English Language Development and History

Flashcards covering the history of the English language from Old English through its development into a global language and various regional dialects such as American, Canadian, and Asian Englishes.

Old English (OE)

A West Germanic language descended from Anglo-Frisian dialects and used between the years $450$ and $1100$ A. D.

Continental borrowing

The first instance of Latin appropriation occurring while Germanic tribes occupied their continental homes and acquired words through relations with the Romans.

Celtic Transmission

The process where the Celts taught Latin words to Germanic tribes, who then passed them to the English upon arrival in Britain.

Christianization of Britain

The reintroduction of Christianity by Roman missionaries one and a half centuries after the Anglo-Saxons arrived, leading to extensive borrowing from Latin linguistic culture.

Anglian

A collective term for Northumbrian and Mercian dialects, which were spoken in settlements north of the Thames.

Kennings

Different allegorical phrases or compound words used as a characteristic of Old English literature.

Inner rhyme

A feature of Old English where a word inside a line rhymes with a word toward the stopping point of the same line.

Synthetic language

A type of language, such as Old English, in which inflections are used to indicate the relationship of words in a phrase.

Analytic language

A language that relies on word order, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs rather than inflection to express syntactic relations; Modern English is a primary example.

The stem

The part of an Old English word that contains the word's meaning and indicates its grammatical gender.

The Norman Conquest

The event in $1066$ that brought French to England as the language of the upper classes and began the transition to Middle English.

The Great Vowel Shift

A sudden change in pronunciation occurring toward the end of Middle English where vowels became shorter and shorter.

William Caxton

The man who introduced printing into England in $1476$, providing a powerful force for the promotion of a standard, uniform language.

Table Alphabeticall

The first work specifically designed for listing and defining English words for first-language speakers, published by Robert Cawdrey in $1604$.

Dictionary of the English Language

A two-volume work published by Samuel Johnson in $1755$ that fixed English spelling and established usage standards.

His-genitive

A noteworthy Modern English construction where his, her, or their are used as signs of the genitive, often because the unaccented -es ending was confused with the pronoun his.

Lingua franca

Any language widely used to communicate by people who are not native speakers of that language.

Global language

A status achieved when a language develops a distinctive role recognized in every country, often through official status or foreign language curriculum priority.

Linguistic complacency

A lack of motivation to learn other languages, often observed in British and American communities because of the global dominance of English.

Linguistic death

The process by which indigenous languages are lost to dominant global languages, a concern raised by David Crystal.

Jamestown

The first colony established by England in the United States in $1607$.

Bread Basket Colonies

A nickname for the Middle Atlantic colonies due to their rich soil and status as significant exporters of grains and wheat.

Wells’ Lexical Set

A set of $24$ different pairs of contrasting words used to identify and recognize differences in dialect pronunciation.

Non-rhoticity

The characteristic of the Eastern New England dialect where the letter r is dropped when it is not placed before a vowel.

Postvocalic consonant

A consonant that occurs specifically after a vowel, such as the n in stand or sun.

Lower South dialect

A dialect covering a large area including Virginia Piedmont that omits final r and avoids rounded vowels in words like top or hot.

African American Vernacular English (AAVE)

Also known as Black English, this variety originated as pidgin English used by slaves and eventually became a creole dialect.

The Gullah dialect

The best-known example of an English-based creole in the continental United States, spoken by blacks along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia.

World Englishes

Nativized and distinct varieties of English spoken in non-native countries, classified into inner, outer, and expanding circles.

The Thomasites

American teachers named after the US army transport ship Thomas who arrived in the Philippines to spread English.

Philippine English

The English variety spoken in the Philippines, considered syllable-timed rather than stress-timed and part of Kachru's Outer Circle.

South Asian English (SAE)

A collective term for Englishes spoken in regions like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

Goondaism

A Pakistani English term for hooliganism, thuggish behavior, or favoring one's clan.

Straits Settlements

A colonial grouping formed in $1826$ consisting of Penang, Malacca, and Singapore.

Singlish pragmatic particles

Common markers used in Singapore English, such as ah to indicate uncertainty and lah to make an assertion.

The Treaty of Nanking

The treaty that officially ended the First Opium War in $1841$ and led to China surrendering Hong Kong island to the British.