UNIVERSITY OF GUAYAQUIL

FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, LETTERS AND EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS

August 13th, 2021.

NAME : MARÍA FERNANDA PÉREZ MONTECÉ

TOPIC : ANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN ITS STAGES OF
CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT.

TEACHER : JUAN PABLO ESPINOZA

 Currently more than 1500 million people
in the world speak English, many of them
are learning it, that is, it is not their native
language and unlike other languages and
dialects, English will be the language of
communications, finances and
technology, which means that it is called
a lingua franca because is the official
language for important matters, so it is
worth asking ourselves ... Where did the
English language come from and going
back to the past to understand what cultural aspects generated it and the linguistic
changes that were obtained. Well, we can say that English shares roots with German,
Norwegian, Lithuanian, French, Spanish, Greek, Russian and Polish. Some 3,000 years
before our era these languages did not exist, only a
language called Proto Indo-European that was formed
on the current areas of Armenia or southern Eukraine.
The English language in its oldest phases, incorporates
words from the original Celtic dialects of Britannia, as
well as from Latin. As we know approximately in the
year 500 before our era, 3 Germanic tribes arrive in the
British Isles: Anglos, Saxons and Jutes. In the land of
Anglos their language was called Englisc which gave the
name to the language. Many of the Celts who lived in
Britain, before the arrival of the Germans, emigrated to
Wales, Cornwall and Scotland and another group went
to the coast of French Brittany.
Then the Vikings arrived in the British Islands and the West Saxon dialect was the official
language of Great Britain. Years later, some missionaries brought the Latin alphabet from
Ireland, which continues to be the writing system of English to this day. In short, the Old
English vocabulary was a mixture of Anglo-Saxon words, some other words from the
Scandinavian languages, and Latin. Some of the words from Latin are: street, kitchen,
cheese, wine; Originally from the Vikings are: Sky, egg, skin, Window and the words of the
Celts that are still in the English vocabulary usually refer to names of places and rivers
such as Dover, Kent, Avon. Later, because the Normans conquered Great Britain, French
became the language of the Norman aristocracy, adding many of its words to English, for
example the names of the meats that are obtained from animals such as: beef, mutton,
pork, bacon, venison. And sometime later, with the reign of Henry VI, English was once
again the dominant language of Great Britain and it was considered that the English
spoken in London would be the one that would be considered the standard.
Someone, who had a lot of to do with the development of culture, literature and the
English language was William Shakespeare, as it is said that he invented at least seventeen
hundred words, including alligator, puppy dog and fashionable and he placed the English
language as rich in words and culturally significant.
It is known that the United Kingdom was conquering other countries and the English
language spread over the 5 continents and that is how in several countries they use
English as an official language without giving up their native languages. This is an example
of how, as a result of linguistic change in a wide area, a group of distinct, although
historically related, languages come into being. In addition to spreading the English
language everywhere, this led to the development of more new words, which means that
the English vocabulary is increasing at the rate of many new and approved words per year
as OMG, short for Oh My God.!, Food baby which is the swollen belly after eating, etc.
Without a doubt we can say that English is continually renewed and that it allows us to
keep pace with the development of the planet.