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the birth of english language
the birth of english language
the birth of english language
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English is currently one of the most prolific languages in the world, with recent figures from the British Council showing approximately two billion people speaking it in at least seventy-five countries (British Council, 2014). Often referred to as a borrowing language, English has loaned and continues to loan words from nearly every language it encounters, with a majority of the words coming from Latin, French, and Greek (Durkin, “Borrowed Words” 2014). This lingual promiscuity has led to the English language’s somewhat brutal nickname, “the bastard tongue” (Nordquist, n.d.). In this essay we’ll be discussing the history of English, following its origins in Germanic languages, influence from Latin and other European languages, and the standardization that occurred in Early Modern English.
The origins of English have been traced back with relative certainty to the 5th and 6th centuries A.D., when an assortment of three mainland European tribes, the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes, invaded Britain. While brothers Hengest and Horsa were originally invited to Briton by the king Wurtgern for the purpose of defeating the Picts, a tribe from North Eastern Scotland, they later decided to fight against the Britons for their rich land, deeming the original inhabitants worthless and weak. The brothers then called for assistance in the form of the three major powers of Germany at the time, the Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes; this migration of Germanic peoples to Britain is what most scholars agree was the first step in the genesis of the English language (Ingram, 2008; Durkin, “History,” 2014; English Club, 2014; Merriam-Webster, 2014).
While the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’s veracity is dubious because it was written hundreds of years afte...
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...ies (Durkin, “History,” 2014; English Club, 2014; Merriam-Webster, 2014).
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Durkin, Philip. "The History of English." - Oxford Dictionaries (US). N.p., 2014. Web.
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FAQ's The English Language." BritishCouncil.com N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr.
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"History" Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
"History of the English Language." English Club. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Ingram, James H. "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle."
Http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/657/pg657.html. Douglas B. Killings,
3 Aug. 2008. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
"Interesting Facts about the Ancient Celts." Eupedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Nordquist, Richard. "Loanwords in English: The Bastard Tongue." About.com Grammar
& Composition. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
According to Wiki, one theory states, “The Anglo Saxon originated from from Frisia. Afterwards, the script was used throughout England.”
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle proves to be an invaluable source for deciphering the group of individuals most commonly referred to as ‘The Vikings’. Much of our knowledge pertaining to these Scandinavian seafarers can be attributed to this historic manuscript, which was collectively written by multiple anonymous scribes. It is important to note that this piece of literature, when compared alongside other historical sources, is not immune from certain biases, whether through inaccurate dating or the omission of certain details and events (Encyclopædia Britannica, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle). That being said, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is still regarded as one of the most significant sources for the understanding
At the heart of Anglo-Saxon literature is the epic poem Beowulf. It was written in Old English somewhere between the middle of the 7th and the end of the 10th century by an unknown poet. Beowulf has come to be recognized as the foundational epic of English and British culture (Shmoop). The story has its roots in a pagan Saxon past, but by the time the epic poem was written down, almost all Anglo-Saxons had converted to Christianity. As a result the poet resolved his new Christian beliefs with the un-Christian behavior of the characters.
Modern Language Notes -. By Marcus Mordecai. 2nd ed. of the book. Vol.
Nothing ever stays the same for very long. As time passes, people, places, and ideas develop and change in a variety of ways. The english language is spoken and written so differently today that you probably could not speak understand its earliest incarnation. English has evolved and continues to evolved due to a multitude of reasons. The english language has changed and developed over time due to the way the lanuguage is used, the way the language is spread, and the development and advancement of new technology.
As we mentioned above, one of influences that has made changes in English language over time is foreign
Smith, Jeremy J. “The Use of English: Language Contact, Dialect Variation, and Written Standardization During the Middle English Period”. English in Its Social Contexts. Eds. Charles T. Scott, Tim William Machan. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. 47–68.
In Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language, Johnson argues the importance of preserving language. Other dialects had a produced their own dictionaries, such as the French and Italians. Various writers of the eighteenth century were alarmed at the fact that there was no standard for the English language, since there was no standard it could easily become extinct. Johnson explored many points, such as how and why languages change as well as how many words are formed.
The Angles were a Germanic tribe that occupied the region which is now Scleswig-Holstein, Germany. With their fellow ethnic groups, they formed the people who came to be known as the English. The Saxons were a Germanic people who first appeared in the beginning of the Christian era. The Saxons were said to have lived in the south Jutland Peninsula in the north of what is now Germany, but the fact has not been proven. They attacked and raided areas in the North Sea throughout the third and fourth centuries. By the end of the sixth century, the Saxons had taken all of the Roman territory within north-west Germany, as far as the Elbe River. The Angles joined the Saxons in the invasion of Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries. British resistance to the 'Anglo Saxon' invaders in the second half of the fifth century ended with the Anglo Saxon’s victory at the battle of Mount Badon. After the British were defeated, though, the Angles and the Saxons continued to fight over their religion for many years (Irvin, Vacca, Probst, Beers, p.46).
...Kentish, West Saxon, Northumbrian, and Mercian. Since the Normans came from France and had already taken over the rule over England, certain dialects of the French language integrated into the English language. Several years after the Normans had invaded England, the English language underwent numerous changes due to the influence of various settlers. However, the arrival of the Normans in England introduced a new language and culture. Most people had little knowledge about the language and culture introduced. The French language was a preserve for the upper class and the ruling class. Although French remained a language of the upper class and the rulers for a long time, a period came when even the people in higher social classes considered it a necessity to learn the English language. The Norman Conquest resulted in a complete transformation of the English language.
Crystal, David. The English Language: A Guided Tour of the Language. London: Penguin Books, 2002
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.
The beginnings of English can be found in the occupation of England from the 5th century by north and west German ethnic groups who brought their 'indigenous dialects' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 1). The Oxford English Dictionary defines English as 'Of or related to the West Germanic language spoken in England and used in many varieties throughout the world' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 7). Invasion in the 9th century by Scandinavians, who settled in the north of England and the establishment of Danelaw in 886 AD defining the area governed by the Danes in the north and east, had a marked effect on the language spoken there (Beal, J. 2012, p. 59). These periods are known as Early and Later Old English (Beal, J. 2012, p. 50).
SeargentPhilip, and Joan Swam. English in the world: History, diversity, change. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2012.
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.