Katana VentraIP

English language

English is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, whose speakers, called Anglophones, originated in early medieval England.[4][5][6] The namesake of the language is the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain.

English is the most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire (succeeded by the Commonwealth of Nations) and the United States.[7] English is the third-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish;[8] it is also the most widely learned second language in the world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers.


English is either the official language or one of the official languages in 59 sovereign states (such as India, Ireland, and Canada). In some other countries, it is the sole or dominant language for historical reasons without being explicitly defined by law (such as in the United States and United Kingdom).[9] It is a co-official language of the United Nations, the European Union, and many other international and regional organisations. It has also become the de facto lingua franca of diplomacy, science, technology, international trade, logistics, tourism, aviation, entertainment, and the internet.[10] English accounts for at least 70% of total speakers of the Germanic language branch, and as of 2005, it was estimated that there were over 2 billion speakers worldwide.[11]


Old English emerged from a group of West Germanic dialects spoken by the Anglo-Saxons. Late Old English borrowed some grammar and core vocabulary from Old Norse, a North Germanic language.[12][13][14] Then, Middle English borrowed words extensively from French dialects, which make up about 28% of Modern English vocabulary, and from Latin, which also provides about 28%.[15] As such, although most of its total vocabulary comes from Romance languages, its grammar, phonology, and most commonly used words keep it genealogically classified under the Germanic branch. English exists on a dialect continuum with Scots and is most closely related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages.

Foxas habbað holu and heofonan fuglas nest

Fox-as habb-að hol-u and heofon-an fugl-as nest-∅

fox-NOM.PL have-PRS.PL hole-ACC.PL and heaven-GEN.SG bird-NOM.PL nest-ACC.PL

"Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests"

[45]

the "inner circle" countries have large communities of native speakers of English,

"outer circle" countries have small communities of native speakers of English but widespread use of English as a second language in education or broadcasting or for local official purposes, and

"expanding circle" countries are countries where many people learn English as a foreign language.

lenis stops: bin [b̥ɪˑn], about [əˈbaʊt], nib [nɪˑb̥]

fortis stops: pin [pʰɪn]; spin [spɪn]; happy [ˈhæpi]; nip [nɪp̚] or [nɪʔp]

Singular: cat, dog

Plural: cats, dogs

Linguistic purism in English

English-speaking world

English-only movement

List of countries and territories where English is an official language

Sound files comparing how 110 words are pronounced in 50 English accents from around the world

Accents of English from Around the World (University of Edinburgh)

International Dialects of English Archive – recordings of English dialects and international L2 accents