1 what kind of english linguistics do we need? (of the ca. 65 fields available) 0. starter: waltzing...
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What kind of English linguistics do we What kind of English linguistics do we need? (of the ca. 65 fields available)need? (of the ca. 65 fields available)
0. Starter: Waltzing Mathilda1. why linguistics?2. why English linguistics?3. one answer to the topic:
historical linguistics
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swagman = AusE old-fash. 'man with clothes and possession carried around'; swag slang 'stolen goods'billabong ('temporary lake') climatecoolibah tree = 'eucalyptus' aborig.billy = 'William', met. 'friend, pot for food'jumbuck = Native Austr. jiimba, > jump-buck (folk-etym.), cf G. Bocktucker = Austr. slang 'food' (cf to tuck)
Slim Dusty+ 2003
Starter: example Waltzing Mathilda (1820s), now "national anthem"
songs preserve history/culture
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tucker in close-up: OED2
to tuck 'ausstaffieren' < ONFr or It. toccare? (Venice!)
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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 ...
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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
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(1) geographical distribution of English: McArthur's circle of world Englishes, from Crystal 1995: 111
e.g. Chinese, Pakistani,Tok Pisin
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(2) GB was important, the US still are
E as a lingua franca
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(3) GB has one of the richest cultures of Europe
literature: from Beowulf to The Beatleshigh 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
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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"
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"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!
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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
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(a) Lexis: Quantification of various English vocabularies (from Voigt, Langenscheidt/Longman, 1982)
0
200000
400000
600000
800000
1000000
GenEng Shakesp Native Non-nat.
# w ords
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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)
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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.
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Semantics: Explain word pairs
forgive/pardon shirt/skirt cow/beef dish/disk chief/chef PN Laing/Laird – long, lord
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Etymology creates 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)
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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).
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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)
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Rhotic pronunciation in England c. 1950 (from dtv-Atlas Englische Sprache 2002)
r lost
r kept
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Menorha model applicable to histor. English phonol.: correlation between historical stages and present varieties)
Germanic heritage
OE
ME
Scandinavian
French
18th c.19th c.
AE Austr NorthLd.dial.common
words ESProots
varieties
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3rd example: Cultural studies1. What is the Doomsday Book?
Bayeux tapestry
Harold is killed.
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1066 and all that
1086William the C.Relevance of the Doomsday Book
"Grundbuch" (index of land ownership)
What happened in Britain in 1986?
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1986
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A stamp of 1986? ? ??
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Summing up: Historically conditioned complexity: Taking-leave formulas
• 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
prep. adj.
conclusion: E allows many varieties/
is difficult
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.
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FazitFazit• 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, ...
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• We can learn for our future by knowing our personal past.
30 years ago
Thank you for your attention!
1 year ago