people have English as their mother tongue
in the world have English as their official language
people around the world speak English
Old English corresponds to the period when Germanic tribes were migrating to Britain. There are few early records of this period, but it is thought that the influence of Latin, old Norse and Anglo-Norman French (after the Norman conquest) began to influence Old English to the point where it became Middle English. Though relatively short, the Middle English period was a time of significant change, with continued influence from Latin and French. It was during this period that word order become more important as a component of English grammar. Modern English, which has now been in existence for over 500 years, saw the introduction of the printing press and its effects on English spelling. Another influential factor was overseas colonization and contact with other cultures, resulting in a variety of dialects in British colonies around the world.
The history of English can be divided into three distinct periods: Old English from 500 to 1100, Middle English from 1100 to 1485, and Modern English from 1485 to the present.
Today it has been estimated that English is the native language of some 350-400 million people across the globe. While all of these people speak English, there are regional differences which translators must be aware of when working into English (American English and British English variations in spelling and in terminology, for example). Non-native speakers of English find spelling to be illogical and irregular. This could be because spelling is more closely related to pronunciation of the 16th and 17th centuries than to modern pronunciation
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Like all living languages, English is constantly changing. Linguists analyze immense databases of the written word (known as a “corpus”) to determine how words are currently used by native speakers. These corpora are compiled from all types of English texts—from literature and academic papers, to news reports and magazine articles, to Internet message boards and even Twitter. Detailed analysis of these sources makes it possible to identify new trends. For example, according to the Oxford English Corpus, the word terror is now commonly used instead of terrorism, and the word web is much more frequently used to refer to the Internet than to a home for spiders. New technology has led to the invention of brand-new English words, such as the verbs tweet and unfriend, and the noun selfie. Climate emergency was chosen by the Oxford English Dictionary as its Word of the Year for 2019. Modern English: 500 years old and still evolving!
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