Colonization Of The English Language

978 Words4 Pages

The English language first started as dialects spoken by the Angles and Saxons in the 5th and 6th centuries, and later on mixed together until there was an Angelo-Saxon, which also is known as Old English. Old English actually consists of a pinch of Scandinavian from Viking settlers. In 1066 when the French-speaking Normans became the ruling class in the country after beating the English at the battle of Hastings, French words were gradually added to the vocabulary which mainly had to do with law, dress, art, food, and politics. As mentioned, the English language were only spoken by about 6 million people in 1558, and by time, went from being a common language to be a global language spoken by about 1,8 billion people in the world. So, how is it possible that a language spoken by a few millions, suddenly becomes the most important language in the world? First of all, colonisation has been the most critical way to spread the language. Let 's take the United States for instance, which only existed of some millions native people before European settlers came to America, including a massive settlement from Britain. Today USA is now the country which has more English native speakers than any other country, simply because of the massive English settlement. In addition to the colonies in America, English colonies were established in Australia, New Zeeland, India and Africa.
These countries are not under British rule any more, but still have English as an official language.

Open Document