The spread of the English language and attempts to ban it. What explains the spread of English around the world Early Australian Research

One of the features of the functioning of the English language is its use as a national, state and official literary language not by one, but by many nations.

Along with some other languages of the world, such as French in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, a number of developing countries; Spanish in Spain and some Latin American countries; German in Germany, Austria, Switzerland; Portuguese in Portugal and Brazil; Italian in Italy and Switzerland; Swedish in Sweden and Finland; English in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, a number of developing countries in Asia and Africa, former colonies of Great Britain, is a multinational and multiethnic language, belongs to not one, but several nations, not one, but several ethnic groups.

In the history of the spread of the English language, it is customary to distinguish three periods during which it underwent significant changes.

The first period is the early Middle Ages, when the influence of French and some other languages on English was so significant that in a relatively short period of time it became more Romance than Germanic.

The second period is the Renaissance and the years that followed, when English borrowed a large amount of vocabulary from classical languages and the work of a number of playwrights, primarily Shakespeare, significantly enriched it.

The third period is the end of the second millennium - the beginning of the new millennium.

According to O. Jespersen's calculations, the number of English speakers in 1500 was about 4 million people. By 1900 it had risen sharply to 123 million, and by the end of the 20th century. this figure has increased almost 10 times since 1900. Today, researchers estimate that the number of English speakers ranges between 1.2 and 1.5 billion people. These figures include those who speak English as a native language, a second language (ESL) and a foreign language (EFL). For comparison, Chinese in its eight spoken varieties, united by a common writing system, is spoken by about 1.1 billion people.

Since the 60s of the XX century. The spread of the English language has become very widespread.

Some countries initially used it as a means of interethnic communication, then the language gradually changed and became native to the population. Thus, the British version of the English language laid the foundation for the American version, and then the Australian and South African ones. In the 20th century Nigerian, Indian, Singaporean variants and numerous new varieties of English (New Englishes) developed. Some linguists have suggested that this situation may indicate the development of a new language family.

English is widely spoken throughout the world, more widely than French, German, Spanish, Russian and Arabic as a means of international communication. English is the most widely used language on earth. It is used as a native, second and foreign language.

English occupies a special place in seventy-five countries of the world. In nineteen countries it is the official language.

English is taught as a foreign language in more than 100 countries, including China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Egypt and Brazil. In most countries it is taught in school as the main foreign language, displacing other foreign languages.

A particular language becomes a language of international communication not only because many people speak it. Thus, Chinese, which is spoken by over a billion people, has not yet become a language of international communication (although assumptions that it will play such a role have been repeatedly expressed by linguists). In the past, the language of international communication was Latin. It became the language of international communication throughout the Roman Empire, not because the Romans were more numerous than the peoples under their oppression, but because they were stronger militarily and economically. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Latin remained the international language of education and culture for a millennium, but

already thanks to another force - the spiritual power of the Roman Catholic Church.

It would be a mistake to assume that a certain “international” language is a model of perfection because of its undeniable functional properties, clarity of presentation, and rich literary heritage. Similar judgments are sometimes made in relation to the English language.

Undoubtedly, the simplicity of the language greatly contributes to its promotion to the fore, but in no way is it the basis of this process. Thus, the Latin language, despite the complexity of its grammatical structure, remained for a very long time the language of international communication. We can say the same about Greek, Arabic, French, Spanish and Russian, which at certain stages of world history played a similar role.

The structure of the English language is somewhat simpler than the structure of some other world languages. Throughout the history of its development, it borrowed widely from other languages with which it was in contact.

In the 19th century Great Britain became a leading industrial and trading power. Throughout the 19th century. The British political system contributed to the spread of the English language throughout the globe. And in the 20th century. this process has accelerated, primarily due to the economic power of the United States of America.

In order to facilitate the communication process, translation is necessary. When heads of state or ambassadors conducted international negotiations, interpreters were present with them. However, their possibilities are not unlimited, and what

The more languages there are in a country, the less one can rely on such specialists for mutual understanding between different national groups. In countries where the population speaks two or three languages, one of the solutions is to study and know these languages, which is quite possible and natural, since most children in such conditions can easily and imperceptibly master them. But in countries with a large number of languages, such as in a number of countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, this is practically impossible.

Communication problems are sometimes solved by using one of the languages as a lingua franca, i.e. common language of communication. When trade relations were established between communities, they exchanged messages in a simplified language known as pidgin, consisting of elements of interacting languages. Numerous pidgins continue to function in our time in territories that once belonged to the European metropolises, serving as a lingua franca. For example, West African Pidgin English is widely used by ethnic groups on the west coast of Africa.

Sometimes one of the local languages serves as the lingua franca. It is usually the language of the strongest ethnic group in a given area. In such a case, other groups gradually learn to speak it and become bilingual to varying degrees.

However, more often an “outside” language is used for this purpose, for example, English or French, depending on

ty from the political, economic or religious influence of a particular country in a given region.

Typically, the area of distribution of a lingua franca is entirely dependent on political factors. Many languages are used by only a few ethnic groups in a small region of a single country.

Humanity only came to the understanding that in the future a lingua franca language or languages may be necessary on a global scale only in the middle of the 20th century. This was facilitated by the creation of a number of influential international organizations - the United Nations (UN, 1945), IDB (1945), UNESCO and UNICEF (1946), WHO (1948) and IAEA (1957). They use several working languages. Thus, the UN has adopted five working languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese.

English is one of the official languages of the United Nations, UNESCO, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the official and working language of many international meetings of organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Council, and NATO. English is the only official language of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the only working language of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

Nowadays there is a radical change in the language situation in the world. Never in the past have so many countries and peoples felt such a need to communicate with each other. Never before have so many people had the opportunity

the opportunity to travel around the world. Never before has so much translation and interpretation been required, nor has there been such a need for greater bilingualism.

In the modern world, English performs the functions of an international language (International English, EIL). Over the past decades, English has become an international means of communication and has acquired the status of a “global language”.

The function of a means of communication is emphasized by the definition adopted in domestic linguistics: English is the language of international communication. In reality, the term “international English” most often refers only to the British (BrE) and American (AmE) varieties of English, to a lesser extent to the Canadian (CapE) and Australian (AuE) varieties, and usually does not apply to other regional varieties.

The definition of English as a multiethnic or multinational language, accepted in Russian linguistics, reflects not so much its functional role as its ethnographic distribution, assignment to different ethnic groups, which is the result of its function as a language of international communication.

One of the criteria for the international status of a language is considered to be the large number of functions it performs: recognition of it as a state or official language in the country where it functions in such areas as administration, court, and mass media.

howl of information, educational system. A language that performs some or all of the above functions, if it is not native to the population, is called second language. English (English as a second language) plays this role in more than 70 countries (including Ghana, Nigeria, India, Singapore).

In sociolinguistics, another definition of the role of the English language in the modern world is used: English has become an “additional” language for a number of peoples, and this status is manifested in the expansion of functioning, the increase in intercultural areas of use, and the deepening of social use.

The main functions of English as an international language, or areas of its use, can be reduced to the following: 1) official diplomatic, 2) official government regulation, 3) official business (in business, trade, transport, communications), 4 ) educational, 5) information (in science, the media, the Internet, sports, medicine, etc.), 6) entertainment (film and video products, pop music), 7) advertising (labels, trademarks, etc. .) (Z.G. Proshina).

As an international language, English is no longer tied to one specific culture or nation. This is a language that has many varieties, a language of intercultural communication. The development of the English language in the modern world is less and less determined by people for whom it is their native language. This is precisely the pluricentricity of the English language, recognized by modern sociolinguistics. Duocentric

ity (BrE and AmE as two centers of linguistic hegemony) gave way to pluricentricity, which led to the creation of the concepts of many varieties of English (World Englishes).

As an intermediary language in the modern world, English plays the role of a language of intercultural interaction and enrichment. This is largely due to the fact that since ancient times the English language has shown a tendency to borrow vocabulary. He has the ability to easily and simply accept borrowings originating both from other languages and through the English of the Caribbean, India and Spanish-speaking America. Due to the emergence of a large number of so-called new varieties of English (New Englishes) in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Caribbean Islands, within Great Britain itself (Ireland, Scotland, Wales), as well as in India, Sri Lanka and other countries are intensifying the process of nativization. Nativization refers to the process of language change under the influence of local languages. At the same time, new types of English are being formed and the forms and structures of the so-called “standard” version of the English language are changing. New varieties of English are something like dialects. However, unlike dialects that exist regionally and have thousands of users, new language varieties exist internationally and have millions of users.

In modern linguistics, there are two contrasting points of view on the role of the English language in the world:

1. “Triumphalist” point of view, according to which the spread of English in the world is considered as natural, neutral and beneficial (D. Crystal, B. Kachru, A. Pennycock, etc.).

2. A skeptical point of view, arguing that the spread of the English language is an invention of Western imperialism (R. Phillipson, Y. Tsuda, D. Knowles).

Let's consider each of these points of view.

The first originated in the 19th century, during the heyday of British colonialism, and was supported by scientists who believed in the “genius of the people,” expressed through their language. They believed that the spread of the English language is a “neutral” phenomenon, since this language for the peoples of many countries is not associated with social class associations.

Sometimes, when talking about the neutrality of the English language, it is assumed that the language can in some sense detach itself from its original culture and become a transparent means of communication. Based on the concept of ethnic neutrality, the English language is considered “denationalized”, devoid of national and cultural coloring. This position seems unconvincing, since along with the language, the culture that stands behind it is inevitably transposed. Nevertheless, along with the English language, not only the culture of those countries in which it is considered primary, native, but also those peoples for whom English is not their native language is transposed. It is in this sense that we can talk about “foreign English”, i.e. the language of intercultural communication, which

used by non-English-speaking individuals and societies to reveal the characteristics of their native culture through the English language as a mediator (Z.G. Proshita).

Some linguists consider the process of spreading the English language “beneficial”; they argue that the English language has ceased to be a conductor of Western culture and is spreading the British and American way of life only peripherally (B. Kachru). The English language is seen less and less as a purely “Western” language, that is, the language of European civilization, and its development is less and less influenced by its speakers, that is, those for whom it is a native language.

Proponents of the second, skeptical point of view put forward as their main argument the thesis that the widespread spread of the English language threatens the development of other languages and cultures.

English has become the language of power in many countries. Not owning it prevents you from getting a prestigious and well-paid job. Access to English-language education becomes a powerful distributive device for social benefits and wealth. The English language has become a kind of gatekeeper, opening the door and regulating the flow of immigration into the United States and other English-speaking countries. The spread of the English language by the media is accompanied by the ideologization of society along the North American model. A number of researchers compare the English language with a “Trojan horse” and consider the spread of the English language (its British or American

rianta) “linguistic imperialism”, or linguisticism, in which preference is given to one language at the expense of artificially limiting the functions of other languages.

Communicative inequality is expressed in the fact that interlocutors who do not speak English find themselves “deaf-mute,” that is, excluded from communication if their level of language proficiency is insufficient or they do not have translators (3. G. Proshina).

With increasing population migration in the world, English often becomes an intermediary language at the everyday, family level. Thus, in some multi-ethnic married couples, marriage partners who do not speak each other’s native languages well are forced to use English, which is a foreign language for them, as the language of family communication.

Any language can be used as an intermediary, but in practice this role is most often performed by the English language.

The spread of English in the modern world is reflected in the sociolinguistic theory of the “three con-centric rings” developed by American linguist Braj Kachru (1984). He presented the results of this process in the form of three circles located one inside the other:

a) the inner circle corresponds to English
Chinese as a native language (for countries such as the USA, Europe
UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) - all
about 320-380 million people;

b) outer, middle circle (outer or extended circle) under-

means proficiency in English as a second language in countries where it has received the status of an official language (including India, Singapore, and many others) - a total of about 150-300 million people;

c) the expanding outer circle includes countries where English plays the role of the main foreign language studied in educational institutions (Germany, Greece, China, Poland, Russia, Japan, etc.) - about 1 billion people in total. The number of these countries is steadily increasing.

The boundaries between these circles, especially between the outer, middle and expanding, outer, are very mobile and unstable. According to linguists, in the near future the largest number of English users will be in the middle circle, although currently the number of people representing it is the smallest.

National varieties of the English language are characterized as: the original primary maximum inclusion BrE, primary derivatives of maximum inclusion AmE, CanE, AuE, NZE, secondary derivatives of limited inclusion (variants of multiethnic language in developing countries and its variants as a foreign language, such as Franglais, Wenglish (Welsh + English), Japlish, Swedlish, Anglicaans, Deutshlish, Russlish (O.E. Semenets).

As a result of mutual influence, reduction of distances between countries thanks to modern means of transportation and communication, general trends in global unification, the varieties (variants) of the English language spoken in Great Britain, Australia and other countries,

become less distinguishable. But there still remain significant differences in the use of idioms and vocabulary in general, especially between British and American English.

There are complex relationships between language varieties, reflecting the interweaving of many extra- and intra-linguistic factors. There is a connection between the discrepancies between the options at the lexical-semantic level and some extralinguistic facts. The most important differences between national variants of the English language from each other are not in the language itself, but in the differences between societies using one or another variant (V.G. Gak, A.I. Domashnev, V.M. Zhirmunsky, L.B. Nikolsky, L.G. Popova, G.A. Orlov, O.E. Semenets, G.V. Stepanov, G.D. Tomakhin, A.D. Schweitzer, D.A. Shakhbagova, G.S. Shchur, V.N. Yartseva).

The need for theoretical research and practical study of language in connection with the development of society, the need for an in-depth study of the culture of the native speaker people are generally recognized. Today it is no longer possible to study a certain “average language” without taking into account its variation. Of particular importance is the study of the complex system of hierarchically organized forms of existence of a language - from the literary language to the dialect.

No less important is the study of national images of the world, consisting of national verbal images.

Cultural and socio-philosophical studies of national images of the world have resulted in a new scientific

new direction, called the theory of intercultural communication.

A person who studies and uses English sooner or later begins to ask himself a number of questions. What English is spoken in the world? For example, in American or British English, closer to British English than to American English, or vice versa? What variants, dialects, accents of the English language are there? Who is easier to understand and who is more difficult?

We are also interested in: what English do we speak, how is this language perceived by others? Is it possible to learn to speak a foreign language without an accent? When we speak English, depending on the degree of proficiency in the language, it is perceived with very good knowledge of the language and pronunciation of the speaker as a European accent, with not very good pronunciation as the speech of a Slav, and with unimportant pronunciation our speech has a clearly defined Russian accent.

What is this emphasis expressed in? The most striking differences in our speech: we greatly soften consonant sounds, do not distinguish the length of vowels (which leads to errors in meaning and some innocent, ordinary words change their meaning so much that they do not sound innocent at all), we swallow, we do not clearly pronounce the endings of words, and us is different sentence intonation pattern. In general, they say that our English speech is perceived as melodic and melodious. We also tend to speak louder and more emotionally.

Is it possible to speak a foreign language perfectly and is it necessary? Alas, it is impossible and, fortunately, not necessary. It is impossible because our speech reflects our place of birth, level of education, gender, age and much more. The speech of a person speaking a foreign language, even the most correct one, is sterile. In addition, as a rule, we mentally translate from our native language into a foreign language and the influence of our native language is felt to a greater or lesser extent.

As for the question of what English language to study, it can obviously be answered with the question: for what purpose are you studying it?

As already mentioned, English is used as the national, state and official literary language of not just one, but many nations.

The English language, which is a nationally inhomogeneous language, is considered as a set of national variants, broadly divided into three groups: the first group - variants of the English language that developed in countries where English is the native language for the majority of the population: in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia , New Zealand.

A few decades ago, British English was considered the role model. This option was taught all over the world. Nowadays you can sometimes hear: “Why should I learn British English when the whole world speaks American?” Indeed, approximately twice as many people in the world speak American English.

than in any other variety of English, and four times more people than in British English. Americanisms spread through advertising, tourism, telecommunications and cinema.

However, the very common opinion about the need to study the American version is actually far from the truth. Although the statement that it is necessary to study exclusively the British version is not indisputable. What kind of English is taught to foreigners in English-speaking and other countries, what kind of English does “the whole world” communicate in, and what language is worth learning? Which variety of English should be preferred when preparing a foreign language teacher? He may in the future have to prepare pupils and students for British or American international examinations, or train those who intend to continue their education in Australia, Canada or New Zealand. Or maybe he will need to teach students to communicate in English not so much with native speakers, but with people of different nationalities, to prepare them for real communication with people who do not always speak perfect, literary English, devoid of regional and social accent.

In language schools for foreigners in many countries around the world, they teach a variety of English, the so-called “English language of textbooks” - Course Book English. “Textbook English” is standard English, devoid of dialectal and national features inherent in the language of the British, Americans, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders. It does not reflect

national, regional, social, gender, age characteristics of the people who speak it. It represents some averaged universal English language, which has absorbed the features of different varieties of the English language and some features of a wide variety of languages of the world. This variety or variant of the English language, and not American, British or any other, is the “language of international communication”. It is easier to understand, has a neutral or sterile coloring, is spoken more slowly, sounds are pronounced in isolation, and words are pronounced clearly. It is more convenient because you don’t have to spend a lot of effort and effort trying to get closer to a “purely British” or “purely American” pronunciation. The “international language of business” has the same features, i.e. a professional language that has a rather limited set of terms and clichés used by representatives of this type of activity.

Be that as it may, it is obvious that you should study the “correct” English language: this version of English is considered to be the British version or that variety of it, which is called the “accepted standard”. After all, in Britain there are many different dialects (Welsh, Yorkshire, etc.). Even in London, different areas speak differently. The British themselves joke that only the Queen speaks correct English. In fact - from 3 to 5% of the British. But no matter what version or dialect of the English language a person intends to study in Further, he must start with correct basic English, which will help him understand and more easily master other languages.

variants, dialects and varieties of language. At the initial stage of learning a language, there is only one version of English, and learning it requires a lot of effort and patience. Our domestic school of studying foreign languages traditionally focuses on the British version of the English language.

However, the status of the English language at the beginning of the millennium suggests that a person studying this language, using one variant of the language, understands its other regional variants, perceives different manifestations of English-speaking culture.

Tasks

1. Having studied the material in this section, prepare a report about
functions of the English language in the modern world.

2. Compose a report about existing in linguistics
There are conflicting views on the role of English
language in the modern world and argue your
position on this issue.

3. Prepare a report about three national groups
new variants of the English language.

4. Having studied the material of the section, as well as using the data
new linguistic encyclopedias, prepare
a message about the lingua franca language, pidgins and their
roles in the communication process.

5. Prepare a message about that variety of English
Li language which you consider to be the most accredited
tual.

Everyone is well aware of the fact that there are a large number of languages in the world, but not all of them are considered international. Languages such as English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Arabic are part of the international languages and are official languages of the UN.

From a geographical point of view, English is the most widely spoken language on the planet. Outside the UK and the Republic of Ireland, English is the mother tongue in many countries: the USA (the official language of thirty-one states), Canada, Australia, Malta and New Zealand. It is used as an official language in some countries of Asia (Pakistan, India) and Africa. The number of speakers of the language is about 427 million as their native language and 1 billion as their second language in the country. English is the most important language of international communication, trade, cooperation and business.

Despite the vast distances that separate English-speaking countries from each other and from the British Isles, and the socio-cultural differences between them, the forms of English they use remain generally intelligible to all. However, the population of each individual territory speaking English has developed its own characteristics of vocabulary and pronunciation. It is for this reason that there are many differences in the spelling of the English language in the USA, Australia, Canada, for example, and the same language in the UK. The biggest difference between languages is pronunciation, and to a lesser extent it concerns vocabulary and grammar.

The generally accepted version is the British version of the English language, which has the highest status in society. This version of the language is used in literature, the press, dictionaries, textbooks, and is taught in schools. However, Standard English also has some differences in pronunciation depending on the area of the country in which the language is spoken. Thus, language helps to establish not only the country in which a person lives, but also the region, and his social status and even origin. Since the time of Shakespeare, it has been believed that the most correct version of the English language belongs to southeast England.

English in Australia is quite different from English in the UK. There are certain differences in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and spelling. However, British English and Australian English are not different languages, but one language, but with different interpretations.

Throughout the history of mankind, there have been several international languages, but none has yet achieved such popularity as English. Today, English is the main intermediary language and a global means of communication that unites people around the world. In terms of the number of speakers, English is second only to Chinese and Hindi. This is not surprising, given the size of the populations of India and China. English differs from them in its universality. It has gained wide geographical distribution, which has allowed it to become the main one in such areas of international relations as business, politics, science, medicine, education, trade and tourism. Even a basic level of English allows a person to understand and be understood by people in most countries of the world. As the most taught, it is studied in schools in China, France, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and others. In terms of the number of people who speak English, Holland is in first place. In Japan, students are required to study it for six years until they graduate from high school. 85% of students in France, given the choice between compulsory study of French and English, choose the latter. In Hong Kong, 90% of secondary schools teach English. It is spoken in more than 90 countries around the world, and the influence and popularity of the English language is becoming stronger every day.

Prerequisites for English becoming an international language

What is the reason for such an active spread of the English language? There are quite a lot of such prerequisites; we suggest focusing on the most important ones.

Historical

The colonial policy of Great Britain contributed to the establishment of the English language in many lands, in particular Australia, Asia, Africa, and the New World. After the emergence of the United States, which picked up the baton of the spread of English, its influence strengthened. It has become a second language for American citizens. In this, the United States is only ahead of China, where about 1 billion 349 million people speak English.

Linguistic

The uniqueness of English largely lies in the rich history of its development. Over the centuries, while originally Celtic, it interacted with French and Scandinavian languages, Germanic dialects and Latin. According to many scientists, it is its flexibility and ability to change under the influence of external influences that contributes to its popularity and widespread use.

Information Technology

Almost all of the most advanced and innovative technologies come from the USA, which directly influenced the spread of English throughout the world. Thanks to the books of Canadian philologist Marshall McLuhan, the expression “Global Village” came into use. Initially it meant the Internet, but later came to mean the entire globe. The author suggested that thanks to electronic technology our world would shrink to the size of a village - and he turned out to be right. A huge amount of easily accessible information, the speed of its exchange, and the openness of the information space unites people and contributes to the formation of a new structure of society.

English is the language of Shakespeare and the language of Chaucer. It is spoken in dozens of countries around the world, from the United States to the tiny islands of Tristan da Cunha. It has traces of history from the Vikings to online communities. Here are 25 cards that explain how the English Language became what it is today and why it is so diverse. (pictures are clickable - link to the original with higher resolution) not a literal translation of the article 25 maps that explain the English language from Vox.

Origin of the English Language

Where did English come from?

English, like more than 400 other languages, is part of the Indo-European language family, sharing roots not only with German and French, but also with Russian, Hindi, Punjabi and Persian. This beautiful drawing by Finnish-Swedish comics illustrator Minna Sundberg perfectly shows the closeness of languages such as French and German, as well as the distance between Greek and Farsi.

Indo-European language today

This map shows where Indo-European languages are spoken today in Europe, the Middle East and South Asia and it is also easy to see which languages do not have common roots with English - Finnish and Hungarian are among them.

Anglo-Saxon migration

Here's how the English Language came to be: After Roman troops left Britain in the early 5th century, three Germanic peoples - the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes - settled the islands and founded their own kingdoms. They brought with them the Anglo-Saxon language, which combined with some Celtic and Latin words to create Old English. Old English was first spoken in the 5th century and would be completely incomprehensible to a modern English speaker if he heard it. About 4,500 Anglo-Saxon words survive in modern English. Which corresponds to only 1 percent of the words in the Oxford Dictionary, but many words are the backbone of the language, such as "day" and "year," body parts "chest," arm," and "heart," and many verbs: "eat," " kiss," "love," "think," "become."

The Danelaw

The next donor of new words was the Old Scandinavian language. Vikings from what is now Denmark, led by Ivar the Boneless, attacked the east coast of the British Isles in the 9th century. They eventually took control of half of Britain. From those times, words such as “law” and “murder”, “they,” “them,” and “their” have been preserved. It's funny that "arm" is an Anglo-Saxon word, but "leg" is Old Norse; "wife" is Anglo-Saxon, but "husband" is Old Norse.

Norman conquest of England

The truly major changes that led to today's English came with William the Conqueror from Normandy, modern-day northern France. The language (French) spoken by William and his nobles eventually became the Anglo-Norman language. It became the language of the medieval English elite. It contains about 10,000 words, many of which are still in use today. Sometimes they replaced Old English words, sometimes they were used as synonyms. Military words (battle, navy, march, enemy), state (parliament, noble), legal (judge, justice, plaintiff, jury), and religious words (miracle, sermon, virgin, saint) were almost all Norman.

Great Vowel Shift

If you think English pronunciation is confusing - why "head" doesn't sound like "heat," or why "steak" doesn't rhyme with "streak," and "some" doesn't rhyme with "home" either - blame the Great Vowel Shift. Between 1400 and 1700 the pronunciation of consonants changed. "Mice" is no longer pronounced "meese." "House" is no longer pronounced "hoose." This shift is from medieval English to modern English. No one knows for sure why these changes occurred.

Spread of the English Language

Colonization of America

British settlers came to different parts of America in the 17th and 18th centuries, coming from different regions, social classes, and following different religions. The East Anglian Puritans made significant contributions to the Boston accent; Royalists migrating south brought with them twangs, etc. Today's American English is closer to 18th century British English than modern British English.

Early exploration of Australia

Many of the first Europeans to settle in Australia, starting in the late 1700s, were convicts from the British Isles, and the Australian English accent probably originated with their children around Sydney. Australia, unlike the US, does not have such a variety of local accents. Some words from Aboriginal languages have found their way into English: kangaroo, boomerang, and wombat among them.

Canada

British Loyalists sailed to Canada during the American Revolution. As a result, Canadian English sounds like American English, but the "ou" words (honour, colour, valor) are retained. Canada is experiencing its own vowel shift, for example pronouncing "milk" as "melk". Also, Canadian is quite homogeneous, unlike American and British.

India

The British East India Company brought English to the Indian subcontinent in the 17th century and it was the official language during colonialism. It is still part of an unimaginable linguistic diversity. Some words have migrated from local languages, such as "shampoo," "pajamas," "bungalow," "bangle," and "cash."

Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha is the most inland archipelago in the world: it is located in the south Atlantic Ocean, equidistant between Uruguay and South Africa. It is part of the British Territories with 300 native English speakers.

English is a world language

Percentage of English speakers in Europe

English is one of the three official languages of the European Union. The German President recently proposed making it the only one. But how well people in each European Union country speak English varies greatly. This map shows where most people can - and cannot - speak English.

Where is English Wikipedia popular?

English dominated the early days of the Internet. But the web is becoming increasingly linguistically diverse. Since 2010, English is no longer dominant, and advances in technology have made it easier to use non-Latin alphabets. However, English is the dominant language on Wikipedia, and the map shows where people use the English version as their primary language.

Sources of English words

This elegant graph uses data from the Oxford English Dictionary to show where words originally came from. Most words come from Germanic languages, Romance languages, and Latin, or are formed from already used English words. But since the statistics are from 1950, at the moment everything may be even more varied.

How the vocabulary has changed

The absorption of words from other languages did not stop when Old English evolved into Medieval English. The Age of Enlightenment brought an influx of Greek and Latin words - especially to refer to all sorts of scientific phenomena. On the other hand, Mark Twain, the master of American dialect, relied on good old Anglo-Saxon words in his books.

Lexicon of Shakespeare and rappers

Designer Matt Daniels took 35,000 words from rap lyrics and compared them to 35,000 words from Moby Dick and 35,000 words from Shakespearean plays for a vocabulary test. He discovered that some of the lexicons were larger than those of Shakespeare or Melville. But of course, the size of the dictionary cannot be an indicator of quality. But nevertheless, the comparison is interesting.

Learning English as a Second (Third) Language

Language learning quality map

English is the second most spoken language in the world. But there are even more people learning English. Here's a map of the quality of English proficiency tests from Education First. Green and blue countries have higher skill levels than red, yellow and orange countries. Scandinavian countries, Finland, Poland, Austria are very good. The Middle East as a whole is pretty bad.

Currently, there are about several thousand languages in the world, but only a few dozen are used officially in countries and have global significance.

The most common language in the world due to the large number of inhabitants it is Chinese. This system of human communication is considered official for more than a billion people on the planet.
The second most popular language is Spanish, which besides Spain is spoken by many countries in Latin America. Historically, this is associated with the seizure of land in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Spaniards and their resettlement to the lands of Central and South America.
Third place in the number of speakers and first in the number of countries, where English is used and is the official language.

Reasons for the spread of English in the world

Spread of English in the world can be explained through the British colony, which is the largest colonial empire of the 16th-20th centuries. As Britain's role as a global power declined in the 20th century, US hegemony rose. On the territory of what is now the United States, only in the 17th and 18th centuries, English colonies were formed, spreading along the entire eastern coast of North America.

The reason for the spread of the English language is to increase status through conquest and colonization.

Thus, the level of distribution depends on what forces stood and stand behind it at the present time. has become international for the reason that the people who communicate on it have a certain dominance.

The spread of the English language was helped by political, military, and in more modern society, scientific, technical, economic, and cultural leadership.

All this has led to the fact that this system of human communication has won world leadership in functional application. The importance of knowing a means of communication in modern society extends to many areas of life, for example, it provides the opportunity to study in prestigious foreign educational institutions; those wishing to enter the international market simply need to speak English at a high level. In sports communication, all international competitions and conferences are held on this communication medium. In our age of information technology, English has been introduced as the main system for writing computer programs and applications. A modern high-level computer system has its own slang similar to expressions in order to bring computer slang closer to human rather than machine codes when writing programs and algorithms.

The process of globalization in the linguistic sphere is natural and integral in modern society. English is studied in schools, universities, and English language courses in Moscow. Global migration of human and production resources is occurring at an increasing pace, and for this you need to know the means of communication.

The balance of power changes over time, and what the spread of English in the world will be in the near future is unknown. Perhaps Chinese is the most widely spoken language. It all depends on what achievements and inventions will be discovered by the countries whose main system of communication between people is he, and what forces will be behind him.