English Language History PDF

English Official language in 59 countries and 27 non-sovereign entities. Various organisations, e.g. the EU, the African Union, the Organization of American States and the UN. Native speakers L1: 372.9 million (2022) L2: 1.080 billion (2022) 1.452 billion total speakers as of 2022 (source Ethnologue...

English Official language in 59 countries and 27 non-sovereign entities. Various organisations, e.g. the EU, the African Union, the Organization of American States and the UN. Native speakers L1: 372.9 million (2022) L2: 1.080 billion (2022) 1.452 billion total speakers as of 2022 (source Ethnologue) Language name English evolved from Old English and, like German, has undergone changes over time. The term 'Anglish' refers to English as spoken in Anglo-Saxon times. In contrast, German uses the umlaut 'Deutsch' to refer to the language. Russian uses 'anglijskij', while French uses 'anglais' without the umlaut. Italian and Spanish use 'inglese' and 'inglés' respectively, based on the English pronunciation. English originated in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon period and gradually spread to Wales, Scotland and Ireland, which were originally Celtic-speaking areas. It also spread to countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. English is now the most widely spoken second language in the world. Even in countries such as the United States, where English is the native language, many immigrants speak it as a second language alongside Spanish. It is the official language in several countries with diverse ethnic populations, where the choice of mother tongue could lead to conflict. Classification and relationship situation English is a West Germanic language, and its closest living relative among "normal" languages is Frisian, although they are mutually unintelligible. Anglo-Frisian, like Low German, did not undergo the second sound shift (around 600 AD) characteristic of High German. English can also be grouped with the English- based creole languages and "Scots", spoken in the Scottish Lowlands and parts of Northern Ireland. The classification of Scots as a separate language or as a dialect of English depends on political attitudes, particularly in Northern Ireland, where it is promoted as a separate language by Protestants. Old English had considerable dialectal variation due to different settlements. However, English dialects are generally mutually intelligible with some adaptation. Standard British English is based on the East Midland dialect, a variant of Mercian. The two main varieties of English are: a) British English, used in Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and b) American English, used in the United States and Canada. These varieties are gradually diverging, especially in the spoken language. Currently, there are many varieties of English, including Afro-American English, Australian English, British English, Hawaiian English, Hiberno-English (Ireland), Hong Kong English, Indian English, Jamaican English, Canadian English, Caribbean English, Liberian English, Malay English, New Zealand English, Philippine English, Scottish English, Scots (as mentioned above), Singapore English, South African English and Welsh English. Language History After the formation of the Germanic tribes until about 1000 BC, there was settlement around the Baltic Sea. About a third of the vocabulary was probably borrowed from the non-Indo-European population. In the first half of the 1st century BC there was an expansion to the north and south, accompanied by the first sound shift in the Germanic languages and a reduction in Indo-European morphology. By the beginning of recorded history, there is evidence of Celtic settlement in the British Isles. Some Celts were partially subjugated by the Romans, and certain place names, such as Lancaster, Manchester and Rochester, are of Latin origin (from "castra" meaning "camp"). The Romans finally withdrew around 400 AD. In the early 5th century, a Celtic prince invited the Angles from northern Germany and Denmark, the Saxons from north- west Germany and the Jutes to come to England. These tribes established themselves in England, displacing the Celts to Wales, Cornwall, Scotland and Ireland. Only a few Celtic elements have survived, such as place names (Dover, Kent, York) and hydronyms (Avon, Thames). The invaders and their language were referred to as "Engle" and "Englisc", terms used for the ethnically and linguistically closer groups. Christianisation 1 began in the late 6th century, bringing with it many loan words and translations from Latin. From the end of the 8th to the end of the 9th century there was an invasion by the Danish Vikings, followed by integration. Many words (take, give, get; gift, egg, skin, sky) and place names (Derby, Rugby; -thwaite, - toft) date from this period. In 1066 William the Conqueror led the Norman invasion which resulted in the Normans taking control of all aspects of public life and becoming the ruling class. English was relegated to the status of a peasant language (although there was bilingualism). It was not until the 14th century that English began to regain prominence, with English court notices being published from 1362. Some 10,000 loan words date from the Norman period, making English a mixed Germanic-Romance language. The language of scientific discourse, as in the rest of Europe, was Latin until about 1700, when it was gradually replaced by English. Periods of the English language: 449 – 1100 Old English 1100 – 1500 Middle English 1500 – 1700 Early Modern English 1700 – Modern English Causes for the dominance of English The English language has been greatly influenced by a number of factors. Firstly, the former British colonial empire played a significant role in spreading English across the globe and establishing its political and economic dominance. In addition, the United States has emerged as a powerful nation, further consolidating the global influence of the English language. English has gained prestige not only in popular music but also in scientific discourse. It has become the language of choice in these fields, contributing to its widespread use and recognition. English has also borrowed many words from other languages, including Latin, French and North Germanic. These borrowings have enriched English's vocabulary and expanded its linguistic repertoire. The transition from Middle English to Early Modern English was marked by a decline in inflection. The language underwent changes that resulted in a reduction of grammatical endings and a shift towards a more analytical structure. It is worth noting that many of the most common loan words in English are monosyllabic, such as 'boom', 'cool', 'drink', 'file', 'fit', 'flop', 'hype', 'link', 'pop', 'set', 'team', 'tool', 'top', 'trend' and so on. This feature contributes to the concise and efficient nature of the English language. Phonetics/Phonology Between Chaucer's time (c.1340-1400), when he wrote The Canterbury Tales, and Shakespeare's time (1564- 1616), a significant linguistic phenomenon occurred known as "The Great English Vowel Shift". This shift resulted in a profound change in the vowel sounds of the English language, leading to the formation of a complex vowel system with 20-25 vowel phonemes in RP 14-16 vowel phonemes in General American Standard 19-21 vowel phonemes in Australian English; including at least 5 diphthongs; plus 3 diphthongs that fall on schwa. 2 Figure 12BE Vowel system 24 consonant phonemes Orthography English spelling has its origins in Middle English and has remained largely unchanged since the introduction of printing, despite the sound changes that occurred during the transition to Early Modern English. As a result, English spelling is more irregular than that of many other languages. This irregularity can be illustrated by a humorous example often attributed to George Bernard Shaw: the word "" could be considered an appropriate spelling for "fish" based on the different sound values that each letter combination can represent: Figure 13Fish GB Shaw Morphology Old English had a level of inflectional complexity similar to that of other Germanic languages. However, since Late Old English there has been a gradual loss of inflectional endings, mainly due to the shift towards initial accent. Today, only nouns, pronouns and verbs retain inflectional forms, while adjectives, articles, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections remain invariant. The loss of inflectional endings was compensated for by two grammatical innovations. First, word order in the sentence became important for indicating grammatical relationships. Secondly, the use of auxiliary verbs such as 'will', 'shall', 'can', 'may', 'have' and 'be' (wollen, sollen, können, mögen, haben, sein) took over some of the functions of inflectional forms, particularly in verb conjugation. However, the auxiliary verbs themselves have limited inflectional properties and no longer have the ending '-s' in the third person singular present tense. 3 In terms of declension, the number distinction remains for nouns with regular plural formation (with a few exceptions such as "teeth", "oxen", "children"), but there is no longer a case distinction. Pronouns, on the other hand, still have gender and case distinctions. The genitive suffix "-s" is not considered part of the declension because it occurs in phrases (e.g. "the king of England's daughter", "the man we saw yesterday's son"). The comparison of adjectives in English is mostly regular, with a few exceptions, and is achieved by analytical means. As far as conjugation is concerned, only the third person singular in the present indicative has a person marker. Tenses: The past tense in English is still formed synthetically. Strong verbs undergo ablaut changes, while weak verbs add a /-d/ or /-t/ suffix. The present participle and the preterite are considered infinitive forms. Since Old English, periphrastic verb categories such as the progressive and modal verbs have been introduced. English has moved from a synthetic to an analytical type, with strong typological similarities to isolating languages. The free word order observed in Old English has been consolidated. Syntax: Modern English has mixed word order patterns, including left-branching determiner-noun, adjective-noun and genitive-noun structures, as well as right-branching verb-object, noun-relative clause and preposition- noun combinations. The main constituent position is subject-verb-object (SVO). The relative order of subject and finite verb at the beginning of a clause remains invariant, even when preceded by sentence- initial adverbs. Vocabulary English has a large vocabulary of about half a million words (Webster). The basic vocabulary of English is of Germanic origin, but has been enriched by overlays of Latin and Norman French. Latin and Greek are often used as sources for new word stems in scientific terminology. 4  English vocabulary stratification Anglo-Saxon Norman Graeco-Latin Stung by the foe's twitting, or Provoked by the enemy's abuse, Exacerbated by the antagonist's forefathers (bold wights!) drew our ancestors (brave creatures!) vituperation, our progenitors nigh their trusty friends and were approached their faithful allies (audacious individuals!) heartily welcomed; taught by a and were nobly received; approximated to their reliable former mishap, they began the instructed by a previous auxiliaries and were ovated with fight on that spot and showed misfortune, they commenced the empressement; indoctrinated by a themselves unaffrighted by battle in that place and proved preliminary contretemps, they threatening forebodings of woe. themselves undismayed by inaugurated hostilities in that menacing predictions of misery. locality and demonstrated themselves as unintimidated by minatory vaticinations of catastrophe. Dutch (Nederlands) Genetic type: West Germanic language Speakers: 25 - 30 million speakers in the Netherlands and Belgium, Aruba, Curaçao, Saint Maarten, Surinam Morphology: Grammatically similar to German. Inflectional grammar (such as in adjectival and noun endings) has simplified but less than in English. There are three genders in standard Dutch, however in large parts of the Netherlands there is no grammatical distinction between what were originally masculine and feminine genders, and there is only a distinction between common and neuter. Gender is not overtly marked on nouns either, and must be learned for each noun. Remarkable is the enhanced role of diminutives in everyday language (e.g. uurtje, baantje, cadeautje, eentje, eventjes, zachtjes). Syntax: Nominative-accusative-language; Like German, a combination of SVO + SOV Yiddish (‫ יידיש‬,‫ ייִדיש‬or ‫)אידיש‬ Genetic type: West Germanic language Speakers: prior to WWII there were 11 Million speakers. 85% of of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust were Yiddish speakers. Numbers for todays speakers are unclear. A 2021 estimate from Rutgers University was that there were 250,000 American speakers, 250,000 Israeli speakers, and 100,000 in the rest of the world (for a total of 600,000). Ethnologue gives 370.000 speakers in Israel, 5000 in Germany. Morphology: Grammatically similar to German. Inflectional grammar (such as in adjectival and noun endings) has simplified but less than in English. Just two grammatical genders (articles de/het), Enhanced role of diminutives (e.g. uurtje, baantje, cadeautje, eentje, eventjes, zachtjes). Syntax: Nominative-accusative-language; Like German, a combination of SVO + SOV 5 6 The North Germanic Languages: In a nutshell Phonetics and Phonology 1. They underwent the Germanic sound shift, for example: Swedish fader, Icelandic faðir, German Vater, Latin pater. 2. They have umlauts, for example: Swedish man - män, Icelandic maður - menn, German Mann - Männer. 3. They have initial stress, usually on the first syllable. 4. They have systematised ablaut to form strong verbs, e.g: Swedish bryta - bröt - brutit, Icelandic brjóta - braut/brutum - brotið, German brechen - brach/brachen - gebrochen. 5. Icelandic has phonologically interesting features, such as the voiceless lateral approximant [l̥ ]. 6. The languages have a pressure accent (stress) on the first syllable, with foreign words sometimes having a stress on the last or penultimate syllable. 7. Norwegian and Swedish have tone distinctions that can distinguish meanings. There are two word tones (tonemes): a. Tone 1 with a single pitch (high pitch, or low pitch if followed by a second syllable). This applies to monosyllabic words in Old Norwegian or Swedish (called "acute" in grammars). b. Tone 2 with a falling-rising pitch. This applies to bi- or polysyllabic words in Old Norwegian or Swedish (called "grave" or "semicircular" in grammars). In short, it is a pitch that rises and falls, with the second pitch being higher than the first. In modern Norwegian there are about 2000 word pairs that differ from Old Norwegian only in the position of the tone. 8. Icelandic has an interesting phonology, such as the voiceless lateral approximant [l̥]. Danish, like English, reduced Norwegian, inflection Swedish Norwegian, similar phonetic Swedish systems Danish, similar in the lexicon Norwegian Limited communication is possible between speakers of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish in their respective mother tongues. However, there is generally good communication between speakers of Swedish and Norwegian, and between Norwegian and Danish. The most difficult communication is between speakers of Norwegian and Danish. There is also reasonable, though limited, communication between speakers of the Scandinavian languages. Due to the relatively conservative orthography of the Scandinavian languages, written communication tends to work better than oral communication. Morphology 1. They are inflectional languages, but to varying degrees. 2. In morphology there has been a significant reduction, with a shift from older synthetic inflections to more analytical forms (Icelandic = exception). 3. For definiteness, the indefinite article is added to nouns rather than using a preceding article. For example, "a day" is "en dag" and "the day" is "dagen" in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Icelandic has only one definite article, which is added to the noun "horse" 'hestur'  "the horse" 'hesturinn'. 4. Pronouns have different nominative and oblique forms, such as 'je/mig', '(j)eg/meg' and 'jag/mig' in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. 5. Verbs have internal inflection for strong verbs, similar to English and German, while weak verbs have a preterite suffix (-Danish-, -t-, -dd-). 7  6. The passive voice is formed with a reflexive ending, as in Bokmål "synges", which means "(the song) is (now) being sung". This form can also be used reciprocally, reflexively or in a deponent sense. Syntax Danish, Norwegian, Swedish have the word order SVO, but unlike German also in subordinate clauses. Lexicon The Scandinavian languages have a Germanic base, with a significant number of Latin loanwords. During the Hanseatic League period (1250-1500), they were also strongly influenced by Low German, as can be seen from examples such as Swedish "fönster" < "fenster" instead of "vindauga". After the Reformation, there was a notable influence from High German, particularly through Martin Luther's translation of the Bible. In the 18th century, French influence became prominent, followed by English, which continues to this day. Figure 19 Vocabulary similarities North Germanic languages 8 Individual North Germanic Languages Speakers Classification Danish Denmark, including the Faroe Islands (with its own government since 1948) and Greenland (with internal autonomy since 1979): The official languages are Danish and Greenlandic (Inuit); Faroese is also spoken. There are immigrant languages such as Turkish and Serbian. Danish is the official language of Denmark and is the only official language within the country. In the Faroe Islands and Greenland, Danish is recognised as a second official language alongside Faroese and Inuit respectively. Faroese and Inuit are also taught in bilingual schools. Danish is also spoken in several other countries, including Germany, Norway, Sweden, Canada and the USA. Modern Standard Danish, known as rigsdansk, is based on the language used by the upper classes in and around Copenhagen. The Danish Language Council, established in 1955, oversees the development of Danish and is responsible for tasks such as collecting neologisms, suggesting pronunciations and spellings for foreign words, and publishing the official spelling dictionary called Retskrivningsordbogen. Swedish Sweden: The official language is Swedish. Yiddish is another language with historical presence. Immigrant languages include Serbian, Albanian, Somali, and others. In Sweden, the following languages are recognized: 9  Finnish: There are approximately 200,000 immigrant workers and 50,000 native Finns in Tornedalen. Additionally, there is a regional language variant known as Meänkieli or Tornedalen Finnish. Saami languages: Spoken in Kiruna, Gällivare, Jokkmokk, and Arjeplog municipalities. Estonian: In 1944, around 7,000 Estonians escaped to Sweden. Roma languages: Svensk Rommani, Finnish Kalo, Lovari, Kalderasch, and Walachian are spoken. Latvian, Yiddish, and Ischoric are also present. There are immigrant languages such as Serbian, Albanian, Somali, and others spoken in Sweden as well. On 2 December 1999, the Swedish Parliament approved the ratification of the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. As a result, five of the above languages were officially recognised as national minority languages in April 2000. These are Finnish (for immigrant workers), Meänkieli (Tornedalen Finnish), Saami (in certain municipalities), Romani and Yiddish. These languages must be taken into account in school education and, apart from Swedish, must be used in state offices such as the employment office, the municipal council and others. Norwegian Norwegian-Bokmål and Norwegian-Nynorsk are the official languages. Saami languages and Finnish are also spoken. Immigrant languages like Pashto, Urdu, Serbian, Arabic, and others are present. Language names "Proper Norwegian" [nor∫k] or simply [norsk] in Norwegian, English Norwegian, French norvégien, Dutch noors. "Norwegian" is a collective term for two varieties of the language: Bokmål (formerly known as Riksmaal before 1929) and Nynorsk (formerly known as Landsmaal before 1929). Nynorsk is a continuation of the spoken language in Norway, while Bokmål evolved from the written language known as Danish- Norwegian (dansk-norsk), which was heavily influenced by Danish. Bokmål was used until 1907. Additional Languages In addition to Norwegian, other languages spoken in Norway include Saami languages, Finnish, and immigrant languages such as Pashto, Urdu, Serbian, and Arabic. Language Policy Norway ratified the ILO Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in 1990. Subsequently, a Language Act was passed to protect the Saami language and culture, which came into force in 1992. The Language Act in Norway gives equal status to Norwegian and Saami (in their respective regional variants). In the six counties with the largest number of Saami speakers, schoolchildren have the right to receive education in Saami in all subjects and at all levels of the compulsory nine-year education. If Saami education is chosen, compulsory education in Bokmål or Nynorsk is not required. Norwegian-speaking children may choose to study a Saami variant as a subject. The right to learn Saami exists regardless of mother tongue. Outside these municipalities, where there is only a scattered Saami population, pupils with a Saami mother tongue may choose to study Saami as a language or subject, provided that there are at least three children of this group in the school in question. In the municipalities of Nesseby, Tana, Karasjok, Porsanger, Kautokeino and Kåfjord, the Saami people have the right to use their own language when communicating with public authorities and to receive answers in that language. Language Policy on Nynorsk and Bokmål Nynorsk and Bokmål have equal legal status in Norway, with no authority allowed to use one language 10 form more than 75% of the time. About 25% of Norwegians receive primary education in Nynorsk, but its use has declined over time. Voters can decide on the preferred language form in compulsory education through referendums. In official correspondence, local authorities can choose the language of their choice, and in the press, a third of newspapers publish in Nynorsk. The Norsk språkråd, established in 1952, deals with language issues and pursues a policy of "peaceful coexistence" between the two languages. The transition from Old Norse to Middle Norse was influenced by political factors and linguistic changes, including the simplification of inflection and the Germanisation of the Norwegian aristocracy. Norwegian gradually lost its status as a written language and was replaced by Danish. However, Norwegian was revived through the reconstruction of older forms and the Norwegianisation of the Danish written language. Nynorsk developed as a distinct lyric form, while Bokmål has a stronger prose tradition. The use of dialects is common in Norway, and modern mobility has led to new varieties of speech. Nynorsk Ivar Aasen formulated a written standard called Landsmaal, based on the spoken language of the rural population. Initially misunderstood as a "rural language", Landsmaal was intended to serve as a national language. Aasen published grammars and dictionaries, and in 1853 a book of normalised texts in Landsmaal was published. In 1885 Landsmaal was given official status equal to Bokmål, and through reforms and expanded language opportunities it was gradually accepted by East and North Norwegians. In 1892 Landsmaal was approved for use in schools, and in 1906 an organisation was set up to promote its use. In 1930 a law was passed guaranteeing the right of individuals to receive written answers from the authorities in the language of their choice. Bokmål The written language in Norway has been changing since the late 19th century. First known as Rigsmål and later Riksmål, it was officially named Bokmål in 1923. Bokmål has its roots in the Danish writing tradition, and efforts to Norwegianise Danish began in the late 19th century. Orthographic reforms were introduced and Danish forms were banned in schools. In 1959, both Bokmål and Nynorsk were introduced in school textbooks. Bokmål is mainly used by the middle class in the Oslo region, while Danish and Nynorsk have less influence in the economic and political centres. A distinction is made between the conservative Riksmål and the newer popular variants of Bokmål. Icelandic Iceland: Formerly part of Denmark until 1944, Iceland is now a republic. It is a member of the EEA but not the EU. The official language is Icelandic, and there is a growing immigrant population speaking a variety of languages. speakers 357.000 In terms of distribution, about 95% of Icelandic speakers live in Iceland, with smaller numbers in Denmark and North America. There are minimal dialectal variations in Icelandic, so there has been no need to establish a standard language. Icelandic developed from the Norse language, which was brought to Iceland from western Norway in the 9th and 10th centuries. Old Icelandic and Old Norse are essentially the same, as most of the surviving ancient literature was written in Iceland during the Middle Ages, including the Eddas, numerous sagas and skaldic poetry. Over time, Icelandic began to differentiate itself from Norwegian. Modern Icelandic is the most conservative of the Scandinavian languages and is closely related to the southwestern dialects of Norway and the Faroe Islands. Phonetics and Phonology Vowels. Icelandic has eight simple vowels and five diphthongs. a) Monophthongs (8): modern Icelandic has eight basic vowels exhibiting a contrast between roundedness and unroundedness. Their symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are shown first, and between brackets their equivalence in the Icelandic alphabet. b) Diphthongs (5): ei (ei, ey), œi (au), ai (æ), ou (ó), au (á). 11 Morphology Icelandic is considered a conservative language, as it retains many old Germanic inflections and forms. Its morphology is prototypical of Germanic and Indo-European languages. Icelandic is highly inflectional, meaning that grammatical features are expressed by modifying the stem of a word, often through the use of suffixes. Adding suffixes to words, whether derivational or inflectional, can result in vowel changes known as umlauts. Nouns, pronouns, adjectives and the numbers one to four are inflected in Icelandic for case (nominative, accusative, genitive and dative), gender (masculine, feminine and neuter) and number (singular and plural). These features are usually indicated by a single suffix. Icelandic has four cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), genitive (possessor) and dative (indirect object). These cases can be used in different ways beyond their typical functions. There are two main declension paradigms for nouns in Icelandic, which apply to all classes of nouns. Nouns are classified as "strong" or "weak", and each gender has its own set of paradigms. Masculine nouns often end in -ur, -i, -ll or -nn. Feminine nouns often end in -a, -ing, or -un. Neuter nouns usually have no ending or end in an accented vowel. Verbs Speakers of Icelandic must learn which conjugation group a verb belongs to, as well as other verb forms and patterns. Strong verbs are divided into six groups, with the addition of reduplication verbs, and there are exceptions within each group. The classification system for verbs in Icelandic is extensive, with many paradigms to master. In Icelandic, verbs can be inflected for various grammatical features, including person, gender, number, tense, aspect, mood and voice. This allows a high degree of precision and specificity in expressing different verbal nuances and meanings. 12 Voice The voice of a sentence in Icelandic, as in English, depends on the relationship between the verb and the noun. In the active voice, the subject does the verb, while in the passive voice the subject is affected by the verb. However, Icelandic has a third voice, the middle voice, which is indicated by the suffix "-st". In the middle voice, the subject both performs the action of the verb and is affected by it. The middle voice in Icelandic serves several purposes and can be quite complicated. Two main uses of the middle voice are reflexivity and reciprocity. Reflexivity occurs when the subject acts upon itself, and reciprocity occurs when each member of a group acts upon another member of the same group. For example, the sentence "Við sjáumst um helgina" means "We will see each other at the weekend", where the notion of "each other" is implied by the middle voice. It's important to note that the middle voice in Icelandic adds depth and complexity to the language, allowing for nuanced expressions of self-action and mutual action within a group. 13