Perhaps the most “taken for granted” language in the world is the English language. Recognized as the international language, used as the first language in more than a dozen countries, while commercial pilots around the world communicate with each other in English.
However, modern English has only been around since the 14th century, starting life with grammar and loanwords from the early Norse/Scandinavian, Old Germanic, and Norman languages, with Latin and Greek thrown in for good measure. During its evolution it has also been influenced by Turkish, Arabic, Tagalog (Filipino), Spanish and many other languages.
But English can be confusing and meaningless to a new English learner. It would seem to them that words are often misspelled, mispronounced, and sentences are often put together in the wrong order. As an example, in English we say ‘I drink water’, the French (and other European countries) say, ‘I drink water’. Take the, ‘yuck‘dilemma. Here are some words that use this combination of letters. Rough (uff), cough (off), branch (ow), through (oo), though (oh), thought (o), complete (ah). Imagine, for a moment, how someone who has never spoken English before, trying to tackle this lot. According to the rules of the English language, the word Fish could also be written ghost Letters, ghcould supply the F sounds like rough oh it is me as in women, and the sh can come from your, as in nation. Confused yet? Wait, there’s more.
You mean drawn Prayed drawn? drawn can mean tired, and it is also the rubber tire of a car. did you get your exchange after your purchase or it’s time for a exchange? The fat weight of something means weight is gross? You mean, also twoPrayed a? ever tried to wind a watch in a flavor of wind? Even singular/plural words do not follow any particular pattern. the plural of mouse it is micebut the plural of House can never be here. A gooseThree geese. plural of ox it is oxenwhile more than one baby They are called you drink.
Creating a language from several other conflicting languages proved to be an insurmountable challenge for the ancient Anglo-Fibians. Despite the increasing obesity of the English dictionary, we have yet to put it all together in a grammatically satisfying way. The English language is filled with an incongruous collection of words, drawn from a variety of conflicting languages and mixed up into a mismatched mix. This gave justification to centuries of scholars drifting in and out of history, using the ingredients to create recipes palatable to the rest of us. But being a constantly evolving language, the rules keep changing.
Born in 1343, Geoffrey Chaucer was hailed as the father of English literature. For centuries, his works have been required material for students of English literature around the world. He compares the text and the spelling of his day with that of today. Here is an excerpt from Chaucer, The Knight’s Tale (The Canterbury Tales). The first is written in the script and style of Chaucer’s day, the second is a modern English parallel. One can easily see the many differences in spelling, pronunciation, and writing style.
Heere bigynneth the Knights Tale (The Knights Tale begins here)
1) He was a gentleman, and what a worthy man,
That from the beginning that he first bigan
To ride, he loved cavalry,
Truth and honor, liberty and courtesy.
Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,
And thermo hadde he rode, no man ferre,
In both Christendom and hetheness,
And evere honored for his dignity.
He was in alisaundre when he won.
Ful ofte tyme had the bord bigonne
Above all nations in pruce;
At lettow hadde he reysed and at ruce,
No man criticizes his degree so often.
2) Knight there was a worthy man, who from the time he first rode, loved chivalry, truth and honor, courtesy and generosity. Very brave was he in battle for his lord, and eke had ridden, no one further, in Christianity and paganism; and he was always honored for his worth. He was in Alexandria when he was defeated. Many times in Prussia he had sat first on the board above all the nations. In Lithuania he had fought and in Russia, no Christian of his rank so often.
Despite its flaws, questionable history, and difficult progress, the English language remains one of the world’s favorite languages. Spoken by nearly four hundred million people, it is the third most widely spoken language alongside Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. Its colorful history has only added more spice and flavor to the mix, blending together to create a uniqueness that puts English on a pedestal of its own.