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The English Language
English is the official language of numerous countries which go from Northern America to Western Europe to Australasia. It is undoubtely the most universal language of all and this is clearly shown by the 1 billion people that can communicate in English worldwide. This gorgeous number is divided between 402 million first-language speakers and 600 million second-language speakers, which make up one sixth of world population. What is more, English is the language which is most widely studied in Schools (in many countries it is complusory). Due to this wide geographical extension, English has absorbed aspects of the most different cultures, so that many linguists believe it is no longer the exclusive cultural emblem of "native English Speakers". It is possible that in twenty years time there will be more second-language speakers than English native-speakers (the exact estimate says the proportion will be 2:1). Nowadays, the fields of science and informatic are exclusively based on English and this language has all the right characteristics to become the universal mean of communication of the future.Literature
English literature is a term which includes a lot of things: ancient literature, modern one, works written by native speakers and works written in English by foreigners.English Literature reached a good quality standard in the 16th and 17th centuries, in the "Elizabethian" or "Shakespeare" period. Thanks to the works of William Shakespeare, theatre went through his period of maximum success. Unfortunately, the Golden Age of theatre ended in the following years, which were characterised by social upheavals. This caused many theatre to be closed and a period of literary stasis. Theatres were opened again only in the Restoration period, which was characterised by a critical view of the rising classes-as burgueoisie-and of the new nobility. What is more, in this period Aphra Behn, one of the first successful female writers-wrote her first works.
The Augustinian Age (18th century) was represented by the more formal works of Alexander Pope. English novel hadn't developed yet, but Defoe's "Robinson Crosue", which has been defined the "embrion" of novel, dates back to these years.
Poetry with its exploration of nature are the emblems of the Romanticism, which counts among its leaders famous poets as Percy Bisse , Wordsworth and Lord Byron. Novel finally exploded in the Victorian Age (1837-1901) and George Eliot, Charles Dickens and the Brontė sisters wrote works which nowadays still are considered as classics of literature.
The modern period embraces literature between the two World Wars and counts with works by Virginia Woolf-a member of the Bloomsbury group- and by DH Lawrence.
History
English shares its roots with many European languages, as they all originated from the Indo-European family of languages. An evidence of these common origins are the so-called cognates, that are words with the same meaning which sound similar in different languages. For instance, to express the English "father", German uses "vater", Sanskrit "pitr" and Latin "pater".In the year 449, some Germanic tribes settled in England, in an area where already lived some Celtic tribes: this is what can be considered the origin of English. There was a cultural and linguistic exchange between the two people and the result was an intermediate variety known as "Middle English".
In 1066, England was conquered by the Normans; as a consequence, many French words entered English vocabulary until French became the spoken language for the following 300 years. The influence of French was still present in "Middle English" (which had substituted "Old English"), as this form included words of French origin.
The Great Wovel Shift of 1500 gave rise to Modern English, also known as the language of Shakespeare. The writer did a lot in terms of renovation of the language, as he introduced new words and new grammatical structures.
The frequent contacts which the British had with other countries in the 16th century contributed to a further evolution of vocabulary. English absorbed new words such as names of sports (checkmate, golf, billiards), vehicles (chariot, car, coach), music and art (piano, theatre, easel), weapons (pistol, trigger, rifle), scientific and mathematical terms (algebra, geography, species) and many more.
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