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A (Very) Brief History of the English Language |
Co e : I do-Europea a d Germa ic I flue ces Old E glish (500-1100 AD) he orma Co ques a d Middle E glish (1100-1500) Early-Moder E glish (1500-1800) La e-Moder E glish (1800-Prese ) America E glish I do-Europea a d Germa ic I flue ces E glish is a member of he I do-Europea family of la guages. his broad family i cludes mos of he Europea la guages spoke oday. he I do-Europea family i cludes several major bra ches: La i a d he moder Roma ce la guages; he Germa ic la guages; he I do-Ira ia la guages, i cludi g Hi di a d Sa skri ; he Slavic la guages; he Bal ic la guages of La via a d Li hua ia (bu o Es o ia ); he Cel ic la guages; a d Greek. he i flue ce of he origi al I do-Europea la guage, desig a ed pro o-I do-Europea , ca be see oday, eve hough o wri e record of i exis s. he word for fa her, for example, is va er i Germa , pa er i La i , a d pi r i Sa skri . hese words are all cog a es, similar words i differe la guages ha share he same roo . Of hese bra ches of he I do-Europea family, wo are, for our purposes of s udyi g he developme of E glish, of paramou impor a ce, he Germa ic a d he Roma ce (called ha because he Roma ce la guages derive from La i , he la guage of a cie Rome, o because of a y bodice-rippi g li erary ge re). E glish is i he Germa ic group of la guages. his group bega as a commo la guage i he Elbe river regio abou 3,000 years ago. Arou d he seco d ce ury BC, his Commo Germa ic la guage spli i o hree dis i c sub-groups: Eas Germa ic was spoke by peoples who migra ed back o sou heas er Europe. o Eas Germa ic la guage is spoke oday, a d he o ly wri e Eas Germa ic la guage ha survives is Go hic. or h Germa ic evolved i o he moder Sca di avia la guages of Swedish, Da ish, orwegia , a d Icela dic (bu o Fi ish, which is rela ed o Es o ia a d is o a I do-Europea la guage). Wes Germa ic is he a ces or of moder Germa , Du ch, Flemish, Frisia , a d E glish. Old E glish (500-1100 AD) Wes Germa ic i vaders from Ju la d a d sou her De mark: he A gles (whose ame is he source of he words E gla d a d E glish), Saxo s, a d Ju es, bega popula i g he Bri ish Isles i he fif h a d six h ce uries AD. hey spoke a mu ually i elligible la guage, similar o moder Frisia -- he la guage of or heas er regio of he e herla ds-- ha is called Old E glish. Four major dialec s of Old E glish emerged, or humbria i he or h of E gla d, Mercia i he Midla ds, Wes Saxo i he sou h a d wes , a d Ke ish i he Sou heas . hese i vaders pushed he origi al, Cel ic-speaki g i habi a s ou of wha is ow E gla d i o Sco la d, Wales, Cor wall, a d Irela d, leavi g behi d a few Cel ic words. hese Cel ic la guages survive oday i Gaelic la guages of Sco la d a d Irela d a d i Welsh. Cor ish, u for u a ely, is ow a dead la guage. ( he las a ive Cor ish speaker, Dolly Pe rea h, died i 1777 i he ow of Mousehole, Cor wall.) Also i flue ci g E glish a his ime were he Viki gs. orse i vasio s, begi i g arou d 850, brough ma y or h Germa ic words i o he la guage, par icularly i he or h of E gla d. Some examples are dream, which had mea 'joy' u il he Viki gs impar ed i s curre mea i g o i from he Sca di avia cog a e draumr, a d skir , which co i ues o live alo gside i s a ive E glish cog a e shir .
he majori y of words i moder E glish come from foreig , o Old E glish roo s. I fac , o ly abou o e six h of he k ow Old E glish words have desce da s survivi g oday. Bu his is decep ive; Old E glish is much more impor a ha hese s a is ics would i dica e. Abou half of he mos commo ly used words i moder E glish have Old E glish roo s. Words like be, wa er, a d s ro g, for example, derive from Old E glish roo s. Old E glish, whose bes k ow survivi g example is he poem Beowulf, las ed u il abou 1100. his las da e is ra her arbi rary, bu mos scholars choose i because i is shor ly af er he mos impor a eve i he developme of he E glish la guage, he orma Co ques . he orma Co ques a d Middle E glish (1100-1500) William he Co queror, he Duke of orma dy, i vaded a d co quered E gla d a d he A glo-Saxo s i 1066 AD. ( he Bayeux apes ry, de ails of which form he aviga io bu o s o his si e, is perhaps he mos famous graphical depic io of he orma Co ques .) he ew overlords spoke a dialec of Old Fre ch k ow as A glo- orma . he orma s were also of Germa ic s ock (" orma " comes from " orsema ") a d A glo- orma was a Fre ch dialec ha had co siderable Germa ic i flue ces i addi io o he basic La i roo s. Prior o he orma Co ques , La i had bee o ly a mi or i flue ce o he E glish la guage, mai ly hrough ves iges of he Roma occupa io a d from he co versio of Bri ai o Chris ia i y i he seve h ce ury (ecclesias ical erms such as pries , vicar, a d mass came i o he la guage his way), bu ow here was a wholesale i fusio of Roma ce (A glo- orma ) words. he i flue ce of he orma s ca be illus ra ed by looki g a wo words, beef a d cow. Beef, commo ly ea e by he aris ocracy, derives from he A glo- orma , while he A glo-Saxo commo ers, who e ded he ca le, re ai ed he Germa ic cow. Ma y legal erms, such as i dic , jury, a d verdic have A glo- orma roo s because he orma s ra he cour s. his spli , where words commo ly used by he aris ocracy have Roma ic roo s a d words freque ly used by he A glo-Saxo commo ers have Germa ic roo s, ca be see i ma y i s a ces. Some imes Fre ch words replaced Old E glish words; crime replaced fire a d u cle replaced eam. O her imes, Fre ch a d Old E glish compo e s combi ed o form a ew word, as he Fre ch ge le a d he Germa ic ma formed ge lema . O her imes, wo differe words wi h roughly he same mea i g survive i o moder E glish. hus we have he Germa ic doom a d he Fre ch judgme , or wish a d desire. I is useful o compare various versio s of a familiar ex o see he differe ces be wee Old, Middle, a d Moder E glish. I 1204 AD, Ki g Joh los he provi ce of orma dy o he Ki g of Fra ce. his bega a process where he orma obles of E gla d became i creasi gly es ra ged from heir Fre ch cousi s. E gla d became he chief co cer of he obili y, ra her ha heir es a es i Fra ce, a d co seque ly he obili y adop ed a modified E glish as heir a ive o gue. Abou 150 years la er, he Black Dea h (1349-50) killed abou o e hird of he E glish popula io . he labori g a d mercha classes grew i eco omic a d social impor a ce, a d alo g wi h hem E glish i creased i impor a ce compared o A glo- orma .
his mix ure of he wo la guages came o be k ow as Middle E glish. he mos famous example of Middle E glish is Chaucer's Ca erbury ales. U like Old E glish, Middle E glish ca be read, albei wi h difficul y, by moder E glish-speaki g people. By 1362, he li guis ic divisio be wee he obili y a d he commo ers was largely over. I ha year, he S a u e of Pleadi g was adop ed, which made E glish he la guage of he cour s a d i bega o be used i Parliame . he Middle E glish period came o a close arou d 1500 AD wi h he rise of Moder E glish. Early Moder E glish (1500-1800) he ex wave of i ova io i E glish came wi h he Re aissa ce. he revival of classical scholarship brough ma y classical La i a d Greek words i o he La guage. hese borrowi gs were delibera e a d ma y bemoa ed he adop io of hese "i khor " erms, bu ma y survive o his day. Shakespeare's charac er Holofer es i Loves Labor Los is a sa ire of a overe husias ic schoolmas er who is oo fo d of La i isms. Ma y s ude s havi g difficul y u ders a di g Shakespeare would be surprised o lear ha he wro e i moder E glish. Bu , as ca be see i he earlier example of he Lord's Prayer, Elizabe ha E glish has much more i commo wi h our la guage oday ha i does wi h he la guage of Chaucer. Ma y familiar words a d phrases were coi ed or firs recorded by Shakespeare, some 2,000 words a d cou less ca ch-phrases are his. ewcomers o Shakespeare are of e shocked a he umber of cliches co ai ed i his plays, u il hey realize ha he coi ed hem a d hey became cliches af erwards. "O e fell swoop," "va ish i o hi air," a d "flesh a d blood" are all Shakespeare's. Words he bequea hed o he la guage i clude "cri ical," "leapfrog," "majes ic," "dwi dle," a d "peda ." wo o her major fac ors i flue ced he la guage a d served o separa e Middle a d Moder E glish. he firs was he Grea Vowel Shif . his was a cha ge i pro u cia io ha bega arou d 1400. While moder E glish speakers ca read Chaucer wi h some difficul y, Chaucer's pro u cia io would have bee comple ely u i elligible o he moder ear. Shakespeare, o he o her ha d, would be acce ed, bu u ders a dable. Lo g vowel sou ds bega o be made higher i he mou h a d he le er "e" a he e d of words became sile . Chaucer's Lyf (pro ou ced "leef") became he moder life. I Middle E glish ame was pro ou ced " am-a," five was pro ou ced "feef," a d dow was pro ou ced "doo ." I li guis ic erms, he shif was ra her sudde , he major cha ges occurri g wi hi a ce ury. he shif is s ill o over, however, vowel sou ds are s ill shor e i g al hough he cha ge has become co siderably more gradual. he las major fac or i he developme of Moder E glish was he adve of he pri i g press. William Cax o brough he pri i g press o E gla d i 1476. Books became cheaper a d as a resul , li eracy became more commo . Publishi g for he masses became a profi able e erprise, a d works i E glish, as opposed o La i , became more commo . Fi ally, he pri i g press brough s a dardiza io o E glish. he dialec of Lo do , where mos publishi g houses were loca ed, became he s a dard. Spelli g a d grammar became fixed, a d he firs E glish dic io ary was published i 1604.
The word "Magi" comes to the English language direct from the Greek, which in turn acquired it by gradual steps from the Persian, Chaldean, Median, and Assyrian tongues. It means, literally, "wonder worker," and was applied to the members of the occult priestly orders of Persia, Media, and Chaldea, who were Mystic Adepts and Occult Masters. Ancient history is full of references to this body of men. They were the custodians of the world's occult knowledge for centuries, and the priceless treasures of the Inner Teachings held by the race to-day have come through the hands of these men-the Magi-who tended the sacred fires of Mysticism and kept The Flame burning. In thinking of their task, one is reminded of the words of Edward Carpenter, the poet, who sings: "Oh, let not the flame die out! Cherished age after age in its dark caverns, in its holy temples cherished. Fed by pure ministers of love-let not the flame die out." The title of "Magi" was highly esteemed in those ancient days, but it fell into disrepute in the latter times owing to its growing use as an appellation of the practitioners of "Black Magic," or "evil wonder-workers" or sorcerers, of those days
1. The history of grammatical study of the English language
2. Word-formation of the English language. Conversion
3. Changes and specimens of the English language
4. History of `The Beatles` and biographies of members in english
5. Polysemy In The Semantic Field Of Movement In The English Language
9. Stylistic Classification of the English Vocabulary
11. History of english language
12. The history of railways (История железных дорог)
13. The History of Alaska (история Аляски)
17. History of democracy of the USA
18. Some problems of borrowing in the Russian language
20. The history of Germany and tourism
25. Project of decoding of "The Stermer Effect" (Сигналы из космоса, серии Штермера)
26. My modern image of the United States
27. The fastest computers of the world
28. Water World as Another Home for English Nation Reflected in the English Folklore
29. Geometrization of the Fundamentals of Chemistry
31. Русские заимствования в английском языке (Russian borrowings in English language)
32. Русские заимствования в английском языке (Russian borrowings in English language)
33. The fastest computers of the world
34. The Consequences of the Soviet-Afghan War
35. Geometrization of the Fundamentals of Chemistry
37. Перевод введения в книгу Й. Шумпетера History of economic analisys
41. The protection of the environment
44. Washington is the capital of the USA
46. Eyck, Jan van: The Adoration of the Lamb
47. The main fault of The 70s or the years of “might-have-been hopes”
48. Dawn of the digital information era
50. Some Difficulties of Translating English Phrasal Verbs into Russian
53. Survey of the British Geography and Life
57. American Literature: An Overview Of The Development From The 17th To The 20th Centu-ries
59. Establishment of the Federal judicial system
60. The development of the drama. The theatres and actors
65. The notion of the agreement of the purchase and sale According to art
66. Of the Polish political parties and organizations in Vilnius (1919 - 1922 gg.)
67. Algorithmic recognition of the Verb
68. Rise of sociology as an intellectual tradition. Classical tradition in sociology of the XIX century
69. Acquaintance with geometry as one of the main goals of teaching mathematics to preschool children
73. Industrial development of the African countries
74. Reculiarites of Teaching English
75. Role of the interpreter in the modern world
76. Sport in different countries of the world
77. The emergence of the first Polish socialist parties
78. The Heraldic Symbolism of the Unicorn on the British Coat-of-Arms
79. The origins of the International Socialists
80. The philosophy should meet the challenge of the new millennium
81. The Socialist-Revolutionaries and the labor movement (the beginning of the twentieth century)
82. Ways of teaching foreign languages
83. Stylistic phonetics based on the examples of the works by P.B. Shelley
85. The impact of the French Revolution on the European system
89. The Influence of English Mass Culture on Estonia
91. The improvement of work on the rhythm in the classes of english on the materials of limericks
92. The Language of Narrative Writing
93. The system of English verbs
94. The effect of light intensity on the amount of chlorophyll in “Cicer arietinum”
95. The Economy of Great Britain
96. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
97. Роль СМИ в современном мире (The mass media in the life of Society)
98. The Adverse Effects of Green Lawns
99. On the problem of crystal metallic lattice in the densest packings of chemical elements