Defaults in the English Language

One such historical record can be found in the language of Ebonics. Ebonics is a form that derived its conception from the composition of two cultures. Known as a form of slang to most, Ebonics happens to be colloquialism. For example, the word “phat” is derived from the word “fat”. However, the meaning has been metaphorically changed and now complies with the slang meaning “great, nice looking.” The word “fat” has been transformed so that the “f” sound comes from the word elephant, producing the same resulting sound as in fat. Another form of English colloquialism is slang.

In addition, “English is, and has long been of a mixed character, made up of words derived from different sources; and to a great extent in the spelling” (Craigie 1). English is also composed of new words borrowed from various languages, such as Spanish, Latin, French, Italian, and even Sanskrit, to name a few. The only difference between some of the words borrowed is that there has been spelling changes to conform to the English way of speaking. One example, as mentioned during lecture, is the Sanskrit word “jugganath”, or “ruler of all living things” (Demers, lecture). Jugganath also is one of the Indian gods who gets carried around in a cart once a year (Kryss Katsiavriades). The word has been translated into British English, for the same meaning and then into American English. Thus, the spelling of the word transformed from the original “jugganath” to “juggernaut” to comply with the English spelling rules, and how the english speak their language. Another example is “in the Puget Sound Salish language, the language of Chief Seattle, the word for white men is bastad” (Demers, lecture). Throughout the years, the word bastad transformed into the word bastard, however has kept the same meaning. “The fundamental cause of our present chaotic and indefensible spelling, underlying all the rest, has been the effort to spell a cosmopolitan language-basically Anglo-Saxon or Teutonic but greatly enriched from Romance sources, notably Norman French-which distinguishes about 40 sounds, by means of a Roman alphabet, quite adequate for Latin, for which it was developed….” (Dewey 4). Such an example of borrowed words from the old Ang

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