by LoveUniHateExams 180 Replies latest jw friends
In the US there are regional and social English variations - it's pretty fascinating.
A lot of the regional variations came about because of the immigrants who colonized a specific area and spoke Dutch/German/French/etc.
If you're interested in sociolinguistics/ english variation you should read William Labov's studies. He is the pioneer of English variation studies in the US.
Speaking to foreign people all day everyday and I had to slow down and speak clearly.
However, I can switch to Scouse if I want to - yes, it's interesting the influence of others on the speaker.
I'm from SE England but have lived in Bolton for the last 5 years. I'm not a proper Cockney or Londoner but I guess I come from an 'Estuary English' background. I'm fairly well-spoken, but when I'm angry or emotional my accent starts to come out and I start dropping my h's, using glottal stops for t's, etc.
My being well-spoken(ish) is kinda my way of fitting in with local people.
And, if I'm in the chip shop and order chips with mushy peas I'm tempted to say 'moosheh' peas and not 'mahshee' peas. In the end it comes out as 'mooshee' - kinda intermediate between how the locals pronounce mushy and how Londoners do.
Also, whenever I talk to or visit my aunts on my dad's side, I speak more broadly. They live in Gillingham and Rainham but come from Brixton and Stockwell, so I fit in by speaking more like a Londoner ... innit!
How about some latin lessons?
I spent quite a length of time in Papua New Guinea, a country in which over 800 different languages are spoken (As of January 2006, a total of 806 languages had been identified. Since then, it is possible that even more have been discovered). This goes away beyond mere variations in dialects; many of the languages are not even in the same "language group" as others.
Often in that country, you can have the situation in which the people in one village speak an entirely different language to those in the next one - and that next village could literally be just on the opposite bank of the river! Furthermore, that "difference" could be as great as not even being in the same language group!
In order to communicate and trade with one another, the people developed a lingua-franca known variously as "Neo Melanesian", "Tok Pisin" or "Pidgin English".
80% of the words in Pidgin English are from the English language, but adapted to the Melanesian style of grammar. The remaining 20% of the Pidgin vocabularly is drawn from Malay, Portuguese, German, Fijian, and local languages (principally that of theTolai people of East New Britain).
However, the meaning of English words has often been altered, For example to "die" in Pidgin means to be unconscious; to "die" as it is understood in English is to be "die finish". Also, various terms that in English are either swear words or else outright obscene are just how you say it in Pidgin. The most common such word you encounter is "bagarap" - i.e. bugger-up. If anythingthing is damaged/defective, it is "bagarap":
- If it is badly damaged, it is "bagarap tru"; if irrepairably damaged, it is "bagarap finish". Should everything be going wrong, then "Ol samting bagarap".
Always a trap when coming back to an English speaking country!
For an English speaking person, Tok Pisin is not generally too difficult to pick up. There are, though, a few pitfalls.
One that caught us out for a while as the expression "Yu kisim we?" This turned out to mean "Where did you get it from?"
As an example of how English words have been integrated into the Melanesian style of grammar , this was as statement I had directed at me one night, after our vehicle broke down in a remote part of East New Britain:
"Masta, ka bilong yu i bagarap."
What this person was telling us was "White man, your car has broken down" (which I already knew!)
Yes, I could go on all day about the Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin language!
Just thought I’d bump this thread.
I’m learning (or trying to learn!) Arabic. In December I learnt the Arabic alphabet from a series of youtube videos. I would have found it hard to learn the letters from a book, instead actually watching someone write the letters and describe their features helped a great deal.
I learnt a few phrases from her yt videos but once I’d learnt the alphabet I knew that actually learning words and grammar would best be done by book + recordings. For the last month or so, I’ve been working through a book/cd set that I’ve borrowed from the local library entitled ‘Mastering Arabic’ (I’m certainly no master of it – this book is aimed at complete beginners like me!).
I like the way the book gradually eases you into this language – I’m learning question words, simple adjectives and most recently everyday prepositions and making simple sentences with them. Question words are maa (what), man (who), ayna (where), keef (how), kam (how many). I’m also learning yes or no questions. In Arabic these start with the ‘question word’ hal (cf. you speak English (statement) and do you speak English?).
Hal qalamak 3ala l-ma’ida?
La, huwa bijaanib at-tileefizyoon.
Is your pen on the table?
No, it’s beside the tv. (Of course, I’m learning to read and write it in Arabic script!)
As you can see, all the Arab-speaking intellectuals of past and present can rest easy!
I said in another post that I have difficulty in pronouncing the Arabic consonant ‘ayn. It can be transliterated as ‘3’ because the Arabic letter looks like this number but the other way round. The word Arab starts with ‘ayn – 3arabi (an Arab male), 3arabiya (an Arab female).
The person whose videos helped me learn the alphabet, Maha Yakoub, has a video on how to pronounce ‘ayn. It’s really helpful but I still find it a nightmare to pronounce. Listen to the video and have a go yourself … see what I mean!
@Bungi Bill - very interesting post.
I'm guessing a word-for-word translation of "Masta, ka bilong yu i bagarap." is 'master, car belong you he bugger-up'.
So, I'm further speculating that 'I'm injured', 'there's something wrong with me' or even 'I'm tired' in Tok Pisin is mi bagarap.
Here’s one for you then, midduck!
https://mumblingnerd.com/2010/06/23/nottinghamenglish-phrases-in-idiomatic-form/
You’d love Nottnm as it has TWO universities.
Justarkatit - listen to the rain ('just hark at it')
Love it!
Gerrus a brewin if yer mashin duck!
Please would you make me a mug of tea my friend, if you’re making one yourself?
Dis website he belong us he buggerip!
