A history of the english language — страница 2

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standard and regional Englishes, and reverse such labels as BBC English or “the Queen’s English” for what they perceive to be a pure Standard English it is still vitally important to know what the Standard English language represents as such and what is more important to use it to be able to communicate with English speakers of various ethnic backgrounds. The personal contribution to the research work lies in an attempt to integrate fundamental and modern sources on the English language formation to give a contrastive view of the issue. The following methods were applied in the research: 1. Descriptive analysis; 2. Historical-philological analysis; 3. Comparative analysis. This work consists of introduction, two chapters, conclusion, list of references and appendixes. The

introduction covers topicality, theoretical base of research, as well as, methods of research and the structure of the work. In the 1st chapter we are concerned with linguistic situation in Old English and Medieval period. The 2nd chapter is dedicated to the changes in the language on phonetic, lexical and grammar levels that later constituted the basis of English Standard. The conclusion colligates the main propositions and ultimate results of the research. The results of the given work were introduced in March, 2011 at the scientific conference in the breakup group devoted to Linguistic text research at Irkutsk State Linguistic University. The research is founded on fundamental works of well-known scholars such as A.C. Baugh [1978], K. Brunner [2008], D. Crystal [1995, 1997],

O. Jespersen [1938]; Russian scientists: V.D Arakin [1985], A.A. Rastorgueva [1997], B.A. Ilyish [1972] and many others. CHAPTER 1. LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN OLD ENGLISH AND MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 1.1 The development of Futhark The earliest form of German writing is commonly believed to be connected to the early Germanic runes. Old English was first written in the runic alphabet which was called FUTHARK. It was named after the first six letters. The reason for the unique sequences of characters in the futhark is unknown. It is proposed that this sequence was the result of some mnemonic device which is no longer retrievable, but which may have left some slight echo in the runic poems preserved in the medieval manuscripts [38]. The Old Germanic runic alphabet consisted of twenty-four

letters. In England at least thirty runes were used to reflect the old English phonological changes. It can be written both horizontally in either direction. The arrangement of runic characters differs greatly from the order of letters in all other European alphabets. The name of each rune was associated with a certain word in the Old English language. Therefore the runes can stand for these words. Besides, each rune could stand for the initial sound of the corresponding word. Thus if we read only initial letters in the words for which the runes stand in the above mentioned six stanzas, we get Futhark [41]. This alphabet was used in northern Europe – in Scandinavia, present-day Germany, and the British Isles – and it has been preserved in about 4,000 inscriptions and in a few

manuscripts. It dates from around the 3rd century AD. No one knows exactly where the alphabet came from, but it seems to be a development of one of the alphabets of southern Europe, probably by the Roman, which runes resemble closely [28]. The runic alphabet is a specifically Germanic alphabet, not to be found in the languages of other groups. The letters are angular; straight lines are preferred, curved lines avoided; this is due to the fact that the runic inscriptions were cut in hard material: stone, wood or bone. The shapes of some letters resemble to those of Greek or Latin, others have not been traced to any known alphabet, and the order of the runes is certainly original [38]. An early offshoot of Futhark was employed by Goths, and so it is known as Gothic Runes. It was

used until 500 CE when it was replaced by the Greek-based Gothic alphabet. One theory concerning the origin of Futhark states that the Goths were the inventors of Futhark, but there is insufficient supporting evidence to prove this theory. In England, the Anglo-Saxons brought Futhark from continental Europe in the 5th century CE and modified it into the thirty-three-letter Futharc to accommodate sound changes that were occurring in Old English, the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons. Even the name ‘Futhorc’ is evidence to a phonological change where the long [a] vowel in Old English evolved into a later [o] vowel. Even though Futhark continued to thrive as a writing system, it started to decline with the spread of the Latin alphabet. In England, Anglo-Saxon Futharc started