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| Who is Mubeen? | |||
| {{English language}} | |||
| Mubeen is such personality when. | |||
| '''English''' is a ] that originated in ] and is the ] for most people in the ], the ], ], ], the ], ] and the ]. It is used extensively as a ] and as an ] in ] countries and is the preferred language of many ]s. | |||
| Historically, English originated from the dialects, now called ], which were brought to Britain by ] settlers, beginning in the 5th century. The language was heavily influenced by the ] of ] invaders. After the ], Old English developed into ], borrowing heavily from the ] vocabulary and spelling conventions. ] developed from there and continues to adopt foreign words, especially from ] and ]. | |||
| ==Significance== | |||
| Modern English, sometimes described as the first global ],<ref> {{cite web |title=Global English: gift or curse? |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=92238D4607726060BCBD3DB70C472D0F.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=291932 |accessdate=2005-04-04}} </ref><ref name = "Graddol"/> is the ] ] in ]s, ], ], ], ], ] and ].<ref name="triumph">{{cite web |url=http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=883997 |title=The triumph of English |accessdate=2007-03-26 |date=2001-12-20 |publisher=The Economist }}</ref> The initial reason for its enormous spread beyond the bounds of the ], where it was originally a native tongue, was the ], and by the late nineteenth century its reach was truly global.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ehistling-pub.meotod.de/01_lec06.php |title=Lecture 7: World-Wide English |accessdate=2007-03-26|publisher=<sub>E</sub>HistLing }}</ref> It is the dominant language in the United States, whose growing economic and cultural influence and status as a global ] since ] have significantly accelerated adoption of English as a language across the planet.<ref name="Graddol">{{cite web |url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/de/learning-elt-future.pdf |format=PDF|title=The Future of English? |accessdate=2007-04-15 |year=1997 |author=] |publisher=The British Council }}</ref> | |||
| A working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of fields, occupations and professions such as medicine and as a consequence over a billion people speak English to at least a basic level (see ]). | |||
| Linguists such as ] recognize that one impact of this massive growth of English, in common with other global languages, has been to reduce native ] in many parts of the world historically, most particularly in ] and ], and its huge influence continues to play an important role in ]. By a similar token, ], aware of the complex and fluid dynamics of ], are always alive to the potential English contains through the vast size and spread of the communities that use it and its natural internal variety, such as in its ] and ]s, to produce a new ] of distinct languages over time.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} | |||
| English is one of six official languages of the ]. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| {{main|History of the English language}} | |||
| English is a ] language that originated from the ] and ] dialects brought to ] by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern ]{{Fact|date=October 2008}}. One of these German tribes were the ],<ref></ref> who may have come from ], and Bede wrote that their whole nation came to Britain,<ref> </ref> leaving their former land empty. The names 'England' (or 'Aenglaland') and ''English'' are derived from from the name of this tribe. <br> The ]s began invading around 449 AD from the regions of ] and ],<ref></ref><ref></ref> Before the Anglo-Saxons arrived in England the native population spoke ], a ] language.<ref></ref> Although the most significant changes in dialect occurred after the ] of 1066, the language retained its name and the pre-Norman invasion dialect is now known as ].<ref></ref> | |||
| Initially, ] was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of Great Britain{{Fact|date=October 2008}}. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came to dominate. The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of invasion. The first was by language speakers of the ] branch of the Germanic family; they conquered and colonized parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second was the ] in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called ]. These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it was never a truly mixed language in the strict linguistic sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication). | |||
| Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical supplementation of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; the later ] occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the ] branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary. | |||
| The emergence and spread of the ] and the emergence of the ] as a ] helped to spread the English language around the world. | |||
| ==Classification and related languages== | |||
| The English language belongs to the western sub-branch of the ] of the ] family of languages. The closest living relative of English is ], spoken primarily in Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland, which is viewed by linguists as either a separate language or a group of dialects of English. The next closest relative to English after Scots is ], spoken in the Northern Netherlands and Northwest Germany, followed by the other ] (] and ], ], ]), and then the ] (], ], ], ], and ]). With the exception of Scots, none of these languages is mutually intelligible with English, because of divergences in ], ], ], and ].{{Fact|date=April 2008}} | |||
| Lexical differences with the other Germanic languages arise predominately because of the heavy usage in English of words taken from Latin (for example, "exit", vs. Dutch ''uitgang'') (literally "out-gang" with "gang" as in "gangway") and French ("change" vs. German ''Änderung'', "movement" vs. German ''Bewegung'') (literally "othering" and "be-way-ing" ("proceeding along the way")). The syntax of German and Dutch is also significantly different from English, with different rules for setting up sentences (for example, German ''Ich '''habe''' noch nie etwas auf dem Platz '''gesehen''''', vs. English "I '''have''' still never '''seen''' anything in the square"). Semantics causes a number of ] between English and its relatives. Phonology differences obscure words which actually are genetically related ("enough" vs. German ''genug''), and sometimes both semantics ''and'' phonology are different (German ''Zeit'', "time", is related to English "tide", but the English word has come to mean gravitational effects on the ocean by the moon). {{Fact|date=April 2008}} | |||
| Finally, English has been forming compound words and affixing existing words separately from the other Germanic languages for over 1500 years and has different habits in that regard. For instance, abstract nouns in English may be formed from native words by the suffixes -hood, -ship, -dom and -ness. All of these have cognate suffixes in most or all other Germanic languages, but their usage patterns have diverged, as German "Freiheit" vs. English "freedom" (the suffix -heit being cognate of English -hood, while English -dom is cognate with German -tum) | |||
| Many written ] words are also intelligible to an English speaker (though pronunciations are often quite different) because English absorbed a large vocabulary from ] and French, via ] after the Norman Conquest and directly from French in subsequent centuries. As a result, a large portion of English vocabulary is derived from French, with some minor spelling differences (word endings, use of old French spellings, etc.), as well as occasional divergences in meaning of so-called false friends. The pronunciation of most French loanwords in English (with exceptions such as ''mirage'' or phrases like ''coup d’état'') has become completely anglicized and follows a typically English pattern of stress. {{Fact|date=April 2008}} Some North Germanic words also entered English due to the Danish invasion shortly before then (see ]); these include words such as "sky", "window", "egg", and even "]" (and its forms) and "are" (the present plural form of "to be"). {{Fact|date=April 2008}} | |||
| ==Geographical distribution== | |||
| {{Seealso | List of countries by English-speaking population}} | |||
| {{English official language clickable map}} | |||
| ] | |||
| Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language.<ref>Curtis, Andy. ''Color, Race, And English Language Teaching: Shades of Meaning''. 2006, page 192.</ref> English today is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after ] and ].<ref name = "ethnologue"></ref><ref name = "CIA World Factbook">, Field Listing - Languages (World).</ref> However, when combining native and non-native speakers it is probably the most commonly spoken language in the world, though possibly second to a combination of the ]s (depending on whether or not distinctions in the latter are classified as "languages" or "dialects)".<ref name = "Languages of the World">, Comrie (1998), Weber (1997), and the Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) 1999 Ethnologue Survey. Available at </ref><ref name=Mair>{{cite journal|url=http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp029_chinese_dialect.pdf|format=PDF|journal=Sino-Platonic Papers|last=Mair|first=Victor H.|authorlink=Victor H. Mair|title=What Is a Chinese "Dialect/Topolect"? Reflections on Some Key Sino-English Linguistic Terms|year=1991}}</ref> Estimates that include ] speakers vary greatly from 470 million to over a billion depending on how ] or mastery is defined.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://columbia.tfd.com/English+language |title=English language |accessdate=2007-03-26 |year=2005 |publisher=Columbia University Press }}</ref><ref></ref> There are some who claim that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1.<ref>, Newsweek International, 7 March edition, 2007.</ref> | |||
| The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are, in descending order: United States (215 million),<ref name="US speakers">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/pop.pdf|title=U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003, Section 1 Population|format=pdf|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|pages=59 pages|language=English}} Table 47 gives the figure of 214,809,000 for those five years old and over who speak exclusively English at home. Based on the American Community Survey, these results exclude those living communally (such as college dormitories, institutions, and group homes), and by definition exclude native English speakers who speak more than one language at home.</ref> United Kingdom (58 million),<ref name="Crystal"> (2003-08-03).]</ref> Canada (18.2 million),<ref name="Canada speakers">, Census 2006, ].</ref> Australia (15.5 million),<ref name="Australia speakers"> Main Language Spoken at Home. The figure is the number of people who only speak English at home.</ref> ] (3.8 million),<ref name="Crystal" /> South Africa (3.7 million),<ref name="SA speakers">, page 15 (Table 2.5), 2001 Census, ].</ref> and New Zealand (3.0-3.7 million).<ref name="NZ speakers">, 2006 Census, ]. No figure is given for the number of native speakers, but it would be somewhere between the number of people who spoke English only (3,008,058) and the total number of English speakers (3,673,623), if one ignores the 197,187 people who did not provide a usable answer.</ref> Countries such as ] and ] also have millions of native speakers of ] ranging from an ] to a more standard version of English. Of those nations where English is spoken as a second language, India has the most such speakers (']') and linguistics professor ] claims that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in the world.<ref>, Crystal, David; Guardian Weekly: Friday 19 November 2004.</ref> Following India is the ].<ref>Yong Zhao; Keith P. Campbell (1995). "English in China". World Englishes 14 (3): 377–390. Hong Kong contributes an additional 2.5 million speakers (1996 by-census]).</ref> | |||
| ===Countries in order of total speakers=== | |||
| {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" | |||
| |- | |||
| ! Rank !! Country !! Total !! Percent of population !! First language !! As an additional language !! class="unsortable" | Comment | |||
| |- | |||
| |1|| ] ||251,388,301||83%||215,423,557||35,964,744||<small>Source: US Census 2006: , Table 1. Figure for second language speakers are respondents who reported they do not speak English at home but know it "very well" or "well". Note: figures are for population age 5 and older</small> | |||
| |- | |||
| |2|| ] ||90,000,000||8%||178,598||65,000,000 ''second'' language speakers.<br/> 25,000,000 ''third'' language speakers ||<small>Figures include both those who speak English as a ''second language'' and those who speak it as a ''third language''. 1991 figures.<ref>Census of India's , Issue 10, 2003, pp 8-10, (Feature: Languages of West Bengal in Census and Surveys, Bilingualism and Trilingualism).</ref><ref> Tropf, Herbert S. 2004. | |||
| . Siemens AG, Munich</ref> The figures include English ''speakers'', but not English ''users''.<ref> For the distinction between "English Speakers," and "English Users," please see: TESOL-India (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)], . Their article explains the difference between the 350 million number mentioned in a previous version of this Misplaced Pages article and a more plausible 90 million number: {{cquote|"Misplaced Pages's India estimate of 350 million includes two categories - "English Speakers" and "English Users". The distinction between the Speakers and Users is that Users only know how to read English words while Speakers know how to read English, understand spoken English as well as form their own sentences to converse in English. The distinction becomes clear when you consider the China numbers. China has over 200~350 million users that can read English words but, as anyone can see on the streets of China, only handful of million who are English speakers."}} </ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| |3|| ] ||79,000,000||53%||4,000,000||>75,000,000||<small>Figures are for speakers of ], an English-based pidgin or creole. Ihemere gives a range of roughly 3 to 5 million native speakers; the midpoint of the range is used in the table. Ihemere, Kelechukwu Uchechukwu. 2006. "" ''Nordic Journal of African Studies'' 15(3): 296–313.</small> | |||
| |- | |||
| |4|| ] ||59,600,000||98%||58,100,000||1,500,000||<small>Source: Crystal (2005), p. 109.</small> | |||
| |- | |||
| |5|| ] ||45,900,000||52%||27,000||42,500,000||<small>Total speakers: Census 2000, . 63.71% of the 66.7 million people aged 5 years or more could speak English. Native speakers: Census 1995, as quoted by Andrew Gonzalez in , Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 19 (5&6), 487-525. (1998)</small> | |||
| |- | |||
| |6|| ] ||25,246,220||76%||17,694,830||7,551,390||<small>Source: 2001 Census - and . The native speakers figure comprises 122,660 people with both French and English as a mother tongue, plus 17,572,170 people with English and not French as a mother tongue.</small> | |||
| |- | |||
| |7|| ] ||18,172,989|| 92% ||15,581,329||2,591,660||<small>Source: 2006 Census.<ref></ref> The figure shown in the first language English speakers column is actually the number of Australian residents who speak only English at home. The additional language column shows the number of other residents who claim to speak English "well" or "very well". Another 5% of residents did not state their home language or English proficiency.</small> | |||
| |} | |||
| English is the primary language in ], ], Australia (]), the ], ], ], ] (]), the ], the ], Canada (]), the ], the ], ], ], ], ] (]), ], Ireland (]), ] (]), Jamaica (]), ], ], ], ] (]), ], ], ], ], ], ], ], the ], the United Kingdom, the ], and the United States. | |||
| In many other countries, where English is not the most spoken language, it is an official language; these countries include ], ], ], ], the ], ], ], India, ], ], ], ], ], ], the ], ], ], ], ], ], ], the ] (]), ], ], the ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. It is also one of the 11 official languages that are given equal status in ] (]). English is also the official language in current ] of Australia (], ] and ]) and of the United States (], ] and ])<ref>{{citation | |||
| |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vyQDYqz2kFsC&pg=RA1-PA62&lpg=RA1-PA62&dq=%22puerto+rico%22+official+language+1993&source=web&ots=AZKLran6u3&sig=8fkQ9gwM0B0kwVYMNtXr-_9dnro | |||
| |title=Puerto Rico: Culture, Politics, and Identity | |||
| |author=Nancy Morris | |||
| |year=1995 | |||
| |publisher=Praeger/Greenwood | |||
| |isbn=0275952282 | |||
| |pages=62}}</ref>, former British colony of ], and ]. | |||
| English is an important language in several former ] and ]s of the United Kingdom but falls short of official status, such as in ], ], ], ] and ]. English is also not an official language in either the United States or the United Kingdom.<ref>, National Virtual Translation Center, 2006.</ref><ref>, Official Language Research{{ndash}} United Kingdom.</ref> Although the United States federal government has no official languages, English has been given official status by 30 of the 50 state governments.<ref></ref> English is not a '']'' official language of ]; however, the country has maintained official language use a ''de facto'' role for English since the British mandate.<ref>, Language Policy Research Center</ref> | |||
| ===English as a global language=== | |||
| {{See also|English in computing|International English|World language}} | |||
| Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "]," the '']'' of the modern era.<ref name = "Graddol"/> While English is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a ] around the world. Some linguists{{Who|date=November 2007}} believe that it is no longer the exclusive cultural sign of "native English speakers", but is rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} English is an official language of the ] and many other international organizations, including the ]. | |||
| English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), and Spanish (8%).<ref></ref> In the EU, a large fraction of the population reports being able to converse to some extent in English. Among non-English speaking countries, a large percentage of the population claimed to be able to converse in English in the ] (87%), ] (85%), ] (83%), ] (66%), ] (60%), ] (56%), ] (53%), ] (52%), and Germany (51%).<ref></ref> ] and ] also have a large majority of competent English-speakers.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} | |||
| ]s, ]s, and ]s written in English are available in many countries around the world. English is also the most commonly used language in the ]s.<ref name="Graddol"/> In 1997, the ] reported that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries. | |||
| ===Dialects and regional varieties=== | |||
| {{main | List of dialects of the English language}} | |||
| The expansion of the British Empire and—since ]—the influence of the United States have spread English throughout the globe.<ref name="Graddol"/> Because of that global spread, English has developed a host of ] and English-based ]s and ]s. | |||
| Two educated native dialects of English have wide acceptance as standards in much of the world—one based on educated southern British and the other based on educated Midwestern American. The former is sometimes called BBC English, and it may be noticeable by its preference for "]"; it typifies the ], which is the standard for the teaching of English to speakers of other languages in Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and other areas influenced either by the British Commonwealth or by a desire not to be identified with the United States. The latter, which is spread over most of the United States and much of Canada, is more typically the model for the American continents and areas (such as the ]) which have had either close association with the United States or desire to be so identified. Aside from those two major dialects are numerous other ] of English, which include, in most cases, several subvarieties, such as ] within ]; ] within ]; and ] ("Ebonics") and ] within ]. English is a ], without a central language authority like France's ]; and therefore no one variety is considered "correct" or "incorrect" except in terms of the expectations of the particular audience to which the language is directed. | |||
| ] developed—largely independently{{Fact|date=May 2008}}—from the same origins, but following the ] a process of ] began, whereby successive generations adopted more and more features from English causing dialectalisation. Whether it is now a separate language or a ] of English better described as ] is in dispute. The pronunciation, grammar and lexis of the traditional forms differ, sometimes substantially, from other varieties of English. | |||
| Because of the wide use of English as a second language, English speakers have many different ], which often signal the speaker's native dialect or language. For the more distinctive characteristics of regional accents, see ], and for the more distinctive characteristics of regional dialects, see ]. Within England, variation is now largely confined to pronunciation rather than grammar or vocabulary. At the time of the ], grammar and vocabulary differed across the country, but a process of ''lexical attrition'' has led most of this variation to die out.<ref>Peter Trudgill, ''The Dialects of England'' 2nd edition, page 125, Blackwell, Oxford, 2002</ref> | |||
| Just as English itself has borrowed words from many different languages over its history, English ]s now appear in many languages around the world, indicative of the technological and cultural influence of its speakers. Several ]s and ]s have been formed on an English base, such as ], ], and ]. There are many words in English coined to describe forms of particular non-English languages that contain a very high proportion of English words. | |||
| ===Constructed varieties of English=== | |||
| * ] is simplified for easy international use. Manufacturers and other international businesses tend to write manuals and communicate in Basic English. Some English schools in Asia teach it as a practical subset of English for use by beginners. | |||
| * ] excludes forms of the verb ''to be''. | |||
| * ] is an attempt to improve collectively upon the English language. | |||
| * ] is a concept of standardising English for use as a second language in continental Europe. | |||
| * ]{{ndash}} a variety of systems have been developed to represent the English language with hand signals, designed primarily for use in deaf education. These should not be confused with true sign languages such as ] and ] used in Anglophone countries, which are independent and not based on English. | |||
| * ] and the related ] and Policespeak, all based on restricted vocabularies, were designed by ] in the 1980s to aid international cooperation and communication in specific areas. There is also a ] for use in the ]. | |||
| * ] is a simplified version of English used by the ]. It uses a vocabulary of only 1500 words. | |||
| ] (also ''EuroEnglish'' or ''Euro-English'') terms are English translations of foreign ], that is, European concepts that are not native to English-speaking countries. Because of the United Kingdom's (and even the Republic of Ireland's) involvement in the European Union, the usage focuses on non-British concepts. This kind of Euro-English was parodied when English was "made" one of the constituent languages of ]. | |||
| ==Phonology== | |||
| {{main | English phonology}} | |||
| ===Vowels=== | |||
| {{seealso|IPA chart for English dialects}} | |||
| {{cleanup-section|date=December 2008}} | |||
| It is the ]s that differ most from region to region. | |||
| Where symbols appear in pairs, the first corresponds to American English, ] accent; the second corresponds to British English, ]. | |||
| {| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" class="wikitable" | |||
| !] !! Description !! word | |||
| |- | |||
| ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left; background:#dedede"| ]s | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | i/iː}} || ] || b{{bold dark red|ea}}d | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɪ}} || ] || b{{bold dark red|i}}d | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɛ}} || ] || b{{bold dark red|e}}d | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | æ}} || ] || b{{bold dark red|a}}d | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɒ}} || ] || b{{bold dark red|o}}x<ref group="vn" name="n1">American English lacks this sound; words with this sound are pronounced with {{IPA | /ɑ/}} or {{IPA | /ɔ/}}. See ].</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɔ/ɑ}} || ] || p{{bold dark red|aw}}ed<ref group="vn" name="n2">Some dialects of North American English do not have this vowel. See ].</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɑ/ɑː}} || ] || br{{bold dark red|a}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ʊ}} || ] || g{{bold dark red|oo}}d | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | u/uː}} || ] || b{{bold dark red|oo}}ed<ref group="vn" name="n7">The letter <''U''> can represent either {{IPA|/u/}} or the ] vowel {{IPA|/ju/}}. In BRP, if this iotated vowel {{IPA|/ju/}} occurs after {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/s/}} or {{IPA|/z/}}, it often triggers palatalization of the preceding consonant, turning it to {{IPA|/ʨ/}}, {{IPA|/ʥ/}}, {{IPA|/ɕ/}} and {{IPA|/ʑ/}} respectively, as in ''tune'', ''during'', ''sugar'', and ''azure''. In American English, palatalization does not generally happen unless the {{IPA|/ju/}} is followed by ''r'', with the result that {{IPA|/(t, d,s, z)jur/}} turn to {{IPA|/tʃɚ/}}, {{IPA|/dʒɚ/}}, {{IPA|/ʃɚ/}} and {{IPA|/ʒɚ/}} respectively, as in ''nature'', ''verdure'', ''sure'', and ''treasure''.</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ʌ/ɐ/ɘ}} || ], ] || b{{bold dark red|u}}d | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɝ/ɜː}} || ] || b{{bold dark red|ir}}d<ref group="vn" name="n3">The North American variation of this sound is a ].</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ə}} || ] || Ros{{bold dark red|a}}'s<ref group="vn" name="n4">Many speakers of North American English do not distinguish between these two unstressed vowels. For them, ''roses'' and ''Rosa's'' are pronounced the same, and the symbol usually used is ] {{IPA | /ə/}}.</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɨ}} || ] || ros{{bold dark red|e}}s<ref group="vn" name="n4"/><ref group="vn" name="n5">This sound is often transcribed with {{IPA | /i/}} or with {{IPA | /ɪ/}}.</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left; background:#dedede"| ]s | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | e(ɪ)/eɪ}} || ] <br> ] || b{{bold dark red|ay}}ed<ref group="vn" name="n6">The diphthongs {{IPA | /eɪ/}} and {{IPA | /oʊ/}} are monophthongal for many General American speakers, as {{IPA | /eː/}} and {{IPA | /oː/}}.</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | o(ʊ)/əʊ}} || ] <br> ] || b{{bold dark red|o}}de<ref group="vn" name="n6"/> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | aɪ}} || ] <br> ] || cr{{bold dark red|y}}<ref group="vn" name="n8">] plays a phonetic role in the majority of English dialects, and is said to be phonemic in a few dialects, such as ] and ]. In certain dialects of the modern English language, for instance ], there is allophonic vowel length: vowel phonemes are realized as long vowel allophones before voiced consonant phonemes in the coda of a syllable. Before the ], vowel length was phonemically contrastive.</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | aʊ}} || ] <br> ] || b{{bold dark red|ough}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɔɪ}} || ] <br> ] || b{{bold dark red|oy}} | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ʊɚ/ʊə}} || ] <br> ] || b{{bold dark red|oor}}<ref group="vn" name="n9">This sound only occurs in non-rhotic accents. In some accents, this sound may be {{IPA|/ɔː/}} instead of {{IPA|/ʊə/}}. See ].</ref> | |||
| |- | |||
| | {{IPA | ɛɚ/ɛə/eɚ}} || ] <br> ] || f{{bold dark red|air}}<ref group="vn" name="n10">This sound only occurs in non-rhotic accents. In some accents, the schwa offglide of {{IPA|/ɛə/}} may be dropped, monophthising and lengthening the sound to {{IPA|/ɛː/}}.</ref> | |||
| |} | |||
| ====Notes==== | |||
| <references group="vn"/> | |||
| <!--# American English lacks this sound; words with this sound are pronounced with {{IPA | /ɑ/}} or {{IPA | /ɔ/}}. See ]. | |||
| # Some dialects of North American English do not have this vowel. See ]. | |||
| # The North American variation of this sound is a ]. | |||
| # Many speakers of North American English do not distinguish between these two unstressed vowels. For them, ''roses'' and ''Rosa's'' are pronounced the same, and the symbol usually used is ] {{IPA | /ə/}}. | |||
| # This sound is often transcribed with {{IPA | /i/}} or with {{IPA | /ɪ/}}. | |||
| # The diphthongs {{IPA | /eɪ/}} and {{IPA | /oʊ/}} are monophthongal for many General American speakers, as {{IPA | /eː/}} and {{IPA | /oː/}}. | |||
| # The letter <''U''> can represent either {{IPA|/u/}} or the ] vowel {{IPA|/ju/}}. In BRP, if this iotated vowel {{IPA|/ju/}} occurs after {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/s/}} or {{IPA|/z/}}, it often triggers palatalization of the preceding consonant, turning it to {{IPA|/ʨ/}}, {{IPA|/ʥ/}}, {{IPA|/ɕ/}} and {{IPA|/ʑ/}} respectively, as in ''tune'', ''during'', ''sugar'', and ''azure''. In American English, palatalization does not generally happen unless the {{IPA|/ju/}} is followed by ''r'', with the result that {{IPA|/(t, d,s, z)jur/}} turn to {{IPA|/tʃɚ/}}, {{IPA|/dʒɚ/}}, {{IPA|/ʃɚ/}} and {{IPA|/ʒɚ/}} respectively, as in ''nature'', ''verdure'', ''sure'', and ''treasure''. | |||
| # ] plays a phonetic role in the majority of English dialects, and is said to be phonemic in a few dialects, such as ] and ]. In certain dialects of the modern English language, for instance ], there is allophonic vowel length: vowel phonemes are realized as long vowel allophones before voiced consonant phonemes in the coda of a syllable. Before the ], vowel length was phonemically contrastive. | |||
| # This sound only occurs in non-rhotic accents. In some accents, this sound may be {{IPA|/ɔː/}} instead of {{IPA|/ʊə/}}. See ]. | |||
| # This sound only occurs in non-rhotic accents. In some accents, the schwa offglide of {{IPA|/ɛə/}} may be dropped, monophthising and lengthening the sound to {{IPA|/ɛː/}}.--> | |||
| ===Consonants=== | |||
| This is the English consonantal system using symbols from the ] (IPA). | |||
| {| class="wikitable" | |||
| ! | |||
| !] | |||
| !] | |||
| !] | |||
| !] | |||
| !] | |||
| !] | |||
| !] | |||
| !] | |||
| !] | |||
| |- | |||
| !] | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | m}} | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;" |{{IPA | n}} | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | ŋ}}<ref group="cn" name="c1">The ] {{IPA | }} is a non-phonemic allophone of /n/ in some northerly British accents, appearing only before /k/ and /g/. In all other dialects it is a separate phoneme, although it only occurs in ]s.</ref> | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| |- | |||
| !] | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | p b}} | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;" |{{IPA | t d}} | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | k ɡ}} | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| |- | |||
| !] | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;" |{{IPA | tʃ dʒ}}<ref group="cn" name="c4">The sounds {{IPA | /ʃ/, /ʒ/, and /ɹ/}} are labialised in some dialects. Labialisation is never contrastive in initial position and therefore is sometimes not transcribed. Most speakers of ] realize <r> (always rhoticized) as the ] {{IPA|/ɻ/}}, whereas the same is realized in ], etc. as the ].</ref> | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| |- | |||
| !] | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | f v}} | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | θ ð}}<ref group="cn" name="c3">In some dialects, such as ], the interdentals /θ/ and /ð/ are usually merged with /f/ and /v/, and in others, like ], /ð/ is merged with dental /d/. In some Irish varieties, /θ/ and /ð/ become the corresponding dental plosives, which then contrast with the usual alveolar plosives.</ref> | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | s z}} | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | ʃ ʒ}}<ref group="cn" name="c4"/> | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | ç}}<ref group="cn" name="c5"> The ] /ç/ is in most accents just an ] of /h/ before /j/; for instance ''human'' /çjuːmən/. However, in some accents (see ]), the /j/ is dropped, but the initial consonant is the same.</ref> | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | x}}<ref group="cn" name="c6">The ] /x/ is used by Scottish or Welsh speakers of English for Scots/Gaelic words such as ''loch'' {{IPA | /lɒx/}} or by some speakers for loanwords from German and Hebrew like ''Bach'' {{IPA|/bax/}} or ''Chanukah'' /xanuka/. /x/ is also used in South African English. In some dialects such as ] (]) either {{IPA|}} or the ] {{IPA|}} may be used as an ] of /k/ in words such as ''docker'' {{IPA | }}. Most native speakers have a great deal of trouble pronouncing it correctly when learning a foreign language. Most speakers use the sounds and instead.</ref> | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | h}} | |||
| |- | |||
| !] | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;" |{{IPA | ɾ}}{{#tag:ref|The ] {{IPA | }} is an allophone of /t/ and /d/ in unstressed syllables in ] and ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cox |first=Felicity |year=2006 |title=Australian English Pronunciation into the 21st century |url=http://www.shlrc.mq.edu.au/~felicity/Papers/Prospect_Erratum_v1.pdf |format=PDF|accessdate=2007-07-22 |journal=Prospect |volume=21 |pages=3–21}}</ref> This is the sound of ''tt'' or ''dd'' in the words ''latter'' and ''ladder'', which are homophones for many speakers of North American English. In some accents such as ] and ] it replaces {{IPA|/ɹ/}}. This is the same sound represented by single ''r'' in most varieties of ].|group=cn|name=c2}} | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| |- | |||
| !] | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;" |{{IPA | ɹ}}<ref group="cn" name="c4" /> | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | j}} | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;"|{{IPA | ʍ w}}<ref group="cn" name="c7">Voiceless w {{IPA | }} is found in Scottish and Irish English, as well as in some varieties of American, New Zealand, and English English. In most other dialects it is merged with /w/, in some dialects of Scots it is merged with /f/.</ref> | |||
| | | |||
| |- | |||
| !] | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | style="text-align:center;" |{{IPA | l}} | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| | | |||
| |} | |||
| ====Notes==== | |||
| <references group="cn" /> | |||
| <!--# The ] {{IPA | }} is a non-phonemic allophone of /n/ in some northerly British accents, appearing only before /k/ and /g/. In all other dialects it is a separate phoneme, although it only occurs in ]s. | |||
| # The ] {{IPA | }} is an allophone of /t/ and /d/ in unstressed syllables in ] and ].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cox |first=Felicity |year=2006 |title=Australian English Pronunciation into the 21st century |url=http://www.shlrc.mq.edu.au/~felicity/Papers/Prospect_Erratum_v1.pdf |format=PDF|accessdate=2007-07-22 |journal=Prospect |volume=21 |pages=3–21}}</ref> This is the sound of ''tt'' or ''dd'' in the words ''latter'' and ''ladder'', which are homophones for many speakers of North American English. In some accents such as ] and ] it replaces {{IPA|/ɹ/}}. This is the same sound represented by single ''r'' in most varieties of ]. | |||
| # In some dialects, such as ], the interdentals /θ/ and /ð/ are usually merged with /f/ and /v/, and in others, like ], /ð/ is merged with dental /d/. In some Irish varieties, /θ/ and /ð/ become the corresponding dental plosives, which then contrast with the usual alveolar plosives. | |||
| # The sounds {{IPA | /ʃ/, /ʒ/, and /ɹ/}} are labialised in some dialects. Labialisation is never contrastive in initial position and therefore is sometimes not transcribed. Most speakers of ] realize <r> (always rhoticized) as the ] {{IPA|/ɻ/}}, whereas the same is realized in ], etc. as the ]. | |||
| # The ] /ç/ is in most accents just an ] of /h/ before /j/; for instance ''human'' /çjuːmən/. However, in some accents (see ]), the /j/ is dropped, but the initial consonant is the same. | |||
| # The ] /x/ is used by Scottish or Welsh speakers of English for Scots/Gaelic words such as ''loch'' {{IPA | /lɒx/}} or by some speakers for loanwords from German and Hebrew like ''Bach'' {{IPA|/bax/}} or ''Chanukah'' /xanuka/. /x/ is also used in South African English. In some dialects such as ] (]) either {{IPA|}} or the ] {{IPA|}} may be used as an ] of /k/ in words such as ''docker'' {{IPA | }}. Most native speakers have a great deal of trouble pronouncing it correctly when learning a foreign language. Most speakers use the sounds and instead. | |||
| # Voiceless w {{IPA | }} is found in Scottish and Irish English, as well as in some varieties of American, New Zealand, and English English. In most other dialects it is merged with /w/, in some dialects of Scots it is merged with /f/.--> | |||
| ====Voicing and aspiration==== | |||
| ] and ] of ]s in English depend on dialect and context, but a few general rules can be given: | |||
| * Voiceless ] and ] (/{{IPA | p}}/, /{{IPA | t}}/, /{{IPA | k}}/, and /{{IPA | tʃ}}/) are aspirated when they are word-initial or begin a stressed syllable{{ndash}} compare ''pin'' {{IPA | }} and ''spin'' {{IPA | }}, ''crap'' {{IPA | }} and ''scrap'' {{IPA | }}. | |||
| ** In some dialects, aspiration extends to unstressed syllables as well. | |||
| ** In other dialects, such as ], all voiceless stops remain unaspirated. | |||
| * Word-initial voiced plosives may be devoiced in some dialects. | |||
| * Word-terminal voiceless plosives may be unreleased or accompanied by a glottal stop in some dialects (e.g. many varieties of ]){{ndash}} examples: ''tap'' , ''sack'' . | |||
| * Word-terminal voiced plosives may be devoiced in some dialects (e.g. some varieties of ]){{ndash}} examples: ''sad'' , ''bag'' . In other dialects, they are fully voiced in final position, but only partially voiced in initial position. | |||
| ===Supra-segmental features=== | |||
| ====Tone groups==== | |||
| English is an ]. This means that the ] of the ] is used ], for example, to convey ] and ], or to change a ] into a ]. | |||
| In English, intonation patterns are on groups of words, which are called tone groups, tone units, intonation groups or sense groups. Tone groups are said on a single breath and, as a consequence, are of limited length, more often being on average five words long or lasting roughly two seconds. For example: | |||
| : -{{IPA | /duː juː niːd ˈɛnɪˌθɪŋ/}} ''Do you need anything?'' | |||
| : -{{IPA | <nowiki>/aɪ dəʊnt | nəʊ/</nowiki>}} ''I don't, no'' | |||
| : -{{IPA | /aɪ dəʊnt nəʊ/}} ''I don't know'' (contracted to, for example, -{{IPA | /aɪ dəʊnəʊ/}} or {{IPA | /aɪ dənəʊ/}} ''I dunno'' in fast or colloquial speech that de-emphasises the pause between don't and know even further) | |||
| ====Characteristics of intonation==== | |||
| English is a strongly ]ed language, in that certain syllables, both within words and within phrases, get a relative prominence/loudness during pronunciation while the others do not. The former kind of syllables are said to be ''accentuated/stressed'' and the latter are ''unaccentuated/unstressed''. | |||
| Hence in a sentence, each tone group can be subdivided into syllables, which can either be stressed (strong) or unstressed (weak). The stressed syllable is called the nuclear syllable. For example: | |||
| : ''That | was | the | <u>'''best'''</u> | thing | you | could | have | '''done'''!'' | |||
| Here, all syllables are unstressed, except the syllables/words ''best'' and ''done'', which are stressed. ''Best'' is stressed harder and, therefore, is the nuclear syllable. | |||
| The nuclear syllable carries the main point the speaker wishes to make. For example: | |||
| : ''John'' had not stolen that money. (... Someone else had.) | |||
| : John ''had not'' stolen that money. (... Someone said he had. or ... Not at that time, but later he did.) | |||
| : John had not ''stolen'' that money. (... He acquired the money by some other means.) | |||
| : John had not stolen ''that'' money. (... He had stolen some other money.) | |||
| : John had not stolen that ''money''. (... He had stolen something else.) | |||
| Also | |||
| : ''I'' did not tell her that. (... Someone else told her) | |||
| : I ''did not'' tell her that. (... You said I did. or ... but now I will) | |||
| : I did not ''tell'' her that. (... I did not say it; she could have inferred it, etc) | |||
| : I did not tell ''her'' that. (... I told someone else) | |||
| : I did not tell her ''that''. (... I told her something else) | |||
| This can also be used to express emotion: | |||
| : ''Oh'', really? (...I did not know that) | |||
| : Oh, ''really''? (...I disbelieve you. or ... That is blatantly obvious) | |||
| The nuclear syllable is spoken more loudly than the others and has a characteristic '''change of pitch'''. The changes of pitch most commonly encountered in English are the '''rising pitch''' and the '''falling pitch''', although the '''fall-rising pitch''' and/or the '''rise-falling pitch''' are sometimes used. In this opposition between falling and rising pitch, which plays a larger role in English than in most other languages, falling pitch conveys certainty and rising pitch uncertainty. This can have a crucial impact on meaning, specifically in relation to polarity, the positive–negative opposition; thus, falling pitch means, "polarity known", while rising pitch means "polarity unknown". This underlies the rising pitch of yes/no questions. For example: | |||
| : ''When do you want to be paid?'' | |||
| : ''Now?'' (Rising pitch. In this case, it denotes a question: "Can I be paid now?" or "Do you desire to pay now?") | |||
| : ''Now.'' (Falling pitch. In this case, it denotes a statement: "I choose to be paid now.") | |||
| ==Grammar== | |||
| {{main | English grammar}} | |||
| English grammar has minimal ] compared with most other ]. For example, Modern English, unlike Modern German or Dutch and the ], lacks ] and ]. ] marking has almost disappeared from the language and mainly survives in ]s. The patterning of ] (e.g. ''speak/spoke/spoken'') versus ] inherited from its Germanic origins has declined in importance in modern English, and the remnants of inflection (such as ] marking) have become more regular. | |||
| At the same time, the language has become more ], and has developed features such as ]s and ] as resources for conveying meaning. ]s mark constructions such as questions, negative polarity, the ] and progressive ]. | |||
| ==Vocabulary== | |||
| The English vocabulary has changed considerably over the centuries.<ref>For the processes and triggers of English vocabulary changes cf. </ref> | |||
| {{wiktionary|Appendix:List of Proto-Indo-European roots}} | |||
| Like many languages deriving from ] (PIE), many of the most common words in English can trace back their origin (through the Germanic branch) to PIE. Such words include the basic pronouns ''I'', from ] ''ic'', (cf. Latin ''ego'', Greek ''ego'', Sanskrit ''aham''), ''me'' (cf. Latin ''me'', Greek ''eme'', Sanskrit ''mam''), numbers (e.g. ''one'', ''two'', ''three'', cf. Latin ''unus, duo, tres'', Greek ''oinos'' "ace (on dice)", ''duo, treis''), common family relationships such as mother, father, brother, sister etc (cf. Greek "meter", Latin "mater", Sanskrit "matṛ"; ''mother''), names of many animals (cf. Sankrit ''mus'', Greek ''mys'', Latin ''mus''; ''mouse''), and many common verbs (cf. Greek ''gignōmi'', Latin ''gnoscere'', Hittite ''kanes'';'' to know''). | |||
| Germanic words (generally words of Old English or to a lesser extent Norse origin) tend to be shorter than the Latinate words of English and more common in ordinary speech. This includes nearly all the basic pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, modal verbs etc. that form the basis of English syntax and grammar. The longer Latinate words are often regarded as more elegant or educated. However, the excessive use of Latinate words is considered at times to be either pretentious or an attempt to ] an issue. ]'s ] "]", considered an important scrutinization of the English language, is critical of this, as well as other perceived misuse of the language. | |||
| An English speaker is in many cases able to choose between Germanic and Latinate ]s: ''come'' or ''arrive''; ''sight'' or ''vision''; ''freedom'' or ''liberty''. In some cases, there is a choice between a Germanic derived word (''oversee''), a Latin derived word (''supervise''), and a French word derived from the same Latin word (''survey''). Such synonyms harbor a variety of different meanings and nuances, enabling the speaker to express fine variations or shades of thought. Familiarity with the ] of groups of synonyms can give English speakers greater control over their ]. See: ]. | |||
| An exception to this and a peculiarity perhaps unique to English is that the nouns for meats are commonly different from, and unrelated to, those for the animals from which they are produced, the animal commonly having a Germanic name and the meat having a French-derived one. Examples include: '']'' and '']''; '']'' and '']''; ''swine''/'']'' and '']'', or '']'' and '']''. This is assumed to be a result of the aftermath of the Norman invasion, where a French-speaking elite were the consumers of the meat, produced by Anglo-Saxon lower classes.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} | |||
| Since the majority of words used in informal settings will normally be Germanic, such words are often the preferred choices when a speaker wishes to make a point in an argument in a very direct way. A majority of Latinate words (or at least a majority of content words) will normally be used in more formal speech and writing, such as a ]room or an ] article.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}<!--The previous two sentences are poppycock and should be removed. No wonder there's no reference--> However, there are other Latinate words that are used normally in everyday speech and do not sound formal; these are mainly words for concepts that no longer have Germanic words, and are generally assimilated better and in many cases do not appear Latinate. For instance, the words ''mountain'', ''valley'', ''river'', ''aunt'', ''uncle'', ''move'', ''use'', ''push'' and ''stay'' are all Latinate. | |||
| English easily accepts technical terms into common usage and often imports new words and phrases. Examples of this phenomenon include: '']'', '']'' and '']'' (technical terms), as well as '']'', '']'', '']'' and ''amigo'' (imported words/phrases from French, German, modern Latin, and Spanish, respectively). In addition, ] often provides new meanings for old words and phrases. In fact, this fluidity is so pronounced that a distinction often needs to be made between formal forms of English and contemporary usage. | |||
| See also: ]. | |||
| ===Number of words in English=== | |||
| The ''General Explanations'' at the beginning of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states: | |||
| {{cquote|The Vocabulary of a widely diffused and highly cultivated living language is not a fixed quantity circumscribed by definite limits... there is absolutely no defining line in any direction: the circle of the English language has a well-defined centre but no discernible circumference.}} | |||
| The vocabulary of English is undoubtedly vast, but assigning a specific number to its size is more a matter of definition than of calculation. Unlike other languages, such as ], ], ] and ] there is no ] to define officially accepted words and spellings. ]s are coined regularly in medicine, science and technology and other fields, and new ] is constantly developed. Some of these new words enter wide usage; others remain restricted to small circles. Foreign words used in immigrant communities often make their way into wider English usage. Archaic, dialectal, and regional words might or might not be widely considered as "English". | |||
| The ''],'' 2nd edition ''(OED2)'' includes over 600,000 definitions, following a rather inclusive policy: | |||
| {{cquote|It embraces not only the standard language of literature and conversation, whether current at the moment, or obsolete, or archaic, but also the main technical vocabulary, and a large measure of dialectal usage and slang (Supplement to the ''OED,'' 1933).<ref>It went on to clarify,{{cquote|Hence we exclude all words that had become obsolete by 1150 ] era] . . . Dialectal words and forms which occur since 1500 are not admitted, except when they continue the history of the word or sense once in general use, illustrate the history of a word, or have themselves a certain literary currency.}}</ref>}} | |||
| The editors of '']'' (475,000 main headwords) in their preface, estimate the number to be much higher. It is estimated that about 25,000 words are added to the language each year.<ref>Kister, Ken. "Dictionaries defined." ''Library Journal,'' 6/15/92, Vol. 117 Issue 11, p43, 4p, 2bw</ref> | |||
| ===Word origins=== | |||
| {{main|Lists of English words of international origin}} | |||
| One of the consequences of the French influence is that the vocabulary of English is, to a certain extent, divided between those words which are ] (mostly West Germanic, with a smaller influence from the North Germanic branch) and those which are "Latinate" (Latin-derived, either directly or from Norman French or other Romance languages). | |||
| 83% of the 1,000 most common English words, and all of the 100 most common, are Germanic.<ref></ref> Conversely, a vast majority of more advanced words from subjects such as the sciences, philosophy, math, etc. come from Latin or Greek. A noticeable amount of words from astronomy, math, and chemistry are from Arabic. | |||
| Numerous sets of statistics have been proposed to demonstrate the proportionate origins of English vocabulary. None, as of yet, is considered definitive by most linguists. | |||
| A computerised survey of about 80,000 words in the old ''Shorter Oxford Dictionary'' (3rd ed.) was published in ''Ordered Profusion'' by Thomas Finkenstaedt and Dieter Wolff (1973)<ref>{{cite book |last=Finkenstaedt |first=Thomas |coauthors=Dieter Wolff |title=Ordered profusion; studies in dictionaries and the English lexicon |publisher=C. Winter |year=1973 |isbn=3-533-02253-6}}</ref> that estimated the origin of English words as follows: | |||
| ] | |||
| * '']'', including French and ]: ] | |||
| * Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24% | |||
| * Other ] (including words directly inherited from ]): 25% | |||
| * Greek: 5.32% | |||
| * No etymology given: 4.03% | |||
| * Derived from proper names: 3.28% | |||
| * All other languages contributed less than 1% | |||
| A survey by ] in ''Origins of the English Language'' of 10,000 words taken from several thousand business letters gave this set of statistics:<ref></ref> | |||
| * French (langue d'oïl): 41% | |||
| * "Native" English: 33% | |||
| * Latin: 15% | |||
| * Old Norse: 2% | |||
| * Dutch: 1% | |||
| * Other: 10% | |||
| ====Dutch origins==== | |||
| {{main|List of English words of Dutch origin}} | |||
| Words describing the navy, types of ships, and other objects or activities on the water are often from Dutch origin. ''Yacht'' (''jacht'') and ''cruiser'' (''kruiser'') are examples. | |||
| ====French origins==== | |||
| {{main|List of French words and phrases used by English speakers}} | |||
| There are many ], such as ''competition'', ''art'', ''table'', ''publicity'', ''police'', ''role'', ''routine'', ''machine'', ''force'', and many others that have been and are being ]; they are now pronounced according to English rules of ], rather than French. A large portion of English vocabulary is of French or ] origin, most derived from, or transmitted via, the ] spoken by the ]es in England for several hundred years after the ]. | |||
| ==Writing system== | |||
| {{main|English alphabet|English orthography}} | |||
| English has been written using the ] since around the ninth century. (Before that, Old English had been written using ].) The spelling system, or ], is multilayered, with elements of French, Latin and Greek spelling on top of the native Germanic system; it has grown to vary significantly from the ] of the language. The spelling of words often diverges considerably from how they are spoken. | |||
| Though letters and sounds may not correspond in isolation, spelling rules that take into account syllable structure, phonetics, and accents are 75% or more reliable.<ref>Abbott, M. (2000). Identifying reliable generalizations for spelling words: The importance of multilevel analysis. The Elementary School Journal 101(2), 233-245.</ref> Some phonics spelling advocates claim that English is more than 80% phonetic.<ref> Moats, L. M. (2001). Speech to print: Language essentials for teachers. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Company.</ref> | |||
| In general, ], being the product of many other languages and having only been codified orthographically in the 16th century, has fewer consistent relationships between sounds and letters than many other languages; for example, the sound sequence ''ough'' can be pronounced in not less than seven different ways. The consequence of this complex orthographic history is that reading can be challenging.<ref>Diane McGuinness, ''Why Our Children Can’t Read'' (New York: Touchstone, 1997) pp. 156-169</ref> It takes longer for students to become completely fluent readers of English than of many other languages, including French, Greek, and Spanish.<ref> Ziegler, J. C., & Goswami, U. (2005). Reading acquisition, developmental dyslexia, and skilled reading across languages. ''Psychological Bulletin, 131''(1), 3-29.</ref> | |||
| ===Basic sound-letter correspondence=== | |||
| {{seealso|Hard and soft C|Hard and soft G}} | |||
| Only the consonant letters are pronounced in a relatively regular way: | |||
| {| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" | |||
| ! IPA || align="left" | Alphabetic representation || Dialect-specific | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || p || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || b || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || t, th ''(rarely) thyme, Thames'' || th ''thing'' ''(], ])'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || d || th ''that'' ''(African American, New York)'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || c ''(+ a, o, u, consonants)'', k, ck, ch, qu ''(rarely) conquer'', kh ''(in foreign words)'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || g, gh, gu ''(+ a, e, i)'', gue ''(final position)'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || m || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || n || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || n ''(before g or k)'', ng || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || f, ph, gh ''(final, infrequent) laugh, rough'' || th ''thing'' ''(many forms of ])'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || v || th ''with'' ''(], ])'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || th ''thick, think, through'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || th ''that, this, the'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || s, c ''(+ e, i, y)'', sc ''(+ e, i, y)'', ç ''(façade)'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || z, s ''(finally or occasionally medially)'', ss ''(rarely) possess, dessert'', word-initial x ''xylophone'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || sh, sch, ti (before vowel) ''portion'', ci/ce (before vowel) ''suspicion'', ''ocean''; si/ssi (before vowel) ''tension'', ''mission''; ch ''(esp. in words of French origin)''; rarely s/ss before u ''sugar'', ''issue''; chsi in ''fuchsia'' only|| | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || medial si (before vowel) ''division'', medial s (before "ur") ''pleasure'', zh ''(in foreign words)'', z before u ''azure'', g ''(in words of French origin) (+e, i, y) genre || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || kh, ch, h ''(in foreign words)'' || occasionally ch ''loch'' ''(], ])'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || h ''(syllable-initially, otherwise silent)'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || ch, tch, t before u ''future'', ''culture''||t ''(+ u, ue, eu)'' ''tune, Tuesday, Teutonic'' ''(several dialects - see ])'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || j, g ''(+ e, i, y)'', dg ''(+ e, i, consonant) badge, judg(e)ment'' || d ''(+ u, ue, ew)'' ''dune, due, dew'' ''(several dialects - another example of yod coalescence)'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || r, wr (initial) ''wrangle'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || y ''(initially or surrounded by vowels)'' || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || l || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || w || | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || wh (''pronounced'' hw)|| Scottish and Irish English, as well as some varieties of American, New Zealand, and English English | |||
| |} | |||
| ===Written accents=== | |||
| {{main|English words with diacritics}} | |||
| Unlike most other Germanic languages, English has almost no ]s except in foreign ]s (like the ] in ''café''), and in the uncommon use of a ] mark (often in formal writing) to indicate that two vowels are pronounced separately, rather than as one sound (e.g. ''naïve, Zoë''). It may be acceptable to leave out the marks, depending on the target audience, or the context in which the word is used. | |||
| Some English words retain the diacritic to distinguish them from others, such as ''], ], ], ], ], ], ],'' and '']'', though these are sometimes also dropped ('']/resumé'' is usually spelled ''resume'' in the United States). There are loan words which occasionally use a diacritic to represent their pronunciation that is not in the original word, such as ''maté'', from Spanish '']'', following the French usage, but they are extremely rare. | |||
| ==Formal written English== | |||
| {{main | Formal written English}} | |||
| A version of the language almost universally agreed upon by educated English speakers around the world is called ]. It takes virtually the same form no matter where in the English-speaking world it is written. In spoken English, by contrast, there are a vast number of differences between ]s, ], and varieties of ], colloquial and regional expressions. In spite of this, local variations in the formal written version of the language are quite limited, being restricted largely to the ]. | |||
| ==Basic and simplified versions== | |||
| To make English easier to read, there are some simplified versions of the language. One basic version is named '']'', a ] with a small number of words created by ] and described in his book ''Basic English: A General Introduction with Rules and Grammar'' (1930). The language is based on a simplified version of English. Ogden said that it would take seven years to learn English, seven months for ], and seven weeks for Basic English, comparable with ]. Thus companies who need to make complex books for international use employ Basic English, and by language schools that need to give people some knowledge of English in a short time. | |||
| Ogden did not put any words into Basic English that could be said with a few other words and he worked to make the words work for speakers of any other language. He put his set of words through a large number of tests and adjustments. He also made the grammar simpler, but tried to keep the grammar normal for English users. | |||
| The concept gained its greatest publicity just after the ] as a tool for world peace. Although it was not built into a program, similar simplifications were devised for various international uses. | |||
| Another version, ], exists, which is a ] originally developed for ] industry maintenance manuals. It offers a carefully limited and standardised{{who}} subset of English. Simplified English has a lexicon of approved words and those words can only be used in certain ways. For example, the word ''close'' can be used in the phrase "Close the door" but not "do not go close to the landing gear". | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==References== | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Baugh |first=Albert C. |coauthors=Thomas Cable |title=A history of the English language | edition=5th ed. |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=0-415-28099-0}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Bragg |first=Melvyn |authorlink=Melvyn Bragg |title=The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language |publisher=Arcade Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=1-55970-710-0}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |authorlink=David Crystal |year=1997 |title=English as a Global Language |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-53032-6}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |authorlink=David Crystal |title=The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language | edition=2nd ed. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-521-53033-4}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |authorlink=David Crystal |title=The Stories of English |publisher=Allen Lane |year=2004 |isbn=0-7139-9752-4}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Halliday |first=MAK |title=An introduction to functional grammar | edition=2nd ed. |location=London |publisher=Edward Arnold |year=1994 |isbn=0-340-55782-6}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Hayford |first=Harrison |coauthors=Howard P. Vincent |title=Reader and Writer |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |year=1954 }} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=McArthur |first=T. (ed.) |title=The Oxford Companion to the English Language |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1992 |isbn=0-19-214183-X}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Orrin |title=Old English and Its Closest Relatives |publisher=Stanford Univ. Press |year=1992 |isbn=0-8047-2221-8}} | |||
| * Kenyon, John Samuel and Knott, Thomas Albert, ''A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English'', G & C Merriam Company, Springfield, Mass, USA,1953. | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{Wikiversity|Topic:English Language}} | |||
| {{interwiki | code=w}} <!-- see ] --> | |||
| {{Commonscat}} | |||
| {{Wikiquote}} | |||
| * | |||
| * Hear and compare how the same 110 words are pronounced in 50 English accents from around the world - instantaneous playback online | |||
| * {{ethnologue|code=eng}} | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * A survey tracking how non-native speakers around the world use English | |||
| ===Dictionaries=== | |||
| {{Wiktionarylang | code=en}} | |||
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| {{Template group | |||
| |title=Linguistics | |||
| |list = | |||
| {{Germanic languages}} | |||
| {{History of English}} | |||
| {{English dialects by continent}} | |||
| {{Languages of Quebec}} | |||
| }} | |||
| {{Template group | |||
| |title=Geopolitical use | |||
| |list = | |||
| {{Working languages of the African Union}} | |||
| {{Official UN languages}} | |||
| {{Official EU languages}} | |||
| {{Official languages of South America}} | |||
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Revision as of 11:27, 30 January 2009
Who is Mubeen? Mubeen is such personality when.