Филологические науки/3. Теоретические и методологические проблемы исследования языка

Старший преподаватель Черниговская А.И.

Старший преподаватель Салей Е. В.

Гродненский государственный университет им. Я. Купалы, Беларусь

The Growing Impact of American English

When we talk of the English language as an international language or as a universal language, we are talking of an abstract concept. Actually, there are a number of Englishes present in the world. The first broad division may be in terms of the English-speaking nations of the world, for example, American English, British English, Canadian English, Indian English, Jamaican English and so forth. Our article deals with the American variety of English. The American variety of English has several special characteristics associated with its growth and development that offer an interesting linguistic case study for comparison with other varieties of English. It has the unique characteristics of a transplanted language. In this respect, then, it can be related to other Englishes which have been transplanted in various parts of the world. A language may be considered transplanted if it is used by a significant number of speakers in social, cultural, and geographical contexts different from the contexts in which it was originally used.

At this point, it should be noted that the concept of difference must not be taken too far. There are more similarities than differences between the diverse varieties of English. If it were not so, there would be serious problems in intelligibility between the speakers of various types of Englishes. We would like to discuss some typical characteristics of these other Englishes, which mark their distinct “Americanness”. The sources which result in the distinctiveness of these other Englishes are results of typical language-contact situations. In the new context, two or more languages come into contact for political, geographical, historical or educational reasons; and the natural outcome of such contacts is linguistic innovation. The innovations specific to each variety can be regarded as deviations with reference to a norm. It is the sum total of these deviations in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, style-range and discourse strategies which provides the framework for labeling various formations.

Since we are focusing on the other Englishes primarily from a linguistic point of view, we should be able to account for the linguistic characteristics of each new variety, explained in terms of what the native context has contributed to it. The contribution of the native cultural and or linguistic contexts results in what is technically called interference or transfer. A quick glance at the dictionaries of other Englishes will show us many examples of such transfer. If a variety of English already has its own dictionary or other lexical studies, as American English, Australian English, Caribbean English and Indian English have, it shows that the process of Americanization, Australianization, Caribbeanization or Indianization of English language has already taken place. In a variety-oriented lexicon we find several types of deviations.

The pronunciation of a speaker which provides an index to the variety of his speech or to a variety within a variety. Pronunciation seems to provide crucial clues toward marking a person as being within a particular group or outside it. We have seen that the two well-documented and generally acceptable forms of the native varieties of English are Received Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA). These standard forms develop by general acceptance or judgment, by looking up to some group, caste or class for providing a language model, by accepting a model because it is spoken in a particular area or by considering dictionaries, manuals or certain types of educated people as “models” for linguistic etiquette. RP or GA are not necessarily “correct”, but are more widely known.

It is generally true that a standard variety of language is well documented and described by phoneticians, linguists and language pedagogues. English has pronouncing dictionaries for both RP and GA. There is no doubt that the users of non-native Englishes found it more convenient to use RP or a close approximation to it, as a pedagogical model. RP was well documented and teaching aids and materials were readily available.

The British press is opening up to American innovations. The style of typically American news magazines like Time and Newsweek shows up in British newspapers; for example, the name of a town in the genitive is no more a typically American stylistic feature (Newcastle’s Central Station, London’s Victoria Coach Station). The same tendency is seen in the use of verbs such as ban “prohibit”, crash “collide”, cut “reduce”, probe and quiz “investigate”, and sue “prosecute”.

It is not only in the use of single words that one notices this change; the conversation of the British is also spiced with set phrases which are considered to be of “American provenance”, for example, I wouldn’t know, let’s face it, simple as that, by and large, right now, way over (-down, -back), consult with, baby-sitter, round-trip. There are idioms such as to have a chip on one’s shoulder, to scrape the bottom of the barrel, out on a limb.

The difference in speech and use of “American” is associated with a linguistic attitude toward American English in the new generation. In their minds American speech “is the hall-mark of the tough guy and the he-man”. The changing British attitude and its acceptance of Americanisms is, of course, interesting for historical reasons. The linguistic wheel has turned full circle, and now the users of mother English are recognizing the legitimacy of the offspring.

Worldly success and elitism continue to be associated with Westernization and specifically with a knowledge of English. The refrain of a Ghanaian song sums it up. A person is successful if he has been to, Jaguar, fridgeful. The term been-to refers to a person who has been to America, indicating a status symbol; the possession of a Jaguar car shows prestige; and fridgeful marks class and affluence, indicating a refrigerator filled with food. The term America-returned is heard more often, conveying the same prestige, class and status as did England-returned during the colonial days. And a person who is America-returned naturally comes with “Americanized” English.

Литература:

1. Ferguson Ch.A., Heath S.B. Language in the USA / Ch.A. Ferguson, S.B. Heath – Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981.