The Second Diaspora - Focus United States

The spread and development of the English language from its beginnings until today’s linguistic landscape

Lukas Wieltschnig

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Year: 2023
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9783346920171
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Literary Collections
• Index: Literature

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2021 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Other, grade: 2, University of Graz (Anglistik), language: English, abstract: At first, it will be discussed which countries or regions are included in Kachru's (2006) classification of the three diasporas, with the second one being outlined in more detail due to including the country of focus of this paper, the United States. The first part of the paper will then focus on the historical spread and development of the English language in the United States. This analysis will begin with the first settlers arriving in 1607 illustrating the first steps of the language on the new continent. It will then further be argued how the first settlers began mixing their way of speaking from their respective country or region of origin and how the linguistic landscape was further changed once the first non-English speaking immigrant began arriving in the nation. Historical events will also be analyzed throughout the paper in order to reach a better understanding of how the English language has been influenced by not only the country's settlers, but also by major events taking place. These events will include the gain of further territory by war, against Spain and Mexico, by purchase, the Louisiana Purchase from France, and by expanding the borders of the nation in form of the Westward Expansion. This part will further feature a brief outline of the attempts to establish linguistic unity throughout the whole nation by trailblazers, such as Noah Webster and his dictionary. The second part of the paper will focus on today's linguistic landscape in the United States. An overview of multiple dialects will be provided by taking Crystal's (2003) classification of American dialect regions into account. These chosen dialects will be analyzed in terms of how they came to be throughout the city's or region's history and what their future might look like. Additionally, two ethnic varieties of American English will be outlined, in order to show that the development of the English language on the American continent is not only restricted to migratory movement, but also by numerous different cultural backgrounds and heritages connected to one's own identity. All of these dialects and varieties will be analyzed linguistically as well with some distinctive features being provided to illustrate their uniqueness.