ISSN:
2181-3906
2024
International scientific journal
«MODERN
SCIENCE
АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 3 / ISSUE 5 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
993
STATUS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH AS THE MULTINATIONAL LANGUAGE
Karibayeva Madina Doniyor qizi
Master, Linguistics (the English Language) Faculty
Uzbekistan State World Languages University.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11275689
Abstract. This academic article discusses the causes and stages of development of the
American English language. The purpose of the scientific work is to review and analyze the
reasons why American English has the status of a multinational language.
Key words: independent language, multinational status, multi-ethnic states, inter-state and
inter-ethnic relations, immigrants, global language, nationality, communication.
СТАТУС АМЕРИКАНСКОГО АНГЛИЙСКОГО КАК МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ
ЯЗЫК.
Аннотация. В этой академической статье рассматриваются причины и этапы
развития американского английского языка. Цель научной работы – рассмотреть и
проанализировать причины, по которым американский английский имеет статус
многонационального языка.
Ключевые слова: независимый язык, многонациональный статус, полиэтнические
государства, межгосударственные и межэтнические отношения, иммигранты,
глобальный язык, национальность, общение.
Today, English is the most common language, but not the only one, spoken in the United
States. Let's assume that American English is an independent language. Then it must have its own
historically established system of sound, vocabulary and grammatical means, which objectifies the
work of thinking and is a tool for communication, exchange of thoughts and mutual understanding
of people in society (in accordance with the definition). Therefore, it is necessary to find out its
origin more precisely, how it appeared in America, as well as how the system of sound, vocabulary
and grammatical means historically developed.
Having turned to historical and geographical reference books for information, I found out
the following information. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, colonists from England
began to bring their language to America. In 1607, John Smith founded the first colony in Virginia.
And already at the beginning of the 17th century, Europeans began to move to North America.
1
At the beginning there were only a small number of settlers, but after three centuries there
were millions of them. People left in the hope of a new, rich, free life full of interesting events and
adventures. He created a completely new society with its own laws, life principles, its own
economic structure, and its own statehood. People left for America for various reasons: some
hoped to get rich quickly, some were hiding from persecution by the punishing hand of the law,
some wanted to gain political freedom, and some wanted to get rid of religious persecution and
gain freedom of religion. There were many reasons. People came to America from different
European countries. But most of the colonists came from England. Therefore, it was English that
became the main language of communication in the then still emerging huge country. At the initial
1
https://infourok.ru/statya-istoriya-vozniknoveniya-amerikanskogo-angliyskogo-yazika-3878027.html
ISSN:
2181-3906
2024
International scientific journal
«MODERN
SCIENCE
АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 3 / ISSUE 5 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
994
stage, American English was not much different from British. English colonists came from
different regions of Great Britain, and the language of groups of people from different regions
differed both in the pronunciation of individual words and in the use of lexical phrases. There was
no uniformity or norms in the written language. Years passed, centuries passed, and emigrants
who arrived later made their own changes to the vocabulary, phonetics and grammar of the
language - throughout the 18th-20th centuries, their native language changed. Other linguistic
groups of people who came to live and work in America from European countries also made their
contribution to the formation of the language. These were Spaniards and Italians, Scandinavians
and Germans, French and Russians.
During the development of American English, the basic principle was laid down -
simplification of the language. Ordinary, simple people, leaving their entire past behind, went to
America in the hope of finding happiness. And they needed a simple and accessible way of
communication that would unite all nationalities. Today, the English spoken by Americans is not
as diverse as it was during the founding of the United States of America. American English is
clearly regulated and is the main language of communication and has the status of the state
language.
In the era of globalization, due to the self-determination of the peoples of the world, the
formation of multi-ethnic states, inter-state and inter-ethnic relations, and the processes of active
population migration, the legal solution of language issues has become one of the main tasks of
the state. These issues relate to the topic of legislative support for the use of languages in formal
and informal communication, in language teaching at school and university, and in people-to-
people relations.
2
In the US, there is a constant struggle between the two sides of political
correctness: official Americanism and official multiculturalism. There are not so many differences
between them as it seems at first glance. After all, only superficial ethnographic features of non-
American cultures have survived. Modern integration processes do not reduce the level of social
stratification of society, and only the forms of the language change. Alternatively, social
stratification is becoming a more universal and important feature of English in the United States
than regional differentiation.
3
In this case, describing the linguistic situation in the United States
is interpreted as more work than less.
4
In order to shed light on the language situation in the United
States, it is necessary to reveal the nature and general characteristics of the language situation, in
which the current situation in the United States, the languages spoken in this country and the
immigrants who contribute to the development of the English language and the impact of their
different cultures are significant
5
.
Sociolinguistics is used to study the role and position of language in a particular society.
2
Гречко, В. А. Теория языкознания: Учеб. пособие/В. А. Гречко.— М.: Высш шк., 2003.— с.315
3
Швейцер А. Д., Социальная дифференциация английского языка в США, М., 1983. — с.37,38,54,78
4
Нигматуллина, Л. М. Языковая ситуация в США / Л. М. Нигматуллина, А. А. Скуратова. — Текст :
непосредственный // Молодой ученый. — 2014. — № 21 (80). — С. 785-789. — URL:
https://moluch.ru/archive/80/14380/ (дата обращения: 28.04.2024).
5
Ощепкова В. В. Язык и культура Великобритании, США, Канады, Австралии, Новой Зеландии. — М./СПб.:
ГПОССА/КАРО, 2004. — с.45,46,53
ISSN:
2181-3906
2024
International scientific journal
«MODERN
SCIENCE
АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 3 / ISSUE 5 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
995
One of the main concepts of sociolinguistics is the concept of linguistic situation. The place
of language in society is analyzed through case studies.
6
"The concept of language situation is
usually applied to large language communities - countries, regions, republics. The time factor is
important for this concept: in essence, the language situation is a characteristic of the socio-
communicative system in a certain period of activity.
7
In the linguistic encyclopedic dictionary
edited by V. N. Yartseva, the following definition is given to this concept: "forms of existence of
a language, as well as styles or a set of their regional-social languages. Сertain geographical
regions or administrative- Relations and functional interaction of political objects are the main
subject of sociolinguistics. Linguistic situation is a set of languages and variants of languages that
serve a given society ethnically and multi-ethnically: dialects, slangs, functional styles and other
forms of language existence; a specific territory, political territorial unit or state borders.
8
The most
general definition was given by V. N. Avorin, and this term is "a specific type of interaction of
languages and at a certain stage of their historical development in the social life of each nation
different forms of existence". .. It is a component of the most complex structure of social relations
within this or that group of people." It should also be noted that there is a narrower understanding
of language state, which is related to the concept of language state as a set of state components:
functional methods, forms of existence and forms of implementation.
When talking about the English language, it is divided into categories with the names
American dialect or British English, but what is the status of English in America, and what is the
official language? There is no single official language for everyone in the United States. English
is only the dominant language
9
in the states because it is spoken by a large part of the population.
The issue of language has been and continues to be controversial in the United States. However,
27 states have adopted English as an official language. A great example is the state of Hawaii,
where English and Hawaiian are the official languages
10
. New Mexico has a law that provides for
the use of English and Spanish, and Louisiana for English and French, but neither language is
declared official. Island territories with associated status (essentially United States overseas
possessions) provide official recognition of local languages alongside English: Samoan and
Chamorro are recognized in American Samoa and Guam, respectively; Caroline and Chamorro
are recognized in the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is the official language of Puerto Rico.
11
If people look at the history of the United States of America, over the years and centuries,
the population of this country has been constantly filled with immigrants: at first, mainly from
Western and Central European countries - Germany, Ireland, England, etc., and by the end of the
19th century, southern and immigrants from south-eastern Europe - Italy, Austria-Hungary, Tsarist
Russia. As they integrated into American society, all of these groups were influenced by the
6
Мечковская Н. Б. Социальная лингвистика: Пособие для студентов гуманит. вузов и учащихся лицеев. —
М.: Аспект Пресс, 2000. — с.101–102 8.
7
Беликов В. И., Крысин Л. П. Социолингвистика. — М.: РГГУ, 2001. — с.26–27
8
Беликов В. И., Крысин Л. П. Социолингвистика. — М.: РГГУ, 2001. — с.26–27
9
Гречко, В. А. Теория языкознания: Учеб. пособие/В. А. Гречко.— М.: Высш шк., 2003.— с.315 5.
10
Crystal D. English as a global language / D. Crystal; lane from English N.V. Kuznetsova. - M.: Ves Mir, 2001. -
p.60
11
Нигматуллина, Л. М. Языковая ситуация в США / Л. М. Нигматуллина, А. А. Скуратова. — Текст :
непосредственный // Молодой ученый. — 2014. — № 21 (80). — С. 785-789. — URL:
https://moluch.ru/archive/80/14380/ (дата обращения: 28.04.2024).
ISSN:
2181-3906
2024
International scientific journal
«MODERN
SCIENCE
АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 3 / ISSUE 5 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
996
general American environment. In the process of their adaptation, mastering the values of the
dominant culture, which had already been formed, mastering the English language played an
important role as the most important element of the acculturation process. Now, Spanish-speaking
immigrants, particularly in the American Southwest, are expressing their desire to use their own
language, and many Americans see it as a threat that could divide the country. Currently, in some
areas of the country, especially in the southwest, up to 90% of the population is Hispanic. All
information here is in English and Spanish. This situation led to the formation of a social
movement called the 'One English Movement', which aims to make English the official language
of the United States. It should also be noted that throughout the country's history, school remains
the most effective method of Americanization and loss of native languages. There are almost no
schools for people of different nationalities in the language spoken by their own country. The
language of instruction in all public and private schools at all levels is English only. Regarding the
state of the common language, the US English Language Foundation published the report "Many
Languages - One America" in March 2005. As noted in this work, the most common native
language in the United States is English, with 215.4 million of the 293 million Americans (73.5%)
speaking it as their first language. Spanish is the native language of 28 million US residents
(10.7%). This is evidenced by the fact that bilingualism in the United States is widespread, mainly
among non-English speakers, first and to some extent second generation immigrants, forced to
adapt to the dominant way of life. Culture and language adapted.
12
The further development of the
language situation in the United States will depend on:
-
maintaining and strengthening the status of the only powerful country, which is to some
extent responsible for the unprecedented role of the English language in the modern world;
-
continuation of mass emigration;
-
The ideological evolution of the United States in the direction of more multiculturalism or,
conversely, more rigid cultural homogeneity.
The situation in America and its paradox is that in the country, especially in the megacities
of both coasts, the amazing diversity of literally all the languages of the world is provided by
different languages, but in proportion to the common intercultural language. A steady stream of
new immigrants and, on the other hand, most people entering the country are under the age of 15,
and most of them are second-generation Americans. The synthesis of all these factors creates the
unique content of a country that does not have a state language in the Constitution, but there are
many languages that are widely spoken throughout America. Each state has one or two languages,
one of which may be the mother tongue of the indigenous people living in that area. In general,
based on the above, it should be noted that it is the English language that is still the most common
native language in the United States of America, which allowed to preserve the unity of the
American people in the era of cultural diversity throughout the world. There have been attempts
to formalize English, but they have failed due to fears of discrimination against immigrants.
Originally, the territory of the present United States of America was inhabited by Indians
who spoke more than 300 languages and dialects. With the arrival of European colonists, English,
French, German and other languages appeared. By the time the United States was founded in 1776,
12
Schweitzer A.D., Social differentiation of the English language in the USA, M., 1983. - pp. 37,38,54,78
ISSN:
2181-3906
2024
International scientific journal
«MODERN
SCIENCE
АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 3 / ISSUE 5 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
997
most of the people in the colonies spoke English. However, the founders of the country did not
declare English as the official language in order not to offend those whose mother tongue is another
language.
13
However, America accepts immigrants from many countries for citizenship, and if they
have any talent or skill in the field of work, it creates many opportunities for them. As everyone
knows, America has opened its doors to all nations in terms of education, every year it announces
millions of grants for education, and on the basis of this announcement, accepts students for
education, study there are many jobs after graduation. Many nationalities go to America for work
in different countries; the goal is to earn more. Such emigrations have been going on for years,
and many nationalities and peoples are now living in America. Despite the fact that they belong to
different nationalities and cultures, the main element of their communication is the English
language. And this is the only reason why the English language has the status of a multinational
in the United States of America.
As immigration to the United States has increased, so has linguistic diversity. For example,
Spanish became widespread after the annexation of Mexico. But English has always been
dominant. Today, the situation is different in different states. English is still the official language
in 32 states. Some states recognize indigenous languages along with it, such as Hawaiian or
Alaskan Indian languages. Despite the lack of official status, English is spoken by the majority of
the population. It is common in all aspects of American society, making it practically the national
language. In general, today, along with the status of the English language as a global language,
English has become a multinational status in America.
REFERENCES
1.
Crystal D. English as a global language / D. Crystal; lane from English N.V. Kuznetsova.
- M.: Ves Mir, 2001. - p.60
2.
https://infourok.ru/statya-istoriya-vozniknoveniya-amerikanskogo-angliyskogo-yazika-
3878027.html
3.
https://lingvohabit.com/blog/kak-polucilos-cto-v-amerike-net-oficialnogo-yazyka
4.
Schweitzer A.D., Social differentiation of the English language in the USA, M., 1983. -
pp. 37,38,54,78
5.
Беликов В. И., Крысин Л. П. Социолингвистика. — М.: РГГУ, 2001. — с.26–27
6.
Гречко, В. А. Теория языкознания: Учеб. пособие/В. А. Гречко.— М.: Высш шк.,
2003.— с.315
7.
Мечковская Н. Б. Социальная лингвистика: Пособие для студентов гуманит. вузов и
учащихся лицеев. — М.: Аспект Пресс, 2000. — с.101–102 8.
8.
Нигматуллина, Л. М. Языковая ситуация в США / Л. М. Нигматуллина, А. А.
Скуратова. — Текст : непосредственный // Молодой ученый. — 2014. — № 21 (80).
— С. 785-789. — URL: https://moluch.ru/archive/80/14380/ (дата обращения:
28.04.2024).
13
https://lingvohabit.com/blog/kak-polucilos-cto-v-amerike-net-oficialnogo-yazyka
ISSN:
2181-3906
2024
International scientific journal
«MODERN
SCIENCE
АND RESEARCH»
VOLUME 3 / ISSUE 5 / UIF:8.2 / MODERNSCIENCE.UZ
998
9.
Ощепкова В. В. Язык и культура Великобритании, США, Канады, Австралии, Новой
Зеландии. — М./СПб.: ГПОССА/КАРО, 2004. — с.45,46,53
10.
Швейцер А. Д., Социальная дифференциация английского языка в США, М., 1983.
— с.37,38,54,78
