In Chapter 2 of Bill Bryson's "Made in America an informal history of the English language in the United States”, he is talking about how the American language has developed and changed since the pilgrims came in 1620. It discusses specific changes in the American language and how word changed in different areas of America. The text addresses learning outcome two, because throughout the whole chapter of the book, the main theme is how the language changed over time and how it affected the culture and the people. The American language grew and words were added to the language and other words disappeared out of the language because of the new words. Not only more word was added, but pronunciation and spelling also changed.
“The old practice of making plurals by adding –n was rapidly giving way to newer convention of adding –s, so that by 1620 most people were saying knees instead of kneen, houses instead of housen, fleas instead of flean. The transition was by no means complete at the time of the pilgrims” This shows how both pronunciation and spelling of words changed in the language after the pilgrims came, but it was not something that changed over a day. The pilgrims had the impact to the changed the language, because the way the talked were different than the Americans.
The other quote I decided to use is “Just in the century or so that preceded the Pilgrims' arrival in the New World, English gained ten thousand additional words, about half of them sufficiently useful as to be with us still.” The impact of the pilgrims was huge, since more than ten thousand words were added to the language and we are using those words today. It made such an impact that parts of the language changed.
Marlow Rumreich- I agree that the American language changed greatly during this period. You provided good examples of specific words and conventions that changed and adapted with the American culture. You accurately showed that different areas and sub-cultures within American society affected the English language differently in different regions of the country. You also did a good job showing that Americans, and specifically the pilgrims, impacted the English language to such an extent that it is almost a different language. You did not go into great detail about the spelling of words was adapted over time, but you were able to show that different ways of showing plurality and other conventions were adopted during this time. I would have liked you to add some information on the Native American's contribution to the language also. There are many words adapted from the different Native American dialects, such as the word raccoon. You were able to show a good understanding of the language changes, and I think that you are really getting good at writing in English.
SvarSlettI agree with what you are saying about the Bill Bryson "Made in America an informal history of the English language in the United States”. The examples you use are great for what you are trying to say. You used them in a good place and the quotes support what you are stating in that paragraph. Also you explained that word development does not just change night, that it takes time to have words develop. I also agree with the last quote, “Just in the century or so that preceded the Pilgrims' arrival in the New World, English gained ten thousand additional words, about half of them sufficiently useful as to be with us still” and what you stated afterwards. This was a great impact for England because so many new words came about. If people had not left England it might have taken longer to have that many new words developed.
SvarSlettI agree with your points about the piece. You do a great job of explaining how learning outcome 3 is addressed in the piece and it is clear why learning outcome 3 is so important. One other thing that you may want to mention is how immigrants affected language. You talk about the change from adding n to the end of a word to make it plural to adding an s to make a word plural. In German the standard way to make a word plural is to add en. The process of adding an n to make a word plural probably originally came from the vast amount of German immigrants. This is important because this shows that the people from another culture were affecting the language of an entirely new culture. Another good thing to add may be which culture started influencing the Americans to change from the German en to the more American s. This would do a great job of showing how many different cultures influenced English in America.
SvarSlettI agree that Bill Bryson’s “Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States” proves that changes in language have impacted English in the United States. Since the time the pilgrims arrived in 1620, English has been changing throughout the years until the 21st century today. Your blog entry includes examples, such as how the plural form of words began using “s” instead of “n”. You were able to demonstrate how even the pronunciation of words changed over time. You also manage to show the importance of the pilgrims by saying including a quote saying they contributed “more than ten thousand words”. Your blog entry could’ve used more detail on the creation and origin of some words, since plurality is such a small aspect of them. Only including the change from “n” to “s” doesn’t seem like a huge change in the English to readers. Overall, your blog entry was able to enforce learning outcome two and how language changes have a large impact.
SvarSlett