"In other words, contemporary British English is worthier to be
labeled "bastardized" English than American English is, as I will show
shortly." - and with heart pumping with indignation, from that point
onwards the rest of his essay was unputdownable just to get to the
bottom of his justification for making such a barbaric
accusation......
Extending that line of argument, about American English having
gestated in "the world's most racially and culturally diverse
country", can the same not be said about Nigerian English then - or
is that so less distinct and less formally standardized and acceptable
as Nigerian English per se, not just "bad English" which falls short
of British and American standards?
With Great Britain's Anglo-Saxony as the headquarters from which the
Queen's English spread to the American colonies and even beyond to all
corners of the British Empire on which the sun never set during the
reign of Queen Victoria - children and even great grandchildren of
the language must trace their origins back through their parents to
Merry England....( not Germany or Italy or Southern Africa.....where
the first phoneme is said to have begun...
It's not a question of illegitimacy, it's about continuity and
sometimes - from a very conservative viewpoint, it's about the
degeneration of the language, paucity of expression causing people to
so easily resort to swear words, all purpose American expletives,
mofo, son of B and ah kick your ess which can also be an issue. I
still get emotional in a queasy sort of way when I encounter the 21st
century verb form " gotten" in American English, but when " gotten"
is encountered in the Elizabethan period it's something of a cultural
thrill seems to be in place, less quaint, antiquated, not so
illiterate. I know that I must not hurt Professor Harrow's feelings
about the English language, his distinguished pet subject which is
so close to his heart... I am sorry that I feel that way. I don't know
where this feeling comes from; I just can't help it.
The expression " Bastardized Nigerian English" would be bound to cause
offence and he or she who would call it bastardized would be quickly
labelled as someone suffering from some kind of of "Colonial
complex". Kwabena Aurang-Parry prefers " offspring." It's only in
English and in some religious and cultural circles ( not in Ghanaian
society) that the term "bastard" by definition carries such unpleasant
moral weight. Applied to language there's always the language
priest or purist, and of course the language Sheriff always out to
arrest the rappers & others who violate the holy grammar &
orthography laws.....and they always want to press charges... award
marks, pass sentences , mete out punish-ments
On Apr 27, 3:23 am, Kwab...@aol.com wrote:
> Farooq,
>
> Great article, as usual! While you manage to put together, impressively, a
> number of examples to show that the British variant of the English
> Language is more "bastardized" than its American cousin (I prefer offspring), you
> do not seem, yourself, to be wholly convinced by the central theme of your
> argument.
>
> Towards the conclusion of your article, you wrote the following:
>
> In more ways than any other variety, it is pushing the semantic and lexical
> frontiers of the language and enriching it in the process. Many
> international borrowings into the English language now come by way of American
> English, precisely because America is the world's most racially and culturally
> diverse country (emphasis mine).
>
> Are you by the above not suggesting that since "America is the world's most
> racially and culturally diverse country" it is "pushing the semantic and
> lexical frontiers of the language and enriching it in the process" by
> allowing its variant of the English Language to be influenced by its more diverse
> racial composition?
>
> If yes, how is this development process different from earlier ones where
> British English, to further quote you, "sprang forth from the linguistic
> alchemy of Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Celts"?
>
> If no, are you then suggesting that influence of American English when it
> has come into contact with other racial or national identities has been a
> one-way street? I doubt that very much since that is not what your other
> articles ("_The African Origins of Common English Words_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/09/african-origins-of-common-e...) " comes
> to mind) have suggested.
>
> On a minor note, your concluding statement read "All English is
> bastardize" (emphasis mine). Obviously a typographical error, you will agree with me
> that the verb should have been in the past tense (as in bastardized).
>
> Many thanks for your illuminating articles!
>
> Kwabby
>
> In a message dated 4/22/2011 4:24:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>
> farooqkper...@gmail.com writes:
>
> _Is American English Bastardized (British) English?_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2011/04/is-american-english-bastard...)
>
> By Farooq A. Kperogi
>
> Like other Nigerians, I was educated in British English—and taught to
> disdain American English as inauthentic, debased form of (British) English. But
> is there any truth to this notion? The straightforward answer is no. As a
> matter of fact, in spite of appearances to the contrary, American English
> actually precedes contemporary British English. In other words, contemporary
> British English is worthier to be labeled "bastardized" English than
> American English is, as I will show shortly.
>
> But, first, although Brits (and heirs of their linguistic tradition, like
> Nigerians) cherish the thought that they are the custodians of the "original
> " English tongue, the idea that there is such a thing as "original"
> English as opposed to "bastardized" English is itself ahistorical at best and
> ignorant at worst. English, as most people know, has always been a mélange
> of several languages. In other words, it has been a lingual "bastard" from
> its very nascence.
>
> The English language came forth when a vast multitude of West Germanic
> warriors called Angles invaded what is today Britain in the 5th century. The
> Angles conquered and later commixed with an autochthonous population known
> as Celts. Much later, other Germanic people, notably the Saxons and the
> Jutes, joined the Angles to further overwhelm the Celts. One of the
> consequences of these invasions and resettlements was that a language (which
> linguistic historians now call Old English) was born. It sprang forth from the
> linguistic alchemy of Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Celts. In this fusion,
> according to linguists, the Saxon dialect dominated and the indigenous _Celtic
> language was marginalized_
> (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/thehistoryofenglish/the-histor...) . (The Celtic language, more popularly
> called Gaelic, has survived in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Irish
> Republic with dialectal variations).
>
> Two centuries later, another horde of northern Germanic warriors invaded
> what had by then become known as the Land of the Angles (which was later
> shortened to England) and brought to bear their own dialect in the lexis and
> structure of the emergent language. In the 11th century, people from
> northern France, called the Normans, invaded England, overthrew its Anglo-Saxon
> ruling class, and imposed French (or what some people call Anglo-Norman
> French) as the official language for over 300 years. This historical fact
> radically altered the structure and vocabulary of English.
>
> In the eighteenth century, the English (by now an ethnic and linguistic
> synthesis of Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts, the French, etc) embarked on
> imperial conquests in Asia, Africa, and the Americas and found themselves
> borrowing words extensively into their language from the several languages they
> encountered.
>
> Numerous other influences were brought to bear on the language. For
> instance, many of the vocabularies we use in astronomy (nadir, summit, acme,
> etc), mathematics (algebra, etc), and other sciences are derived from Arabic.
> The modern vocabulary of scholarship and learning is almost entirely
> Latinate. And several common words we use in modern conversational English are
> borrowed from other languages.
>
> According to one study, 29 percent of the vocabulary of modern English is
> derived from Latin. Another 29 percent is derived from French. Germanic
> languages (that is, the "original" tongue) account for only 26 percent. And
> 16 percent of English vocabulary is derived from a hotchpotch of other
> languages, notably Greek, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish, Italian, the Scandinavian
> languages, Hebrew, Yiddish, etc. (For the contribution of African languages to
> the modern vocabulary of the English language, see my previous article
> titled, _"The African Origins of Common English Words"_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/09/african-origins-of-common-e...) ).
>
> Now, a language that has borrowed this expansively from other languages
> (which has made the English language the most ecumenical language in the
> world) can't legitimately lay claim to linguistic purity, although there are
> several misguided movements for Anglo-Saxon linguistic purism in Britain now.
>
> But let us, for the sake of argument, agree that there was indeed such a
> thing as the pure, pristine English language before its latter-day
> contamination by "horrible Americanisms" and by what George Orwell once called "
> exaggerated Latinisms." Let us periodize this "pure" English from the mid
> 1550s to the early 1600s when what is called "modern English," that is, the
> version of English we broadly speak today, emerged. This was the period
> during which the works of William Shakespeare, unarguably the greatest writer
> in the English language, appeared. It was also the time that the King James
> Bible, one of the most decisive influences in the current form and
> idiomatic universe of the English language, was published. This book's supreme
> significance to the development and standardization of the English language is
> evidenced in the fact that it has contributed up to 257 idioms to the
> English language. No other single source rivals that feat. Not even Shakespeare's
> prolific oeuvre.
>
> Well, according to many linguistic historians, many of the distinctive
> features that differentiate American English from British English actually
> date back to early modern English. In their immensely influential book,
> _American English: Dialects and Variation_
> (http://www.amazon.com/American-English-Dialects-Variation-Language/dp...) , Walt Wolfram and Natalie
> Shilling-Estes point out that, "Contrary to popular perceptions, the speech of
> the Jamestown colonists [i.e., the first English settlers in America in
> 1607] more closely resembled today's American English than today's standard
> British speech, since British English has undergone a number of innovations
> which did not spread to once remote America" (pg. 93).
>
> For instance, during Shakespeare's time, the most socially prestigious
> English speech had a rhotic accent. That is, speakers pronounced the letter "r"
> wherever it appeared in a word—like Americans do now. But contemporary
> British Received Pronunciation is now non-rhotic. Is that a "bastardization"
> of the language?
>
> Similarly, many words and usage patterns that are now regarded as
> peculiarly American have actually been preserved from early modern English. A few
> examples will suffice: the American usage of the word "mad" to mean angry
> is faithful to how it was used in Shakespearean times. In contemporary
> British English, however, the word now chiefly means insane, mentally unhinged.
> That's a British "bastardization."
>
> And "fall," the American English word for the season when leaves fall
> from trees after the summer season, is more "authentic" than the British
> English "autumn." In southeastern England, the cultural pacesetter of England
> from where the Jamestown colonists hailed, "fall" was the preferred term.
>
> Many idiosyncratic syntactic structures in American English that
> contemporary British English speakers deride are also derived from early modern,
> Shakespearean English. For instance, such American past participles as "gotten"
> (as in: I have gotten my share of his troubles; British English: got), "
> proven" (as in: He has proven to be right; British English: proved), etc are
> preserved from the "original." Similarly, in Shakespearean times "don't"
> used to be the contraction of "does not," NOT "do not." This practice
> stopped only in the early 20th century. This sense is preserved,
> interestingly, in African-American vernacular speech (now fashionably called Ebonics)
> and in informal southern U.S English generally. When I first heard Michael
> Jackson sing, "it don't matter if you're black or white" in high school,
> it grated on my grammatical nerves, but that's how people who spoke early
> modern English would have said it.
>
> But the most important reason why American English is not a bastardization
> of the "authentic" English, ironically, is that only the American variety
> of the English language is continuing with English's germinal "bastard"
> heritage. In more ways than any other variety, it is pushing the semantic
> and lexical frontiers of the language and enriching it in the process. Many
> international borrowings into the English language now come by way of
> American English, precisely because America is the world's most racially and
> culturally diverse country.
>
> Think about this: Can contemporary British speakers of the language—or any
> other speakers of the language for that matter— imagine speaking their
> language without these words: "OK," "movie," "radio," "teenager," "
> immigrant," etc? Well, those words are distinctively American and were once
> derided as "horrible Americanisms" by supercilious Britishers.
>
> After all is said and done, linguistic nativism is a treacherous betrayal
> of the intrinsic hybridity of the English tongue. No variety of the
> language is authentic. All English is bastardize
>
> Related Articles:
>
> 1. _A Comparison of Nigerian, American and British English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2007/09/divided-by-common-language-...)
> 2. (http://www.blogger.com/goog_2036618659) _Why is "Sentiment" Such a
> Bad Word in Nigeria?_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-is-sentiment-such-bad-w...)
> 3. _Ambassador Aminchi's Impossible Grammatical Logic_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2009/12/yaraduas-health-amb-aminchi...)
> 4. _10 Most Annoying Nigerian Media English Expressions_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2009/12/10-most-annoying-nigerian-m...)
> 5. _Sambawa and "Peasant Attitude to Governance"_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2009/12/sambawa-and-peasant-attitud...)
> 6. _Adverbial and Adjectival Abuse in Nigerian English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2009/12/adverbial-and-adjectival-ab...)
> 7. _In Defense of "Flashing" and Other Nigerianisms_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/01/in-defense-of-flashing-and-...)
> 8. _Weird Words We're Wedded to in Nigerian English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/01/weird-words-were-wedded-to-...)
> 9. _American English or British English?_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/01/american-english-or-british...)
> 10. _Hypercorrection in Nigerian English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/02/hypercorrection-in-nigerian...)
> 11. _Nigerianisms, Americanisms, Briticisms and Communication Breakdown_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/02/nigerianisms-americanisms-b...
> s.html)
> 12. _Top 10 Irritating Errors in American English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/03/top-10-irritating-errors-in...)
> 13. _Nigerian Editors Killing Macebuh Twice with Bad Grammar_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/03/nigerian-editors-killing-ma...)
> 14. _On "Metaphors" and "Puns" in Nigerian English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/04/on-metaphors-and-puns-in-ni...)
> 15. _Common Errors of Pluralization in Nigerian English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/04/common-errors-of-pluralizat...)
> (http://www.blogger.com/goog_704080340) 16. _Q & A About Common
> Grammatical Problems_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/04/q-and-about-common-grammati...)
> (http://www.blogger.com/goog_704080340) 17. _Semantic Change and the
> Politics of English Pronunciation_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/04/semantic-change-and-politic...)
>
> 18. _Common Errors of Reported Speech in Nigerian English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/05/common-errors-of-reported-s...)
>
> 19. _Broken English, Pidgin English and Nigerian English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/05/broken-english-pidgin-engli...)
>
> 20. _Top Cutest and Strangest Nigerian English Idioms_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/06/top-cutest-and-strangest-ni...)
>
> 21. _Back-formation and Affixation in Nigerian English_ (http:
> //farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/07/back-formation-and-affixation-in.html)
>
> 22. _The Politics of Usage and Meaning in English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/08/politics-of-meaning-and-usa...)
>
> 23. _When Food and Grammar Mix_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/08/when-food-and-grammar-mix.html)
>
> 24. _Q and A on Grammar_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/09/q-and-on-grammar.html)
>
> 25. _The African Origins of Common English Words_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/09/african-origins-of-common-e...)
>
> 26. _Reader Feedback and My Responses_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/09/reader-feedback-and-my-resp...)
>
> 27. _Top 10 Oxymoronic Expressions in English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/10/top-10-oxymoronic-expressio...)
>
> 28._ The Grammar of Titles and Naming in International English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/10/grammar-of-titles-and-namin...)
>
> 29. _Q and A on Nigerian English Usage_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/10/q-and-on-nigerian-english-u...)
>
> 30. _Comparing the Vernaculars of American and British Universities_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/11/comparing-vernaculars-of-am...
> tml)
>
> 31. _Ebonics and Neologisms in American English_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/12/neologisms-and-ebonics-in-a...)
> 32. _Patience Jonathan's Peculiar Grammar_
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2011/03/patience-jonathans-peculiar...)
> 33. _Top 10 Words Nigerians Commonly Misspell _
> (http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-10-words-nigerians-comm...)
>
> 1 Park Place South
> Suite 817C
> Atlanta, GA, USA.
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> Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
> Blog: _www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com_
> (http://www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/)
>
> "The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either
> proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
>
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