Maltese English and the nativization phase of the dynamic model

Abstract

Research on new varieties of English often reflects specific lexical shifts between a standard variety of English and an outer or expanding variety of English. Studies conducted on Nigerian English, Indian English, Malaysian English, etc., list examples of morphological, syntactical, and lexical nativization without mentioning the evolutionary progression of a post colonial English (PCE). Edgar Schneider (2007) posits a Dynamic Model for plotting the timeline of any post colonial variety of English (PCE). The model reveals five fundamental evolutionary phases to any new English: foundation, exonormative stabilization, nativization, endonormative stabilization, and differentiation. At each phase, the structure of the settler strand (STL) and the indigenous strand (IDG) of English is affected at four different linguistic levels: history/politics, identity construction, sociolinguistics, and linguistic developments. In each phase, researchers of a PCE must find specific instances of development that correspond to the correct phase of evolution. In an attempt to assess the universal applicability of Schneider's (2007) Dynamic Model, this study seeks to use the country of Malta as an example of a new post colonial English residing primarily in phase three: nativization.