Due to shifts in global power, English has become a global "lingua franca", perhaps the first in human history. Nearly everybody in the Western world is taught English as their primary language, and Eastern countries teach English as a second language. Anybody who comes in to this world can quickly see how important English is to humans.
If one wants to see the prominence of English in society, they need only look at the industrial world. In textbooks of all sorts, English is the primary language used. No matter what country you go to, the industrial texts are bound to have some amount of English in them.
English certainly is the most prominent language of the Earth, but it is not the language most people learn when they are born. This is because China has a massive population, and their native language is Mandarin Chinese. Since most of them learn English as a second language, English is still either the first or second most spoken language in existence.
English had a long evolution, starting with Old English in the fifth century. Old English was so distinct that it seems like a different language, but one can see subtle similarities to modern English in it. The most famous work written in Old English was the epic tale of Beowulf.
Old English met its end around the middle of the 11th century when the Norman Conquest started. Due to the new peoples inhabiting England, the language began to change in the midst of all the influence. Most people are familiar with Middle English because of Geoffrey Chaucer's work The Canterbury Tales.
For a short period of time, a type of English known as "Early Modern" came about. Some people are under the misconception of Shakespeare using Old English, just because it sounds weird, but he actually used a unique English called Elizabethan. After the time of Shakespeare, the true modern English came about.
As with all languages, English is continually evolving, with some words being stricken and new ones being added. In ones lifetime, it is difficult to see any drastic changes in a language, but over a long period of time, the vast changes are apparent.
It has only been recently that English became so prominent, so there is always a chance that another language could overtake it. Due to the prominence of English speaking countries such as the United States and England, it is unlikely that anything like this will happen in the near future.
If one wants to see the prominence of English in society, they need only look at the industrial world. In textbooks of all sorts, English is the primary language used. No matter what country you go to, the industrial texts are bound to have some amount of English in them.
English certainly is the most prominent language of the Earth, but it is not the language most people learn when they are born. This is because China has a massive population, and their native language is Mandarin Chinese. Since most of them learn English as a second language, English is still either the first or second most spoken language in existence.
English had a long evolution, starting with Old English in the fifth century. Old English was so distinct that it seems like a different language, but one can see subtle similarities to modern English in it. The most famous work written in Old English was the epic tale of Beowulf.
Old English met its end around the middle of the 11th century when the Norman Conquest started. Due to the new peoples inhabiting England, the language began to change in the midst of all the influence. Most people are familiar with Middle English because of Geoffrey Chaucer's work The Canterbury Tales.
For a short period of time, a type of English known as "Early Modern" came about. Some people are under the misconception of Shakespeare using Old English, just because it sounds weird, but he actually used a unique English called Elizabethan. After the time of Shakespeare, the true modern English came about.
As with all languages, English is continually evolving, with some words being stricken and new ones being added. In ones lifetime, it is difficult to see any drastic changes in a language, but over a long period of time, the vast changes are apparent.
It has only been recently that English became so prominent, so there is always a chance that another language could overtake it. Due to the prominence of English speaking countries such as the United States and England, it is unlikely that anything like this will happen in the near future.
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