A p r i l . 1 7 .2 0 1 2 A DFrom English Department of ABTC
THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISHTHE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISHLANGUAGELANGUAGEEdit by Tian YiEdit by Tian Yi
The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, 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. But 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.State of English
Late Modern English Modern EnglishEarly Modern EnglishOld EnglishMiddle Englishe-Biz稳定化（稳定期）
Old English (450-1100 AD)
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. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strongand water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100. Part of Beowulf, a poem written in Old EnglishHere are some examples
of old English:
ic lufie 我爱ic lufode 我爱过þu lufast 你爱þu lufodest 你爱过he lufaþ 他爱he lufode 他爱过we lufiaþ 我们爱we lufodon 我们爱过Middle English (1100-1500)
An example of Middle English by Chaucer. In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy , 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. Modern EnglishEarly Modern English Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation 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. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language. Printing also brought standardization to English., where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.Modern English
Late Modern EnglishThe 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.Goble language
English has now inarguably achieved global status. Whenever we turn on the news to find out what's happening in East Asia, or the Balkans, or Africa, or South America, or practically anywhere, local people are being interviewed and telling us about it in English. To illustrate the point when Pope John Paul II arrived in the Middle East recently to retrace Christ's footsteps and addressed Christians, Muslims and Jews, the pontiff spoke not Latin, not Arabic, not Italian, not Hebrew, not his native Polish. He spoke in English.
