ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

English is the Lingua Franca of the world. Two-thirds of the world speaks this language today. As many as 67 countries and 27 non-sovereign entities use it as their official language. Various organizations like United Nations, European Union, Commonwealth of Nations, ICC, IMF, SAARC, ECO, etc. also use it as their official language. 

Now, let's talk about the origin of English language. Actually, English is a West Germanic language originally spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles who were one of the ancient Germanic peoples. They had migrated to the area of Great Britain and later took their name England.  

If we go through the history of English language, we find that it has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English were a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon Invaders in the fifth century. These are called Old English. The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who had migrated to the island of Great Britain from the North Sea coastlands of continental Europe.

The Anglo-Frisian languages are the West Germanic languages which include Angelic (English and Scots) and Frisian varieties. The Northumbrian Language Society also considers Northumbrian an Anglic language.

Old English is the earliest recorded form of English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century. 

After the Norman conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, as the language of the upper classes by Anglo-Norman, a relative of French. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English.

Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English, and has achieved national epic status in England, despite being set in Scandinavia. 

Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the written form of the Anglo-Saxon language became less common. Under the influence of the new aristocracy, French became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society.

The English spoken after the Normans came to England, is known as Middle English. This form of English lasted until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard (late Middle English), a London-based form of English, became widespread.

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400), author of The Canterbury Tales, was a significant figure in the development of the legitimacy of vernacular Middle English at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were still French and Latin. 

A vernacular, or vernacular language is a term for a type of speech variety, generally used to refer to a local language or dialect, as distinct from what is seen as a standard language.

The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439 also helped to standardise the language, as did the King James Bible (1611), and the Great Vowel Shift.

The King James Version , also known as the King James Bible , sometimes known as the English version of 1611, or simply the Authorized Version , is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, commissioned in 1604 and completed as well as published in 1611 under the sponsorship of James I and VI.

The Great Vowel Shift was a series of changes in the pronunciation of the English language that took place primarily between 1400 and 1700, beginning in southern England and today having influenced effectively all dialects of English. Through this vowel shift, the pronunciation of all Middle English long vowels was changed. Some consonant sounds changed as well, particularly those that became silent; the term Great Vowel Shift is sometimes used to include these consonant changes.

The poet and playwright, William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and one of the world's greatest dramatists. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

In the nineteenth century Sir Walter Scott's historical romances inspired a generation of painters, composers, and writers throughout Europe.

The English language spread throughout the world with the development of the British Empire between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the world population at the time.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, these colonies and the USA started to produce their own significant literary traditions in English. And in the last hundred plus years numerous writers from Great Britain, both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the USA, and members of other former British colonies have received the Nobel Prize for works in the English language, more than in any other language.

Source  : - The History of English Language and Literature.