Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Is American English Bastardized (British) En...

I did a field for my Ph.D. orals in historical linguistic and have since done study and research in the field, including a book on the history of Hausa. In general languages change most in the center and retain archaisms on their periphery. This is why American English is generally considered closer to Shakespearean in grammar, vocabulary and even pronunciation. Only the spelling has been reformed. Jamestown Virginia was being settled in 1607, as Shakespeare's career was winding down. This English changed less in North America than it did in its homeland, although Scottish English (if it is even English anymore) is even more archaic.

I might also point out that American is considered the only overseas English derived from Midlands dialect. I remember meeting an African in Amsterdam once, who listened carefully to my accent and asked "Are you from Midlands?"

"Close" I replied. "I'm American."

On Apr 29, 2011, at 2:57 AM, Mario Fenyo wrote:

> Dear Professor:
>
> please bear in mind that i am no expert in linguistics, on the English language(s), or even in American history. I have always heard, however, that English-speaking settlers arrived in Virginia (if we forget about Roanoke Island) many years before they landed at Plymouth Rock. I have also been told that the English spoken in the Tidewater region of Virginia and North Carolina is closer or closest to Elisabethan English..... Correct me if i am mistaken.
>
> respectfully, Mario
>
>
> Dr. Mario D. Fenyo
> University Professor of American History
> Department of History and Government
> Bowie State University
> Bowie, MD 20715
> USA

John Edward Philips <http://human.cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp/philips/>
International Society, College of Humanities, Hirosaki University
"Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto." -Terentius Afer
<http://www.boydell.co.uk/www.urpress.com/80462561.HTM>

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