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English A member ofthe West Germanic group ofthe ^Germanic languages, its closest relative being ^Frisian. Historically, the following periods are identified: Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) (up to ^.1100), Middle English (1100-1500), Modern English(1500tothepresent). Thelastoftheseissometimesfurthersubdividedinto earlyModern English (1500-1700), laterModernEngHsh (1700-1900) and Present English(20thc),butitisperhapsbettertotreattheperiodasawholeandusePresent English for the most recent state ofthe language. In Europe, its spread is mainly confinedtotheBritishIsles(includingtheChannelIslands), insomepartsofwhich it is spoken alongside indigenous languages (*Welsh, ^Scottish Gaelic, *Irish, ^Channel Islands French, and some would add *Scots) or recently arrived ^community languages; itisalso the dominantlanguagein the British colony of Gibraltarandisanofficiallanguage(with^Maltese)inMalta.World-wide,itisesti- mated tobe the firstlanguageofsome377 millionspeakers. OldEnglish Origins and the earlyperiod, 'Old English' is the term now normally used for the earliest period ofthe English language, as distinct from 'Anglo-Saxon', the older term, now used of the people, their history and archaeology. The origins ofthe language lie with the Germanic tribes living along the North Sea coast of the Continent, in modern terms from southern Denmark to Holland. Small groups from these tribes were employed by the Romans in defending the eastern and southern coasts ofBritain during the last years ofRoman rule in the province, but themaininfiltrationswereintheperiodfollowingthedepartureoftheRomanlegions in the early 5th c. Theperiod between about 500and 600 wasoneofgradual penetration ofBritain by groups ofGermanic settlers. There seems never to have been a large-scale invasion, rather groups ofraiders and settlers, sometimes reaching far inland via the largerivers,likeThamesandTrent,establishedsettlementsnexttoorinplaceofthe local Celtic inhabitants. By the early 7th c. there were what could be called Anglo- SaxonkingdomssidebysidewithCelticones,inthenorth,forexample,theEngHsh Deira besidesthe CelticElmet. Walesand Cornwalland themore northerlypartsof Scotland werenotpenetrated by thenewsettlers. CelticandtheGermaniclanguagesoftheearlysettlerswouldhavebeenmutually unintelligible. The diplomatic contact between neighbouring kingdoms was no 138 English doubt carried out through interpreters and it is difficult to see a general need for eithergrouptolearnthelanguageoftheother.Thereisnowayofknowingwhatkind of everyday contact there was between the ordinary Germanic settlers and their Celticneighboursbutplace-nameevidencesuggeststhatco-existencewasatleastas commonasthefireandsword describedbytheearlychroniclers. Earlyplace-names with Walk meaning 'Briton' rather than 'slave', e.g. Walton, Walcot, and with Cumbre meaning 'British' (cf. Welsh Cymro 'Welshman', Cymru 'Wales'), e.g. Cumberland, Comberbatch, suggest recognition by Germanic-speakers ofcontin- uing Celtic settlement, less certainly suggested by the purely Celtic topographical names, e.g. Thames, Severn, Calder, Avon. There are still very few certain Celtic borrowings into EngHsh ofthe period, but it is likely that on a local, and perhaps temporary, level there werefarmore. Besideslanguage, theothergreatdifferencebetween CeltsandAnglo-Saxonslay in their beliefs. The Celts had been converted to Christianity whilst still under Romanruleand hadanorganized church. TheAnglo-Saxonswerestillpagan. The conversionoftheAnglo-Saxonsbeganinthe6thc.andwaslargelycomplete(though notalwayslasting)by theend ofthe 8th c. Scripts,Christianitymeantnotonlyanewreligionbutalsoanewlanguageandaccess to a new means ofrecording events and ideas. The Anglo-Saxons, like their north Germanic neighbours, used *runes. What survives suggests, however, that both beforeandafterthecomingofChristianityruneswereused forcommemoration, to expressownership,empowering(ofweapons,inparticular)and,perhapsinallcases, decoration rather than communication. Though it is possible that messages cut in wood formed an everyday practical use for runes, no unequivocal evidence has survived from England. A very few, very briefinscriptions survive from the pagan Anglo-Saxonperiod,cutonboneorimpressedonpottery,butthemajorityarelater. Even these are not numerous or on the whole very long. The Ruthwell cross (Dumfriesshire) inscription, with 290 existing runes and at least a further 100 lost through the 17th-c. breakingup ofthe cross, is thelongest. ThefrequencyofwritingLatinafterthecomingofChristianityandtherelatively easyadaptationofitsalphabetforthewritingofEnglish nodoubtmadeitinevitable that Roman rather than runic letter forms would become the norm. Though primarilyusedforcuttingin stone,boneorclay,and thereforestraight-sided,runes could have been adapted, but with a highly developed series ofalphabets derived from Roman capital and cursive already in existence there was Htde need to do so. TheonlyadditionstotheRomanalphabetweretherunicletters <I» {vpynn)for[w] and <{)> {thorn) for [9] or [6], and the adapted <d>, <6> {eth)^ used side by side with <{)>. Itshould notbeimagined thatadoption was immediate and uniform. In the early stages experiments were clearly made. There are early examples of<th> ratherthan <^>^ and <u> or <uu> is usedsporadically throughouttheperiodside byside with <1». Dialects. As runicinscriptionsand written vernaculartextsmake clear, therewerea number ofdialects in Anglo-Saxon England, possibly as a result ofthe differing ( English 139 regions ofthe Continent from which the early setiers came but as likely from differences which developed after settlement in widely separated areas ofEngland. Broad differences existed between AngHan in the midlands and north. West Saxon in thesouthandKentishinthesouth-east, butthdrearealsovariationswithin these areas, particularly Mercian and Northumbrian within Anglian. Since early records are few, most of the evidence for dialect variaWtions.1, as for all linguistic features, comes from the 8th c. and later. By the 10th c. ^st Saxon, because ofthepolitical dominance ofthe West Saxon kings, had become widespread throughout England asanadministrativelanguageandhadalsoachievedsomethingofthestatusofastan- dardizing literary language into which earlier works were copied. Before that happened, however, the relative stability ofthe Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was to be broken. Scandinavian and other influences. From the lae 8th c. onwards Scandinavian marauders subjected the east and south coasts of England to a series ofraids cul- minating in the mid-9th c. in larger-scale invasi3ns After a series ofdefeats the English eventually rallied under Alfred, king ofthe West Saxons, and a settlement was made dividing England into the Danelaw, under Scandinavian control, north andeastofalineroughlydrawnfromLondontoChester,andWessex,underEnglish , control, tothe south and west. TherearetwoI major differences between this settle- mentand the earlier Germanicone ofCeltic Britain: first, therelationship between English and the Scandinavian languages was c1os(j as they were branches ofearlier Germanic, andsecondly, whereastheCelts gradu;^llylostcontrolofeastern, central and southern Britain, the Scandinavians for a tim|e ruled the northern and eastern partsofEngland which they had overrun, and later(11th c) gainedcontrol for a time ofthe whole ofEngland. As with the earlier Germanic settlement, however, it was once again a matter of Christian inhabitaikts and pagan invaders. Little is knownoftheearlylinguisticinteractionbuttheScjndinavianJsettlementleftavaried andlastingresidueofScandinavianwordsandforijissofeverygrammaticalcategory, as well as influencing the forms and meanings ofliome English words. Largely due j no doubt to the dominanceofWest Saxon in the l|Othc, these wordsand forms do not appear in texts in any number until after th( end ofthe Old English period. (Nouns:bracken(1300),keel{Un\law(1000),leg 1300),sky(1289),window(1225); adjectives:awkward{\A2S\flat{UT^Q),ill(1200);v rbs: call(1225),die(1175),drown (1325),get(1200),hit(1075), lift(1200), raise(120C),scrape(1225), take(1100), want (1200); prepositions:/r^? (1200), till(SOO); pronouns: they, them, their(1200), Dates MED givenareoftheearliestrecorded usesaccordingto or OED,) The Scandinavian languages were not the only sources ofnew words. A number ofLatin borrowings ofa largely non-Christian kind existed early in the Germanic languages either brought from the Continent or taken over from Latin-speaking Celtsin Britain. From thetimeofthearrivalofth( Christian missionarieswith new conceptsandalanguagecarryingtheprestigeofth|enewreligion, wordsweretaken intoEnglishfromLatinbut,sincetheGermanicprocessofcreatingnewwordsfrom within thelanguagewasstill dominantatthattimd, newborrowings existed sideby , 140 English side with numerous new creations, largely loan-formations or loan-translations, in the areaofthenewreligion. Probably from contactwhilestill on the Continentare: street (OE street)^ mile (OE mil)^ mint^ from Lat. moneta 'coin' (OE mynet)^ silk (OE sioluc);fromBritish-Latincontacts:strap(OEstropp),pail(OEpcesel),pot(OEpott)y cat (OE catt(e)), cock (OE cocc)\ later borrowings and new creations: abbot (OE abbodjy mass (OE mcesse), alms (OE celmesse); OE Promung = Lat. Passio 'Passion', OE = OE = (leornung-)cniht Lat. discipulus'disciple', mildheortnesse Lat. misericordia OE = 'mercy'; Prynnes Lat. Trinitas 'Trinity'. By the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066 the process had already begun whereby English gradually lost almost all of the inflectional system which had markeddistinctionsbetweenclassesofnouns,verbsandadjectivesaswellasgender, case, tense and number. No doubt interaction between two distinct but similar Germaniclanguageshadsomeeffectthroughthestressingofstemratherthaninflec- tion, but the main cause is likely to have been the tendency ofEnglish stress to fall on the firstsyllabletherebyleavinginflectionsweaklystressedornotstressedatall. OldEnglish literature. TheOld English period traditionallyends withthe Conquest though nothing like so sharp a break actually existed. At the time ofthe conquest, EnglishpossessedaflourishingHterature-poetry: secular,heroic(e.g. Beowulf)and elegiac (e.g. The Wife's Lament, The Ruin)^ and rehgious (e.g. Dream ofthe Rood, Jfudith); prose: saints' lives (by, for example, iElfric), the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, homilies (e.g. Blickling Homilies), scientific works (e.g. Byrhtferth's Enchiridion). Though Latin remained the primary language oflearning and religion, English throughtranslationandoriginalcompositionhadachievedapositionofconsiderable prestige. Itwasalsothecommonadministrativelanguage, usedforlawcodesaswell ascharters, grantsoflandand wills. Middle English French influences. The Norman Conquest marks a considerable change in the linguistic contextofEnglish, its firsteffectbeing to move English from its position ofadministrative prestige as second only to Latin. In origin the Norman invaders wereScandinavianbuttheyhadadoptedthelanguageofthelandtheyhadconquered and consequently introduced a further language, Norman French or *Anglo-Norman, into England. There had been contact between Anglo-Saxon England and France before the Conquest - such as to leave a small inheritance of loan-words (e.g. castle, tower, bacon, proud) - but the major influence ofNorman FrenchonEnglishcomesintheperiodofsocialdominanceinthelate 11thand 12th centuries. Norman-French-speakersfairlyquicklytookoverthedominantpositions in secularand religiousaffairsthuscreatingafterawhileaprestigelanguageofreh- giousand sociallifeandadministration. Thisnewlinguisticinvasiondiffered markedlyfromitspredecessors. Onceagain mutually unintelligible languages had come together but this time with one as a sociallydominantpartnerwhichhadtobelearntandunderstoodinsomeformbyat least some ofthe members ofthe other language community. As a result, the two English 141 languagesremainedfunctioningseparately,indifferentpartsofthecommunity,each influencingtheother. Norman French in England gradually developejd its own form ofthe language, Anglo-Norman,anditsownliterature. Thelossof[Normandyin 1204didnotmean thelossofEnglishpossessionsinFranceandthere]SJacontinuingFrenchinfluence, fromAnglo-Normanwithinthecountryanditssph((Tecofinfluence,andfromCentral French, especially thatofParis, abroad- no longe' influence through invasion but through cultural desirability. By the middle ofthe 14th c. Anglo-Norman wjas giving way to English as the language ofadministration. Signs ofthis are the Statutes ofPleading, which made English rather than French the language of the aw-courts, and the opening of Parliament in English, both in 1362. French as a teacching medium in schools also appears to have been giving way to English at this time, and the 14th c. sees the burgeoning ofHterature in English: chronicles, r(|mances, lyrics, poetry ofevery kind.AsaliterarymediumFrenchwasalmostenttiirijlysupersededinEnglandbythe end ofthe 14th c, butbythattimeEnglish wasavastly differentlanguagefromthe ( oneithadbeenatthetimeoftheConquest.ThemobtnotablelegacyofFrench(both Anglo-Norman and Central French) was in the vo:abulary, and words were intro- ducedineveryareaofhumanactivityandultimatelypenetratedeverylevelofsociety, often producing French/English pairs which havI later become differentiated in meaning, e.g. mutton/sheepy royal/kingly; or Angle Norman/Central French pairs e.g. warden/guardian, cattle/chattel, catch/chase. Tjie spellingsystem also had been much affected: <ch, qu, sh, z> wereall Frenchimnovations. Dialectsandthestandard. The factthatEnglish was notsubjectto the standardizing influencesandneedsofareaslikeadministrationduiingitheperiodbeforethe 14thc. meant that dialectal differences, already present in the Old English period and heightenedby the Scandinavian settlementin thenorthandeast, established them- selves in written form. Five generally distinctive ireas are usually distinguished: Northern,EastMidland,WestMidland, Southern mdKentish,andinaddition, by theendoftheperiod, Scottish.Nooneofthesecarr edgreaterprestigethananother and all produced aconsiderablenumberofliterary texts, butwith the development ofLondon as a metropolitan centre a particular form ofEngHsh began to develop which,thoughbasedonEastMidlandforms,wasalst)affectedbyspeakersfromother areasofEngland. By the 14th c. the earlier establishment ofthe Clancery at Westminster showed signsofproducinganinclinationtowardsa'correct'formofthelanguageforadmin- istrative use. The end ofthe 15th c. saw the mtrocluction ofprinting into England and Caxton, the first printer, expressed concern varieties ofEnglish and the need to find appropriately acceptable and lasting f(|)rms ofwords for the language. This cluster ofinfluences contributed to the growt|ti ofastandard written English, though it is unlikely that the feeling ofthis as a 'correct' form at first spread far outsideLondon, orevenisolated groups within London. 142 English Middle English literature. Despite the social prestige ofAnglo-Norman in the early part of the period, English retained a place in literature - not only sermons and religiousinstruction(inthecaseofaworklikeAncreneWisse (AGuideforAnchoresses) ofhigh literary as well as didactic value) but also secular and religious history and legendinworkslikeLajamon'sBrutandthe CursorMundi.Bytheendoftheperiod English was again the dominant literary language represented in particular in the work of Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland and the anonymous author of the poemsofthe Gamain/Pearlmanuscriptin thelater 14th c. The 15th c, though not perhaps matching the earlier period in quality, established English in a new and expandingrangeofliterarywork,sothatwiththeadventofprintingattheendofthe centuryitwasEnglishasmuch asLatin worksthatwerepublished. Modem English Despite the wide variety ofdevelopments affecting the Enghsh language in the 15thc,geographicallyitremainedalanguageconfinedalmosttotheboundariesthat contained it at the end ofthe Anglo-Saxon period. The only extensions were ofa small kind in Ireland, Wales and Cornwall. The 16th c. began the outward expan- sion ofEnglish. Italsosaw furtherextensionsin therangeofthevernacular, largely through translation, intoareasofscholarship once entirely Latin. TheReformation established Enghsh asthelanguageofreligion and theRenaissance helped to create anew self-consciousnessin EnglishliteraryandHnguisticendeavourin itsattempts tomatch theachievementofLatin. Earlyforeign contacts and the English overseas. At first, rather than exporting the Englishlanguage, trade,andlatersimplytravel,broughtEnglish-speakersintocon- tact with a variety of new languages, and with familiar ones in a new context, resulting in varied and extensive borrowing. At the same time there was extended contactwithotherlanguagesthroughprintedworksofeverykind. Borrowingsfrom Spanish cameabouttoagreatextentasaresultoftradingin theNewWorld-new situations and new names for new objects - and there was not just borrowing of Spanish words butalso ofwords from the indigenous languages ofthe New World throughthemediumofSpanish. Somerecordedearlyborrowingswere:sherris(later sherry) 1540,primero (the card game) 1533, tornado 1556, alligator{allagarto = 'the Hzard') 1568,armadillo 1577,mosquito(='littlefly') 1583;andfromnativelanguages: canoe (Sp. from Haitian) 1555, maize (Sp. from Cuban) 1585, banana 1597. Examples oflater borrowings are: vanilla 1662, avocado 1697, barbecue 1697 - the latter two from native languages. The same is true to a more limited extent of Portuguese in Africaand Asia. From Portuguese were, for txamph:flamingo 1565, molasses 1582, madeira 1595, caste 1613, dodo 1628; j/^m {} African word) 1588, assagai (Port, from Arabic from Berber) 1625, macaw 1668, mandarin (Port, from Malay) 1589,pagoda (Port, from an Indian language) 1634. There was a continued borrowing of words from French, and, on a smaller scale, from Dutch. From French: trophy 1513, pioneer 1523, viceroy 1524, genteel 1599, rendezvous 1591, machine 1549 (a Scottish use), hautboy \SIS^promenade n. 1567, v. 1588, moustache English 143 1585; and httr.fanfare 1605 (a Scottish use), stockade 1614 (from Spanish), unique 1602,ballet 1667,burlesque(fromItalian)n. 1667, tableau(atfirst= 'picture,graphic description') 1699, champagne (wine) 1664, compoti' 1693 (earlier borrowed as com- post 1420). From Dutch: luck 1500, isinglass 1545, cambric 1530,5^//V^ \S1A-S,yacht 1557, 0?^^6>w 1523,w/>ro^r 1526;andlater: etch 1634, landscape 1603,r^«r 1602,^foi&^r 1660, keelhaul 1666, iwj97^ 1677. These borrowings clearly reflect opportunities for contact, but often they also reflect the importance ofcertain languages in various areas ofexpertise or fashion: music, the visual arts, warfare, seafaring, cookery. Later in the 16th c. Italian words began to appear. A few had existed already in MiddleEnglishbutthevastmajoritydatefromthe 7thc.andlater,partlyasaresult ofItalian dominance in many areas, artistic and domestic, partly as a result ofthe growing importance of the grand tour. Many have remained specific to Italian circumstances, the country and its way oflife, but many began as specific butlater becamegeneralized.Somehaveretainedtheiroriginilform,andtoanextentpronun- ciation,manyhavebecomewhollyAnglicized:ofthe 16thc.are:nuncio,podesta,doge, duomo, piazza, madonna, strappado, duello, macaroni, parmesan, artichoke, cupola, madrigal, stanza;ofthe 17thc:capriccio, vermicelli, recitative, cameo, model, miniature, intrigue,gazette, bulletin, opera, volcano.Datingofwordborrowingisalwaysdifficult since the firstrecorded useisall thereis to go byand words borrowed orally rather than in written form can exist for some time wiihout record. This was true of ScandinavianinthelateOldEnglishperiodandNo: manFrenchintheearlyMiddle English,anditistrueagainofborrowingsfromotherEuropeanlanguagesintheearly modern period. Themain differenceliesin the volumeand varietyofEnglish liter- atureand thenewinterestinlanguage. ThoughLatinretaineditspositionastheprimarylearnedlanguage,everykindof literaturewasnowproducedinEnglishfromprintec ephemeraHkebroadsideballads to philosophic and scientific treatises. The growth oflearned writing in English, often translation from Classical originals, meant tlat everyday (and exotic) words were entering EngUsh not only from the Hving lani^uages ofEurope and the wider world but also from the Classical languages. This 'foreign contact' was entirely a paperone. Often with theintention ofimprovingthe language, its 'beauty' (as they sawit)oritsrange,largenumbersoflearnedwordswereborrowedfromLatin.This waslargelyaliterarymatter,butsoextremedidtheborrowingofLatinwordsbecome thatabodyofopinionarosecondemningtheoveruse ofthese'inkhornterms',asthey wereabusivelycalled, wordsborn oftheinkpotnotthehuman mind. Manyoftheborrowingssurviveandnolongersetmoutlandish,eg. conscious, reci- procal, defunct, spurious, inflate (v.), strenuous^ mmy hardly survived their first appearance (except in dictionaries of'hard words'), e.g. obstupefact,furibund, obla- trant, magnificate. All thewords quoted here, BenJonson holds up to ridiculein his play ThePoetaster(1602). Thelaterborrowingsfrom the Classicallanguages, Latin and Greek, or in some cases words created on Classical models, were largely scientific. LatinhadfromitsfirstappearanceinEngland 3eenasourceoftechnicalwords ofallkindsbecauseitwasthelanguageofalllearning;. Itwastheexpansionofscience (initsmodernmeaning)andthetaking-overoftheaeabyEnglishthatproducedthe 144 English new influx ofborrowings orcreations, e.g. from Latin in the 17th c: specimen, spec- trum, formula, stamen, nebula, antenna, momentum. Another area in which the influenceofLatinwasfeltwasinthe(sometimesquiteerroneous)remodellingofthe spellingofwordsonthelinesoftheirsupposedoriginals,e.g. doutefromFrench,re- speltdoubtbecauseofLatindubitum. Early language study. The condemnation of 'inkhorn terms' is a sign ofanother characteristic of 16th-c. England, an interest for the first time in the language for itself, or for the sake ofimproving and regulating it. One ofthe first weaknesses of the language to catch attention was orthography, where the mismatch between spelling and pronunciation was apparent. Those who considered that spelling should reflect pronunciation were drawn into the first systematic investigations of thepronunciationofEngHshaswellasintoanexaminationofEnglishspellingprac- tices. John Harte's Orthographie (printed 1569) was one of the eariiest and most remarkable ofthese, providing a new orthography as well as an analysis ofEnglish spelHngand pronunciation. In the course ofthe 17th c, phonetics became an independent study, partly at least because of the concern with teaching English to foreigners. Christopher Cooperlate in the century, gives a remarkably full account ofEnglish pronunciation {English Teacher, 1687). The early attempts at radical spelling reform, however, having failed to gain general acceptance, gave way to regularization of traditional spellings, something which printers had been doing sincethelate 16th c. Bythebeginningofthe 18thc, spellingwasbyandlargefixed in its present form. Early attention was also given to lexicography. Latin-English glossaries ofa limitedkindhadexistedsincetheOldEngHshperiod. Somewhatfullervocabularies were produced in the 15th c. {Promptorium Parvulorum c. 1440 and Catholicon Anglicum 1487) and in asimilar form continued into the 16th c. It was not until the later 16thc. thattherewasacallforanEnglishdictionary(Bullokar 1580,Mulcaster 1582). In the same century a number of bilingual dictionaries appeared: French-English (Palsgrave 1530), Italian-English (Thomas 1567, Florio 1598), Spanish-English (Percyvail 1591). Springing partly from the influx ofnew words andpartlyfromthenewself-awarenessinlanguagematters, thefirstEnglishdictio- nary appeared in 1604, Robert Cawdrey's A Table Alphabeticall, conteyning and teaching the true writing, andunderstanding ofhard vsuallEnglish mordes. As its title suggests, itis little more than an alphabetically ordered glossary. Itwasfollowedin 1616 byJohn Bullokar's English Expositor. A series ofdictionaries appeared during the 17th c. and early 18th c. The numberofwords is continuously expanded, often by the inclusion ofwhatwould now be considered encyclopedic or gazetteer information, and matters such as etymology, and register were touched on sporadically andinadequately.ElishaColes's^wEnglishDictionary(1676)includeslargenumbers ofregionalandarchaicwords. Itwasnotuntil theearly 18thc. thatsomethingHkea comprehensive dictionary as opposed to a dictionary mainly concerned with explainingunusual wordswas produced. A systematic treatment was also given to grammar, starting with William ' English 145 Bullokar'sBrefGrammar(1586). Grammaris treated alongwith pronunciation ina numberofworksoftheearly17thc.culminatinginJchnWallis'sGrammaticaLingua Anglicance(1653), whichattemptsto takethedescriptionofEnglish grammaroutof the Latin mould. Wallis demonstrates the influencelofantiquarianism byincluding ahistory ofthelanguage. Interest in languagealso extended to areaslike sLingand thieves' cantand in the 17thc. todialectvocabularyandidiom.Thisverybroadinterest,however,wasover- shadowedbythegrowingdesireamongstscholarsto establishandretaina'true'form ofthelanguage. LiteraturefromReformationtoRestoration,The 16th . andearly 17thc. wasaperiod ofunprecedented literary activity, beginning with tie new translations ofthe Bible early in the 16th c. (Coverdale, Tyndale), expandiijg into areas ofreligious debate andextensivetranslationsoftheClassics(Plutarch,Iliny.Euclid)andcontemporary , European languages(Ariosto, Montaigne), andachitvinganexceptionalrichnessin original writing in prose, poetry and drama (Baoon Nashe; Spenser, Sidney; Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson, Webster). One of the most important linguistic results oftheactivitiesoftheplaywrightswasthat, becauseoftheremarkablerange oflanguageregistersrepresented,forthefirsttimetiefullvarietyofEnglishspeech was reflected in literature. As the 17th c. progressed drama took a second place to poetry (Milton, Dryden), and even to a still-deve oping prose writing (Bunyan, Hobbes, Milton, Dryden), though it revived to some extent after the reopening of the theatresattheRestoration. Laterdevelopments in languagestudy. The 17th c. had seen the growth ofinterestin anacademyasameansofrefiningthelanguageand^xingitinatrueandpermanent form. The existence ofthe Italian (1582) and Frenih (1635) academies provided a stimulus and Dryden and later Swift, among otiers advocated some form of academy. The Royal Society (1662) might have serv^ed the purpose but in the end turned itsbackon languagestudy, which thusremaned uninstitutionalized. Thedesireforimprovingthelanguageandpreventingchangewenthand-in-hand with a desire for standardization and regularization Though some advocated the importance ofcurrent usage as a guide, the apparently uncontrolled variety ofthis was uninviting to most writers of the time. Instepd appeals were made to logic, etymologyand analogy (the 'genius ofthe language') to provideauthoritative guid- anceas to whatshouldbeconsidered 'correct'. Itsh3uld besaid thatthenotion ofa 'correct' form ofthe language was a desirable one br those who had to teach and those who wanted tolearn thelanguage. Oneofthemostremarkableachievementsinthesystematicstudyofthelanguage at the time was Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary ofthe English Language (1755). Johnson's Dictionary demonstrates the settling o lexicographical practice very largely into what is that oflater historical dictionaries Johnson improves on his predecessors in his definitions, which are on the whole fuller and more analytic, in hiscoverage,wherehereducestheencyclopediccontentandexpandsthenumberof 146 English ordinarywords,andbyhisinclusionofquotationstoillustratetheuseofwords. His workdominatedthedictionary-makingofthe 18thc. andasabasisforotherdictio- naries lasted well into the 19th c. Thomas Sheridan (1780) andJohn Walker (1791) used Johnson's as the basis for their definitions but expanded and improved the information on pronunciation in their Pronouncing Dictionaries. Dictionaries continued to appear throughout the 19th c. butuntil theadventoftheNewEnglish Dictionary there were no major developments in England. In America the work of Noah Webster not only resulted in an important dictionary (1828) but also established the differentsystem ofspellingforAmerican English. Concernwithestablishingastandardingrammaticalusageledtotheprescriptive grammars ofRobert Lowth (1762) and most influentially Lindley Murray (1794). These undoubtedly had a standardizing effect on many elements ofthe written language, whichin somecaseslasted until the20thc. The historical study ofthe language had begun in the 16th c. through the inves- tigationofOldandMiddleEnglishtextsforevidenceoftheantiquityoftheEnglish church as an independent institution. A dictionary of Old English had been published in 1659 and in 1689 the great grammar of George Hickes appeared. Despitetheseearlybeginningsthestudydidnotmoveforwarduntilthelate 18thc, with Sir WilliamJones'sworkon Sanskrit, and the 19th c. through theactivitiesof continentalscholars,forexampleRasmusRaskinDenmarkandthebrothersGrimm in Germany. The extensive re-examination ofmanuscripts and the publication of textstowhichthisgaverisejoinedwith themovementforcreatinganewdictionary on historical principles proposed by the Philological Society in 1858. The Early EnglishTextSocietywasfoundedin 1864atleastpartlytoprovidetextsforthenew dictionary. English overseas. Most important for later developments in the spread ofEnglish world-wide wasthe settingup ofEnglish colonieson theeasternseaboardofNorth AmericafromVirginiainthesouthtoNewEnglandinthenorthintheearly 17thc. In 1783, with the conclusion ofthe War ofAmerican Independence, the United StatesofAmericabecameaseparate state which developed its own pronunciations, spellings and traditions ofEnglish. At present nearly two-thirds of the world's English-speakers are American. Also in the 16th c. arather shifting series ofisland and mainland colonies was developing in the Caribbean, soon to be populated predominantly by black African slaves. These ex-coloniesalso developed theirown EngHshes which in turn were brought back to Britain with the immigration ofthe 1950s and later. Developments on the other side ofthe world were a feature ofthe late 18th c. (1788 BotanyBay, thefirstpenal settlementin Australia; gradual settle- mentinNewZealandfromthe 1790s). SouthAfricaislargelya19th-c. development andWestAfrican coloniesalsomainly developedin the 19th c, thoughcontacthad existed from early in the 16th c. The British presence in East Africa is late 19th-c. and 20th-c. RegularcontactwiththeIndiansub-continentdatesfrom 1612(trading stationatSurat)and grewin importance duringthe 18thc. EngHshremainedthefirstlanguageintheUSA,Australia,NewZealandandparts