Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - THE ENGLISH, ENGLISH LANGUAGE, ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEAKERS AND THE USE OF ENGLISH – On a Lighter side

"One major point: the English people ......................teach their young ones these names. That is a major sign that the language will continue to thrive and overpower other languages whose speakers have not put in the effort." Fakinlede

Do you honestly believe that all words  in the English language were created by "the  English people"?

What about all  the words borrowed from other languages? The English language consists of Arabic words and words from African languages,  South Asian languages, Native American languages,  other European languages etc. As for enslaved Africans, well they were somewhat  in the same position as a  contemporary  continental African descendant  growing  up in the US or UK without being taught a shred of  their ancestral language,  at home or in school. I would say that in some cases the enslaved  were better off, linguistically,   because, as in the case of Haiti,  or even Jamaica, African language forms were incorporated in their speech -  in some cases deliberately, to evade their captors,  or in religious practice.  See the works of Maureen Warner, Adams  and others on this issue.

Having said that, let me point out that I agree with most of what you said  minus the last ten lines. The language is a tough one and it seems to lack  internal logic  to many of us, rightly or wrongly. The expert linguists may disagree.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali

gloriaemeagwali.com

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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Kayode J. Fakinlede <jfakinlede@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 9:46 PM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - THE ENGLISH, ENGLISH LANGUAGE, ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEAKERS AND THE USE OF ENGLISH – On a Lighter side

 

Give or take, English is arguably the toughest language in the world to master. Nothing in this language follows logic. You cannot conclude that because you know the past tense of the verb 'to live', you then know that of the verb 'to give'. If you were to conclude that it is 'gived', you will be laughed out of the classroom or wherever it is you are comitting this unforgivable offence.. The plural form of 'foot' is 'feet' but that of 'boot' is definiely not 'beet'.  And where do you hang the apostrophe? Is it before the 's'or after it. And when does hanging it in a particular place signify a singular or a plural form of possesion. Do you need it at all when a possessive noun ends with an 's'? My place of worship is named after St. Thomas. Growing up, we called it St. Thomas's Church. Decades later, we were informed by better speakers of the English language that it is sacrilegious to put an 's' after the apostrophe. St. Thomas, of course has enough issues of his own. Why add an 's'to his load of problems? My own is that we should relieve him of his extra burden. Some church members did not believe this.
When it comes to spellinhg English words, I can safely estimate that eighty percent of all non-English speakers do not spell all English words correctly all of the time, and quite a large percentage of native speakers too. Do I put the 'o' before the 'u' in 'famous' or in 'continuous?'. Good question. If you are part of the eighty percent who commit English spelling harakiri, do not be dismayed. The current American Head would not be able to spell 'white' if his official residence was on fire and he has to leave in a hurry. Thank God the English are not coming. The past occupier of the House spoke impeccable English. The current one tried to convince us he is not even an American. The one before that cannot even be said to speak English. He manufactured English words! A good compendium of Bush-isms can easily be compiled.
Then, who can we reasonably call a native  English language speaker? I would define this as someone whose first or only language is English. This definition will, of course include those who, by virtue of enslavement had lost their indigenous African languages . Now, can we conclude that these people, without the benefit of formal education, speak English at all?  And then there are those five or six countries, including Mother England, where English, mainly is spoken.
When we talk about the use of English, it boggles the mind that such a difficult language has become the numero uno of all languages and it is used in all areas of human interaction - including human-machine communication. Yes, the English went all over the world finding people to oppress. There is however no doubt that they invested a lot in making that language the primus inter pares.
One major point: the English people has a name for everything that exists in the universe; and teach their young ones these names. That is a major sign that the language will continue to thrive and overpower other languages whose speakers have not put in the effort. Coining names for things in a language ensures the survival of that language. After all, that is what Adam did, and God said  'Amen'.
 If, like in my own language, you have to wait for the English to coin a name for something and you try teaching your own ward that English name, you are no doubt ensuring the death of your language. Sad!

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