Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2.7 (B-), University of Regensburg (Anglistics-American Studies), language: English, abstract: English is the most important language of the world today. Last century’s quantum leaps in information technologies, like the Internet, enabled us for the first time in history to communicate with people from all over the world. The world-wide transfer of information in a global community requires a lingua franca, a language that is understood and can be used by everybody. Artificial languages, like Esperanto, have not attracted many learners - a language without a past can have no future. Instead, English and its numberless variants seem to be able to solve communication problems in the future. No other language is so widespread, so commonly understood around the globe. Obviously, the outstanding position of the USA in the fields of politics, economics, science, and - most important - popular culture like pop music and cinema has contributed to this fact. The British Empire has laid the fundament for this development by founding colonies all over the world, exporting their language even to the opposite side of the globe - Australia and New Zealand. Like everything else alive, languages in use are subject to change and development, especially in colonies, as new words are needed for new discoveries and ideas, or just to simplify communication with natives. Sometimes new ways of pronunciation come into fashion and spread until everyone has adjusted to them. In the course of the centuries, even completely new languages can come into existence this way. In this paper I will examine linguistic particularities of Australian English (AusE) and New Zealand English (NZE) to find out if they are languages of their own, creoles or just variants of English. In order to make their development better understandable, I will combine historical facts about colonists, natives and language developments with linguistic analyses of today’s Australian and New Zealand English.

This book is a comprehensive but accessible description of English as it is spoken in New Zealand. New Zealand English is one of the youngest native speaker varieties of English, and is the only variety of English where there is recorded evidence of its entire history. It shares some features with other Southern Hemisphere varieties of English such as Australian English and South African English, but is also clearly distinct from these. For the past two decades extensive research has focused on the evolution and ongoing development of the variety. New Zealand English presents the results of this research in an accessible way.

English in Australia and New Zealand combines both theory and description, and introduces the major theoretical and methodical issues in modern linguistic study. It also provides an overview of the structure and history of the English language in its many varieties, especially those of Australia and New Zealand. The emphasis is on English as it is used everyday. Almost all the examples are drawn from culinary texts, spoken and written. These include cooking books throughout the centuries, food and wine magazines, and books about food, health, diet and even etiquette. The book integrates a synchronic and diachronic approach. A description of each aspect of present-day English - be it vocabulary, sounds, or grammar - is followed by a discussion of its historical development. The approach is purposefully eclectic and draws upon many different traditions and areas within linguistics. Each chapter concludes with a summary of points to remember, as well as practical exercises and questions for discussion.

A Companion to the History of the English Language addresses the linguistic, cultural, social, and literary approaches to language study. The first text to offer a complete survey of the field, this volume provides the most up-to-date insights of leading international scholars. An accessible reference to the history of the English language Comprises more than sixty essays written by leading international scholars Aids literature students in incorporating language study into their work Includes an historical survey of the English language, from its Germanic and Indo- European beginnings to modern British and American English Enriched with maps, diagrams, and illustrations from historical publications Introduces the latest scholarship in the field

Publisher Description

This is a collection of research papers on the sociolinguistics and pragmatics of New Zealand English. The book provides information on the structure and use of NZ English in a range of different social and regional contexts. Topics covered include the question of a New Zealand pidgin, change in attitudes to NZ English and differences in New Zealand women's and men's speech.