Introduction

English is one of the most widely spoken of Germanic languages from the IndoEuropean linguistic family. It has its origins in England. The first begun during
the invasion of the Saxons, Anglos and Jutes from Nordic regions to Britain,
which was at the time Celtics home, who were pushed to the west and north
(what we know today was Wales, Ireland and Scotland). The Angles came from
Englaland and their language was Englisc; words that became England
and English.
English developed in four stages; the first one know as Old English.
With the old tribes invading England with similar languages, the Old English
was created. Nowadays not even native English speakers understand Old
English however most of the common words in Modern English have Old
English roots. Old English can be found in the epic poem Beowulf. The second
stage is the Middle English. After the invasion of the Duke of Normandy, French
became the official language for court affairs. During this time there was a
linguistic distinction between classes; upper class spoke French while lower
classes remained speaking English. Eventually English became the dominant
language again, however it kept some French influence and many French
words were added as well. Notorious examples of Middle English can be found
in Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales. Thanks to phonetic changes in the
vowels the third stage of English began: Modern English. With the Renaissance
many new words were introduced and the print also made books accessible. It
was during this period that English was starting to being standardized; spelling
and grammar became fixed and publishing houses started establishing
Standard English as their official language. The first English dictionary was
printed in 1604. William Shakespeare is a prominent figure from the period as
his works helped to standardize English. Lastly, the Late Modern English stage
began. Many new words were added thanks to the industrial revolution and
arise of technology. Also the Britain Empire occupied one quarter of Earth
surface. Also English adopted many foreign words as its own.
With the expansion of the Britain Empire many variations of English were
created. The most important of them are British English and American English.
We can also include South African English, Canadian English, Australian
English, New Zealand English and Indian English.
With globalization English was adopted as the most used language for
commercial transactions as well to communicate universally.

Conclusions
1. Thanks to the Britain Empire invasion, many African and Oceanic
countries adopted English as their official language even after their
independency.
2. There are many variants of English thanks to the expansion of the
language around the world.
3. Not all the states in United States have English as their official language.

Bibliography and references

List of Countries where English is an official Language. Extracted on February
5th from
http://www.emmir.org/fileadmin/user_upload/admission/Countries_where_Englis
h_is_an_official_language.pdf
Countries with English as an Official Language and the Language of Instruction
in Higher Education. Extracted on February 5th from
https://www.ncsu.edu/grad/handbook/official_language_english.htm
Countries by Languages Extracted on February 5 th from
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/countries_by_languages.htm
Countries where the first and native language is English Extracted on
February 4th from http://www.gmcuk.org/doctors/registration_applications/english_first_language.asp

Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala

Escuela de Ciencias Lingsticas
Tcnico en Traduccin y Correspondencia Internacional
Estudios Comparados de la Lengua B
Licenciada Nora Lossener

English Speaking Countries

Miriam Andrea Castillo Estrada

201315523