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English is spoken practically all over the world. It is
spoken as the mother tongue in Great Britain, the United
States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A
lot of people speak English in China, Japan, India, Africa
and other countries. It is one of 6 official languages of the
United Nations. It is studied as a foreign language in many
schools.
England's history helps to understand the present
condition of English. Many English words were borrowed
from the language of Angles and Saxons. Hundreds of
French words came into English. These French words didn't
crowd out corresponding Anglo-Saxon words. There exist
"act" and "deed", "beautiful" and "pretty", "form" and
"shape".
Many new words were brought by traders and travellers.
These words came from all parts of the world: "umbrella" —
from Italian, "skates" — from Batch, "tea" — from Chinese,
"cigar" - from Spanish.
Some words came into English directly from Latin, which was
the language of the church and the universities in the Middle Ages.
Some of the English words of today are derivatives. One
way of creating new words is to put together two or more
older English words. For example, the words "railway",
"football", "newspaper" are made in this way.
Many of the new English words — especially new scientific
ones — have been made from Latin and Greek words instead
of English ones. "Telephone" for instance, was made from
Greek words "far" and "talk".
Questions:
1. In what countries is English spoken as the mother
tongue?
2. From what languages are some English word borrowed?
3. Did French words crowd out corresponding Anglo-
Saxon ones?
4. What English words that came from all parts of the
world do you know?
5. Why are there so many words with Latin roots in English
language?
6. What ways of creating new words do you know?
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