History of the English Language

Topic 1, Question 2

In the history of English, the historian of English have divided English in the stages,

Old, Middle and Modern English. The world is currently using the Modern English not

the Old and Middle English. Why we do not speak the Old or the Middle English?

English is the most widespread language in the world and is more widely spoken and

written than any other language and over 700 million people speak English, as a

foreign language. But how the other country whom is English not their first language,

speak English as their foreign language? One of the reasons is the history.

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three

Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the

Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is

Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic

language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the

invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came

from Englaland and their language was called Englisc - from which the words

England and English are derived (History of English Language). To summarize the

history, English was used for many years ago and it change from era to era because

of the modernization of the world. For example, the comparison of the Old, Middle

and Early Modern English; Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum, si þin nama

gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum,

urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we

forgyfað urum gyltendum, and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele

soþlice. Rendered in Middle English (Wyclif, 1384), the same text is recognizable to

the modern eye: Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name, þi reume or

kyngdom come to be, Be þi wille don in herþe as it is doun in heuene, yeue to us

today oure eche dayes bred. And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys as we

foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to men þat han synned in us. And lede us not into

temptacion but delyuere us from euyl. Finally, in Early Modern English (King James

Version, 1611) the same text is completely intelligible: Our father which art in

heauen, hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is

in heauen, Giue us this day our daily bread, And forgiue us our debts as we forgiue

our debters, And lead us not into temptation, but deliuer us from euill. Amen. (A Brief

History of the English Language). This proves that as the world modernize, the

English also develop. And from the example we could see the changes of the

English words used from the Old to the Early Modern English.

The Old English era end on 1066 AD, when William the Conqueror, Duke of

Normandy, invades and conquers England. While the Middle English era end on

1400 AD when The Great Vowel Shift begins. On 1476 AD, the Early Modern

English era begun, when William Caxton establishes the first English printing press.

Within this era, there were many changes in the history of language, for example, on

1604 AD; Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is published, on 1702 AD;

the first daily English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, is published in

London, and on 1755 AD; Samuel Johnson publishes his English dictionary. The

Late Modern English era started somewhere on 1828 AD and hundred years later,

the Oxford English Dictionary is published. The development of English language

change the history of the world, in fact, 80% of the world today uses English and

English is the second most spoken language. Looking back in the past, the English

vocabulary mostly borrowed from other language. The vocabulary of Old English

consisted of an Anglo Saxon base with borrowed words from the Scandinavian

languages (Danish and Norse) and Latin. Latin gave English words like street,

kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, angel, bishop, martyr, candle, etc. The Vikings

added many Norse words: sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window (wind eye), husband,

fellow, skill, anger, flat, odd, ugly, get, give, take, raise, call, die, they, their, them.

Celtic words also survived mainly in place and river names (Devon, Dover, Kent,

Trent, Severn, Avon, Thames, etc.). Many pairs of English and Norse words

coexisted giving us two words with the same or slightly differing meanings. For

example, (Norse: English) anger: wrath, nay: no, fro: from, raise: rear, ill: sick, bask:

bathe. In 1066 AD the Normans conquered Britain. French became the language of

the Norman aristocracy and added more vocabulary to English. More pairs of similar

words arose. For example, (French: English) close: shut, reply: answer, odour:

smell, annualy: early, ire: wrath / anger. These are the examples of Old English that

being borrowed. But until 14th Century that English became dominant in Britain

again. In 1399, King Henry IV became the first king of England since the Norman

Conquest whose mother tongue was English. By the end of the 14th Century, the

dialect of London had emerged as the standard dialect of what we now call Middle

English. War after war, the powerful country invades, more and more new words

formed, and borrowed in English. If there is no conquering, the English will be not the

same as today.

Since the 16th Century, because of the contact that the British had with many

peoples from around the world, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, many

words have entered the language either directly or indirectly. New words were

created at an increasing rate. Shakespeare created over 1600 words. This process

has grown in the modern era. Languages that have contributed words to English

include Latin, Greek, French, German, Arabic, Hindi (from India), Italian, Malay,

Dutch, Farsi (from Iran and Afghanistan), Nahuatl (the Aztec language), Sanskrit

(from ancient India), Portuguese, Spanish, Tupi (from South America) and Ewe (from

Africa). Even with all these borrowings of the language remains the Anglo-Saxon of

Old English. Only about 5000 or so words from this period have remained

unchanged but they include the basic building of the language: household words,

parts of the body, common animals, natural elements, most pronouns, prepositions,

conjunctions and auxiliary verbs. Because of English is important nowadays, it is

estimated that there are 300 million native speakers and 300 million who use English

as a second language and a further 100 million use it as a foreign language. It is the

language of science, aviation, computing, diplomacy, and tourism. It is listed as the

official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken widely in other

countries where it has no official status. English plays a part in the cultural, political

or economic life of the following countries.

The historian can easily differentiate or classing the English to Old, Middle

and Modern English by studying the history. The changes of the vocabulary, the

borrowed words, and the formation of new words clearly show how the English

develop. If not, the English will be not the international language, and it is hard for us

to communicate throughout the world. In addition English also help the world to

modernize. The greatest invention that uses English is the Internet. And if English

not introduce throughout the world, we cannot use the Internet; perhaps, we need to

develop our mother language to another stage in order to be modernize as English

nowadays. English is a very large language and it is one of the hard languages to

learn as it is wide in every aspect.

BibliographyA Brief History of the English Language. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2012, from

Anglik.net: http://www.anglik.net/englishlanguagehistory.htm

A History of the English Language. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2012, from Randomhistory.com: http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/023english.html

English Language History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2012, from Englishlanguageguide.com: http://www.englishlanguageguide.com/english/facts/history/

History of English Language. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2012, from EnglishClub.com: http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm

History of the English Language. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2012, from Danshort.com: http://www.danshort.com/ie/timeline.htm

Maxwell, K. (2006, April). New Word. Retrieved April 13, 2012, from Macmillandictionaries.com: http://www.macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/April2006/37-New-Word.htm