Core Paper VI – Modern English Language and
Usage
Unit – 1: Introduction
The evolution of Standard English
The
Evolution of Standard English
To mention the subject of Standard
English is almost inevitably to invite criticism and controversy. What does one
mean by that term; is there in fact, such a thing; and is it desirable that
there should be? These questions have been discussed and debated ad nauseam so it is not proposed to go
into all the pros and cons once again, for no useful purpose would be served by
doing so. Those who disapprove of the idea of a ‘standard’ language point out
that such a language is theoretical rather than real; that each person
considers his own particular brand of English to be ‘standard’ and all
derivations from it to be either affectations or dialects; that though with
normally educated people, grammar, and to a large extent vocabulary also, is
uniform throughout the country, pronunciation varies from locality to locality,
and even amongst ‘good writers’ and others to whom one might reasonably turn
for guidance there is often disagreement. What one will regard as Slang or
Barbarism other will admit as part of vocabulary English. Words and phrases
which to the younger generation is forceful and expressive, to the older is
linguistic outrages. There are words over the pronunciation of which the ‘authorities’
themselves are perpetually wrangling. Amidst such diversity and confusion how
is it possible to fix a standard or to pretend that one does or even can exist?
Whom or what are we to take as our criterion of correctness? Any ruling that we
may lay down will be purely arbitrary; and in any case it is unscientific and
against all the natural genius of language to imagine that it can be fixed in
this way. A standard speech is an artificial speech, and therefore unstable and
without vitality. So argue the opponents of Standard English.
Granted all these objections; yet
they do not dispose of the question. Every one of them could be challenged and
contested, though it is not proposed to contest them there. The great fallacy
in them seems to be that ‘standard’ speech is being confused with
‘standardized’ speech. It is true that there is not, and never could be,
standardized English; but there is such a thing as Standard English. It is not
easy to define, but we all know what it is, we all realize that it exists, and
most of us can recognize it when we hear it, as we can detect deviations from
it whenever they occur. It is not rigid or inflexible. Within its framework
there is room for a certain amount of variation, and variety, and even of local
and personal colouring. Like everything that is typically English, it is
marked, within limits, by a spirit of tolerance and compromise and strict
rigidity is alien to its nature. It accepts alike the Southern long a and the Northern short a in such words as bath, past, plaster;
though it prefers the accent on the first syllable in controversy it will recognize it as permissible to place it on the
second if we so desire, (this pronunciation is coming increasingly to be used
even by educated people); and although it regards It is I as being the grammatically correct form, it does not
absolutely rule out It is me. We may
use any or all of these variations and alternatives and still speak Standard
English; but there are certain things which we must ot say. The Cockney line (for lane) is definitely not
Standard English – just as definitely as the Yorkshireman’s and Lancashireman’s
pronunciation of stud as though it
were the past tense of the verb stand is
not. It will not recognize childer as
the plural of child, though
historically it is more correct than children,
and we cannot say Them books are mine
(as there is a tendency to do amongst uneducated folk), or He was sat by the fire, as a number of otherwise well spoken people
do in the North and the Midlands. In short, we all know that mere is a
generally accepted form of English that every educated person aims at speaking,
from whatever part of the country and from whatever social class he comes: that
though it does not impose strict uniformity, so that distinctive regional
characteristics are not altogether obliterated, it does stand above the various
regional dialects, and that people who speak this are intelligible to each
other as they would not be if they spoke in their local variants. This is what
we mean y Standard English. It is the linguistic currency of the realm, the
Queen’s English.
So much, then, by way of explanation
of what is meant by Standard English. Next we must say something on why it
arose: for it is not, as some folks are apt to imagine, a mere arbitrary
invention of a class or a clique that wish to impose their own particular way
or speaking upon others. Though as we shall see later, there are very good
utilitarian reasons why a standard speech should be cultivated, it has come
about mainly as a natural product of certain historical, cultural and social
factors. We have already noticed in Chapter III how, as far back as the
Anglo-Saxon period, the dialect of Wessex gradually became the pre-eminent one
and attained to something of the dignity of a literary dialect, chiefly through
the accident that Wessex had a cultured and scholarly king in Alfred the Great,
who encouraged letters and was himself both author and translator. In the
Middle English period Chaucer and a number of contemporary writers gave the
East Midland dialect a literary prestige, and the fact that Caxton used the
same dialect for his early printed works established it more firmly still. The
invention of printing, in fact, was one of the most influential factors making
for the emergence of Standard English. It could not, of course, influence
pronunciation but it did stabilize, within limits, spelling, grammar, syntax
and vocabulary. Dialects was still widely used in speech and even in
correspondence, but they tended increasingly to be regarded as an inferior sort
of English. The particular dialect that was the ‘official’ dialect of printing
attained to a respectability and a prestige that the others did not enjoy, and
as printed works circulated far and wide throughout the country, and even
abroad, it soon spread beyond its original bounds and became a national tongue
while others were only regional ones.
Now it so happened that the East
Midland dialect was also that spoken, with slight modifications, in London, and
the political consolidation of England, with the centralisation of government
and of national life in London during the time of the Tudor monarchs, not only
meant that the need would be increasingly felt for a ‘national’ language by a
people that was becoming more and more conscious of its national unity, but it
also helped to assure a supremacy for the English of the capital. The influence
of the Authorised Version of the Bible (1611) must also be taken into
consideration, and, about a century and a half later, Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary,
which performed a double service, viz. (i) it reduced a rather chaotic spelling
system to something like order and virtually ‘fixed’ English spelling from that
time onwards; and (ii) by distinguishing between reputable and ‘low’ words
(sometimes rather arbitrarily and capriciously, it is true) it established the
notion of a cleavage between what was ‘good English’ and what was not. Amongst
later influences must be counted the increased social contract which modern
methods of travel have brought in their train and the spread of reading and of
education amongst all classes, with a consequent elevation of Standard English
at the expense of regional varieties, advent of wireless and television (at
least in their early days). And finally we must not discount the part played by
the more utilitarian and that, in these democratic days, if one would ‘get on
in the word’ one must take care to speak good English. Savoir dire (to coin a phrase) is just as important as savoir faire.
Professor H. C. Wyld, writing some
years ago in his Short History of English,
defined Standard English as that which was ‘spoken within certain social
boundaries, with an extraordinary degree of uniformity, all over the country’:
and it is true that, in all probability, the distinction between those who
spoke Standard English and those who did not was originally a social one. To
some extent it still is so today. Certainly the old and more rigid social
barriers are breaking down, so that in a strict sense Wyld’s definition is no
longer valid. The son or daughter of a working man may, and very often does,
speak as good English as a peer of the realm, so that Standard English is no
longer the monopoly or distinguishing mark of one social class – unless,
indeed, we modify the significance of the term and claim that the typist or
shop assistant who speaks the same kind of English as the peeress is, ipso facto, in the same class, and that
possibly the incentive to speaking ‘good English’ is a mild so harmless form of
snobbery and social ambition – a desire to gain admittance to that ever
broadening circle. But however we may view the matter, certainly the negative
aspect of Wyld’s definition still holds good: the speaking of non-standard
English definitely places a person outside the social class in question. In
other words, Standard English carries with it and confers on its speaker a
certain social prestige; any other brand of English does the opposite.
Another authority of the English
language, Professor Daniel Jones, is more explicit. What we call Standard
English, he says, ‘is that most usually heard in everyday speech in the
families of Southern England whose men folk have been educated at the great
public school.’ It will be noticed that he states more definitely than does
Wyld what the social class is, and he also adds the qualification as to
locality; but again the same objections would seem to apply. Jones, however,
though his definitions may be rather faulty when judged by the distribution of
Standard English at the present day, has hit upon the two most important facts
about its origin; viz, it is based on (a) the English of Southern England, and
(b) the language of the cultured and educated classes of the region.
Why the dialect of the South rather
than that of the North should have gained this pre-eminence has been discussed
already; viz, for courtly reasons, reasons of government, trade and commerce,
foreign travel, etc. As early as 1589 we find George Puttenham, in his Art of English Poesie advising poets not
to take the terms of the Northern men, nor any speech used beyond, the river of
Trent. ‘But ye shall take the usual speech of the Court and that of London and
the shires lying about London within sixty miles, and not much above…… Herein
we are already ruled by the English dictionaries and other books written by
learned men, and therefore it needed none other direction in that behalf.’
Puttenham, it is true, was speaking for the written literary language rather
than for the spoken word, but where literature lead, the speech of the polite
society followed and from polite society it slowly but gradually percolated
through the lower strata. It was, of course, influenced in subtle ways by
political, religious and social development, and each age has made its own
contribution.
One feels
that the debt we owe to the Commonwealth period in the matter of the evolution
of a standard language has never been sufficiently recognised. By the fact that
it sets its face against courtly affectation and cultivated a dignified mode of
speech it helped to mould the character of the language for the next two
hundred years; and by the emphasis that it placed upon the reading and study of
the Bible it did a great deal to combat the earlier tendency towards Latinism
and to ensure a predominantly Saxon basis for the mother tongue. If in many
respects the Renaissance enriched the language, it also the provided the
possibility for the emergence of an artificial pseudo-classical style. The
development of this was very largely checked by the Puritans. Those Puritans
represented the predecessors of the very families whose speech Jones had in
mind when he laid down the definition of Standard English quoted above: the
upper middle class, who for two whole centuries were the backbone of England
and the most important class socially as well as politically. As their
religious and moral outlook influenced English life and thought right up to the
end of Queen Victoria’s reign, so did the character of their speech influence
the future developments of the language.
England
has never had an Academy of Letters, as France has, but towards the end of the
seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century many writers felt that
there was a need for one so that some standard of language and vocabulary could
be fixed by an authoritative body. In this age, the age of the Merry Monarch,
of Queen Anne and the first two Georges, with their galaxy of courtiers,
politicians and literati, polite society and the world of letters were even
more conscious of the distinctiveness of the London and southern dialects than
their predecessors had been, and one of the most frequent subjects of ridicule
in a number of plays and minor novels of the day was the Yorkshire squire, with
his uncouth manners and his barbarous diction. It was felt that a very valuable
purpose would be defining once for all what was to be considered good English,
and giving a rule on what words were admissible into polite language and what
were to be regarded as slang. When Johnson undertook the compilation of his Dictionary
he had something of this object in view, but he quickly abandoned it, becoming
convinced that such a project was not feasible, and soon he opposed the
established of any kind of Academy as being alien to the spirit of English
liberty. Nevertheless, the dictionaries of the eighteenth century did attempt
to lay down an approximate standard in that they not only distinguished between
what words might be used by those who wished to be considered ‘correct’ and
what might not, but many of them marked accent and vowel quantities in order to
guide to pronunciation, about which, apparently, there was still a great deal
of doubt of doubt and disagreement.
The
contribution of the eighteenth century to the development of Standard English,
then, is beyond question; but for all that, what it achieved it achieved in
spite of itself. The attitude it adopted was one which was fundamentally
unsound and unscientific. For the eighteenth century, and especially the first
half of it, was the great classical age of English letters. It laid down the
rules to which literature was expected to conform, and it sought to do the same
for language. It believed that the dictionary and the grammar book should be
the authorities on ‘correctness’ and that usage should be made to conform to
precept. Writers strove to establish for England a style and diction worthy of
their country and its traditions as the style and diction for Latin were worthy
of the traditions of Rome. But the great mistake they made was in assuming that
the classical tongues of antiquity, by which they set much store, had remained
fixed and static. The eighteenth century was unfortunately deficient in
philological knowledge, or such an assumption could never have been made. It
believed that Latin and Greek owed their vitality and the immortality of their
literature to the fact that they had been standardised, or, as Pope would have
put it, ‘methodised’, and the desire to do the same for the language and
literature of their own country was the main motive behind the attempts of a
number of authors to establish a ‘standard’ for English.
The
next hundred years was the age of individualism and laissez faire, of the doctrines of evolution and the survival of
the fittest, and in these circumstances we should hardly expect the idea of an
academy to gain much sympathy. Matthew Arnold, who in many ways had affinities
with the mid-eighteenth century rather than with his own generation, flirted
with it, but in an essay on The Literary
Influence of Academies (published in his Essays in Criticism, Series I) he
finally rejected it. “An Academy quite like the French Academy, a sovereign
organ of the highest literary opinion….we shall hardly have, and we ought not
to wish to have it”, he wrote: but he was in favour of what he termed “influential
centres of correct information”, an ideal which to some extent has since been
realised.
The
nineteenth century, too, was a great period of English expansion and
Empire-building, as well as of commercial development, and these
characteristics had a twofold effect upon the language, an effect which was at
once broadening and restrictive. The vocabulary was considerably enlarged
through foreign contacts, while the development of science and social theory
led to new recourse being had to the classical tongues for the confirmation of
words of an academic and technical nature. The abstract element in English
became more marked: this was the age when so many of our -isms were born. But side by side with this, and partly as a
reaction from it, there also arose a movement for the purification of the
language by the exclusion of foreign tongues and their replacement by words of
native origin wherever possible. No doubt the national consciousness which
usually accompanies a nascent imperialism, and of which we have recently seen
instances in other countries, partly accounts for this development; and partly
too, it is explained by the renewed reverence for the Bible and ‘Bible English’
which was so marked a characteristic of the period. To the Victorians the Bible
became not only a book of devotionbut a text-book for scholars in the day and
evening schools. Many a writer like Ruskin was steeped and saturated in its
style and its phraseology, and people were taught that it was of value not only
for its religious and moral precepts but also because it was written in the
best, the simplest, the purest and the most euphonious English of all time. Nor
must we overlook the influence of the Germano-phile tendency which grew up just
before the middle of the century through the study of the German philosophers
and the writings of Carlyle, and finally through the Queen’s marriage to a
German prince. True, the classical tradition still dominated the educational
system from the grammar schools upwards, but all these factors were
counteracting influences.
The
movement toward a ‘purer’ English is seen most markedly in Tennyson, the
representative poet of the age. Eschewing words of foreign origin as far as he
could, he attempted to give currency to some of the ‘good old English words
that had long since become archaic. One thinks of brand (sword), boon,
purblind, spate, knave (in its original sense of boy), deem, seer, thrall,
etc. If one excludes the words of a religious significance – chapel, cross, chancel – which are of
necessity derived from Norman-French, the first dozen lines of Morte d’Arthurconsist almost entirely of
English or at least Germanic words, and the statistics given on page 36-37 show
that on an average about eighty-eight per cent of Tennyson’s diction is of native
origin. William Morris, too, with his cult of medievalism and his dislike of
innovations in language as in social life, was another of the purists. He went
even further than Tennyson and suggested that such well-established words as omnibus and dictionary should be replaced by folkwain and word-book.
Though
this purist movement may possibly have had a sobering influence on the
development of the language in so far as it tended to preserve the existing
predominance of native elements and to check the unnecessary recourse to
foreign terms or to the gowth of a markedly foreign style, few of the actual
revivals were permanent. Morris’s drastic reforms were foredoomed to failure,
and almost all his coinages proved abortive. Tennyson’s gained a limited currency
for a while, but were still regarded as poetic eccentricities and never really
absorbed into the spoken tongue or even into the diction of written prose. A
few words like handbook (in place of
the older manual) foreword (instead of preface), which both belong to this
period, have survived, but even so they have not ousted the alternative terms.
Now to any language are four distinct aspects, viz.,
(i) vocabulary, (ii) spelling, (iii) grammar, and (iv) pronunciation. For
obvious reasons the earliest move towards standardisation took place in the
first three of these. It is only comparatively recently that pronunciation has
become more or less uniform. Of course, there always have been, and there
presumably always will be, two tendencies at work: on the one hand the
conservative, which is averse to change and looks askance at innovation as two
great latitude as being destructive of all that is best and most characteristic
in the speech that has been handed down to us by the past; on the other the
progressive, which holds that by welcoming innovation we are not only enlarging
the bounds and the possibilities of the language, but are actually preserving
the spirit and tradition of the past, since the English tongue has only become
what it is today because our ancestors adopted no narrow attitude but were
ready to accept and naturalise foreign elements and to tolerate new tendencies
in style, grammar and pronunciation. With this clash of opinion is bound up the
whole question of the relation between grammar and usage. It is not proposed to
debate it here; suffice it to say that the present age seems to have adopted an
attitude of compromise, which is, perhaps, the common sense one. While
admitting that ultimately precept is determined by practice, grammar by usage,
and not vice versa, it takes up a position which is still fundamentally
conservative, though conservative in the enlightened sense. It will not give
way to passing whims and fancies or tolerate arbitrary departures from what has
been long accepted as ‘correct’, when it is clear that a particular innovation
is not merely a passing whim or eccentricity, but has come to stay, it will
recognise it as legitimate English. Frequently there is an intermediate stage,
when the old and new are regarded as equally acceptable. Hence the alternative
spellings judgement and judgment and the alternative pronunciations of
controversy, respite, etc. at the present time.
Of
recent years there has been a reaction against the idea of Standard English,
perhaps as part of the reaction against authority in general, perhaps on the
principle that ‘Jack is as good as his master’. Then, as a further reaction
against this, there arose a an interest in ‘U’ and ‘non-U’ English. (‘U’ stands
for upper-class, or the aristocracy, and ‘non-U’ for non-upper-class’, i.e. the
rest of us). Note-paper is non-U: the U term is writing paper. Mirror is non-U;
the U speaker uses looking glass (except for a driving mirror and a shaving
mirror). A U speaker will refer to a lounge in a hotel or a club, but not in a
private house. Coverlet is non-U; its U equivalent is counterpane. Only non-U
speakers take a bath, a U speaker has a bath. Radio is non-U, the U
equivalent is wireless. Interest in the subject was first aroused in 1954, when
Professor Alan Ross, of the University of Birmingham, contributed an article on
it to the Finnish philological journal Neuphilologische
Mitteilungen. A shortened version of this article later appeared in
Encounter. Miss Nancy Mitford joined in the discussion, and for a while there
was a good deal of argument and controversy. The original article was meant as
a social study, not as an indicator of what was linguistically ‘correct’ and
what ‘incorrect’, though there was at the time tendency to interpret it that
way. Today we scarcely hear it discussed, though it has been the terms of ‘U’
and ‘non-U’ for things other than language. Perhaps the reason against the idea
of Standard English will be similarly short-lived, though if it is, the
Standard English of fifty years hence will not be in all respects that of
today.
Unit – 2: Language and Regional Variation
Ø The Standard Language
Ø Accent and Dialect
Ø Dialectology
Ø Regional Dialects
Ø Style, Slang and Jargon
THE STANDARD LANGUAGE
Definition
Dictionary definitions of “standard (language)” are limited while
linguists apply wildly different approaches when describing this language
variety.
·
The
Standard Language a particular variety of
a language that
is regarded as the most correct, widely accepted, or prestigious way of writing
or speaking the language.
·
It is a
particular variety of
a language that
is regarded as the most correct way of writing or speaking the language.
Explanation
Standard
variety is usually the nation-wide, non-regional form of language used for
public communication and particularly for writing. In many countries, the
standard variety is based in some dialect, often the one spoken in the capital
city. This variety is then adopted by the upper class and everyone who doesn’t
want to sound regional.
Standard
variety of a language is used in the following contexts.
·
A
recognized standard of pronunciation;
·
Mention
of the language in legal documents (for example the constitution of a country);
·
The use
of the language throughout public life (for example in a country’s parliament)
and its formal instruction in schools;
·
A body
of literary texts;
·
Formal
instruction of and research into the language and its literature in
institutions of higher education;
·
An
institution promoting the use of the language and its formal instruction in
educational institutions abroad;
·
Translations
of key religious texts such as the Bible or the Koran.
Standard languages arise when a certain
dialect begins to be used in written form, normally throughout a broader area
than that of the dialect itself. The ways in which this language is used—e.g.,
in administrative matters, literature, and economic life—lead to the
minimization of linguistic variation. The social prestige attached to the
speech of the richest, most powerful, and most highly educated members of a
society transforms their language into a model for others; it also contributes
to the elimination of deviating linguistic forms. Dictionaries and grammars
help to stabilize linguistic norms, as do the activity of scholarly
institutions and, sometimes, governmental intervention. The base dialect for a
country’s standard language is very often the original dialect of the capital
and its environs—in France, Paris; in England, London; in Russia, Moscow. Or
the base may be a strong economic and cultural centre—in Italy, Florence. Or the language may be a combination
of several regional dialects, as are German and Polish.
Even a standard language that was originally
based on one local dialect changes, however, as elements of other dialects
infiltrate into it over the years. The actual development in any one linguistic
area depends on historical events. In the United States, where there is no
clearly dominant political or cultural centre—such as London or Paris—and where
the territory is enormous, the so-called standard language shows perceptible
regional variations in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. All standard
languages are in any case spoken in a variety of accents, though sometimes one
particular accent (e.g., Received Pronunciation in Britain) may be most closely
associated with the standard because of its shared social or educational
origins.
In most developed countries, the majority of
the population has an active (speaking and writing) or at least passive
(understanding) command of the standard language. Very often the rural
population, and not uncommonly the lower social strata of the urban population
as well, are in reality bidialectal. They speak their maternal dialect at home
and with friends and acquaintances in casual contacts, and they use the
standard language in more formal situations. Even the educated urban population
in some regions uses the so-called colloquial language informally. The use of this
type of language is supported by psychological factors, such as feelings of
solidarity with a certain region and pride in its traditions or the relaxed
mood connected with informal behaviour.
ACCENT AND DIALECT
Definitions
This distinction between accent and dialect is not that important for a
layperson. Unless a person is a linguist, the difference between these
two words is pretty abstract.
Accent
·
Accent, or pronunciation, is a special element of a dialect.
·
An accent is the way
that particular person or group of people sound. It’s the way
somebody pronounces words, the musicality of their speech, etc.
·
When a standard language and pronunciation are defined by a
group, an accent may be any pronunciation that deviates
from that standard.
Dialect:
a way of pronouncing words that shows which country or area you are form
He speaks English with a faint
French accent.
I find it difficult to understand
Sarah. She speaks with a broad Scottish accent.
Dialect
·
Dialect is a type of language that is derived
from a primary language. A dialect describes both a
person’s accent and the grammatical features of the way that
person talks.
·
A dialect is a variety of language differing in vocabulary and grammar as well as pronunciation. Dialects are usually spoken by a group
united by geography or class.
Accent: a form
of language that is spoken in a certain area
Even though my English is pretty
good, I can’t understand the Yorkshire dialect.
There are many different dialects
in China.
Explanation
Accent and dialect are two different words
that are commonly heard in linguistics. These two words refer to a certain way
of speaking a language and are often confused, resulting in being used
interchangeably; however both the words have different meanings. In
linguistics, an accent depends mostly on pronunciation of specific words or
phrases. An accent is the manner in which different people pronounce words
differently from each other. For example, the word ‘route’ is pronounced as
‘roote’ in the US, while as ‘raut’ in the UK.
In
linguistics, an accent depends mostly on pronunciation of specific words or
phrases. An accent is the manner in which different people pronounce words
differently from each other. Accents differ depending on a particular
individual, location, or nation. The accent can also help identify the
locality, region, the socio-economic statues, the ethnicity, caste and/or
social class of the speaker. All these factors affect the accent of a person.
Diversity also plays a huge part in shaping different accents. Accents usually
differ in the quality of voice, pronunciation of vowels and consonants, stress,
and prosody. An accent may be associated with the region in which its speakers
reside (a geographical accent), the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity,
their caste or social class,
their first language (when the language in which the accent
is heard is not their native language), and so on.
Though certain accents, such as American, British or
Australian, stand out, almost everyone speaks with a certain kind of accent and
accents vary person to person. As accent is just a way of pronouncing or
putting stress on certain vowels and consonants, almost every has an accent that
differs from another person. Accents are developed as children learn to speak
and pronounce words. As human beings spread to the different parts of the
world, speaking the same language in different ways forms different types of
accents. Accents also refer to the little diacritical marks that are placed on
certain words in languages such as Spanish, French, etc. These marks change the
pronunciation of the word and it lets people know where to put extra stress
when saying the word.
Accents are usually considered as a subset of
dialects and are gaining popularity due to the increase in international
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies. Due to the outsourcing, a lot of
people look for people with an American accent to work at such places.
Dialect
The term dialect is derived from the ancient Greek word
‘diálektos’ meaning "discourse". A dialect is a variation in the
language itself and not only in the pronunciation. Dialect is a type of
language that is derived from a primary language. For example, Sanskrit being a
primary language, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati are all considered as dialects of
that particular language. It is used to refer to the language that deviates
from the original language. The second language differs with regards to
grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, etc. In certain cases, a mix of two
languages is also considered as a dialect, such as Spanglish is considered as a
dialect of Spanish and English.
Sometimes, dialects are used to refer to regional
languages that are spoken in a particular place or region. Linguists believe
that dialects are usually impure in nature to some extent, due to being
borrowed mostly from the parent language. Dialects also include other speech
varieties such as jargons, slang, patois, pidgins and argots. There is no set
standard in order to distinguish a dialect from a particular language and in
many cases linguists refer to dialects as languages, claiming that there is no
difference between the two.
DIALECTOLOGY
The study of
language in society is called sociolinguistics. The real basis for
much of sociolinguistics is that the differences in language among members of a
speech community or between different regions speaking different varieties of
the same language are often meaningful for society. Language variants spoken by
entire groups of people are referred to as dialects.
Dialectology is a branch of sociolinguistics that studies the systematic variants of
a language. The term dialect was first coined in 1577 from the Latin dialectus, way of speaking. Dialectal
variation is present in most language areas and often has important social
implications.
Definition
Dialectology
is the systematic study of dialects. That is the study of variant features
within a language, their history, differences of form and meaning,
interrelationships, distribution, and, more broadly, their spoken as distinct
from their literary forms. The discipline recognizes all variations within the
bounds of any given language; it classifies and interprets them according to
historical origins, principles of development, characteristic features, areal
distribution, and social correlates.
Explanation
The
scientific study of dialects dates from the mid-19c, when philologists using
data preserved in texts began to work out the historical or diachronic
development of the Indo-European languages. Their interest was
etymological and systematic. Scientific phonetics and the principle that sound
change was not erratic but followed discoverable rules or laws, were a basic
part of the growth of dialectology. Living dialects were seen to furnish a huge
treasury of living data on phonology, lexicology, and other features of
language that written texts could not furnish. The linguist's task was to
gather, analyse, and interpret this living body of language.
Dialectology
is pursued through a number of methods; the American linguist W. Nelson Francis
(Dialectology, 1983) describes the prevailing methods as traditional,
structural, and generative.
In traditional dialectology the collection of data is the primary requirement. This entails fieldwork, the more detailed and massive the better, within the limits of practicability, and its presentation in the form of dictionaries, grammars, atlases, and monographs. This method Francis calls ‘item-centered’, emphasizing the individual datum and paying little attention to underlying system.
In traditional dialectology the collection of data is the primary requirement. This entails fieldwork, the more detailed and massive the better, within the limits of practicability, and its presentation in the form of dictionaries, grammars, atlases, and monographs. This method Francis calls ‘item-centered’, emphasizing the individual datum and paying little attention to underlying system.
In structural
dialectology, the investigator seeks to find both the structure or
system by which a dialect holds together or achieves synchronic identity and
how it is changed by the introduction of any new feature. Since any change in
the system affects every feature of it, it becomes in effect a different
system, whose parts are, however, diachronically connected. There is a
paradoxical element here which is partly due to difficulties of definition.
In generative
dialectology, the investigator holds that the language exists within
the speaker as a competence which is never fully realized in performance. This
competence, lying beneath actual language as it is produced (and as it is
recorded by traditional dialectologists), works by a series of rules which
transform it into actual speech. Thus, it is the dialectologist's task to find
a basic system whose rules produce as economically as possible the surface
structure of actual dialect. The complexities or variations within a language
(its dialectal variants) may thus be traced back to a putative source form from
which in the course of time they could by speciation have developed. However,
without the mass of data which traditional dialectologists have furnished,
theoretical systems could not have been either proposed or refined.
To study dialects we must
first decide how to determine when two similar forms of a language are merely
dialects of the same language and when are they separate languages. The
difference between dialect and language is not clear-cut, but rather depends on
at least three factors, which often contradict one another.
1.
The first criterion is purely linguistic, mutual
intelligibility. Can the speakers of two different language forms readily
understand one another? If they cannot, then the two forms would normally
be considered separate languages--at least by linguists. If language
differences cause only minimal problems in communication, there is a tendency
to call the variants dialects of a single language: such is the case with
British, Australian, American English and the English of India--all dialects of
English.
2.
The second criterion is cultural,
and takes into account the opinion
of the speakers: do the speakers themselves think of their form of
language as a variety of a more standard form of speech? Is there a
neutral or standarized form of the language that speakers look to as the
norm. This is certainly true of the varieties of English spoken in the
United States. Most speakers of American English would also consider
American English and the English spoken in Britain--which subcribes to a
slightly different standard--to be variants of a single language. (There
are differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, punctuation, etc. between
standard American English and British English.)
3. A final criterion in
differentiating language from dialect involves a language's political status, a factor that
is external to the form of the language and sometimes even at variance with the
culture of the speakers. Do the political authorities in a country
consider two language forms to be separate languages or dialects of a single
language? Extremely different, non-mutually intelligible language forms may be
called dialects simply because they are spoken within a single political entity
and it behooves the rulers of that entity to consider them as such: this
was the case with Ukrainian and Russian in the days of the Russian Empire,
where Ukrainian (called Little Russian) was considered a substandard variety of
Russian (called Great Russian). This could also be said to be the case with the
so-called dialects of Chinese in the People's Republic of China.
On
the other hand, language forms that are quite mutually intelligible can be
considered separate languages also for purely political reasons. Such is
the case with Serbian and Croatian in the former Yugoslavia.
Linguistically, these two language forms are more similar than the English
spoken in Texas and New York; linguists, in fact, usually called them both by
the name Serbo-Croatian. However, for entirely political reasons the
Serbs and the Croats have deliberately invented separate literary standards to
render their language more divergent than it really is. If two language
variants are mutually intelligible and subscribe to the same literary standard,
they are dialects of the same language rather than separate languages. If two
language variants are not mutually intelligible, they are different languages.
REGIONAL DIALECTS
In addition to geography, other factors may lead to
dialectal change. One is ethnicity, the cultural, religious and racial
differences that separate groups of people. The dialect of an ethnic
group within a larger speech community is often marked by certain unique
features.
Definition
·
A regional dialect is a distinct form of a language spoken in a particular geographical
area. It is also known as a regiolect or topolect.
·
A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especiallya variety of speech differing from the standard literary language or speech pattern of the culture in which itexists: Cockney is a dialect of English.
·
A variety of language that with other varieties constitutes a single language of which no single variety isstandard: the dialects of Ancient Greek.
Explanation
As opposed
to a national dialect, a regional dialect is spoken in one particular area of a
country. In the USA, regional dialects include Appalachian, New Jersey and
Southern English, and in Britain, Cockney, Liverpool English and 'Geordie'.
If
the form of speech transmitted from a parent to a child
is a distinct regional dialect, that dialect is said to be the child's vernacular.
Some
differences in U.S. regional dialects may be traced to the dialects spoken by
colonial settlers from England. Those from southern England spoke one dialect
and those from the north spoke another. In addition, the colonists who
maintained close contact with England reflected the changes occurring in British English, while earlier forms were preserved
among Americans who spread westward and broke communication with the Atlantic
coast. The study of regional dialects has produced dialect atlases, with dialect maps showing the areas where specific
dialect characteristics occur in the speech of the region. A
boundary line called an isogloss delineates each area.
In
contrast to a regional dialect, a social dialect is a variety of a language spoken by a particular group
based on social characteristics other than geography."
Another factor in the development of dialects
is social differentiation. In England the upper classes speak
different dialects than the lower classes. Usually, dialects developed on
the basis of several interacting factors. The classes of Britain, for
example, originate in large part from historical differences in
ethnicity. Even today, by and large, Britain's lower classes trace their
ancestry to the original Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles who were
defeated by the Anglo-Saxons. Many upper class British families trace
their ancestry back to the Norman French who conquered England in 1066.
STYLE, SLANG AND JARGON
STYLE
Definition
Style is language variation
which reflects changes in situational factors, such as addressee, setting, task
or topic.
Explanation
It is a choice of a particular way of saying or writing something as
there is often more than one way of conveying the same message. The style
changes from formal to informal, as the situation becomes more urgent. Other
terms that are used to identify different context-dependent styles include
frozen, casual and intimate. Style choices affect both grammar and vocabulary.
Words that are used only in certain styles are often identified as such in
dictionaries. Styles include literary, old-fashioned, humorous and
medical.
The choice is determined by the following:
Specific contextual factors, such as the degree
of formality that is required.
A particular effect that the person wants to achieve.
Addressee as an Influence on Style
Age of addressee
= People generally
talk to the very young and to the very old. Forexample: Baby-talk
Social background of addressee
= People talk
differently to the higher class and to thelower class. For example:
The pronunciation of
newsreaders on different radio station
Context, Style and Class
(Some Examples)
• Formal contexts and social roles
• Different style within an interview
• Colloquial style or the vernacular
• The interaction of social class and style
Stylistics is the study of style, or the way language is used to create
particular effects, especially those associated with the expressive and
literary uses of language.
SLANG
Definition
Slangs are the words and phrases which are highly colloquial and
informal in type, occurring more often in speech than in print. It is consists
either of newly crafted words or existing words employed in special sense. It
is making abstract concrete and memorable, by employing imagery.- are very
informal English and maybe understood only within a certain group of people.
Words often have short shelf life, fading away after a generation. Some slang
words have endured and entered the general lexicon, including bogus, geek, mob,
hubbuband. Slang exist alongside jargon and argot.
Reasons for Using Slang
For fun
As an exercise either in wit and ingenuity on in humor
To be different; to be novel
To be secret or not understood
by those around.
The use of slang plays a major role in the maintenance
of the gang’s group identity.
It separates the in-group, who use the slang, from the rest of society who do
not and are not part of the gang.
Types of slang
Abbreviations
Etc- etcetera (and so on)
Vid-video
Po-po= police
Acronyms
TLC-Tender Loving Care
BFF- Best Friends Forever
JPEG- Joint Photographic Experts Group
Shorthands
GR8=great
24/7= 24 hours a day,
7 days a week4.
Symbols
$$$= a lot of money
Idiomatic expressions/Phrasal verbs
Pain on the neck= somebody who is annoying
Knock out= somebody who is extremely stunning or gorgeous
Lost the plot= to become crazy or mentally unstable
To goof up= to make a serious mistake
To make waves= to cause trouble
Screw around= to waste time
To catch some Z’s= to get some
JARGON
Definition
The
French word is believed to have been derived from the Latin word gaggire,
meaning "to chatter", which was used to describe speech that the listener did not understand.
Middle English also has the verb jargounen meaning "to chatter",
which comes from the French word.[5] The word may also come from Old French jargon meaning "chatter of birds". American Dictionary defines jargon as “the
language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to aparticular trade, profession,
or group; medical jargon”.
Explanation
Jargon is a type of language that is used in a particular context and may not be well understood outside
of it. The context is usually a particular occupation (that is, a certain trade, profession, or academic field), but any in group can have jargon. The main trait that
distinguishes jargon from the rest of a language is special vocabulary—including
some words specific to it and, often, narrower senses of words that outgroups would tend to
take in a broader sense. Jargon is thus "the technical terminology or
characteristic idiom of a special activity or group". Most jargon is technical terminology, involving terms of art or industry terms, with particular meaning within a specific
industry.
Jargon is
a language that is characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and
convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning. Unlike most slang, academic
jargon is typically not imaginative or picturesque. Too much of it would make
one feeling stifled, even oppressed. Like some slang, jargon might keep
outsiders out, serving to exclude. Nonetheless, jargon has its place, enabling
members of a group to communicate about their interests. The terms jargon
and argot are often used almost interchangeably to refer to
“obscure or secret language” or “language of a particular occupational group”.
KINDS OF JARGONS
1. Medical
Jargons
BP - Medical shorthand for blood pressure
FX - Medical jargon meaning bone fracture
JT - A joint
NPO - A patient should not take anything by
mouth
IM - Intramuscular
2. Business
Jargons
Bang for the buck - A term that
means, to get the most for your money
Due diligence - Putting effort into research
before making a business decision
Sweat equity - Getting a stake in the
business instead of pay
The 9-to-5 - Business jargon meaning a
standard work day
Chief cook and bottle-washer - A person who
holds many responsibilities
3. Police
Jargons
Suspect - A person whom the police think may
have committed a crime
Code Eight - Term that means officer needs
help immediately
Code Eleven - A code that means the
individual is at the scene of the crime
FTP - The failure of an individual to pay a
fine
4. Military
Jargons
TD - Temporary duty
AWOL - Absent without leave
SQDN - A squadron
5. Political
Jargons
Left wing - Political jargon for
liberal, progressive viewpoint
Right wing - Jargon meaning a conservative
viewpoint
Getting on a soapbox - Making a speech in
public
POTUS - President of the United States
SCOTUS - Supreme Court of the United States
6. Internet
Jargons
BTW - By the way
CYA - See you around
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
HTH - Hope this helps
MOTD - Message of the day
YMMV - Your mileage may vary
IIRC - If I remember correctly
LOL - Laugh out loud
BFF - Best friends forever
TTYL - Talk to you later
Unit – 3: Areas of Difficulty in the Usage of
English Language for the II Language Users
Parts
of Speech
A part of speech is a category of words
which have similar grammatical properties. Words that are assigned to the same
word part of speech generally display similar behavior in terms of syntax—they
play similar roles within the grammatical structure of sentences—and sometimes
in terms of morphology, in that they undergo inflection for similar properties.
- noun
- verb
- adjective
- adverb
- pronoun
- preposition
- conjunction
- interjection
- article
or (more recently) determiner.
Noun
(names)
A word or lexical item
denoting any abstract (abstract noun: e.g. home) or concrete entity
(concrete noun: e.g. house); a person (police officer, Michael),
place (coastline, London), thing (necktie, television),
idea (happiness), or quality (bravery). Nouns can also be
classified as count nouns or non-count nouns; some can belong to either
category. The most common part of the speech; they are called naming words.
Pronoun (replaces)
A substitute for a noun or
noun phrase (them, he). Pronouns make sentences shorter and clearer
since they replace nouns.
Adjective
(describes, limits)
A modifier of a noun or
pronoun (big, brave). Adjectives make the meaning of another word (noun)
more precise.
Verb (states
action or being)
A word denoting an action (walk),
occurrence (happen), or state of being (be). Without a verb a
group of words cannot be a clause or sentence.
Adverb
(describes, limits)
A modifier of an adjective,
verb, or other adverb (very, quite). Adverbs makes writing more precise.
Preposition (relates)
A word that relates words
to each other in a phrase or sentence and aids in syntactic context (in, of).
Prepositions show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun with another
word in the sentence.
Conjunction (connects)
A syntactic connector;
links words, phrases, or clauses (and, but). Conjunctions connect words
or group of words
Interjection
(expresses feelings and emotions)
An emotional greeting or
exclamation (Huzzah, Alas). Interjections express strong feelings and
emotions.
Article
(describes, limits)
A grammatical marker of
definiteness (the) or indefiniteness (a, an). The article is not
always listed among the parts of speech. It is considered by some grammarians
to be a type of adjective or sometimes the term 'determiner' (a broader class)
is used.
Voice
Active voice is a grammatical voice
common in many of the world's languages. It is the unmarked voice for clauses
featuring a transitive verb in nominative–accusative languages, including
English and most other Indo-European languages.
Active voice is used in a clause whose
subject expresses the main verb's agent. That is, the subject does the verb's
designated action. A clause whose agent is marked as grammatical subject is
called an active clause. In contrast, a clause in which the subject has the
role of patient or theme is named a passive clause, and its verb is expressed
in passive voice. Many languages have both an active and a passive voice; this
allows for greater flexibility in sentence construction, as either the semantic
agent or patient may take the subject syntactic role.
Example:
The dog bit the postal carrier.
(active voice)
The postal carrier was bitten by the
dog. (passive voice)
Passive voice is a grammatical voice
common in many languages. In a clause with passive voice, the grammatical
subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb – that
is, the person or thing that undergoes the action or has its state changed.
This contrasts with active voice, in which the subject has the agent role. For
example, in the passive sentence "The tree was pulled down", the subject
(the tree) denotes the patient rather than the agent of the action. In
contrast, the sentences "Someone pulled down the tree" and "The
tree is down" are active sentences.
Typically, in passive clauses, what is
usually expressed by the object (or sometimes another argument) of the verb is
now expressed by the subject, while what is usually expressed by the subject is
either deleted, or is indicated by some adjunct of the clause. Thus, turning an
active verb into a passive verb is a valence-decreasing process
("detransitivizing process"), because it turns transitive verbs into
intransitive verbs.
Tense
In grammar, tense is a category
that expresses time reference. Tenses are usually manifested by the use of
specific forms of verbs, particularly in their conjugation patterns.
Basic tenses found in many languages
include the past, present, and future. Some languages have only two distinct
tenses, such as past and nonpast, or
future and nonfuture. There are also tenseless languages,
like Chinese, which is traditionally thought to have no tense at all, although
recent research suggests that it may possess a future and nonfuture
system, which is typical of Sino-Tibetan languages. On the other hand, some
languages make finer tense distinctions, such as remote vs. recent past, or
near vs. remote future.
Tenses generally express time relative
to the moment of speaking. In some contexts, however, their meaning may be
relativized to a point in the past or future which is established in the
discourse (the moment being spoken about). This is called relative (as
opposed to absolute) tense.
There are four present tense forms in English:
|
Tense
|
Form
|
|
Present
simple:
|
I
work
|
|
Present
continuous:
|
I
am working
|
|
Present
perfect:
|
I
have worked
|
|
Present
perfect continuous:
|
I
have been working
|
We use these forms:
- to
talk about the present:
He works at McDonald’s. He has worked there
for three months now.
He is working at McDonald’s. He has been working there for three months now.
London is the capital of Britain.
He is working at McDonald’s. He has been working there for three months now.
London is the capital of Britain.
- to
talk about the future:
The next train leaves this evening at 1700 hours.
I’ll phone you when I get home.
He’s meeting Peter in town this afternoon.
I’ll come home as soon as I have finished work.
You will be tired out after you have been working all night.
I’ll phone you when I get home.
He’s meeting Peter in town this afternoon.
I’ll come home as soon as I have finished work.
You will be tired out after you have been working all night.
- We
can use the present tenses to talk about the past...
Modals and Auxiliaries
Modals and auxiliary verbs
in English
- Modals
- Auxiliary
do
- Auxiliary
have
- Be (auxiliary and main verb)
Historically, the modals of
English, which are listed in (1), derive from a special class of verbs in Germanic
(the ancestor of English and the other Germanic languages).
|
(1)
|
|
|
can, could, may, might,
must, shall, should, will, would
|
Modals have always differed
from ordinary verbs in Germanic, and in the course of the history of English,
they have diverged from verbs even further, to the point where they now belong
to a syntactic category of their own. Because many modals have meanings that
are often expressed in other languages by verbal inflections, this syntactic
category is called I(nflection).
In what follows, we review
the ways that modals differ from verbs in English, both morphologically (what
forms they exhibit) and syntactically (how they combine in sentences).
Range
of forms
Modals and verbs differ in
the range of forms that they exhibit. English verbs appear in a number of
distinct forms (see Finiteness), whereas modals have a single,
invariant form. Modals never end in -s, even in sentences with third
person singular subjects.
|
(2)
|
a.
|
*
|
She
{ can-s, may-s } play the piano.
|
|
b.
|
She
{ can, may } play the piano.
|
|
|
||||||
|
Example
|
|
Potential
paraphrase
|
||||
|
|
||||||
|
(3)
|
a.
|
Nowadays,
you can get one for a dollar.
|
=
|
...
it is possible to get one ...
|
||
|
b.
|
Back
then, you could get one for a nickel.
|
=
|
...
it was possible to get one ...
|
|||
|
(4)
|
a.
|
We
can go there tomorrow.
|
=
|
It
is possible for us to go there ...
|
||
|
b.
|
We
could go there tomorrow.
|
=/=
|
It
was possible for us to go there ...
|
|||
|
(5)
|
a.
|
You
may ask the boss.
|
=
|
You
are allowed to ask the boss.
|
||
|
b.
|
You
might ask the boss.
|
=/=
|
You
were allowed to ask the boss.
|
|||
|
(6)
|
a.
|
Shall
I pick up some bread?
|
=
|
Is
it a good idea for me to pick up some bread?
|
||
|
b.
|
Should
I pick up some bread?
|
=/=
|
Was
it a good idea for me to pick up some bread?
|
|||
|
|
||||||
Finally, modals lack present and past participles; the
missing forms must be paraphrased.
|
(7)
|
a.
|
*
|
{
Cann-ing, may-ing } play the piano pleases her greatly.
|
|
b.
|
{
Being able, being allowed } to play the piano pleases her greatly.
|
||
|
(8)
|
a.
|
*
|
She
has { cann-ed, may-ed } play the piano.
|
|
b.
|
She
has { been able, been allowed } to play the piano.
|
Nonfinite contexts
A further difference between modals and verbs is that
modals, unlike verbs, can't occur in nonfinite contexts (for instance, in to
infinitive clauses or after another modals). Once again, the missing forms must
be paraphrased.
|
(9)
|
a.
|
In
to infinitive clause,
|
modal
|
*
|
She
wants
|
to
can speak Spanish.
|
|
b.
|
paraphrase
of modal
|
She
wants
|
to
be able to speak Spanish.
|
|||
|
c.
|
verb
|
She
wants
|
to
speak Spanish.
|
|||
|
(10)
|
a.
|
After
(another) modal,
|
modal
|
*
|
She
must
|
can
speak Spanish.
|
|
b.
|
paraphrase
of modal
|
She
must
|
be
able to speak Spanish.
|
|||
|
c.
|
verb
|
She
must
|
speak
Spanish.
|
Do
support contexts
The inability of modals to
appear in nonfinite contexts gives rise to three further differences between
verbs and modals, all of them manifestations of an important phenomenon in the
grammar of English called do support.
Emphasis. In the simplest case, do support
affects affirmative sentences containing a finite verb whose truth is being
emphasized. It involves replacing the finite verb by the verb's bare form and
adding a form of auxiliary do to the sentence in the
appropriate tense (either present or past tense). This form of do then receives
emphatic stress, as indicated by underlining in (11).
|
(11)
|
a.
|
Unemphatic
(without do support)
|
He
dances; she sang.
|
|
|
b.
|
Emphatic
(with do support)
|
He
does dance; she did sing.
|
By contrast, emphasizing the truth of a sentence that
contains a modal is achieved by simply stressing the modal. Do support
with modals is ungrammatical.
|
(12)
|
a.
|
Emphasis
without do support
|
He
can dance; she will sing.
|
|
|
b.
|
Emphasis
with do support
|
*
|
He
does can dance; she does will sing.
|
Negation. Do support with verbs occurs not only
in emphatic contexts, but in two further syntactic contexts: negation and question
formation. In both of these cases, the form of do that is added to the
affirmative or declarative sentence doesn't necessarily receive emphatic stress
(although it can).
In English, sentences containing modals are negated by
simply adding not (or its contracted form n't) after the modal. Do
support is ungrammatical.
|
(13)
|
a.
|
Negation
without do support
|
He
{ may, must, should, will, would } not dance.
|
|
|
b.
|
Negation
with do support
|
*
|
He
does not { may, must, should, will, would } dance.
|
Sentences without modals, on the other hand, require do
support in English. As in the case of emphasis, the verb appears in its bare
form, and an appropriately tensed form of the auxiliary verb do is added
to the sentence, followed by negation.
|
(14)
|
a.
|
Negation
with do support
|
He
{ does, did } not dance.
|
|
|
b.
|
Negation
without do support
|
*
|
He
not { dances, danced }.
He { dances, danced } not. |
Question formation. The final difference between modals and
verbs concerns question formation. If a declarative sentence contains a modal,
the corresponding question is formed by inverting the modal with the subject. Do
support is ungrammatical.
|
(15)
|
a.
|
Question without do
support
|
{ Can, may, must, should,
will, would } he dance?
|
|
|
b.
|
Question with do
support
|
*
|
Does he { can, may, must,
should, will, would } dance?
|
Again,
however, in a sentence without a modal, question formation requires do
support. That is, it is an appropriately tensed form of do, rather than
the verb itself, that inverts with the subject.
|
(16)
|
a.
|
Question with do
support
|
{ Does, Did } he dance?
|
|
|
b.
|
Question without do
support
|
*
|
{ Dances, Danced } he?
|
This section summarizes the
properties of auxiliary do, introduced in
the previous section in connection with do support. Auxiliary do
belongs to the same syntactic category as the modals---namely, I(nflection),
because it shares their properties with one exception (in contrast to modals,
it has an -s form).
The goal of the previous section was to establish the
special status of modals, and we used the facts of do support as a
criterion for distinguishing modals from verbs. In this section, we consider
some of the same facts, but with a different focus. Rather than focusing on the
distinctive properties of modals, we focus on the morphological and syntactic
properties of auxiliary do itself.
Like all English auxiliaries (the others are be
and have), auxiliary do is homonymous with an ordinary verb - in
this case, main verb do. The examples that follow explicitly contrast
main verb do with auxiliary do.
Range of forms
As
just mentioned, the only difference between auxiliary do and the modals
is that it has an -s form. In this respect, it patterns with ordinary
verbs, including its main verb counterpart.
|
(17)
|
a.
|
Modal
|
I
can dance the polka.
|
|
|
b.
|
He
{ can, * can-s } dance the polka.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
(18)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary
do
|
I
do dance the polka; I do not dance the polka; do you
dance the polka?
|
|
|
b.
|
He
do-es dance the polka; he do-es not dance the polka; do-es
he dance the polka?
|
|||
|
(19)
|
a.
|
Main
verb do
|
I
do the dishes.
|
|
|
b.
|
He
do-es the dishes.
|
|||
|
(20)
|
a.
|
Other
verb
|
I
dance the polka.
|
|
|
b.
|
He
dance-s the polka.
|
|||
Nonfinite contexts
In all other respects, auxiliary do behaves like a
modal rather than like an ordinary verb. For instance, it is ungrammatical as a
to infinitive, after modals, or as a gerund. Notice the clear contrast
between the judgments for auxiliary do in (22) and main verb do
in (23).
|
(21)
|
a.
|
Modal,
|
in
to infinitive
|
*
|
They
want to can dance the polka.
|
|
|
b.
|
after
(another) modal
|
*
|
They
will can dance the polka.
|
|||
|
c.
|
gerund
|
*
|
Their
canning dance the polka while blindfolded is unusual.
|
|||
|
(22)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary
do,
|
in
to infinitive
|
*
|
They
claim to do dance the polka.
Intended meaning: They claim that they do dance the polka. |
|
|
b.
|
after
modal
|
*
|
They
will do dance the polka.
Intended meaning: It will be the case they do dance the polka. |
|||
|
c.
|
gerund
|
*
|
Their
doing dance the polka while blindfolded was unwise.
Intended meaning: That they did dance the polka while blindfolded was unwise. |
|||
|
|
||||||
|
(23)
|
a.
|
Main
verb do,
|
in
to infinitive
|
They
want to do the dishes.
|
||
|
b.
|
after
modal
|
They
will do the dishes.
|
||||
|
c.
|
gerund
|
Their
doing the dishes was considerate.
|
||||
|
(24)
|
a.
|
Other
verb,
|
in
to infinitive
|
They
want to dance the polka.
|
||
|
b.
|
after
modal
|
They
will dance the polka.
|
||||
|
c.
|
gerund
|
Their
dancing the polka while blindfolded is unwise.
|
||||
Do
support contexts
Auxiliary do also behaves like a modal in do
support contexts. Double instances of auxiliary do are ruled out, just
like double modals are (see (10a)). Once again, auxiliary do and main
verb do differ sharply, as shown in (26) and (27).
|
(25)
|
a.
|
Modal,
|
after
emphatic do
|
*
|
He
does can dance the polka.
|
|
b.
|
negative
|
*
|
He
doesn't can dance the polka.
|
||
|
c.
|
question
|
*
|
Does
he can dance the polka?
|
||
|
(26)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary
do,
|
after
emphatic do
|
*
|
He
does do dance the polka.
Intended meaning: It is the case that he does dance the polka. |
|
b.
|
negative
|
*
|
He
doesn't do dance the polka.
Intended meaning: It isn't the case that he does dance the polka. |
||
|
c.
|
question
|
*
|
Doesn't
he do dance the polka?
Intended meaning: Isn't it the case that he does dance the polka? |
||
|
|
|||||
|
(27)
|
a.
|
Main
verb do,
|
after
emphatic do
|
He
does do the dishes.
|
|
|
b.
|
negative
|
He
doesn't do the dishes.
|
|||
|
c.
|
question
|
Does
he do the dishes?
|
|||
|
(28)
|
a.
|
Other
verb,
|
after
emphatic do
|
He
does dance the polka.
|
|
|
b.
|
negative
|
He
doesn't dance the polka.
|
|||
|
c.
|
question
|
Does
he dance the polka?
|
|||
Auxiliary
have
Let's now turn to auxiliary
have, which combines with past participles (-en forms) to form
the perfect forms of verbs. Auxiliary have behaves like a V with
respect to its morphology and its occurrence in nonfinite contexts, but like an
I with respect to do support. Specifically, auxiliary have, like
auxiliary do, shares all the morphological properties of its main verb
counterpart. In addition, it can appear in nonfinite contexts (unlike auxiliary
do). With respect to do support, however, auxiliary have
differs from its main verb counterpart and patterns together with the modals
and auxiliary do. The complex behavior of auxiliary have can be
captured by saying that it moves from V to I in the derivation of a sentence (
(29) and (30) show that auxiliary have, like auxiliary do (cf.
(18)), behaves morphologically like its main verb counterpart in having an -s
form.
|
(29)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary
have
|
I
have adopted two cats.
|
|
|
b.
|
She
ha-s adopted two cats.
|
|||
|
(30)
|
a.
|
Main
verb have
|
I
have two cats.
|
|
|
b.
|
She
ha-s two cats.
|
Auxiliary have differs from auxiliary do
(cf. (22)) and resembles main verb have in being able to appear in
nonfinite contexts.
|
(31)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary
have,
|
to
infinitive
|
They
claim to have adopted two cats.
|
|
|
b.
|
after
modal
|
They
must have adopted two cats.
|
|||
|
c.
|
gerund
|
I
do not regret having adopted two cats.
|
|||
|
(32)
|
a.
|
Main
verb have,
|
to
infinitive
|
They
claim to have two cats.
|
|
|
b.
|
after
modal
|
They
must have two cats.
|
|||
|
c.
|
gerund
|
I
do not regret having two cats.
|
On the other hand, just like auxiliary do (cf.
(26)) and in contrast to main verb have, auxiliary have is ruled
out in do support contexts.
|
(33)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary
have,
|
after
emphatic do
|
*
|
He
does have adopted two cats.
|
|
b.
|
negative
|
*
|
He
doesn't have adopted two cats.
|
||
|
c.
|
question
|
*
|
Does
he have adopted two cats?
|
||
|
(34)
|
a.
|
Main
verb have,
|
after
emphatic do
|
He
does have two cats.
|
|
|
b.
|
negative
|
He
doesn't have two cats.
|
|||
|
c.
|
question
|
Does
he have two cats?
|
Be (auxiliary and main verb)
The examples in (35)-(40)
illustrate the behavior of auxiliary be, which is used to form the
progressive (is coming, was dancing) and the passive (is abandoned,
was sold) in English. Auxiliary be behaves just like auxiliary have.
In particular, it has an -s form (irregular though that form is), and it
can appear in nonfinite contexts, but it is excluded from do support
contexts. As a result, auxiliary be can be treated just like auxiliary have:
as belonging to the syntactic category V, but moving from V to I in the course
of a derivation.
Main verb be differs
from main verb have and main verb do in behaving exactly like
auxiliary be. In other words, main verb be is the only main verb
in modern English that moves from V to I.
|
(35)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary be,
|
non-third person
|
I am learning
Spanish; I am invited to the ceremony.
|
|
|
b.
|
third person
|
She i-s learning
Spanish; she i-s invited to the ceremony.
|
|||
|
(36)
|
a.
|
Main verb be,
|
non-third person
|
I am happy.
|
|
|
b.
|
third person
|
She i-s happy.
|
|||
|
(37)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary be,
|
to infinitive
|
They claim to be
learning Spanish; they claim to be invited to the ceremony.
|
|
|
b.
|
after modal
|
They must be
learning Spanish; they must be invited to the ceremony.
|
|||
|
c.
|
gerund
|
I don't regret being
invited to the ceremony.
|
|||
|
(38)
|
a.
|
Main
verb be,
|
to
infinitive
|
They
claim to be happy.
|
|
|
b.
|
after
modal
|
They
must be happy.
|
|||
|
(39)
|
a.
|
Auxiliary
be,
|
after
emphatic do
|
*
|
She
does be learning Spanish; she does be invited to the ceremony.
|
|
b.
|
negative
|
*
|
She
doesn't be learning Spanish; she doesn't be invited to the
ceremony.
|
||
|
c.
|
question
|
*
|
Does
she be learning Spanish? Does she be invited to the ceremony?
|
||
|
(40)
|
a.
|
Main
verb be,
|
after
emphatic do
|
*
|
She
does be happy.
|
|
b.
|
negative
|
*
|
She
doesn't be happy.
|
||
|
c.
|
question
|
*
|
Does
she be happy?
|
Direct
and Indirect Speech
What is Direct Speech?
l Consider the following sentence:
Rama said : ' A fine lesson will be
taught to the wicked Ravana.'
The given sentence is in direct speech.
Here the exact words of the speaker have been put
within quotation marks.
There is a colon after 'said'.
The first word inside the quotation marks starts
with a capital letter.
What is an indirect speech then?
•
Let's consider the indirect speech of
the sentence under consideration ,
Rama said (that) a fine lesson would be
taught to the wicked Ravana.
In Indirect speech
• The quotation marks as well as the colon
after said are removed.
• The conjunction “that” introduces to us the
words (not exact) spoken by the speaker. However the latest
trend is to drop 'that'.
RULE ONE:-If in direct speech you find
say/says or will say then DO NOT CHANGE THE TENSE that you can find within the
quotation marks
EXAMPLES-RULE ONE
I say ' I am elated”
I say I am elated
He says,” I was a fool then”
He says he was a fool then.
She says,” I will be more experienced
then”
She says she will be more
experienced then
I will say,” He loves cricket”
I will say he loves cricket
She will say,” He was in the land of
nod then”
She will say he was in the land
of nod then.
They will say,” We will achieve
greatness”
They will say we will achieve
greatness.
RULE TWO
•
If in direct speech the words within
the quotation marks talk of a universal truth or habitual action then RULE
ONE is followed or in other words the tense inside the quotation marks is
not changed at all.. For e.g.
• The
teacher said,” The sun rises in the east”
·
The teacher
said the sun rises in the east
RULE THREE
If there is 'said' in the direct speech then
the tense of the words inside quotation marks is changed to the past
tense.
I said,” I am suffering from a fit of ennui”
I
said I was suffering from a fit of ennui.
Kinds
of Sentences
There are mainly four types of sentences:
- Declarative
- Imperative
- Interrogative
- Exclamatory
The declarative sentence merely makes a statement. The
imperative sentence expresses a command, order or request. The interrogative
sentence asks a question and the exclamatory sentence expresses a sudden
emotion.
Read the following sentences and state their kind.
1. Please leave your footwear outside.
2. Will you wait here?
3. Where have you been all this while?
4. We will not tolerate this.
5. I am your friend.
6. My sister lives in Mexico.
7. What did you do then?
8. Do be a bit more careful.
9. Never speak to me like that again.
10. Always remember what I told you.
11. The ball rolled slowly into the goal.
QUESTION TAGS
Question
tags are short questions at the end of statements. A question tag or tag question (also known
as tail question) is a grammatical structure in which a declarative statement or an imperative is turned into a question by
adding an interrogative fragment (the “tag").
For example, in the sentence "You're John, aren't you?” the statement
"You're John" is turned into a question by the tag "aren't
you". The term "question tag" is generally preferred by British
grammarians, while their American counterparts prefer "tag question".
They
are mainly used in speech when we want to:
- confirm that something is true or not, or
- to encourage a reply from the person we are speaking to.
Question tags are formed with the auxiliary
or modal verb from the statement and the appropriate subject.
A positive statement
is followed by a negative question tag.
- Jack is from Spain, isn't he?
- Mary can speak English, can't she?
A negative statement
is followed by a positive question tag.
- They aren't funny, are they?
- He shouldn't say things like that, should he?
When
the verb in the main sentence is in the present simple we
form the question tag with do / does.
- You play the guitar, don't you?
- Alison likes tennis, doesn't she?
If
the verb is in the past simple we use did.
- They went to the cinema, didn't they?
- She studied in New Zealand, didn't she?
When
the statement contains a word with a negative meaning, the
question tag needs to be positive
- He hardly ever speaks, does he?
- They rarely eat in restaurants, do they?
Intonation
When
we are sure of the answer and we are simply encouraging a response, the
intonation in the question tag goes down:
- This is your car, isn't it?
(Your voice goes down when you say isn't it.)
When
we are not sure and want to check information, the intonation in the question
tag goes up:
- He is from France, isn't he?
(Your voice goes up when you say isn't he.)
Unit-4: Language for specific Speech events
Ø Drafting an invitation
Ø Drafting the minutes of a meeting
Ø Addressing a gathering (welcome address)
Ø Proposing vote of thanks
Drafting Invitations.
Introduction
Invitations or invites are the sweetest kinds of letters. We write invitations on a number of occasions – formal and informal.
Invitations or invites are the sweetest kinds of letters. We write invitations on a number of occasions – formal and informal.
·
In fact informal invitations have no limits.
·
You can invite your friends, relatives, or anyone whom
you can address “Hi” and “hello” anyway you like but when it comes to formal
invitations, you have to restrict your freedom.
·
You cannot invite your local MP or a film-star, “Hi Bro,
there is a party we gonna throw on Monday. Do come to inaugurate the same. See
Yaa. Bye! Take care!”
Invitation media
You can write/design/draft an invitation on multiple
platforms:
·
Design in a card and enclose in an envelope (mostly
formal)
·
Write on plain paper or letter pad and enclose in an
envelope (mostly formal)
·
Draft as an email and send directly (mostly formal)
·
Design and hand over in person (both)
CBSE Concern
·
Formal Printed Invitations
·
Formal replies – Accepting and Declining
·
Informal Invitations – Letter format
INFORMAL INVITATIONS
Informal invitations are drafted for the following
occasions:
·
On the occasion of a birthday
·
On the occasion of your parents’ wedding anniversary
·
On the occasion of your sister’s engagement/ring
ceremony/wedding
·
On the occasion of a party that throw to welcome your old
friends home
Format
·
Begin with sender’s address, date, receiver’s address
·
Salutation of your choice
·
Write the content loosely but be precise. Invitation is
shorter than a letter.
·
Do not fail to provide specific details of the function,
venue, date.
·
Make the invitee feel the warmth of the invitation so use
words from the core of heart.
·
You can even draw a route map.
Styling
·
Dear Charley, you will be thrilled to know that Marcy has
finally agreed to pursue her further studies in London…
·
Charley, I am most obliged to you throughout my life for
my getting selected for the Madagascar team…
·
Dear Diana, it is with welling excitement that I invite
you to be part of my sister’s engagement with Spencer…
Example | Informal
Invitation
12/C, Palace Road
New York – 11
New York – 11
16 March 2100
Dear Frank,
Emily and I are throwing a party on the occasion our parents’ 39th wedding anniversary that falls on this Saturday, the 25th of this month at our residence. It will be a pleasure if you would join us with family for the celebrations. Hope to see you soon.
Emily and I are throwing a party on the occasion our parents’ 39th wedding anniversary that falls on this Saturday, the 25th of this month at our residence. It will be a pleasure if you would join us with family for the celebrations. Hope to see you soon.
Yours sincerely
Peter
Peter
Example | Reply to Informal
Invitation
33, Park Avenue
New York – 12
New York – 12
17 March 2100
Dear Peter and Emily,
Thank you for the kind invitation to your parents’ wedding anniversary. It is a pleasure to think of them and being able to spend time with them is always memorable. Unfortunately for us, my sons are in India for a month’s visit and we are joining them on the 24th. We regret our inability to decline the invitation. We extend our prayers for Mr. and Mrs. Cooks.
Thank you for the kind invitation to your parents’ wedding anniversary. It is a pleasure to think of them and being able to spend time with them is always memorable. Unfortunately for us, my sons are in India for a month’s visit and we are joining them on the 24th. We regret our inability to decline the invitation. We extend our prayers for Mr. and Mrs. Cooks.
Yours sincerely
Frank
Frank
FORMAL INVITATIONS
Formal Invitations
·
Inviting a dignitary to preside over a function
·
Inviting a celebrity to inaugurate your new showroom
Format
·
Formal Invitation are generally sent on occasions such as
grand weddings, anniversaries and mass functions involving a big crowd of
invitees.
·
Formal Invitations are sent to individuals for a less
grand function such as a formal wedding anniversary, formal alumni meeting,
etc. In this kind of invitation, we write, “Mr. Arvind Malhotra cordially seeks
the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. Singh, on the auspicious occasion of….”
·
Write as if it is written by a third person. It is not,
“I and my wife invite you to our son’s wedding” but, “Mr. and Mrs. Malhotra
cordially solicit the presence of Mr. and Mrs….”
·
Do not use I, we, and you and their other forms.
·
Follow the letter format with from address and date but
no need to write salutation such as, dear, sir, etc.
·
Begin with the host’s name, such as, “Mr. Peter is glad
to invite Mr. Alexander…”
·
For invitations inviting dignitaries as judges or chief
guests, it is just a single paragraph.
·
No I, We, You. Only Third Persons
·
Write inside a box.
Next – Sample – Functions
The Principal, staff and students of
Townvale Public School
cordially invite your presence on the occasion of the
Townvale Public School
cordially invite your presence on the occasion of the
Golden Jubilee Celebrations
of the school
on 21st December, 2012, Monday, from 05.00 pm to 09.00 pm at
King’s Stadium, Model Town.
on 21st December, 2012, Monday, from 05.00 pm to 09.00 pm at
King’s Stadium, Model Town.
Mr. Shah Rukh Khan
will be our proud guest of honor for the day.
will be our proud guest of honor for the day.
Kindly be seated before 4.50. This invitation admits only
three people.
A detailed rout map is overleaf.
RSVP
Charles Frost Asst. Principal 077-22-13-5654
Charles Frost Asst. Principal 077-22-13-5654
Next
– Sample – Wedding Invitation
Mrs. and Mr. Jain
cordially solicit your benign presence
cordially solicit your benign presence
on the auspicious occasion of the marriage of their son
ROHIT JAIN
with
SUJATHA JAIN
(D/o Mrs. and Mr. Lala Jain)
with
SUJATHA JAIN
(D/o Mrs. and Mr. Lala Jain)
on the 23rd of April, 2012, Monday, evening at
Rajouri Park Hotel, Rajouri Garden, Delhi.
Rajouri Park Hotel, Rajouri Garden, Delhi.
— PROGRAM —
Baraat : 8 30
Grand Dinner : 11:30
Grand Dinner : 11:30
RSVP 011-223344
Best Compliments from Raghav, Raju and friends
Best Compliments from Raghav, Raju and friends
Best Complements from
Mahesh, Peter and Pinku
Mahesh, Peter and Pinku
Next –
Sample – Inviting dignitaries
Question
Your school, Lord Buddha School, Gaya, is celebrating its
300th Anniversary in the month of December. The program is expected to last a
week. To this, invite Mr. A. K. Antony, Honorable Prime Minister to precede
over the occasion of the closing day programs. You are Ms. Sukanya, Principal.
Answer
Lord Buddha School
Gaya – 112233
Gaya – 112233
12 March 2017
Principal of Lord Buddha School, Gaya, cordially invites
Mr. A. K. Antony, Honorable Prime Minister, to the closing day celebrations of
the school’s 300th Anniversary in the month of December, preferably in the
second half of the month. The entire school hopes that the honorable Prime
Minister would definitely keep a part of his very precious time for this noble
cause and appreciate an early reply from his office.
Most sincerely
Shankar Dev Rana
Shankar Dev Rana
Next – Sample – Reply –
Accepting
Prime Minister’s Office
New Delhi – 110011
New Delhi – 110011
16 March 2017
Mr. A K Antony feels privileged to be invited to
inaugurate the closing day celebrations of the 300th Anniversary of Lord Buddha
School, Gaya. With cheers for the programs, he accepts the invitation and
confirms his availability from 2 pm to 5 pm, Saturday, 12 March.
Sincerely
Ms. Urmila Devi (Private Secretary)
Ms. Urmila Devi (Private Secretary)
Next – Sample – Reply –
Declining
Prime Minister’s Office
New Delhi – 110011
New Delhi – 110011
16 March 2017
Mr. A K Antony, the honorable Prime Minister feels
privileged to be invited to inaugurate the closing day celebrations of the
300th Anniversary of Lord Buddha School, Gaya. He would have been equally glad
to accept the invitation but he deeply regrets his unavailability due to a
foreign program in the same month. However, he wishes all success for the
program.
Sincerely
Ms. Urmila Devi (Private Secretary)
Ms. Urmila Devi (Private Secretary)
Drafting
the Minutes of meetings
Lots of organisations,
groups, and businesses have meetings where a record needs to be kept of the
proceedings and decisions made. Somebody in each case needs to write the
minutes of meetings.
·
an
informal meeting of hobby club members
·
the
annual general meeting of a charity
·
a
formal meeting of school governors
·
director’s
meetings of small or large companies
The written records of
these events are called the ‘minutes of meetings’.
The purpose of taking
minutes of the meeting is more or less the same in each case – to keep an
accurate record of events for future possible reference.
·
when it
took place,
·
who was
in attendance
·
who was
absent
·
what
was discussed
·
what
decisions were made
The minutes of meetings
are a record of discussions and decisions, and over time they might form an
important historical record (in the case of a government’s war cabinet for
instance).
There might also be a
legal requirement for sets of minutes to be produced in an organisation – as in
the case of a bank or a limited company.
Details
The amount of detail
recorded will depend upon the type of meeting and maybe its historical culture.
Some organisations like to have a record that captures the spirit of the
discussions that took place; others put their emphasis on the decisions that
are made.
One thing is certain:
the person taking the minutes is not expected to give a dramatic or poetic
description of what takes place. The minutes of a meeting are a summary,
recording its most important features.
You can get an idea of
the culture and style of the group by looking at the minutes of previous
meetings. These will give you a guide to the amount of detail normally required
and the way in which decisions are recorded.
Different types of
meetings record these details in various styles. A group of parents running a
children’s football team does not require the same degree of formality as a
managing board of company directors. Roughly speaking, there are three types of
minute taking
Informal
This might be no more
than a bulleted list of points, a table with boxes to record deadlines, or a
checklist of topics.
Minimalist
These will give a brief
information on time-date-place, who was present, and details of decisions or
resolutions passed. These can often be compressed onto a single side of A4
paper.
Detailed
A document of several
pages, with headings and sub-headings, and maybe numbered points. These might
provide a record of the discussion in summarized form, along with named
individuals given specific responsibilities, plus any deadlines for action.
The Role of a Minutes
Secretary
The minutes of a
meeting are normally taken by the secretary, whilst the chair conducts the
meeting.
It is the role of the
chair to set the agenda, introduce items, and decide who speaks to the issues.
In a very big
organisation the secretary might delegate the actual recording of events to an
assistant or clerk.
It’s important that the
minutes secretary follows the progress of the meeting carefully, recording
major items of debate and decisions that are taken. The published agenda is a
useful template by which to take notes during the meeting. This keeps the order
of topics and the structure of the meeting intact.
For this reason the
secretary and the chair need to work closely in collaboration with each other.
If a decision taken by
the meeting is not clear, the secretary should ask the chair to clarify matters
– which often helps other people as well.
Some types of meeting
even require a record of who spoke to the issues on the agenda, and what points
of argument they made. In such cases, a summary rather than a verbatim record
is appropriate.
Writing
the minutes of meetings
It
is most likely that to make rough notes during the meeting, then convert these
to finished report of the meeting after it has finished.
Remember
that summarizing the content is the most important issues, so it is necessary
to use a number of skills at the same time
·
good listening skills
·
the ability to summarize
·
good note-taking skills
At the meeting
·
listen attentively, jotting down key words
·
use the agenda document as a template
·
leave enough space between items for your jottings
·
summarize what’s said, using a system of shorthand
·
ask for clarification if necessary
Notes
on the Agenda
1.
The name of the meeting or group
This
can be very important in some cases – particularly if the minutes of the
meeting will be circulated widely outside the group itself, or even to the
public.
2.
Those in attendance
The
meeting might be composed of delegates or representatives from a variety of
organisations. It’s the secretary’s job to note both their names and the
organisations they represent.
List
the names in alphabetical order. This avoids any suggestion of priority or
importance.
3.
Minutes of the last meeting
It
is usual for these to be looked at briefly, with a view to making sure that
everybody agrees they are a correct record.
It
might be necessary to note the outcomes of any decisions taken on which action
has been taken
Larger
or on-going issues very often appear on the agenda of the current meeting, and
discussion of them can be deferred until these items are considered.
4.
Agenda item One
You
should keep the notes for each agenda item separate and quite distinct from
each other on the page.
Leave
plenty of space between the notes.
Template
for Meeting Minutes
|
1. Name of
Organisation or group
2. Name of Meeting –
it might be a regular meeting or one with a specific purpose
3. Date of Meeting
4. Names of those
attending – plus their positions or the organisations they represent
5. Apologies for
absence – those giving their apologies for non-attendance
6. Agenda item One –
This is usually the minutes of the last meeting
7. Agenda item Two
8. Agenda item Three …
and so on …
12. Date of the next
meeting
13. Any other business
|
The
papers for a meeting might normally include the following documents (depending
on the formality of the meeting or group):
·
An agenda for the forthcoming meeting
·
The minutes of the last meeting
·
Attachments, reports, or letters
Committee
members are given these papers in advance, and they are supposed to have read
them all before they arrive at the meeting. That’s the theory – but the reality
is often different.
People
often start reading through these documents at the meeting itself, and asking
questions about them – which is one of the many reasons that meetings take
longer than they should. It is the job of the chair to impose discipline over
such issues.
Writing
up the minutes of meetings
You
will be creating the minutes from your notes taken during the meeting. Here is
one overwhelmingly useful tip on this part of the task: The sooner after the
meeting you do it, the easier it will be.
That’s
because your rough notes will make more sense, and you are not relying on your
medium or long term memory to recapture any names or details of the discussion.
The
structure of the minutes will mirror the meeting agenda
Use
the past tense (“Mr Parkinson outlined the plan”) and avoid use of the passive
voice (“The plan was outlined by Mr Parkinson”)
Some
organizations and groups like to draw attention to the decisions and outcomes
by concluding the report of each agenda item with an action point. Here’s an
example:
There was a discussion
of the proposed alternative route and the impact it would have on local
residents and businesses. It was unanimously decided that a formal challenge
should be registered at the earliest possible date.
ACTION POINT: The
treasurer Mrs Jones will seek volunteers to form a transport sub-committee, and
Mr Davis as chair will contact the four local councillors and invite them to
address the next meeting.
Sample minutes of meetings
|
Westleigh Maintenance
Company Ltd
Annual General Meeting
Monday 19 July 2010
Present
Julie Culshaw, Mary
Greenhalgh, Vera Sisson, Ingrid Kempster, Edward Kempster, Irene Rodger,
Colin Rodger, Gerry Clarke, Edith Pickles, Pat Powell, Heather Pollitt, Roy
Johnson.
Apologies
Manoj Hira, Reg
Marsden, Lavinia Marsden, John Sillar
1. Minutes of the last
AGM held on 22 July 2009 were accepted.
2. The accounts for
the year ended 31 March 2010 were accepted.
Although these showed
an overall loss, this was due to late maintenance payments, and these had
since been paid.
3. Appointment of
accountants
The finance director
suggested that we remain with our current accountants, and this was accepted.
4. Appointment of
directors.
The current directors
were all standing for re-election. There were no nominations for new
directors. The current directors were re-elected.
5. Appointment of
company secretary
Julie Culshaw moved a
vote of thanks and appreciation to the secretary and other directors in
recognition of the amount of work they undertook on behalf of the Company.
Heather Pollitt was
elected as secretary.
6. Increase in service
charge
Because of the lack of
any surplus to pay for improvements and maintenance, the directors recently
looked into the possibility of arranging a bank overdraft. This was not
pursued because of the cost and the excessive bureaucracy attached. The
possibility of extraordinary payments was also discussed and rejected in
favour of an increase in the service charge.
The meeting finally
agreed that the directors should prepare a financial projection for the next
one to two years, based on an increase in the annual service charge to
somewhere between £1100 and £1200.
Any Other Business
7. Managing agents
The directors recently
decided to end the relationship with the Guthrie Partnership as managing
agents, because it was felt that the directors themselves were able to act
more efficiently on behalf of Westleigh and its interests.
However, the advisory
services of Alec Guthrie himself would be retained as and when required for
legal purposes.
8. Maintenance
Directors had spoken
to Dave Roberts, who agreed to act as a point of contact for local
maintenance services. It was stressed that this did not represent an
agreement to cover the costs of any works commissioned: these could only be
met following agreement of the directors.
Gerry Clarke reminded
the meeting that in cases where leaks from one apartment were affecting
another, the costs of any repairs and redecoration were the responsibility of
the owner causing the leaks.
9. Gardening
There was general
dissatisfaction with the services provided by the current gardeners. A
quotation from another local gardening service had been obtained, and it was
agreed to change to this alternative service for a trial period once
sufficient funds were available – probably towards the end of September.
10. Purchase of
freehold
The purchase of the
freehold was now complete, and Westleigh owners were in a position to either
cease or continue making ground rent payments. Pat Powell suggested that the
current payment should be included in the annual service charge, payable by
one direct debit. This suggestion was accepted.
11. External
re-decoration
The replacement of the
finials, cleaning of driveways, and repainting of fascia boards was almost
complete. A vote of thanks was extended to Edith Pickles for allowing the use
of her garage for storage during these works.
The meeting concluded
at 20.15
|
The Welcome Speech
The Welcome Speech is must in a formal meeting. It is normally the president
who delivers the welcome
speech or the welcome address as it is formally known.
To be effective, to fulfil its purpose, the speech must
meet expected, as well as specific, requirements dictated by the occasion.
The essential elements to cover in the opening remarks
are:
§ to specifically
acknowledge and welcome any important guests
§ to generally welcome all
the guests, stating the name of the event and host and thank them for coming
§ to give a brief
introduction of the host
§ to give a brief
introduction of the occasion
§ to introduce the next
speaker if appropriate
§ to conclude having made
everybody feel at ease, eagerly anticipating what is to come
Some guidelines :
1. Salutation : This is the first formal speech in a meeting. It is the duty of the speechmaker to start building a bridge between the audience and the people on the dais (Incidentally, the stage is called Dais pronounced dayis and not dayas) and so, his salutation will include the names and designations of all the people on the dais.
2. General Welcome : It is my pleasant duty to welcome you all to this meeting.
3. History : A few words about the past events those which happened before the event that is happening.
4. Purpose of the meeting : In the formal set up, the purpose of the meeting should be explained to the audience so that they will start expecting something out of the meeting.
5. Individual Welcome : All the people on the dais who are not members of your organisation need to be individually welcomed. The order is first, the most important person for that meeting, generally the chief guest. Followed by the guest of honour, if any. Do not begin the individual welcome by saying, "when we went to meet Mr our chief guest…"
This is irrelevant. Similarly phrases like "Who readily accepted our invitation" "Who has come here in spite of his busy schedule" These are clichés and spoil the impact of your speech.
Sample Welcome Speech:
Good evening; Professor
and Mrs. Smith, Chairman of the Board of Governors, Board Members, Honored
Guest and Advocate Green from the Education Council.
May I take this opportunity
to welcome you all, and to extend a further word of welcome to everyone here
this evening.
The Opening Day of our new college is
certainly a moment that we should all savor and enjoy. If you take a quick look
around you, I'm sure you will all agree that our college has come a long way in
the last few months.
It all started as a
dream. [Insert name of company] envisioned the dream of establishing a world
class educational institution; a college that would mold and
guide future generations of enlightened minds.
We would like to extend
our gratitude and thanks to all the role players that have made it possible for
the dream to become a reality. Tonight marks this occasion - the Opening and
Commencement Ceremony of our college.
You are all most welcome
to stay here this evening. I hope you enjoy the rest of
the evening's program and thank you for sharing this special event with us.
Proposing
Vote of Thanks
Thanking is a great tradition of any function that is
organized in any from or even any social gathering. It is to give a proper end
to the celebration, were the dignitaries are thanked for their presence to the
function.
There are two major ideas for the proposer. The first
is to refer to the central message of the speech topics of the lectures or presentations
given by the previous public speakers.
And emphasize only positive statements, ideas and thoughts of the
keynote speakers.
To write a good vote of thanks, one must think about the
type of event where the thanks will be presented, making sure to express
gratitude to the stakeholders, be creative and not take too much time. A vote of thanks should have brevity because it is typically
given at the end of an event, so it is important to not make it too long or
drawn out.
It
is very important to be aware of the audience that the vote of thanks will
address. For example, the speaker should be aware of the age of the audience
that he or she is addressing. Religious views, political leanings and other
characteristics should be taken into account as well.
A vote of
thanks speech should coincide with the event or ceremony underway, and should
express gratitude to all involved. It is also crucial the vote of thanks be
short, as it is usually the last item on the agenda, but nonetheless creative.
The vote of thanks speech should also demonstrate awareness of the audience,
their culture and expectations.
Always request a list of
all the individuals who contributed to the meeting's success. This list should
be used to thank all involved. Even small displays of gratitude are welcome,
such as thanking someone for providing juice at the event.
A vote of thanks should be
eloquent but should not use very long or technical words. A speech that is
difficult to understand will simply alienate the audience and take away
the importance of the speech's message. A thesaurus can come in handy for
finding the right words that will avoid this problem.
Speeches are more
interesting when they include anecdotes, quotes, poems and other interesting
references. These speeches can also have more color added to them by making the
"thank you" parts creative and endearing, and as is the case with
many kinds of speeches, humor can be very useful.
A quote, poem or scripture
usually adds flair to the speech, and shows the audience that the speaker took
time to prepare. Writers should try to add as many elements of creativity as
possible through the use of interesting and unique observations. A joke made in
good taste may also be appropriate
A vote of thanks is often tough to do
well because the proposer are generally:
a. following an established ‘headline’
speaker for the event who has been hired to wow the crowd
b. the last piece on the event agenda
– the audience are itching to get away
c. the last thing that the audience
will remember from the event – it’s your job to make a good final impression!
So, for your delight, here’s my tried
and trusted template for giving an engaging, concise and relevant vote of
thanks.
Intro – introduce yourself to the audience.
Thanks for attending – thank the audience for coming along (they love being mentioned first!)
Emotion / joke – make a humorous comment on the day or give a positive personal opinion
about the event. This helps to build rapport quickly.
Specific thanks – thank the speaker, highlighting three points from their speech that
you felt were the most enjoyable and relevant. Explain why you felt they were
so good.
Wish safe journey – wish the audience a safe journey home (they love being mentioned
again!)
Soundbite / action – finish with a final point that is memorable and relevant – something
that the audience will remember.
Here’s a short (humorous and fictional!) vote
of thanks written using this very template:
[INTRO] Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Rich Watts and it is my
job this evening to give the vote of thanks.
[THANKS] I’d like to start by thanking you all for attending and supporting the
wonderful cause that is this fundraiser for the Monkey Tears charity.
[EMOTION / HUMOUR] The highlight for me has been Mrs Jones’ cake stall and if you haven’t
already, I’d urge you to try the blueberry muffins before you leave, but not
the chocolate ones, because I’m hoping to take as many as possible home with me
tonight!
[ SPECIFIC THANKS] I’m sure you will all join me in thanking once again our speaker
tonight, Mr David Ferneybottom.
APPLAUSE.
David, I particularly enjoyed your speech. I
couldn’t agree more with your points about how we should all adopt a monkey
next year to help develop economic prosperity. Such a scheme truly is required
if we are to get out of this recession.
I delighted in hearing about your experiences
of monkeys from your school days, and it reminded me vividly of my own
wonderful days of education and those long, hot summer holidays.
Finally, I’m still laughing at your joke
about the banana and the monkey. I think we all are, and I shall be sharing it
with my wife when I return home tonight.
[WISH SAFE JOURNEY] All that remains now is for me to wish you all a safe journey home.
[SOUNDBITE/ACTION] And as My Ferneybottom has taught us – never mess with a monkey with a
banana in its hand!
Unit – 5: English in the Internet Era
The Internet and English Vocabulary
For hundreds of years, technology has
been driving the evolution of the English language. In the fifteenth century,
the invention of the printing press established standard methods of spelling
English words. New forms of punctuation were invented to make printed texts
easier to read, and for the first time people from different regions began to
agree about English grammar. The invention of the telegraph, and later of the
radio and the television, had a term paper writing effect on the
English language. New words were invented to describe these new technologies,
and new styles of speech were invented by broadcasters. However, it is the
Internet that has had the largest effect on the English language, changing it
completely in less than two decades.
The hallmark of Internet
communication is efficiency. People who began using e-mail, and later instant
messaging, found it efficient to invent a whole new world of acronyms, and
these spread like wildfire across the Internet. Acronyms such as ‘brb’ and
‘lol’ have made their way into the ordinary speech of young people, and even
into the pages of some respectable dictionaries. Meanwhile, it became so easy
to communicate over the Internet that people stopped writing things out with a
pen and paper. Letters have become obsolete, and everything from school
projects to professional reports are created on computers, with the aid of
online dictionaries and spellcheckers. Some studies have suggested that young
people no longer know how to spell, because they use programmes that
auto-correct their work. In this way, the Internet has had as large an effect
on spelling conventions as the printing press did, almost six hundred years
ago.
More than any other technology, the
Internet has encouraged the invention of new words. Sometimes these words are
created by expanding the definition of existing words. ‘Traffic’ used to refer
to foot traffic, and then to horse and carriages, and then to automobiles. Now
it refers to people visiting a website. Words like ‘cyberspace’ and ‘virtual’
were originally invented by science fiction authors, but they were adopted by
early Internet users, and entered the wider vocabulary of the public. A ‘virus’
used to be something that made you sick, but today it’s a destructive programme
that spreads itself across the Internet. The word ‘wireless’ was originally
used for radio communication, but today it refers to wireless Internet. If you
use a social networking site such as Facebook, you will be familiar with
‘tagging’ people, or ‘posting’ something to your ‘wall.’ These words all had
similar definitions in the past, but they have been given a new twist and are
used to refer to virtual activities.
Sometimes words are given entirely
new definitions. A ‘troll’ used to be a malicious creature from Norse legend,
but now it refers to someone who enjoys harassing other people over the
Internet. ‘Spam’ used to be a kind of canned meat, but now it refers to a
self-replicating message, often containing advertising, or promoting a scam. A
‘stream’ used to refer to running water, but now it’s a constantly updating
stream of information. Sometimes the Internet creates new verbs out of nouns.
‘Troll’ and ‘stream’ can both be used as verbs, and ‘google’ is an entirely new
verb that has even been included in some dictionaries.
Txt
spk
One
language change that has definitely been overhyped is so-called text speak, a
mixture of often vowel-free abbreviations and acronyms, says Prof Crystal.
"People
say that text messaging is a new language and that people are filling texts
with abbreviations - but when you actually analyse it you find they're
not," he said.
In
fact only 10% of the words in an average text are not written in full, he
added.
Wireless in the 1950s
meant a radio. It's very rare to talk about a radio now as a wireless, unless
you're of a particular generation or trying to be ironic Fiona McPherson,
Senior editor, Oxford English Dictionary
They may be in the
minority but acronyms seem to anger as many people as they delight.
Stephen
Fry once blasted the acronym CCTV (closed circuit television) for being
"such a bland, clumsy, rythmically null and phonically forgettable word,
if you can call it a word". But his inelegant group of letters is one of
many acronyms to earn a place in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The
secret of their success is their longevity.
"We
need evidence that people are using a word over a period of time," said
Fiona McPherson, senior editor in the new words group at the OED. She says the
group looks for evidence that a word has been in use for at least five years
before it can earn its place in the dictionary. Such evidence comes in the form
of correspondence from the public and trawling through dated material to find
out when a term first started appearing.
Hence
TMI (Too Much Information) and WTF (you may wish to look that one up for
yourself) are in, while OMG (Oh My God) has yet to be included in the quarterly
dictionary updates. "Some people get quite exercised and say, 'do these
things belong in our language?'," said Ms McPherson. "But maybe this
has always happened. TTFN [ta ta for now] is from the ITMA (It's That Man
Again) radio series in the 1940s."
Word
thief
There is no doubt that
technology has had a "significant impact" on language in the last 10
years, says Ms McPherson.
Some
entirely new words like the verb 'to google', or look something up on a search
engine, and the noun 'app', used to describe programmes for smartphones (not
yet in the OED), have either been recently invented or come into popular use.
Image captionWebsite internetslang.com lists 5,090
English language acronyms in use.
But the hijacking of
existing words and phrases is more common.
Ms
McPherson points out that the phrase "social networking" debuted in
the OED in 1973. Its definition - "the use or establishment of social
networks or connections" - has only comparatively recently been linked to
internet-based activities.
"These
are words that have arisen out of the phenomenon rather than being technology
words themselves," she added.
"Wireless
in the 1950s meant a radio. It's very rare to talk about a radio now as a
wireless, unless you're of a particular generation or trying to be ironic. The
word has taken on a whole new significance."
For Prof Crystal it is
still too early to fully evaluate the impact of technology on language.
"The
whole phenomenon is very recent - the entire technology we're talking about is
only 20 years old as far as the popular mind is concerned."
Sometimes
the worst thing that can happen to a word is that it becomes too mainstream, he
argues.
"Remember
a few years ago, West Indians started talking about 'bling'. Then the white
middle classes started talking about it and they stopped using it.
"That's typical of
slang - it happens with internet slang as well."
Words that were adopted and modified
by Internet users come full circle when they make their way back into everyday
speech. The word ‘troll’ is a perfect example. It used to refer to a strange,
inhuman creature living in the woods of Northern Europe, and then it came to
refer to someone behaving badly on the Internet. Now someone can be called a
troll when they behave obnoxiously in real life. The word ‘lurking’ is another
example. It was adopted by Internet users to refer to someone who views an
online conversation without contributing. Now people use it in real life to
refer to someone who is part of a group but doesn’t join in the conversation.
The Internet has only existed for a
short time, but it’s already had a huge effect on the way people communicate.
It’s too soon to judge how permanent the effect of the Internet will be on
society and the English assignment help language,
but it’s likely that the changes people have made to the way they speak will
last for hundreds of years. It’s also possible that a new technology will come
along and replace the Internet, and acronyms such as ‘lol’ will seem like
archaisms to our grandchildren.
Role and Scope of Online English
Dictionaries
There are different reputable internet equipment
including on the internet English dictionaries, systems for grammar examining,
as well as other processing equipment. Other than the comfort, online
dictionaries promptly reduce the restrictions of printed reference resources.
Several of your customers imagine that they do not need to update their
dictionaries generally, due to the fact the means of text will not adjust.
On one other hand, words as well as their meanings are
dynamic. Online English dictionaries are auto-updated; in actual fact here is
the primary benefit of on the web dictionaries above printed kinds. A web based
dictionary is up-to-date quickly. It means that every new phrase or terminology
might be extra during the databases of on the net dictionary. One among the
very best traits of these dictionaries would be the translation feature, e.g.
an online dictionary can translate an English word into Italian and vice versa.
This may be an essential resource for understanding an international language.
Another benefit is of benefit, i.e. just input the term
and the internet site research motor will do the rest of the work. No much more
spelling look at time, no want of any systems for grammar checking, no much
more throwing away time in looking for the right phrase as well as the right
indicating. An on-line dictionary is actually a great tool of data, especially
if we know how you can distinguish a fantastic on line dictionary from the bad
a single. Also many of us check out on line dictionary as dietary supplements
to print dictionaries and not an alternative. We frequently fail to remember
which the dictionary offers the meaning of the term. It doesn’t correct the
grammar, as is finished through the programs used for grammar.
Nevertheless, it remains a reality that on line
dictionaries is advantageous. A lot of people may be careful in relation to
employing on the web dictionaries due to the uncertainty connected with the
supply. Although the thousands and thousands who use this modern facility act
as a pointer that the on-line dictionaries could be good as the real thing. For
a final result, the person gets all the rewards s/he justifies from his/her
effort, and nothing fewer
Dictionary
online provides complete search regarding definitions, pronunciation, spelling,
thesaurus entries and etymology results for any word. The online dictionary can
be browsed alphabetically or by the terms related to the word to find the exact
meanings and synonyms of the word. There are online dictionaries in different
languages like French, Italian, Spanish and German.
There are also online dictionaries covering varied subjects, such as computer, science, and medical, pharmaceutical and also industry specific terms. The information available on online dictionary is gathered from various sources like Wikipedia, encyclopedias, the acronym finder databases, and financial and legal dictionaries. The online thesaurus is also available that has a list of words with similar meanings.
One of the biggest advantages of dictionary online is that it is free to access so your money is saved that otherwise gets wasted in buying printed version of dictionary. Moreover, people can also compile their own personal dictionary by selecting some every day words from online dictionary. The option of audio helps you to listen and learn the pronunciation of any difficult word which you are not able to spell out properly.
Special-purpose dictionaries
There are online multi-field dictionaries that cover different semantic fields whereas a single-field online dictionary covers only one subject field. There are also online sub-field dictionaries that further cover a singular field of a subject. There are also different types of online special-purpose dictionaries that include multilingual, bilingual, scientific, biographical, technical, historical and geographical dictionaries. Learner's dictionaries assist the people in learning a language whereas bi-lingual online dictionaries help in translating languages.
If you are struggling with finding meanings of technical terminology then one can access technical dictionary that especially covers technical related subjects. The technical online dictionary proves beneficial for medical and computer dictionaries. The visual online dictionary is an interactive dictionary with pictures offering an innovative approach for learning the meanings of words. It is an all-in-one reference book in which we can quickly locate the picture of a word. It provides an easy and accessible way of learning words. So, the visual dictionary is ideal for teachers, students, parents and translators. Now-a-days, dictionary software is also available in PDAs format that can be easily downloaded on computers. Not only on computers, the dictionary software can also be downloaded on mobiles too thus can be accessed anywhere at any point of an hour.
There are also online dictionaries covering varied subjects, such as computer, science, and medical, pharmaceutical and also industry specific terms. The information available on online dictionary is gathered from various sources like Wikipedia, encyclopedias, the acronym finder databases, and financial and legal dictionaries. The online thesaurus is also available that has a list of words with similar meanings.
One of the biggest advantages of dictionary online is that it is free to access so your money is saved that otherwise gets wasted in buying printed version of dictionary. Moreover, people can also compile their own personal dictionary by selecting some every day words from online dictionary. The option of audio helps you to listen and learn the pronunciation of any difficult word which you are not able to spell out properly.
Special-purpose dictionaries
There are online multi-field dictionaries that cover different semantic fields whereas a single-field online dictionary covers only one subject field. There are also online sub-field dictionaries that further cover a singular field of a subject. There are also different types of online special-purpose dictionaries that include multilingual, bilingual, scientific, biographical, technical, historical and geographical dictionaries. Learner's dictionaries assist the people in learning a language whereas bi-lingual online dictionaries help in translating languages.
If you are struggling with finding meanings of technical terminology then one can access technical dictionary that especially covers technical related subjects. The technical online dictionary proves beneficial for medical and computer dictionaries. The visual online dictionary is an interactive dictionary with pictures offering an innovative approach for learning the meanings of words. It is an all-in-one reference book in which we can quickly locate the picture of a word. It provides an easy and accessible way of learning words. So, the visual dictionary is ideal for teachers, students, parents and translators. Now-a-days, dictionary software is also available in PDAs format that can be easily downloaded on computers. Not only on computers, the dictionary software can also be downloaded on mobiles too thus can be accessed anywhere at any point of an hour.
Language and the advent of technology
Here are some statistics
for you:
- More people currently have a
mobile phone capable of accessing the internet than have a PC with net
access (source: Mobile Top Level Domain, the organisation charged with
overseeing the ‘.mobi’ domain name registration)
- Sending text messages is now
almost as common as talking on mobile phones
- Only 12% of mobile users never use
their phone for texting (and virtually half of these people are over 65).
- 70% of 15-24 year-olds say they
‘could not live’ without their mobile phone
- There are an estimated 110
million-150 million blogs in existence (although many of these are
abandoned soon after they are established)
Technology’s role in our
lives is astonishing. Its effect on the way we communicate has changed the
English language forever. To be more specific, the way we speak today is, by and
large, the way we spoke before the internet became what it is, albeit with an
enriched vocabulary. Conventions of telephone conversations have, to my mind,
changed little: we still use the same methods – if not words – to greet and
sign off, for example.
What is hugely
different, however, is the way we write today. That is the area where
technology has had the biggest impact. Email altered the structure of the
letter as a communicative tool. It brought with it a whole new etiquette, as
well as new conventions and new abbreviations, such as IMO (in my opinion),
FWIW (for what it’s worth), IIRC (if I remember correctly) and FYI (for your
information).
And it
introduced the idea that WORDS IN UPPER CASE MEAN WE ARE SHOUTING, while lower
case writing is the accepted form. But email English is nothing compared to the
impact upon language driven by mobile phone users. The rate and extent of
change this has had is truly astounding. The way we write our text messages is
now so widely accepted that it has infiltrated mainstream advertising. Here are
two examples I can think of immediately:
Virgin Media, the
British company, ran a campaign several months ago for its provision of
broadband (or Brdbnd, as it called it) and, a little more locally to me, a
council campaign advised us: ‘Dnt B Wstfl’. And then we have the meteoric rise
of blogging. There are now well over 100million blogs worldwide. Add to that
the even-more-baffling growth of the key social networking websites – MySpace,
Bebo, Facebook – and we start to see the whole picture. The watch-words today
are ‘user-generated content’ (UGC). So, to sum up…email + texting + blogging +
social networking sites = people writing more how they speak and less like they
used to write. And, essentially, less like they had to write – either for a
boss, a parent or a teacher.
Also,
let’s remember one of the basic driving elements in this transition: the screen
size of mobile phones is small and, therefore, text messaging was always, by
default, short. And short, inevitably, becomes shorter. People frequently
writing the same things would reduce the length of those words and phrases so
that the meaning remained intact while the effort required communicating – and
the amount of screen space used – were both minimized. While mainstream,
digital communication alters language use, it does not eradicate the
traditional; it merely sits alongside convention. And there are plenty of
people who are still interested in English as we have known it since before the
1990s, when mobiles and Messrs Page and Brin (Google’s founders) came to
prominence.
For hundreds of years, technology has been driving the
evolution of the English language. In the fifteenth century, the invention of
the printing press established standard methods of spelling English words. New
forms of punctuation were invented to make printed texts easier to read, and
for the first time people from different regions began to agree about English
grammar. The invention of the telegraph, and later of the radio and the
television, had an term paper writing effect on the English language. New words
were invented to describe these new technologies, and new styles of speech were
invented by broadcasters. However, it is the Internet that has had the largest
effect on the English language, changing it completely in less than two
decades.
The hallmark of Internet communication is efficiency.
People who began using e-mail, and later instant messaging, found it efficient
to invent a whole new world of acronyms, and these spread like wildfire across
the Internet. Acronyms such as ‘brb’ and ‘lol’ have made their way into the
ordinary speech of young people, and even into the pages of some respectable
dictionaries. Meanwhile, it became so easy to communicate over the Internet
that people stopped writing things out with a pen and paper. Letters have
become obsolete, and everything from school projects to professional reports
are created on computers, with the aid of online dictionaries and
spellcheckers. Some studies have suggested that young people no longer know how
to spell, because they use programmes that auto-correct their work. In this
way, the Internet has had as large an effect on spelling conventions as the
printing press did, almost six hundred years ago.
More than any other technology, the Internet has
encouraged the invention of new words. Sometimes these words are created by
expanding the definition of existing words. ‘Traffic’ used to refer to foot
traffic, and then to horse and carriages, and then to automobiles. Now it
refers to people visiting a website. Words like ‘cyberspace’ and ‘virtual’ were
originally invented by science fiction authors, but they were adopted by early
Internet users, and entered the wider vocabulary of the public. A ‘virus’ used
to be something that made you sick, but today it’s a destructive programme that
spreads itself across the Internet. The word ‘wireless’ was originally used for
radio communication, but today it refers to wireless Internet. If you use a
social networking site such as Facebook, you will be familiar with ‘tagging’
people, or ‘posting’ something to your ‘wall.’ These words all had similar
definitions in the past, but they have been given a new twist and are used to
refer to virtual activities.
Sometimes words are given entirely new definitions. A
‘troll’ used to be a malicious creature from Norse legend, but now it refers to
someone who enjoys harassing other people over the Internet. ‘Spam’ used to be
a kind of canned meat, but now it refers to a self-replicating message, often
containing advertising, or promoting a scam. A ‘stream’ used to refer to
running water, but now it’s a constantly updating stream of information.
Sometimes the Internet creates new verbs out of nouns. ‘Troll’ and ‘stream’ can
both be used as verbs, and ‘google’ is an entirely new verb that has even been
included in some dictionaries.
Words that were adopted and modified by Internet users
come full circle when they make their way back into everyday speech. The word
‘troll’ is a prefect example. It used to refer to a strange, inhuman creature
living in the woods of Northern Europe, and then it came to refer to someone
behaving badly on the Internet. Now someone can be called a troll when they
behave obnoxiously in real life. The word ‘lurking’ is another example. It was
adopted by Internet users to refer to someone who views an online conversation
without contributing. Now people use it in real life to refer to someone who is
part of a group but doesn’t join in the conversation.
The Internet has only existed for a short time, but it’s
already had a huge effect on the way people communicate. It’s too soon to judge
how permanent the effect of the Internet will be on society and the English assignment
help language, but
it’s likely that the changes people have made to the way they speak will last
for hundreds of years. It’s also possible that a new technology will come along
and replace the Internet, and acronyms such as ‘lol’ will seem like archaisms
to our grandchildren.
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