Unit 2 English around the world 背景资料
 
1. The history of the English development.

450-1150 like German — Old English

1150-1500 like French — Middle English

The 16th century now — Modern English

2. Shakespeare and William Tyndale made great contributions to the development.

William Shakespeare is really the defining icon for modern literature. Because of his plays, prose, and poems; the works of Shakespeare are considered to be some of the finest literature ever written. His stories established a foundation off which thousands of dramas, romances, and histories have been based. During his fifty-two year life, Shakespeare produced plays that have been the models for books and movies for hundreds of years. One of Shakespeare's outstanding points as a writer was his colorful mastery of the English language, which was nothing short of genius. Shakespeare's keen annotations into the 16th century granted historians a glimpse into traditional 16th century life.

In Shakespeare's plays and poetry, he used a huge vocabulary, introducing words and expressions to a wider audience. So the plays and poetry had a great influence on the development and reputation of the English language.

Tyndale's Old and New Testaments were the first English translation of the scriptures taken directly from the original Hebrew and Greek languages. They remain, as the Times of London put it,“the basis of all English language Bibles until the recent fiascos. It's phrases and cadences, both homely and pungent, are so woven into the language as to be rarely recognised as the work of an individual author [i.e., Wm. Tyndale].”Tyndale's 1526 New Testament was the first ever printed in English. In the 1530’s he also translated the first fourteen books of the Old Testament. He thus became the first man to translate anything from Hebrew into English -- as Hebrew was virtually unknown in England at that time.

3. Noah Webster and the American Dictionary of the English Language.

Noah Webster was born on October 16, 1758, in the West Division of Hartford. Noah's was an average colonial family. His father farmed and worked as a weaver. His mother worked at home. Noah and his two brothers, Charles and Abraham, helped their father with the farm work. Noah's sisters, Mercy and Jerusha worked with their mother to keep house and to make food and clothing for the family.

When Noah was 43, he started writing the first American dictionary. He did this because Americans in different parts of the country spelled, pronounced and used words differently. He thought that all Americans should speak the same way. He also thought that Americans should not speak and spell just like the English.

Noah used American spellings like“color”instead of the English“colour”and“music”instead of“musick”. He also added American words that weren't in English dictionaries like“skunk”and“squash”. It took him over 27 years to write his book. When finished in 1828, at the age of 70, Noah's dictionary had 70,000 words in it. When Noah Webster died in 1843 he was considered an American hero.

4. Loan words

The English language survived invasion and the forces of time in large measure because those who used it and prompted it were willing to adapt it to new cultural circumstances. The absorption of words from other languages has helped to make it the richest vocabulary in the world. As a matter of fact, more than 80% of words in English are borrowed from languages other languages. German, Danish, Swedish, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, and even Chinese have contributed to its development. Introduce some of the load words to the Ss.

Place                        words

Caribbean                     barbeque, canoe, potato

Australia                     kangaroo

Japan                         karate, judo

Spain                         banana, guitar, mosquito

India                         jungle, shampoo, pajamas

China                         wok, dim sum, tofu, kou-tou, litchi, kungfu

5. Websites:

http://www.goldenessays.com/free_essays/4/shakespeare/shakespeare-influence.shtml Shakespeare Influence 

http://www.williamtyndale.com/0welcomewilliamtyndale.htm William Tyndale and the history of the English Bible

http://www.lexrex.com/bios/nwebster.htm Noah Webster and the American Dictionary of the English Language

http://oed.com/about/history.html The History of The Oxford English Dictionar

 [广东省东莞中学 陈宇明等]