Oliver Joseph Page 1
Ms. Georganas
ENG 3U1
09/27/08
My Linguistic Heritage Essay
The languages that the human race has cultivated to initially communicate, have become so much more than mere tools of interaction, but have evolved so much, that a single language can define a person, race or culture. Language has transformed its versatilities as an instrument of communication, to multiple countless master pieces, written works, religious beliefs, instructions, and help for those in despair. Artists alone have used speech and written text, honing words to their liking, for which they have been remembered since their existence. My personal roots lie in England, where my family has been dated back to the 1400’s, therefore speaking through the age of Middle English and the time period knows as “the great vowel shift”; otherwise known as Modern English. English is now spoken worldwide by and estimated 1.8 Billion people, signifying that it has become the worlds’ official language, making it extremely important as now we can speak to many people world wide and exchange information. Language is one segment of intelligence that separates us from animals; with the invention of language, humans have moved to a farther extent, than thought possible thirty years ago.
The English that is now spoken in England is that of Modern English, the reason for it being called Modern English, specifically the portion “Modern” is that it is a predecessor from other English’s. The English’s which Modern English came from are
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Old English and Middle English, but how each of these English’s came to be have tales’ of their own. The actual root of English stems into Germanic tribes located north of Germany in...