1. Orietta Gutiérrez Herrera
The English Language
Orietta Gutiérrez Herrera

2. English is Germanic in origin but roughly half of its words derive from contact with French and Latin
There are around 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

3. 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

4. On the other hand, Romans ruled much of Europe and in Britain until their troops were withdrawn in 410.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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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)