Language and Culture Journal

Journal 2: Adventures in English Episode 1

1. Bragg consistently uses words such as "ruthless," "obstinate," and "tenacious" to describe language. To what extent do you think that English - or any other language, for that matter - has a personality apart from the people who speak it?

Language has its own personality. It has the ability to withstand changes in culture and absorb different languages rather that change from one culture to a different culture. Though each culture brings it own flare to language, it is understood by different accents and nationalities, even though those words are spoken aloud differently, it's meaning is understood though out the different cultures.

2. In your opinion, why did the invasion of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes kill off the Celtic language, but the Roman occupation didn't?

The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes killed off the Celtic language because they killed off the people who spoke that language and took over their country. The Romans did not do that, but rather they just wanted the resources of the land to send back to Rome. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes required the Celts to learn to their language to progress from second class citizens to first class citizens.

3. Like the Iliad, Odyssey, and many books of the Bible, Beowulf was an oral tradition before it was written down. How does the advent of writing affect a language?

The writing of language makes the language able to be shared and learned by other cultures. The stories can be translated to other languages even when the person is not in the country of origin because they have the written copy of the story. Stories could also change with the changing of culture, but when written down the story becomes a memorial to that culture at the time it was written.

4. Do you think that English's evolution from an inflected to an uninflected language made it more or less difficult for a non-native speaker to learn? More or less flexible in absorbing words?

Changing from an inflected to an uninflected language made it easier to learn because the learner did not have to worry about the little um am or em to change the meaning of words. It was enough to become confusing for English speakers. I cannot imagine trying to learn the language when you were not origionally english speaking. However, by taking away the um am and em did not influence the absorbing of words. The absorbing of words is still infuenced by culture and changes of interaction with different cultures as it was when it was created and developed.

301 words not including the questions