Modern English:Various Englishes

ByMarcel Neuwohner

and Gerhard Krolikowski 小兔兔高力

Introduction

• Culturally specific terms• 4 Texts by 4 authors• Motivation behind using these terms• References

A. Enright: The Gathering (2007)

Anne Enright: born 11 October 1962 in DublinWrites about family relationships, Ireland's difficult pastTitle refers to the funeral of the narrator's brother Liam, who was an alcoholic and committed suicideNarrator tries to make sense of Liam's death, uncovers uncomfortable truths about her family

Non-Standard Words

• “The Gardai” (pl.): Garda Síochána (Irish police)

• “eejit”: Irish pronunciation of “idiot”

• “offie” / “offy”: short for off-licence, a shop selling alcoholic beverages.

The GatheringSyntax Difference

• l.1 “What. Am I. After. Saying to you?“based on Gaelic substratum and more orless equivalent to the English perfect

Adichie: Purple Hibiscus (2003)

Chimanda Ngozi Adichie: born 15 September 1977 in southeast Nigeria, belongs to the ethnic group of the Igbo

Novel is centered around 15 year old Kambiliand her family.

Father is a violent, religious fanatic

Non-Standard Words

• “Chukwu”: God Almighty

• “Chi”: the Igbo People believe that each person has their own personal spiritual assistant or guardian called Chi, appointed to them before and at the time of their birth and who remains with them for the rest of their life on earth

Murray Bail: The Pages

M. Bail:* September 22, 1941 Adelaide, S. AustraliaSojourns in India between 1968-1970Sojourns in England between 1970-1974Trustee of the National Gallery of Australia 1976-1981

Bibliography

Novels• Homesickness (1980)• Holden's Performance (1987)• Eucalyptus (1998)• The Pages (2008)

Bibliography

Short story collection• Contemporary Portraits and Other Stories

(1975)• republished as The Drover's wife and otherstories (1986)

• Camouflage: Stories (2002)

Bibliography

Non-Fiction• Ian Fairweather (1981)• Longhand: A writer's Notebook (1989)• Notebooks 1970-2003 (2005)

Edited The Faberbook of ContemporaryAustralian Short Stories (1988)

The PagesSettings and Characters

Wesley Antill, a deceased philosopher and reason for Erica's journeyErica, a philosopher in her 40's

• has a secret love-affair with Sophie's fatherSophie, a psychoanalyst, friend of Sophie‘s whojoins her on her trip

• she needs to get away from all the men

The PagesBrief Summary

Wesley Antill had an argument with his fatherand therefore spent great parts of his life traveling through Europe

• After years he returned home and wrote a bookon his family's farmErica is sent to see how good Antill's last workis

The PagesLexical Items

• l.7 footpath (sidewalk)• l.8 Paddocks (pen)• l.12 Bottle shops (liquor/ wine store)

• l.14 Pounding music(loud music)

• l.14 spruiker (solicitor)

Kiran Desai

K. Desai: * September 3, 1971, New Delhi, IndiaIndian Citizen, permanent resident of the USAMoved to the UK at the age of 14Moved to USA after one yearWon several awards for her work

Bibliography

Novels• Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (1998)• Betty Trask Award

• The Inheritance of Loss (2006)• Man Booker Prize• National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award

The Inheritance of LossCharacters and Setting

Set in 1980sKalimpong, a hill station in the HimalayanfoothillsMain protagonist

• the retired judge Jemubhai Popatlal Patel• his Granddaughter Sai• Biju, the son of the judge's cook

The inheritance of LossBrief Summary

The judge violates his wife and sends her back to her familySai's love affair with her tutor Gyan an Indian-Nepalese student

• He joins the insurgency of the Gorkhali peoplein the HimalayasBiju is forced by his father to move to New York

• lives there illegally

The Inheritance of LossLexical Items

• l.7 saag (Hindi: सा ग, Punjabi and Urdu: گاس)

The Inheritance of LossLexical Items

• l.3 paan (Hindi, पा न; Urdu, ناپ)

The Inheritance of LossLexical Items

• l.10 dal (Hindi दा ल dāl, Marathi डा ळ ḍāḷ, Tamil பரு ப் பு paruppu)

Motivation to not use StE

• Cultural identity• Cultural background• Show to members of another society the

problems of one's own group

References

• http://www.Amazon.com• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saag• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/common

s/8/8d/Saag_Paneer.jpg• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paan• http://roflindian.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/p

aan.jpg• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal

References

• http://roflindian.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/paan.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/books/rev

iew/Schillinger-t.html?_r=1• http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/aug/23/

fiction6• http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/blog/wp-

content/uploads/dal_makhani.jpg