Regional varieties of the English vocabulary

Introduction

The theme of my course work is Regional varieties of the English vocabulary. I want to tell about English language history, and also about regionalisms.

First of all I want to say, that England, the historical home of English, has significant regional language differences in pronunciation, accent, vocabulary and grammar. Teaching English therefore involves not only helping the student to use the form of English most suitable for his purposes, but also exposure to regional forms and cultural styles so that the student will be able to discern meaning even when the words, grammar or pronunciation are different to the form of English he is being taught to speak.

English speakers have many different accents, which often signal the speaker's native dialect or language. For the most distinctive characteristics of regional accents, see Regional accents of English, and for a complete list of regional dialects, see List of dialects of the English language. Within England, variation is now largely confined to pronunciation rather than grammar or vocabulary. At the time of the Survey of English Dialects, grammar and vocabulary differed across the country, but a process of lexical attrition has led most of this variation to die out.

Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "world language", the lingua franca of the modern era, and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language. Some linguists believe that it is no longer the exclusive cultural property of "native English speakers", but is rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications. English is an official language of the United Nations and many other international organizations, including the International Olympic Committee.

English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union, by 89% of schoolchildren, ahead of French at 32%, while the perception of the usefulness of foreign languages amongst Europeans is 68% in favor of English ahead of 25% for French. Among some non-English-speaking EU countries, a large percentage of the adult population claims to be able to converse in English – in particular: 85% in Sweden, 83% in Denmark, 79% in the Netherlands, 66% in Luxembourg and over 50% in Finland, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, and Germany.

Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world, and English is the most commonly used language in the sciences with Science Citation Index reporting as early as 1997 that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries.

This increasing use of the English language globally has had a large impact on many other languages, leading to language shift and even language death, and to claims of linguistic imperialism. English itself is now open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter I

The history of the English language

English is a West Germanic language spoken originally in England, and is now the most widely used language in the world. It is spoken as a first language by a majority of the inhabitants of several nations, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. It is the third most commonly spoken language in the world in terms of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. But it is more commonly used as a second language than any other, which is why its total number of speakers – native plus non-native – exceeds those of any other language. English is an official language of the European Union and many Commonwealth countries, as well as in many world organizations.

English arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and what is now south-east Scotland, but was then under the control of the kingdom of Northumbria. Following the extensive influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, via the British Empire, and of the United States since the mid-20th century, it has been widely dispersed around the world, becoming the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions.

Historically, English originated from the fusion of closely related dialects, now collectively termed Old English, which were brought to the eastern coast of Great Britain by Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) settlers by the 5th century – with the word English being derived from the name of the Angles, and ultimately from their ancestral region of Angeln (in what is now Schleswig-Holstein). A significant number of English words are constructed based on roots from Latin, because Latin in some form was the lingua franca of the Christian Church and of European intellectual life. The language was further influenced by the Old Norse language due to Viking invasions in the 8th and 9th centuries.

The Norman conquest of England in the 11th century gave rise to heavy borrowings from Norman-French, and vocabulary and spelling conventions began to give the appearance of a close relationship with Romance languages to what had then become Middle English. The Great Vowel Shift that began in the south of England in the 15th century is one of the historical events that mark the emergence of Modern English from Middle English.

Owing to the assimilation of words from many other languages throughout history, modern English contains a very large vocabulary. Modern English has not only assimilated words from other European languages but also from all over the world, including words of Hindi and African origin. The Oxford English Dictionary lists over 250,000 distinct words, not including many technical, scientific, and slang terms.

Modern English is the direct descendant of Middle English, itself a direct descendant of Old English, a descendant of Proto-Germanic. Typical of most Germanic languages, English is characterized by the use of modal verbs, the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, and common sound shifts from Proto-Indo-European known as Grimm's Law. The closest living relatives of English are Scots (spoken primarily in Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland where Ulster Scots is spoken) and Frisian (spoken on the southern fringes of the North Sea in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany).

After Scots and Frisian come those Germanic languages that are more distantly related: the non-Anglo-Frisian West Germanic languages (Dutch, Afrikaans, Low German, High German), and the North Germanic languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese). With the (partial) exception of Scots, none of the other languages is mutually intelligible with English, owing in part to the divergences in lexis, syntax, semantics, and phonology, and to the isolation afforded to the English language by the British Isles, although some, such as Dutch, do show strong affinities with English, especially to earlier stages of the language. Isolation has allowed English and Scots (as well as Icelandic and Faroese) to develop independently of the Continental Germanic languages and their influences over time.

In addition to isolation, lexical differences between English and other Germanic languages exist due to heavy borrowing in English of words from Latin and French. For example, compare "exit" (Latin), vs. Dutch uitgang, literally "out-going" (though out gang survives dialectally in restricted usage) and "change" (French) vs. German Änderung (literally "alteration, othering"); "movement" (French) vs. German Bewegung ("be-way-ing", i.e. "proceeding along the way"); etc. Preference of one synonym over another also causes differentiation in lexis, even where both words are Germanic, as in English care vs. German Sorge. Both words descend from Proto-Germanic *karō and *surgō respectively, but *karō has become the dominant word in English for "care" while in German, Dutch, and Scandinavian languages, the *surgō root prevailed. *Surgō still survives in English, however, as sorrow.

Despite extensive lexical borrowing, the workings of the English language are resolutely Germanic, and English remains classified as a Germanic language due to its structure and grammar. Borrowed words get incorporated into a Germanic system of conjugation, declension, and syntax, and behave exactly as though they were native Germanic words from Old English (For example, the word reduce is borrowed from Latin redūcere; however, in English one says "I reduce - I reduced - I will reduce" rather than "redūcō - redūxī - redūcam"; likewise, we say: "John's life insurance company" (cf. Dutch "Johns levensverzekeringsmaatschappij" = leven (life) + verzekering (insurance) + maatschappij (company)] rather than "the company of insurance life of John", cf. the French: la compagnie d'assurance-vie de John). Furthermore, in English, all basic grammatical particles added to nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are Germanic. For nouns, these include the normal plural marker -s/-es (apple - apples; cf. Frisian appel - appels; Dutch appel - appels; Afrikaans appel - appels), and the possessive markers -'s (Brad's hat; German Brads Hut; Danish Brads hat) and -s' . For verbs, these include the third person present ending -s/-es (e.g. he stands/he reaches ), the present participle ending -ing (cf. Dutch -ende; German -end(e)), the simple past tense and past participle ending -ed (Swedish -ade/-ad), and the formation of the English infinitive using to (e.g. "to drive"; cf. Old English tō drīfenne; Dutch te drijven; Low German to drieven; German zu treiben). Adverbs generally receive an -ly ending (cf. German -lich; Swedish -ligt), and adjectives and adverbs are inflected for the comparative and superlative using -er and -est (e.g. hard/harder/hardest; cf. Dutch hard/harder/hardest), or through a combination with more and most. These particles append freely to all English words regardless of origin (tsunamis; communicates; to buccaneer; during; calmer; bizarrely) and all derive from Old English. Even the lack or absence of affixes, known as zero or null (-Ø) affixes, derive from endings which previously existed in Old English (usually -e, -a, -u, -o, -an, etc.), that later weakened to -e, and have since ceased to be pronounced and spelt (e.g. Modern English "I sing" = I sing-Ø < I singe < Old English ic singe; "we thought" = we thought-Ø < we thoughte(n) < Old English wē þōhton).

Although the syntax of English is somewhat different from other West Germanic languages with regards to the placement and order of verbs (for example, "I have never seen anything in the square" = German Ich habe nie etwas auf dem Platz gesehen.

English syntax adheres closely to that of the North Germanic languages, which are believed to have influenced English syntax during the Middle English Period (e.g., "I have never seen anything in the square" = Danish Jeg har aldrig set noget på torvet. As in most Germanic languages, English adjectives usually come before the noun they modify, even when the adjective is of Latinate origin (e.g. medical emergency, national treasure). Also, English continues to make extensive use of self-explaining compounds (e.g. streetcar, classroom), and nouns which serve as modifiers (e.g. lamp post, life insurance company), traits inherited from Old English (See also Kenning).

Many North Germanic words entered English due to the settlement of Viking raiders and Danish invasions which began around the 9th century. Many of these words are common words, often mistaken for being native, which shows how close-knit the relations between the English and the Scandinavian settlers were. Dutch and Low German also had a considerable influence on English vocabulary, contributing common everyday terms and many nautical and trading terms (See below: Dutch and Low German origins).

Finally, English has been forming compound words and affixing existing words separately from the other Germanic languages for over 1500 years and has different habits in that regard. For instance, abstract nouns in English may be formed from native words by the suffixes "‑hood", "-ship", "-dom" and "-ness". All of these have cognate suffixes in most or all other Germanic languages, but their usage patterns have diverged, as German "Freiheit" vs. English "freedom" (the suffix "-heit" being cognate of English "-hood", while English "-dom" is cognate with German "-tum"; compare also North Frisian fridoem, Dutch vrijdom, Norwegian fridom, "freedom"). The Germanic languages Icelandic and Faroese also follow English in this respect, since, like English, they developed independent of German influences.

Many French words are also intelligible to an English speaker, especially when they are seen in writing (as pronunciations are often quite different), because English absorbed a large vocabulary from Norman and French, via Anglo-Norman after the Norman Conquest, and directly from French in subsequent centuries. As a result, a large portion of English vocabulary is derived from French, with some minor spelling differences (e.g. inflectional endings, use of old French spellings, lack of diacritics, etc.), as well as occasional divergences in meaning of so-called false friends: for example, compare "library" with the French librairie, which means bookstore; in French, the word for "library" is bibliothèque. The pronunciation of most French loanwords in English (with the exception of a handful of more recently borrowed words such as mirage, genre, café; or phrases like coup d’état, rendez-vous, etc.) has become largely anglicised and follows a typically English phonology and pattern of stress (compare English "nature" vs. French nature, "button" vs. bouton, "table" vs. table, "hour" vs. heure, "reside" vs. résider, etc.).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter II

Regional vocabularies of American English

Regional vocabularies of American English vary. Below is a list of lexical differences in vocabulary that are generally associated with a region. A term featured on a list may or may not be found throughout the region concerned, and may or may not be recognized by speakers outside that region. Some terms appear on more than one list.

1.1 Regionalisms

Historically, a number of everyday words and expression used to be characteristic of different dialect areas of the United States, especially the North, the Midland, and the South; many of these terms spread from their area of origin and came to be used throughout the nation. Many today use these different words for the same object interchangeably, or to distinguish between variations of an object. Such traditional lexical variables include.

1. Faucet (North) and spigot (South);

2. Frying pan (North and South, but not Midland), spider (New England; obsolete), and skillet (Midland, Gulf States);

3. Clapboard (chiefly Northeast) and weatherboard (Midland and South);

4. Gutter (Northeast, South), eaves trough (in-land North, West), and rain pouting (chiefly Maryland and Pennsylvania);

5. Pit (North) and seed (elsewhere);

6. Teeter-totter (widespread), seesaw (South and Midland), and dandle (Rhode Island);

7. Firefly (less frequent South and Midland) and lightning bug (less frequent North);

8. Pail (North, north Midland) and bucket (Midland and South).

Many differences however still hold and mark boundaries between different dialect areas, as shown below. From 2000-2005, for instance, The Dialect Survey queried North American English speakers' usage of a variety of linguistic items, including vocabulary items that vary by region. These include:

1. generic term for a sweetened carbonated beverage
2. drink made with milk and ice cream
3. long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on
4. Rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class, for athletic activities, etc.

 

Below are lists outlining regional vocabularies in the main dialect areas of the United States.

The Northeast

1. Brook - creek. Mainly New England, now widespread but especially common in the Northeast.
2. Cellar - alternate term for basement.
3. Sneaker - although found throughout the U.S., appears to be concentrated in the Northeast. Elsewhere (except for parts of Florida) tennis shoe is more common.
4. soda - a soft drink.

 

New England

1. bulkhead - cellar hatchway
2. Cabinet – (Rhode Island) - milk shake
3. frappe (eastern Massachusetts) - milkshake
4. grinder - submarine sandwich
5. hosey - (esp. parts of Massachusetts & Maine) to stake a claim or choose sides, to claim ownership of something (sometimes, the front seat of a car)
6. interval - bottomland; mostly historical
7. johnnycake (also Rhode Island jonnycake) – a type of cornmeal bread
8. leaf peeper - a tourist who has come to see the area's vibrant autumn foliage
9. necessary - outhouse, privy
10. packie - a liquor store (package store)
11. Quahog - pronounced "koe-hog," it properly refers to a specific species of clam but is also applied to any clam.
12. Rotary - traffic circle.
13. tonic (eastern Massachusetts) - soft drink

Northern New England

1. ayuh - "yes" or affirmative
2. Dooryard - area around the main entry door of a house, specifically a farmhouse. Typically including the driveway and parking area proximal to the house.
3. Italian (sandwich) - (Maine) submarine sandwich.
4. logan (also pokelogan) - a shallow, swampy lake or pond (from Algonquian)
5. muckle - to grasp, hold-fast, or tear into

Mid-Atlantic

New York City Area (including adjacent New Jersey and Connecticut)

1. catty corner - on an angle to a corner
2. dungarees (archaic) - jeans
3. egg cream - a mixture of cold milk, chocolate syrup, and seltzer
4. hero - submarine sandwich
5. kill - a small river or strait, in the name of specific watercourses; e.g. Beaver Kill, Fresh Kills, Kill Van Kull, Arthur Kill (from Dutch).
6. potsy – hopscotch.
7. punchball - a baseball-like game suitable for smaller areas, in which a fist substitutes for the bat and a "spaldeen" is the ball.
8. scallion - spring onion.
9. stoop - a small porch or steps in front of a building, originally from

 

Other Mid-Atlantic areas

1. Breezeway - the space between two groups of row houses in the middle of a city block.
2. Hoagie - submarine sandwich.
3. Jimmies - sprinkles (ice cream topping).
4. Mischief night - night when, by custom, preteens and teenagers play pranks; usu. 30 October.
5. parlor - living room
6. pavement - sidewalk
7. Shoobie - A visitor to the beach (typically the South Jersey shore) for the day (as contrasted with an overnight visitor).

The North

1. braht or brat - bratwurst
2. breezeway (widespread) - a hallway connecting two buildings.
3. bubbler (esp. Wisconsin and the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys) - a water fountain.
4. clout (originally Chicago, now widespread) - political influence
5. davenport (widespread) - a sofa, or couch
6. euchre (throughout the North) - card game similar to spades
7. fridge (throughout North and West) - refrigerator
8. hot dish (esp. Minnesota) - a simple entree cooked in a single dish, related to casserole
9. paczki (in Polish settlement areas, esp. Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin) - a jelly donut
10. pop (widespread in North and West) - a soft drink, carbonated soda
11. soda (parts of Wisconsin) - soft drink
12. Yooper (Michigan) - people who reside in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

The Midland

1. barn-burner (now widespread) - an exciting, often high-scoring game, esp. a basketball game
2. dinner (widespread) - the evening meal; the largest meal of the day, whether eaten at mid-day or in the evening
3. hoosier (esp. Indiana) - someone from Indiana; (outside of Indiana, esp. in the St. Louis, Missouri area) a person from a rural area, comparable to redneck
4. mango - green bell pepper, sometimes also various chili peppers
5. outer road - a frontage road or other service road
6. pop - a soft drink (except in a large area centered on St. Louis, Missouri, where soda predominates)

 The South

1. alligator pear - avocado
2. banquette (southern Louisiana) - sidewalk, foot-path
3. billfold (widespread, but infrequent Northeast, Pacific Northwest) - a man's wallet
4. cap (also Midlands) - sir (prob. from "captain")
5. chill bumps (also Midlands) - goose bumps
6. chunk - toss or throw an object
7. coke - any brand of soft drink
8. commode (also Midlands) - bathroom; restroom; particularly the toilet
9. crocus sack (Atlantic), croaker sack (Gulf) - burlap bag
10. cut on/off - to turn on/off
11. directly - in a minute; soon; momentarily
12. dirty rice (esp. Louisiana) - Cajun rice dish consisting of rice, spices, and meat
13. fix - to get ready, to be on the verge of doing; (widespread but esp. South) to prepare food
14. house shoes - bedroom slippers
15. make (age) (Gulf, esp. Louisiana) - have a birthday; "He's making 16 tomorrow."
16. yankee - northerner; also damn yankee, damned yankee