Due to shifts in global power, English has become a global “lingua franca”, perhaps the first in human history. Nearly everybody in the Western world is taught English as their primary language, and Eastern countries teach English as a second language. Anybody who comes in to this world can quickly see how important English is to humans.
English is the main language used in nearly all industry, such as science and business. Even in other countries, often the scientific texts are written in English, or at least have some parts in English. This is just another example of the languages dominance throughout the world.
English certainly is the most prominent language of the Earth, but it is not the language most people learn when they are born. This is because China has a massive population, and their native language is Mandarin Chinese. Since most of them learn English as a second language, English is still either the first or second most spoken language in existence.
The origins of English are quite fascinating. The oldest form of English is appropriately known as Old English, which originated around 400AD from the Anglo-Saxons. Of all the forms, Old English had the longest run.
If you are familiar with The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, you are familiar with the next form of English, known as Middle English. This form of English came about after the Norman Conquest of 1066. After that, English began being influenced by new peoples including the French, and this was a crucial point in the language’s growth.
Between 1470 and 1650, England used what is known as Early Modern English. This was the time of Shakespeare, who used a special form known as Elizabethan English. After 1650, what we know as today’s English began to form rapidly.
There is no telling what the future holds for this language. It seems that every day new words are being formed and others are becoming obsolete, and this is evident from the updates that major dictionaries need to regularly make.
It has only been recently that English became so prominent, so there is always a chance that another language could overtake it. Due to the prominence of English speaking countries such as the United States and England, it is unlikely that anything like this will happen in the near future.
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