Some Interesting Facts about English
Over one billion people in the modern world speak and understand English.
The language that influenced the European languages can be traced to more than 4000 years ago to the plains of India. Migration of tribes and groups of people can be mapped and the historical development of languages can be traced.
It is as if language itself dictated its development and nothing was going to prevent its growth.
The strength of English since its origins is its capacity to absorb other languages.
It began as a few local Germanic dialects spoken by a hundred and fifty thousand people.
In the 5th Century Germanic warrior tribes arrived in Britain as mercenaries to keep the peace after the Roman Empire collapsed. Over time they overpowered the local Celts or Britons.
They were followed by farmers and people who wanted to settle in the area known as England today.
The language of the Celts survived in Cornwall, Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
It is likely that some of the Celtic language was incorporated into the developing English language. The differing dialects of the Germanic tribes took time to be assimilated into one language. The influence of the Danes also has to be taken into account.
King Alfred the Great is the person who is regarded as saving the English Language as his armies defeated the Danes.
The influence Doctor Samuel Johnson cannot be underestimated. In 1755 Dr Johnson recorded and defined 43 000 words and set the mark for future English dictionaries.
The British Empire and its world domination as well as the United States ensured that English gained its status as an influential world language.
A superb account of the history of English is:
The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language: 500AD to 2000
Sceptre – Hodder and Stoughton c2003.
Melvyn Bragg
