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Chapter3TheGrowthoftheEnglishVocabulary(2)----British&American3.1WorldEnglishesThestatusoftheEnglishlanguageasthelinguafrancaintheworldisbeyonddoubt.ButEnglishseeminglyaresultofglobalization,sowewouldfindobviousdisparitiesamongitsspeakersfromdifferentregions,reflectingcharacteristicsoftheirhomeregions.AbetterwordtodescribethedevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguagecanprobablybeglocalizationbecauseEnglishisbecomingmoreglobalandcommoninuseforinternationalcommunication,andabsorbinglocalcharacteristicsfromtheregionthatitcomesto.3.1.1ThespreadofEnglish•TheoutboundspreadofEnglishtemporallyfallsintofourstages.•Thefirststagestartedfromthelate17thcenturytothe18thcenturywhenEnglishissettledintosomeEnglishcolonieswiththenewinhabitants,suchasAmerica,Canada,AustraliaandNewZealand.•ThesecondstagefeaturestheIndustrialRevlutionofthe18thand19thcenturies.AdvancesintechnologybroughtagreatamountofnewEnglishwordintobeing.•Thethirdstagewasfromthelate19thcenturytotheearly20thcentury,highlightedbythetwoWorldWars.ThemajorforceininternationalizingEnglishcamefromAmerica,whichleapedtoasuperpowerinbotheconomyandpolitics.•Thefourthstagewassincethelate20th.ThedrivingforceinthisperiodwastheAmericaninnovationofinformationtechnology,especiallytheadvancedcomputertechnologyandtherapiddevelopmentoftheInternet.AccordingtoDavidCrystal,therearesome75territoriesinwhichEnglishisspokenasamothertongueoranimportantsecondlanguage.•Heputforwardthreeconcentriccircles•theinnercirclereferstothetraditionalbasesofEnglish.•theoutercirclereferstothenon-Englishcountrieswherethelanguageisusedasasecondlanguageforinstitutionalpractices.•theexpandingcircleinvolvingthenationswhereistaughtasaforeignlanguage,mainlyforsomespecificpurposes.3.1.2FeaturesofEnglishasagloballanguage•OverhalfofthewordsintheEnglishvocabularyhavetheiroriginsinLatin.SinceitsspreadoutsidetheBritishIsles,Englishhasbeenthemostreadytoborrowwordsfromotherlanguageaswell.•AnexampleofthegrowinginterestintheresearchofEnglishasagloballanguageisthewebsite.3.1.3Englishnativization•However,theEnglishexpansiondoesnotsimplymeantheassimilationoftheworld.Initscontactwithotherlocalculturesandlanguages,Englishkeepsatwo-wayscommunicationwiththem,havinganeffectonbothsides.•Globally,Englishisformingauniversalstandard.•Locally,itinteractswithotherlanguageandtransformsintoaregionaldialect.3.2BritishEnglish•BritishEnglishhasaboardsenseandanarrowsense.•Initsboarduse,itreferstothelanguageoftheentirelyoftheUnitedKingdom.•ThenarrowusereferstotheformofStandardEnglishusedinBritish,orthemediumoftheupperandmiddleclass.3.2.1Dialectsandaccents•InsidetheBritishIsles,thediversityofdialectsdrawsupanotherpictureofBritishEnglish.•Intermsofaccents,RPisthebestknownonetotheworld.•Sincethe1990sEstuaryEnglish,anewdialect,combinesCockneyandRPincharacter.3.2.2ThechangingBritishEnglishvocabulary•ModernEnglishconsistsofthreemainelements.•theAnglo-Saxonelementsalmostcommonlyusedinlife.•FrenchwhichbroughttoEnglishagreatnumberofwords.•Intheareasofmedicine,Latinhascontributedthemost.•AsEnglishexpandedintonon-Englishregionsandmetwithnon-nativespeakers,changesoccurredtoitself.•Immigrationisanotherreasonfortheborrowingofwordsfromnon-Englishlangugae.3.3AmericanEnglishAmericanEnglishorU.SEnglishisthelargestregionalEnglishvariety.AccordingtoDavidCrystal(2003),Englishisspokenbyabout241millionpeopleintheUnitedStates,comparedwith59millioninGreatBritain.Asof2004,over66%ofnativeEnglishspeakersspeakAmericanEnglish.3.3.1History•ThefirstperiodextendedfromthesettlementofJamestownin1607to1790.In1756,theterm“Americandialect”wascoinedbySamuelJohnson,authorofDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,intendedonlyasaninsult.In1584,EnglishwasfirstbroughttoAmericabyanexpeditioncommissionedbyWalterRaleigh.ThegrowthoftheEnglishlanguageinU.Scanbesimplyseparatedintothreeperiods:•ThesecondperiodisknownastheNationalExpansionPeriod,extendingfrom1790to1865.InthisperiodNoahWebstershowedhisconcernovertheestablishmentofschoolsandofauniformstandardofspelling.•Thethirdperiod,sincetheCivilWar,ismarkedbyanimportantchangeinthesourcefromwhichtheEuropeanimmigrantscame.3.3.2ThedifferencebetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishAlthoughBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishsharecommonalityinthemajorityoflinguisticformsinEnglish,theydodivergeatagreatnumberofpoints.Themostobviousdifferencesbetweenthemareperhapsfoundinvocabulary.Differencesinwordchoice①Differentwords,samemeaning(e.g.emcee―compere,faucet―tap,muffler―silencer,rookie―firstyearmember,sophomore―secondyearstudent,washcloth―face-flannel…)②Sameword,differentmeanings(e.g.vest―waistcoat背心;vest―undershirt汗衫，贴身内衣…)③Wordscross-matchinginmeaning(e.g.biscuit―cookie饼干,小甜点;biscuit―scone烤饼,司康饼…)④Sameword,additionalmeaninginonevariety⑤WordsuniquetoonevarietyDifferencesinspellingformsanaesthetic/anesthetic,amoeba/ameba,foetus/fetuscolour/color,favour/favor,honour/honorcentre/center,fibre/fiber3.4TheFutureofEnglishCanadianEnglishwasestablishedinthelate16thcentury.AustraliaEnglish,NewZealandEnglishandIndianEnglishbeganattheendofthe18thcentury.AndSouthAfricanEnglishstartedto