English in Africa: History, Influence, and Features

English in Africa

Africa has over 1000 languages. It needs a link language even more than India, and English provides it. Sixteen countries have retained English since decolonization. English creoles are spreading rapidly in the markets and bazaars of West Africa. Perhaps 200 million people speak them. Standard English is taught in African schools. Good English spelling and grammar is vital for a future career in law, medicine, or government.

Trading Connections

The English language was probably first

Read More

Word Formation Processes: Affixation, Compounding, Conversion

Major Word-Formation Processes

T5

  • Affixation:
    • Prefix: non-smoker
    • Suffixation: useless
    • Infix: fan-freaking-tastic
  • Conversion (Functional Shift):
    • clean (adj) vs. clean (v)
  • Compounding:
    • Solid: wastepaper
    • Hyphenated: week-end
    • Open: corner shop

Minor Word-Formation Processes

  • Commonization/Eponym: A proper name enters the language as a common noun (to xerox, sandwich, guy).
  • Reduplication:
    • Rhyme compounds: walkie-talkie, bye-bye
    • Ablaut compounds: ping-pong
  • Onomatopoeia: quack, cuckoo
  • Back-formation: Deletion of a supposed
Read More

Romanticism and Renaixença: Cultural Movements in Europe

Romanticism and the Renaixença

Romanticism was a cultural movement that started in Germany and England at the end of the eighteenth century and extended to other European countries during the nineteenth century. This movement appeared in an era marked by profound transformations. The ideals of the French Revolution and the effects of the Industrial Revolution changed the political, economic, social, and spiritual landscape in some countries in Europe. This movement caused a profound shift in the

Read More

Secrets of Viral Content: STEPPS Framework

Social Currency

Social Currency is the reason people are more likely to talk about something if it is secret. People share things to make themselves look good to others. There are three ways to make someone look good while promoting products and ideas: find inner remarkability, leverage game mechanics, and make people feel like insiders. All people want to achieve desired positive impressions among their families, friends, and colleagues.

Example: In Flywheel, at the front of the class, they have

Read More

Doris Lessing’s ‘To Room Nineteen’: Summary, Themes, and Analysis

Doris Lessing and ‘To Room Nineteen’

Doris May Lessing (Kermanshah, Persia, 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013, London, England) was a British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer, and short story writer. In 1925, Doris’ family moved to present-day Zimbabwe. Lessing was educated at the Dominican Convent High School, a Roman Catholic all-girls school in Salisbury. Later, she worked as a nursemaid, where she encountered the first materials that inspired her to write.

After her first

Read More

Picaresque Novel: Evolution, Characteristics, and Key Works

Picaresque Novel: Evolution and Key Features

The Story of Lazarillo de Tormes contains features that define the picaresque genre. Mateo Alemán’s Guzmán de Alfarache further established autobiographism, distinctive rogue characteristics, and the basic structural outline of the picaresque narrative. However, changes occurred due to evolving tastes and sensibilities during the Baroque period:

  1. Moralizing Digressions: The rogue’s moral norms refer to and condemn the criminal acts performed.
  2. Negative Worldview:
Read More