2. WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH?
As of 2015, English is the official native language of 67 sovereign states and 27 non-
sovereign entities
The majority of English speaking nations derive from former territories of the British
empire
Countries where English is the primary and the ‘de jure’ official language include;
Bahamas
Canada
Kenya
Singapore
South Africa
There are many more countries included on this list, but this gives you an idea about the
varied cultures that have adopted English as their native language
There are between 360 and 400 million speakers of English, making it the third most
commonly spoken language in the world
3. Activity – list
the top 10
language in
order from
largest to
smallest,
including their
%
4. HOW DID ACCENTS EVOLVE?
Sociolinguistics refers to accents as a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular
individual, location or nation
Factors impacting accent include;
Regional or geographical location
Socio-economic status
Ethnicity
Caste/social class
First language influence
As human spread out into isolated communities, stresses and peculiarities developed
Over a long period of time, these differences have developed into identifiable accents
Activity – List 10 different accents
5. THE AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE AND ACCENT
Australian English is a major variety of the English language and is used
throughout Australia
Australian English is distinctive from other forms of English, differing in terms of
accent, pronunciation, register, grammar and spelling
Australian accent obviously differs from other English speaking populations too
Three factors of the Australian accent include
Vowel phonology – Australian English has phonemic length distinction
Non-rhotic - /r/ sound doesn’t come at the end of a syllable or immediately before a
consonant
Pronunciation – stress and weak forms evident in isolated words, yet this does not
impair its intelligibility (think schwa)
6. THE AUSTRALIAN ACCENT
Within Australia and the Australian English language, there are three different
types of Australian accent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH4ZQH_3_pE
How does SimonTaylor explain the three types of Australian accents?
What does SimonTaylor say we are good at doing with our language? Can you
think of any other examples?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPMSpw0CLEg
7. BROAD AUSTRALIAN ACCENT
What are some words that are associated with the broad Australian accent?
Where would you most likely hear the broad Australian accent?
Can you think of any well-known Australians who had/have a broad Australian
accent?
8. GENERAL AUSTRALIAN ACCENT
What are some words that are associated with the general Australian accent?
Where would you most likely hear the general Australian accent?
Can you think of any well-known Australians who had/have a general Australian
accent?
9. CULTIVATED AUSTRALIAN ACCENT
What are some words that are associated with the cultivated Australian accent?
Where would you most likely hear the cultivated Australian accent?
Can you think of any well-known Australians who had/have a cultivated Australian
accent?
10. CONNOTATION
An idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its
literal or primary meaning
Negative or positive connotations
Allows speakers and writers to compare abstract ideas with concrete
concepts in order to give subtle and/or better understanding to the
meaning of words
Creates more effective use of word meaning
12. DENOTATION
Translation of a sign to its meaning, therefore the literal meaning of a
word
This means that it refers to the word devoid of emotion, attitude and
colour
Dictionary definitions
13. ACTIVITY
Explain the differences in meaning when the following words are read as a
denotation and a connotation
Hollywood
Snake
Home
Babe
Bitch
Come up with two more of your own words to use as an example to
show the difference in meaning when a word is connoted and
denoted. Give their difference meanings
14. TABOO
The actual word ‘taboo’ usually refers to a social or religious custom prohibiting,
forbidding and/or restricting people from a particular practice, act, speech or
custom
Whether an action is taboo or not is very dependant upon the society or religion
which it is, or isn’t, being practiced in. No taboo is officially known as universal
In our society, taboo is commonly referred to as;
Killing and hunting
Sex and sexual relationships (primarily incest, necrophilia, adultery, fornication,
paedophilia, bestiality, masturbation)
Reproduction (abortion, infanticide)
Food and dining (cannibalism, dietary laws – halal, kashrut, fasting)
15. TABOO WORDS
Taboo words therefore are words and language that are generally considered
inappropriate in certain contexts
Taboo words within our society can be generalised into three main categories
“Dirty” words related to sex and excretion. For example “shit”, “”fuck” and “dick”
Religious words, commonly known as ‘blasphemy’. For example “Jesus”, “Christ” and
“God”
Animal words used as an insult. For example “bitch”, “cow” and “dog”
"What counts as taboo language is something defined by culture, and not by
anything inherent in the language."
(Adrian Akmajian, Richard Demers, Ann Farmer, and Robert Harnish, Linguistics:
An Introduction to Language and Communication. MIT Press, 2001)
16. THE LIGHTER SIDE OFTABOO LANGUAGE
SHIFTING STANDARDS IN SOUTH PARK
Ms. Choksondik: All right children, . . . I'm supposed to clarify the school's position on the word "shit."
Stan:Wow!We can say "shit" in school now?
Kyle:This is ridiculous. Just because they say it onTV, it's all right?
Ms. Choksondik:Yes, but only in the figurative noun form or the adjective form.
Cartman: Huh?
Ms. Choksondik:You can only use it in the nonliteral sense. For instance, "That's a shitty picture of me" is now
fine. However, the literal noun form of [writes on the board] "This is a picture of shit" is still naughty.
Cartman: I don't get it.
Stan: Me neither.
Ms. Choksondik:The adjective form is now also acceptable. For example, "The weather outside is shitty."
However, the literal adjective is not appropriate. For example, "My bad diarrhea made the inside of the toilet
all shitty, and I had to clean it with a rag, which then also became shitty."That's right out!
Timmy: Sssh . . . shit!
Ms. Choksondik:Very good,Timmy.
Butters: Ms. Choksondik, can we say the expletive, like "Oh shit!" or "Shit on a shingle"?
Ms. Choksondik:Yes, that's now fine.
Cartman:Wow!This is gonna be great! A whole new word!
("It Hits the Fan." South Park, 2001)
17. CLIPPING / SHORTENING
Clipping, or shortening, refers to the process whereby the commonly know action or
name has become only part of its original word
These clippings or shortenings tend to evolve from special groups such as school, the
army, police, medical profession, etc
For example
Exam(ination), lab(oratory), math(ematics)
Vet(eran), cap(tain)
There are four types of ‘clippings’ but we will only focus on the first two
1. Initial clipping
2. Final clipping
3. Medial clipping
4. Complex clipping
18. CLIPPING / SHORTENING
Final clipping (apocope)
This is the most common type of clipping, where the beginning of the prototype
is kept
For example; ad (advertisement), cable (cablegram), fax (facsimile), gas
(gasoline), gym (gymnasium/gymnastics), pub (public house), pop (popular
music)
Initial clipping (apheresis)
Retains the final part of the prototype (original word)
For example; bot (robot), chute (parachute), roach (cockroach) gator (alligator)
Final and initial clipping can be combined to retain the middle section of the word
For example; jammies (pyjamas), fridge (refrigerator) , flu (influenza)
19. ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations are the shortened form of a word or phrase
It usually, but not always, consists of a letter, or group of letters, taken from the word or phrase
A full stop is often used to signify an abbreviation
Abbreviations have been evident in the English language since it originated, however became
more popular during the growth of phonological linguistic theory in academic Britain
Abbreviations are popular in general society, however many disciplinary areas have their own
abbreviated language to suit its needs
Academic studies (arts and science)
Business and finance
Computing
Government
Medical
Internet
Activity
Can you come up with an example of
an abbreviation for each area
