Portfolio Guide



Portfolio Guide

History of English language

The 'English (native name for English, is an Indo-European language belonging to the western branch of the Germanic languages , with all ' Dutch, high and low German, the Flemish and Frisian. Still retains an obvious kinship with the Saxon mainland (Low German dialect). The English occupies a special position, not only with respect to the Germanic languages, but also within the Indo-European language group: has so simplified and altered its structure to be closer now to a language of insulation rather than an inflected language. Moreover, from the point of view of vocabulary contains many words of Germanic origin, and in particular Latin: it is estimated in approximately 50% of the influx of Latin words derived from French, English entered the lexicon thanks in large part the Norman occupation in the centuries after 1066 (when the Dukes of Normandy conquered England Anglo-Saxon with the Battle of Hastings), but also the influence of Latin in the Renaissance learned and scientific. For this reason one of the most noticeable features of the English lexicon is the wealth of pairs of synonyms, of which each of Germanic origin, the other of Latin origin, to denote the same object or concept but with different meanings and nuances.

General Standard

The changes that have occurred from the sixth to the fifteenth century were the natural character and were not supported by any theory. People tried to talk as well as talking to neighbours, and anyone who could write in any way, tried to capture the sound of his speech on paper. At that time there were no dictionaries or textbooks on grammar, and indeed any printed material. Local differences in pronunciation and spelling were so great that people from the north of England suffered a serious difficulty in reading the manuscript, written in the south. However, the London dialect was recognizable everywhere and even had a share of prestige among the inhabitants of the rest of the country, which led to the fact that he was adopted as a standard. The second half of the fifteenth century manuscripts used it mainly. Only at the very north of the country people did not use the London dialect. The beginning of printing in 1476 (with its centre in London) significantly increased the impact of the London dialect to other parts of the country. Significant differences in pronunciation are still one of the characteristics of areas in England, but written English remained the same for the whole country.

Rules

Early English grammar (the first of which was written in 1586) were written either to help foreigners learn the language, or to prepare the English-speaking students to study Latin. In general, these books were not designed to teach native speakers. Only about 1750 were attempts to study English language. It is a pity that this has happened several generations later. Linguists of the eighteenth century based their study of English at the wrong theories. For example, they believed that some grammar rules for all languages, and arguing ...