It is believed that the English language is derived from the Anglo-Frisian dialects from West Germanic tribes who were situated in North West Germany and the Netherlands when they invaded the Celtic ruled Britain. When the group Germanic tribes drove out the native Celts in Britain, they started to interact with one another. Since they speak similar languages, the language fused together overtime to create what we know now as the English language. English belongs to the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. The English language is known as a borrowing language, which means that the words are borrowed from many other languages such as Latin, Greek and French without translating The English language is divided into three main periods; Old English, Middle English and Modern English. Old English was spoken during 450-1100 AD when the Germanic tribes formed a language that was mixed with different dialects of the Germanic tribes. The word English is driven from the old English word “Englisc” which came from the word Angle. The Angles are named after their homeland; Engle. During this time, they are numerous additions to the language …show more content…
During this time, the printing press was invented, which meant books were cheaper to produce and cheaper to buy, causing a lot more people to learn how to read. This allowed the English language to have a fixed spelling and grammar making the language more standardized than before. After the printing press was introduced in Britain in 1476 the English Renaissance started to take flight in the early 16th century. During this period, many Greek and Latin words were assimilated into the English language. When the industrial revolution began in the 18th century many new technical words had to be created in order for the language to cope with the rapid advancement in technology. Words such as trains, gravity, and engines sprouted during these
According to Wiki, one theory states, “The Anglo Saxon originated from from Frisia. Afterwards, the script was used throughout England.”
John McWhorter, the author of The Power of Babel, gives a brief history of human languages. The title is from the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. The story tells of the people had only one language and decided to build a tower. Then, God gives them different languages. As a result, the event was the derivation of different cultures and languages. Through McWhorter’s view of how languages derived from the past 150,000 years, he states that the one original language transformed into six thousand new languages. The book has seven chapters and an epilogue. The first chapter is “The First Language Morphs into Six Thousand New Ones” discusses the question, “What happened to the first language?”( McWhorter 16). The second chapter is “The Six Thousand Languages Develop into Clusters of Sublanguages.” Then, The third chapter
The Middle English period is characterised by the difference in grammar and vocabulary. The term Middle English describes the stage in the progression of the English language between 1100 and 1500. However, critics differ with regards to the actual time in which the Middle English period began and ended. The Middle English period falls between
Numerous inventions transformed European society such as the compass, paper and gunpowder. However, none had the dramatic impact as the invention of the printing press by Johannes Guttenberg in the mid 15th century. The printing press allowed for rapid creation of printed works due to the hand mold, a new technique which used moveable metal type. By increasing the speed by which printed works were created, quantities of books increased rapidly and became far more widespread. By the beginning of the 16th century, over 20 million volumes had been printed in Western Europe and over 240 printing shops were established. Initially religious works, such as the Bible, were primarily printed. Wider access to such materials allowed for individuals to form their own interpretations about religion. Individualism increased which spurred the development of movements such as the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and the Enlightenment. The printing press fuelled an information revolution as knowledge was quickly and more accurately spread. Literacy increased along with education as forms of learning were revolutionized, and the universal language changed from Latin to French. As the printing press became more common throughout Europe, new forms of printed works and themes began to be seen in society. The printing press promoted the development of reform movements and changed dynamics within European culture.
The printing press is considered one of the most important inventions because it made mass production for printed material possible. The result of that leads to a much more educated population. For years prior to the printing, all readable material had to be hand written. This consumed a lot of time and costed a lot of money. The printing press dramatically reduced the time and expense for printed. From the 1500’s to the early 1700’s, the printing press was the most significant invention in which inspired the most change in European society during the Renaissance because it impacted the advancement of civilization rigorously, advanced the flow of education and spread new ideas.
When African Americans were brought to the British colonies as slaves, they were introduced to a foreign language they had never heard of before. Their own native language was mixed in to create a brand new dialect unique to them. This applies to any situation in which non - English speakers are introduced to it for the first time. In these situations, "languages often borrow words, sounds, constructions and so on" (ling.upenn.edu). New technology helps to spread not only English and many other languages all over the
One of the many permutations that language has made is into what is collectively known as English. This particular tongue was brought to the British Isles in the Sixth Century CE by Northern Europeans or “Germanic” people. (Kemmer) It followed English colonists around the world, including areas in North America, which will be the subject of this essay.
In 1476, William Caxton introduced England to the printing press. This significant introduction to one of the world’s greatest technological innovations, at the time, helped to increase the spread of literacy and knowledge amongst the British people as the mass production of books became cheaper and more commonly available. According to Mastin (2011), the first book ever printed, although Caxton’s own interpretation was ‘The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye’ in 1473. Furthermore, Mastin (2011) states that in the following 150 years after the introduction of printing, up to 20000 books were printed.
The Anglo Saxon period is the oldest known period of time that had a complex culture with stable government, art, and a fairly large amount of literature. Many people believe that the culture then was extremely unsophisticated, but it was actually extremely advanced for the time. Despite the many advancements, the period was almost always in a state of war. Despite this fact, the Anglo-Saxon period is a time filled with great advancements and discoveries in culture, society, government, religion, literature, and art.
The duration of Early Modern English took place during the English Renaissance, and hence the amazing evolutions that occurred within it (Myers 166). After the Renaissance came the Age of Reason, and it is during this time that the language becomes recognizable to today (Smith 9). The most common example of Early Modern English is the fact that Shakespeare wrote in it, and it poses the most similarities to Modern day; the language moved from a synthetic one to a more analytical one, and relied less on inflectional endings and more with word order to convey information (Durkin 1). Early Modern English is the premise for the ever-evolving language that millions speak
The development of an American language is a long and interesting account of preservation as well as change and development of a living language, and it is the purpose of this essay to examine to some extent several items related to the factors that brought English to America and the features of American English that developed thereafter, with several sections focusing on the history of the arrival of the English language in America, definitions of what British English (BrE) and American English (AmE) are, and finally three specific areas of discussion i.e. phonological, lexical, and syntactical features of American English.
The English language arose from the early Anglo Saxon inhabitants in ancient England and spread to Scotland and other European countries via the British Empire and later to the United States through colonial political and economical influences. It later dispersed to other parts of the world through these same influences to become one of the leading languages of the world. It has over the years developed by adopting different dialects to create a language, which is the standard lingual Franca in many countries. The rapid growth of the English language and its adoption by different cultures across the globe is sufficient ground to make it the global language.
Since the establishment of the British Empire, the spread of English language has been experienced in many parts of the globe. The success can be attributed significantly to the colonization activities that the empire had embarked on. They would train the indigenous community English language as they suppressed the local dialect. This massive spread is termed as lingual imperialism (Osterhammel 2005, pp. 14). The English language has become the first and second language of many nations across the world, and this makes it an international language. The native’s proportion to the non-native who speaks English cannot be compared with nations in the isle of Britain and far are speaking the language .considering that more than 70%
To understand how English became the lingua franca for the world one must begin by understanding the colonization influence of the British Empire, beginning with the Americas in the early 1600’s. Once the language itself had been somewhat established in Great Britain, although not necessarily agreed upon, the next obvious step was to take the language and the culture to new parts of the world and colonize. The British Empire set out to the Americas in two vastly different manners, yet both had major influences on the language of what soon would become America.
Over the years English inarguably has reached a status of a global language and commonly is characterized as a lingua franca. It has become the language that is spoken by millions of people all over the world; as the mother tongue, as the language used for international communication and as the language learned in the millions of schools.