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The English Language
The English Language
The English language is the language spoken by an estimated 300 million people as a first language in the UK, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It has official status in over fifty countries, notably in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, and is the most widely used second language in the world. Germanic speakers began settling in England from northern Germany and southern Denmark from about AD 450, and Viking invasions in the 9th century added a Scandinavian element to the language. The Old English period runs from the appearance of the first texts in the late 7th century to the mid-11th century, when the Norman invasion radically changed the nature of English. Over 50 per cent of the vocabulary was replaced by words taken from French and Latin during the subsequent Middle English period (1100-1500). The Modern English period saw the langua...
The English Language
The English language is the language spoken by an estimated 300 million people as a first language in the UK, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It has official status in over fifty countries, notably in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, and is the most widely used second language in the world. Germanic speakers began settling in England from northern Germany and southern Denmark from about AD 450, and Viking invasions in the 9th century added a Scandinavian element to the language. The Old English period runs from the appearance of the first texts in the late 7th century to the mid-11th century, when the Norman invasion radically changed the nature of English. Over 50 per cent of the vocabulary was replaced by words taken from French and Latin during the subsequent Middle English period (1100-1500). The Modern English period saw the langua...
Posted by: Janet Valerio
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