The English Language

1. The English Language Origins, History, Development and Samples

2. Mini - Quiz • How many words in English does Merriam Webster recognize? Oxford unabridged? • If you ate your chips on the coach on the way to the football game, what would you be doing in American English? • Shakespeare is: • Old English Middle English Modern English

3. Mini - Quiz • What 5 letter word is pronounced the same way even after removing its last four letters? • What is special about this sentence? • The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

4. Mini-Quiz Continued • What is the only word in English to end in “mt”? • Only one word in the language begins and ends with “und” – what is it?

5. Answers • 450,000 / 600,000 • You’d be eating your french fries on the bus on the way to the soccergame. • Modern • Queue • It contains all the letters of the English language

6. Answers • Dreamt • Underground • Do you have any fun facts?

7. What is English? • Primarily a blend of Latin, Greek, French, German and Scandinavian languages. • Evolved into what it is today • Stages: Old, Middle, Modern • Modern can be classified as early, middle and contemporary • May be on the cusp of a new era

8. Fun Facts about English • Who’s speaking English? http:/www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/04/englishi • One of every five on the planet can speak some English • English has more words than most comparable world languages • The longest word in popular usage is ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM

9. Fun Facts, Continued • The 45 letter word PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCO-PICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS is the longest word in the English language, but is usually not found in standard dictionaries. • Can you guess what this word has to do with? (hint: look at roots, prefixes, etc.)

10. Fun Facts, Continued • an artificial word said to mean a lung disease caused by the inhalation of silica dust

11. Fun Facts, Continued • The average native speaker knows 12,000 – 20,000 words Another mini-quiz/test your knowledge: • What's a seven letter word that can be played on a musical instrument? • In order, what do you suppose are the 12 most frequently used letters? • What do the words purple, orange, month, and silver have in common?

12. Trivia question responses • Baggage, cabbage, defaced, effaced • e t a o i n s h r d l u • They have no rhymes!

13. Countries where English is the language spoken by natives • Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, St Christopher and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States of America

14. Indo European Family Member of the Indo-European family of languages. Branches of Indo-European languages: Which one is the mother of English? • Latin language • Modern Romance languages • Germanic languages • The Indo-Iranian languages, including Hindi and Sanskrit • The Slavic languages • The Baltic languages of Latvian and Lithuanian (but not Estonian) • The Celtic languages • Greek.

15. Language Tree

16. History • Earliest linguistic ancestors were speaking Low German • Scattered throughout Northern Europe • 400 AD Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Picts, Celts began weakening the Roman hold on Britain • 600 AD first semblance of English

17. Old English (500-1100 AD) • Norse invaders – Vikings • West Germanic invaders • Angles (whose name is the source of the words England and English), Saxons, and Jutes • All blend into a mutually intelligible language known as Old English

18. Old English • Spelling and Pronunciation:1. the long vowels have undergone extensive change due to the Great Vowel Shift.2. different letters.3. there were no unstressed syllables; primary stress usually occurred on the first syllable. • Nearly 85% of Old English words are no longer in use. Those remaining are basic vocabulary words like “egg” and several pronouns. • Many borrowings from Latin and French not yet existent.

19. Middle English (1100-1500) • Norman conquest – 1066 • Latin influence (educated) • French influence (conqueror’s language) • Sometimes French words replaced Old English words. Ex: firen to crime • Sometimes Old English words combined with French words to make new words. Ex: gentle + man = gentleman

20. Sample of Old English • We will read and listen to “The Lord’s Prayer” in Old English • http://www.pastperfect.org.uk/sites/yeavering/archive/prayerclip.html • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wl-OZ3breE What did you see? What did you hear?

21. Middle English • Class distinctions could be made by use of language. Ex: beef – Norman/ cow – Anglo-Saxon • 1200s Normans became estranged from French • By mid 1300s, class differences based on linguistics were virtually non-existent

22. Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum; Si þin nama gehalgod to becume þin rice gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice. (11th Century) 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 dounin 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. (1384) Side by side comparisons

23. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales • Written in the 1380s, • the first selection of short stories in Middle English • a group of pilgrims tell stories while they travel to Canterbury, the seat of the English Church • Language of Chaucer -- Middle English -- is closer to Old English, the language of the Anglo-Saxons, and Norman French, the language of William the Conqueror (invasion, 1066). • a frame story (story within a story) • Originally, he proposed 124 stories; he actually wrote 24.

24. 1265: This worthy lymytour, this noble frere, 1266: He made alwey a maner louryng chiere 1267: Upon the somonour, but for honestee 1268: No vileyns word as yet to hym spak he. 1269: But atte laste he seyde unto the wyf, 1270: Dame, quod he, God yeve yow right good lyf! 1271: Ye han heer touched, also moot I thee, 1272: In scole-matere greet difficultee. 1273: Ye han seyd muche thyng right wel, I seye; 1274: But, dame, heere as we ryde by the weye, 1275: Us nedeth nat to speken but of game, 1276: And lete auctoritees, on goddes name, 1277: To prechyng and to scole eek of clergye. 1278: But if it lyke to this compaignye, 1279: I wol yow of a somonour telle a game. 1280: Pardee, ye may wel knowe by the name 1281: That of a somonour may no good be sayd; 1282: I praye that noon of you be yvele apayd. This worthy limiter, this noble friar, He turned always a lowering face, and dire, Upon the summoner, but for courtesy No rude and insolent word as yet spoke he. But at the last he said unto the wife: "Lady," said he, "God grant you a good life! You have here touched, as I may prosperous be, Upon school matters of great difficulty; You have said many things right well, I say; But, lady, as we ride along our way, We need but talk to carry on our game, And leave authorities, in good God's name, To preachers and to schools for clergymen. But if it pleases all this company, then, I'll tell you of a summoner, to make game. By God, you could surmise it by the name That of a summoner may no good be said; I pray that no one will be angry made. Friar’s Tale

25. Chaucer’s work • http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaubib.htm • Comments?

26. Early Modern English (1500-1800) • Renaissance influence – revival of classical scholarship • Latin and Greek words • Great Vowel Shift – long vowels higher in mouth, silent e at end, long “e” became “i”, etc. • Printing press brought standardization

27. Shakespeare’s influence • Introduced over 2,000 new words: • Critical, dwindle, leapfrog, majestic • Created phrases that are now “cliché” • One fell swoop • vanish into thin air

28. Late Modern English (1800 on) • Distinction is vocabulary – more of it • Industrial and scientific revolutions. Ex: horsepower, nuclear, protein • Electronics and computers. Ex: microchip, compact disc player

29. Late Modern English (1800 on) • Rise of British Empire introduced other words to English language. Example: shampoo, pajamas, sauna, tycoon • Military influence due to world wars. Example: radar, spearhead, landing strip

30. American English • Colonies of England. Preservers of older English words such as fall for autumn, trash for rubbish • Native American influence. Ex: Mississippi, Roanoke, barbecue, canoe • Spanish influence: Ex: mustang, canyon, patio, ranch, stampede, vigilante • Louisiana’s French and West Africans. Ex: gumbo, jambalaya, bayou, tote, armoire

31. Video Review – Open University History of English – four quick videos • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Tfbeqyu2U • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B8TwBrCIEY&feature=relmfu • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMkuUADWW2A&feature=relmfu (Shakespeare) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbvumrknAKs&feature=relmfu (American English)

32. The Entire History of the English Language in Ten Minutes • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSRIKoDybvs&feature=related

33. Your thoughts… • What are five new ideas you learned? • The next time you read Shakespeare’s work, how will your assumptions have changed? • What surprised you the most about this presentation’s content? Why? • How have your views of the English language changed?

34. Works Cited • http://www.englishenglish.com • Linguistics: Readings in… • http://rinkworks.com/words/ • http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm • http://www.llp.armstrong.edu/5800/histno.html • http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/oe/paternoster-oe.html

35. Works Cited • http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lan_eng_spe_percap-language-english-speakers-per-capita • http://www.pastperfect.org.uk/sites/yeavering/archive/prayerclip.html • http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/murphy/canterbury/2genpro.pdf