History of the English Language Development

History of the English Language Development What differs us humans from animals is the fact that humans have abilities to manipulate things that happen in daily life. Humans are able to think whether a certain action can cause good or harm to themselves or people around them. Another essential difference that distinguishes humans and animals is the language used in communication. It is language, other than anything else that differs humankinds from fellow earthlings. It is a fact that other animals do communicate with each other, in many various ways, for example, warning for enemies or danger, calling for mating, or other various screams of cries to deliver their anger, fear or pleasure (Barber, 1993). However, these various calls of communication for their species differ from the uniqueness of the human language. Barber also states that a human language is a highly elaborated signalling system, a social tool, which uses vocal sounds. Languages are used verbally and in writings. From the history, language is learned spoken fi rst, while written language is secondary. According to Crystal (2016), a language dies when it is not spoken or used anymore. Holmes (1992) states that language dies when all of its speakers die. However, when the speakers of a language shifts to use another language, the phenomena is called language shifts. Every language changes, even though the levels of the changes vary from time to time, which is why it is somewhat hard to be read or understood the language that is from the early years. An example could be taken from Barbers The English Language: A Historical Introduction (1993), English people find it hard to comprehend an English document from the year 1300, where it is only possible for them to understand if they have some special training. Documents in 900 look like a foreign language text to them, as it looks like it has no connection to Standard English. There are three recognized periods in the development of the English language where the first period, dated from 450 to 1150 is known as Old English. According to Baugh and Cable (1993), this period is described as full inflections, where the endings of the noun, the adjective, and the verb are preserved more or less impaired. The next period starts from 1150 to 1500, is the Middle English period, or known as the period of levelled inflections, which started at the end of the Old English period, and the inflections during that period is said to be significantly levelled down. The last period, which is up until now is called as the Modern English period, which started since 1500. This period is also described as the period of loss inflections where the inflections in the language are completely vanished. The Middle English period, as stated by Baugh and Cable, is the period of a great change, where the language changes that happened during the period are more extensive and fundamental in comparison to the changes in the language that took place in Old English and Modern English period. Every language changes from time to time, it is the matter of the amount of changes that occur in the language. The major causes of the language changes were obviously because of the track of time, and contact, even though the changes and processes in the Middle English period that associates with the language contact are various (Penhallurick, 2010). The Norman invasion to England in 1066 is one of the main causes that brought changes in the language from Old English to Middle English as they brought French into the land. Their invasion to England naturally had a significant effect on Englands institutions and its languages. The language changes that were brought from the French during their arrival were already existed in the Old English. They were speaking in French but somehow influenced by the Germanic dialect. The dialect is called Norman French. According to (Virtual Medieval Church and Its Writings, 2003), this situation leads to the citizens speak the English language, whilst the Normans speak Norman French. In time, the two languages started to mix together which then brings the existence of the Middle English. Around ten thousand French words were brought into English by the thirteenth century. Most of these French loans still exist in the English language today. According to (Oxford English Dictionary, 2016), Middle English, based on the external history, is trapped at its beginning by the consequences of the settlements of the Norman Conquest in 1066, and its end by the arrival of the printing documents by William Caxton in 1476, in Britain and by the important social and cultural impacts of the English Reformation (from the 1530s onwards) and of the ideas of the continental Renaissance. The change from Old English to Middle English seemed to look a bit rapid by the rising of new spelling inventions by the Normans. The language used during that time, which is the West Saxon, was no longer used, due to the social and political disruption by the Norman Conquest. The changes that they brought include changes in the spelling where they used the spellings that matched more to the way they pronounce it in their spoken dialect. In addition, the scribes occasionally changed the spelling of the words they were copying to their own dialectal pronunci ation, when they see if any did not match theirs. The Normans disapprove the traditional English spelling, therefore they spelt the language as how they heard it, which is using the conventions of Norman French. Both Barber (1993) and Freeborn (1992) mentioned these facts in their books. Examples of the changes made by the Normans could be taken from (Virtual Medieval Church and Its Writings, 2003), such as qu for cw (queen for cwen).The scribes also introduced gh (instead of h) in such words as night and enough, and ch (instead of c) in such words as church. Another change introduced was ou for u (as in house). Yet one more change was the use of c before e (instead of s) in such words as cercle (circle) and cell. The loss of inflections in the Middle English period also include the reduced amount in nouns, pronouns and adjectives. The Peterborough Chronicle, a medieval text written at Peterborough Abbey during the Old English period, where the continuations of the chronicle then shows the Middle English characteristics in the script even though in some ways the characteristics of the Old English still continues.ÂÂ   Penhallurick (2010) mentions that the Normans are obviously the ones responsible for the mixings of French and Middle English, that they brought the scribes who are French-trained into England after their conquest. Three sources were affecting the changes in the Middle English and the changes can be seen from the Peterborough Chronicle where a significant number of new words are drawn upon the Norse, Latin and French. This shows that not only French caused the Middle English, but also the Norse and the Latins. The Norsemen brought in their words into Middle English which include grammar words oc but, um about, through, and til until, to. These are the effects of the contact between the English and the Norsemen during the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, which is also a significant change of characteristic of Middle English. Borrowing or loanwords are the terms used for this situation where words which originated from a certain language is brought into another language and is used in the language. During the settlement of the Vikings in England, many Old Norse words were brought into Old English. Examples from Penhallurick (2010), nouns such as birth, husband, leg, skirt and sky, and verbs like to call, die, give, nag, take, and thrust. As stated by Baugh and Cable (2002), 900 loanwords from the Scandinavian that are still survived and in use in the modern standard English these days, but many other words also still survived but instead in the dialects of the former Danelaw, words like beck st eam, dag to drizzle, and laik to play. Sisam (1975) mentions that the Norse words must have come into English even before the Middle English period, because the settlements of the Vikings stopped after the Norman Conquest. Sisam also states that it is not always easy to differentiate the Norse and the Middle English as both of the languages have many similarities during the borrowing period, and also the Norse words are borrowed quite early to be affected by Middle English. The language influence from the Latins started during the early days of English. When the Germanic tribe started English, they had already been in contact with the Romans in the continental Europe, which was when the Germanic tribes very beginning of their settlements in the British Isles. Many Latin words were borrowed into the tribes language during their settlement in the British Isles, where they borrowed from Britishs Celtic speaking people, which they got from the Romans. Latin during that time was the language of the Christian church, which marked the Englands conversion to Christianity.ÂÂ   This correlates with Sisams (1975) statement where there were few direct borrowings from Latin and most of it are taken from the technical language of church. Penhallurick (2010) states that the practice of writing documents in Latin during that time was somewhat usual and was joined by many of the Norman scribes, which gave the borrowings from Latin a new motivation during the early Middle English period. Not only Old Norse and Latin words that were noted in the continuations of the Peterborough chronicle, but also new loan words from French, although there were only small number of it in the continuation. As an example, from Penhallurick (2010), duc duke, and pasches pasch, easter, including some loan words that were not only new additions to language but also eventually replaced present English words during that time, for example tresor treasure, and pais peace. This language development, the emerge of the French loans can be best described as started from very few words to over 10000 French words were borrowed during the end of the Middle English period. The total number of words borrowed is extraordinary considering that the total amount of Old English words were only 24000 approximately. From the Peterborough Chronicle examples, the French loans can be divided into two general types, which is either the new words are just new members of the English language which has new concepts or definitions, or new words that have the same definitions to an existing word in the native language. The effects of this duplication could lead to either the loss of one of the words between the languages (usually the English word), or there could be the development in differentiation in meaning between the words. Penhallurick (2010) gives an example, OE leod was pushed out altogether by French-derived people, whereas English might survives beside French-derived power, kingly beside royal, and wish beside desire. It is the royal family, never the kingly family and genies grant three wishes, rather than three desires. Sisam (1975) compares French with Norse, where he states that French language had little common with English, not like the Scandinavians, which brings to why the amount of French words used in the English texts is lesser in comparison to Old Norse and Latin, before the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. French continued to be the official language of England until the mid of fourteenth century, the years after, English became the language of instructions, and became the official language of legal records or events, where later at the end of fourteenth century, everyone spoke English. When the London dialect emerged, it became the standard spoken and written language. During the end of 1500, English language has reached the language that is similar to as what is used today, which shows that Modern English started being used around that time. The arrival of printing press set up, invented by William Caxton in 1476 marked the starting of the end of the Middle English (Freeborn, 1992). If the Norman Conquest marked the start of the changes in the Middle English, William Caxton did the same for the start of the Modern English. Caxton is recognized for the arrival of printing in England through his work and a standard for the English language. His contribution brings us to the early perio d of the Modern English (Weiner, 2013). References Barber, C., Beal, J. and Shaw, P. (2013). The English language. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Baugh, A. and Cable, T. (2013). A history of the English language. 1st ed. London: Routledge. Courseweb.stthomas.edu. (2003). The Making of Middle English. [online] Available at: http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/medieval/chaucer/middleenglish.htm [Accessed 12 Mar. 2017]. Crystal, D. (2016). English as a global language. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Freeborn, D. (1992). From Old English to standard English. 1st ed. York: Freeborn. Graddol, D., Leith, D. and Swann, J. (1996). English. 1st ed. Milton Keynes [England]: Open University. Holmes, J. (2013). An introduction to sociolinguistics. 1st ed. Harlow: Pearson. Oxford English Dictionary. (2016). Middle English-an overview Oxford English Dictionary. [online] Available at: http://public.oed.com/aspects-of-english/english-in-time/middle-english-an-overview/ [Accessed 12 Mar. 2017]. Penhallurick, R. (2010). Studying the English language. 1st ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Sisam, K. (1975). Fourteenth century verse and prose. Ed. by Kenneth Sisam. (Repr.). 1st ed. Oxford: Clarendon P XLVII.

Childhood memories Essay

The purpose of this essay it to analyze the childhood memories of both Judith Ortiz Cofer and Anwar Accawi past from their stories, the silent dancing and the telephone respectively, who both have complicated early childhood memories. Accawi’s childhood memories are about the changes that were brought by the telephone which led to people moving from the village for opportunities away to make money. He is remorseful for this telephone technology since before it came, people were happy but in his adulthood, he claims that in his adult life he has not been able to find a â€Å"Better Life† than the life in Magadaluna. Accawi’s narrative is created on an adult perspective of regret and humor. He vividly remembers the village destruction as he realizes that the cruelty and idyllic coexist as the human being embodies them. Silent dancing is a story of Cofer in her elementary school through to her high school as they migrated from America to Puerto Rica and vice versa, it discusses the means through which the culture, gender, class and race shape her life without Cofer sounding naive or dogmatic. Her childhood memories are about the depression and discrimination in America due to their color and one day hoped that she would win some respect for her culture and herself. She puts it that â€Å"If you were to stretch that rubbery face, you could find my father’s face and deep within that face- my own† the differences in their childhood memories is that Cofer’s bitter memories are contributed by their movement from their native land in Puerto Rica to America where they face racial discrimination whereas the Accawi’s bitter childhood memories are caused by introduction of the telephone technology that is brought in to Magdaluna that ends up transforming the life of the natives. Another difference in both stories is that Accawi is against the changes that occurred due to technology and wishes that they never occurred while Cofer hopes that things will change in America where she and her culture will be recognized. The village of Magdaluna is simple with no new technology. There are no even calendars and people tell about certain times through extraordinary occurrences like earthquakes and birth of certain people. The children did odd jobs for the adults to earn little money and Accawi was very contented with this way of life. Accawi was happy and assumed that everybody else was happy too without the advantages of the technology. After the coming of the telephone, the way of life of the village of Magdaluna changed since people began to worship the phone. The villagers would gather around the phone waiting for any news and for job opportunities. As time passed by more people gathered around the telephone and more villagers emigrated from Magdaluna and this irritated some villagers like Accawi. .Judith Ortiz Cofer recounts the experiences of her upbringing in a chain of chronologically arranged vignettes that details her way of life as a little girl shuttled forth and back between her grandma’s casa in Puerto Rican village and the family’s American home at Paterson in New Jersey. Ortiz Cofer’s father worked in the United States Navy shipyards of Brooklyn Yard, a profession that required him to abandon his family for several months at different time. Worried about the safety of his family and mindful of his companion’s regular longing for the island, he regularly sends his wife (companion) and offspring to their local land located in Puerto Rico regularly. The narrative explains the life of Cofer as she grew against the cultural switch backs. Her past childhood memories involve the sadness, racial discrimination and depression in America where they lived in El Building which hosted many foreigners but they could not interact but it is the â€Å"But the pipes were also a connection to all the other lives being lived around us† and her mother â€Å"had been given strict orders by my father to keep the doors locked, the noise down, ourselves to ourselves†. She remembers a certain moment when her father was referred to as a Cuban but when he said that he was a Puerto Rican the other responded by shouting to Cofer’s father â€Å"same shit†. Cofer’s home life anchored her to the Puerto Rico’s past while the US remained her home. The sad childhood memories are passed from generation to generation in what is said to be the â€Å"Rubbery face† and Cofer hopes that the misery will end. At home she was a Spanish while outside home she spoke in English and she was always told that she sounded like a â€Å"gringa†. One of the mentors for this lady is her grandmother who is also very strict. Both childhood experiences are greatly contributed by their grandparents. Both stories show the reader how the present culture evolved. Cofer’s stories shows how the American culture is a product of many other cultures while Accawi’s story shows how western civilization changed the farming village at Magdaluna in Lebanese.

Case Analysis Saku Essay - 779 Words

Case Write-Up: Saku Brewery Statement of the problem The case describes the situation of Saku Olletehase AS on the moment that the management team is discussing their product portfolio plan. Lately the sales of their flagship brand, Saku, fell from 48 per cent to 42.5 per cent of market share. During this decline of beer consumption, they have made gains with other alcoholic and none alcoholic beverages. At this point the management team has to decide upon how to proceed with their product portfolio. * Start exporting Saku to Finland * Shift focus to other alcoholic products with growing market demand, cider and long drinks * Shift focus more to bottled water or divest this product line (disappointing results) *†¦show more content†¦Applied on Saku the BCG matrix would be as following: The cash cow of Saku is clearly Saku beer since they are generating almost 80% of the sales. The stars or the beverages that are in the growth stage are the imported beers, the long drinks and the ciders. These are not yet creating a lot of cash flow but there is certainly an opportunity here to generate big cash flows from these product lines in the future. Mineral water is seen as the question mark, since this product line is expected to saturate and has been giving disappointing results. The soft drinks can be seen as the â€Å"dog† because for this product line there is already a mature player in the industry. Saku doesn’t have the means to compete with Coca-Cola and will probably not be able to increase its market share significantly.Show MoreRelatedPorters Five Forces in Beer Market75399 Words   |  302 PagesGOVERNANCE SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION Financial statements 68 169 70 140 CARLSBERG GROUP PARENT COMPANY CARLSBERG A/S 170 171 172 MANAGEMENT STATEMENT AUDITORS’ REPORT BOARD OF DIRECTORS This report is provided in Danish and in English. In case of any discrepancy between the two versions, the Danish wording shall apply. 4 Management review: CEO statement A new Carlsberg 2008 was a truly special year and marked a milestone in Carlsberg’s history. The acquisition of Scottish Newcastle

Calculating and Understanding Real Interest Rates

Finance is riddled with terms that can make the uninitiated scratch their heads. Real variables and nominal variables are a good example. Whats the difference? A nominal variable is one that doesnt incorporate or consider the effects of inflation. A real variable factors in these effects. Some Examples For illustrative purposes, lets say that youve purchased a one-year bond for face value that pays six percent at the end of the year. Youd pay $100 at the beginning of the year and get $106 at the end because of that six percent rate, which is nominal because it doesnt account for inflation. When people speak of interest rates, theyre typically talking about nominal rates.   So what happens if the inflation rate is three percent that year? You can buy a basket of goods today for $100, or you can wait until next year when it will cost $103. If you buy the bond in the above scenario with a six percent nominal interest rate, then sell it after a year for $106 and buy a basket of goods for $103, youd have $3 left. How to Calculate the Real Interest Rate   Start with the following consumer price index (CPI) and nominal interest rate data: CPI Data Year 1: 100Year 2: 110Year 3: 120Year 4: 115 Nominal Interest Rate Data Year 1: --Year 2: 15%Year 3: 13%Year 4: 8% How can you figure out what the real interest rate is for years two, three, and four? Begin by identifying these notations:  i means inflation rate,  n is the nominal interest rate  and  r is the real interest rate.   You must know the inflation rate — or the expected inflation rate if youre making a prediction about the future. You can calculate this from the CPI data using the following formula: i [CPI(this year) – CPI(last year)] / CPI(last year) So the inflation rate in year two  is [110 – 100]/100 .1 10%. If you do this for all three years, youd get the following: Inflation Rate Data Year 1: --Year 2: 10.0%Year 3: 9.1%Year 4: -4.2% Now you can calculate the real interest rate. The relationship between the inflation rate and the nominal and real interest rates is given by the expression (1r)(1n)/(1i), but you can use the much simpler Fisher Equation  for lower levels of inflation.   FISHER EQUATION: r n – i Using this simple formula,  you can calculate the real interest rate for years two  through four.   Real Interest Rate (r n – i) Year 1: --Year 2: 15% - 10.0% 5.0%Year 3: 13% - 9.1% 3.9%Year 4: 8% - (-4.2%) 12.2% So the real interest rate is 5 percent in year 2, 3.9 percent in year 3, and a whopping 12.2 percent in year four.   Is This Deal Good or Bad?   Lets say that youre offered the following deal:  You lend $200 to a friend at the beginning of year two and charge him the 15 percent nominal interest rate. He pays you $230 at the end of year two.   Should you make this loan? Youll earn a real interest rate of five percent if you do. Five percent of $200 is $10, so youll be financially ahead by making the deal, but this doesn’t necessarily mean you should. It depends on whats most important to you: Getting $200 worth of goods at year two prices at the beginning of year two or getting $210 worth of goods, also at year two prices, at the beginning of year three. Theres no right answer. It depends on how much you value consumption or happiness today compared to consumption or happiness one year from now. Economists refer to this as a person’s discount factor. The Bottom Line   If you know what the inflation rate is going to be, real interest rates can be a powerful tool in judging the value of an investment. They take into account how inflation erodes purchasing power.