The History of the English Language

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A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Chapter 1: Continuity and change By origin, English is a Germanic language, like German or Dutch or the Scandinavian languages such as Danish or Swedish. Its most common words as well as its fundamental grammatical structure are similar to those of the other Germanic languages. But English has undergone a number of more radical changes than the other Germanic languages, for instance German, which makes it strikingly different from them. The historical development of English reflects the internal history (sounds, inflections, etc) as well as the external history, i.e. the political, social and intellectual forces that have determined the course of the development at different periods. The history of the English language is to a large extent the history of the foreign influences which have affected it. Nevertheless, in spite of the extensive foreign influences, English has always remained a Germanic language. As A.Baugh and Th. Cable point out in their book, the History of the English Language is a cultural subject and “the soundest basis for an understanding of present day English is a knowledge of the path it has followed in becoming what it is.” (1978: 1) It is important to study the history of the English language because the future specialists of English should know something about the structure and evolution of the English language, about the wealth of its vocabulary together with the sources from which the vocabulary has been enriched and is being enriched. It is also important to know something about the great social, political and cultural factors which have influenced the English language: the English language of today reflects in its entire development the social, political and cultural history of the English people. More precisely, it is necessary to study the history of the English
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