The Celts had already been living there for a while, so they displaced them and began developing English as we know it today. Nigeria also has a history of attempting to eliminate English but still uses it for business purposes. If you know someone with the last name of Smith, Schmidt, Herrero or Kovacs, they probably share a common ancestor who worked as a metalsmith. Mother Tongue by Amy Tan - Summary - Free download as Word Doc (.doc), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Eventually, Old Norse and Old English merged into one language. Have too much to read? A surname is a name that distinguishes one person from the rest. This nonfiction piece is a collection of thoughts on the English language, its history, and its place in the world. In 157 of 168 countries with airlines, English is the agreed upon language for international discourse, and in India there are over 3,000 newspapers published in English. Many terms we now consider harmless or cute could have gotten you into trouble long ago. Sir William Jones learned Sanskrit in India, even though it was long dead. He explored the history of English and how it evolved into what we know today. Read the world’s #1 book summary of The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson here. She is precise in her quest yet finds time to ask and question what is appropriate and considered as proper grammar and English. It’s also likely that their ancestors lived in England at some point because names like James of Preston were simplified over time to skip the preposition and leave just James Preston. One of the changes in the basic curriculum of education brought about by the new K + 12 program is the introduction of Mother Tongue – based Multilingual Education. Volapuk did not feature the letter “r” because he thought it was too hard for children, elderly people, or native Chinese speakers to pronounce. You will find out which words are shared by Americans and Europeans. Although the British Empire is long gone, English remains to be a dominant language in business and politics. Bishops, scholars, cooks, and scribes were all replaced by people who could speak French. In Amy Tan’s ‘ Mother tongue ’, we are taken through matters of linguistics as we join Tan in her description of ‘broken English’; this she further compares to the standards English. Along the way, you’ll learn more about our culture as well. It began when 350 Viking warships left Scandinavia and sailed up the river Thames. The Mother Tongue is a way of speech that defines you and your cultural background and given that it is something of value, it needs to be protected. Over time, verb tenses were standardized and confusing word endings were removed from its vocabulary. Then there are compound words, which are formed by combining two separate words. Summary of Amy Tan's essay Mother Tongue For example, the word “brave” once meant something close to “cowardly,” while its root is related to depravity. The Mother Tongue isn't something to be ashamed of, but instead, should be something that should be embraced and protected. The fact that English is easy to learn but difficult to master has led to a lot of dialects in former British colonies and immigrant communities. When animals were raised on a farm, they went by their English names. Amy Tan tells the story of how she becomes to have a strong natural love for language. She also grew up to be ashamed of her mothers poor speaking skills. For example, words like heard/beard are spelled similarly but pronounced differently; five/give; early/dearly; road/broad, etc., have different pronunciations despite being spelled almost identically. He then compared those languages to Sanskrit, and found more evidence for his theory that all these languages are derived from a common parent language. I'll send you notes on entrepreneurship and summaries of the best books I'm reading. Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" Summary In the article “Mother Tongue”, Amy tan emphasizes the idea that we all speak different languages unconsciously and that we are categorized by the way we speak. It is the first language you heard or spoke when you were a child. The settlers were quick to introduce Native American words into the English language. You'll love my new book summary product Shortform. Tan believes that everyone's mother tongue is important and essential in life because it makes each individual special and unique. Tan encountered numerous situations when she felt like she was being judged based on … Tan elaborates this idea by scrutinizing her mother's language, her own use of English and society's response to … Throughout history, the English language has always been evolving. She grew up taking phone and making phone calls for her mother. Want to get smarter, faster? Her mother had a brain tumor and her father and brother both died of brain tumors. What's special about Shortform: Sound like what you've been looking for? For example, we can make “visible” become “invisible,” or turn “labyrinth” into “labyrinthine.”. Other examples are “squash,” “raccoon” and “hammock.” Some of these words came from Spanish settlers (e.g., “canyon”), while others were taken from Dutch or French terms (“landscape” and “prairie”). For example, “hickory” was taken from pawcohiccora, which is an Algonquin word. Later, a German mapmaker named the continent after Vespucci because he thought that Vespucci had discovered the entire land. Sign up for a 5-day free trial here. English 9 May Argument Analysis of ‘Mother Tongue’ by Amy Tan Mother tongue ed by Amy Tan reflects her personal rumination and assessment concerning “broken English” as opposed to Standard English. For example, India’s constitution was written in English because it is seen as a way to unite its citizens who speak 1,652 different languages and dialects. When you submit the form an invisible reCAPTCHA check will be performed. The English language almost died in the eleventh century. The name “America” had already spread widely by then. Here, Tan alludes to the concept of the “mother tongue”: a child’s earliest language, often used with a primary caregiver, who in many instances is the mother. However, there are certain ideas that are easier to explain in other languages than they are in English. Jones noticed that there were many similarities between the European languages and Sanskrit. In her perspective, language “authorizes” people to become members of a specific society. Amy Tan is the writer of the article Mother Tongue”. Now everyone has a legal name and documents that give their names, occupations and places of residence. Many people believe that the world is more connected than ever before. Unfortunately, this flexibility can result in confusion because native speakers are given so much leeway to form words and sentences however they want without thinking about rigid grammar rules. There was a time when some of today’s most offensive swear words were used in casual conversation and even on display in public places like London’s Gropecuntlane street (which means “prostitute” lane). The Celts must have felt indignant about being ruled by an uncivilized hoard with no education or hygiene practices. Nicknames also add color to language; for example, a slot machine in the U.K is called a fruit machine, while an American slot machine could be referred to as a one-armed bandit. As a result of their ignorance about those rules, few people would be able to explain how to speak English well or tell foreigners why certain constructions are good while others aren’t. Corporations and governments use English to communicate with the rest of the world, and there are many people who learn English as a second language. The priests had memorized certain hymns called the Vedas and were passing them down from generation to generation without understanding what they meant. In addition, there are countless technical and scientific terms coined in English that aren’t translated into other languages. The upper-class Anglo-Saxons abandoned their own dialect for about 300 years and spoke French instead. However, not enough people have adopted this language to make it useful as a global means of communication—it is unlikely that English will be replaced any time soon. Second, some people argue that English is widely used because it’s easy to use. Obviously, this can lead to misunderstandings. Read a quick 1-Page Summary, a Full Summary, or … Mother Tongue Amy Tan Summary 1127 Words | 5 Pages In the essay, “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, she narrates to her audience, people who are, or know someone ashamed of their English, that the English they, or anyone else speaks is still English and isn’t “broken.” Want to get the main points of The Mother Tongue in 20 minutes or less? Shakespeare is responsible for many new words, and Isaac Newton contributed to the English language as well. Americans were even more prudish than their English counterparts during this time period. Big Idea #5: Our last names can reveal information about our family’s past. The learning of one’s mother tongue will provide an individual the right to study their culture and will also preserve family bonds and lessen cultural conflicts between generations. For instance, there’s a difference between knowledge gained from recognition and knowledge gained from deep understanding. Throughout the reading it showed how hard it was and still is for Asian Americans to work through the difficulties of the English language. Sometimes, words will take on new meanings while keeping the old ones. There are certain words that can get a movie an R rating, but they’re not always the same. There were a few major evolutionary points in the development of the language and one came when two Germanic tribes migrated to Britain. I didn't know there were…, I think that music has a very small part in violence in the world. Big Idea #2: Repeated conquests of the British Isles changed and expanded the English language. Eventually, those languages branched off into a dozen different groups: Celtic, Germanic, Greek and so on. As a result, even when speaking their native languages, people use certain words without translating them from English. In other languages, you can’t say “I kicked the dog” and mean the same thing as if you said “the dog was kicked by me.” Also, in many languages there would be only one way to say something like “I swim,” but in English we have options such as: I do swim; I am swimming; or I swim. Summary Of Amy Tan's 'Mother Tongue' 1495 Words | 6 Pages. As a result, we borrow some of our words from other languages. This presentation led to a new field of study and inspired European scholars to conduct their own research. With just three hours per week for a year-long course of study, anyone can become fluent in the language. Most suggest that people made spontaneous noises based on feelings like alarm, joy, and pain, which evolved into words. Summary: “Mother Tongue”. In “Mother Tongue”, Tan writes about the awareness and discrimination about “broken English” compared to Standard English. And when Volkswagen set up a factory in Shanghai they found that too few Germans spoke Chinese and too few Chinese spoke German so everyone agreed to speak English. It had an English-like structure but its vocabulary was obscure and difficult to understand. For instance, “set” has 58 definitions as a noun and 126 definitions as a verb! What’s a Concierge MVP? Big Idea #3: As English evolved, new words were added and old ones took on new meanings. Tan was studying pre-med, but she found an interest in literature, so Tan changer from pre-med to English. There are about eight million speakers worldwide who speak it in 10 countries. There are many theories regarding the origin of language. By logging in to LiveJournal using a third-party service you accept LiveJournal's User agreement, I think that it is getting rather hard for people to have intellectual property because if you think of something, it is very easy to look it up…, After watching the movie "Bowling For Columbine" it really surprised me on how many places have easy access to weapons. The same is true of the word “sea”, most likely because they migrated to coastal areas after their inland tribes. After a lot of effort, she earned a master’s degree in English. If you travel to a small region in northern Germany, you might hear people speaking their local dialect. Such compounds can be vivid and descriptive, such as rattlesnake or catfish. The author is a fictional writer who is “fascinated by language in daily life” and uses language as a daily part of her work as a writer. For example, in Latin, “king” is “rex”, and in Sanskrit it’s “raja”. “Mother Tongue” reflects on the misleading illusion that language can represent one’s education level. One of the most popular attempts was Volapuk, which was invented in 1880 by a German priest named Johann Martin Schleyer. Amy’s mother has intelligent thoughts and is just hard to express in understandable words when special situations occur. What society considers vulgar or profane is constantly changing. I don't think that there is any way anyone and accurately say that music is the…, Bowling For Columbine... finished reflection, Is Violence Reflected in Music-Bowling for Columbine. "The notion of 'mother tongue' is thus a mixture of myth and ideology. They did so after gaining independence because it was the only language they had in common. English originated from Germanic tribes, a group of people who spoke related languages. Posted by Unknown at 4:18 AM. However, many essential terms survived including “love,” “drink,” and so forth because they are fundamental to everyday life. How the broken speech of her mother has had an influence on her life. Therefore, we can gather from this vocabulary study that they didn’t live near salt water. In brief, the essay is a literary account given by Amy Tan about her life and how she gradually learned various aspects of the English language. And then there are all of these new words that people create to describe things that didn’t exist before. English is a language that we use every day, but most of us don’t think about where the words come from. Meanwhile, the Celts had a written alphabet dating back centuries before the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons and clean water systems. This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson. Other theories say that people invented words to mimic natural sounds. Amy decides to write stories and rebells against the fact that she is told that she should hone her talents in … The main idea of Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" is the limitations that imperfect English can impose in society and the richness that such English can bring to writing. Big Idea #1: Many of the world’s languages can be traced back to a common ancestral language. When companies from France, Italy Germany and Switzerland formed a joint truck making venture called Iveco they chose English as their working language because it put them all at an equal communication disadvantage. He also stayed in a Yugoslavian hotel where the maids would “flatten” guests’ underwear with pleasure rather than simply saying they offered laundry service. Despite the fact that no writings exist from this language’s speakers, linguists have been able to deduce quite a bit about them by analyzing descendent languages. Short summary of Mother Tongue. In the end, Bryson’s research shows that there is no real way to measure which language is best; therefore it can’t be determined why English has become so popular. Then came the Viking invasion of 850 AD. Next came Norman rule by William I (the Conqueror) who invaded England in 1066 with over 10,000 French-derived words added to our vocabulary such as “painter,” “tailor,” etc., while Anglo-Saxon terms like “baker” remained for labor jobs due to their lower class status during this period of time under Norman rule where there was a two-tiered society consisting of both French speakers and commoners who spoke only English at this time which eventually evolved into modern day England after 300 years under Norman control from 1066 – 1350 AD.. Many countries that were colonized by the British Empire adopted English as their official language. For example, he once saw a sign that told drivers to honk the horn “first melodiously” and then with vigor if pedestrians didn’t pay attention. It has 16 rules, no definite articles, regular endings, and logical spelling. The word “manufacture” used to mean something made by hand, but it has since taken on a new meaning and now refers to machine-made products. The Mother Tongue Summary Chapter 2: Later Development of English We’ve seen how invasions from the Angles, Saxons, Vikings, and Normans helped to form the basic structure of the English language. In fact, one way to measure global connection is through words like “brother” or “sister.” They’re similar across different languages because they have a common origin in ancient times. Eventually, Jones presented his theory in Calcutta. Big Idea #6: Words can be perfectly acceptable in one century and profane swear words in the next. Shortform: The World's Best Book Summaries, Shortform Blog: Free Guides and Excerpts of Books. 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