The History of the English Language Essay

The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.

“The History of the English Language”. http://www.uni-due.de/SHE/. Univ. of Duisburg Essen. April 2013. Web 4 Oct. 2013.

Old English dates back to approximately the year 700. If you go back even farther, Dutch, German and old English can all be traced back to the same source. French had a large impact on the English language during the medieval centuries primarily because England was ruled by the upper class that spoke French. English today has spread across the globe. People around the world will adapt English into their own cultural practices.

The ancient people who were alive during the time of the millennia, didn’t work with writing to interact across time and space, the way we did. They created a variety of different spoken languages.

In more modern times the interaction of English speakers with other languages, through first colonialism, and later the emergence of English as a global language has enriched the vocabulary (‘pyjama’) and led to the evolution of different versions of English around the world, for example the hybrid ‘Singlish’ that has emerged in Singapore.

The most widespread group of languages today is the Indo-European, spoken by half the world's population. This entire group, ranging from Hindi and Persian to Norwegian and English, descended from the language of a tribe of nomads roaming the plains of eastern Europe and western Asia as recently as about 3000 BC (Communication).

In Andrew Clements’ 1998 children’s book, Frindle, Nick Allen, a troublemaking fifth-grader, spent a great deal of effort changing the word pen to the word frindle, exasperating his teacher and gaining national notoriety for his invented word, which, in the story, stuck and was introduced into the English dictionary. In Clements’ book, he questions who it is that decides that words mean what words mean. His teacher, Mrs. Granger, responds, “You do, Nicholas. You and I and everyone in this class and this school and this town and this state and this country. We all agree” (Frindle 197). Unfortunately, deriving the etymology of words is not as simple as Mrs. Granger made it sound. Change in words – their meanings, spellings, and pronunciations - takes place over the divides of continents, ages, and languages. So, the analysis of words is more than a quest for definition; it is an exploration of history. The word “drum” is a fitting example of one suddenly appearing in the English language without strong, direct, reliable linkage to previous tongues.

In an ever changing world we have seen the number and complexity of languages become reduced. In a Wall Street Journal article entitled What the World Will Speak in 2115, John H. McWhorter advocates for the world to see these changes as necessary and a way for communication worldwide to become more efficient and simplified. McWhorter shows how language has been streamlined for centuries as a way for citizens to adapt rather than viewed as an extinction of culture. Modern English is likely to become the dominant language worldwide but more so for the fact that it can be easily learned and is open to transformation with the times. Despite the fears of a world where lingual diversity is reduced, McWhorter suggests that there will still be variation to promote culture and communication with people from all backgrounds will be easier. The following is a summary and analysis of McWhorter’s main points describing the simplification of language. Following the summary of main points will be a hypothetical situation in what the world language could consist of 100 years from now.

Diversity in Language – Parillo argues that there were 200 or more distinct societies that spoke 200 mutually unintelligible languages with hundreds of dialects. Different languages point to different perceptions and understandings of the worlds around them. For example, the Navajo did not distinguish third person pronouns like his, her, and their, but instead used compound words mixed with adjectives and nouns. To say “his wife” the Navajo would say something like “one-wife-of-one-man.”

With the globalization, the English Language became the main language of the communication in the world. In this perspective, Dennis Baron discusses in his article Who Owns Global English” the omnipresence and the prevalence of the English in today’s society. For Dennis Baron, English has become the key success in the world platform.

Some of the examples Richard Lerderer gives to explain the widespread influence of the English language are “English has acquired the largest vocabulary of all the world’s languages”. He Also says “half of the world’s books are written in English, and majority of international calls are made in English”. Another important example is that English is universally spoken.

School has always been a place of business, in my opinion. A place where we are educated and prepared for life, essentially. And the proper way of doing so, as I believe most people have been taught, is to enhance all skills such as vocabulary, grammar, mathematics, etc... This is why we are taught so many subjects, being tested and guided to follow whichever path we feel most comfortable or skilled at doing. During the process, is where skills are established and developed. The product that is intended after having gone through school is to shape a well skilled, educated, and productive person that can benefit society as a whole. In limiting the teaching of Standard American English, we would be limiting the amount of people that can fulfill their potential, raise the difficulty for teachers, and accept mediocrity. In keeping this dialect, students will gain new skills and learn the language of business to prepare them for any encounters along the way. There is no need, in my eyes, to minimize or put an extent to teaching the English dialect and that is what I will personally support in this essay.

The English Language has been in existence for many years. This is thanks to many early conquers who spoke the language. As a result, today English is used by “at least one out of every seven human beings around on the globe” (Lederer 216). With that many speakers, the reality in Lederer’s words that “half of the world’s

Anglo-Saxon period, from 5th century to 1066, became the “ancestor” of our modern literature. There is a big difference from then and now including our language and culture.

     “In the world were over seven thousand languages have exisisted, one language had become dominate. This dominant language is English.” “In the majority of countries throughout the world speak English as their second or first language, no longer just America or England.” English has taken many forms, American English, the Queen’s English, Australian, Canadian English, and several others. Even American English has taken several types of English, Jersey English, East Coast English, West Coast English, Southern English, slang English, and Ebonics. All of these languages have major variants between them, but are all of them are still understood aboard. Without English the world couldn’t operate,