KBAT 5Items not specifically covered in class

Literary Tradition This is simply a culture’s system of

written communication. Not all spoken languages have a literary tradition, or written language.

Official Language A language designated by a government

or constitution as the official language of the country. For instance, although English is the language used in the United States, the constitution has NOT designated it as The Official Language. No one is required by law to learn it here. Many countries DO have one or more designated official languages.

Orthography Simply stated, it’s spelling. We could get

complicated and say that it’s the aspect of language study concerned with letters and their sequences in words. Or  the relationship between phonemes and graphemes in a language. But spelling will do, although sometimes included in orthography, besides spelling, is hyphenation, capitalization and punctuation.

Trade Language A language—often lingua franca or

pidgin—used by speakers of different native languages for communication in commercial trade.

Vernacular Non-standard language or dialect native

to the locale or social group.

Slang Words and expressions that aren’t

considered standard in a speaker’s language or dialect, but are considered acceptable when used socially. An informal way to communicate with peers.

Accent Dialect. The way you pronounce a word.

Describe the following characteristics of English—its spatial variation

The spacing of English speaking countries across the earth. If you looked at a map of English speaking countries, how are they spaced? Where are they? How about if you add in places where English is a second language? And then toss in places where English is somewhat understood. What would the map look like?

Explain how toponyms are derived Derived means to trace from a source or

origin. In other words, how do we come up with toponyms, or place names?

From Historical Culture Old English towns often use the word

“chester,” from the Latin “camp.” Winchester. Manchester.

Anglo Saxons used “ing” meaning “family.”

Anglo Saxons also used “ham” from hamlet, or little town or village. Birmingham, Nottingham

Meanings in Other Languages Arab names: Cairo means “victorious” Sudan means “land of the blacks” Sahara means “wasteland”

Remembering your Homeland

New England New York New Amsterdam New Jersey New Mexico New Hampshire

To Honor Kings and Queens Virginia—the virgin Queen Elizabeth Carolina—King Charles II (Latin for

Charles is Carolus) Georgia—King George II Louisiana—King Louis XIV

Heros Washington Jackson, Mississippi Austin, Texas Lincoln, Nebraska

Previous Inhabitants Brukelyn (Brooklyn) Haarlem (Harlem)

(The Dutch were in New York—called New Amsterdam—before the English were.)

Fads After our Revolutionary War we had a

fad of classical revival and named towns things like:

Troy Athens Rome Sparta

Others Spanish names Native American names Religious names

Classifying Toponyms There are two parts to classifications—

generic and specific. The generic classifies the place to be named and the specific modifies it. For instance—

Rio Grand (River Big—or big river) Sierra Nevada (Mountain Range Snowy—or

snowy mountains) In English we flip the order of classification

and modify first—Hudson River, Long Island, Rocky Mountains, Utah Lake, Antelope Island