Britain. It's so small isn't it? In comparison to almost every other country, we're a dot. So why is it that such vast continents speak English? On a world map, America, Canada and Mexico seem to be at least 20 times the size of the tiny little island we call home. According to several sources, we rank as the world's fifth most powerful country - which is measured by things including nuclear weapons, G7 economy, and membership of the EU. We're also seen as a very forward and democratic country.
So despite being such a dot compared to other countries - we're very powerful. Can you imagine how influential we'd be if we were the size of Canada?
We never really seem to think about it; but I guarantee that every place you have been on holiday has had many English speaking locals. English is the most popular second language in the world. Why is this? Also, so much music that the world listens to is in English.
The Queen does not just reign over the UK. She is also regnant of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and many more. Yes, the power of the British Royal Family is spread across the world.
Now, I'm quite happy that the stork carrying me dropped me on English land, however, I don't quite understand how we have such an impact on the world, in terms of economics, trade, politics and royalty.
When you think of any country - straight away, associations of that country will enter your mind. For example, most people, when they hear the word 'France' they will think of fashion, croissants, cheese and berets. But what do people think of upon hearing the word 'England'?
When I think of England I think of tradition. I think of Shakespeare, Beatrix Potter, tea and scones, old Cathedral cities like York and Durham. I don't though, think that this is a fair representation anymore. To think of England correctly in this day and age would be to think of underage drinking, teenage pregnancy, greedy bankers and obesity. I'm not sure about you, but I'd definitely choose a scone over pregnancy.
There's something I've noticed recently, too. It may seem that we're patriarchal and are very proud of our language, but how many of us can spell most of it?
Old English is very interesting to study, and it's fascinating how words have developed to how we talk today. English is spoken in 53 countries. But just look at the size of England! English is the 4th most popular spoken language. But it seems that we can't really be bothered with it ourselves.
The amount people cut down in texts and online is ridiculous, that's something that I really cannot stand.
I'm one of those annoying people that corrects people's spelling. I do it in the nicest way possible, as I know how annoying it can be; but if I see something has been spelled wrong; I cannot rest until it's been corrected.
The amount of menu's I've seen, scrawled outside of cafe's with the dreaded word 'potatoe' is unbelievable. Now, this example is not due to lack of brain cells, it's lack of effort. Britons really owe it to the rest of the world, that seems to love our language so much. Now I'm not having a go at people that really can't spell, but to have been taught these words repeatedly though school, it's just ridiculous. I'm not saying that I'm Mrs Spelling Bee, but learning a language never stops, and I'm on my 19th year of not giving up. I bet you're dying to find a spelling mistake in this post now, aren't you?
We really need to keep our language intact, at least for the sake of linguists in the future who thrive off of studying it. Over time, yes, we have shortened and short-cutted, but if mark schemes start accounting for phrases such as 'hu r u?' and 'ur reli gr8' I will, literally, 'dy'.
the daft thing is, most people think the best way to acheive these things is by strong-armed right wing politics, when in fact there's far less conservative solutions :(
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the rest of the world "love" the English language. Its widespread use stems, initially, from the British Empire exporting violence and stealing vast swathes of land. Now that role has been inherited by the Americans — themselves a product of British violence and thievery.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to the French language in Britain after the Norman conquest, the indigenous populations took on enough of the 'official' language in order to interact with 'official' institutions. The vast scale of such institutions (compared to the relatively limited role of the Norman elite) means that more English was picked up.
Now, on to your main theme of bastardisation of the language. As distasteful as it may be it's not something to get incredibly worked up about. The majority of 'important', mainstream cultural works are, generally, written in fairly good English. There's no chance such 'text speak' (that used to be the term. Is it IM speak now? Facebook speak?) will gain such acceptance that any major works will make use of it.
Such alteration also happens in other languages. This isn't unique to English.
Lastly (and if you did A-level English Language you'll probably have heard this before), languages changes anyway. There's no sense in trying to stop such change, because you can't. If you are particularly worried about the condensed forms you give as examples overwhelming "regular" English, you needn't be. The vast majority of people don't use those forms.
However, as mentioned, language changes regardless. Here's a good quote from David Crystal, a linguist, about it:
It is the nature of language to change. The only languages that don't change are the dead ones. That's the definition of a dead versus a living language, that it changes. Language changes to keep pace with society. It is a reflection of society. Language has no life apart from the people who use it. Language is in the mouths and the ears and the eyes and the hands of the users. So therefore, it is an inevitable process.
As one of the other comments posted commented the prevalence of the English language can be attributed to the widespread travel of British speaking explorers and settlers over the last five centuries. Some of these people were soldiers and others intent on plunder and glory but let’s not forget for example that the first English speaking settlers in the new world were the Pilgrim Fathers who fled there to escape what they saw as persecution here and Australia which was a dumping ground for criminals. It’s also easy to attribute modern day morals with the benefit of centuries of hindsight. Having said that the reason that at one point a third of the world belonged to the British Empire was that we have always been a bit better at fighting wars than the competition, namely the French, Spanish and Portuguese.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the Queen has a symbolic role in many of the Commonwealth Countries she’s doesn’t in reality reign over any of them’ she is a constitutional monarch in the UK. She doesn’t make laws or indeed interfere in politics at all.
As for the ever-changing use of the language; although change is inevitable future generations will certainly miss out if the fail to look back at where they came from. This is as true of Mozart as it is of Shakespeare.
As one of the other comments posted commented the prevalence of the English language can be attributed to the widespread travel of British speaking explorers and settlers over the last five centuries. Some of these people were soldiers and others intent on plunder and glory but let’s not forget for example that the first English speaking settlers in the new world were the Pilgrim Fathers who fled there to escape what they saw as persecution here and Australia which was a dumping ground for criminals. It’s also easy to attribute modern day morals with the benefit of centuries of hindsight. Having said that the reason that at one point a third of the world belonged to the British Empire was that we have always been a bit better at fighting wars than the competition, namely the French, Spanish and Portuguese.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the Queen has a symbolic role in many of the Commonwealth Countries she’s doesn’t in reality reign over any of them’ she is a constitutional monarch in the UK. She doesn’t make laws or indeed interfere in politics at all.
As for the ever-changing use of the language; although change is inevitable future generations will certainly miss out if the fail to look back at where they came from. This is as true of Mozart as it is of Shakespeare.
Doncaster-Geordie