The
Story of English
Like it or not, English has become the
international language of the world. Maybe, you feel it is sad that languages
and cultures are being lost? Or,
perhaps you believe English is essential in aiding global communication? Whatever you think, the fact remains
that English is the most widely
used language in the world. So, how did this important language come in to existence and how did it
become so dominant?
Old
English:
English certainly wasn’t the first language to
dominate the British Isles. Initially, Celtic Tribes who had arrived from
mainland Europe brought various Celtic languages with them. ‘Welsh’ is an
example of a Celtic language which is still in use to this day.
Later, the Romans brought ‘Latin’ to Britain,
however, unlike French, Spanish and Italian, English did not develop
from Latin. English actually came into existence when Eastern Tribes invaded
the mainland. These Tribes brought with them various Germanic languages. It was
from these Tribal dialects that English was formed. Languages such as; Dutch
and German also descend from this Germanic Group.
Although Old English seems very different from the
English we use today, it provided the basis for development. Not only have the
meanings of words changed, but the order in which they are written has altered
too. Another way in which English has changed is that it has generally lost
having nouns with grammatical genders. This is a feature which has remained in
several other European languages. For example, in French, you would say ‘le
livre’ meaning ‘the book’, the ‘le’ part shows that this is a masculine noun.
Grammatical Genders were lost during the development of Middle English.
Middle
English:
The Norman Conquest in 1066 resulted in English no
longer being the National language. Instead, the Old French language was the
most important means of communication, in particular for the upper and business
classes. English still existed however amongst some of the lower classes. However,
from region to region it varied greatly as travelling during this time was
limited.
Geoffrey Chaucer is regarded as the greatest
English Poet before Shakespeare. He is most famous for writing ‘The Canterbury
Tales’ and his work provides an excellent example of Middle English. The
opening to the Canterbury Tales, begins;
“Whan
that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the
roote”
To many people this extract won’t appear to make much
sense, the words and their order seem confusing because the English language
has progressed considerably since this text was written. In Modern English,
this opening would read;
“When
the sweet showers of April
Have soaked the drought of March to its
roots”
After about 1500 AD there was a revolutionary
change in communication; the introduction of printing. This helped to
standardise the English Language.
Modern
English:
English is still constantly changing and expanding across the world. There
are many countries with people of British origin as a result of the British
Empire’s growth during Queen Victoria’s reign. People have moved from Britain
to all over the world, to Australia, India, America, to name but a few and with
them they have taken the English Language. Words from these places have then
been incorporated into the English Language, for example; the Australian
Aborigine word ‘kangaroo’. Words have effectively been borrowed. These days,
new media like Television and the Internet have helped the growth of the
language too. Estimations suggest that English is the native language of well
over 300 million people and it is a second language to around 1000 million. So,
whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, it seems that English IS the
language of the future.
What
do you think of the English Language?
heidi_boden@hotmail.com
