Category: Linguistics

Introduction

Larry Hyman who is the author of the report on the universality of word accent is a linguistics professor at the University of California where he specializes in phonology. He has a keen interest in languages of the African people. Larry Hyman has conducted several award winning researches and is credited for numerous quality and informative publications in linguistics.

The report is published by the University of California in Berkley where the author is based. The main idea of Hymans report is to provide a clear argument on the contentious issue of word-level stress accent and to try to establish whether it is universally applicable in all languages.

Students, other scholars and enthusiasts of linguistics may find this report very handy in improving their knowledge on stress and accent. This paper is a critical review of the report on whether all languages have word accent.

Summary and Description

Hymans report uses a logical and very persuasive approach that focuses on a broad perspective of word-level accent and not the way it is perceived in traditional linguistic literature (Hyman, 2012). The report is divided into five sections addressing forty-nine items that look at the relationship between word stress and accent besides addressing the issue of universality of accent.

The first section, which is an introductory section, handles the initial four items and introduces the important issues that the report addresses. Hyman begins his report with a definition of word accent and distinguishes it from word stress in terms of inclusiveness and description. He asserts that since all languages have word stress, they must automatically have word accent.

In the second section, Hyman handles the definition of stress accent and embarks on the traditional definition of what makes up a stress accent system. Under item number five, he provides eight clear characteristics of a stress system. Hyman gives a description of a stress system that looks a lot like English then goes ahead to justify why metrical stress is very unambiguous in English.

Subsequently, the report looks at three different approaches that can be used to define stress accent. The first method (phonetic method) is about the phonetic manifestation of stress and focuses on the outlook and the intensity of the stressed syllables. The second approach proposed by the report is the functionality method, which concentrates on the communicative intentions that motivate stress accent.

The last approach is the formal technique that addresses stress using its structural characteristics. To determine the universality of stress accent, the author lists nine characteristics that make a stress accent canonical. He adds that a stress system that violates any of the items listed is non-canonical and cannot claim universality.

The third section of the report looks at languages that do not follow the conditions outlined in section two. It starts by listing five criteria that a canonical language needs to meet, but concedes that there are some languages that satisfy only part of the conditions set. Taking Kinga, a Bantu language as an example, the author looks at some of the problems that become evident as one tries to apply these principles to such a language.

He then introduces a distinction between pitch accent and stress accent. He refers to pitch accent as that which meets part of the properties of stress accent or demonstrates a collection of properties linked to the ones outlined.

Hyman supports a property-driven typology approach, which he believes avoids the labeling of languages and instead focuses on categorizing based on individual properties. This approach seeks to establish the extent to which specific properties of a language relate to the true definition of stress accent.

The author goes ahead to give examples of cases where certain languages lack word stress. He also identifies other problems that arise in an attempt to attain universality of word accent.

This section predominantly looks at problems that come up when comparing the conventional properties of pitch and duration (vowel length) with word accent. In the remaining sections (four and five), Hyman presents an interesting argument on the universality or specificity of word accent.

Commentary

Broadly, an accent is the way people sound when they talk. The way each person uses the sound system is exceptional and special. Most people modify the way they speak in tune with others close to them. People share the way they pronounce words in a certain language.

Scholars of phonology call this pronunciation accent. Accent includes an amalgamation of consonants, vowels and other features of speech like length, tempo, emphasis, tone, cadence, and loudness (Riad & Gussenhoven, 2007). There are basically two types of accent. One is the primary language accent, which refers to the way different people pronounce words in their native languages (Yavas, 2006).

Such variations are influenced by the geographical environment of a person and the social group to which they belong. The other type is foreign accent and arises when people learn to speak languages other than their native tongue (Moyer, 2013). Therefore, stress is either labeled as a stress accent or dynamic accent (Moyer, 2004).

This report generates various fascinating observations on theoretical management of stress. I agree with Hymans property driven typology that bases most academic work about stress on descriptions learned from grammar.

The author certainly attains his goal of showing the reader in a series of well laid arguments what he means by the universality of accent and if they are indeed universal. The report is clearly written and easy to comprehend for anyone who wants to increase their understanding of stress accent and typology in phonology.

The main linguistic features of prosody are pitch, duration and loudness. Upon scrutiny of native speech, it is evident that there are approximately seventy percent sentences possessing pitch declinations (Everaert, Musgrave & Dimitriadis, 2009). Hyman gives a clear and professional distinction between pitch accent and word-level stress accent.

In this regard, the report compares favorably to other literature of its nature and can be useful as a complementary material to be used alongside other scholarly works. Hyman certainly demonstrates why he is considered an authority in phonology and why his studies of African languages are highly recommended for students of linguistics and budding scholars.

Following a string of insightful approaches, Xu argues that there is no specific universal form for the intonation of an utterance (2001). Therefore, the superficial F0 declination is influenced by the role of various sources, for instance the decline produced by L tone. It might also be influenced by a fresh topic or focusing on utterance.

The relationship between accent and such intonation can be explored by assessing the influence of placing word accent on the down-step of intonation and looking at the integration of accent and intonation.

This comparative approach is well elaborated in Hymans report. Shih (2001) notes from her study on a collection of sentence syllables that the initial sentences have higher F0 values and pitch levels compared to the later ones. Her study concludes that accent and intrinsic F0 in vowels are universally found in all languages.

Word accent is global and tongue-specific for any language. According to Gussenhoven, such universality is found in the paralinguistic meanings of pitch deviation (2004). Specificity as outlined in Hymans report lies in the meanings attached to words of different languages.

Some languages combine stress accent and pitch accent in that the stressed syllables with accent can possess more than one tone while syllables that are not stressed do not have a tone. An instance of such pitch accent is found in the Serbo-Croatian accent.

The comparative method employed by Hyman when looking at word stress and word accent in different languages helps in understanding the universal or specific nature of word accent. Different languages such as Chinese, Turkish, or Mohawk present added platforms in exploring universality. In Chinese, a word consists not only of consonants and vowels, but also the pitch with which it is spoken.

This suggests that a syllable like ma spoken with a high pitch is very different from the one spoken in a low pitch in mandarin. The first case has the meaning of mother while the second means hemp. The same syllable, when spoken with a high falling tone means to scold. However, the fact that most of the languages Hyman uses as examples are Bantu limits the scope of his report.

A report of this nature aimed at establishing universality ought to incorporate more examples from different categories of languages. Nevertheless, it is understandable why Hyman prefers the use of Bantu languages as examples since his main research specializes in African languages.

It is important not to confuse pitch accent and word-level stress. Pitch accent is not globally established in all stress languages. According to Rialland & Robert, Wolof language has word-level stress but does not have phrase-level pitch accent on the stressed syllables (2001). The general definition of stress adopted by Hyman in items seven and eight gives us a clear direction of his philosophy regarding the concept.

He proposes that a stress system is obligatory and cumulative, and must have a syllable or syllables. This definition provides a clear understanding of what qualifies as a stress system thereby avoiding ambiguity. Hyman also makes an important point that a lexical word has only one stress. The best thing about the report besides its clarity is the way points are organized in a coherent flow with thoughts that are well illustrated.

Conclusion

A better understanding of this report requires one to follow Hymans other writings on the subject as well as those of other authorities on stress and accent. Though a comprehensive typology for addressing the universality of word-level accent is yet to be formulated, Hymans work certainly makes an important contribution to the body of literature that is useful in this endeavor.

His approach is easy to comprehend and apply to other studies of this nature. Consequently, the value of this report to phonology must not be underestimated, and the material should be recommended in linguistics together with other scholarly articles and reports written by Hyman.

References

Everaert, M., Musgrave, S. & Dimitriadis, A. (2009). The use of databases in cross-linguistic studies. New York: Walter de Gruyter.

Gussenhoven, C. (2006). Between stress and tone in Nubi word prosody. Phonology, 23(2), 193-223. DOI: 10.1017/S0952675706000881

Hyman, M. L. (2012). Do all languages have word accent? Web.

Moyer, A. (2004). Age, accent, and experience in second language acquisition: An integrated approach to critical period inquiry. New York, USA: Multilingual Matters.

Moyer, A. (2013). Foreign accent: The phenomenon of non-native speech. New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.

Riad, T. & Gussenhoven, C. (2007). Typological studies in word and sentence prosody. New York, USA: Walter de Gruyter.

Rialland, A. & Stephane, R. (2001). The intonational system of Wolof. Linguistics, 39(5), 893939.

Shih, C. (2001). Generation and normalization of tonal variations. Journal of Chinese Linguistic, 2001(17), 32-52.

Xu, Y. (2001). Sources of tonal variations in connected speech. Journal of Chinese linguistics, 2001(17), 1-31.

Yavas, M. (2006). Applied English phonology. Australia: Blackwell Publishing.

Introduction

The process of acquiring new language skills is essential for the proper development of a young learner. According to Chomsky, the age of one to three years is considered critical for a young learner; unless a child develops a proper language basis, further development is barely possible. It is imperative that the parents and instructors should facilitate the process of language acquisition for the child, as even minor changes in the environment may disrupt it (OGrady & Archibald, 2012, p. 357).

Young Thomas (1.5) has been having issues with acquiring new vocabulary. Even though both parents encourage the child to develop the baby talk that could be as close to the actual language as possible, the young learner prefers onomatopoeic methods of demoting the objects and people around him, as well as voicing his concerns with exclamations and noises instead of using actual words.

It is suggested that a set of exercises combined with active engagement in communication with Canadian children of the same age will allow Thomas to develop the required skills. Also, parental involvement and encouragement are imperative for a successful intervention.

Data

The information provided below was retrieved by recording the dialogues between the child and the members of his family, as well as the utterances that the child made in the course of playing or interacting with the people and objects around him.

Semantic Categories

Body parts and functions

Stomach  tummy

Buttocks  bum

Basic qualities

Cold  cole

Pretty  pwiti

Disgusting  yuck(y)

Kin terms and nicknames

Mother  mommy

Father  daddy

Grandmother  nana

Familiar objects and creatures

Cat  kitty

Dog  bow-wow

Bird  boid

Teddy bear  deddy

Rain  wain

Familiar actions

To eat  yum-yum

To urinate  peepee

To give  gi; variation: give me  gimme

Exclamations

Dissatisfaction  ugh!

Delight  yay!

Annoyance  uhm!

Attention getter  da!

Frustration  nuh!

Pain  ouh!

Noises

(When playing games) Boo!

(When expressing something that he does not know the word for) Gaga!, Nana!

Morphological and Phonological Analysis of the Data

Assimilation

One of the key characteristics of Tommys speech concerns the fact that in a range of situations he assimilates the consonants in the words that he pronounces. One of the most graphic examples is the word gimme, which the child says quite often. In addition, such examples as daddy, which is a teddy (bear) with the first t being assimilated to d, show that Thomas needs a long practice in pronouncing sounds, particularly, learning to differentiate between the sounds that may seem similar.

Clusters

Speaking of the sounds that may seem similar or appear to be too hard for Tommy to pronounce, active use of clusters can be spotted instantly when listening to the childs speech. For example, the word pwetty, which the child uses instead of pretty, is a clear-cut example of a cluster or a particular case of a phonological substitution.

The phenomenon in question is fraught with serious consequences, as the child does not make any attempts at training to pronounce the letter r properly and, instead, searches for the means to substitute it with an appropriate sound. A similar phenomenon can be observed in the case when the child pronounces the words bird and rain  obviously having problems with pronouncing the letter, Thomas replaces it with w or i depending on the position of the letter in a word.

Onomatopoeia

Apart from having problems with pronouncing particular sounds, Thomas clearly avoids calling objects their vocabulary names and instead invents his own interpretations of what the objects and phenomena in question should be named. On the one hand, such linguistic creativity deserves to be distinguished and praised; on the other hand, the child needs to be corrected so that he could learn the English language properly.

While there is nothing technically wrong with the word kitty, which the child uses to denote a cat, the word bow-wow, which means a dog, is an obvious signal of possible lexical issues. In fact, the amount of onomatopoeic elements in the childs speech is disturbingly high.

Though it would be unreasonable to assume that a child of 1.5 years can avoid using the specified elements in his speech, it is still expected that Thomas should be able to name basic elements of his environment in an appropriate manner. The unwillingness to accept and learn new ways of expressing himself may occur due to stress caused by the recent move to a different country; however, the child still obviously needs to learn to express his ideas and emotions more coherently.

Speaking of which, Thomass vocabulary for denoting emotions is unbelievably scarce; as the information provided above shows, he is incapable of expressing his feelings I any other way except the onomatopoeic one.

The aforementioned characteristics of the learner are the first details to pay attention to when defining future models for boosting his early childhood development. The fact that the childs vocabulary consists of the words that contain mostly labial sounds (e.g., n, m, etc.) shows that Thomas may need assistance in training the pronunciation of other sounds.

It is quite peculiar that the child displays the ability to incorporate polysemy into the words that h uses in order to get his message across. For instance, the word nana, which Thomas defines as grandmother, is also used by the boy in order to locate the object that he does not know the name for.

A closer look at the specified phenomenon, however, will reveal that the case in point is an example of homonymy rather than a clear-cut case of polysemy; indeed, the objects that the word determines have little to no elements in common, and the word itself resembles the attempts of an infant to form a sound rather than a legitimate process of creating a polysemantic word, as polysemy occurs where a word has two or more related meanings (OGrady & Archibald, 2012, p. 185), the word related being the key to the definition.

In addition, the repetitions, which the child uses in order to form a word from a specific exclamation or an onomatopoeic word, should be mentioned as one of the key features of Thomass speech. Indeed, the boy seems to form quite a number of words with the help of a reiteration of the first syllable.

For instance, such words as peepee and bow-wow display the tendency to form the basic vocabulary with the help of the repetition of syllables. Though this cannot be technically defined as linguistic laziness, there is a certain concern for the child to be capable of learning the actual vocabulary that he will use in communication later.

Overall, the analysis has shown that Thomass vocabulary is rather scarce for a child of his age. Despite the fact that the child shows some skills of forming his own vocabulary and be creative in naming the objects and phenomena that make an integral part of his reality, he still needs the training to acquire the skills required for a more advanced speech and the use of more sophisticated vocabulary.

Although the speaking abilities, which the child displays at present, leave much to be desired, it can be assumed that the development of vocabulary and speaking skills he been impeded by the recent change in location and that Thomas will restore his capability to learn new lexemes soon.

Conclusion

The analysis of the so-called baby talk of one-and-a-half-year-old Thomas has shown that the child may be experiencing certain difficulties in adjusting to the change in the environment that he is developing in. The fact that the child still prefers onomatopoeic names of the corresponding objects instead of their vocabulary names shows that tom may be having certain developmental issues at present, which, again, can be explained by the change in the conditions that he used to lie in (OGrady & Archibald, 2012, p. 370).

The focus on his self, however (i.e., the use of words me, my, Gimme! etc.), shows that Tommy is ready to discover the world around him and his place in it. Though the vocabulary basis, which the child has at present, is quite scarce, it can be assumed that, with the help of activities aimed at learning new words, Thomas will be able to become an active learner. Developing specific language exercises targeted at training the sounds r, t/d, i/e, etc., will be quite helpful in the process of improving the childs speaking skills.

Reference List

OGrady, W. & Archibald, J. (2012). Contemporary linguistic analysis: An introduction. (7th ed.). Toronto, CA: Pearson Education.

Though placing the events on the real-time curve when rendering them in speech may seem more natural to one, the use of apparent time, in fact, is just as, if not more, frequent than the usage of real-time constructions.

Indeed, a closer look at the structure of the English language speech, particularly, the colloquial one, will reveal that the incorporation of modal verbs indicating probability, is quite common. Herein the significance of the so-called apparent time lies; it allows for denoting the probability of a specific event or action, therefore, adding a tint of uncertainty to a sentence.

As far as the specifics of the Southern American pronunciation is concerned, one must note that the latter stands in sharp contrast to the manner of speech adopted in the northern areas of the United States, as well as that one of Canada. Indeed, a palatalization of consonants, which can be viewed as one of the most characteristic features of the Southern pronunciation, can hardly be observed in either the Northern American dialect or the Canadian English.

Apart from the differences between the Canadian English and the Southern American dialect, the fact that the Canadian pronunciation involves the notorious Canadian rising deserves to be mentioned. To be more specific, the ou diphthong is pronounced somewhat differently from the standards of the American pronunciation.

The Southern American dialect, in its turn, has a few distinct characteristics, which allow for distinguishing it among the rest of the accents that are traditionally associated with the English language. Among the key ones, the fact that monophthong vowels prevail in the speech of the people living in the American South, particularly, in Texas, must be noted.

Also, referring to the issue of apparent-time and real-time verbs indicated above, one must also state that the residents of the American South are much more prone to using the specified modal verbs as the tools for expressing elicitation than the means for getting the meaning of capability or capacity across. True, the specified verbs do have a denotation of probability among their key interpretations; however, they are not used as widely for the purpose of conveying elicitation as they are in the South American dialect.

Researches also show that there is an impressive difference in the use of vernaculars between the residents of Canada and the citizens of the Southern American states. To be more specific, the latter tend to have an increasingly big number of individual vernaculars in it.

The feature in question can be explained by the spatial differences between the North and the South of America; for instance, the density of the population and, therefore, the possibility for developing unique language features within a specific region differs considerably between the Southern parts of America and the corresponding Northern ones. As a result, the American South, unlike the Northern states or the population of Canada, for that matter, seems to have created a rather diverse network of vernaculars in the Southern set of dialects of the English language.

Even though most of the people inhabiting North America speak English as their native tongue, the dialects, which are spoken in different parts of North America, are strikingly different. The lack of similarities between Canadian English and the English language is spoken in the South is a graphic example of the phenomenon under consideration.

For most people, the term discrimination is associated with matters of race, gender, sexuality, and other issues that have traditionally been proven contentious. However, there is another class of discrimination commonly referred to as linguistic discrimination. John Baugh and Margret Pusher carried out a study on the topic, and they discovered that people are often discriminated based on their accents more when it comes to making calls to certain companies.

They discovered that some companies, for example, would screen their calls if they deduced that a caller was nonwhite from his/her accent were more likely not to return their call (Baugh 156). Peter Trudgill one of Britains foremost citizens discusses the fact that his father was often forced to conceal his accent as he spoke as he had come to realize some doors would remain closed to him. I can relate to that in an indirect way, one of my closest friends is part Arabic and Part White, but he spent most of his early years in the UAE.

Even though his Arabic roots are barely discernible, he complains that he gets discriminated more than full Chinese who were brought up in the US. The heavy Chinese accent he claims has caused him to be overlooked at service stations, hospitals and he has twice in the airport been taken through repeat random security checks. He tells me that when talking on the phone, he finds that he is more easily dismissed than most of his friends.

He once went for an interview for a part-time job in a call center but was rejected. Later, a friend working in the same company told him the panel feared his accent would make the client feel like they were not being served by a very competent person. Unlike Trudgills father, my friends accent is very pronounced and trying to hide, it only makes it more apparent. However, he is a stoic and optimistic individual, and fortunately, not everyone judges him based on it.

It is ironic that in non-American English speaking countries, people talking American tend to be discriminated and challenged to speak English English. In most cases, the British English is assumed to be standard with the rest of the variations, including even American English, seen as non-standard.

From a linguist perspective, there is technically no language that is better than another. Standard language often carries overt prestige while non-standard can be a source of discrimination or even embarrassment. Ultimately, there are people that feel being born in a linguistically correct environment since that is the only determining factor in ones brand of English is a mark of superiority and that they can look down on others.

While there is nothing wrong with being proud of how one speaks, there is no linguistic or even logical ground to discriminate against someone because of the way they construct sentences or pronounce words. In most cases, they have had no more control over their linguistic growth than they have had their skin color, height, or even the family and place they were born.

While linguistic discrimination may appear mild or less serious than the traditional sorts of discrimination may, in reality, it is just as unfair and uncalled for as racial, religious and any other kind of discrimination that exists.

Works Cited

Baugh, John. Linguistic profiling. Black linguistics: Language, society, and politics in Africa and the Americas 23.2 (2003): 155-168. Print.

In the mid-20^th century, Canadian English joined the constellation of the World Englishes, and the study of the dialect commenced. Territorially, the use of Canadian English is mostly characteristic for the areas located within the boundaries of Canada. The language bears a very strong resemblance to the British English and is traditionally opposed to American English.

It would be wrong, though, to consider the Canadian English a bland copy of the English language. The Canadian language is linked directly to the Canadian identity and, therefore, bears a range of distinctions that make it unique.

Nevertheless, even with all the evidence that displays the obvious independence of the Canadian English language, its autonomy is doubted by a range of scholars. The genesis and the historical development of the language, however, can be traced rather easily once the key pieces of evidence concerning the Canadian language are considered.

Still, claiming that there is a separate language called Canadian will be an exaggeration. The Canadian English language is currently interpreted as the variation of the English language, along with the Americana and Australian English languages.

Canadian English vs. American English

Despite being neighboring states, Canada and the United States do not share many similarities in terms of their language. Indeed, a closer look at the two will reveal that Canadian English has different ways of spelling words, a different manner of pronouncing them, etc.

However, Canadian English still could not avoid the process of assimilation with American English entirely. For example, the fact that some of the linguistic forms tended to assimilate to the supra-regional forms adopted and used widely in North America was obvious. The specified process should not be viewed as negative, though; instead, it may be interpreted as an essential step in the evolution of the Canadian English language.

Canadian English and British English

Though the languages are often considered very similar in terms of pronunciation and spelling, the number of people using each differs in Canada and Great Britain. The percentage of people speaking the Canadian English language in the state makes around 90%.

This is, in fact, a rather large number by all accounts; for instance, the number of people speaking the standard British language (the so-called received pronunciation) make only 35%, according to the recent calculations.

Evolution of Canadian English

Apart from the above-mentioned fusion with the British English language at some point, Canadian English has undergone impressive alterations since it emerged.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the language experienced a major Americanization. Nevertheless, the language maintained its homogeneity over decades, which manifests itself in a comparatively small number of dialects and a consistent development of phonetics and vocabulary of the Canadian English language across the state.

Even though the Canadian English language displays an impressive variety in its forms, this variety is traditionally referred to as homogenous. In other words, the language is considered to have been evolving in its direction.

Even though it has not been isolated from the influences of other languages and cultures, including the British and the American one, the specified language still displays an impressive tendency for defining its tracks for further development. While the accents spoken in Canada are very numerous, some of them featuring a distinct influence of French, the Canadian English retains its unique identity.

The Asiatic Society consists of conservatives who are keen to maintain their societal culture and norms. They work hard to conceal any information about their culture from foreigners. A visitor in this society is treated as an intruder and secluded from the societal proceedings. In the same regard, these mistreatments have bred social and legal injustices leading to increased efforts that are aimed at achieving justice through oriental studies.

Warren Hastings stands out as the best orient of his time and there is also the case with William Jones who has made numerous linguistic discoveries. It is recorded that desire to administer justice in Calcutta was the underlying factor behind his numerous research undertakings (Macfie 2000).

Hastings is considered as a despotic, discredited and disputed scholar whose linguistic prowess at the English parliament helped propagate both judicial and political injustice. Hastingss oratory contributions were faulted by Colebrook after he secretly learned English and made his own translations. More so, Colebrook contemplated resigning from the colony citing bad reputation.

Thomas Babington McCauley, another linguist, and Persian orator, recalls that the pundits of Bengal were always jealous at any attempts by a foreigner to pry into those mysteries that were locked up in their secret dialect (Lowe 2011). Thus, oriental studies reveal that native languages were used as a tool to propagate injustices in society. Hence, whoever did not have the ability to translate Persian or Indic into English and vice versa had a higher chance of unfair treatment and denial of justice.

Another outstanding characteristic of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta is extensively dealt with in the article as outlined by the many efforts by various researchers in the orient. It is evident that the establishment of the British colony in India changed the whole judicial system of the country.

McCauley also recalls that gradually analyzing some judicial verdicts by Hastings became rather complex and therefore people served sentences they never understood due to their limited knowledge of the language. Everyone was supposed to know English or at least have some basic knowledge of it. Hence, this led to researchers embarking on serious language study (Kabbani 2008).

Hastings is judged in London for defiance of his masters since he talked of the ingratitude of colonial conquerors. Other researchers, like Wilkins, changed the whole course of linguistic history by advocating for direct Sanskrit to reveal the structure of secondary languages, unlike the reverse approach, which was used. This made it easy to understand and translate English.

Jones, a sixteen-year-old son of a mathematics professor, made a remarkable breakthrough by translating the Hafiz into English verse. A fellow orient Pauthier affirms that no other orient ever had a broader range of knowledge at his disposal than Jones did. Thus, Jones is considered to have largely contributed to the language studies to save the linguistic from the oppression of the conquerors. Apart from this, Jones is also said to have uncovered and compiled important information about almost everything (Ankerl 2010).

The establishment of the British colony in Bengal was characterized by a change in the language structure. English became almost a necessity for survival in society. The extensive researches established were all channeled at two core objectives of eradicating social injustice as well as fighting back against the British oppression (Steiner 2012). Therefore, many scholars took up the task of saving the society through their intellectual prowess in oriental studies.

Works Cited

Ankerl, Guy. Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva: INU Press, 2010. Print.

Kabbani, Rana. Imperial Fictions: Europes Myths of Orient. London: Pandora Press, 2008. Print.

Lowe, Lisa. Critical Terrains: French and British Orientalisms. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2011. Print.

Macfie, Alexander. Orientalism: A Reader. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2000. Print.

Steiner, Evgeny. Orientalism/Occidentalism: Languages of Cultures vs. Languages of Description. Moscow: Sovpadenie, 2012. Print.

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of translation on the Latin language within the context of the Christian bible. It begins with a historical contextualizing discussion of the political and social climate of the Middle Ages through the Reformation and the events that eventually lead up to the translation of the Latin bible into the English vernacular. The paper also includes a comparison between the translated English bible and the Quran in terms of the impact on cultural identity, and the loss of Latin as a language.

Translation and Its Effects on Languages

For almost a thousand years the Christian bible was not only available exclusively to the educated elite, but to the educated elite able to decipher the Latin language alone. This instance created a hierarchy amongst the priesthood, biblical scholars, and the Roman Catholic Church, and an impasse among the largely illiterate peoples of Europe. The Church enjoyed a monopoly on the biblical word during the Dark Ages which it had no qualms enforcing not only through legislated ignorance, but also through outright aggression and violence.

The Roman Catholic Church actively protected the Latin version of the bible from the perceived bastardization into languages other than Latin through the threat of execution, and dissenters were regularly rounded up and burned alive at the stake (Ng 2001).

The Roman Catholic Churchs domination of the teachings of the bible through its hands on policing of the Latin language successfully kept the European populace largely ignorant of the contents of the bible, other than that which they were able to glean second and third hand from the church, their local priest and word of mouth.

This in turn maintained the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church, and facilitated the dependence of the populace on the Roman Catholic Church, in the sense that the Roman Catholic Church remained largely free to decide which aspects of the bible it would share and which aspects it would withhold. Thus those who could read Latin risked their lives  and often lost their lives  if they spoke out against the Roman Catholic Churchs interpretation of scripture.

The Roman Catholic Church monopoly over the bible persisted for nearly ten decades; however it began to change through the actions of one man: John Wycliffe. This essay will discuss the creation of the early translations of the Latin bible into English as spearheaded by John Wycliffe, and will analyze the impact of John Wycliffes translation, as well as later translations on the Latin language, which as we all know eventually disappeared from common language.

Strong political conflicts between several European states and the Roman Catholic Church began to wear away the power of the Roman Catholic Church, and also had the added effect of weakening the stranglehold the Church had kept for so many years on the bible, largely through the decline of the Latin language as a universal language. Coupled with this decline, the use of vernaculars, dialects and European languages began to usurp Latin as the main language of Europe.

When viewed through the eyes of history, the translation of the bible played a key role in the liberation of the European cultures from the political, social and religious control of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus the act of translation itself became a political act, and a subversive one at that. The essay will then compare the history of the translation of the Latin bible into accessible vernaculars with the Quran.

The Islamic holy book was not translated into vernaculars, and as a result, standard Arabic stayed alive and maintained itself in common usage. In keeping the Arabic language alive, the essay will discuss the impact of translation on the Quran, specifically as it relates to culture and identity among Arabic peoples who follow the Quran and worship according to the laws of Islam today.

Modern day translations of the Quran have much in common with the late medieval and early modern periods of European history in that they can quite easily be construed as politically charged activities.

According to Khaleel Mohammed (2005), fewer than 20 per cent of all Muslims located worldwide speak standard Arabic, thus the vast majority of Muslims understand the Quran as a translation  in other words  the scripture comes to them second and third hand, in much the same way that the European peoples of the Dark Ages received the Latin bible a millennium ago.

Translations of the Quran may well have maintained the Arabic language, but they too can quite easily fall prey to the same political machinations that the Roman Catholic Church employed to maintain dominance over the minds of the populace through manipulative, politicized and even militarized translations. This essay will illustrate the impact of politicized translations of the Quran on modern day Muslims and modern day Islam.

Vulgate

The vulgate is considered the oldest version of the entire Christian bible. The term vulgate translates literally as common edition and biblical scholars consider this text the most ancient extant version of the whole Christian Bible (Columbia University Press 2010). The name vulgate originates from a reference in the 13^th century which made mention of the vulgate and called it the editio vulgata (Columbia University Press 2010).

The vulgate remained the official Latin version of the bible endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church, and this version would have been in use during the Dark Ages.

The vulgate was put together by Saint Jerome under orders from Pope Damascus the First; Jerome began the translation in A.D. 383 and finished in A.D. 405 (Columbia University Press 2010). Pope Damascus the Firsts purpose in having the vulgate prepared was to replace and older Latin version of the bible known as the Itala, which had been translated from the original Greek (Columbia University Press 2010)

John Wycliffe

The vulgate was the source material for John Wycliffes English bible. John Wycliffe was born in 1324 in Yorkshire, England and educated at Oxford. He went on to become a professor at Oxford professor, a biblical scholar, and a theologian. A few years before his death John Wycliffe entered a radical phase and began to gain fame around Europe for his antagonism toward the organized teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

John Wycliffe became especially vocal in his denunciations of the Roman Catholic Churchs interpretation of scripture (Lane 1994). John Wycliffe gathered a group of loyal followers known as the Lollards, and started work on translating the vulgate into English. As a result, in 1381 he was fired from his Oxford University position and went into exile at a church in Lutterworth (Lane 1994). There John Wycliffe and the Lollards hand wrote dozens of English language manuscript copies of the bible based on their interpretations of the vulgate.

According to Lane (1994) the Roman Catholic Church read copies of John Wycliffes bible, promptly decried them and swore revenge; the Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river (Lane 1994). John Wycliffe had used his power as a translator, in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, simply to criticize them.

Thus in Lanes (1994) words, the church did not approve of the translation, but not primarily because it was in English. There were already English translations of parts of the Bible, and copies of the Wycliffe translation were legally owned by nobles and clergy. The main problem was that it was the Wycliffe Bible: it was distributed by his followers (the heretical Lollards) and used to attack the teachings and practices of the church.

In addition, the church was concerned about the effect of Bible reading upon the uneducated laity. The Bible was best left to the eyes of educated clergy, since salvation was mediated through the teachings of the church and the clergy-led sacraments (Lane 1994). John Wycliffe was lucky enough to die and escaped the wrath of the Roman Catholic Church.

Following the distribution of the John Wycliffe bible, the Roman Catholic Church confiscated copies of Wycliffes biblical translations and burned them, and several of his followers, including John Hus, met with fiery ends (Lane 1994). In the end the power of the Roman Catholic Church won out, and many of the Lollards including translators Nicholas of Hereford and John Purvey, recanted (Lane 1994).

Despite this, the taste for the English bible persisted. According to Lane (1994), nearly 200 of John Wycliffes original manuscripts survive to this day, despite attempts by the church to destroy it and to harass people who read it (Lane 1994).

Politicizing Translation

The politics of translation owes its origin to the politics of language, and language stands as one of the cornerstones of identity and is often used to define political sides.

Where the history of the translation of the bible is concerned, what is most significant&is the continuity from the late medieval to the early modern period of the subversiveness of translation, when possession of the vernacular scripture could condemn one as a heretic and vernacular writings other than scripture were perceived as dangerous, always potentially heretical (Ng 2001). Translation stands as a potentially subversive political act simply because it challenges the claim to an original and to an origin (Ng 2001).

Where Arabic is concerned, historically speaking this language has had its share of political application. This is largely due to the fact that Quran scholars believe Allah spoke to Mohammed in Arabic, and that any other language by definition is godless. Muslims view the Quran as Gods direct words revealed in Arabic to the Prophet Muhammad.

Because the Quran stresses its Arabic nature, Muslim scholars believe that any translation cannot be more than an approximate interpretation, intended only as a tool for the study and understanding of the original Arabic text (Mohammed 2005). In his book The Arabic Language and National Identity, Suleiman (2003) made a salient point when he argued that languages are constructed units of self definition (Suleiman 2003).

Similarly, the distinction between a language and a dialect remains arbitrary at best. Whether two or more dialects are established as different languages or as dialects of the same language will depend on a variety of contextual factors that are related to the history, politics, culture and demography of any given situation&languages are discursive processes, and&standard languages are the products of ideological processes (Suleiman 2003).

In the Middle Ages those caught reciting the Lords Prayer in English as opposed to Latin were arrested and burned alive at the stake (Ng 2001). Similarly, Suleiman (2006) offers the following chilling example of Arabic violence related to language: In Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s, the Arabic pronunciation for tomato acted as a shibboleth, as a sign of belonging, which helped determine the speakers identity as Palestinian or Lebanese.

Literally, in some cases, pronouncing the word for tomato as bandura in a Palestinian inflection, rather than as banadura, which is the Lebanese pronunciation, was tantamount to signing ones death warrant. The fact that a short vowel a inter-syllabically in the Arabic pronunciation of tomato meant the difference between life and death is a damning judgment on nationalism (Suleiman 2006).

Suleiman (2004) also highlights the conscious politicizing of the Arabic language by many translators by deliberately applying military language to translation; the analogy of the battlefield and the holy war appears regularly in Arabic translations of the Quran.

As mentioned, 80 per cent of Muslims read the Quran in translation, thus this militarizing of the religious book becomes problematic since it betrays an aggressive bias on the part of the translator, and a penchant for attaching violence to the Quran, whether or not the original standard Arabic contains that connotation.

Suleiman (2004) provides the following example: To the garrisoned troops (mur
bitkn) who know that they are members of the home front! To the first generation of holy warriors (muj
hidkn) who stood together shoulder to shoulder&to those who stood their ground in the heat of battle (Suleiman 2004). As Suleiman (2004) points out, the military nature of these references&is not accidental (Suleiman 2004). Ironically, in cases such as this example, the clearly stated bias of the translator strikes the reader as refreshing.

The earliest translations of the Quran into English, by contrast, were not only undertaken by Christians, but by crusading missionaries who sought to debunk Islam and aid in the conversion of Muslims to Christianity (Mohammed 2005).

These translators neglected to state their intended purpose, to create a version of the Quran that was newly Englished for the satisfaction for all that desire to look into the Turkish vanities (Mohammed 2005). While describing the holy Quran as a Turkish vanity is beyond offensive, the example highlights the political action of the translator as it pertains to religious works.

The question remains, how much of the medieval mindset that gave birth to the Crusades still persists in these ancient texts, and how much of it still influences not only the translators of the Quran, but the readers themselves. According to Mohammed (2005), in order to make itself acceptable to a world torn by Islamist terrorism, Islam faces more than just the hurdle of a proper English translation of its main document.

Until Muslims learn to question the reliability of the Muslim oral traditions, or divorce themselves from medieval exegetical constructs, they will be living in a world much apart from the Judeo-Christian entity that has known reformation and enlightenment (Mohammed 2005).

Perhaps given the fractious and violent quality of Christianity and Islam today, the solution lies in rewriting both texts completely, from beginning to end, in a manner that reflects the world we currently live in, not the world of thousands of years in the past. Though this suggestion may be heretical, it could well represent the way out of a long and seemingly endless cycle of aggression, intolerance and retribution.

References

Columbia University Press (2010). Vulgate. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia ( 6^th ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.

Lane, T. (1994). The crown of English Bibles. Christian History, 13 (3), 6-11.

Mohammed, K. (2005). Assessing English translations of the Quran. Middle East Quarterly, 12 (2), 59-71.

Ng, S. F. (2001). Translation, interpretation and heresy: The Wycliffe bible, Tyndales bible and the contested origin. Studies in Philology. 98 (3), 315-339.

Suleiman, Y. (2004). A war of words: Language and conflict in the Middle East. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Suleiman, Y. (2003). The Arabic language and national identity: A study in ideology. Washington, Georgetown University Press.

During a long period of time the meaning of the word author has changed considerably, and nowadays, it becomes a bit hard to distinguish what makes a good and worthwhile author, why so many critics still debate concerning the idea of authorship, and where is the line that distinguishes whether an author is dead or alive.

The world changes day by day, peoples preferences are under certain change as well, and, as a result, all the concepts, developed by people in this constantly changing world, do not remain the same. Donald E. Pease, the PhD from the University, makes a wonderful attempt to analyze what the peculiarities of a good author are, what makes an author alive or dead, and why it is so hard to define author purpose, taking into account that this term may apply to several different activities at one and the same time.

Donald E. Peases Author is a wonderful essay, where he argues about the ideas of authorship and the authors duties during different centuries, and also criticizes and evaluates the ideas by Barthes and Foucault.

I agree that the evaluation of the term author and the definition of authority may raise lots of questions: death of the authors happens when they disappear from culture, this is why the authors are not the only major constituents in texts and culture, and the readers and their comprehension of the texts become another crucial point in the discussions concerning the matter of authorship.

In his essay, Donald E. Pease pays much attention to the work by Barthes and his ideas as for the authors death and its importance to the text. Of course, authors death is not a concrete event; when the authors life is ended, however, it underlines one point concerning the absence of authors influence on the text and this texts interpretation by the reader. Barthes mentions that the author is dead, the text he thereby produces is not without an author (Pease, 112).

According to such kind of interpretation, the Barthes supports the authors separation from the text in the way that such separation promotes critique free from the authors point of view. On the one hand, without an author, the reader does not even get a chance to evaluate some piece of writing; however, on the other hand, without the reader, the work, created by the author, does not make sense without proper readers evaluation.

A discursive game always arriving at the limits of its own rule, without any author other than the reader&, who is defined as an effect of the writing game he activates (Pease, 112). Each line in the text is a kind of reflection that has to be evaluated, and the authors death is the only condition under which the work may be considered as worthwhile.

So, the work by Bathes, Donald E. Pease chose for analysis, serves as a proper proof that authors death in any piece of writing, differentiation of cultural and social issue, and readers participation are integral parts, which promote the creation of a masterpiece.

However, one year later, another significant piece of work appeared and offered one more standpoint where the role and the interpretation of the term author are presented. Donald E. Pease analyzes the work by Michel Foucault called What Is an Author.

This work introduces the evaluation of the cultural function of the author (Pease, 113). Within one year only, the idea as for the role of the author in texts interpretation has been changed considerably: another, more powerful meaning appears and impresses everyone with its content and certain concentration on authors role.

The author is finally neither an individual existing apart from a discursive practice, nor a subject acting within any specific practice, but what might be called a subjecting function (Pease, 113). According to this writer, the authors function in the text is not the most significant and not the only one, however, it has a certain impact and may serve as a kind of anchor in order to start interpreting the text.

In order to prove that Bathes ideas are not quite correct, Foucault offers proof by contradictions and evaluates what could happen if the role of authors in a culture turned out to be insignificant and they actually disappeared from texts.

According to Foucault, even the authors name is considered to be significant just because it is supported by the discourses in references to rights, obligations, and duties (Pease, 113). This is why if the author was not identified, the huge part of evaluation would be lost, and the interpretation, made by the reader, would not incomplete.

To my mind, Pease decision to compare two different ideas as for the authors role in the texts interpretation and possible death of the author is great indeed. This analysis helps to find out that the author still plays a significant function in culture. Baths offer quite a radical approach to the decision of the problem as for the authors complete disappearance in the texts interpretation. Foucaults fundamental idea that the author cannot be disregarded deserves attention as well.

This is why it is not enough to make a thorough description of these two approaches, and Pease evaluates their ideas and promotes the reader with a chance to interpret the content independently. Donald Pease demonstrates a good example of how it is possible to be a dead author while interpreting the text, and, at the same time, become a crucial part of the piece of writing that unites two different ideas.

In general, the role of the author in text and its interpretation by the reader takes a very important place in culture and literature in particular. The concept of an authors death should be regarded as a pure literal ethical notion that cannot be determined word for word. To comprehend the role of the author, it is first of all necessary to realize whether the author is dead or alive in the text. Authors presence allows identifying the status of the work and its connection to the other spheres of life.

The reader should get a chance to evaluate the content of the text, taking into consideration the surroundings, but still, be independent and use their own ideas and potential. And even if, according to Bathes, the author should be dead, his/her role in the text remains considerable, according to Foucault.

And Donald E. Pease demonstrates the best qualities of a professional writer, who cares about readers participation in the text, about readers abilities to find out new information, and, finally, about the neutral position that promotes readers growth and self-improvement.

Works Cited

Pease, Donald, E. Author. Critical Terms for Literary Study by Lentricchia, Frank & McLaughlin, Thomas. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Fortunately, nowadays everyone understands that all people are unique and can freely express their thoughts. However, when it comes to writing, people notice the lack of uniqueness or so called creativity. Many think that writers tend to copy existing styles rather than expressing themselves because they are taught to do so. Bartholomae and Anzaldua consider the issue of creativity and come to the same conclusion that writers should be creative, but the authors have a bit different attitude towards academic conventions.

Both authors admit that the major point in writing is expressing ones thoughts, ideas or feelings. Bartholomae and Anzaldua state that creativity is often suppressed by academic conventions. Writers try to follow the necessary formats rather than dare to create something new, unexpected and revolutionary. Academic world kills incentives by rejecting any novelties. Bartholomae and Anzaldua believe that writers should keep trying, developing their writing skills.

Notably, Anzaldua compares writing with breathing, i.e. living, arguing that writers simply cannot stop writing. Bartholomae only insists on the necessity to practice since, according to him, only after many attempts writers will be able to achieve certain proficiency in writing. So, Bartholomae and Anzaldua articulate the same idea that creativity and academic conventions cannot go hand in hand.

Nevertheless, both authors criticize conventions in different ways. Thus, Bartholomae does not reject the power of academic conventions. He only states that novice students cannot write in accordance with those conventions even though they try really hard. He claims that this trying is the key to the loss of creativity. Students lose themselves trying to copy academic style. Basically, Bartholomae praises academic style since it is concise and clear enough, so it serves to express any thought.

However, he states that it is essential to educate novice students and help them to become proficient in academic style. Bartholomae stresses that teachers should not be too strict.

He even admits that it is possible to forgive some minor mistakes and imperfections if the teacher sees that a student is in the right direction. For example, grammar mistakes can be forgiven while students are mastering academic style. Basically, Bartholomae only states that creativity can be suppressed by the desire to sound academic, but students can be taught to write academic papers without losing themselves.

On the contrary, Anzaldua argues that academic conventions destroy creativity and make writers keep silence. She states that there are so many conventions which are trying to make her, and women like her, stop writing. However, Anzaldua claims that it is necessary to forget about conventions and rules, it is important to express some inner thoughts and feelings. It is important to reveal oneself in the Universe. Anzaldua believes that writers should be immediate and even intimate in their writings.

In fact, this is the reason why she has chosen the form of a letter for her writing. She feels that no other form can reveal the importance of being herself and saying loudly that she does exist. Basically, Anzaldua completely rejects academic conventions pointing out that those rules destroy the essence of writing, which is expressing oneself.

On balance, Bartholomae and Anzaldua express their concern about the negative influence of conventions on creativity, but their criticism has different scale. While Bartholomae thinks academic style is the appropriate form for writing but some rules can be evaded, Anzaldua is against any conventions in writing.

Introduction

One of the most important concerns for the modern Arabian linguists, the aspect of the language development requires thorough considerations. It must be admitted that the theories of Ferguson did have sufficient authority and were based on the solid fundament of facts and logical train of conclusions.

Yet the consequences of the language change might be somewhat different from the ones predicted by the linguist. In this paper, I am going to write about whether the predictions of the philosopher came truth and what predetermined such results.

Taking the High and the Low Roads

It is necessary to mark that Ferguson (1963) split the Arabic language in the high and the low dialect to explain the processes that were occurring in the linguistic sphere.

According to the ideas expressed by the scientist (Ferguson 1963), it was quite likely that the low variant of the Arabic language would finally oust the high one, thus making it closer to the spoken variation of the Arabic: A brief and superficial glance at the outcome of diglossia in the past and a consideration of the present trends suggests that there are only a few general kinds of development likely to take place (20), the linguist warned.

Therefore, Ferguson saw the final triumph of the low Arabic as the one and only possible ending of the linguistic process taking place then. Therefore, it was highly likely that the language of the lower layers of society would finally oust the noble dialect of the Arabian elite.

Taking a retrospective into the times of Fergusons theory, one can possibly claim that these ideas did have sufficient basis. In addition, there were enough of historical examples to support this idea. However, as time passed, the credibility of Fergusons theory was slowly decreasing. At present, it is highly probable that the initial idea that Ferguson suggested was erroneous.

However, it is still worth mentioning that Fergusons theory is scientifically based. There is no doubt that Ferguson suggested the idea that both was rather witty and contained a grain of truth. It is remarkable that Ferguson was the first to notice the language split  as it turned out, the phenomenon exists in the modern Arabian world as well. Therefore, even with the plethora of criticism aimed at Fergusons theory, it still proves to have its major points established in the right way, as Bassiouney (2009) explained:

Despite all the subsequent criticism of Fergusons theory, his proposal that there are two poles, an H and an L, is still valid, although they both formally and functionally overlap, perhaps more than Ferguson suspected or was ready to admit. (13)

Therefore, it can be considered that the switch from the high Arabic to the low language variation was an erroneous statement. According to the latest researches held in the given sphere, the Arabic language maintains a clear distinction between the two language variations, yet the low dialect does not substitute the high one at present.

Conclusion

Surprisingly, the idea that Ferguson suggested seems to take rather unexpected shapes  it is the high variation of the Arabic language that is slowly ousting the low one. As Owens (2000) marked, this is rather reasonable process. Thus, Owen explained that the further fusion of the two dialects might led to the extinction of the low variation o the Arabic language:

Furthermore, the mixing of the Nigerian Arabic with Standard Arabic forms, arrested most vividly perhaps in Table 11 indicating a high degree of (Nigerian Arabic) affixing with Standard Arabic loanwords, is typical of what is found in the Arabic world (332)

Thus, it is clear that the predictions of Ferguson were erroneous. Mixing with the low Arabic, the high dialect is slowly dissolving. Perhaps, the process is not over yet.

Reference List

Bassionery, R. (2009) Arabic Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh, Scotland, UK: Edinburgh University Press.

Ferguson, C. (1969) Diglossia. In Anwar Dil (Ed.), Language Structure and Language Use. (325-340) Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

Owens, J. (2000) Arabic as a Minority Language. New York, NY: Walter de Gruyer.