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| THE SHORT STORY OF ENGLISH |
A resource for students and teachers of English The English Studies Info Pages
Visit the EHIP links page for more valuable resources for students and
teachers
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English is the world's leading international
language. It is the principal language spoken in Britain, the USA,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and some other countries such as Uganda
and Botswana. About 320 million people
speak English as their first language - about the same number as Spanish,
but less than Mandarin Chinese or Hindi.
The total number of English speakers in the world is estimated to be about 460 million - second only to Mandarin Chinese. English is the main second language in India, South Africa and many parts of Africa and Asia. But - more and more - it is also the language of international commerce, of business, of diplomacy and of tourism. But how did English reach this special position? Mostly, it was a result of chance. Britain was the world's most active colonial nation in the 19th century, and British explorers and colonists took their language with them wherever they went. English became the official language of most of Britain's colonies. In the 20th century, America has been the world's most powerful nation - and Americans have brought the English language to other countries of the world. The importance of American international corporations has made sure that English has become the international language of business; and Hollywood and the music industry have made sure that it has become the principal language for the media and showbiz. But other factors have helped with the international development of English too. Over a thousand years ago, when the roots of modern Europe were being formed, western Europe was divided into three sections: in the East there were people who spoke Slavonic languages, in the middle there were people speaking Germanic languages (including Scandinavians), and in the south and west there were people speaking "Romance" languages, derived from Latin. In the far west of Europe, there were also people speaking Celtic languages, such as Gaelic. In those days, England was a Germanic country; its people spoke a variety of languages including forms of Danish and Anglo Saxon, as well as some Celtic languages. In 1066, England was conquered by the Normans, from France, who brought with them their own langage - Norman French - a Romance language. In the centuries that followed, the old Germanic languages mixed with Norman French to produce a new language, English, which was thus rather different from other European languages. It was partly Germanic (particularly the grammar and structures), partly Romance (a lot of the vocabulary). The Celtic languages remained alive in Cornwall and other parts of the British Isles. In other words, English is at the dividing line of the two principal families of language used in Western Europe today. Most people in Europe today can recognise something of their own language in English. For example, if you speak a Germanic language (German, Dutch, or a Scandinavian language), you do not need to have learned much English to understand this sentence: The man forgot to water his garden last night Anyone who speaks French or Spanish or Italian, should be able to understand this English sentence without too much difficulty: Indicate if you have a difficult problem. As English is half way between two different
language groups, speakers of other languages have often found it easy to
communicate in English, even without paying attention to grammar!
In recent times, as English has become a global
language, used in different places all over the world, it has become a
much richer language than in the past. It has picked up new words from
other cultures, other languages, such as bungalow
(from India), détente
(from French), kebab (from Turkey),
potato
(from American Indian) - plus a lot of modern slang from America.
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