The Adventure Of English

The history of English development can be traced back to around 500 BC. The earliest language recorded in historical materials about Great Britain is Celtic around 500 BC. In 55 BC, the Romans invaded Great Britain and occupied it for about 500 years. Latin entered the region and became the official language, while Celtic declined. Around 449 AD, three Germanic tribes living in Denmark and northern Germany took advantage of the decline of the Roman Empire to invade the island of Great Britain. They are the Angles (invading central Jutland), the Saxons (invading southern Jutland) and the Jutes (invading northern Jutland). Linguistically, they replaced the Celtic language used there at that time. With the development of society, it gradually merged into a new language, namely Anglo-Saxon, which became the basis of English. By 700 AD, people called the language formed by the mixture of three tribes on the island of Great Britain English. By the year 1000, the whole country on the island was called Allen, England. These two words later evolved into English and England (England or Britain).

At the end of the 8th century, a large number of Danes invaded Britain and established a Danish area in its northeast, which lasted for nearly 300 years. The Scandinavian language they brought at that time had a great influence on the development of English. 1066, the duke of Normandy invaded Britain, crowned the king of England and established the Normandy dynasty, which lasted until 1 154. In Normandy, Latin was a religious language, which was used for reading the Bible and church activities. English is the secular language used by lower-class workers. The special status of French in Britain lasted until14th century. Courts, schools and courts stopped using French in 1362, 1385 and 1399 respectively. The Bible written in English appeared in 1382. Only then did Latin end its position as a religious language. At this time, English became the national language of Britain. Therefore, a large number of French words (such as age, air, brush, crying, bourgeoisie) and Latin words (angel, candle, monk, pope) remain in English.

During the "Renaissance" period (14th century-16th century), due to people's keen interest in the study of ancient Greek and Roman culture, English absorbed a lot of the cultural essence of ancient society and continental Europe at that time, and its vocabulary increased greatly, such as geometry, astronomy and botany. Botany comes from Greek; Comrade, alloy, French transcendence; Spanish bananas, cocoa, mosquitoes; Violin, Plaza Italia

/kloc-After the 0/8th century, the British industrial revolution rose, and the struggle for colonies made English go to the world with the development of the empire. Therefore, a large number of new words have been absorbed in the communication with various places, such as Zebra and Chim-Pazee； from Africa; Shampoo, cashmere, India; Tea, litchi; From Chinese; Kangaroo, boomerang; From Australia; Cannibals, canoes, from the West Indies. Due to the development of British colonies and a large number of overseas immigrants, English has also spread from home to abroad (such as BBC English Radio).

At present, English is the first language (that is, mother tongue). The countries whose mother tongue is Ireland, America, Australia, New Zealand, Guyana, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica, St. Christopher and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and most people in Canada speak English; Countries that use English as an official language include Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Singapore, India and the Philippines. As a second language, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and other countries. English has gradually developed into a world language, and its diplomatic status has also replaced French, becoming the most important language in today's world political, economic, scientific, technological and cultural exchanges. Although several English-speaking countries are listed above, we still recommend the United States, Canada and Britain as the main foreign teachers.

English also has regional differences. In Britain, because the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who came to Great Britain from jutland settled in different places, there were regional differences in the development of English from the beginning. With the development of industry and cities, London has not only become the largest city in China, but also absorbed residents from various dialect areas in China, and various dialects have merged with each other. The languages used in Oxford and Cambridge, with London as the national cultural center, have become the standard languages of Britain.

2. History of English development: the spread and development of English.

Outside Britain, the distribution of English has gradually expanded through immigration and politics. At the same time, due to the distance from Britain and the objective reasons of the receiving place, foreign dialects of English came into being, mainly American English, Australian English, South African English and Indian English. Among them, American English is the most widely used and important English dialect outside Britain. Generally speaking, American English is also the most popular in China.

/kloc-in the 0 th and 7 th centuries, British immigrants began to colonize North America (now the east coast of the United States). Later, immigrants increased, and 13 colonies were established along the coast. After the independence movement, these 13 colonies established the United States and became the original 13 state in the United States. They broke away from their affiliation with Britain, so they immigrated at that time.

Because of the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Britain, the personnel exchanges and language exchanges between the two sides are affected, and the English between the two places is gradually different. American English dialects are mainly divided into New England, central and southern Atlantic coast. New England dialect area is the northeastern United States with Massachusetts as the center. The residents there are all British immigrants, two-thirds are Puritans from East Anglia, and a few are from northern England. It is relatively pure English. The dialect area in the middle of the Atlantic coast is centered in Pennsylvania, with early immigrants from northern England and later from Scotland and Ireland. In addition to settling in Pennsylvania, it also spread to New Jersey and Delaware. Later immigrants included Dutch, Germans and Swedes.

Virginia is the earliest core area of southern dialect area. Immigrants come from England, and about half of them come from southwest England. Later, as the United States crossed the Appalachian Mountains and developed westward, the progress of the three dialect areas was different. In addition to surrounding the south bank of the Great Lakes, there are three language islands centered on Seattle, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. The dialect in the middle of the Atlantic enters Ohio and other places westward, reaching the north-south border, becoming the largest dialect area in the United States.