The-Development-of-English-Language

TheDevelopmentofEnglishLanguageBacktotheorigin,EnglishisWestGermanicofGermanicofIndo-Europelanguagesystem.ThedevelopmentofEnglishcanbedividedintothreepartsaccordingtotime.ItwentthroughtheancientEnglishperiodfromthefifthcenturytothe12thcentury,themiddleEnglishperiodfromthe12thcenturytothe16thcenturyandthemodernEnglishperiodfrom16thcenturytillnow.DuringtheancientEnglishperiod,therewerethreeforeigninvasionsandoneCulturalRevolution.ThefirstforeigninvasioncameaboutinthemiddleofthefifthcenturywhenthreeGermanicAngles,SaxonsandJutesinvadedtheGreatBritainoneafteranother.ThelanguagethattheGermanicsaidbelongedtotheWestGermanicofIndo-Europe,sotheywereveryclosetoeachother.Besides,bothofthemusedakindoflettercalledRunic,whichwastheuniversalletteroftheGermanic,ofwhichthealphabetswerealmostconsistedofstraightlinesothatitiseasytobecarvedonwoodorstone.Also,thiskindofletterwasNordicinscriptionsonthetablet,developedfromancientGreekandLatin.Withthedevelopmentofthehumansociety,Angles,SaxonsandJutesgraduallyformedaunitiveEnglishnationandtheirlanguagesbecamemergedtogethertobeanewlanguagecalled.ThiswastheoldEnglish.Afterthefirstforeigninvasion,inA.D.597,ChristianitywasintroducedintotheGreatBritain,followedbytheindraughtofalargeamountofLatinvocabularies,whichaddedhugevigortotheAnglo-Saxoncivilization.WiththeestablishmentoftheChristianity,theU.K.constructedalotofchurchesandabbeys.ThesenewlyemergingchurchesandabbeyswerethebasisoftheAnglo-Saxonculture.Monksofthechurchesandabbeysencouragedpeopletowriteintheirownlanguagesandsupportedthecarryoutofanykindsofartculturalevents.ThenthistendencydevelopedtobeaCulturalRevolution,whichenrichedtheEnglishvocabularyandmoreover,enhancedtheabilityofexpressionintheabstractionaspect.ThesecondforeigninvasioncameinA.D.793whentheScandinavianofNorthernEuropewhowerecalledDanesbytheAnglo-Saxon,invadedtheU.K.TheircomingsimplifiedthestructureofEnglish,strengthenedtheexpressionabilityandenrichedthewaysofexpression.In1066,NormansconqueredtheU.KandEnglishagainexperiencedalanguageconflict.During300yearafterwards,FrenchbecamethelanguageoftheEnglandcourtcircular,noble,socialityandliterature,butthelanguageamongordinarypeoplecouldnotbeforbidden,notonlytheordinaryspokeEnglishbutalsodidtheFrench.Tilltheendof20thcentury,EnglishbecamethecommonspokenlanguageofdifferentlevelsofEnglishpeople.TheMiddleEnglishperiodwasfromthe12thcenturytothe16thcentury.Duringthistime,thereweretwomajorthings,onewasEnglishbecametheformallanguage;theotherwastheappearanceoftheEnglisheditionofBible.Fromthe13thcentury,nationalliteratureworkswrittenbyEnglishappearedineveryregionofdifferentdialectsconstantly.AlthoughLatinandFrenchwerestillregardedasliterarylanguage,theimportantworks,fullofcreativity,wereallwritteninEnglish.Fromthelatterhalfofthe13thcentury,EnglishgraduallyreplacedtheplaceofLatinandFrench,beingtheofficiallanguageinpoliticalandsociallifeandthestandardliterarylanguage.In1382,thereligiousreformer,thecheologicalprofessorJohnWycliffeinOxfordtranslatedtheBiblefromLatintoEnglishandclaimedthatpeopleuseEnglishtoattendreligiousserviceinbroaddaylight.TheEnglisheditionofBiblereflectedthefeaturesoftheEnglishnationanddidmeanalottothestandardofEnglishandthecreationofEnglishprose.ThemodernEnglishwasfromthe16thcenturytillnow.Duringthisperiod,theRevivalofLearningwasabigeventtoEnglish.Inordertoexpressnewthings,newthoughtsandnewemotions,writersandscholarsoftheU.KlargelylentfromvocabulariesofGreek,Latin,French,ItalianandSpanish,besides,theyboldlycreatednewvocabularies.Atthistime,Englishbecametherichestbutmeanwhile,italsobecamerough-and-tumble.Forthis,itwasindispensabletopureEnglish,whichwasrelatedtotheReformation.TheReformationlettheChurchofEnglandbreakoffwiththeBishopofRoman,thus,EnglishtooktheplaceofLatinandbecamethelanguageinchurchandtheEnglisheditionofBibledisplacedtheLatinedition.ScholarsoftheU.KmuchmoreemphasizedEnglish.Inthe17thand18thcentury,Englishtendedtobenormalizingandstandardizationbydegrees.In1755,the,compiledbySamuelJohnson,cameforth.Beforethisdictionary,somescholarsalsohadtriedtocompileadictionary.Forexample,in1604,RobertCawdreyoncepublishedabookATableofAlphabeticalEnglishWords,whichhad120pagesandincluded3000words.In1972,NathanialBaileypublishedtheUniversalEtymologicaldictionary,whichemphasizedtheoriginofwords.However,beforetheappearanceofADictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,allofthosejustcouldbecountedasrudimentsofdictionaries,intermsofitsscale,regulationandusevalue.Thecome-outofthisdictionarypromotedthestandardizationandformalizationofEnglish.Intheearly19thand20thcentury,theuseofEnglishbecamemorematurethaneverbefore.Forexample,theformoftheirregularverbtransformationturnedtobeconfirmedfinallyin19thcentury.Astheresultofthecooperationwitheachotherandthepromotionofeachotherbetweenthetwotendencies,Englishturnedtobealanguageofmaturationandexpressivity.Butowingtotheinfluenceofpoliticandsociety,thepowerofthedevelopmentofthemodernEnglishseemedtobestrongerunderthetendencyofthesecond,whichendowedEnglishwithsomecharacteristicsandlimitations.In19thcentury,th