rupture in the continuity of English culture, because

it brought a period of rivalry between the English and the French. st

After the Conquest, for many years, all the king of England spoke French as their 1

language, some knewn no English at all; French was slowly replacing English.

But in the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many

French words added. This language is called Middle English.

A particular kind of English was becoming the choice for documents emanating from

the crown: the Changery English.

This Changery English is important because before the invention of printing this

language was spread among English people.

CHAPTER 3

THE RENAISSANCE

The next wave of innovation in English came with the Renaissance, a time when

scholar rediscovered “classical” works of scholars of Greek and Roman times. The

invention of the printing is an important event that allow these texts to be distributed

among the people.

Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought

standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of

London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first

English dictionary was published.

After many years, the capitalism growth and poverty emerged as a major problem.

The breaking away (rottura) from the Roman Catholic faith is called the Reformation,

that led Henry VIII to declare himself head of the English church. But some English

people thught that was necessary a purer form of worship (culto): these people are the

Puritans.

THE PROCESS OF STANDARDISATION

Standardisation is a process that involves four stages. The process of standardisation

is an on-going one, and a whole range of forces are at work.

- Selection : the variety selected is that of the most powerful or socially

influenced social group

- Elaboration : this may involve the extension of linguistic resources, such as

new specialized vocabulary or new grammatical structures

- Codification : that means elimination of the internal varability

- Implemention : making texts available, encourage users to develop a loyalty

and pride in it.

FOCUSING