How interesting.
Today, I wanted to explore Geoffrey Chaucer's life and writings but got sidetracked and ended up wondering why English has become so generally used throughout the world. There has to be more to it than colonisation since many other countries have colonised other areas. I did a bit of digging into the history of English and tested a few of my theories.
English is classified as a Germanic language. I have to admit that this surprised me when I learned of it years ago. From research, the etemology and classification are due to many linguistic factors inherited from its Proto-Germanic roots. Here are the primary features: (This next section is directly quoted from my research and is not my work).
"Grammar and Morphology:
Verb Conjugation: English verbs follow patterns that are recognizably Germanic, with distinctions between strong (e.g., "sing, sang, sung") and weak verbs (e.g., "walk, walked, walked"). Although simplified over time, this still reflects Germanic verb forms.
Nouns and Plurals: English typically forms plurals by adding -s or -es, a trait shared with other Germanic languages. Some irregular plurals like "feet" from "foot" also show Germanic influence.
Pronouns: The basic structure of personal pronouns in English (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) is Germanic in origin, with forms like "I" (from Old English "ic") and "we" (from "wē").
Phonology:
Consonant Shifts: English underwent the High German consonant shift to a lesser extent than German, but shares features like the shift of PIE *t to English "d" in words like "do" (cognate with Latin "facere").
Vowel Shifts: The Great Vowel Shift altered English vowel sounds significantly, but the structure of the vowel system's development from Old to Middle to Modern English is still fundamentally Germanic.
Lexicon:
Core Vocabulary: Many of the most basic and frequently used words in English are of Germanic origin. Words like "house", "water", "man", "day", "go", and "be" are all from Old English, which was a Germanic language.
Word Formation: English uses Germanic methods of word formation, such as compounding (e.g., "toothbrush", "bookshelf") and using prefixes and suffixes (e.g., "un-", "re-", "-ful", "-ness").
Syntax:
Word Order: English's basic sentence structure (Subject-Verb-Object) is common among Germanic languages, although English has become more rigid in its word order compared to some other Germanic languages where word order can be more flexible due to case endings.
Auxiliary Verbs: The use of auxiliary verbs for tense and mood (e.g., "I have gone", "I will go") is a Germanic trait.
Historical Development:
Old English: The earliest form of English, known as Old English or Anglo-Saxon, was clearly a West Germanic language, related to Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old Dutch, and Old High German.
Phonetic Changes:
Certain phonetic changes like Grimm's Law, which led to the transformation of Indo-European consonants into Germanic ones, are evident in English (e.g., Latin "pater" vs. English "father").
While English has absorbed a vast amount of vocabulary from Latin, French, and other languages, its core grammatical structure, much of its basic vocabulary, and its phonological evolution are undeniably Germanic. This is why, despite its extensive Romance influence, linguists classify English as part of the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family."
Back to my thoughts.
Although English is fundamentally a Germanic language, over the centuries it has been significantly influenced by Latin as the primary Romantic language. Britain was first occupied by the Romans for about 400 years after Rome invaded Britain around 55 BC. There have been later invasions which have also left their Romantic mark on the language.
That had me wondering if English becoming more used as a language is because it crosses the boundaries between Germanic and Romantic languages quite easily and people who are used to either of the languages can relate to enough aspects in English to make it understandable.
Due to its Germanic foundation in grammar, core vocabulary, and basic structure, it does tend to be rather more easily understandable to speakers of other Germanic languages like German, Dutch, Flemish, Afrikaans (in South Africa) and many of the Scandinavian languages.
The heavy influence from Latin and French means English also has a significant number of words derived from what are considered to be Romantic languages - French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian. This influence allows people who speak Romantic languages to relate to English. What this means is that English is embraced by other-language speakers because it adapts more readily to new concepts and ideas than most other languages.
In the final analysis, and probably the main reason why English is dominating as a 'world language' is that English grammar is relatively simple compared with many other languages. It does not have the complex case systems, gender usages, and verb conjugations that are common in both Germanic and Romance languages, making it easier to learn for non-native speakers. It also has a relatively straightforward syntax as well as a capacity to absorb foreign language words which is not generally found in other languages. Eastern languages are vastly different from Western languages and it is the simplicity and flexibility of English which means that even Eastern languages do not find it particularly difficult to learn.
I have to wonder at the origin/s of the word for today's poem.
Not just any word
A very special word
The longest Word
By far
In an English dictionary
Pneumoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
What?
What on earth
Is that?
Don’t be upset or despair
It’s not as hard as you think
You’ll understand in a wink and a blink
This I promise you!
Most call it Silicosis
A short little word
For a bad lung disease
Silicosis!
That’s a shortened word
Like bus for Omnibus
Or pram for Perambulator
Let’s break it down
To make some sense
Shall we?
Pneumo is a common virus
Ultra means extreme
Microscopic is smaller than small
Don’t give up now
You’ve got this
You’re already halfway there
Silico is a common quartz
Volcano sends ash into the air
Coniosis is a lung disease
Break it down like this
Coni-o-sis so it’s really easy to say
Does all that make sense?
The longest word in the dictionary
Means tiny crystals in the lungs
Now say it with me
It’s easy if you try
One word at a time
Pneumo
Ultra
Microscopic
Silico
Volcano
Coniosis
Easy!
Pneumoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
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