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?

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