McWhorter Blog 2: Structure & Grammar

In the section “One Last Assumption: Where Are the Celtic Words?” in Chapter One of McWhorters’ Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, the author begins by asserting that aside from the Normans and the Vikings, the Celts left no English words except for “a dozen-odd words that have been traditionally traced to Celtic, and most of them are arcane, obsolete ones introduced by Christian missionaries from Ireland” (45).  Regarding grammar, Russian, for example was spoken by plenty of people who used it as a second language and because of that the Russian language changed.  In the middle of the section is about how folks during Old English times used going or go as a verb in the future, referring to distance as “going somewhere” (McWhorter, 53) and not for the intent of doing something.  McWhorter ties up the section by finishing off with a story about the Robinsons and the Joneses.  Both of these families can play the piano with their feet but the question was who started using their toes to tickle the ivory first.  Turns out, the fact is, the Robinsons learned from the Joneses and thus, the analogy is that the Celts did have an impact on English.   

McWhorter offers in Chapter Two the notion that grammatical errors appear in all languages and English is not immune.  He adds that “one does not ‘like’ the use of structure as in I structured the test to be as brief as possible” (McWhorter, 67).  This mention of structure reminded me of structural analysis and structural ambiguity in George Yule’s The Study of Language, 4^th ed.  Structural analysis is a type of descriptive approach where the priority is to “investigate the distribution of forms in a language” (Yule, 87) which is different from structural ambiguity.  Structural ambiguity means that a sentence has “two distinct underlying interpretations that have to be represented differently in deep structure” (Yule, 98).  There is also deep and surface structures which are “two superficially different sentences” (Yule, 97).    For example, an active sentence would be Charlie broke the window and a passive sentence would be The window was broken by Charlie; according to traditional grammar (Yule, 97).

Speaking of structure, something I would like to be more clear about is McWhorter’s use of structure in the sentence I structured the test to be as brief as possible.  This sentence sounds right to me, but is that because I’m using Modern English instead of Old English?

McWhorterBlog1-What am I 'do' -ing?

Under the Indo-European umbrella of languages houses the Germanic which in turn encompasses Danish, English, German, and Swedish.  Adjacent to Germanic is Celtic which Breton, Gaelic, Irish, and Welsh are tied to.  In Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, John McWhorter’s first chapter titled “We Speak a Miscegenated Grammar” explores how the English language has the meaningless do as well as discusses how –ing makes a verb into a gerund and, how –ing is used in the progressive construction which is our present tense.  McWhorter links the English language with the Celtic by saying, “Celtic was English’s deistic God – it set things spinning and then left them to develop on their own” (McWhorter, 9).  However, McWhorter did illuminate the fact that although the story has the Germans inflicting genocide upon the Celts , archeologists who went digging afterwards were able to find some evidence in material culture to indicate that Celts indeed survived in large numbers to bequeath their cultural traditions to future generations.  

The Study of Language (4^th edition) by George Yule has a history of English pertaining to Old English and Middle English where the former is about how “the primary sources for what developed as the English language were the Germanic languages spoken by a group of tribes from northern Europe who moved into the British Isles in the fifth century” (Yule, 229) and the latter is marked by the takeover at Hastings in 1066.  This is in common with McWhorter’s writings about those periods where he adds that           

The truth, then, is that if meaningless do and the verb-noun present did pop up in the first Old English documents, or even in Old English at all beyond the occasional peep, it would be very, very strange.  We would expect that the constructions would show up only after a historical catastrophe such as the Norman occupation, after which, in many ways, England learned to write again.  If the Battle of Hastings had not put a 150-year kibosh on written English, then “real” English might not have been committed to print until as late as after the Reformation in the 1500s (McWhorter, 43).

What this means is that Celtic influence on English has been documented as literacy rose and it shows that the meaningless do was well used prior to being in print.

One item in OMBT I found a bit confusing is about “the Italian varieties where do is not used in negative sentences, whereas in English, do is used in both negative and question sentences – just as in Welsh and Cornish” (McWhorter, 22).  I wondered why this was included because Italian is part of the Italic (Latin) family and I do not see the connection other than that the Italians employ do as well.  My questions are, can the Italian mention be just a remark, is it that simple?  This has me asking myself if I know what I am do –ing?

"The Linguists" is more than just two guys and their words.

Ironbound Films, “the premiere documentary and new media company”, creates video for theaters, television, museums, and the web  (http://www.thelinguists.com/).  The Linguists is a film they produced which had its world premiere in 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival, has been aired on PBS, and is shown world-wide in academia from Stockholm to Queens, NY.  One theme the film explores is culture and how the loss of culture can result in the loss of language.

The film follows two linguists, David Harrison and Gregory Anderson, who document their travels in search of endangered languages such as Chulym and the “secret” language of the Kallawaya tribe.  Both are dying languages of Russia because the number of native speakers is dwindling.  Kallawaya, for example, passed on from adult males to teenage males only was never documented yet they were able to pass on the healing wonders of medicinal herbs.  Thousands of plants in Bolivia have never been documented but this culture knows them and knows the names.  As for Chulym, the story is a bit longer.

According to Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia, the genetic affiliation of Chulym is “an independent Turkic language of a mixed type, with dominating Uighur and Kypchak elements” with the language contacts of Russian and Khakas languages.  There are two dialects of Chulym, lower and middle, and it is distinguished for instance, by the vowel system.  The lower Chulym dialect has eight short and seven long vowel phonemes, middle Chulym has six.  Palatal vocalic harmony and labial harmony are the two types along with fourteen consonant phonemes (http://lingsib.iea.ras.ru/en/languages/chulym.shtml).

Harrison and Anderson suggest that the Chulym language is dangerously close to being extinct due to the number of native speakers as well as the reputation Chulym has had over the years for being less than respectable language compared to Russian.  As a result, Chulym has been shunned, actively suppressed, and discouraged.  Speakers are shamed into not communicating using Chulym, and the culture is not preserved for future generations.  In fact, young people are attending boarding schools in the United States, India, and Siberia where Chulym is neither used nor taught and is completely ignored as a language of their Russian heritage.  Also, native Siberian children are sent to boarding schools to avoid speaking the language.  Boarding schools do not have native languages and students were punished for speaking their own language.  India’s tribal boarding schools for instance, educate students in English and students learn their identity as a tribal person.  Unfortunately, Sora, an Indian language requires permission from the State government to get access onto tribal land.  Once children give up their native language it is mostly irreversible.

In The Linguists, Harrison and Anderson, in search of a native speaker of Chulym, hire a cab driver that hide the fact that he speaks Chulym because Russian society has shamed him into embarrassment for knowing a language that is considered a “gutter language” which is actually very respectable, pride-worthy, and necessary to the culture.  The linguistic duo are unaware they have in their midst a native Chulym speaker until after they interview  two people who were unhelpful and a third was almost completely deaf due to old age.  The cab driver discloses to Harrison and Anderson about how he independently decided to record Chulym using Russian characters years ago but ultimately destroyed his own efforts because the one time he showed his work to someone, that person was “offended by it”.  Sadly, people perceive more economic advantage if they stop using their native language.

There are seven thousand languages currently in the world.  Endangered languages are places in need and has areas where there is a history of colonization where new folks impose their will, culture and, languages.  Both Harrison and Anderson agree that when it comes to preserving and learning about language, “you have to breathe it in and dance with people.  It’s no fun to just interview people”.  Culture and language is important.  In order to listen, you must participate in the culture.  The Linguists is a film that I recommend highly and would suggest that it should be shown not just in upper levels of academia but in high schools and elementary schools as well.  The film is easily understandable and can encourage youth and adults to be more aware of their own native language(s) and to know there is a responsibility to keep their language alive without shame and discouragement.  

“How English Is Evolving…” and “From English To Chinglish”

Two articles about how English is being used in combination with other languages and how this will make for new hybrid languages are “How English Is Evolving Into a Language We May Not Even Understand” by Michael Erard for Wired Magazine (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VaoThcLBjpHnGMDnZpasE7m4vOPjV39mrTYw7_9yOuw/edit) and, “From English to Chinglish: The Globalization of Languages”  (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Jswvh4RL1MYkwqr6cxUkeT40LfuSPxJJcANssSxSU6g/edit?pli=1).

“How English is Evolving…” is about English becoming more like Chinese such as with grammar and there will be more of a mingling of vocabulary as well.  There are Cantonese/English, Mandarin/English, and Singapore/English where each dialect has its own spin on the marriage of the two languages.

“From English to Chinglish…” is a article about the blending of languages in this current global market where mostly nonnative English speakers are having most of their business conversations in English and increasingly in Chinese.  The blending of these two languages makes a new adaptation called Chinglish.  The article uses the 2008 Summer Olympics in China as an example of how translations from one language to another can sometime become askew.   Simple signs, such as one for the handicapped restroom in English can be mistranslated, in Chinese it would translate into “Deformed Man Lavatory”.  Also, it is common to use English words and phrases when speaking Chinese, for example, if working late, in Chinese you would say you had to work “O.T.” for the English word overtime.  This combining of languages will create new languages ultimately and there will be a disappearance of old languages.  

One reason for the disappearance of old languages, or even indigenous languages that are in use but due to conflicting decisions on which dialect to apply, most countries will chose to use English as their primary language.  A project which has found language hotspots around the globe where at least five places where people are losing their language is the Enduring Voices which is a subsidiary of National Geographic and Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Tongues.  

A dialect of Chinese I have noticed a great decline in use is Toy San. “San” means mountain, and it is a dialect from the suburbs of China by the mountains.   When I was a child, my grandfather spoke Toy San and my mother would translate into Cantonese for me to understand.  I finally got it one day and by then, grandfather was not around anymore to practice with.  One thing my grandfather did was use English to express his Toy San thoughts.  Whenever I did or say something unintelligent, he would say that I had M.O.N.O., which in Toy San sounds like “mo-no” which means no brains.  Toy San people are very caustic in humor.  Every now and then I will hear Toy San spoken and I have to look at the one speaking it and wonder if they are related to me. 

As a new blogger to Blogger.com, I blog,ˈblog, ˈbläg, all the time.

As a new blogger to Blogger.com, I blog,ˈblog, ˈbläg, all the time.

Multiple processes is the “operation of more than one process at work in the creation of a particular word” (Yule, 60). In the beginning, searching for words with multiple processes for this assignment seemed straight-forward and without fuss. However, this task, to search for the most interesting word with multiple processes, proved to make me conscious of each word I heard or saw. Ziploc or ziplock was my original choice because of its compounding and conversion processes but it did not satisfy me. It was almost consuming to find a word for this blog. So, rather than curse the blog, I recognized that it would be better to see the glass half full and accept the blog, and this is how blog became my new word for the new world.

The word blog could be relatively new to most people in the world, but not to the British. According to www.etymonline.com, in the 19^th century blog meant “a servant boy” and described this use as a “perversion of bloke”. In 1969, Joe Bloggs was British slang for “any hypothetical person” which is the same as the American’s Joe Blow. Around 1994 there’s record that blog is short for weblog. Finally, launched in 1999 is the online publishing service The Blogger.

The multiple processes in the word formation for the word blog are:

Blending: combination of two separate forms to produce a single new term, taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of the other word; web + log = blog

Borrowing: taking over words from other languages; British slang for ‘any hypothetical person’

Backformation: a noun reduced to form a verb; a blogger blogs frequently

Conversion: change in function of a word; someone has to blog about it on The Blogger

Eponyms: new words based on the name of a person or place; British slang ‘Joe Bloggs’ equals America’s ‘Joe Blow’, we could be blowing instead of blogging.

Works cited

Blog. Etymonline.com. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=online&searchmode=none web 03.29.12

Yule, George. The Study Of Language. 4^th Ed. Cambridge, NY: 2010. Print.

Say, Camille

Dear Linguists,

I hope that the following is correct. Although my name is French, please use English pronunciation. For example, use Camille instead of Cami.

camille lauren way pene

| kəˈmiːl ˈlɔːən ˈweɪ |

First we start with the k sound, like kite, it is a [k] velar, stop.

Next for a sound, like the word at, is [ə] central, mid, monophthong. Then make a voiced sound for [m] bilabial, nasal sound. Continue with a high sound that is exactly like the word me, use [i] front, monophthong. The double L's will be voiced and use [l] which is alveolar and liquid.

For Lauren, we start with the [l] alveolar and liquid. Second, is the mid-low of [ɔ] back, monophthong which goes with the [ə] central, mid, monophthong. End with the nasal [n] which is alveolar.

For my last name, Way-Pene, are two names but said as one word. Begin with a voiced [w], which is bilabial, glide. Use mid-sound [ə] central, monophthong and use the [ɪ] as a high, front, monophthong. Next is the voiceless p, use [p] bilabial, stop and mid [e] front, and end with the voiced [n] alveolar, nasal.

To say Camille, try while exhaling to say kkk and in the back of your mouth open wider and say aaa, to make ka then with a nasal mmm and a short eee with your lips flat on your teeth, and add a short lll with the tip of your tongue behind the top teeth.

To say Lauren, do the same lll as above with the tip of your tongue behind the top teeth and say aw like you feel bad someone, and roll the tongue to make a rrr sound and then a short nasal sound with the nnn.

To say Way, purse your lips together like you are going to whistle and make the www sound, then without inhaling say aaee to make wwwaaee.

Camille Blog 1: Language Story

I do not recall exactly how I learned to speak English or Chinese. It seems to me that I just always spoke both languages. The effort to dually excel in both languages academically failed miserably and I am literate in English only. I remember receiving Chinese lessons on how to write what I thought and heard, copying text I read in Chinese but I always wrote on the side of the page my own English sounding translation so I could remember the characters. I didn’t know it then, but I was using what is now referred to as Chinese pingyun, which is the phonetic sound of a Chinese character written in Roman characters. This translating of Chinese words into English so I could remember better leads me to think that perhaps English is my first language and, although I spoke mainly Chinese with my parents (who also gave me lessons in Chinese) I thought and dreamt in English. Like many kids I grew up translating all correspondence and at PTA meetings, it was not fun.

There was no transitional bilingual education in public schools or private schools when I was growing up, at least not that I am aware of, and if you wanted lessons your parents had to pay tuition. Knowing my parents paid hard earned money for me to go to Saturday Chinese school really stressed the need to do well so as not to disappoint. But I begged them to let me quit by the sixth grade, they wanted me to write an essay in Chinese and I just didn’t know enough sentences. In high school, I chose French because my parents and siblings are fluent (they emigrated from Madagascar, a French colony) and I wanted to be like everyone else. My parents accepted that I was not going to “get it” with Chinese so, in hopes that I would learn French they sent me to France to live with relatives for a couple of months to learn the language. What happened was that I mostly communicated the important stuff in Chinese to the parents, my cousins spoke to me in French and I responded in English, and I translated in Chinese for them English records so they could understand it in French. They are also from Madagascar, so along with my family peppering the conversations with bits of French, Chinese, Malagasy, and English they did it too, and it all seemed so normal.

Ultimately I’ve got the reins only on English, barely. It’s my prime form of communication, and I have found over the years that I am improving on my communication skills with the use of English. And for the most part, so far, in my travels, I have always found someone who could speak some English. I almost feel like I don’t need to learn another language, other than math, is that a language too???