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 * // MOKA ENGLISH //**

//** All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind **// [|Kahlil Gibran]

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= __ History of the English Language __ = The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from Englaland and their language was called Englisc - from which the words England and English are derived.

** Old English (450-1100 AD) **

The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used ords in Modern English have Old English roots. The words //be//, //strong// and //water//, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.media type="custom" key="12455728" align="right" **Old English audio sample** media type="file" key="lord's prayer old english.mp3" width="262" height="21"

Middle English (1100-1500)
In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.

**Middle English audio sample** media type="file" key="wife of bath.mp3" width="240" height="20"

Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.

Late Modern English (1800-Present)
The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.

www.englishclub.com/english-language-history

__** INTERESTING ENGLISH LANGUAGE FACTS **__

No word in the English language rhymes with month.

"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.media type="custom" key="4336401" align="right"

"Underground" is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters "und."

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

There are only four words in the English language which end in"-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

The only other word with the same amount of letters is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.

There is a seven letter word in the English language that contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters, "therein": the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, here, ere, therein, herein.

No words in the English language rhyme with orange, silver or purple.

'Stewardesses' is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.

The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable."