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HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’s radio magazine in SpecialEnglish.
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This is Doug Johnson. On our program today:
We answer a question from three listeners about the Englishl anguage …
Play music in memory of June Carter Cash …
And report about a historic discovery in the state of Virginia.
Indian Village Site
HOST:
This summer, professors and students from the College of Williamand Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, will take part in five weeks offield study on a farm in the state of Virginia. They will be lookingfor evidence of a people ruled by a great American Indian chief.Shep O’Neal explains.
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Lynn and Bob Ripley bought a house and some farmland inGloucester County, Virginia, in nineteen-ninety-six. They soon beganto find pieces of glass and arrowheads on the surface of theirfields and other areas of the farm. Lynn Ripley kept the items shefound, only because they were part of the farm’s history. Shecollected thousands of pieces.
The Ripleys later told their story to two local researchers theymet. These archeologists asked to see the things Lynn had beenkeeping. They were surprised to find that the objects were more thanthree-hundred years old. Some came from Indians who had lived in thearea in the seventeenth century. Others were similar to objects usedby English settlers in the area.
After further study, researchers told the Ripleys they could beliving on land that was part a seventeenth century Indian villagecalled Werowocomoco. The village was the center of life for aboutfifteen-thousand Native Americans who lived in the area. It wasruled by Chief Powhatan, father of the famous Indian woman known asPocahontas.
Old stories from American historysay that Pocahontas became friends with English settlers who arrivedin sixteen-oh-seven. The stories say that she saved the life of oneof them, Captain John Smith. History experts say that all thisprobably did not happen. But it is true that Pocahontas and herfather, Chief Powhatan, did live near the English settlement ofJamestown at that time. Pocahontas may not have saved CaptainSmith’s life, but she did marry an Englishman, John Rolfe. She alsovisited England with him before she died.
The professors from William and Mary are working with NativeAmericans in Virginia and the state government to study the Ripleys’land. This summer, they will search for signs of Indian houses andareas of village activity. The researchers hope the work willincrease their understanding of the importance of the village as thecenter of Native American life in early Virginia.
British and American English
HOST:
Our VOA listener question this week comes from three listeners in China, Vietnam and India. They all want to know about differencesbetween American and British English.
Language experts say that spoken English was almost the same inthe American colonies and Britain two-hundred years ago. Americansbegan to change the sound of their speech after the RevolutionaryWar in seventeen-seventy-six. They wanted to make it different toseparate themselves from the British in language, in the same waythey separated themselves from the British government.
Some American leaders proposed major changes in the language.Benjamin Franklin wanted a whole new system of spelling. His reformswere not accepted. But his ideas did influence others. One was NoahWebster.
Webster wrote language books for schools. He believed the UnitedStates should have a system of its own language as well asgovernment. Webster published a dictionary of the American languagein eighteen-twenty-eight. It established rules for speaking andspelling the words used in American English.
Webster wrote that all words should be said in the order of theletters that spell them. This is why Americans use the letters “e-r”to end many words instead of the British “r-e.” He spelled the word”center,” for example, “c-e-n-t-e-r,” instead of the British”c-e-n-t-r-e.”
Noah Webster said every part of a word should be spoken. That iswhy Americans say “sec-re-ta-ry” instead of “sec-re’try,” as theBritish do. Webster’s rule for saying every part of a word madeAmerican English easier for foreign settlers to learn. They learnedto say “waist-coat,” for example, the way it is spelled instead ofthe British “wes-kit.”
The different languages of many people who came to the UnitedStates also helped make American and British English different. Manyof their foreign words and expressions became part of English asAmericans speak it.
Sometimes Americans and British people do not understand eachother because of different word meanings. For example, the word”jumper” in Britain means a sweater. In the United States, it is adress. The British word “brolly” is an “umbrella” in America. Andthe British call potato chips “crisps.” All of these differences ledBritish writer George Bernard Shaw to joke that Britain and Americaare two countries separated by the same language!
June Carter Cash
HOST:
Singer and songwriter June Carter Cash died last month inNashville, Tennessee, following a heart operation. She wasseventy-three years old. She was well known as the wife of countrystar Johnny Cash. But she was also a member of one of the mostimportant families in country music. Steve Ember has more.
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June Carter was part of what became known as the First Family ofCountry Music. In nineteen-twenty-seven, two years before she wasborn, the Carter family made some of the first recordings in countrymusic.
June Carter performed with her family on the radio, then laterwith her mother and sisters at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Shesang, played the autoharp and told funny stories.
June Carter studied acting in New York and appeared on televisionand in the movies. But she is perhaps best known for her abilitiesas a songwriter. One of her most famous songs — co-written withMerle Kilgore — is about falling in love with her husband, JohnnyCash. Here he sings what became one of his most successful songs,”Ring of Fire.”
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June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash recorded many songs together.They won two Grammy awards. Here they sing one of their Grammywinning songs, “Jackson”:
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June Carter Cash also won a Grammy for her record album “PressOn” in nineteen-ninety-nine. We leave you now with a song from thatalbum, “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”
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This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today. Writeus with your questions about American life. We will try to answerthem on future programs. Listeners whose questions are chosen willreceive a gift.
Write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C.two-zero-two-three-seven, USA. Or send e-mail to mosaic@voanews.com. Pleaseinclude your name and mailing address.
Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach. Our studio engineerwas Rick Barnes. And our producer was Caty Weaver.
Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC — VOA’s radiomagazine in Special English.