Straight talking on the net
It is a pleasure to welcome you to my website: untwisted-lingo.net. This website is dedicated to topics dealing with aspects of the English language which usually get short shrift on the internet and in other publications. I hope you will enjoy reading this website and I would appreciate any comments, suggestions or material you think would be useful for inclusion on the website. More topics for this website are in the pipeline. The next two due for publication include: "Neo-pidginicity: Denglish for English people", a riotous summary of bang up-to-date "German English", and "Neo-pidginicity: How to retain one's "Proficiency in Local English".
New series on:
Neo-pidginicity, neo-pidgin English, and pidgin English
Neo-pidginicity
Neo-pidginicity is the artificially accelerated and manipulated process - or rather linguistic genetic engineering - of attempting to oversimplify Standard English, the result of which is in all cases some sort of neo-pidgin English. Four major fields of contact contribute to the gradual encroachment on standard English: Basic Simple English as advocated by Dr. Joachim Grzega, machine translations of any kind, unedited documents and publications - frequently of international validity - being passed off as standard English but in fact written by non-native speakers of English, the acceptance of "local English" and non-native speakers of English teaching their version of "Local English". The result of the English "produced" in all these areas of contact is often, at best, a barely elevated pidgin English.
It appears that this grossly negligent or even calculated corruption of the English language is allowed to persist unchallenged, the main reason being that many native speakers are unaware of this development. If they are aware of this they may underestimate the impact this may have on Standard English, while others may even aid and abet this linguistic engineering process or condone it with their silence.
Pidgin English - a historic perspective
Relations between different linguistic groups have always played a role in language development. Three major factors have significantly contributed to the development of traditional pidgin English varieties: firstly, an extensive contact between both language communities, mainly between Europe's economic system and countries outside Europe;
secondly, the necessity to communicate; and thirdly, the absence of a common lingua franca.
Pidgin English, as opposed to neo-pidgin English, has evolved more or less naturally and haphazardly over time while the development process of the latter is tampered with through various means.
Both pidgin English and neo-pidgin English have a few features in common which are either ignored or considered taboo: both varieties are frequently difficult to understand, often ambiguous, leaving the conversationalist guessing in many instances. As a rule, the average standard of a speech in Pidgin English is usually in the region of 4.0 or 4th graders, of which many proponents of Pidgin varieties are probably unaware.
Both formulas, the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Flesch Reading Ease, are also available in MS Word and anyone can easily determine the difficulty of a text.
Neo-pidginicity: Local "Englishes"- A licence to kill Standard English?
Is the need for local Englishes just another case of neo-pidginicity and a licence to kill Standard English as we know it? In this essay, I set out to prove that accepting the global average standard of local English with about 180 versions or dialects would be a licence to transform the English language into an unintelligible lingo.
On the website www.askoxford.com/globalenglish, you will find the following statement: "…within the next few years the number of people speaking English as a second language will exceed the number of native speakers.
This could have a dramatic effect on the evolution of the language: in the process of being absorbed by new cultures, English develops to take account of local language needs, giving rise not just to new vocabulary but also to new forms of grammar and pronunciation."
This essay is an argument against the uncritical, unsuspecting or even naive acceptance of local English needs and the focus of this essay will be on the predicted, if somewhat dubious, "local language needs", which the writers of Oxford University Press omit to specify, probably for a reason. There are about 195 countries in the world and therefore there could end up being around 180 official "Local Varieties of Standard English", not counting minority languages.
And to compound matters, it is predicted that "At the same time, however, a standardized 'global' English is spread by the media and the Internet."
However, no mention is made, whether or not the "Locals" are expected to be fully bilingual in their respective "Local English" category and said "Standardized Global English" proficiency.
Article coming up soon. Keep checking.
Neo pidginicity: Denglish for English People
Does Denglish represent a linguistic evolutionary step or is it just a passing folly; a pseudo-proficiency in English or just a means of showing off one's language competence?
Denglish is a strange mixture of English and German words or phrases. This sort of Continental neo-pidgin English is ubiquitous and most striking when put bravely into print. English words are adapted in keeping with the rules of German grammar and mixed freely and haphazardly with German, often lending a hilarious touch to the resulting muddle. However, it is when new English words coined by Germans or misapplications of otherwise correct English are thrown in that the effect becomes utterly uproarious. And to top it all, when Germans start to invent new applications for English words or even entirely new English-sounding words which no native speaker would understand, English people are in dire need of guidance through the Continental version of their mother tongue.
Finally, we will look at possible candidates and do some guessing as to which Denglish coinages will make it into the dictionary "Local English, German Chapter".
Neo pidginicity and Machine Translations
Each language is a multilevel and ambiguous construction, which is embedded in different social, economic, political and cultural systems. Up until now, all attempts to use machines to translate any language into another at an acceptable standard and with necessary precision have failed. Indisputably, machines have two advantages no human translator can beat them at: they are quick and they are cheap.
Yet, there are occasions, for instance in cases of emergencies, when an online translation offered by a search engine may be helpful to get an overall idea of what is said. If you are thinking of buying a personal translator, will you get your money's worth? And if you use a personal translator in your job, does the amount of editing necessary to make the translation at least readable warrant the effort or would it be better to have a natural-sounding, error-free and faithful human translation done right from the start?
And in what way do machine translations contribute to Neo-Pidgin English?
Neo-pidginicity: How to retain one's Proficiency in Local English
In a nutshell, the advice is, do not change the status quo. Just continue learning or speaking or writing your local variety of English.
Already published:
Computer-aided Exploration of Literary Style