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The English Language
The 1 billion people in the world that can communicate in English are evidence of the universality of this language. Estimates say that about 402 million people speak it as a first language, plus 600 million who have it as their second language. These gorgeous numbers make English the most widely used "learning" language, as it is compulsory in High Schools in many countries and it is spoken by one out of every six people in the world. From Australasia to Western Europe to North America, English is the official language of a lot of countries. The fact that the language is so widespread has caused it to absorb aspects of different cultures, so that many linguists believe it is no longer the exclusive cultural emblem of "native English Speakers". Estimates say that in twenty years time the number of second-language speakers will have overcame the number of first-language speakers. Nowadays, English is the leader language of informatic and science and has all the right qualifications to become the universal language of communication.Literature
English literature includes both ancient and modern literature which has been written in English from native as well as non-native speakers.The Renaissance (16th-17th century), also called the "Elizabethian" or "Shakespeare" period, is the first important moment in English literature. The works of William Shakespeare lead to popularity English theatre, that unfortunately saw a period of crisis in the following years. Indeed, what followed was a century of social convulsions which caused many theatres to be closed and a subsequent period of literary stasis. In the Restoration period theatres were opened again and literature was centred on a critical-satyrical view of the new nobility and the rising bourgeoisie. Restoration literature also counts with works by Aphra Behn, one of the first female-writers.
Alexander Pope was one of the leaders of the Augustinian Age (18th century), which produced more formal works. It was not yet time for the explosion of English novel, but Defoe had already written "Robinson Crosue", which has been defined as the "embrion" of novel.
The Romanticism period was expressed by the verses of Wordsworth, Lord Byron and Percy Bysse, who were the protagonists of poetry and of the exploration of nature. The Victorian Age (1837-1901) finally saw the growth of novel, thanks to the works of the Brontė sisters, George Eliot or Charles Dickens.
Literature between the two World Wars belongs to the modern period, with important writers such as DH Lawrence or Virginia Woolf (who belonged to the Bloomsbury group).
History
As English originated from the Indo-European family of languages, it shares its roots with the majority of European languages. For this reason, many English words are similar to words with the same meaning in other languages. This are the so-called cognates, for instance, the English "father" is very similar to the German "vater" , the Latin "pater" and the Sanskrit "pitr".The origins of English date back to the year 449, when some Germanic tribes settled in England and mixed with local Celtic tribes. The two people mixed their language and culture and the result was an intermediate dialect called "Old English".
When in 1066 the Normans conquered England, they brought to the region the French language, which was spoken for the following 300 years. By the time "Old English" had evoluted in "Middle English" and had acquired some French loanwords.
Modern English, which became the language of Shakespeare, originated from the Great Wovel Shift of 1500. Shakespeare contributed a lot to the shaping and the renovation of the language, as thanks to his literary competence he introduced new words and grammatical constructions.
In the 16th century, the British had frequent contacts with other countries and this resulted in a further evolution of vocabulary. English absorbed new words such as scientific and mathematical terms (algebra, geography, species), names of animals (giraffe, tiger, zebra), drinks (tea, coffee, cider), food (spinach, chocolate, orange),
clothing (pyjama, turban, shawl), religious terms (Jesus, Islam, nirvana) and many more.