English One Tongue, Many Voices
This is the fully revised and expanded second edition of English - One Tongue, Many Voices, a book by three internationally distinguished English language scholars who tell the fascinating, improbable saga of English in time and space. Chapters trace the
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English One Tongue, Many Voices Second Edition Jan Svartvik Lund University
and
Geoffrey Leech Lancaster University
With contributions from
David Crystal University of Bangor
Jan Svartvik Lund University Sweden
Geoffrey Leech (1935–2014) Lancaster University UK
David Crystal University of Bangor UK
ISBN 978-1-137-55022-4 DOI 10.1057/9781137160072
ISBN 978-1-137-16007-2 (eBook)
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: Cover image © Valentyn Volkov / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London.
For Gunilla and Fanny
Contents List of Figures
xi
Preface
xiii
Preface to the Second Edition
xv
Acknowledgements
xvi
List of Abbreviations
xvii
1 English: The Working Tongue of the Global Village English is spoken in circles The Inner Circle The Outer Circle The Expanding Circle Do we need a world language? Why English? One or two explanations
1 2 3 4 5 5 6 9
Part I History of an Island Language 2 The First 500 Years Roman Britain Ships are sighted with English in embryo on board Christianity in the Isles The Viking age What was Old English like? The Lord’s Prayer Beowulf
13 14 17 19 22 27 28 30
3 1066 and All That Middle English An influx of French words Grammatical endings disappear Geoffrey Chaucer and William Caxton
34 36 37 40 41
4 Modern English in the Making The three ‘Rs’ – Renaissance, Reformation and Restoration English and Latin
48 49 51
vii
viii
Contents
The Elizabethan period Shakespeare’s language The King James Bible – a milestone in the history of English Restoration and reaction English gains a new domain – the language of science ‘Dictionary Johnson’ The
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