The historical context

the geo-historical context> how English reached a position of

pre-eminence the socio-cultural context

> why a position of pre-eminence will last

the combination of geo-historical and socio-cultural strands> why English has so many varieties

Origins within the British Isles

5th century: northern Europe > Englishspread around the British Isles and mixed with Celtic languages: Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria, and southern Scotland

1066: Norman conquestEnglish nobles moved to Scotland

12th century:Anglo-Norman knights moved to Ireland

Outwards

16th century: from the British Isles to North America

1588: end of the reign of Elizabeth I 5-7 million speakers 1952: beginning of the reign of

Elizabeth II about 250 million speakers, most of

them outside the British Isles

Timeline

Old English 450 - 850 Late Old English 850 - 1100 Middle English 1100 - 1450 Early Modern English 1450 - 1750 Modern English 1750 - 1950 Late Modern English 1950 – 2008

BBC Timeline http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_tl_ages_

english.shtml

Expeditions

1584: North Carolina (Walter Raleigh) 1607: Virginia

(Tidewater accent: /z/ and /r/)e.g. Zummerzet

1620: Massachusetts and New EnglandPilgrim Fathers(silent postvocalic /r/)

1640: 25,000 immigrants from the British Isles

3 main divisions (p. 34)

New England > Great LakesNorthern dialect

Virginia > Gulf Coast (Texas)Southern dialect

Mid West > CaliforniaMidland dialect

There are many mixed dialect areas but the main divisions are still found today

The frontier people

17th century: Scots-Irish immigration wave

1776: American Independence> 1 out of 7 Scots-Irish

1790: 4 million people 1890: 50 million people

> Sunbelt accent: from Virginia to California

Other influences Spanish: west and south west French: north and middle regions (Louisiana) Dutch: New York < New Amsterdam Large numbers of Germans: Pennsylvania Africans: south

> slave trade1700: 2,500 black slaves1775: 100,000 black slaves

The 19th century

Irish: 1840s (potato famine) Germans: 1848 (failed revolution) Italians: 1848 (failed revolution) Central European Jews: 1880s

(pogroms)

1900: 75 million people1950: 150 million people

USA 1990 census: almost 200 million speakers of

English 2000 census: almost 215 million speakers of

English

English as a sign of American unity > conflict with those who want to protect minority languages

20th century:movement in support of English as the official language of the U.S.

Canada

new land farming fishing fur-trading

Ongoing conflict with the French 15th century 1702 - 1713 Queen Anne’s War 1754 - 1763 French and Indian War

> French defeat> from New England to Nova Scotia

Canada

1776 US Declaration of Independence loyalists moved to New Brunswick “late loyalists” moved to Montreal

(attracted by cheap lands!)

Many British people identify a Canadian accent as American, many Americans identify it as British!

Canadian English

different from British English different from American English French influence French as the co-official language

(chiefly spoken in Quebec)

Sociolinguistic situation not found in other English-speaking countries Ottawa and code-switching (Poplack)

The Caribbean (p. 38)

black population in the West Indies1517 the importation of black slaves from

Africa to work in sugar plantations (Spanish colonies)

17th century: Atlantic Triangle (slave trade)

Europe – West Africa – Caribbean islands and American coast

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/slavery/

Caribbean English 1776: American Revolution: 500,000 black

slaves 1865: end of US Civil War: 4 million black

slaves (abolition of slavery) Policy of the slave traders > different

language backgrounds> pidgin English (English spoken by sailors and slaves)> black Creole (southern plantations)> Creole forms of French, Spanish, and Portuguese

eventually West Indian speech moved to the U.S., Canada, and Britain

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/storysofar/programme4_3.shtml

Australia

1770 James Cook > first penal colony in Sydney (to relieve the pressure of overcrowded British prisons)

1788 first fleet 1830 130,000 people 1850 400,000 people 1900 4 million people 2002 19 million people

prisoners from London (Cockney) and Ireland

influence of Aboriginal languages late influence of American English The country now has a very mixed

linguistic character

New Zealand

1790s European whalers and traders 1814 Christian missionary work among

the Maori 1840 Treaty of Waitangi (first British

colony)> 1840 2,000 people> 1850 25,000 people> 1900 750,000 people

(emergence of New Zealand English)> 1996 3.5 million people (Crystal, 1997)> 2002 3.8 million people (Crystal, 2003)

Australian and New Zealand English

New Zealand: a stronger sense of historical relationship with Britain> British accent

New Zealand: growing sense of national identity (vs. Australia)

New Zealand: rights of the Maori people> Maori vocabulary in New Zealand English> Maori: 10% of the population

Homework

Read p. 29-43

Surf the websites reported here and listen to the various accents.