For my research, I conducted an analysis of the Frisian language. Frisian is a part of the Proto-Indo-European language family, specifically the Germanic branch in the Western Germanic tradition. Frisian developed in the Western Germanic family and then it grew and changed from Old Frisian into Modern Frisian. Frisian, unlike English, has no intervening steps between Old Frisian and Modern Frisian: e.g. English developed from Old English, to Middle English, to Modern English.
According to classical sources, the Frisians traditionally inhabited the area between the Rhine or Scheldt in the West and the Ems or Weser in the East. The province of Fryslân (Dutch/English: Friesland) is one of the twelve provinces of the Royal Kingdom of the
…show more content…
West Frisian is the largest and most viable of the Frisian speech communities. The most striking fact about West Frisian, as opposed to East and North Frisian, is its relative uniformity—dialectally speaking (Markey: 2011).
It is in the realm of phonology that West Frisian evinces the greatest evolution from that of Old Frisian. The morphology, while further simplified in directions foreshadowed even in Classical Old Frisian, is not radically changed. In the literature it is quite generally assumed that Old Frisian is an SOV language, i.e. a language with a subject (S) – complement (O) – verb (V) order in simplex sentence structure. In this observational statement, V refers to non-finite verbs essentially, since it is assumed that these forms are indicative of the basic position of verbs (Studies in West Frisian Grammar: 2010). According to the same book, it was noted that a number of cases of grammatical influence of Dutch on Frisian were discussed, especially regarding a morphological example of this influence which is a change in the system of Frisian diminutive formation. The syntax of the Frisian verbal complex differs in several ways from the Dutch one. According to Besten and Edmondsen’s paper from 1983, Frisian shares an interesting property with other West Germanic languages in that main verbs are accompanied by ‘auxiliary’ verbs and/or modals occur in one cluster in sentence final
The ancestral language of India was Sanskrit. Over time, Sanskrit evolved into Hindi and other Indian languages. The Indo-European language family is the largest in the world. The Indo-European language family is believed to have its origins in Eastern Europe. Indo-European offspring include languages such as Latin and the various Romance languages and Celtic languages among many others.
Secondly, range of similarities and differences are perceived in the sets of rules constraining the language structure of Auslan and English. In comparison to English, sign languages are visual languages, hence it is distinct in modality and word-ordering structure (Damian, 2011). To illustrate, the words of spoken languages are delivered in a fairly linear pattern, both in time and on paper (Bejan, 2001). This linear sentence structure is observed in English, but the same is not demonstrated in Auslan. However, despite this distinction, the order of signs remains of importance to produce meaningful sentences. This is because Auslan conveys many grammatical features found in the English language at phonological, morphological and syntactic levels (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). An individual’s poor English grammar is attributed for sentence fragments. These poorly formed English sentences occur when a sentence lacks a subject, a verb or do not express a complete thought (Schuster, 2006). In the same manner, the wrong ordering of signs will affect the fluency of the language. For instance, the linear English sentence ‘many black cars have disappeared’ will be signed as MANY-BLACK-CAR-DISAPPEAR (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). In this example, it is important that the determiner (MANY) and adjective (BLACK) are situated before the noun (CAR) (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). This is done for the purpose of identifying the noun within the sentence, which subsequently lead to the formation
As the eighteenth century drew to a close, so too did British favorability; and by the end of 1774, conflict between Britain and the colonists was seemingly inevitable. The unprecedented mass distribution of Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense, sparked a dialogue so revolutionary that it liberated Americans, allowing them to start their government afresh, free from their ties to the British past. On the 7th of June, 1776, the Second Continental Congress motioned for independence, tasking a committee to draft a declaration of independence. James Madison, outsourced by the drafting committee, would pen a blistering indictment of King George III’s transgressions. Formally acknowledging the colonial desire for war, his Declaration of
The “Lizzie Borden” nursery rhyme is about a daughter murdering her father and stepmother. The poem references the violent murder of Lizzie Borden’s parents in Massachusetts, in 1892. Although Lizzie was accused of the crime, the Borden case went unsolved due to lack of evidence. The police reports say that Lizzie murdered her stepmother, Abby Durfree Gray Borden, then her father, Andrew Jackson Borden with an axe, and due to its unsolved status, the case has gained infamy over the years. Because of its horrific details, the case gained great notoriety during its day, and as it has gone unsolved for 123 years, as well as the fact the “Lizzie Borden” rhyme has continued to circulate, it remains a topic of interest to the present day.
What’s is the term of the word accents? The term accents according to the dictionary is “a distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language, especially one associated with a particular nation, locality, or social class”. In just the United States there are many different accents that you can hear when visit different states throughout the country. In fact there are up to 12 accents in the U.S. that are listed. Some accents don’t have a different tone of voice but it is mostly the different way the people from the region say pronounce words. For example Eastern New England English known more as “Boston accent” drops the “r” at the end of syllables (Smith, Ben Trawick, The
Pennsylvania Dutch is one of the hardest dialects to study, and yet has an extremely interesting history as well as a significant impact on the English language of the Pennsylvania area. Study of Pennsylvania Dutch is difficult for researchers because of the scarcity of books printed in it. The language had been preserved largely by word of mouth and lacks a traceable history through written works, making it difficult to trace its development (Follin, 1929, p. 455). However, what there has been much research on is how it differs from modern German, also called High German, and also how Pennsylvania Dutch and English have mutually affected each other. Researchers can even tell which dialects Pennsylvania Dutch evolved from and whence
113There is a shift of the verbal conjugation from gN:[;t.Ti (hithael second per. masc. sing.) in v. 14a to ^yTiÞb.K;r>hi (hiphil first per. masc. sing.) in v. 14b. The change of the
This essay will basically discuss Winifred Bauer’s main points and the supporting evidence, the proposition that some languages have no grammar, the meaning of grammatical distinction and how Winifred Bauer’s finding interest readers. To begin with, Bauer has compared Latin and Spelitzian language to get some ideas that language should have structure or grammar. Bauer (1998, p.77) states “If Spelitzian had no
Pidgins are generally spoken as a second language when mutually unintelligible languages are in close contact (Carroll, 2008). They reflect an individual’s ability to adapt communicative techniques by learning a limited amount of basic vocabulary from one language and supplementing that with vocabulary from another language they are characterized as having a simplified syntax (grammar) (Alleyne, 1966). Although, there is some debate as to what the difference between a pidgin and a creole is, it is generally accepted that creoles are spoken as a first language evolving from a pidgin and are therefore more complex with regards to syntax then a pidgin but still simplified compared to the root language(s) (Carroll,
dialect is an essential part of the culture, and the use of it in 'Our
Strayed’s use of descriptive imagery allows her to effectively convey her message. Throughout the memoir, Cheryl communicates the life lessons of focusing on the present and being happy about the little things in life. For example:
have you ever read an older piece of text and noticed anything different? such as the way the language was spoken/written. The reason our language differs from then is because of the influence of other languages around the English language its self. This influence help to create the modern English language we know today.
“The History of the English Language”. http://www.uni-due.de/SHE/. Univ. of Duisburg Essen. April 2013. Web 4 Oct. 2013.
Talking about “dialects”, a term often mentioned along is “standard language”. When being brought into comparison with “dialect”, “standard language” usually serves as a legitimate variant with the highest level of excellence (Bex & Watts, 1999). Though positive in nature, standardization - the procedure of standardizing a language – often raises heated controversy because of its consequences on not only linguistics field but also the society. In the second part of the essay, I will focus on the disadvantages of language standardization.
Among the most important concepts to emerge are those relating to dialects and language standards. Sociolinguists have documented the presence of dialects in every language. These dialects, all of which are legitimate, are associated with educational, economic, social and historical conditions. Hence, even if an individual scrupulously studies all the possible dictionaries of a random language, he would still be somewhat of a stranger to that language since he is unaware of all the dialectal changes.