LINGUISTIC COLONIZATION: ANGLICIZATION

English is the most widespread language in the world and is more widely spoken and written than any other language. It is used by more than 500 million people in almost every country in the world and this number of English-speakers is constantly growing. However, it was not always like that. During the era of colonization the British did a great job making their national language as the major one for the sphere of international trade, diplomacy, education, arts and an official language in more than a dozen countries. And all of this was achieved through active implementation of the language among the local people of the colonized territories, with pidgin and creole languages evolving into standalone dialects and variations of English that are spoken nowadays in former British colonies and dominions. The language was actively spread in the developing British Empire countries on the American continent, in Africa, Australia, India and New Zealand. Special attention should be paid to the last three regions, since these three states had the greatest influence in the formation of dialectal English, and also have the richest history of the British colonization of the language, and its interaction with the local tribes, their traditions and their own languages. In addition, based on the historical information, it was concluded that the British colonization was of great importance for the development of the regions which suffered from Anglicization, and integration of the English language was the result, on the other hand, it had a great importance as a means of communication between the colonizers and the local population. This study is aimed at analytical structuring of the existed historical data connected with the British colonization and conducting social surveys of RUDN university students to reveal the respondents' attitude to and knowledge of the issues such as Anglicization, colonization, relationship between the colonizers and the natives, the knowledge of English and creole languages, as well as vocabulary specific to them. Research and survey on the topic showed high potential for the development of further work in this area, as awareness of students, despite being at a high level, still remains vague and not explored deeply enough.

Publisher
Российский университет дружбы народов (РУДН)
Language
English
Pages
435-444
Status
Published
Year
2020
Organizations
  • 1 Peoples' Friendship University of Russia
Keywords
historical development; colonization; dialects; hybrid languages
Date of creation
02.11.2020
Date of change
02.11.2020
Short link
https://repository.rudn.ru/en/records/article/record/66938/
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