Colonization and Development of English (Essay Sample)

ENGLISH IN THE WORLD: COLONIZATION INFLUENCE
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Introduction
Since the establishment of the British Empire, the spread of English language has been experienced in many parts of the globe. The success can be attributed significantly to the colonization activities that the empire had embarked on. They would train the indigenous community English language as they suppressed the local dialect. This massive spread is termed as lingual imperialism (Osterhammel 2005, pp. 14). The English language has become the first and second language of many nations across the world, and this makes it an international language. The native’s proportion to the non-native who speaks English cannot be compared with nations in the isle of Britain and far are speaking the language .considering that more than 70% of Americans speak English. Although English might have transformed socio –cultural features of some communities, the language too had to borrow some words for instance from Aboriginal languages from the nations they had colonized like Indians. They adopted the word arak un and made it Raccoon to mean an animal in North America.
The pattern of colonization based on different geographical location and socio-political reasons
Colonization is the relationship that exists between the indigenous majority and those who invade the minority in number (Osterhammel 2005, pp 14). The British Empire was established in the early 1600s and its expansion activity within its Isle and other geographical regions in the quest of expanding the empire began, which led to a tremendous spread of the English language. The first colony of the British Empire to control was in North America, and the first base was launched in Virginia. The British fought the French, who had taken root in North America and won a seven-year war which enabled them to take control of the North American territories .They established new political systems and eroded those by French and disrupted the social life in that geographical region by the introduction of the slave trade. Although most North American countries attained their independence from the British Empire, they had expanded their sphere of influence to Caribbean and some South American territories. The second geographical region the British had colonized was Australia more than a century later after she had lost her American colonies. Australia was homeland for cockney English speakers. Just like in America; they neglected the Aboriginals, introduced the slave trade and pushed them away from the particular geographical regions they wanted to settle. The pattern of British colonization continued to West and South African regions. This happened after 1880 when the leadership pattern was unique here since small groups of British officials who had been employed rather than from one point or a base (Seargent, 2012. pp. 12). In these colonies like Nigeria they were given British education and were taught English. In southern Asia, the Indian sub-continent was halfway ruled by British and the other half by the Indian emperor. The British were in control of trading activities, education and on top of politics. English was taught and was the official language in India.
Linguistic consequences of colonization and development of new varieties
British entry into new regions led to language contact. For instance, the Invasion in Australia led to the formation of Australian English and new Englishes. In South Africa due to the interaction by mixing English and other local dialects there was a structure of the South African English. Pidgin and creoles were forms of English that resulted from a mixture of two languages but have been treated as first language from the descendants of the groups with the language contact. The Jamaican Creole is due to the Caribbean colonization by the British. (Seargent, 2012. Pp.12). Another consequence of this is seen in how pidgin and creole use English lexis and their grammatical arrangements like for instance in placing verb-object and subject into a sentence, the two English speakers comes out differently. English progress has shown that the South African English is becoming totally different from the British and American English and that new a dictionary for the new English has been compiled. Due to language contact, the original English itself had borrowed words from aboriginal Indians, for instance, "Raccoon" to represent an animal in North America. The word from Indian dialect was "arak urn”, in the native Indian language. India remains one geographical region that was most impacted by the British culture. (Seargent, 2012. pp. 12). The reason is that English was imposed by British officials on Indians, and this contributed to the foundation of Indian writers and poets.
Elaborate on at least one case of colonization and language variation in the British isle or beyond
Creole is a beyond a British isle language that is based on English, which include Jamaican Creole, Balsams in Vanuatu, Trinbagoniani in Trinidad and Tobago and many more from Africa, Asia, and North America." Creoles from Europe have English development that is different from the usual British English, for instance; they use the order of subject – verb –object word to create sentences" (Holm 2007, pp.23).  Also, they may use the adjectives in sentences in place of a verb. The Creole uses a different grammatical system when compared to the British English, which is the primary language all these is due to the language contact. Slave trade into regions where slave trade was practiced contributed to the creole language development.
The resulting categories of English speakers according to kachru circles
English language spread across the globe in three concentric circles, which is composed of the inner circle, an outer circle, and the expanding circle. Th...