M3u2_reading__English_and_its_history全文.doc

M3u2 reading English and its history All through history, people from many different countries and cultures have lived together in Britain. The English language is made up of the grammar and vocabulary these people brought to Britain. That is why English has so many difficult rules that confuse people. Old English Old English is very different from the English we speak nowadays. In fact, we would not be able to understand it if we heard it today. Before the 5th century, people in Britain all spoke a language called Celtic. Then two Germanic groups from the European mainland—the Angles and the Saxons—occupied Britain. Old English consisted of a mixture of their languages. (Both the English language and the English people are named after the Angles; the word Angle was spelt Engle in Old English.) Aside from place names such as London, very few Celtic words became part of Old English. At the end of the 9th century, the Vikings, people from Northern European countries such as Denmark and Norway, began to move to Britain. They brought with them their languages, which also mixed with Old English. By the 10th century, Old English had become the official language of England. When we speak English today, we sometimes feel puzzled about which words or phrases to use. This is because English has many words and phrases from different languages, but with similar meanings. For example, the word sick came from a word once used by the Angles and the Saxons, while ill came from a word once used by the Norwegians. Middle English Middle English is the name given to the English used from around the 12th to the 15th centuries. Many things played a part in the development of this new type of English. The most important contribution was from the Normans, a French-speaking people who defeated England and took control of the country in 1066. However, the Norman Conquest did not affect English as mush as the Angles and the Saxons’ victory about 600 years earlier, which led to Old Engl