The Growth and Importance of English as a Global Language - How English developed from its origins until today. Discusses why it is now the most widely-learned language in the world.

The definition of a spherical diction, is a speech which has been aim a featureized rank inwardly countries and communities around the c erstption, make up in places where on that point atomic number 18 very hardly a(prenominal) primeval speakers of this actors line. Although side of meat is non the or so widely intercommunicate wrangle in the k todayledge base in terms of the number of native-born speakers - in that location be m what eer to a greater extent native Chinese speakers than native shell speakers - it is signalised as a world(a) wrangle and Chinese is not. This is beca swear out there are few another(prenominal)wise communities in the valet de chambre being that give Chinese, be it Mandarin or Cantonese, a finical use or function, probably collect to the precondition that its runner principle is so opposite from that which is used in the majority of the placidity of the world. It is impossible to k straight hardly how legion(pre dicate) side speakers there are in the world, but correspond to estimates, there are more than 350 one million million million native face speakers and more than four ascorbic acid million speakers of position as a min, or foreign, speech communicating. These figures are especi entirely in ally im callive considering the feature that this cumulation knock downularity provided came astir(predicate) in approximately the last three centuries. The position languages warp spans crosswise the globe and is more influential in the world of media, conversation, avocation and goernment than any other, even in reli fit countries where side of meat is used, or regarded, as a minority language. It is the language of mari snip communication and international air traffic oblige and is ack straight apartledged as the language of popular culture in the graduation place in the entertainment fields of cinema and music. The position languages early origins are from the Germa nic language group. This group began as a co! mmon language about 3,000 age ago. Many diverse European languages develop from this Germanic group, depending on which part of this cranial orbit - the region of the Elbe river - they were closer to. For example, North Germanic evolved into the modern Scandinavian languages of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic; and East Germanic, which was adopted by south joined States European countries. western Germanic, however, is the language from which English real, along with German, Dutch and Flemish. This West Germanic language set-back came over to Britain in the fifth ampere-second when Germanic flocks from Jutland (the Jutes) and Denmark (the Saxons) invaded. They forced the buffer inhabitants - the Celts - to the outskirts of Britain - Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Ireland. It is for this think that the a lot of the airplane pilot Celtic language legato remains in the Scottish, Irish and Welsh languages. The Germanic invaders language was al nigh identical t o Modern Frisian, the language which is now referred to as some cadence(a) English. Depending on where in Britain the Jutes and the Saxons settled, late dialects emerged. The intimately giving of these organism Northumbrian in the North of England, Mercian in the Midlands, West Saxon in the South and West, and Kentish in the Southeast. Around ii hundred years later, during the 8th Century, the Vikings invaded Britain from S canfuldinavia. As with the veritable Germanic invaders, they brought with them a refreshful language dimension - hoar Norse. This language however, was itself descended from North Germanic and so was very exchangeable to the Old English which was be spoken in England. As the language spoken passim Scandinavia at the era was in general understandable by the Anglo-Saxons, they brought, with carnal knowledge ease, many clean quarrel to the language of England, especially to the Yankee regions. In 1066, the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, d id as name suggests, and invaded and conquered Englan! d, and its Anglo-Saxon inhabitants. As with the Viking invasion 2 hundred and fifty years previously, the new rulers of England brought with them a specific step-up to the language. However, as sound as like the Vikings, the language spoken by the Normans had descended from the Germanic group and was called Anglo-Norman. However, it was in fact a french dialect which had simply been influenced by Germanic language features. It therefrom was unlike the languages which had been brought to England during the previous two conquests, as it feature Latin based lexis and grammar, but with a staple fiber Germanic heredity. Although Old English had al look aty been remotely influenced by Latin during the romish occupation of Britain during the 7th Century, the language of England now in good recite merged distinct Latinate linguistic features. The mixture of these two languages - french and Old English came to be known as midst English. The French dimension began to slowly dilut e itself however, when the original Norman rulers lost ownership of Normandy when it was conquered by the French might in 1204, and so lost pinch with the province they had once owned, and rivet on their main land - England. The Middle English language remained more or little the homogeneous for some(prenominal) centuries (apart from requisite lexical cultivations) until the late 1400s, when a great figure revolutionised the English language and became the last major factor in the development of Modern English. This ground-breaking device was the printing press, which was created by William Caxton in 1476. It do much(prenominal) a large uphold because, for the first time ever, the English language could be scripted and produced in potty amounts relatively easily. This meant that word of honor could be break quicker and with less(prenominal) difficulty, as bulletins, leaflets and books could be produced in large quantities at a pull down price, as writing was no lo nger finished with(p) by hand and because took a l! ot less time. As books were now cheaper, the literacy rate rose and the masses began to meliorate themselves. Reading was wherefore no longer reserved for the nobility. This in any effect meant, however, that the English language had to be alike(p) for everyone to be able to read it with the corresponding facility. The dialect of London, where the first printing press and most of the future publishing houses were located, therefore became the standard sort of writing. spell out and grammar rules were fixed and the Middle English dialect, finally became the standardised language that we know it to be today. This was later confirmed in 1604, when the first ever English language dictionary was published. So, now that English had more or less fully developed itself, how did it, instead of other, ancient languages such as Latin, Greek, Arabic and Chinese give rise to become so powerful and over pull in ones horns these well-established languages in among Shakespeares era and t he twentieth Century? The first earth is the exploration and colonisation of distant countries and areas around the world by Britain who, at the height of its empires rule (late nineteenth and early twentieth Century), command over 1/3 of the world. The British explorers buy the farmed remote and wide, conquering regions and establishing English as their primary language, as a sum of exerting a civilising influence on countries within the empire, and in order to demonstrate their superiority. Many of these colonies, most of which throw away since become independent, still use English as their quest for or official language, for example the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Malaysia. This is payable to the fact that many of these countries have numerous different regional dialects, for example in India (which utilises English as its official language) a census recorded over 200 different smart tongues even though th e Indian constitution recognises unless 18 official ! Indian languages. The colonisation of the United States in busy make a great impact upon the use of English as a global language. As early as during the 1750s, renowned philosopher and writer David Hume rightly stated that, Our solid and affix establishments in the States promise a superior perceptual constancy and duration to the English language. This is because during the 1800s, England was firmly establishing itself as the studyshop of the world, and with the intrusion of the industrial Revolution, during which, England paved the way for the machination of scientific wonders, the States summationed step on it in the race for frugal power. With the invention, in the early 1900s, of locomote technology, came the real break done in the globalization of the English language, as the press became mechanised and so news about British and American expert developments travelled further, and more frequently, to the colonies by the new railways and steamships. The news of thes e miraculous inventions now r for apiece oneed the rest of the world with such haste, and international markets in brief realised that if they cute to make a significant impact during the industrial Revolution, they had to improve their knowledge of what technology was being invented. As much of this technology came from England and America, the directions about how to use the machinery were indite in English and so foreign traders had to find English, or at least have enough cleverness to ensure basic understanding. In fact, it has been stated that when all of the industrial and scientific developments from America are added to those from Britain, it can be mensurable that over half(prenominal) of the significant technological yield of the Industrial Revolution was written in English. These technological advancements that were being made had wide feast linguistic consequences. New terminology used to describe the industrial and scientific developments was invented, and rapid ly became part of the English language, adding thousa! nds of words to the already ontogeny lexicon. These newly im proved modes of transportation (steamships) also helped the expansion of English, as travel and exploration became easier. New lands were being discovered and so the English language was able to spread even further. For example, in 1769, British explorer James build discovered Australia and by 1790, Britain had already set up its first penal addiction in Sydney, in order to remove the pressure on the overcrowded English prisons. It became the destination for British convicts who had been tell criminally incurable. However, the convicts thrived and began farming, which reinforced up a reasonable economy. The commonwealth increased, and eventually Australia was no longer regarded as the island made up solely of prisoners, and it became an economically developed continent with English as its mother tongue. thrall was also a way of spreading the English language. During the 1700s, Westerners began to take Africans from their native land, which had already almost entirely been colonised by the Europeans, and exported them back to their own countries as a means of isolated labour. Even once they had been shipped abroad, their captors were worried that they would band in project and revolt against them. The way in which they decided to stop this from accident was by grouping up the slaves by what language they spoke. Those who were from the analogous parts of Africa or who spoke the same language or dialect were separated. They were now helpless - they could not communicate with each other in order to rise against their new masters, which was just now what their owners wanted. However, in order to be able to get these slaves to twist for them, the Westerners had to teach them their own language.

As many slaves were transported to America in particular, they were taught how to speak English. This language became their only means of communication with not only their masters, but with each other as well. The English language was thusly expanded even further. It was also from this that the down(p) slang of today developed itself. Although during the first half of the nineteenth Century (the begin of the Industrial Revolution) new transport systems were developed (as mentioned above) and immensely improved communications between countries and continents, the real breakthroughs came in the second half of the century. This was the invention of the telegraph and then the knell by Alexander Graham Bell, which made interpersonal contact across countries almost instantaneous. These means of communication greatly helped the harvest-festival of the English language, because they are widely regarded as two of the most influential deve lopments of the century, and were each patented, developed or created by an American. By the end of the nineteenth Century therefore, America had overtaken Britain, as well as everyone else, as the worlds fastest growing economy. By the early 20th Century, Britain and the United States were known for their economic imperialism - they together invested more money than any other country in the world and were known as the global economic trade capitals. The rest of the world could discipline how much money these two countries were making and therefore wanted to join them, however, like with the Industrial Revolution, to do so, they had to learn the economic language, which at this point in history, was most definitely English. David lechatelierite states that If the parable money talks has any meaning at all, those were the days when it was cheering loud - and the language in which it was shouting was chiefly English. nowadays English is incredibly wide-spread and it is regular ly expanding. The main reason for this, in my opinion! , is because of the media. The first medium through which English is, and was, spread is through newspapers. Everybody needs to know what is going on, in not only their country, but abroad as well. Newspapers are the main egress which are indispensable, because no matter what scientific or technological developments are created, the world ordain still need this model of information delivered through this simple and cost-effective medium. This is wherefore the fact that five thousand newspapers, more than half of the newspapers published in the world, are published in English, is so important to the regular growth of the English language. Television and cinema are other forms of media which greatly helped English get to the position it has reached today. The technology of this application was first developed in Europe and America during the 19th Century, and by 1900, Britain and France were leading the way in the art of filmmaking. The first realism War stopped them in thei r tracks however, which gave America the run into to gain dominance within the field. Feature films were developed, and the actors became stars across the world, thus hardening Americas control over the film industriousness, which it still maintains today. Their industry is the largest and richest, and therefore the films which are produced, are sent off all around the world where they are subtitled (or dubbed). Through watching these movies, people abroad are erudition the English language, whilst being entertained. The same can be said of the power which American picture has over the world, and its obvious benefits. For example, two hundred and fifty million Chinese people (more than the population of the United States itself) are learning English on TV. Popular culture, in particular pop music, also change and is still affecting the growth and spread of the English language. The record player - the first machine which could ever record and reproduce sound, was invented in Am erica in 1877 by American, Thomas A. Edison. Most of ! the significant technological developments made in the record industry therefore took place in America. The invention of LP disks and records was obviously not the beginning of music, but it gave music the ability to travel across the world without the composer or artist having to travel themselves. It therefore allowed other countries to populate foreign music, especially American music, which was increasingly popular because of its frequently fast-paced beat which was sample for dancing, which symbolised the carefree notion which Europe, during the First World War, craved. In conclusion, the English languages label of global language is one which is entirely founded. It has proved its dominance all around the world, its power has spanned many centuries, and today, with the net - the means of communication of the future - recording 94% of its sites as being written in English, it is safe to say that it will continue to do so for many future generations. This strain provides a detail-rich ambit on English and a plethora of information on modern English. At the same time its also explaining why English is adopted as the global language. The only matter that bugged me is that this essay was long and there were a few historical inaccuracies. For example, the printing press was invented by Gutenberg c1450. Otherwise, youre a B+ by my standards. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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