English is *the world's leading international language.* It is the principal
language spoken in Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
some other countries such as Uganda and Botswana. About *320 million
people* speak
English as their first language - about the same number as Spanish, but less
than Mandarin Chinese or Hindi.
The total number of English speakers in the world is estimated to be
about 460 million - second only to Mandarin Chinese.
English is the main second language in India, South Africa and many
parts of Africa and Asia. But - more and more - it is also the language of
international commerce, of business, of diplomacy and of tourism.
*But how did English reach this special position?*
Mostly, it was a result of chance. Britain was the world's most active
colonial nation in the 19th century, and British explorers and colonists
took their language with them wherever they went. English became the
official language of most of Britain's colonies. In the 20th century,
America has been the world's most powerful nation - and Americans have
brought the English language to other countries of the world.
The importance of American international corporations has made sure
that English has become the international language of business; and
Hollywood and the music industry have made sure that it has become the
principal language for the media and showbiz.
But other factors have helped with the international development of
English too.
Over a thousand years ago, when the roots of modern Europe were being
formed, western Europe was divided into three sections: in the East there
were people who spoke Slavonic languages, in the middle there were people
speaking Germanic languages (including Scandinavians), and in the south and
west there were people speaking "Romance" languages, derived from Latin. In
the far west of Europe, there were also people speaking Celtic languages,
such as Gaelic.
In those days, England was a Germanic country; its people spoke a
variety of languages including forms of Danish and Anglo Saxon, as well as
some Celtic languages.
In 1066, England was conquered by the Normans, from France, who brought
with them their own langage - Norman French - a Romance language.
In the centuries that followed, the old Germanic languages mixed with
Norman French to produce a new language, English, which was thus rather
different from other European languages. It was partly* Germanic* (particularly
the *grammar* and *structures*), partly *Romance* (a lot of the*vocabulary*).
The Celtic languages remained alive in Cornwall and other parts of the
British Isles.
In other words, English is at the dividing line of the two principal
families of language used in Western Europe today. Most people in Europe
today can recognise something of their own language in English.
For example, if you speak a Germanic language (German, Dutch, or a
Scandinavian language), you do not need to have learned much (or even any)
English to understand this sentence:
*The man forgot to water his garden last night*
Anyone who speaks French or Spanish or Italian, should be able to understand
this English sentence without too much difficulty:
*Indicate if you have a difficult problem.*
As English is half way between two different language groups, speakers
of other languages have often found it easy to communicate in English, even
without paying attention to grammar!
Nevertheless, grammar is important; for without grammar, no language
can survive. Grammar is the cement with which the bricks of language are
held together. Without it, even messages in simple English can be quite
impossible to understand.
Just look at the importance of word
order<http://linguapress.com/grammar/grammar.htm#wo> in
these simple examples, which are entirely different in meaning:
*The man the woman saw was hungry.*
* The man saw the woman was hungry.*
Or look at the radical difference in meaning between these two sentences:
* This is a story forgotten by Charles Dickens.*
* This is a forgotten story by Charles Dickens.*
In recent times, as English has become a *global* language, used in
different places all over the world, it has become a much richer language
than in the past. It has picked up new words from other cultures, other
languages, such as *bungalow* (from India), *détente* (from French), *kebab
*(from Turkey), *potato* (from American Indian) - plus a lot of modern slang
from America.
Today, both grammar and vocabulary are still changing. *There is no
such thing as "official English";* neither Britain nor the USA has anything
like the "Académie Française" to decide what is acceptable and what is not.
The most accepted sources of reference are the famous English dictionaries -
Websters for the USA and the Oxford English Dictionary for British English.
Like other dictionaries however, they are descriptive not prescriptive -
i.e. they describe language as it is used, they do not tell people what they
can or should say or should not say.
Today's English is different from the English of 100 years ago; it is
pronounced differently too - and no doubt, it will be even more different in
100 years' time.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"English Learner's Cafe" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/english_learners?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
