Do the Americans have their own language?

[Torsten]

OK, that's very provocative question -- of course the Americans and Canadians have their native language: English. But is it really their native language? In Europe, almost every nation has their own 'native' language. For example, the Dutch speak Dutch, the Polish speak Polish, the French speak French, the Russians speak Russian, the Czech speak Czech, the Danish speak Danish, etc.

So why do they Americans still speak English? Why do they not speak American?

TOEIC listening, question-response: You work for Peabody and Sons, don't you?

[Minhajquazi]

My view, answer is very simple.

America and Canada are not anybody's countries, these are the countries for every nations. If America does not kill herself, no country can kill it (except God). All positive and derail brain combinations are here!

Everybody is cleaver. 300+ Nobel laureates are here from different ethnics. second is
Britain, 100+ only, and so on.

I have no idea any 'Red Indian' ethnic has gotten Nobel prize yet. As they are still lag behind (or forcefully silent) they couldn't have established their language as 'Language of America'. If I search, may get, what the meaning of America word, like 'Canada word' means, so far I remember, 'Red hut', it is Red Indian language. etc.

No country could defeat England, so she established her language here. As everywhere treachery is common, Queen Isabella did so with 'Columbus' after discovering America in 1492. Otherwise, it could be Spanish, Dutch or Italian. If I remember, Columbus was an Italian sailor.
_________________
Quazi,(46) a writer, thinker & humanist
since 28 years.

[PaaSHaa]

i agree with Minhajquazi, the America combined different nationals, but they speak American English accent not British English like many other countries especially in Europe (maybe this is a new topic ;) most of the people speak American English accent in Europe, i think cause of Hollywood movies)
the superiority belongs to American accent so there is no need to make their own language (seems more provocative)

[Jamie (K)]

First off, the French seem to distinguish between "English" and "American", probably unjustifiably. French magazines will end articles with the notation, "Translated from the American by..."

The reason Americans don't have a separate language is that it takes much more than 236 years for one language to split into two. However, that will probably never happen with English on the various continents, because it is possible now for the whole English-speaking world to communicate easily. That means there's no isolation, and therefore no development of separate languages.

For the same reason, American and Canadian dialects have not diverged to the point where people don't understand each other. The whole continent, from the tip of Florida to the top of Alaska, understands each other, because there has not been enough isolation for very different dialects to develop, except on a very few isolated islands off the Atlantic coast. Compare this to older countries, like England or Germany, where people may not understand the dialect of the next town.

[Torsten]

When it comes to translating books, the Germans distinguish between American and British English too. In translated books you will always read 'Übersetzt aus dem Amerikanischen' rather than 'Aus dem Englischen'.

TOEIC listening, question-response: What time is your appointment with Ms. Johnston?

[Jamie (K)]

[Torsten]

Exactly. American English is almost the same as British, Irish or Australian English.

TOEIC listening, question-response: Do you think anyone can make a living out of simply writing books?

[Kkebe]

Do Americans have their own language?

It would have been the language of the Native Americans if they had stayed in power, and the colonists and immigrants from Europe should have learned the language of North American. Besides the destruction of the natives, their languages were also intricate. The Native American languages were spoken more than a thousand languages, and the languages were completely different from one another. This created the language barrier and made it difficult to communicate to different tribe. Furthermore, they did not have a writing system until the European arrived. “What I have learned but I do not know the fact." As a result, the national language becomes English because it was spoken by the people who had the power and strength.

Thank you.

[Luschen]

[Luschen]

[Cgk]

Why do Austrians speak German? Why do the Swiss speak German (Italian and French in some other areas)? The Austrians speak Austrian German dialects and the Swiss speak Swiss German (not sure if it can be called a dialect, lol). Americans speak various American English dialects, the Canadians speak English and French with Canadian dialects, the Australians speak Australian English dialect(s) . . .

Sooooooooooo . . .

Why doesn't every country have its own language?! ;-)

English to the English! Hurray! Hurray!

Claudia
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In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.