Saturday, March 9, 2019

History of English Language

Language: English
Father of English Literature: Geoffrey Chaucer. He was born in London sometime between 1340 and 1344. He was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat (courtier), and a diplomat. He is also referred to as the father of English Literature.
Speakers: 360 million people. Out of the world's approximately 7.5 billion inhabitants, 1.5 billion speak English — that's 20% of the Earth's population. However, most of those people aren't native English speakers. About 360 million people speak English as their first language. Interestingly, the Language Chinese has scored the highest number of Speakers in the world; 1.2 billion, roughly a billion of whom speak Mandarin — but there's no doubt it's the most spoken language in the world. If you wish to learn a language that one in six people in the world speak, this is the one for you. Ironically, English is still the International Language, though it ranks third with reference to the Number of Speakers; after Chinese followed by Spanish. HIndi stays at the fourth and Arabic enjoys the fifth rank.
International Status: English Speaking Countries speak English as the first language; whereas, the rest of the world speaks English as ESL i.e. English as Second Language since English is considered as International Language of Communication.
Evolution of English:
3 Germanic Tribes invaded Britain during the 5th Century of the Common Era, CE. These tribes: the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea when the inhabitants of Britain used to speak a Celtic language but most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Out of the 3 tribes, the Angles came from Englaland and their language was known as Englisc, from which the words England and English were derived, later.
Proto English: the Beginning
English has its roots in the languages of the Germanic peoples of northern Europe. During the Roman Empire, most of the Germanic-inhabited area (Germania) remained independent from Rome, although some southwestern parts were within the empire. Some Germanics served in the Roman military, and troops from Germanic tribes such as the Tungri, Batavi, Menapii and Frisii served in Britain (Britannia) under Roman command. Germanic settlement and power expanded during the Migration Period, which saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire. These Germanic imprints are even visible till today. For instance, the predecessor of Modern English wine had been borrowed into early Germanic from the Latin vinum.

A few Useful Tables of differentiation:
Table 1 The following table shows the principal developments in the stressed vowels, from Old English through Modern English (C indicates any consonant):
Old English
(c. 900 AD)
Middle English
(c. 1400 AD)
Early Modern English
(c. 1600 AD)
Modern English
Modern spelling
Examples
ɑː
ɔː
əʊ (UK)
oa, oCe
oak, boat, whole, stone
æː, æːɑ
ɛː
ea
heal, beat, cheap
eː, eːo
ee, -e
feed, deep, me, be
iː, yː
əi or ɛi
iCe
ride, time, mice
oo, -o
moon, food, do
əu or ɔu
ou
mouse, out, loud
ɑ, æ, æɑ
a
æ
æ
a
man, sat, wax
ɛː
aCe
name, bake, raven
e, eo
e
ɛ
ɛ
e
help, tell, seven
ɛː
ea, eCe
speak, meat, mete
i, y
ɪ
ɪ
ɪ
i
written, sit, kiss
o
o
ɔ
ɒ
ɑ (US)
o
god, top, beyond
ɔː
əʊ (UK)
oa, oCe
foal, nose, over
u
ʊ
ɤ
ʌ
u, o
buck, up, love, wonder
ʊ
ʊ
full, bull

Table 2
Interrogative Pronouns:
Case
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
Masculine,
Feminine
(Person)
Nominative
hwā
who
who
Accusative
hwone, hwæne
whom
whom, who1
Dative
hwām, hwǣm
Instrumental
Genitive
hwæs
whos
whose
Neuter
(Thing)
Nominative
hwæt
what
what
Accusative
hwæt
what, whom
Dative
hwām, hwǣm
Instrumental
hwȳ, hwon
why
why
Genitive
hwæs
whos
whose2

Table 3
First Person Personal Pronouns
Case
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
Singular
Nominative
I, ich, ik
I
Accusative
mē, meċ
me
me
Dative
Genitive
mīn
min, mi
my, mine
Plural
Nominative
we
we
Accusative
ūs, ūsiċ
us
us
Dative
ūs
Genitive
ūser, ūre
ure, our
our, ours


Table 4
Second Person Personal Pronoun.
Old and Middle English singular to the Modern English archaic informal
Case
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
Singular
Nominative
þū
þu, thou
thou (you)
Accusative
þē, þeċ
þé, thee
thee (you)
Dative
þē
Genitive
þīn
þi, þīn, þīne, thy; thin, thine
thy, thine (your, yours)
Plural
Nominative
ġē
ye, ȝe, you
you
Accusative
ēow, ēowiċ
you, ya
Dative
ēow
Genitive
ēower
your
your, yours

Table 5 

Formal and informal forms of the second person singular and plural
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Case
Formal
Informal
Formal
Informal
Formal
Informal
Formal
Informal
Formal
Informal
Formal
Informal
Nominative
þū
ġē
you
thou
you
ye
you
Accusative
þē, þeċ
ēow, ēowiċ
thee
you
Dative
þē
ēow
Genitive
þīn
ēower
your, yours
thy, thine
your, yours
your, yours

Table 6
Third Person Personal Pronouns
Case
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
Masculine Singular
Nominative
he
he
Accusative
hine
him
him
Dative
him
Genitive
his
his
his
Feminine Singular
Nominative
hēo
heo, sche, ho, he, ȝho
she
Accusative
hīe
hire, hure, her, heore
her
Dative
hire
Genitive
hir, hire, heore, her, here
her, hers
Neuter Singular
Nominative
hit
hit, it
it
Accusative
hit, it, him
Dative
him
Genitive
his
his, its
its
Plural
Nominative
hīe
he, hi, ho, hie, þai, þei
they
Accusative
hem, ham, heom, þaim, þem, þam
them
Dative
him
Genitive
hira
here, heore, hore, þair, þar
their, theirs

Old English: 450-1100 CE The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. It is difficult to be understood due to a lot many changes but a few English words still maintain their original form, such as: be, strong, water etc.
Middle English: 1100-1500 CE In 1066 CE William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English language became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer, but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.
Modern English: 1500-Present CE
1. Early Modern English 1500-1800 CE
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 CE the first English dictionary was published.
2. Late Modern English 1800-Present CE The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British call "Americanisms" are in fact original British expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster movies). Spanish also had an influence on American English (and subsequently British English), with words like canyonranchstampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that entered English through the settlement of the American West. French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave trade) also influenced American English (and so, to an extent, British English).Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the USA's dominance of cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology (including the Internet). But there are many other varieties of English around the world, including for example Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.

Adaptation from Geoffrey Chaucer's 
Canterbury Tales
Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour.




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