The English language

Independent Reading

Map of UK Accents

Dying Languages

There are approximately 6,000 languages spoken in the world today, but many of these are quickly dying out. (A language is described as “dead” when there are no native speakers left.)

On the island of New Guinea, 3 million people speak a total of 740 languages between them. Even more amazingly, there are perhaps 260 Australian Aborigine languages, spoken by a total of only 450,000 people. Most of these languages are spoken by no more than a few hundred people, and with each generation the number of speakers decreases. Sadly, some Papuan and Aborigine languages may already be dead, and others will certainly die soon.

Different places in the UK have different accents. Look through the examples to get familiar with some of them.

1. Place: Dundee

Accent: Dundonian

Example: “Am awa up the street fur the messages.”

Translation: “I’m going down the road to buy some food.”

Example: “I dinna ken.”

Translation: “I don’t know.”

2. Place: Glasgow

Accent: Glaswegian

Example: “Aye nae bother.”

Translation: “It’s not a problem/ Don’t worry about it.”

Example: Dae ye wanna swallay?”

Translation: “Would you like a drink?”

3. Place: Newcastle + Tyneside

Accent: Geordie

Example: “Whey aye man! I’m clamming for a drink n it’s almost hoyin’ oot time.”

Translation: “Hi! I really need a drink and it’s almost time for last orders.”

4. Place: Manchester

Accent: Mancunian

Example: “I went on t’internet and got meself some gig tickets. After we went on the razz n got tanked up. Was a right proper top night.”

Translation: “I got myself some tickets for a concert. After the concert we went out drinking and got very drunk. It was a great night.”

5. Place: Liverpool

Accent: Scouse/ Liverpudlian

Example: “Ah, me ma had a right cob on when I went home cos me pa forgot to pay the lecky.”

Translation: “My mother was angry when I went home because my father had forgotten to pay the electricity bill.”

6. Place: Birmingham

Accent: Brummie

Example: “Oy kwoyt loik it.”

Translation: “I quite like it.”

7. Place: Rhonda

Accent: Welsh

Example: “Y’not from round hyer?”

Translation: “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Example: “Right, I’ll be there in a minute like.”

Translation: “I’ll be there in a minute.”

8. Place: London

Accent: Cockney

Example: “Oi mate, have a butchers at the barnet on ‘erl!”

Translation: “Look at that girl’s hair!”

26. Read the following text, divide it into parts and entitle each of them. Write a short summary.

Where did English come from? The obvious answer is England. However, in the past two thousand years very many people came to England and changed the language. Perhaps most of the language comes from the Anglo-Saxons who came to England in the fifth to the seventh centuries. But there are also Roman words from the time when England was a part of the Roman Empire: the ending – “chester” in the name of an English town comes from the Latin word “castra” and shows that there was a Roman town there. The Vikings brought many words with them, such as “they” and “their”; the Normans governed England for many years and brought French words with them. Then the English brought many words from different countries – “kangaroo” from Australia, “pyjamas” from India, and “anorak” from Canada.

But what is English now? It is no longer spoken just in England and there are many different kinds of English in different parts of the world. In a book, Peter Strevens gives the following diagram:

Standard English

American English FamilyBritish English Family

United States Canada West Indies Britain Australasia Africa

He says that there are two main families of Standard English, the American and the British. American English is spoken in the USA and in Canada. British English is spoken in the West Indies, Britain, Australasia, and Africa. However, many other parts of the world also use English. In India English is an official language still and there is a special kind of Indian English. In several African countries, such as Nigeria and Ghana, English is spoken in schools and colleges. In many sciences English is the language of communication. There are about 300 million people who speak English as a first language, and there are another 300 million who use it as a second language. So English is now an international language and is useful to people who never go to England.

27. Read the following text, divide it into parts and entitle each of them. Write a short summary.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29