To What Major Language Family Does English Belong?

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To What Major Language Family Does English Belong??

Indo-European

Which language family does English belong to quizlet?

English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group.

Which major language is closest to English?

Dutch

However the closest major language to English is Dutch. With 23 million native speakers and an additional 5 million who speak it as a second language Dutch is the 3rd most-widely spoken Germanic language in the world after English and German.

What main languages make up English?

So English is made of Old English Danish Norse and French and has been changed by Latin Greek Chinese Hindi Japanese Dutch and Spanish along with some words from other languages. English grammar has also changed becoming simpler and less Germanic. The classic example is the loss of case in grammar.

Is English official language?

English is one of the official languages of the United Nations the European Union NAFTA the African Union the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation the Caribbean Community the Union of South American Nations and many other international organisations.

What branch is the English language on?

Germanic branch

The Germanic branch is one of the ten or so Indo-European subfamilies. Germanic languages are English’s distant cousins so to speak. The Germanic family itself has subgroups English is in the West Germanic branch along with German Dutch Afrikaans and a few others.

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What are English subjects?

English studies include: the study of literature (especially novels plays short stories and poetry) the majority of which comes from Britain the United States and Ireland (although English-language literature from any country may be studied and local or national literature is usually emphasized in any given …

Is English a mixed language?

English is a language of mixed origins in terms of its vocabulary. A search in the dictionary reveals many of our words were borrowed from Latin French Dutch or Greek it’s almost unexpected if a word can be traced back to Old English.

Why English is a global language?

Answer 1: Many consider English as a global language because it is the one language that the majority of the population in almost every region of the world can speak and understand. Furthermore the language enjoys worldwide acceptance and usage by every nation of the world.

Is English the most descriptive language?

So in conclusion it is possible that English is more succinct or more “descriptive” than many languages in some particular register or domain but generalizing to the most descriptive language in all domains appears to be an obvious over-generalization.

Is English more similar to French or Spanish?

“Lexical similarities” means how many words are identical (or nearly identical) between two languages. For Spanish and French their lexical similarity is about 75%. In comparison Spanish and English have a lexical similarity of only 30-50% and French and English of only 40-50%.

What’s the easiest language to learn?

And The Easiest Language To Learn Is…

Norwegian. This may come as a surprise but we have ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. …
Swedish. …
Spanish. …
Dutch. …
Portuguese. …
Indonesian. …
Italian. …
French.

Is English more French or German?

The short answer: German. However English is basically a Creole Language of Old French and Old English. The basic elements and grammar of English is more closely related to German than French and most of our verbs are German.

What language family is Spanish?

Spanish Italian Romanian Portuguese and French belong to a language family known as the “romance languages.”

What language makes up Old English?

West Germanic

Scholars place Old English in the Anglo-Frisian group of West Germanic languages. Four dialects of the Old English language are known: Northumbrian in northern England and southeastern Scotland Mercian in central England Kentish in southeastern England and West Saxon in southern and southwestern England.

How many countries primary language is English?

Learn About All The English Speaking Countries

Which states have English as the official language?

Template:Official languages of U.S. states and territories

Place	English official	Note
Alabama	Yes	since 1990
Alaska	Yes
Arizona	Yes	since 2006 1988 law ruled unconstitutional
Arkansas	Yes	since 1987

Where do they speak English?

According to the British government the countries with a majority of native English speakers are as follows: Antigua and Barbuda Australia the Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Dominica Grenada Guyana Ireland Jamaica New Zealand Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad …

Is English a group 1 language?

The most difficult languages

The US Foreign Service Institute (FSI) divides languages into four tiers of difficulty for native English speakers to learn. Group 1 the easiest of the bunch includes French German Indonesian Italian Portuguese Romanian Spanish and Swahili.

Who owns the English language?

OK long story short: no one owns English there is no single standard for it though American and British English are the main dialects in the world today they are both very influential in different spheres but the future of World English will be largely determined by people who speak it as a second language.

Is English a German language?

Linguists trace the origins of English as a language to the 5th and 7th centuries (600 to 800) in what is now northwest Germany. As such English is known as a Germanic language to linguists who study the origins and evolution of language.

What is an English major do?

English majors work in fields like journalism PR fundraising and entertainment and study creative writing critical theory and literary history among other topics. … In addition to studying notable works English majors spend time building their own voices.

What is English linguistics?

Linguistics is concerned with the nature of language and communication. It deals both with the study of particular languages and the search for general properties common to all languages or large groups of languages.

What is the difference between English language and English studies?

English studies means studying books including the great British and American novels and plays and the structure of fiction and non-fiction writing. English language is just the study of the grammar syntax and structure of the actual language.

Is English mixed with French?

In English Franglais means a combination of English and French. It evokes the linguistic concepts of mixed language and barbarism. … Some examples of Franglais are: Longtemps pas voir.

Is English a mix of German and French?

English has its roots in the Germanic languages from which German and Dutch also developed as well as having many influences from romance languages such as French. (Romance languages are so called because they are derived from Latin which was the language spoken in ancient Rome.)

What are two languages mixed called?

When people mix two languages while speaking we say they are code switching . You can call each language a code. … Some bilingual or multilingual people prefer to think in one language and then code switch while thinking about concepts which are new or learned in a different context.

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Why is English the most common language?

Some of the reasons for the English Language’s popularity today include: The rise of the British Empire and The United States developments within the science and technology industries and the fact the English Language is gender free among a number of other reasons.

Why is English a lingua franca?

Why English has become the world’s lingua franca is due to the fact that is the common language or mode of communication that enables people to understand one another regardless of their cultural and ethnical backgrounds. It makes communication a lot easier and understanding one another has become efficient.

When did English become international language?

By the late 18th century the British Empire had spread English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce science and technology diplomacy art and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language.

What is the mother of all languages?

Sanskrit

Known as ‘the mother of all languages ’ Sanskrit is the dominant classical language of the Indian subcontinent and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also the liturgical language of Hinduism Buddhism and Jainism.

Is English the simplest language?

Despite these difficulties English is actually the easiest language in the world to learn. … Unlike other languages English has no cases no gender no word agreement and arguably has a simple grammar system.

Is English a complex language?

Although English indeed is a complex language to learn. The same case is with other languages such as Mandarin Russian or Japanese. English is one of the most popular languages globally spoken by over 1.5 billion people to some point.