what is english(英語語言發(fā)展史)

1、最新 精品 Word 歡迎下載 可修改What is English?History of the English LanguageA short history of the origins and development of EnglishThe history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes

2、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 C

3、eltic 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 - fr

4、om which the words England and English are derived.Germanic invaders entered Britain on the east and south coasts in the 5th century.最新 精品 Word 歡迎下載 可修改Modern EnglishEarly Modern English (1500-1800)Towards the end of

5、 Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from aro

6、und 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 in print. Books bec

7、ame cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 160

8、4 the first English dictionary was published.Late Modern English (1800-Present)The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from

9、 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

10、 adopted foreign words from many countries.Varieties of EnglishFrom around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some English pronunciations

11、 and words “froze“ when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British call “Americanisms“ are in fact orig

12、inal British expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re- impo

13、rted into Britain through Hollywood gangster movies). Spanish also had an influence on American English (and subsequently British English), with words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanis