What is English.docx

What is English.docx

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WhatisEnglish

WhatisEnglish?

HistoryoftheEnglishLanguage

AshorthistoryoftheoriginsanddevelopmentofEnglish

ThehistoryoftheEnglishlanguagereallystartedwiththearrivalofthreeGermanictribeswhoinvadedBritainduringthe5thcenturyAD.Thesetribes,theAngles,theSaxonsandtheJutes,crossedtheNorthSeafromwhattodayisDenmarkandnorthernGermany.AtthattimetheinhabitantsofBritainspokeaCelticlanguage.ButmostoftheCelticspeakerswerepushedwestandnorthbytheinvaders-mainlyintowhatisnowWales,ScotlandandIreland.TheAnglescamefromEnglalandandtheirlanguagewascalledEnglisc-fromwhichthewordsEnglandandEnglisharederived.

GermanicinvadersenteredBritainontheeastandsouthcoastsinthe5thcentury.

OldEnglish（450-1100AD）

PartofBeowulf,apoemwritteninOldEnglish.

TheinvadingGermanictribesspokesimilarlanguages,whichinBritaindevelopedintowhatwenowcallOldEnglish.OldEnglishdidnotsoundorlooklikeEnglishtoday.NativeEnglishspeakersnowwouldhavegreatdifficultyunderstandingOldEnglish.Nevertheless,abouthalfofthemostcommonlyusedwordsinModernEnglishhaveOldEnglishroots.Thewordsbe,strongandwater,forexample,derivefromOldEnglish.OldEnglishwasspokenuntilaround1100.

MiddleEnglish（1100-1500）

AnexampleofMiddleEnglishbyChaucer.

In1066WilliamtheConqueror,theDukeofNormandy（partofmodernFrance）,invadedandconqueredEngland.Thenewconquerors（calledtheNormans）broughtwiththemakindofFrench,whichbecamethelanguageoftheRoyalCourt,andtherulingandbusinessclasses.Foraperiodtherewasakindoflinguisticclassdivision,wherethelowerclassesspokeEnglishandtheupperclassesspokeFrench.Inthe14thcenturyEnglishbecamedominantinBritainagain,butwithmanyFrenchwordsadded.ThislanguageiscalledMiddleEnglish.ItwasthelanguageofthegreatpoetChaucer（c1340-1400）,butitwouldstillbedifficultfornativeEnglishspeakerstounderstandtoday.

ModernEnglish

EarlyModernEnglish（1500-1800）

Hamlet'sfamous"Tobe,ornottobe"lines,writteninEarlyModernEnglishbyShakespeare.

TowardstheendofMiddleEnglish,asuddenanddistinctchangeinpronunciation（theGreatVowelShift）started,withvowelsbeingpronouncedshorterandshorter.Fromthe16thcenturytheBritishhadcontactwithmanypeoplesfromaroundtheworld.This,andtheRenaissanceofClassicallearning,meantthatmanynewwordsandphrasesenteredthelanguage.Theinventionofprintingalsomeantthattherewasnowacommonlanguageinprint.Booksbecamecheaperandmorepeoplelearnedtoread.PrintingalsobroughtstandardizationtoEnglish.Spellingandgrammarbecamefixed,andthedialectofLondon,wheremostpublishinghouseswere,becamethestandard.In1604thefirstEnglishdictionarywaspublished.

LateModernEnglish（1800-Present）

ThemaindifferencebetweenEarlyModernEnglishandLateModernEnglishisvocabulary.LateModernEnglishhasmanymorewords,arisingfromtwoprincipalfactors:

firstly,theIndustrialRevolutionandtechnologycreatedaneedfornewwords;secondly,theBritishEmpireatitsheightcoveredonequarteroftheearth'ssurface,andtheEnglishlanguageadoptedforeignwordsfrommanycountries.

VarietiesofEnglish

Fromaround1600,theEnglishcolonizationofNorthAmericaresultedinthecreationofadistinctAmericanvarietyofEnglish.SomeEnglishpronunciationsandwords"froze"whentheyreachedAmerica.Insomeways,AmericanEnglishismoreliketheEnglishofShakespearethanmodernBritishEnglishis.SomeexpressionsthattheBritishcall"Americanisms"areinfactoriginalBritishexpressionsthatwerepreservedinthecolonieswhilelostforatimeinBritain（forexampletrashforrubbish,loanasaverbinsteadoflend,andfallforautumn;anotherexample,frame-up,wasre-importedintoBritainthroughHollywoodgangstermovies）.SpanishalsohadaninfluenceonAmericanEnglish（andsubsequentlyBritishEnglish）,withwordslikecanyon,ranch,stampedeandvigilantebeingexamplesofSpanishwordsthatenteredEnglishthroughthesettlementoftheAmericanWest.Frenchwords（throughLouisiana）andWestAfricanwords（throughtheslavetrade）alsoinfluencedAmericanEnglish（andso,toanextent,BritishEnglish）.

Today,AmericanEnglishisparticularlyinfluential,duetotheUSA'sdominanceofcinema,television,popularmusic,tradeandtechnology（includingtheInternet）.ButtherearemanyothervarietiesofEnglisharoundtheworld,includingforexampleAustralianEnglish,NewZealandEnglish,CanadianEnglish,SouthAfricanEnglish,IndianEnglishandCaribbeanEnglish.

TheGermanicFamilyofLanguages

EnglishisamemberoftheGermanicfamilyoflanguages.

GermanicisabranchoftheIndo-Europeanlanguagefamily.

AbriefchronologyofEnglish

BC55

RomaninvasionofBritainbyJuliusCaesar.

LocalinhabitantsspeakCeltish

BC43

Romaninvasionandoccupation.BeginningofRomanruleofBritain.

436

RomanwithdrawalfromBritaincomplete.

449

SettlementofBritainbyGermanicinvadersbegins

450-480

EarliestknownOldEnglishinscriptions.

OldEnglish

1066

WilliamtheConqueror,DukeofNormandy,invadesandconquersEngland.

c1150

EarliestsurvivingmanuscriptsinMiddleEnglish.

MiddleEnglish

1348

EnglishreplacesLatinasthelanguageofinstructioninmostschools.

1362

EnglishreplacesFrenchasthelanguageoflaw.EnglishisusedinParliamentforthefirsttime.

c1388

ChaucerstartswritingTheCanterburyTales.

c1400

TheGreatVowelShiftbegins.

1476

WilliamCaxtonestablishesthefirstEnglishprintingpress.

EarlyModernEnglish

1564

Shakespeareisborn.

1604

TableAlphabeticall,thefirstEnglishdictionary,ispublished.

1607

ThefirstpermanentEnglishsettlementintheNewWorld（Jamestown）isestablished.

1616

Shakespearedies.

1623

Shakespeare'sFirstFolioispublished

1702

ThefirstdailyEnglish-languagenewspaper,TheDailyCourant,ispublishedinLondon.

1755

SamuelJohnsonpublisheshisEnglishdictionary.

1776

ThomasJeffersonwritestheAmericanDeclarationofIndependence.

1782

BritainabandonsitsAmericancolonies.

1828

WebsterpublisheshisAmericanEnglishdictionary.

LateModernEnglish

1922

TheBritishBroadcastingCorporationisfounded.

1928

TheOxfordEnglishDictionaryispublished.

CharlesI

WhenCharlesIsucceededhisfatherin1625,frictionwithParliamentbeganatonce.CharlesbelievedinhisdivinerightaskingandstruggledtocontrolParliamentwhoresentedhisattemptsatabsoluterule.Oneofhisfirstactswastodissolveparliamentin1625,andagainin1626afterattemptstoimpeachtheDukeofBuckinghamoverwaragainstSpainandsupportoftheFrenchHuguenots.Charlesforcedanunpopular‘ShipMoney’taxtoraisefundswithouttheconsentofParliament.In1628CharleswaspresentedwiththePetitionofRightadeclarationofthe“rightsandlibertiesofthesubject",whichhereluctantlyagreedto.However,in1629hedissolvedParliamentagain,imprisoneditsleadersandruledwithoutaParliamentfrom1629to1640.HisadvisersEarlStraffordandArchbishopLaudpersecutedthePuritans,andprovokedthePresbyterianScotsCovenanterstorevoltwhenLaudattemptedtointroducetheEnglishBookofCommonPrayer.

TheShortParliament,whichmetApril1640,refusedtograntmoneyuntilgrievanceswereredressed,andwasdissolvedafterjust3weeks.TheScotsthenadvancedintoEnglandandforcedtheirowntermsonCharles.TheLongParliamentassembledunderinNovember1640underJohnPym,passedanActthatpreventeditfrombeingdissolvedwithoutitsownconsent.Laudandotherministerswereimprisoned,andStraffordcondemnedtodeath.TherewasnowdirectconfrontationbetweenCharlesandParliament.Afterthefailureofhisattempttoarrestfiveparliamentaryleaderson4January1642,Charles,confidentthathehadsubstantialsupportamongthosewhobelievedthatParliamentwasbecomingtooPuritanicalandzealous,withdrewfromLondon,andon22AugustdeclaredwaronParliamentbyraisinghisstandardatNottinghamandbeginningtheEnglishCivilWarof1642to1648.

ThechangingfaceoftheUnitedKingdom.

TheUnitedKingdom isaunionoffourterritoriesornations:

England,NorthernIreland,ScotlandandWales.ItisaconstitutionalmonarchywithQueenElizabethIIastheHeadofState.  

Devolutiontimeline

MiddleAges:

In1404,WalesbrieflyhaditsownparliamentunderOwainGlyndwr. The LawsinWalesActs,passedbetween1535and1542,madeWalespartofEngland.

1603:

TheEnglishandScottishcrownsunitedwiththeaccessionofJamesVIofScotlandtotheEnglishthrone,asJamesI.

1707:

TheTreaty（orAct） ofUnionunitedtheparliamentsofEnglandandScotlandtoformasingleparliamentmeetinginWestminster.Thetwonationsformed'TheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritain'.

1800:

TheIrishParliamentvotedtojointhe UnitedKingdomofGreatBritainintheActofUnion （Ireland）-creating'TheUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainand Ireland'.

1886:

AseriesofBillstogiveHomeRuletoIrelandwereintroducedatWestminster.

1920:

ThefourthHomeRuleActwaspassed,effectively creatingtwostatesontheislandofIreland.Northern Ireland wasestablishedinsixoftheninecountiesoftheprovinceofUlsterandbecameanentitywithintheUK.

1921:

NorthernIreland'sownparliamentcameintobeing.

1922:

TheIrishFreeState（latertheRepublicofIreland）wasestablished.NorthernIrelandchosetoremainintheUnitedKingdom.

1925:

PlaidGenedlaetholCymru,theNationalPartyofWales,wasformedwiththegoalofsecuring,amongstotherthings,