English Language The English language is a West Germanic language that originated in England from Old English (Anglo-Saxon), which in turn developed from languages brought by settlers from northern Germany. It is the second most common first language, with around 340 million native speakers worldwide. English has lingua franca (diplomatic language) status in many parts of the world, due to the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the United Kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries and the United States beginning in the 20th century. It is the most widely learned second language, largely due to the former extent of the British Empire, which mandated English as the official language. Today, its importance is also greatly due to the influence the United States exerts through radio, television, cinema, scientific publications and the Internet.
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Old English Language Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. It is a West Germanic language and therefore is similar to Old Frisian and Old Saxon. It is also quite similar to Old Norse (and by extension, to modern Icelandic). Unlike modern English, Old English is a language rich with morphological diversity and is pronounced essentially as it is spelt. It maintains several distinct cases: the nominative, accusative, genitive, dative and instrumental, remnants of which survive only in a few pronouns in modern English.
A Dictionary Of The English Language A Dictionary of the English Language, one of the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language, was prepared by Samuel Johnson and published on April 15 1755. The dictionary responded to a widely felt need for stability in the language. Calls and proposals for a new dictionary had been made for decades before a group of London booksellers (including Robert Dodsley and Thomas Longman) contracted Johnson in June, 1746 to prepare the work for the sum of £1575. Though he expected to be finished in three years, it took Johnson nearly nine years to complete. Remarkably, he did so singlehandedly, with only clerical assistance to copy out the illustrative quotations that he had marked in books. Johnson prepared several revised editions during his life.
Academy Award For Best Foreign Language Film As a Special Award: *1947 Shoeshine (Sciuscià) (Italy) - Societa Co-operativa Alfa Cinematografica - Paolo William Tamburella producer - Vittorio De Sica director *1948 Monsieur Vincent (France) - E. D. I. C., Union Général Cinématographique - George de la Grandiere producer - Maurice Cloche director *1949 The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette) (Italy) - Mayer - Vittorio De Sica producer and director
Politics And The English Language "Politics and the English Language" (1946) is one of George Orwell's most famous essays. He examines political writing (and writing in general) in English, diagnoses its serious faults, and suggests remedies. In particular, Orwell believes that writers should: # Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which is quite often seen in print. # Never use a long word where a short one will do. # Always cut a word out if it is possible to do so. # Never use the passive voice where the active voice will do. # Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or jargon if an everyday English equivalent will suffice. # Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
The American Heritage Dictionary Of The English Language The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) is a dictionary of American English published by Boston publisher Houghton-Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. Its creation was spurred by the controversy over the Webster's Third New International Dictionary.
Foreign Language Influences In English Considering that all new words generally start off as slang, no word really just enters the English language immediately, all words come from different languages. Here is a list of the most common foreign language influences in English, where other languages have influenced or contributed words to English
Around the 5th century and on, the land of England was invaded by Germanic tribes, primarily the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Their Anglo-Saxon dialects developed into Old English. The most commonly used words today derive from those early Anglo-Saxon roots, but English vocabulary has also been greatly influenced over time.
List Of Dialects Of The English Language This is a list of varieties of the English language. Dialects are varieties differing in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar not to be confused with accents which mark speakers as a member of a group by their pronunciation of the standard language.