About English
BASIC INFORMATION
English language, considered as the current lingua franca of the world and widely
used across the globe and in many international organizations, belongs to the
Anglo-Frisian language family which is a branch of the Germanic languages, which is, in
turn, part of the Indo-European languages. Its writing system is based on the Latin
alphabet system, which consists of 26 alphabets:
(Upper case) ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
(Lower case) abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
HISTORY
1. Old English (AD 5th century-AD 1066)
Prior to the Germanic influence brought by the invading Germanic tribes in AD 5th
century, Celtic language is mainly used by the Celts living on the British Isles. Latin
language had influenced part of it due to the Roman occupation for more than 400
years.
After the German invasion, Germanic languages began to integrate with the dialects of
southern England, which was the region these German tribes occupied. Celtic
language, however, did survive together with the Celts who escaped to Wales,
Scotland and Ireland, and their language gradually becomes what we know nowadays
as 'Gaelic', 'Welsh' and 'Irish language'.
Old English differs much from Modern English as it was much more related to the
German languages. The grammar system and the writing system are totally different
from what we know as English today.
2. Middle English (1066-by AD 16th century)
The Norman invasion in 1066 brought big changes to the English language, as the
conquerors, which were from Normandy of France, doesn‟t know any English at all.
The Old English period ended after the invasion, and from then on, the upper class
spoke only French while the common people spoke the English language.
At this period, English was deeply influenced by the French language, and many of the
current English words were from or evolved from French at this time, e.g. „table‟,
„garden‟ and „cabbage‟. But when the rulers of England lost the continental Normandy
region, English started to gain its position and finally superseded French to be the
language of England. The spelling system at this time changed a lot, and differed a lot
from Old English. The best-known writer writing in Middle English is Chaucer, and his
best-known work is the Canterbury Tales.
3. Early Modern English (16th century-17th century)
Early Modern English is usually considered to differ from Middle English from the
Great Vowel Shift, which transformed the spoken English to what it is known
nowadays. This version of English was based on the Chancery standard, a kind of
written English based on mainly London dialect used by the government back then,
and it started a totally new era in the English language. This can explain why we can
read Early Modern English text with little difficulty nowadays. In late 17th century, this
version of English transforms into the Modern English. Some of the better-known
texts include Shakespeare‟s works and Paradise Lost, an epic poem written by John
Milton in 1607.
The Early Modern English, however, lacked one thing that eventually leads to its
replacement by the Modern English: uniformity in spelling.
4. Modern English (18th century to now)
The English we are speaking now, the Modern English, started getting into shape in
1755 when Samuel Johnson wrote the first dictionary for English language, and the
same in America when Noah Webster wrote one for the region in 1828.
The main differences which distinguished Early Modern English from Modern English is
that Modern English abandoned the „T-V difference‟ (informal/formal version of 2nd
person pronouns, i.e. “thou” and “ye”), and that other rules were also different from
earlier English.
Modern English has many dialects worldwide, the two most dominant being the
British and American English. Other dialects include Canadian English, Australian
English and the infamous Chinglish.
Sample text
i) Old English
Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in geārdagum,
þēodcyninga, þrym gefrūnon,
hū ðā æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scēfing sceaþena þrēatum,
monegum mǣgþum, meodosetla oftēah,
egsode eorlas. Syððan ǣrest wearð
fēasceaft funden, hē þæs frōfre gebād,
wēox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þāh,
oðþæt him ǣghwylc þāra ymbsittendra
ofer hronrāde hȳran scolde,
gomban gyldan. þæt wæs gōd cyning!
ii) Middle English (Part of Canterbury Tales by Chaucer)
Whan that Aprill with his shoures sote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote,
And bathed euery veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth…
iii) Early Modern English (from Paradise Lost by John Milton)
Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning how the Heavens and Earth
Rose out of chaos: or if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle Flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, whyle it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
iv) Modern English (from Oliver Twist)
The evening arrived; the boys took their places. The master, in
his cook's uniform, stationed himself at the copper; his pauper
assistants ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was served
out; and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel
disappeared; the boys whispered each other, and winked at Oliver;
while his next neighbors nudged him. Child as he was, he was
desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from
the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand,
said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity:
'Please, sir, I want some more.'
The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He
gazed in stupefied astonishment on the small rebel for some
seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The
assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear.