people and language british literature

PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE 1. WHO ARE THE BRITISH? a. Why are British not English? The people of the UK are British and have British nationality. As a group they are usually referred to as the British, rather than as English though this name is used in the media. Ancient Britons were the people who lived in Britain before the Romans came. Only people who come from England can be called English. People from Ireland are Irish, people from Wales are Welsh and people from Scots or Scottish, and they don’t like being called Brits. The term the Brits is only used informally often humorously. Many people from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have stronger feelings of loyalty towards their own country than they do to the UK. b.How was the United Kingdom formed? -In the 15th century, a Welsh prince, Henry Tudor, became King Henry VII of England. Then his son, King Henry VIII, united England and Wales in 1536. In Scotland, the king of Scotland inherited the crown of England and Wales in 1603, so he became King James I of England, Wales and King James VI of Scotland. In 1707, the Parliments of England, Wales and Scotland were united. -From 1801 to 1922, the whole Ireland was united with Great Britain and Northern Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. c.Invasion -The British Isles were inhabited by the Celts, who came from continental Europe about 2000 years ago. -The Romans came from Italy in AD43 calling the country “Britannia”, the Angles and Saxons are from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands in the 5th, England gets its name from this invasion. -The Vikings arrived from Denmark and Norway in the 9th century, in 1066, the Normans invaded from France. These invasions drove the Celts into what is now Wales and Scotland. These explain many differences to be found in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland such as in education or religion. d.Language -The Celts spoke Celtic which survives in the form of Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic. -English developed from Anglo-Saxon and is a Germanic language e.Multiracial Britain -There have been many waves of immigration into Britain and movement within the UK such as people from Wales, Scotland and Ireland have settled in England. -Commonwealth citizens were allowed free entry into Britain until 1962. -The new immigrant communities are concentrated in the following towns and cities: London, Slough, Leicester,… -The policy is to encourage these communities to continue speaking their languages as well as English and the children of immigrants are taught their own languages in school. 2.THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE a. The roots of English -The English language belongs to the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages, which was brought to England by Saxons around 400AD. -Old English was the spoken and written language of England between 400 and 1100AD and it was very different from Modern English and only few words can be recognized. -From the Norman conquest(1066) until the late 12th century English was replaced as the official language by Norman French. English from about 1300 to 1500 is known as Middle English. It was influenced by French and Latin in vocabulary and pronunciation. b.The development of Modern English -Modern English (1500 to the present): Modern English developed after William Caxton established his printing press at Westminster Abbey in 1476. Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in Germany around 1450, but Caxton set up England's first press. -By the time of Shakespeare's writings (1592-1616), the language had become clearly recognizable as Modern English. There were three big developments in the world at the beginning of Modern English period: the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the British Colonialism. -New words are still being added to English from other languages such as Italian(tiramisu), Chinese(feng shui), and Japanese(karaoke). -English is now an international language and is used as an means of communication between people from many countries. REFERENCES: http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/english-languagehistory.html http://www.britannica.com/topic/English-language  ... England Then his son, King Henry VIII, united England and Wales in 1536 In Scotland, the king of Scotland inherited the crown of England and Wales in 1603, so he became King James I of England,... Wales and King James VI of Scotland In 1707, the Parliments of England, Wales and Scotland were united -From 1801 to 1922, the whole Ireland was united with Great Britain and Northern Ireland became... the Celts into what is now Wales and Scotland These explain many differences to be found in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland such as in education or religion d .Language -The Celts spoke Celtic