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