The Coverage, Description and Origin of English - Essay Example

The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson I. The Coverage, and Origin of English Oneof the most interesting comments that had been presented on the first part of the book is in relation to the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, Robert Burchfield, who believed that all Americans and Europeans need, is 200 years and they would not understand each other’s version of the English language. The said statement can be considered as the view on the extent of variation associated with the use of the English language. It can be considered of interest since the two regions are the main English speaking regions of the world but due to the flexibility of the said language. This can only mean that in any country there is a unique version of English language that cannot be found in other parts of the world since the culture and tradition of the said country had been inculcated and incorporated in the language (12). Another interesting point which can be considered true is that English had become the main language between races, between groups and between nationalities that do not have any other forms of communication specifically in terms of technical and business issues. The said characteristic of the English language can be considered why it is the universal language of modern time. Although it can be viewed as a very complex language on the basis of use, the flexibility in construction makes non-English speaking nations to resort to the language when they cannot understand each other (13). The comparison made by the author regarding the animal sounds and the way a baby can learn any type of language is another entertaining yet educational concept. The sound made by animals as captured in onomatopoeia can be an important contribution to the formation of the language system. In addition, the capabilities to learn any type of language can be innate in every person (25-27). The said concepts can be considered similar to any type of language in any part of the world, thus, though there is an absence of evidences that relates to the different types, such assumptions can still be considered feasible. II. The Global Language and the Early History of Language Formation The development of the English language can be considered as one of the most interesting and important issues. The said language is assumes as part of the global language that is presumed to exist, although no records can be presented. The presence of the said language which had been developed with the help of the different gestures and then adapted to the needed to the culture, nation and groups that are using is using it. In the 3rd chapter, the main idea is related to the origin of all languages. It had been assumed that there are similarities in the words used in different languages however they superficially sound unrelated. Basically, this can be considered that the characteristics and the composition of languages change through time, thus, variations that can be present in the modern languages can be explained (37). The said concept being given, the next interesting point is that, in certain parts of the world, a language can be recognized similar to the ancient level of another language. Included in the said examples are the language spoken in Angeln in Germany and the language of the Frisians situated between Holland and western Germany. The languages of these areas are comparable to ancient forms of other languages. Creole is also another interesting part in the development of the English language which can greatly describe the extent of variation in the said language (46). In terms of language formation and development then, there is a variety of interesting observations that can be considered important. The ideas and concepts presented by the author can be considered as an important inspiration to the further and in depth study on the English language in particular. Although there are criticisms regarding the absence of empirical basis of the writing of Bryson in this particular work, an explanation of the history of the human language at a view can be appreciated, understood and even be found appealing by the larger part of the population. III. Origin of the Words and the Pronunciation In the 5th and 6th chapters, the author presented a number of interesting points. Basically, the Indo-European origin of the English language had been stressed. For that matter, the words in the English language had came from the Indo-European region and gathered different influences from different cultures and languages, and in some cases words had been created to suit the needs for communication (67-70). The origin of the words can mainly be related to the sounds, meaning and even the influences of other languages. It had been presented that when the origin of the first language is considered the sounds in nature can be considered as an important component. In addition as what had been explained in the early chapters, animal and nature sounds hold the important roles in words and language formation (67-70). In terms of pronunciation, included in the interesting notions are the English words that have very similar spelling yet have different pronunciations. The author presented such word in and humorous and intellectual manner thus inquiring on the complexity and of the English language. Another important notion is that, English can be considered as a relatively difficult second language, yet it can be considered spoken by almost every country in the world even if present in different variations (85-90). IV. Different Types of English and Spelling The varieties of the English language had been described as a variation of different word use, word meanings, phrases, pronunciation and even spelling. An interesting point is that the variation in English is not limited in physical territory. This can be attributed to the fact that even small locality can have a unique variation and creole of the English language (100-102). In terms of spelling, it can be compared to that with pronunciation. As compared to other languages wherein the rules in grammar are fixed, English language can have difficult rules that are needed to be mastered due to complexity in terms of the rules. There is a large part of the words in the English language that is spelled differently as compared to the pronunciation (118-120). Reference Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. New York: HarperCollins , 1990. Read More