Makovskaya T. D., Usachev V.A.

Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade Named after Mikhailo Tugan- Baranovsky

English- unique language of the world

Somebody said: «English is a language that came from nowhere to conquer the world…». These words are really true.

The history of the language can be traced back to the arrival of three Germanic tribes to the British Isles during the 5th Century AD. Angles, Saxons and Jutes crossed the North Sea from what is the present day Denmark and northern Germany. The inhabitants of Britain previously spoke a Celtic language. This was quickly displaced. Most of the Celtic speakers were pushed into Wales, Cornwall and Scotland. One group migrated to the Brittany Coast of France where their descendants still speak the Celtic Language of Breton today. The Angles were named from Engle, their land of origin. Their language was called Englisc from which the word, English derives.

Today, when English is one of the major languages in the world, it requires an effort of the imagination to realize that it is a relatively recent thing - that in Shakespeare's time, for example, only a few million people spoke English, and the language was not thought to be very important by the other nations of Europe, and was unknown to the rest of the world.

On the 5th of September 1977, the American spacecraft Voyager One blasted off on its historic mission to Jupiter and beyond. On board the scientists who knew that Voyager would one day spin through distant star systems had installed a recorded greeting from the people of the planet Earth. A brief message in fifty-five different languages for the people of outer space plays a statement from the Secretary-General of the United Nations an Austrian named Kurt Waldheim, speaking on behalf of 147 member states in English.

The rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Today English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue.

Some estimates have put that figure closer to one billion. Whatever the total, English at the end of the 20th century is more widely spoken and written, than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.

Three-quarters of the world`s mail and its telexes and cables are in English. So there are more than half the world`s technical and scientific periodicals in English: it is the language of technology from Silicon Valley to Shanghai. English is the medium for 80 per cent of the information stored in the world`s computers. Nearly half of all business deals in Europe are conducted in English. It is the language of sports and glamour: the official language of the Olympics and the Miss Universe Competition. English is the official voice of the air and the sea, and of Christianity: it is the ecumenical language of the World Council of Churches. The largest broadcasting companies in the world ( CBS, NBS, ABC, BBC) transmit in English to audiences that regularly exceed one hundred million.

English has become a world language because of its establishment as a mother tongue outside England, in all the continents of the world. This exporting of English began in the seventeenth century, with the first settelments in North America. Above all it is the great growth of population in the United States, assisted by massive immigration in the nineteenth and twentieth century, that has given the English language its present standing in the world.

People who speak English fall into one of three groups: those who have learned it as their native language ; those who have learned it as a second language in a society that is mainly bilingual; and those who are forced to use it for a practical purpose-administrative, professional or educational. One person in seven of the world's entire population belongs to one of these three groups. Incrediably enough, 75% of the world's mail and 60% of the world's telephone calls are in English.

Simplicity of Form. Old English, Greek, had many inflections to show singularand plural, tense, person, etc., but over the centuries words have been simplified. Verbs now have very few inflections, and adjectives do not changed according to the noun.

Flexibility. As a result of the loss of inflections, English has become, over the past five centuries, a very flefible language. Without inflections, the same word can operate as many different parts of speech. Many nouns and verbs have the same form, for example swim, drink, kiss, look, and smile. We can talk about water to drink and to water the flowers; time to go and to time a race; a paper to read and to paper a bedroom. Adjectives can be used as verbs. We warm our hands in front of a fire; if clothes are dirtied, they need to be cleaned and dried. Prepositions too are flexible. A sixty-year old man is nearing retirement; we can talk about a round of golf, cards, or drinks.

Opening of Vocabulary. This involves the free admission of words from other languages and the easy creation of compounds and derivatives. Most world languages have contributed some words to English at some time, and the process is now being reversed. Purists of the French, Russian, and Japanese languages are resisting the arrival of English in their vocabulary.

The future of English. Geographically, English is the most widespread language on Earth, second only to Mandarin Chinese in the number of people who speak it. It is the language of business, technology, sport, and aviation. This will no doubt continue, although the proposition that all other languages will die out is absurd.

English is used in my own country as a second language. Many modern magazines and papers are in English. I think, that the international role of English is standing more and more important nowadays.

It is estimated that there are 300 million native speakers and 300 million who use English as a second language and a further 100 million use it as a foreign language. It is the language of science, aviation, computing, diplomacy, and tourism. It is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken extensively in other countries where it has no official status. 

Half of all business deals are conducted in English. Two thirds of all scientific papers are written in English. Over 70% of all post / mail is written and addressed in English. Most international tourism and aviation is conducted in English.

Modern English began around the 16th Century and, like all languages, is still changing. One change occurred when the th of some verb forms became s (loveth, loves: hath, has). Auxillary verbs also changed (he is risen, he has risen).

The historical influence of language in the British Isles can best be seen in place names and their derivations.

Borrowed words include names of animals (giraffe, tiger, zebra), clothing (pyjama, turban, shawl), food (spinach, chocolate, orange), scientific and mathematical terms (algebra, geography, species), drinks (tea, coffee, cider), religious terms (Jesus, Islam, nirvana), sports (checkmate, golf, billiards), vehicles (chariot, car, coach), music and art (piano, theatre, easel), weapons (pistol, trigger, rifle), political and military terms (commando, admiral, parliament), and astronomical names (Saturn, Leo, Uranus).

Languages that have contributed words to English include Latin, Greek, French, German, Arabic, Hindi (from India), Italian, Malay, Dutch, Farsi (from Iran and Afganistan), Nahuatl (the Aztec language), Sanskrit (from ancient India), Portuguese, Spanish, Tupi (from South America) and Ewe (from Africa).

The list of borrowed words is enormous. The vocabulary of English is the largest of any language.