Remove ads
Inglis (Inglis: English) is a Wast Germanic leid that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kinricks o England an spread intae whit wis tae become sooth-east Scotland unner the influence o the Anglian medieval kinrick o Northumbrie. Follaein the economic, poleetical, military, scienteefic, cultural, an colonial influence o Great Breetain an the Unitit Kinrick frae the 18t century, via the Breetish Empire, an o the Unitit States syne the mid-20t century,[3][4][5][6] it haes been widely dispersed aroond the warld, become the leadin leid o internaitional discourse, an haes acquired uise as lingua franca in mony regions.[7][8] It is widely learnit as a seicont leid an uised as an offeecial leid o the European Union an mony Commonwealth kintras, as well as in mony warld organisations. It is the third maist natively spoken leid in the warld, efter Mandarin Cheenese an Spaingie.[9]
| Inglis | |
|---|---|
| English | |
| Region | Oreeginally Ingland nou warldwide |
Native speakers | 360–400 million (2006)[1] L2 speakers: 400 million; as a foreign leid: 600–700 million[1] |
Early forms | |
| |
Signed forms | Manually coded Inglis (multiple seestems) |
| Offeecial status | |
Offeecial leid in |
Various organisations
|
| Leid codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | en |
| ISO 639-2 | eng |
| ISO 639-3 | eng |
| Glottolog | stan1293[2] |
| Linguasphere | 52-ABA |
 Kintras o the warld whaur Inglis is a majority native leid
Kintras whaur Inglis is offeecial but nae a majority native leid | |
Historically, Inglis originatit frae the fusion o leids an dialects, noo collectively kent as Auld Inglis, whilk wur brocht tae the eastren coast o Great Breetain bi Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) settlers beginnin in the 5t century – wi the wird "Inglis" bein derived frae the name o the Angles.[10] A significant nummer o Inglis wirds are constructit based on roots frae Latin, acause Latin in some form wis the lingua franca o the Christian Kirk an o European intellectual life.[11] The leid wis faur influenced bi the Auld Norse leid wi Viking invasions in the 8t an 9t centuries.
The Norman conquest o Ingland in the 11t century gae rise tae hivy borrowins frae Norman-French, an vocabulary an spelling conventions began tae gie the superficial appearance o a close relationship wi Romance leids[12][13] tae whit haed nou become Middle Inglis. The Great Vowel Shift that began in the sooth o Ingland in the 15t century is ane o the historical events markin the separation o Middle an Modern Inglis.
Awin tae the significant assimilation o various European leids throughoot historie, modren Inglis is aften seen as haein a gey muckle vocabulary. The Oxford Inglis Dictionary leets ower 250,000 distinct wirds, an daes nae include mony technical or slang terms, or wirds that belang tae multiple wird classes.[14][15]
Remove ads
The name "Inglis" comes frae the pairt o Germany an Denmark cried "Angeln". The spellin Inglis is a leeterar archaism frae aulder Scots that enthusiasts is gey fond o. It wis sount [ɪŋ'lɪs] (cf. Scottis), wi time the is wis cuttit tae s an the modren ootcome wis [ɪŋ'(ə)lz] that can be seen in the faimly name wi the mair mensefu modren spellin Ingles. Maist fowk the nou says ['ɪŋlɪʃ], English, tho some fowk scrieves Inglish fir fear that fowk micht soond the foregaun wrang. Mony fowk soonds Inglis ['ɪŋglɪs] efter the English soond-tae-letter spellin.
Remove ads
Modern Inglis, sumtimes descrived as the first global lingua franca,[16][17] is the dominant leid or in some instances even the required internaitional leid o communications, science, information technology, business, aviation, entertainment, radio an diplomacy.[18] Its spread ayont the Breetish Isles began wi the growthe o the Breetish Empire, an bi the late 19t century its reach wis truly global. Follaein the Breetish colonisation o North Americae, it acame the dominant leid in the Unitit States an in Canadae. The growin economic an cultural influence o the US an its status as a global superpouer syne Warld War II hae significantly acceleratit the leid's spread across the planet.[17]
A wirkin kennin o Inglis haes become a requirement in a number o fields, occupations an professions sic as medicine an computin; as a consequence ower a billion fowk speak Inglis tae at least a basic level (see Inglis leid learnin an teachin). It is ane o sax offeecial les o the Unitit Nations.
Ane impact o the growthe o Inglis haes been tae reduce native linguistic diversity in mony pairts o the warld, an its influence continues tae play an important role in leid attrition.[19] Conversely the naitural internal variety o Inglis alang wi creoles an pidgins hae the potential tae produce new distinct leids frae Inglis ower time.[20]
Remove ads
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads