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1、Where Did the English Language Come From?VOICE ONE:This is Steve Ember.VOICE TWO:And this is Shirley Griffith. Today we present the first of two programs about the history of the English Language. (THEME)VOICE ONE:More people are trying to learn English than any other language in the world. English
2、is the language of political negotiations and international business. It has become the international language of science and medicine. International treaties say passenger airplane pilots must speak English. English is the major foreign language taught in most schools in South America and Europe. S
3、chool children in the Philippines and Japan begin learning English at an early age. English is the official language of more than seventy-five countries including Britain, Canada, the United States, Australia, and South Africa.In countries where many different languages are spoken, English is often
4、used as an official language to help people communicate. India is good example. English is the common language in this country where at least twenty-four languages are spoken by more than one million people.VOICE TWO:Where did the English language come from? Why has it become so popular? To answer t
5、hese questions we must travel back in time about five thousand years to an area north of the Black Sea in southeastern Europe. Experts say the people in that area spoke a language called Proto-Indo-European. That language is no longer spoken. Researchers do not really know what it sounded like. Yet,
6、 Proto-Indo-European is believed to be the ancestor of most European languages. These include the languages that became ancient Greek, ancient German and the ancient Latin.Latin disappeared as a spoken language. Yet it left behind three great languages that became modern Spanish, French and Italian.
7、 Ancient German became Dutch, Danish, German, Norwegian, Swedish and one of the languages that developed into English.VOICE ONE:The English language is a result of the invasions of the island of Britain over many hundreds of years. The invaders lived along the northern coast of Europe.The first inva
8、sions were by a people called Angles about one thousand five hundred years ago. The Angles were a German tribe who crossed the English Channel. Later two more groups crossed to Britain. They were the Saxons and the Jutes. These groups found a people called the Celts, who had lived in Britain for man
9、y thousands of years. The Celts and the invaders fought. After a while, most of the Celts were killed, or made slaves. Some escaped to live in the area that became Wales. Through the years, the Saxons, Angles and Jutes mixed their different languages. The result is what is called Anglo-Saxon or Old
10、English. Old English is extremely difficult to understand. Only a few experts can read this earliest form of English. VOICE TWO:Several written works have survived from the Old English period. Perhaps the most famous is called Beowulf. It is the oldest known English poem. Experts say it was written
11、in Britain more than one thousand years ago. The name of the person who wrote it is not known.Beowulf is the story of a great king who fought against monsters. He was a good king, well liked by his people. A new book by Seamus Heaney tells this ancient story in modern English. Listen as Warren Schee
12、r reads the beginning of this ancient story.(“BEOWULF)VOICE ONE:The next great invasion of Britain came from the far north beginning about one thousand one hundred years ago. Fierce people called Vikings raided the coast areas of Britain. The Vikings came from Denmark, Norway and other northern coun
13、tries. They were looking to capture trade goods and slaves and take away anything of value. VOICE ONE (cont):In some areas, the Vikings became so powerful they built temporary bases. These temporary bases sometimes became permanent. Later, many Vikings stayed in Britain. Many English words used toda
14、y come from these ancient Vikings. Words like “sky,nbsp; “leg,“skull,“egg,nbsp; “crawl,liftand “takeare from the old languages of the far northern countries.VOICE TWO:The next invasion of Britain took place more than nine hundred years ago, in ten sixty-six. History experts call this invasion the No
15、rman Conquest. William the Conqueror led it. The Normans were a French-speaking people from Normandy in the north of France. They became the new rulers of Britain. These new rulers spoke only French for several hundred years. It was the most important language in the world at that time. It was the l
16、anguage of educated people. But the common people of Britain still spoke Old English.VOICE TWO (cont):Old English took many words from the Norman French. Some of these include “damage,nbsp; “prison,and “marriage.nbsp; Most English words that describe law and government come from Norman French. Words such as “jury, “parliament,and “justice.nbsp; The French language used by the Norman rulers greatly changed the wa
