Orietta Gutiérrez Herrera The English Language Orietta Gutiérrez Herrera

English is Germanic in origin but roughly half of its words derive from contact with French and Latin There are around 6000-7000 languages in the world Nº of languages is decreasing rapidly (some even disappearing) While a few others – English, Spanish, Chinese, arabic and Hindi, become widespread as a result of globalization. English can refer to certain people from a particular part of Great Britan English has widely different meanings Particular language

The origins and history of English Little known about the languages spoken in British Isles until the coming of the Celts Britain Spoken all over Europe by many tribes British Scotland Celtic languages survived to the present in Wales Ireland

On the other hand, Romans ruled much of Europe and in Britain until their troops were withdrawn in 410. Latin was spoken in Britan and exerted a strong influence in Celtic and Germanic Languages. Wall, Kitchen, Wine, among others borrowed from Latin Latin influence cintinued through medieval and renaissance times How? Intellectual developments Through Catholic Church Humanism Renaissance

When does English officially starts? When Germanic tribes reach the British Isles in 499 Franks Goths Angles Saxons Vandals What started as a Germanic dialect in small part of England is now a language spoken by over a billion people in the world The word English derives from this tribe Ex. Natives: “The, A, did, it and of” -French and Loanwords are used in English to add formality to the language -Revenue (french) It is estimated that half of the vocabulary comes from French and Latin

Modern English compared to earlier English and other languages Major differences on three levels are examined: Sounds Words Sentences Varieties within a single language (sociolinguistics): Standard taught in schools, spoken-written by journalists. regions Social class Formal use more loanwords register Level of formality

External and internal changes: Why varieties develop within a language? Internal changes occur: When speakers stop using endings and rely on words such as: of, for, the, have. Changing a vowel or consonant  Old English: Skip -- > Ship. Politically Geographically Socially Motivated Brought about by: Contact Innovations by speakers Issues of political and social identity Impossible to foresee who will ingrate where or what fashion will catch on (social terms)