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| '''[[English language|English]]''' is a [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic language]] that originated from the [[Anglo-Frisian]] [[dialect]]s brought to [[Britain]] by [[Germanic tribes|Germanic settlers]] from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands. Initially, [[Old English]] was a group of dialects reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, [[West Saxon]], eventually came to dominate. The original [[Old English language|Old English]] language was then influenced by two waves of invasion. The first was by language speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family; they conquered and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second was the [[Normans]] in the 11th century, who spoke a variety of French. These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it was never a truly [[mixed language]] in the strict linguistic sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication).
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| Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]] core of English; the later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a [[loanword|"borrowing" language]] of great flexibility and with a huge [[vocabulary]].
| | '''Content previously maintained here has been moved to [[English language]] and some of the subsections [[Old English]], [[Middle English]], and [[Early Modern English]]. This article has been disbanded. See the talk page.'''[[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]] |
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| ==Proto-English==
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| The [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[tribe]]s who gave rise to the English language (the [[Angles]], [[Saxon people|Saxons]], [[Frisians]], [[Jutes]] and perhaps even the [[Franks]]), traded with and fought with the [[Latin]]-speaking [[Roman Empire]] in the process of the Germanic invasion of Europe from the East. Many Latin words for common objects therefore entered the vocabulary of these Germanic people even before any of these tribes reached Britain; examples include ''camp'', ''cheese'', ''cook'', ''dragon'', ''fork'', ''giant'', ''gem'', ''inch'', ''kettle'', ''kitchen'', ''linen'', ''mile'', ''mill'', ''mint'' (coin), ''noon'', ''oil'', ''pillow'', ''pin'', ''pound'', ''punt'' (boat), ''soap'', ''street'', ''table'', ''wall'', and ''wine''. The Romans also gave English words which they had themselves borrowed from other languages: ''anchor'', ''butter'', ''cat'', ''chest'', ''devil'', ''dish'', and ''sack''.
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| According to the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', around the year [[449]], [[Vortigern]], King of the [[Brython|Britons]], invited the "Angle kin" (Angles led by [[Hengest]] and [[Horsa]]) to help him in conflicts with the [[Picts]]. In return, the Angles were granted lands in the south-east of England. Further aid was sought, and in response "came men of Ald Seaxum of Anglum of Iotum" ([[Saxon people|Saxons]], [[Angle tribe|Angles]], and [[Jutes]]). The ''Chronicle'' talks of a subsequent influx of settlers who eventually established seven kingdoms, known as the [[heptarchy]]. Modern scholarship considers most of this story to be legendary, and politically motivated, and the identification of the tribes with the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes is no longer accepted as an accurate description (Myres, 1986, p. 46ff), especially since the Anglo-Saxon language is more similar to [[Frisian language|Frisian]] than any single one of the others.
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| ==Old English==
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| {{main|Old English language}}
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| The invaders dominated the original [[Celtic languages|Celtic-speaking]] inhabitants, whose languages survive largely in [[Scotland]], [[Wales]], and [[Cornwall]]<!--removed Ireland since Anglo-Saxons didn't go there until well after the Norman Conquest-->. The dialects spoken by the invaders formed what is now called [[Old English language|Old English]]. Later, it was strongly influenced by the [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] language [[Old Norse language|Norse]], spoken by the [[Viking]]s who invaded and settled mainly in the north-east of England (see [[Jórvík]] and [[Danelaw]]). The new, and the earlier, settlers spoke languages from different branches of the Germanic family; many of their lexical roots were the same or similar, although their grammars were more distinct, including the prefix, suffix and inflection patterns for many of their words. The Germanic language of these Old English speaking inhabitants of Britain was influenced by contact with Norse invaders, which may have been responsible for some of the morphological simplification of Old English, including loss of [[grammatical gender]] and explicitly marked [[case (linguistics)|case]] (with the notable exception of the pronouns). The most famous surviving work from the Old English period is a fragment of the [[epic poetry|epic poem]] "[[Beowulf]]", by an unknown poet, though substantially modified, likely by one or more Christian clerics long after its composition.
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| There were several major dialect areas of Old English: Northumbrian in the north, Kentish in the southeast, West Saxon in the southwest, and Mercian in the central Midlands region. Although Mercian is the most direct ancestor of [[Modern English]], few documents survive in it; the vast majority of written materials are in West Saxon, which functioned as the prestige dialect because it was the speech of the Saxon seat of power at Winchester.
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| Old English had no written form (aside from the occasional use of runes) until the introduction of [[Christianity]]; with it came a relatively phonetic alphabetic system, as well as loanwords from [[Latin]] and some [[Greek language|Greek]]. Danish incursions along the Eastern coasts created an area of influence known as the [[Danelaw]], and [[Danish language|Danish]] had a substantial influence, particularly on the [[pronoun]] system. The Old English period formally ended with the [[Norman conquest]], when the language was influenced, to an even greater extent, by the [[Norman language|Norman French]]-speaking [[Normans]].
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| The use of Anglo-Saxon to describe a merging of Anglian and Saxon languages and cultures is a relatively modern development. According to [[Lois Fundis]], (Stumpers-L, Fri, 14 Dec 2001) "The first citation for the second definition of 'Anglo-Saxon', referring to early English language or a certain dialect thereof, comes during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]], from an historian named [[William Camden|Camden]], who seems to be the person most responsible for the term becoming well-known in modern times."
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| ==Middle English==
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| {{main|Middle English}}
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| For about 300 years following the [[Norman Conquest of England|Norman Conquest]] in 1066, the Norman kings and their high nobility spoke only a variety of [[French language|French]] called [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]]. English continued to be the language of the common people. Various contemporary sources suggest that within fifty years of the Invasion most of the Normans outside the royal court had switched to English, with French remaining the prestige language of government and law largely out of social inertia. For example, [[Orderic Vitalis]], a historian born in 1075 and the son of a Norman knight, said that he learned French only as a second language. A tendency for French-derived words to have more formal connotations has continued to the present day; most modern English speakers would consider a "cordial reception" (from French) to be more formal than a "hearty welcome" (Germanic).
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| While the [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]] continued until 1154, most other literature from this period was in [[Old French]] or [[Latin]]. A large number of Norman words were taken into Old English, with many doubling for Old English words (examples include, ''ox/beef'', ''sheep/mutton'', and so on). The Norman influence reinforced the continued changes in the language over the following centuries, producing what is now referred to as [[Middle English]]. Among the changes was an increase in the use of a unique aspect of English grammar, the "continuous" tenses, with the suffix "-ing". [[English spelling]] was also influenced by French in this period, with the {{IPA|/θ/}} and {{IPA|/ð/}} sounds being spelled ''th'' rather than with the Old English letters [[thorn (letter)|þ]] and [[eth|ð]], which did not exist in French. The best-known writer from the [[Middle English]] period is [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], and of his works ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' is best known.
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| English literature started to reappear ca 1200, when a changing political climate, and the decline in [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]], made it more respectable. By the end of that century, even the royal court had switched to English. Anglo-Norman remained in use in limited circles somewhat longer, but it had ceased to be a living language.
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| ==Early Modern English==
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| {{main|Early Modern English}}
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| [[Modern English]] is often dated from the [[Great Vowel Shift]] which took place mainly during the 15th century. English was further transformed by the spread of a standardised London-based dialect in government and administration, and by the standardising effect of printing. By the time of [[William Shakespeare]] (mid-late 16th century) the language had become clearly recognizable as Modern English.
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| English has continuously adopted foreign words, especially from [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] since the Renaissance. As there are many words from different languages, and English spelling is variable (to be charitable), the risk of [[mispronunciation]] is high, but remnants of the older forms remain in a few regional dialects, most notably in the [[West Country dialects|West Country]].
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| In 1755 [[Samuel Johnson]] published the first significant English dictionary, his [[A Dictionary of the English Language|Dictionary of the English Language]].
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| == Historic English text samples ==
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| ===Old English===
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| ''[[Beowulf]] lines 1 to 11, approximately [[900]]''
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| <div style="padding:1em; border-width:1px; border-style:dotted; background-color:#fbfbfb">
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| {| class="latinx"
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| |{{H:title|what|Hwæt}}! Wē {{H:title|of Spear-Danes (modifies þrym)|Gār-Dena}}
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| |in {{H:title|yore-days|geārdagum}},
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|of people-kings (modifies þrym, in apposition to Gar-Dēna)|þēodcyninga}},
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| |{{H:title|glory (obj of gefrūnon)|þrym}} {{H:title|have heard of|gefrūnon}},
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|how|hū}} {{H:title|the nobles, subj of fremedon|ðā æþelingas}}
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| |{{H:title|zeal, strength, courage, obj of fremedon|ellen}} {{H:title|did|fremedon}}.
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| |-
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| |Oft {{H:title|name of legendary Danish king (subj of oftēah and egsode)|Scyld Scēfing}}
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| |{{H:title|of enemies (modifies þrēatum)|sceaþena}} {{H:title|from armies (ind obj of oftēah)|þrēatum}},
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|many|monegum}} {{H:title|from tribes (ind obj of oftēah, in apposition to þrēatum)|mǣgþum}},
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| |{{H:title|of mead-seats (obj of oftēah)|meodosetla}} {{H:title|deprived|oftēah}},
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|frightened|egsode}} {{H:title|earls (obj of egsode)|eorlas}}.
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| |{{H:title|since|Syððan}} {{H:title|first|ǣrest}} {{H:title|was (passive construction with funden)|wearð}}
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|destitute|fēasceaft}} {{H:title|found|funden}},
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| |hē {{H:title|the consolation (obj of gebād)|þæs frōfre}} {{H:title|waited for|gebād}},
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|grew|wēox}} under {{H:title|sky|wolcnum}},
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| |{{H:title|honors (obj of þāh)|weorðmyndum}} {{H:title|prospered|þāh}},
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|until|oðþæt}} him {{H:title|everyone (subj of hȳran scolde and gyldan)|ǣghwylc}}
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| |{{H:title|of the surrounding (modifies ǣghwylc)|þāra ymbsittendra}}
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|over the whale-road|ofer hronrāde}}
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| |{{H:title|had to obey|hȳran scolde}},
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| |-
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| |{{H:title|tribute (obj of gyldan)|gomban}} {{H:title|yield|gyldan}}.
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| |þæt wæs {{H:title|good|gōd}} {{H:title|king|cyning}}!
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| |}
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| </div>
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| Which can be translated as:
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| Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings
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| of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
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| we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
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| Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
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| from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
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| awing the earls. Since erst he lay
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| friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
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| for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
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| till before him the folk, both far and near,
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| who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
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| gave him gifts: a good king he!
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| (translation by Francis Gummere)
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| ===Middle English===
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| ''From [[The Canterbury Tales]] by [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], [[14th century]]''
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| Here bygynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunterbury
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|
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| Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
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| The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
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| And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
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| Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
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| Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
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| Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
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| The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
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| Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
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| And smale foweles maken melodye,
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| That slepen al the nyght with open eye
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| (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
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| Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
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| Glossary:
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| *soote: sweet
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| *swich licour: such liquid
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| *Zephirus: the west wind (Zephyrus)
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| *eek: also
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| *holt: wood
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| *the Ram: Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac
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| *yronne: run
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| *priketh hem Nature: Nature pricks them
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| *hir corages: their hearts
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| ===Early Modern English===
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| ''From [[Paradise Lost]] by [[John Milton]], [[1667]]''
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|
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| Of man's disobedience, and the fruit
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| of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
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| Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
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| With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
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| Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
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| Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
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| Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst ispire
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| That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
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| In the beginning how the Heavens and Earth
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| Rose out of chaos: or if Sion hill
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| Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed
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| Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
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| Invoke thy aid to my adventures song,
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| That with no middle Flight intends to soar
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| Above the Aonian mount, whyle it pursues
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| Things unattempted yet in prose of rhyme.
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| ===Modern English===
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| ''From the [[United States Declaration of Independence]], [[1776]], by [[Thomas Jefferson]]''
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| IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
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|
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| The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
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|
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| When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to
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| dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to
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| assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which
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| the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the
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| opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
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| them to the separation.
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| ==See also==
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| *[[Phonological history of the English language]]
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| *[[American and British English differences]]
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| *[[English phonology]]
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| *[[English studies]]
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| *[[List of dialects of the English language]]
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| *[[List of archaic English words and their modern equivalents]]
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| *[[List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents]]
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| *[[Lists of English words of international origin]]
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| *[[Languages in the United Kingdom]]
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| *[[Middle English creole hypothesis]]
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| ==References==
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| * [http://www.bartleby.com/61/ ''American Heritage Dictionary''] A full-scale dictionary emphasising the earliest theoretical [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] origins of English words, including an interactive list of Proto-Indo-European roots.
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| * [ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext97/bwulf10.txt Project Gutenberg's Beowulf translation by Francis Gummere]
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| * {{cite book | author=[[John C. Wells]] | title=Accents of English | location=[[Cambridge]] | publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] | year=[[1982]] | id=ISBN 0-521-22919-7 (vol. 1), ISBN 0-521-24224-X (vol. 2), ISBN 0-521-24225-8 (vol. 3)}}
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| * J.N.L. Myres, ''The English Settlements (Oxford History of England)'', Oxford University Press, 1986. ISBN 0-19-821719-6.
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| * [http://www.englishclub.com/english-what.htm A short history] - A short history of the origins and development of the English language
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| == Links ==
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| (Warning: this paper is not official history - the text can be very confusing)
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| An alternative view upon the origin of English: [http://www.proto-english.org "How old is English really?"]
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| [[Category: CZ Live]] | |
| [[Category:History of the English language|*]]
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| [[Category:English phonology]]
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| [[Category:Language histories|English]]
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