The Growth and Importance of English Essay Example for Free

The Growth and Importance of incline Es affirmThe definition of a foundation(a) style, is a style which has been given a specific place within countries and communities around the world, even in places where there argon very few intrinsic speakers of this wording. Although face is not the virtually widely mouth speech communication in the world in terms of the number of native speakers there are some more than native Chinese speakers than native side of meat speakers it is described as a global address and Chinese is not. This is because there are few different communities in the world that give Chinese, be it mandarin orange tree or Cantonese, a limited use or function, probably refer adequate to(p) to the fact that its alphabet is so different from that which is used in the majority of the rest of the world. It is impossible to know exactly how mevery incline speakers there are in the world, but according to estimates, there are more than 350 million native slope speakers and more than 400 million speakers of English as a second, or contrary, delivery. These figures are specially im sign upive considering the fact that this mass popularity only came about in approximately the last three centuries.The English languages warp spans across the globe and is more influential in the world of media, communication, business and g everyplacenment than some(prenominal) other, even in certain countries where English is used, or regarded, as a minority language. It is the language of marine communication and international air traffic control and is acknowledged as the language of popular assimilation primarily in the entertainment fields of cinema and music.The English languages earliest origins are from the Germanic language meeting. This group began as a common language about 3,000 years ago. Many different atomic number 63an languages true from this Germanic group, depending on which part of this sector the region of the Elbe river they were closer to. For example, North Germanic evolved into the ripe Scandinavian languages of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic and East Germanic, which was adopted by Southeast European countries. West Germanic, however, is the language from which English develop, along with German, Dutch and Flemish.This West Germanic language first came over to Britain in the fifth coulomb when Germanic peoples from Jutland (the Jutes) and Denmark (the Saxons) invaded. They forced the original inhabitants the Celts to the outskirts of Britain Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Ireland. It is for this reason that the a lot of the original Gaelic language calm down remains in the Scottish, Irish and Welsh languages.The Germanic invaders language was more or less homogeneous to Modern Frisian, the language which is now referred to as Old English. Depending on where in Britain the Jutes and the Saxons settled, unexampled dialects emerged. The most swelled of these creationness Nort humbrian in the North of England, Mercian in the Midlands, West Saxon in the South and West, and Kentish in the Southeast. round two hundred years ulterior, during the 8th Century, the Vikings invaded Britain from Scandinavia. As with the original Germanic invaders, they brought with them a new language dimension Old Norse. This language however, was itself descended from North Germanic and so was very similar to the Old English which was being spoken in England. As the language spoken throughout Scandinavia at the cartridge holder was broadly understandable by the Anglo-Saxons, they brought, with relative ease, many new words to the language of England, especially to the Northern regions.In 1066, the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, did as name suggests, and invaded and conquered England, and its Anglo-Saxon inhabitants. As with the Viking invasion two hundred and fifty years previously, the new rulers of England brought with them a specific addition to the language. Ho wever, also like the Vikings, the language spoken by the Normans had descended from the Germanic group and was called Anglo-Norman. However, it was in fact a French dialect which had simply been influenced by Germanic language features. It indeed was unlike the languages which had been brought to England during the previous two conquests, as it featured Latin based lexis and grammar, but with a underlying Germanic heredity. Although Old English had already been remotely influenced by Latin during the Roman occupation of Britain during the seventh Century, the language of England now properly incorporated distinct Latinate linguistic features.The mixture of these two languages French and Old English came to be known as Middle English. The French dimension began to slowly decoct itself however, when the original Norman rulers illogical ownership of Normandy when it was conquered by the French King in 1204, and therefore lost contact with the province they had once owned, and foc used on their main land England.The Middle English language remained more or less(prenominal) the self aforementioned(prenominal)(prenominal) for several centuries (apart from inevitable lexical developments) until the late 1400s, when a enceinte invention revolutionised the English language and became the last major factor in the development of Modern English. This ground-breaking thingmajig was the printing press, which was created by William Caxton in 1476. It make such a significant impact because, for the first time ever, the English language could be written and produced in mass amounts relatively easily. This meant that news could be beam quicker and with less difficulty, as bulletins, leaflets and books could be produced in large quantities at a lower price, as writing was no long-term done by hand and therefore took a lot less time. As books were now cheaper, the literacy rate rose and the masses began to educate themselves. Reading was therefore no longer reserved fo r the nobility.This also meant, however, that the English language had to be standardised for everyone to be able to read it with the same facility. The dialect of London, where the first printing press and most of the future publishing houses were located, therefore became the standard steering of writing. Spelling and grammar rules were fixed and the Middle English dialect, finally became the standardised language that we know it to be like a shot. This was later confirmed in 1604, when the first ever English language dictionary was publish.So, now that English had more or less fully developed itself, how did it, instead of other, ancient languages such as Latin, Greek, Arabic and Chinese grow to become so powerful and overtake these well-established languages in between Shakespeares era and the 20th Century?The first reason is the exploration and colonisation of distant countries and areas around the world by Britain who, at the vizor of its empires rule (late 19th and early 20th Century), ruled over 1/3 of the world. The British explorers traveled far and wide, conquering regions and establishing English as their primary language, as a way of exerting a civilising influence on countries within the empire, and in stage to demonstrate their superiority. Many of these colonies, most of which have since become independent, still use English as their principal or official language, for example the unify States, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Malaysia. This is due to the fact that many of these countries have numerous different regional dialects, for example in India (which utilises English as its official language) a census infixed over 200 different mother tongues even though the Indian constitution recognises only 18 official Indian languages.The colonisation of the get together States in particular made a great impact upon the use of English as a global language. As early as during the 1750s, renowned ph ilosopher and writer David Hume rightly stated that, Our solid and increasing establishments in the States promise a superior stability and duration to the English language. This is because during the 1800s, England was firmly establishing itself as the workshop of the world, and with the infringement of the Industrial Revolution, during which, England paved the focussing for the invention of technological wonders, the States gained speed in the race for economic power.With the invention, in the early 1900s, of steam technology, came the real breakthrough in the globalisation of the English language, as the press became mechanised and so news about British and American technological developments travelled further, and more frequently, to the colonies by the new railways and steamships. The news of these miraculous inventions now reached the rest of the world with such haste, and international markets soon take in that if they wanted to make a significant impact during the Indu strial Revolution, they had to improve their knowledge of what technology was being invented. As much of this technology came from England and America, the directions about how to use the machinery were written inEnglish and so foreign traders had to learn English, or at least have enough capability to ensure basic understanding. In fact, it has been stated that when all of the industrial and scientific developments from America are added to those from Britain, it can be calculated that over half of the significant technological yield of the Industrial Revolution was written in English.These technological advancements that were being made had widespread linguistic consequences. New terminology used to describe the industrial and scientific developments was invented, and speedily became part of the English language, adding thousands of words to the already growing lexicon.These newly improved modes of transportation (steamships) also helped the enlargement of English, as travel and exploration became easier. New lands were being discovered and so the English language was able to spread even further. For example, in 1769, British explorer James Cook discovered Australia and by 1790, Britain had already set up its first penal colony in Sydney, in order to relieve the twitch on the overcrowded English prisons. It became the destination for British convicts who had been declared criminally incurable. However, the convicts thrived and began farming, which built up a reasonable economy. The population increased, and eventually Australia was no longer regarded as the island made up solely of prisoners, and it became an economically developed continent with English as its mother tongue.Slavery was also a way of spreading the English language. During the 1700s, Westerners began to take Africans from their native land, which had already almost entirely been colonised by the Europeans, and exported them back to their own countries as a means of free labour. Even once they had been shipped abroad, their captors were worried that they would band together and revolt against them. The way in which they decided to stop this from happening was by grouping up the slaves by what language they spoke. Those who were from the same parts of Africa or who spoke the same language or dialect were separated.They were now helpless they could not communicate with each other in order to rise against their new masters, which wasexactly what their owners wanted. However, in order to be able to get these slaves to work for them, the Westerners had to teach them their own language. As many slaves were transported to America in particular, they were taught how to speak English. This language became their only means of communication with not only their masters, but with each other as well. The English language was thereof expanded even further. It was also from this that the black vernacular of today developed itself.Although during the first half of the 19th Century (the commencement ceremony of the Industrial Revolution) new transport systems were developed (as mentioned above) and vastly improved communications between countries and continents, the real breakthroughs came in the second half of the century. This was the invention of the telegraphy and then the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell, which made interpersonal contact across countries almost instantaneous. These means of communication greatly helped the growth of the English language, because they are widely regarded as two of the most influential developments of the century, and were either patented, developed or created by an American. By the end of the 19th Century therefore, America had overtaken Britain, as well as everyone else, as the worlds fastest growing economy.By the early 20th Century, Britain and the United States were known for their economic imperialism they together invested more gold than any other country in the world and were known as the global economic trade capitals. The rest of the world could see how much money these two countries were making and therefore wanted to join them, however, like with the Industrial Revolution, to do so, they had to learn the economic language, which at this point in history, was most definitely English. David Crystal states that If the metaphor money talks has any meaning at all, those were the days when it was shouting loudly and the language in which it was shouting was chiefly English. straightaway English is incredibly wide-spread and it is constantly expanding. The main reason for this, in my opinion, is because of the media. The first medium through which English is, and was, spread is through newspapers.Everybody needs to know what is going on, in not only their country, but abroad as well. Newspapers are the main publication which are indispensable, because no matter what scientific or technological developments are created, the world will still need this type of information delivered through th is simple and cost-effective medium. This is why the fact that five thousand newspapers, more than half of the newspapers published in the world, are published in English, is so important to the constant growth of the English language.Television and cinema are other forms of media which greatly helped English get to the position it has reached today. The technology of this industry was first developed in Europe and America during the 19th Century, and by 1900, Britain and France were leading the way in the art of filmmaking. The First World fight stopped them in their tracks however, which gave America the chance to gain dominance within the field. Feature films were developed, and the actors became stars across the world, thus solidifying Americas control over the film industry, which it still maintains today. Their industry is the largest and richest, and therefore the films which are produced, are send off all around the world where they are subtitled (or dubbed). Through watchi ng these movies, people abroad are learning the English language, whilst being entertained.The same can be said of the power which American tv set has over the world, and its obvious benefits. For example, two hundred and fifty million Chinese people (more than the population of the United States itself) are learning English on TV.Popular culture, in particular pop music, also bear on and is still affecting the growth and spread of the English language. The phonograph the first machine which could ever record and reproduce sound, was invented in America in 1877 by American, Thomas A. Edison. Most of the significant technological developments made in the record industry therefore took place in America. The invention of LP disks and records was obviously not the beginning of music, but it gave music the ability to travel across the world without the composer or artist having to travel themselves. It thereforeallowed other countries to experience foreign music, especially American m usic, which was increasingly popular because of its often fast-paced measuring stick which was ideal for dancing, which symbolised the carefree notion which Europe, during the First World War, craved.In conclusion, the English languages label of global language is one which is entirely founded. It has proved its dominance all around the world, its power has spanned many centuries, and today, with the internet the means of communication of the future recording 94% of its sites as being written in English, it is safe to say that it will continue to do so for many future generations.