Lesson 5

English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca. Named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to the area of Britain that would later take their name, England, both names ultimately deriving from the Anglia peninsula in the Baltic Sea. Its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages, particularly Norse (a North Germanic language), as well as by Latin and French

The countries where English is the first language are the following:

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia

The Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Canada*

Dominica

Grenada

Guyana

Ireland

Jamaica

New Zealand

St Kitts and Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

United Kingdom

United States of America

The differences between the varieties of english

 Vocabulary

The most noticeable difference between American and British English is vocabulary. There are hundreds of everyday words that are different. For example, Brits call the front of a car the bonnet, while Americans call it the hood.

Auxiliary verbs

Another grammar difference between American and British English relates to auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, are verbs that help form a grammatical function. They “help” the main verb by adding information about time, modality and voice

Spelling

There are hundreds of minor spelling differences between British and American English. You can thank American lexicographer Noah Webster for this. You might recognize Webster’s name from the dictionary that carries his name

How english is changing? Every decade sees new slang terms like these appearing in the English language. And while some words or abbreviations do come from internet or text conversations, others may appear as entirely new words, a new meaning for an existing word, or a word that becomes more generalised than its former meaning, brought about by any one of the reasons above. Decades ago, “blimey” was a new expression of surprise, but more recently “woah” is the word in everyday usage.

Sentence structure is of course another change to English language. Decades ago, it would have been normal to ask “Have you a moment?” Now, you might say “D’you have a sec?” Similarly, “How do you do?” has become “How’s it going?” Not only have the sentences been abbreviated, but new words have been introduced to everyday questions.

The influence of American English on British English

British English and American English belong to the same language, but when the first European immigrants came to the New World 300 years ago,these two languages began to slowly split. American English has developed a new way of conversation, partly because of the different living conditions,partly due to the substantial absorption of other immigrant languages. The main differences between American English and British English are the tone and rhythm. in the same root meaning of words, the subtle differences are also high. A number of new words and new metaphors usage originally produced in the United States was gradually taken root in the United Kingdom only now.

Axel Castillo Aldaz, Osvaldo Cordero Cervantes