5- The History of English

ENGLISH has evolved from a language spoken by a few people into the most widely spoken language in the world.

 This video will definitely help you understand some of the issues we have been discussing so far in class. You will see it is divided into different chapters which show different stages in the historical development of the language. 

After watching (perhaps twice or three times), complete the activities which follow.  The answers will be socialized in class... 

Make sure you include these activities  in your PORTFOLIO.

Don´t worry that much if you do not understand every sigle word! Pay attention to pictures and images.... they will help you understand.


ACTIVITY 1:

Answer these questions

1. Who led the Norman invasion into England? At that time, who spoke French?  Who spoke Latin? Who spoke English?
2. How many words did the English absorb from the Normans?
3. How many words and phrases are said to have been incorporated or "invented" by Shakespeare?
4. When was The Authorized or  King James´ translation of the Bible printed? Why was this translation so important?
5. Why did so many words had to be invented during the 17th century?
6. Where does the word BARBICUE come from? How about BOOMERANG and YOGA?
7. How many entries did the First Dictionary of the English Language contain? 
8. When did the first Oxford English Dictionary appear?
9. Which aspects of the American culture have contributed largely to the spread of English throughout the wrorld?
10. When was the first e-mail sent? Where from?  
11. When did the Internet start?
12. What do the abbreviations IMHO, BTW, LOL and FAQ mean?
13. Can native speakers claim the ownership of Global English?
14. Approximately, what percentage of the world population is able to (at least) ask for directions in English?

ACTIVITY 2:

The video is divided into 10 chapters. IN YOUR PORTFOLIO, write down the title given to each of those chapters and include some key information related to it. You may also want to stick/add related pictures/images to liven up your portfolio entrance.

ACTIVITY 3:

LANGUAGE IN USE:

A_ The following are some of the idiomatic expressions which were used in King James´s translation of the Bible. Look up their meanings.

1. "A bird in the hand is worth (than) two in the bush".
2. " A wolf in sheep´s clothing".
3. "A leopard can´t change its spots".

B_ Follow-up activity

As you may imagine, English is full of popular sayings and idiomatic expressions related to the animal world. You will find some of them below. Look them up in a dictionary and think of the correct Spanish counterpart. Include this activity in your PORTFOLIO as well!

• Let the cat out of the bag.
• To take the bull by the horns.
• "It´s raining cats and dogs".
• "Birds of a feather flock together".
• To Smell rat.
• "Don´t look a gift horse in the mouth".
• "Don´t be a chicken Little".
• "When the cat´s away, the mice will play".
• To work like a dog.
• To bark up the wrong tree.
• "Don´t  bite the hand that feeds you".
• "To take someone under your wing".
• To be as happy as a pig in mud.
• "I could eat a horse!".
• "He´s a wolf in sheep´s clothing".
• "There´s a frog in my throat".

These activities will be shared and checked in class. Make sure you start woring on them!

grace :-)

4- A Mosaic of Languages

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563)

    

  "No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. the worlds in which different cultures live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached."

Edward Sapir, linguist

 A world of languages

Languages can be living, dead, become extinct or move from place to place.

A living language or modern language is in a continuous state of change. This change can be over the course of several hundred years. For example, the English Chaucer used is very different from the English Shakespeare used, which in turns is not the same as modern-day English. Language can mutate in a shorter time span, from one generation to the next. Vocabulary, expressions and idioms can alter in their frequency of use, become obsolete, develop and modernise or be added to the language. The same language can also change through geography. Modern English spoken in Britain, North America and Australia has different vocabulary and grammar usage.

If two groups of people speaking the same language are separated, in time they will develop different accents and vocabulary will change, but they will still understand each other. When this happens a dialect is created. Within a nation there can be many dilects.

A dead language is one that is no longer learned as a native language. Some dead languages have survived in the written form. Examples of well known dead languages are Ancient Greek, Latin and Sanskrit.

Thorought human history the language of powerful groups have spread, while the languages of smaller cultures have become extinct. The rate of language disappearance has accelerated dramatically in recent years and today many "smaller" languages are in real danger of completely disappearing.

Through conquest and invasion and due to migration, languages can move from place to place or be transported from one country to another. For example, English to North America, French to Canada, Spanish and Portuguese to South America and Arabic to Northern Africa.

As of 2010, the population of the world stands at 6.9 billion and is expected to reach 9 billion by the year 2050. Within this world population, there are about 6,900 distinct languages currently spoken. All of these languages are grouped into language families. This means that they are related languages originating from a common ancestor. For example, Hungarian, Finnish and Mordvin (Siberia) all come from the Uralic family.

However, despite there being so many languages on this Earth, about half of the world´s population speak one of the following eight languages only: Mandarin Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Bengali and Portuguese.

Source: "Eye Witness", by Adriana Redaelli and Daniela Invernizzi, (p. 12)

Indo-European

About half of the world´s population speak languages coming from a common origin. Sir William Jones, a British linguist, made this important hypothesis about two centuries ago. While he was studying Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, he noticed that it had many affinities with ancient Greek and Latin. Jones concluded that these three languages came from a common source, a language which no longer exists, Scholars call this language Indo-European. Recent theories locate the origins of the Indo-European language more than 6,000 years ago in western Asia.

(Source: "EYEWITNESS, Culture in a Changing World," by  Adriana Redaelli and Daniela Invernizzi)

COMPULSORY TASK! 

ACTIVITY 1:  Read the texts on this web page and study the chart. Decide if the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE.

1. You can see the first written alphabet in Syria.                    
2. Living languages never change.                                                   
3. A dead language is one that has completely disappeared.           
4. Today peoplespeak about 6 billion languages.                            
5. 50% of the world´s population speaks one of 8 languages.          
6. Sir William Jones lived in London.                        
7. Greek and Dutch both originate from Indo-European.
8. Indo-European is a language spoken in western Asia.              

ACTIVITY 2: Watch the following video and find out how educator Claire Bowern traces the language from the present day back to its ancient roots, showing how English has evolved through generations of speakers.

Take down notes of what you consider to be relevant. Have you learnt anything new? If so, what exactly?

Make sure you keep a record of this activity in your 

See you in class!
grace