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The History of the English Language . (and a few others I threw in) By: Miss Griffith Sept. 2008. Brush up Your English
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The History of the English Language (and a few others I threw in) By: Miss Griffith Sept. 2008
Brush up Your English I take it you already knowOf tough and bough and cough and dough.Others may stumble, but not you, On hiccough, thorough, lough and through.Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,To learn of less familiar traps. Beware of heard, a dreadful wordThat looks like beard and sounds like bird.And dead - it´s said like bed, not bead.For goodness sake, don´t call it deed!Watch out for meat and great and threat.They rhyme with suite and straight and debt. A moth is not a moth in mother,Nor both in bother, broth in brother,And here is not a match for there,Nor dear and fear for pear and bear.And then there´s dose and rose and loseJust look them up � and goose and choose.And cork and work and card and ward.And font and front and word and sword.And do and go, then thwart and cart.Come, come I´ve hardly made a start. A dreadful language? Man alive,I´d mastered it when I was five!
Where does English come from? history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. 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; 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.
Detour – where did the Angles, Jutes and Saxons get language?
English is a member of the Germanic language family Germanic is a branch of the Indo-European language family.
What about other languages? • Most linguists classify all varieties of modern spoken Chinese as part of the Sino-Tibetan language family and believe that there was an original language, termed Proto-Sino-Tibetan, from which the Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages descended
Japaneseis related to the Ryukyuan languages. There is evidence of influence from China, Portuguese, and Germanic languages (caused by trade)
Modern Standard Arabic belongs to the Semitic language family. • agreement that they flourished in the Mediterranean Basin area, • Aside from Arabic, the Semitic language family includes Hebrew, Aramaic, Maltese, Amharic, Tigrinya, Tigre, Gurage, Geez, Syrica, Akkadian, Phonoecian, Punic, Ugaritic, Nabatean, Amorite and Moabite. (majority of these are now considered "dead" languages) Arabic has flourished (linked with the rise of Islam)
Back to English • At some time between 3500 and 2500 BC, the Indo-Europeans, who probably lived on the Russian steppes or in the Danube valley, began to travel east and west. Today about one third of the human race speak a language that came originally from the Indo-European language.
Old English (450-1100) • The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English • Old English did not sound or look like English today • about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English.
The Lord’s Prayer – Old English • Fæder úre, ðú ðe eart on heofonum, Sí ðín nama gehálgod. Tó becume ðín rice. Gewurde ðín willa On eorþan swá swá on heofonum. Urne dægwhamlícan hlaf syle ús tódæg. And forgyf ús úre gyltas, Swá swá wé forgyfaþ úrum gyltendum. And ne gelæd ðu ús on costnunge, Ac álýs ús of yfele. Sóþlice. • http://bitterscroll.podomatic.com/player/web/2006-08-09T16_02_07-07_00
Middle English (1100-1500) • In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. • For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. • In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.
The Lord’s Prayer – Middle English Thu our Father, thee art on heavenum, say thine nama ge-holyod. Come thine rich, say thine will on earth swas-wa on heavenum. Sell us today ourne day-ge-wham-lick hloaf. And forgive us our guiltas swas-wa we forgiv-ath themp with us a-guilt-ath. And no lay thu nah us on costnun-ya, ahsh all-lays us from evil. Soothlike. (Phonetic) Thu ure Fæder þe eart on heofunum, Sy þin nama gehalgod. Cume þin rice, Sy þinne wille on eorðan swaswa on heofonum. Syle us todaeg urne daeghwamlican hlaf. Ond forgyf us ure gyltas, swaswa we fogyfaþ þampe with us agyltaþ. Ond ne lae thu na us on constnunge, ac alys us of yfele. Soðlice
Modern EnglishEarly Modern (1500-1800) • Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. • From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. • invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard.
Robert Cawdrey published his Table Alphabeticall in 1604, the first English dictionary • Cawdrey subtitled his dictionary “for the benefit of Ladies, Gentlewomen, and other unskilled folk,” to create an in-depth guide for the lesser educated who might not know the “hard usual English wordes, borrowed from the Hebrew, Greeke, Latine, or French.” 2543 headwords • First entry: [fr] ABandon, cast away, or yeelde vp, to leaue or forsake.
Modern EnglishLate Modern (1800-present) • The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. • Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.
The Lord’s Prayer – Modern English Our Father, who are in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, For ever and ever, Amen
More Modern • Many varieties of English around the world, including Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English. • Adapted and changed to suit our lifestyle, new inventions (email and fax were not words when I was in high school) • Text messaging changes our language
