English

History of the English Language

Divided into four different time periods, Germanic, Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English.  It all began with migration of Germanic tribes to the British Isles in the 5th Century AD. (Help, 2017).  Ending in 437 AD, three Germanic tribes, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes came from the European mainland and traveled to the British Isles.  Anglo-Saxon was then set on a different course, differing from the continental German dialects.  By this time Latin, Old Norse, and Anglo-Norman French had begun to have a substantial impact on the language and the grammar breakdown of Old English (Linguistics, 2017).  


Middle English extends from the 12th Century through the 15th. This came about due to the fall of the Anglo-Saxon rulers of England falling to Norman French invaders, who were led by William the Conqueror.  Throughout this period, French was a heavy influence on the vocabulary, causing a loss of some inflections, as well as other changes taking place within the grammatical systems of English (Help, 2017).  The heavy influence of French , the roots of Latin, and a portion of German were the greatest changes of the language at this time (Linguistics, 2017).  

Modern English extend from the 16th Century AD to the current time period.  With the development of the printing press spelling began to stabilize (Help, 2017).  This is when pronunciation of most of the vowels changed, an era also known as the Great Vowel Shift.  Latin and Greek had their influences on the language, but around this period English becomes the new language that is taught in schools.  When the British were working on conquering and colonizing the world, they took their language with them, which heavily influenced the language and pronunciations as well (Linguistics, 2017). 

Where in the World is English Spoken?

Four nation-states have English as the de facto official language Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.

Other nations that have English as an official primary language are as follows:  Antigua, Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Cook Islands, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leon, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago. 

Then the rest of the English nations have English as the language of Government and Business: Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Gambia, India, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Namibia, Nauru, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

     Countries in which English is the first language of the majority of the population.
     Countries with substantial numbers of English speakers, in most cases dating back to the British Empire.^[a]

Finding English to be so widely spoken, it is often referred to as the "world language" of the modern era.  Although it is not an official language in most nations, it is found to be taught the most as a foreign language.  Due to international treaties, it is the official language for aeronautics and maritime communications.  Being an official language of the UN, and also the Olympics, it is easy to find speakers of the English language.  Within the European Union itself it is studied the most due to it being considered the most useful of foreign languages.  

English has dominated the world, with every piece of literature, from a book to a newspaper to a magazine being translated at the very least into English, even scientific reports being written in English.  Unfortunately due to the large impact that English has upon the modern world, languages have shifted in meaning including English itself and there has even been "language death."

(English-speaking world, 2017)

Resources

"Help." Merriam-Webster. Accessed March 28, 2017. https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-history.

"Linguistics 201: History of English Language Handout." Linguistics 201: History of English Language Handout. Accessed March 28, 2017. http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test3materials/HistoryEnglishHANDOUT.htm.

"English-speaking world." Wikipedia. March 21, 2017. Accessed March 28, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-speaking_world.

"List of territorial entities where English is an official language." Wikipedia. March 28, 2017. Accessed March 28, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_entities_where_English_is_an_official_language.

"Wooden wall with British flag." Shutterstock.com. Accessed March 29, 2017. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wooden-wall-british-flag-114403456.

"Shutterstock Official Logo." American Flag Stock Images, Royalty-Free Images & Vectors | Shutterstock. Accessed March 29, 2017. https://www.shutterstock.com/search/american flag.

English.alarabiya.net. Accessed March 29, 2017. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2017/03/17/UN-chief-wants-report-on-apartheid-Israel-taken-off-web.html.