Unit One text A.docx
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Unit One text A.docx
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UnitOnetextA
UnitOne
Lead-inQuestions:
1.WhatisthestatusofEnglishinyourcountry?
WhydopeoplefeeltheyneedtolearnEnglish?
WhatvarietyofEnglishispreferredandwhy?
2.WhatarethebestwaysoflearningEnglishforyou?
TalkaboutyourexperiencesoflearningEnglishwithyourclassmates.
3.Doyouthinkitispossibletolearnalanguagewithoutlearningaboutitsculture?
TextA
HistoryoftheEnglishLanguage
AShortHistoryoftheOriginsandDevelopmentofEnglish
1ThehistoryoftheEnglishlanguagereallystartedwiththearrivalofthreeGermanictribeswhoinvadedBritainduringthe5thcenturyAD.Thesetribes,theAngles,theSaxonsandtheJutes,crossedtheNorthSeafromwhattodayisDenmarkandnorthernGermany.AtthattimetheinhabitantsofBritainspokeaCelticlanguage.ButmostoftheCelticspeakerswerepushedwestandnorthbytheinvaders—mainlyintowhatisnowWales,ScotlandandIreland.TheAnglescamefromEnglandandtheirlanguagewascalledEnglish,fromwhichthewordsEnglandandEnglisharederived.
GermanicinvadersenteredBritainontheeastandsouthcoastsinthe5thcentury.
OldEnglish(450-1100AD)
PartofBeowulf,apoemwritteninOldEnglish
2TheinvadingGermanictribesspokesimilarlanguages,whichinBritaindevelopedintowhatwenowcallOldEnglish.OldEnglishdidnotsoundorlooklikeEnglishtoday.NativeEnglishspeakersnowwouldhavegreatdifficultyunderstandingOldEnglish.Nevertheless,abouthalfofthemostcommonlyusedwordsinModernEnglishhaveOldEnglishroots.Thewordsbe,strongandwater,forexample,derivefromOldEnglish.OldEnglishwasspokenuntilaround1100.
MiddleEnglish(1100-1500)
AnexampleofMiddleEnglishbyChaucer
3In1066,WilliamtheConqueror,theDukeofNormandy(partofmodernFrance)invadedandconqueredEngland.Thenewconquerors(calledtheNormans)broughtwiththemakindofFrench,whichbecamethelanguageoftheRoyalCourt,andtherulingandbusinessclasses.Foraperiodtherewasakindoflinguisticclassdivision,wherethelowerclassesspokeEnglishandtheupperclassesspokeFrench.Inthe14thcenturyEnglishbecamedominantinBritainagain,butwithmanyFrenchwordsadded.ThislanguageiscalledMiddleEnglish.ItwasthelanguageofthegreatpoetChaucer(1340-1400),butitwouldstillbedifficultfornativeEnglishspeakerstounderstandtoday.
ModernEnglish
EarlyModernEnglish(1500-1800)
Hamlet’sfamous“Tobe,ornottobe”lines,writteninEarlyModernEnglishbyShakespeare.
4TowardstheendofMiddleEnglish,asuddenanddistinctchangeinpronunciation(theGreatVowelShift)started,withvowelsbeingpronouncedshorterandshorter.Fromthe16thcenturytheBritishhadcontactwithmanypeoplesfromaroundtheworld.This,andtheRenaissanceofClassicallearning,meantthatmanynewwordsandphrasesenteredthelanguage.Theinventionofprintingalsomeantthattherewasnowacommonlanguageinprint.Booksbecamecheaperandmorepeoplelearnedtoread.PrintingalsobroughtstandardizationtoEnglish.Spellingandgrammarbecamefixed,andthedialectofLondon,wheremostpublishinghouseswere,becamethestandard.In1604,thefirstEnglishdictionarywaspublished.
LateModernEnglish(1800-Present)
5ThemaindifferencebetweenEarlyModernEnglishandLateModernEnglishisvocabulary.LateModernEnglishhasmanymorewords,arisingfromtwoprincipalfactors:
firstly,theIndustrialRevolutionandtechnologycreatedaneedfornewwords;secondly,theBritishEmpireatitsheightcoveredonequarteroftheearth’ssurface,andtheEnglishlanguageadoptedforeignwordsfrommanycountries.
VarietiesofEnglish
6Fromaround1600,theEnglishcolonizationofNorthAmericaresultedinthecreationofadistinctAmericanvarietyofEnglish.SomeEnglishpronunciationsandwords“froze”whentheyreachedAmerica.Insomeways,AmericanEnglishismoreliketheEnglishofShakespearethanmodernBritishEnglishis.SomeexpressionsthattheBritishcall“Americanisms”areinfactoriginalBritishexpressionsthatwerepreservedinthecolonieswhilelostforatimeinBritain(forexampletrashforrubbish,loanasaverbinsteadoflend,andfallforautumn;anotherexample,frame-up,wasre-importedintoBritainthroughHollywoodgangstermovies).SpanishalsohadaninfluenceonAmericanEnglish(andsubsequentlyBritishEnglish),withwordslikecanyon,ranch,stampedeandvigilantebeingexamplesofSpanishwordsthatenteredEnglishthroughthesettlementoftheAmericanWest.Frenchwords(throughLouisiana)andWestAfricanwords(throughtheslavetrade)alsoinfluencedAmericanEnglish(andso,toanextent,BritishEnglish).
7Today,AmericanEnglishisparticularlyinfluential,duetotheUSA’sdominanceofcinema,television,popularmusic,tradeandtechnology(includingtheInternet).ButtherearemanyothervarietiesofEnglisharoundtheworld,includingforexampleAustralianEnglish,NewZealandEnglish,CanadianEnglish,SouthAfricanEnglish,IndianEnglishandCaribbeanEnglish.
TheGermanicFamilyofLanguages
8EnglishisamemberoftheGermanicfamilyoflanguages.TheGermaniclanguagesareagroupofrelatedlanguagesthatconstituteabranchoftheIndo-European(IE)languagefamily.ThecommonancestorofallthelanguagesinthisbranchisProto-Germanic,spokeninapproximatelythemid-1stmillenniumBCinIronAgenorthernEurope.Proto-Germanic,alongwithallofitsdescendants,ischaracterizedbyanumberofuniquelinguisticfeatures,mostfamouslytheconsonantchangeknownasGrimm’sLaw.EarlyvarietiesofGermanicenterhistorywiththeGermanicpeoplesmovingdownfromnorthernEuropeinthesecondcenturyBC,tosettleinnortherncentralEurope,alongtheboundaryofCelticcivilization,inthenortherlylandsofthefutureRomanEmpire.
9ThemostwidelyspokenGermaniclanguagesareEnglishandGerman,withapproximately309-400millionandover100millionnativespeakersrespectively.Thegroupincludesothermajorlanguages,suchasDutchwith23millionandAfrikaanswithover6millionnativespeakers;andtheNorthGermaniclanguagesincludingNorwegian,Danish,Swedish,IcelandicandFaroesewithacombinedtotalofabout20millionspeakers.TheSILEthnologuelists53differentGermaniclanguages.
AbriefchronologyofEnglish
BC55
RomaninvasionofBritainbyJuliusCaesar.
LocalinhabitantsspeakCeltish
BC43
Romaninvasionandoccupation.BeginningofRomanruleofBritain.
436
RomanwithdrawalfromBritaincomplete.
449
SettlementofBritainbyGermanicinvadersbegins
450-480
EarliestknownOldEnglishinscriptions.
OldEnglish
1066
WilliamtheConqueror,DukeofNormandy,invadesandconquersEngland.
1150
EarliestsurvivingmanuscriptsinMiddleEnglish.
MiddleEnglish
1348
EnglishreplacesLatinasthelanguageofinstructioninmostschools.
1362
EnglishreplacesFrenchasthelanguageoflaw.EnglishisusedinParliamentforthefirsttime.
1388
ChaucerstartswritingTheCanterburyTales.
1400
TheGreatVowelShiftbegins.
1476
WilliamCaxtonestablishesthefirstEnglishprintingpress.
Early
ModernEnglish
1564
Shakespeareisborn.
1604
TableAlphabetical,thefirstEnglishdictionary,ispublished.
1607
ThefirstpermanentEnglishsettlementintheNewWorld(Jamestown)isestablished.
1616
Shakespearedies.
1623
Shakespeare’sFirstFolioispublished
1702
ThefirstdailyEnglish-languagenewspaper,TheDailyCourant,ispublishedinLondon.
1755
SamuelJohnsonpublisheshisEnglishdictionary.
1776
ThomasJeffersonwritestheAmericanDeclarationofIndependence.
1782
BritainabandonsitsAmericancolonies.
1828
WebsterpublisheshisAmericanEnglishdictionary.
Late
ModernEnglish
1922
TheBritishBroadcastingCorporationisfounded.
1928
TheOxfordEnglishDictionaryispublished.
Relatedinformation
1.TheAngles,theSaxonsandtheJutes
TheAnglesmayhavecomefromAngeln(inmodernGermany),andBedewrotethattheirwholenationcametoBritain,leavingtheirformerlandempty.Thename“England”originatesfromthistribe.TheSaxonswerefromLowerSaxony(inmodernGermany;German:
Niedersachsen)andtheJutes,fromtheJutlandpeninsula(inmodernDenmark).
2.CelticLanguage
CelticLanguageisasubfamilyoftheIndo-EuropeanlanguagefamilycomprisingtheBrittonic(includingWelsh,Breton,Umbrian,andCornish)andtheGoidelic(includingIrishGaelic,ScotsGaelic,andManx)branches.
3.Beowulf
BeowulfistheconventionaltitleofanOldEnglishheroicepicpoemconsistingof3182alliterativelonglines,setinScandinavia,commonlycitedasoneofthemostimportantworksofAnglo-Saxonliterature.ItsurvivesinasinglemanuscriptknownastheNowellCodex.ItscompositionbyananonymousAnglo-Saxonpoetisdatedbetweenthe8thandtheearly11thcentury.
4.WilliamtheConqueror
WilliamtheConqueror(1028—1087),alsoknownasWilliamIofEngland,wastheKingofEnglandfromChristmas,1066untilhisdeath.HewasalsoWilliamII,DukeofNormandy,from3July,1035untilhisdeath.BeforehisconquestofEngland,hewasknownas“WilliamtheBastard”becauseoftheillegitimacyofhisbirth.
5.Chaucer
GeoffreyChaucer(1340–1400)wasanEnglishauthor,poet,philosopher,bureaucrat,courtieranddiplomat.Althoughhewrotemanyworks,heisbestrememberedforhisunfinishedframenarrativeTheCanterburyTales.SometimescalledthefatherofEnglishliterature,ChauceriscreditedbysomescholarsasthefirstauthortodemonstratetheartisticlegitimacyofthevernacularEnglishlanguage,ratherthanFrenchorLatin.
6.TheRenaissance
TheRenaissancewasaculturalmovementthat
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