Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Английский язык в его национальных вариантах. Учебно-методическое пособие
.pdf
71
Ex. 4. Read and translate the following sample Text in Standard
Australian English
I got up and put on my black daks. They are the most exy
piece of my clobber as they’re my Dad’s last Chrissie prezzie. My
Dad’s a bonzer bloke and I like him most of all my rellies. That’s cos
I’ve got no Mum and my brother’s a bloody bludger and an ignorant
ocker. We’ve never been matey with each other and I often get agro
with him.
I had a nana and a sanger for brekkie and then took my ankle
biters to the kindie. In the arvo I talked to my nibs about our new
Kiwi bizzo partners, and I had a snag and a durry during the smoko.
In the evo I dropped in to the shop to buy some tucker and grog for
the barbie we’ll have on Sunday. It’s London to a brick that no one
will bring anything, we’ve agreed it would be a BYO party though.
I had a chook, some vedgies and amber for tea and then
Shazza lobbed in. She looked beaut and in full feather, so she
earbashed all night long. In the end I had to walk her to her unit, cos
my car had gone cactus. When I was back I felt a bit crook, so I hit
the sack right away.
Ex. 5. Match the following New Zealand English words with
their meanings:
a) Jandals
b) Dairy
c) Tramping
d) Chilly bin
e) Bach
1. A small convenience store
2. Flip-flops (sandals)
3. A holiday home
4. Hiking
5. A cooler (for food/drinks)
72
Ex. 6. Research and list 5 Māori words commonly used in New
Zealand English (e.g., Kia ora, Whānau, Aotearoa). Write their
meanings.
Ex. 7. Compare NZ English with Australian English. List 3
words that differ (e.g., NZ: “jandals” vs. Aus: “thongs”).
73
Topic 4. ENGLISHES OF SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
This Lecture:
•
describes varieties of the many different varieties of
English spoken in South and Southeast Asia, ranging from
an informal “pidgin-like” oral variety to a formal literary
variety;
•
gives a brief comparison between the history of English in
India and Sri Lanka;
•
describes a selection of the distinctive features of Indian
English at the levels of pronunciation, vocabulary and
syntax;
•
describes the aspects of syntactic difference between
Standard British English (StBrE) and Malaysian English
(henceforth MalE);
•
describes a selection of the distinctive features of
Singapore English at the levels of syntax and morphology
and shows the ways in which these differ from Standard
British English.
Historical spread and geographical coverage
The presence of English (and other European languages) in
Africa and South and Southeast Asia (henceforth Africa-Asia) is due
to several historical events: sporadic and subsequently sustained
trade, the introduction of Christianity, slavery, formal British
colonisation, and influence from the U.S. (in places like Liberia and
the Philippines). Furthermore, after colonisation independent “new
nations” were faced with few options but to adopt English as a
working language of government, administration and higher
education.
Africa-Asia is distinguishable from the remaining regions
covered in this book by the preponderance of English as a Second
Language varieties, rather than the L1 English which dominates in
74
the U.K., the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In other
words, indigenous African and Asian languages have survived the
impact of colonisation better than their counterparts elsewhere.
Though English is seen as an important resource for
international communication as well as for internal “High” functions
(in formal domains like education and government), its hegemony in
Africa-Asia is not complete. There are other languages of high status
which may function as regional lingua francas, for example Swahili
in East Africa, Hindi in North India and Malay in Singapore and
Malaysia.
The full force of English in Africa-Asia was not felt until
formal colonization in the nineteenth century (for example Singapore
in 1819, India in 1858, Nigeria 1884, Kenya 1886). The geographical
coverage is that of West Africa, East Africa, South Africa, South
Asia and Southeast Asia.
A network of varieties in Africa and South Asia
In order to give a feel for the rich variation of English spoken
in South Asia it is necessary to start with the following texts.
A. “Hello sir! Some rickshaw, some bazaar market, some two
rupees, some go and come back. Some silk, some sari,
some Ganges. I rickshaw driver. Somebody some friend
coming here Varanasi I help you.”
“A” is a sample of what Mehrotra has classified as Pidgin
Indian English. He makes this classification based on criteria
including that it is a sample of a reduced and simplified language,
that it is no one’s mother tongue, that its use is restricted to a trade or
occupation and that it is shaped by more than one language. Of these
criteria the fact that it is no one’s mother tongue does not distinguish
it from any other variety, and being ‘reduced and simplified’ is a
criticism often made about new or dialectal varieties of English and
one that is often based on prejudice rather than linguistic evidence.
Traditional English itself has been shaped by more than one
75
language. Its use only for trade purposes means that it could be
classified as a register, except that the speaker is only able to speak
this variety, and the term “register” usually refers to a variety spoken
in a certain profession such as the legal or medical profession and its
users are assumed to be able to speak a range of other varieties of the
language. But however it is classified, it clearly represents and
informal variety spoken by a poorly educated person.
B. Happy that British time that very happy madam. Now no
(laughter) … on that time very nice. British time. Money is
controlled time. Now rice is at a 1 kilo – 2.50. That time
get 1 rupee 8 kilo. British time … lot of money that is all
cheaper. Take eh ones any clothes take 10 rupee you get 1
shirt 1 pant. Now 1 shirt 1 pant you take 100 rupees – no.
The variety exemplified in “B” above is commonly referred
to as “Butler” English and originates from the “variety spoken by
native servants when communicating with their English speaker
masters. It is still spoken today by domestic and other servants and is
classified as pidgin’like”.
C. “Two rival groups are out to have fun … you know
generally indulge in dhamal and pass time. So, what do
they do? Pick on a bechaara bakra who has entered
college.”
“C” is taken from a teenage journal and shows the presence
of local language, in this case Hindi, which gives it its ‘Indian’
flavour. Dhamal is a Sanskrit word traditionally meant a type of Sufi
trance dance and now just means a type of dance. Bechaara bakra
means “a poor goat” in Hindi.
D. “And if he says ki I want the matlab dowry sort of thing.”
“D” also shows the use of Hindi words, but in this
conversation the Hindi words that have been transferred into English
are discourse markers rather than cognates. Ki is a complementizer
and, in this context, matlab is acting as a pause or hesitation marker.
76
E. She bent her head to receive her mother-in-law’s blessing.
“Sat Sri Akal”.
“Sat Sri Akal”, said Sher Singh.
“Live in plenty, live a long age”, replied Sabhrai taking
her son’s hand and kissing it.
“Sleep well”.’
Text “E” is an excerpt from the novel I Shall Not Hear ‘The
Nightingale by the Sikh author Khushwant Sigh. The “Indianness” of
this extract stems from the author’s use of traditional Sikh greetings.
“Sat Sri Akal” (which means “God is truth”) is a formulaic greeting
or farewell. This exchange suggests that the mother-in-law is cool
towards her daughter-in-law precisely because they exchange only
these formulaic greetings. This piece reflects local cultures – a
“foreign” reader unfamiliar with Indian cultures would probably not
receive this message of coolness between the two women. This
excerpt from Kushwant Singh’s writings is obviously ‘Indian’ and
reflect Indian cultural norms.
F. “Years ago, a slender sapling from a foreign field was
grafted by “pale hands” on the mighty and many-
branched Indian banyan tree. It has kept growing
vigorously and now an organic part of its parent tree, it
has spread its own probing roots into the brown soil
below. Its young leaves rustle energetically in the strong
winds that blow from the western horizon, but the sunshine
that warms it and the rain that cools it are from Indian
skies; and it continues to draw its vital sap from “this
earth, this realm,” thins India.”
Excerpt “F” is the final passage of Naik and Narayan’s book
on Indian English literature. This type of style can be considered
Indian, a style that might be described as ornate or flowery.
The final text, “G”, is a poem called The Cobra:
G. Your great hood was like a flag
hung up there
77
in the village.
Endlessly the people came to Weragoda –
watched you (your eyes like braziers),
standing somewhat afar.
They stood before you in obeisance. Death,
the powers of the paramitas, took you to heaven however.
They sky, vertical, is where you are now
shadowing the sun, curling round and round my mind.
They whisper death-stories –
but it was only my woman Dunkiriniya,
the very lamp of my heart,
that died.
This poem is by one of Sri Lanka’s finest poets, Lakdasa
Wikkramasinha. Paramitas are the disciplines Buddhists are
expected to observe on their way to Nirvana. Wikkramasinha died
tragically young and despite writing all his six volumes of poetry in
English apparently hated himself for writing in English. He accepted
that English can be nativized and was angry as he felt he had to write
in English rather than in a local language.
Background
The excerpts of different varieties of South English quoted
above serve to support the truism that South English in general and
Indian English in particular is a “network of varieties”, that include
regional and occupational varieties as well as standard Indian
English. One reason for this “network of varieties” is that the
linguistic situation in India is extraordinarily complex. The Indian
constitution lists the following 18 languages as the major languages
of India: Assamese, Bengali, Gujerati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,
Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Panjabi,
Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Hindi is the official language, yet the constitution is actually
written in English, and English is classified as an “associate official
78
language”. But, as the excerpts above illustrate, English is also used
in a wide range of domains, ranging from informal through to
formal. It is used by people of all classes, from the poorly educated
to the middle and upper class elites, although it must be stressed that
the majority of the population of more than one billion do not speak
it at all. English in India operates thus in public and private domains
and its functions include instrumental, regulative, interpersonal and
ideational. To explain how it is that English has maintained this
position in India, a brief summary of the history of English in India is
needed.
The date commonly given to mark the coming of English to
India is 31 December 1600. This was the date on which Queen
Elizabeth I of England gave a monopoly on trade with India to a
group of English merchants. The missionaries soon followed,
especially after 1659, when they were allowed to use the ships of the
East India Company. However, their work was restricted until the
beginning of the nineteenth century when a resolution was passed in
the British House of Commons in 1813 that resolved to promote
“useful knowledge” and “religious and moral improvements” among
the “native inhabitants of India”.
Shortly later, the famous Macaulay Minute of 1835 was
passed. Macaulay’s objective was to form a ‘class who may be
interpreters between us and the millions we govern – a class of
persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion,
in morals and in intellect’. This Minute officially institutionalized
English in India and led to the establishment of the English-medium
universities of Mumbay, Calcutta and Madras. The link between
government and trade can be seen here, as these were the cities
where the British East India Company had established key presences.
At the time, however, the policy of favouring English and
using it in education was not universally popular. Two groups
appeared that became known as the “Anglicists” (those who
favoured the promotion of English, especially in education) and the
79
“Orientalists” (those who favoured the promotion of local
languages). A similar debate between comparable groups can be seen
in many places today. The Anglicists have tended to retain the upper
hand, as can be seen in the Official Languages Act of 1967. This
legalized the use of English and established it as an associate official
language to be used with Hindi “for all official purposes of the
Union, for Parliament and for communications between the Union
and the States”.
It is probably true to say that the Indian film industry,
“Bollywood”, is as instrumental in making Hindi known to people
outside Hindi-speaking areas as schools. Hindi is spoken only in the
north and is a member of a different language family.
A major reason why English has retained its position is that it
is the only language in India that is spoken or used across the entire
country and it is therefore an obvious choice as a neutral link
language or lingua franca.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is far less complex linguistically than India, as there
are only two major languages spoken there: the language of the
majority, Sinhala, and the language of the minority, Tamil. English
retained its position in certain domains of Sri Lankan life. It
continued to be the medium of instruction in university faculties of
science, medicine and engineering. Its international importance
meant that a certain government ministries, Trade and Tourism, for
example, elected to retain English.
It also operates as a lingua France or bridge language between
the Sinhala majority and the Tamil minority, for, while some Tamil
speakers know Sinhala, few Sinhala speakers know Tamil. Its role as
a link language was officially recognized in 1987, and in 1995 it was
proclaimed a national language. It has since been introduced from
grades 1 to 3 in schools, “not as a subject but in the form of bilingual
teaching where primary teachers are encouraged to use vocabulary
80
items from English and the mother tongue”. The younger generation
of Sri Lankans are more likely to see English as a language of
modern life, technology and youth culture, than as a language of
colonial control.
Linguistic features of South Asian Englishes Phonology. As
was noted above, Indian English operates across a wide range of
domains, regions and functions. The phonological examples below
represent the pronunciation of Standard Indian English, although,
given the number of languages spoken in India, there are obviously
regional variations in its pronunciation. Indian English (IE) is rhotic,
that is to say /r/ is pronounced in post-vocalic environments, so that
the “r” in “part” and in “poor” will be sounded.
The RP dipthongs in “coat” and “day” are pronounced as
monophthongs in IE to give /ko:t/ and /de:/ respectively and the RP
central vowels /з:/, /ə/ and /ʌ/ are all pronounced /ə/ in IE. The RP
vowel sounds in “cot” and ‘caught’ are pronounced /kɑːt/
respectively in IE.
As far as consonant sounds are concerned, in some varieties of
standard IE, both /v/ and /w/ can be pronounced /v/. Both /t/ and /d/
can be pronounced as retroflex sounds and /θ/ and /ð/ as plosives.
Lexis. Influence of the local languages lead to “hybridization”,
whereby a local word and an English word combine to form a word
or expression of Indian English. Examples include “lathi charde”
(“lathi” means baton) and “tiffin carrier” (“tiffin” means lunch or
meal and has now become part of many varieties of English, as
needed have countless other Indian words, “bungalow”, “mango”,
“pyjamas”, “junk”, “curry” and “verandah” to name just a few).
Suffexes from local languages can also be attached to English words
to give “policewala”, “goondaism” and “patelship”, for example.
Direct translations from local languages create new words and
collocations so that from Hindi we get “on this her flower’bed, her
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]