History of the English Language
Did you know that there are about 700 million English speakers, but only 750,000 words? The English language is globally spoken which means that it is a global language. The English language is spoken world wide by all different races. The English language has 750,000 words but 200,000 of them are common everyday words. The English language has the most everyday words, for ex. German has 184,000, and French has about 100,000. The English language came from different language but the ones that will be talked about are Anglo-Saxon, French, and Renaissance Latin.
People rediscovered all things classical such as: Latin and Greek languages, art, music, and architecture. This Time was called the renaissance. Latin Based languages were and still are called romance languages. The Latin words in English include the parts of speech such as: noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. The Greek words include: literary devises such as: smile, metaphor. Other words describe literature to include: poetry, comedy, drama, and tragedy.
English arose as a major language in the middle of the fifth century at about A.D. 827. At this time it was called Englisc. The people that spoke it were the Anglo-Saxon’s and the Jutes and their king, King Egbert. Anglo-Saxon is also called old English. This make Anglo-Saxon the parent of English. The old English language is very difficult to learn, our most common words do come from these though such as, wife, child, brother, sister, and fight.
When the Normans invaded the English Channel it was easy for them to take over since it was only 25 miles across. These invaders came from Normandy, France and brought the French language and costumes with them. These people made the Anglo-Saxons except William the conqueror as their new king and they beat them and the Danes in the battle of Hastings. When the French and Anglo-Saxon languages were mixed it became what today is called Middle English. Examples of this are Sir, dine, honor, and roast.
English is now a global language Anglo-Saxon is the foundation of the English language but it is also considered easy to learn by the Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese people. English is considered a hospitable and democratic language because it accepts words from other countries and cultures, which makes it multicultural. The English language is packed with many words from faraway sources. Wherever you go around the world someone speaks English. More than 10,000 new words are added to the dictionary each year. In conclusion the English language has come a long way from when it first began.
2006-09-12
14:51:24
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