NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Modern English

Despite some differences in vocabulary, material from the early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, is considered to be in Modern English, or more specifically, they are referred to as Early Modern English, and most people who are fluent in the English of the early 21st century believe they can read these books with little difficulty. Modern English is a rock band best remembered for their song I Melt With You, which was an MTV staple in 1982, and has appeared in various commercials and movies over the years. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ... Shakespeares writings are universally associated with Early Modern English Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 1400s) to 1650. ...

Modern English has a large number of dialects, spoken in diverse countries throughout the world. Most of these, however, are mutually intelligible. This includes American English, Australian English, British English, Canadian English, Caribbean English, Hiberno-English, Indo-Pakistani English, New Zealand English and South African English. These dialects may be met in different contexts, for example some American actors in Hollywood historical or mythic epics, such as Lord of the Rings, Troy and Ben-Hur, often employ British-derivative accents while many British, Australian and non-native English-speaking international pop singers sing in an 'industry neutral' American accent to appeal to an international demographic. For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... Australian English (AuE) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... British English (BrE) is a broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere. ... Canadian English (CaE) is a variety of English used in Canada. ... Greater Caribbean English is a broad term for the dialects of the English language spoken in the Caribbean, most countries on the Caribbean coast of Central America, and Guyana. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... New Zealand English (NZE) is the English spoken in New Zealand. ... South African English is a dialect of English spoken in South Africa and in neighbouring countries with a large number of Anglo-Africans living in them, such as Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. ... Dust jacket of the 1968 UK edition The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy story by J. R. R. Tolkien, a sequel to his earlier work, The Hobbit. ... Troy or Ilion, see Troy (disambiguation) and Ilion (disambiguation). ... Ben-Hur is the fictional story of Judah Ben-Hur, a Judean aristocrat who, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus, is enslaved through the betrayal of his Roman friend Messala. ...

According to Ethnologue, there are over 508 million speakers of English as a first or second language as of 1999, a number dwarfed only by the Chinese language in terms of the number of speakers. However, Chinese has a smaller geographical range: it is spoken primarily in mainland China and Taiwan, and by a sizable immigrant community in North America. In contrast, English is spoken in a vast number of territories, including Britain, Ireland, Canada, the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Southern Africa. Its large number of speakers, plus its worldwide presence, have made English a common language for use in such diverse applications as controlling airplanes, developing software, conducting international diplomacy, and business relations. Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization which studies lesser-known languages primarily to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Southern Africa ...

Outline of changes in Modern English

The following is an outline of the major changes in Modern English compared to its previous form (Middle English). Note, however, that these are generalisations, and some of these may not be true for specific dialects:

Phonology

Syntax

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Most modern English speakers think of thou as a relic of Shakespeares day. ... In linguistics, an auxiliary (also called helping verb, auxiliary verb, or verbal auxiliary) is a verb functioning to give further semantic or syntactic information about the main or full verb following it. ... A question is any of several kinds of linguistic expressions normally used by a questioner to request the presentation of information back to the questioner, in the form of an answer, by the audience. ... In linguistics, prescription is the laying down or prescribing of normative rules for the use of a language. ... For the surname, see Grammer. ... Noah Webster Noah Webster (October 16, 1758 â€“ April 28, 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, political writer, and editor. ... Spelling reform generally attempts to introduce a logical structure connecting the spelling and pronunciation of words. ... The Elements of Style (the little book – 1918) is an American English writing style guide detailing seven elementary rules of usage, ten elementary principles of composition and a few matters of form and commonly misused expressions. ... USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to the patterns of everyday [[speech. ...

Influences on Modern English

Early Modern English lacked uniformity in spelling, but Samuel Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755 in England, was influential in establishing a standard form of spelling. Noah Webster did the same in America, publishing his dictionary in 1828. Webster's dictionary preferred simpler and more modern spelling, whereas Johnson was more conservative, preferring older spellings which reflected the origins of words rather than pronunciation. Some words from Webster's original dictionary were not adopted, despite these simpler and often more practical spellings. One example of this type of word is "tung". It was to replace the English word "tongue." However, the word never caught on. Public education increased literacy, and more people had access to books (and therefore to a standard language) with the spread of public libraries in the 19th century. Many words entered English from other languages, as a result of contact with other cultures through trade and settlement, and the migration of large numbers of people to the United States from other countries. World War I and World War II threw together people from different backgrounds, and the greater social mobility afterwards helped to lessen the differences between social accents, at least in the UK. The development of radio broadcasting in the early 20th century familiarised the population with accents and vocabulary from outside their own localities, often for the first time, and this phenomenon continued with film and television. Shakespeares writings are universally associated with Early Modern English Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 1400s) to 1650. ... For other persons named Samuel Johnson, see Samuel Johnson (disambiguation). ... Noah Webster Noah Webster (October 16, 1758 â€“ April 28, 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, political writer, and editor. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Librarians and patrons in a typical larger urban public library A public library is a library which is accessible by the public and is often operated by civil servants and funded from public sources. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...

History of Modern English

Modern English began in England during the Elizabethan era which is also around the time of the great poet William Shakespeare. Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() â€“ on the European continent() â€“ in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification - by Athelstan 967 Area... Elizabethan redirects here. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

English was adopted in regions around the world, such as United States, India, and Australia, through colonization by the British Empire. So as Great Britain began colonising North America, Asia, and Africa, the English language and other customs and ideas spread around the world. This is considered an aspect of the Columbian exchange. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Colonialism. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Inca-era terraces on Taquile are used to grow traditional Andean staples, such as quinua and potatoes, alongside wheat, a European import. ...

See also

English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and auxiliary troops under Roman tutelage from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands. ... This is a list of varieties of the English language. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the...

External links

v • d • e

History of the English Language

Overview · Old English · Middle English · Early Modern English · Modern English — archaisms The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and auxiliary troops under Roman tutelage from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands. ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... Shakespeares writings are universally associated with Early Modern English Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 1400s) to 1650. ... This is a list of archaic English words and their modern equivalents. ...

Phonological history of the English language
vowels: short A · low back vowels · high back vowels · high front vowels · diphthongs · changes before historic l · changes before historic r
consonants: rhoticity · flapping · l-vocalization · consonant clusters · wh · fricatives and affricates · th-alveolarization · th-fronting · th-glottalization · th-stopping · then-thyn split Within each section, changes are in approximate chronological order. ... // Phonological history of the low front vowels Ã¦-tensing Bad-lad split Trap-bath split Phonological history of the low back vowels Main article: Phonological history of the low back vowels Father-bother merger Lot-cloth split Cot-caught merger Phonological history of the high back vowels Foot-goose merger and... // Trap-bath split The trap-bath split is a vowel split that occurs mainly in southern varieties of English English (including Received Pronunciation), in the Boston accent, and in the Southern Hemisphere accents (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English), by which the Early Modern English phoneme was lengthened... // The father-bother merger is a merger of the Early Modern English vowels and that occurs in almost all varieties of North American English (exceptions are accents in northeastern New England (such as the Boston accent) and New York-New Jersey English. ... Most dialects of modern English have two high back vowels: the close back rounded vowel found in words like goose, and the near-close near-back rounded vowel found in words like foot. ... The high front vowels of English have undergone a variety of changes over time, which may vary from dialect to dialect. ... Note: This article deals sound changes involving English-language diphthongs. ... // Salary-celery merger The salary-celery merger is a conditioned merger of (as in bat) and (as in bet) when they occur before , thus making salary and celery homophones. ... The English language has undergone a number of phonological changes before the historic phoneme . ... // H-cluster reductions The h-cluster reductions are various consonant clusters beginning with /h/ that have in the occurred in the history of English that have lost the /h/ in certain dialects. ... English pronunciation is divided into two main accent groups, the rhotic and non-rhotic, depending on when the phoneme (the letter r) is pronounced. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... In linguistics, l-vocalization is a process by which an sound (a lateral consonant) is replaced by a vowel or semivowel sound. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... The hole-whole merger is the replacement of with before the vowels and which occurred in Old English resulting in the following pronunciations: who - whom - whole - whore - hole and whole became homophonous. ... // H-dropping is a colloquial term used to describe the omission of initial in words like house, heat, and hangover in many dialects of English, such as Cockney and Estuary English. ... Th-alvealarization is a process that occurs in some African varieties of English where the dental fricatives /Ã°, Î¸/ merge with the alveolar stops /z, s/. In African varieties with the merger, the following words are homophonous: zen, then zees, these sink, think sinks, thinks sinking, thinking sing, thing sings, things sank... TH fronting is a merger that occurs (historically independently) in Cockney, Newfoundland English, and African American Vernacular English (though the details differ among those accents), by which Early Modern English merge with . ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Th-stopping is the realization of the dental fricatives as stops, which occurs in several dialects of English. ... The then-thyn split was a phonemic split of the Old English phoneme /Î¸/ into two phonemes /Ã°/ and /Î¸/ occurring in Early Middle English which resulted in then and thyn (thin) starting with different inital consonant, /Ã°/ and /Î¸/. In Old English, the phoneme /Î¸/ had two allophones, one voiced and one voiceless, which were...

Contents

Outline of changes in Modern English var ACE_AR = {Site: '756743', Size: '300250'};