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English : The History Of The English Language
The History of the English Language BEFORE ENGLISH Where does English come from?
English has a convoluted history, spanning many millennia and cultures throughout history. The
English we all know and love today started its journey way back in the late Stone Ages. The people
who spoke this early concept of English are known as the Neolithic or Indo–European people. These
people lived in Eastern Europe and Central Asia sometime after 5,000BC, although different sources
state anywhere between 3,000BC – 7,000BC. Since there are no recorded writings of this
Indo–European language, it's a mystery as to how it actually sounded. Using the "comparative
method", linguists were able to reconstruct what it may have sounded like using context clues from
several of its daughter languages. Thanks to this method, it is thought by many that modern–day
Lithuanian may be the closest to the Indo–European language, i.e. the most unchanged form.
Indo–European is but one of many language families, however it is by far the most expansive family,
accounting for nearly half of today's modern languages. Within Europe, there are only few languages
which do not derive from this tree. These include Basque, Finnish, Estonian, Turkish, Hungarian, and
few other small Russian languages. The Indo European Spread Sometime between 3,500BC –
2,500BC, this Indo–European language spread all throughout Europe and Asia, developing and
evolving as it did. As they developed in isolation, by 1,000BC, Indo–European had split into smaller
language groups, the main ones being Hellenic, Italic, Indo–Iranian, Celtic, Germanic, Armenian,
Balto–Slavic, and Albanian. Several other groups existed, such as Anatolian, Tocharian, Phrygian,
Thracian and Illyrian, but they have since died out before they had a chance to properly develop.
Over time these new language groups forked into even smaller languages, languages one would
recognize as modern–day languages, such as Swedish, Portuguese, and Latin. Because all of these
languages came from the same source, it makes sense as to why some words in different languages
look similar. Compare: English (brother), Dutch (broer), German (brГјder), Old Norse (brГіГ°r)
English (father), Dutch (vader),
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Essay On Prehistory And History
Prehistory literally means "before history". It is derived from the Latin word which means "before"
(Prehistory Wikipedia, 2011). This was the era when there were no written records yet about the
existence of the first wave of ancient humans. This was also the time when the periods were divided
into subgroup system which consists of the Stone Age, Bronze Age and the Iron Age.
Prehistory gave rise to the emergence of civilizations. This was also the time when the evolution of
the early human beings was influenced by some inventions such as the writing system. So basically,
prehistory is the time when the first set of human beings came into existence along with their
discoveries and inventions.
"History (from Greek бј±ПѓП„ОїПЃОЇО±, historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by
investigation")[2] is the study of the past, particularly how it relates to humans and it can also
refer to the academic discipline which uses narrative to examine and analyze a sequence of past
events" (History, Wikipedia, 2014). The term history was coined after Aristotle used it in one his
studies called the "Inquiries about animals". However this Greek word in which the term history
originated was also borrowed into Classical Latin as historia which means...show more content...
Prehistory that later became a history provides us with details of how people lived to survive
during those early ages when there is no technological developments yet. So these historical events
and information serve as an inspiration and foundation for us to keep growing and improving as
long as we preserve the ancient tradition and culture. Both the prehistory and history has been an
instrument on how our cultural heritage was shaped. That is why if we have some confusions
about our heritage, we always go back to how it started in the prehistoric era and what were recorded
as
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The Importance of History Essay
What is history? Should we study history? Who creates history? Is history relevant?
The definition of history, is a question which has sparked international debate for centuries between
the writers, readers, and the makers of history. It is a vital topic which should be relevant in our
lives because it?s important to acknowledge past events that have occurred in our world that deeply
influences the present. This essay will discuss what history is, and why we study it.
History is the study of past events leading up to the present day. It is a research, a narrative, or an
account of past events and developments that are commonly related to a person, an institution, or a
place. It is a branch of knowledge that records and analyzes...show more content...
Focusing on the people involved in a time, place, and series of events makes history. Biographies
and historical fiction may popularize these entities/figures with descriptions of people who lived in
the past or events that happened in the past. Such Historical figures and events include King Leopold
II of Belgium and The Scramble of Africa in the late 19th century. Among other things, King Leopold
II of Belgium (1835–1909), is known for the exploitation of Congo and the mass murder of its
citizens as told in King Leopold?s Ghost by Adam Hochschild. King Leopold II of Belgium, created
and ironically erased history by ultimately slashing the area's population by ten million during his
reign in the Congo, and still managed to shrewdly foster a reputation as a great humanitarian. In
telling this story, Hochschild gave detailed descriptions, especially of the individuals involved,
both good and bad. Set in the palaces and boardrooms of Europe and in the villages of central
Africa, it tells the story of the tragedy that took place during Leopold's so called rule. This ?horror?
story gives and reveals the utter most secrets of the respected King Leopold. Prior to his
colonization, In the mid–1870s, the King hired then world renowned explorer Henry Morton Stanley,
who was familiar with many parts of Africa, to help him go about conquering. During the following
years Stanley stayed throughout in central Africa, talking various tribes into signing over their
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Introduction:
The English language got its present form through lot of changes. If we look into the history of
any language then we can see that every language has gone through a lot of changes. English
language is divided into four periods: Old English, Early Middle English, Late Middle English and
Modern English. As we know that English is a Germanic language and it belongs to the branches of
Indo–European languages so it has Germanic influence in vocabulary. Old English grammar is
similar to Modern Germanic but Modern English is different from what it was before. Middle English
began after the Norman Conquest in England. Normans were French people so Middle English
language had a great influence of French vocabulary. As we know that middle English has two
periods: Early middle and Late middle, so there are various changes like grammatical, vocabulary
etc. we can find between these two language periods. In Early Middle English the grammatical
structure did not have a stable form like as we have in modern English. But Late...show more
content...
If we look into the history of any language then we can see that every language has gone through
various changes and there are a lot of reasons behind it. A language changes when cultural,
economic and people's habit gradually change with time. When all these things start to change
then language is somewhat start to change. As we know that Old English is totally different from
Modern English. But in Middle English the language change rate was high. Germanic language
had SOV structure and OLD English also followed that. In Peter Borough Chronicle, we saw that
the word order structure so was static. We saw various word order structures were used in it. But
in The Nun Priest's Tale, the word order structure had static form. After Late Middle English the
Modern English came. So it's obvious that Late Middle English will have SVO word order structure
as it is the base of Modern English
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The Medieval Period Essay
A set point in the historical time line stands as the medieval period. The medieval period in history
was the era in European history – from around the 5th to the 15th century, coming after the fall of
the Western Roman Empire, and preceding the start of the early modern era. This historical time
period has been long since been the victim of film directors and romantic novelists, which has lead
to the common, but false, idea of the medieval period consisting of knights and damsels in distress,
wizards and dragons, and castles and battles. Although mainly wrong in most parts and being highly
historically inaccurate – some aspects of the dramatic works do play true to the original time period.
Certainly within British/English history we...show more content...
Another relevant role of the medieval period was the development of parliament later in the period.
It is of high relevance to society today – as the controlling force of the country arose from the
proposed council of 25 (Magna Carta) and developed into the fully fledged House of Commons and
Lords that we know today. Magna Carta also played other, hugely influential roles in the world as we
know. The first written constitution is very important in America– with the declaration of
independence, signed in ... – being based on this very document. However, the Magna Carta was not
always this important, as it was annulled by Pope Urban shortly after King John signed it.
Medieval lives were controlled completely by one thing – Christianity. Christianity was part of a
person's live from before they were born until after they died. Christianity rocketed through Europe,
serving as a unifying cause for many things – such as the crusades. The crusades were the battle
between the Christianity and Islam, over Christendom – the holy land. The crusades lasted for over
200 years but had limited success, ultimately ending in 1291 with the fall of acre. When looking at
the relevance and significance of the medieval period, it is good to look at specific medieval topics –
like the Crusades. The Crusades were an phenomenon which is obviously interesting in its own right,
due to the reasons behind
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The History of Reading Essay examples
The History of Reading Anglo–Saxon Chronicle for 871 is the earliest evidence for the existence of
Reading It was at some time during this period that the Roman roads radiating from Silchester
began to be replaced by roads that met in Reading The area was mostly gravel and well–drained, but
was close to the rivers, which provided major transport and trade routes.
By the time of the Domesday Survey (1086), Reading was a borough with a population of 500 or
so. It was not important enough to have a castle.
The centre of Reading now moved eastwards. A new road was constructed, and a new bridge over
the Kennet, to funnel traffic towards the new Market Place. The...show more content...
Most of the trade was with London. Barges coming up the Thames would turn into the River Kennet
to unload at the town wharves, which were lined with timber–yards, warehouses and granaries. The
Kennet was made navigable up to Newbury in 1723, and the navigation was extended as the Kennet
and Avon Canal, authorised in 1794 and completed in 1810 to give a continuous route between
London and Bristol. The importance of Bristol as a port and commercial centre, and Bath as a
fashionable resort, led to the improvement of the Great Western Road, which passed through the
middle of Reading. In 1801, the population of Reading was about 9,400. By 1851 the population
had more than doubled, to 21,500, and at the end of the century, it stood at around 59,000. The
town's position, on two railway systems, helped it grow and prosper. The Great Western Rail Road
was built first, connecting Reading with London in 1840, and with Bristol in 1841. The Reading,
Guildford & Reigate Railway was constructed in 1849
The Twentieth Century
In the first half of the century, Reading was a large, prosperous country town, with some
long–established industries and the names of local families on the sign–boards of town–centre shops.
There was not much damage to its fabric in the two wars,
The story in the second half of the century is one of gradually accelerating growth and change.
Reading Borough's
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The History of Australia Essay
To some degree the unfamiliar country of Australia was a 'Fatal Shore', a land of suffering and
hardship for the British, however after its early years, the colony began to flourish and Australia was
established as being a land of opportunity. Events in Britain, such as The Industrial Revolution,
encouraged people to consider migrating to Australia for a better life as many of the working class
were profoundly affected. Furthermore, the increase in crime due to unemployment lead to
overcrowded prisons and no destination to transport the convicts, especially after the American War
of Independence in the eighteenth century. And so, the British embarked on a new settlement
project, leading to long struggles for some and great opportunity for...show more content...
Enticed by news of inexpensive land and the abundance of work, free settlers were lured into the
country and boatloads of migrants swarmed into Australia, thus proving that Australia was no longer
a destitute place but was a land of great potential.
The British people were not met without resistance from the native Aboriginal people. Conflict, as
expected, arose between the two parties, resulting in many deaths. Captain James Campbell, an
officer who came with the First Fleet, wrote in a letter in 1788 that "I stumbled upon the bodies of
two of our Convicts...I never saw a more shocking sight – the sculls of both were fractured, one quite
open with no less than seven Spears through the body", referring to the response of the native people
to the arrival of the British. For the native Aboriginals most of all, their country became one of
suffering and brutality as the British brought with them diseases and unprecedented military power.
John Hunter wrote in April 1789 that "Small Pox had made its appearance a few Months ago
amongst these poor unfortunate Creatures...Men, Women, & Children laying dead". This provides
evidence pointing to the conclusion that the arrival of the British directly resulted in Australia
becoming a 'Fatal Shore' for the native people.
Convicts could find themselves living in rough
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Essay On The Modern English Period
As Old English and Middle English period, the Modern English Period is linked to several
historical events, changes and inventions. Defining changes from one period to another vary a lot;
therefore it is important to mention some of them which are part of Modern English. The Early
Modern English Period is dated from 1500 to 1800. As we have seen Modern English has
developed a vocabulary of great extent and richness that is drawn from many other languages of the
world. It has few inflections but its syntactic rules are presumably as intricate as those of any
language. Its verbal system represents great complexities on making delicate distinctions. It is a
concrete and also abstract language, whereas its spelling is fairly irregular even though...show more
content...
Those are also the main historical events that mark the beginning of this new era. In the time of
Tudor Dynasty an intellectual revolution hit London during the reign of Henry VIII, the scholars
that he sent to Italy learned Latin and Greek languages, which they taught in the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge. Books were available throughout the country, and they brought the
Renaissance in England, while encouraging the study of sciences, philosophy, literature and arts.
Thus the rise of the Tudors in England and the Renaissance all over opened a new chapter of
"Modern Age" in the History of England. During the Renaissance many positive developments took
place in Europe and especially in England. The English people became more united and trusted
more on their own Church, a spirit of nationalism spread all over England. The English language,
literature and people were becoming more distinctive. Many new words and phrases entered English
and Shakespeare as one of the most famous writers of the world then and now, created a tremendous
number of new words which is estimated to be around 34.000 (thousand) new words. Nowadays
many students having difficulty understanding Shakespeare would be surprised to know that he
wrote in "modern
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Old English Period
Old English (450–1100 AD)
Old English was the language the invading Germanic Tribes spoke in Britain. Old English did not
sound or look like English today. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in
Modern English were derived from Old English words. Some example of words taken from Old
English are be, strong and water. Old English was popular until around 1100. When the Romans
withdrew from England in the early 5th century, they left a political vacuum. The Celts of the south
were attacked by tribes from the north and with no more hope asked help from others. There are
moments like this at other points in the history of the British Isles. Thus in the case of Ireland, help
was sought by Irish chieftains from...show more content...
Old English is far closer to early Germanic than Middle English. It is less Latinised and still has
many morphological features (nominal and verbal inflection) that were lost during the 12th to 14th
centuries. The languages today which are closest to Old English are the Frisian languages, which are
spoken by a few hundred thousand people in the northern part of Germany and the Netherlands.
Before literacy in the vernacular Old English or Latin became widespread, a runic alphabet, the
futhorc, was used for inscriptions. When literacy became more common, a form of Latin script was
used with a couple of letters derived from the futhorc: 'thorn' ‹þ› and 'wynn' ‹ƿ›
(generally replaced with ‹w› in modern reproductions).
The letters regularly used in printed and edited texts of Old English are the following: a Г¦ b c d Г°
e f g h i l m n o p r s t Гѕ u w x y with only rare occurrences of j, k, q, v, and z. The four main
dialectal forms of Old English were Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish, and West Saxon. Each of those
dialects was associated with an independent kingdom on the island. Of these, all of Northumbria and
most of Mercia were overrun by the Vikings during the 9th century. The portion of Mercia that was
successfully defended and all of Kent were then integrated into
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Essay about The History of English
The History of English The most commonly spoken language in our day, would be English or as
some people might call it " The Lingua Franca ". It is a language, which is taken almost a thousand
years to evolve, mainly through its borrowings from other languages such as French and Latin. It is
actually classified as part of the Germanic group of languages. Even though it is the most commonly
spoken language today, it is not without its faults, which would be its phonetic symbols only,
representing one sound and each sound would have its appropriate symbol. Most European
languages are very similar to those spoken in India and Persia, assuming that most of the European
peoples are descendants of the...show more content...
(Lecture notes, M. Disney) Latin influenced English before the Anglo–Saxons arrived in England.
The Germanic tribes who later settled on the isles were in contact with small parts of the Roman
civilization. Some of the words borrowed by the Germanic groups were: Mint: Minet, Street: strata
via When the first English tribes came to settle in England they made contact with the people that
had been part of the Roman Empire which probably spoke a form of Latin. Some of their words past
in to the language of the new conquerors. (Lecture notes, M. Disney) In the sixth century St.
Benedict reintroduced Christianity. As the religion spread English added a large number of Latin
words to itself to express new ideas connected with the religion. However, this lead to the loss of
grammatical gender of the language and therefore mixed the vocabulary. (Internet 1) In the eighth
century the Danes made continual raids upon the English coasts which they later settled. They were
then defeated by King Alfred the Great. A hundred years later another Danish King invaded England
and managed to get his son, Canute, was put upon the English throne. These Danish invasions,
however destructive they were, had quite a tremendous influence upon the English language. The
English borrowed words such as skin, ill, get and leg. (Lecture notes, M. Disney)
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Essay about The History of Computers
The first ever computer was invented in the 1820s by Charlse Babbage. However the first
electronic digital computer were developed between 1940 and 1945 in the United States and in the
United Kingdom. They were gigantic, originally the size of a large room, and also need to be
supply a large amount of power source which is equivalent as several hundred modern personal
computers. The history of computer hardware covers the developments from simple devices to aid
calculation, to mechanical calculators, punched card data processing and on to modern stored
program computers. The tools or mechanical tool used to help in calculation are called calculators
while the machine operator that help in calculations is called computer. At first the...show more
content...
UNIVAC 1 was created to process data like Herman Hollerith's tabulator over 50 years before,
however UNIVAC 1 was then manufactured for other users and become the world's first large scale
commercial computer. The key period of the evolution of modern electronic computer is in between
the late 1930s and the early 1950s. Not all of them were invented by the mathematician or physician.
Among those machines were pioneering computers put together by english academics notably
Manchester/Ferrenti Mark 1, built at Manchester University by Frederic Williams and Thomas
Kilburn. And the EDSAC, Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator built by Maurice Wilkes
at Cambridge University. The microelectronic revolution started when they were using the vacuum
tubes it consume a lot of power supply. As a comparison the ENIAC used about 2000 times as
much electricity as the modern laptop. Not just that, the modern term for a problem that holds up a
computer program is a "bug". Popular legend has it that this word entered the vocabulary of
computer programmers sometimes in the 1950s when moths, attracted by the glowing lights of
vacuum tubes, flew inside machines and caused a short circuit. In order to create more advance
computer, would have needed hundreds of thousands or even millions of tubes, which would have
been
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A History Of The English Church And People
When Bede was writing 'A History of the English Church and People ' the conflicts between
Christians and pagans were still not long a ago and Christianity was not yet as dominant in
England as it would be in the future. Therefore, the memories of these conflicts were still fresh
within some people 's minds and Bede made sure to record it. Bede wrote the history of past events of
Christianity 's struggles, the great men that protected it and enforced it. He wrote so that
Christians would have an example on how to act in order to achieve greatness, how to avoid sin
and how to strengthen Christianity and the Church itself in England. Bede thought that greatness
is achieved only in one way and that was being a good, devout Christian. He used the history of
King Oswald 's life as an example of what it meant to be great and what are the rewards for
achieving greatness. He wished everyone who read his history to follow in Oswald 's footsteps
as he continuously mention in his written work 'history records good things of good men, the
thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good '. He gives many examples of Oswald 's
deeds as a devout Christian, but his number one achievement was bringing the faith to the lands of
Bernicia. He came to Bernicia to fight heathen kings while at the same time showing a great trust
in God, as before the battle he set up a holy cross and made everyone in his army pray before
upcoming battles. 'it seems that there was no evidence of the
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History of Egypt Essay
History of Egypt
The rich history of Egypt is tied very closely with the Nile River's fertile banks and existence as a
source of water. Flowing south to north, this massive river has had a tremendous impact on
agriculture, transportation, religion, migration of populations, and culture as a whole. The narrow
Nile Valley as well as the surrounding deserts provided defense and isolation from the arising
cultures of the time. Over many centuries, the rainfall has affected the levels of flooding on the Nile
and therefore the way in which the Egyptians had to live. This region is rich with cultural and
historical records of the ongoing relationship of culture and society with the environment and the
Nile.
Cairo is the capital of Egypt...show more content...
Over the next 1,000 years the settlements along the Nile grew from small villages living primarily
off of wheat and barley with the occasional sheep or pig to larger villages with constantly
developing irrigation. The Nile was becoming an increasingly important element in the lives of those
settled in Northern Africa.
Ancient Egypt
Egypt began its first dynastic period with the unification of Upper (southern) and Lower (northern)
Egypt by King Menes. Menes established the 1 st Dynasty of Ancient Egypt by declaring himself
Pharaoh and assuring that his son, Har–Aha, would rule after him. What many consider "Ancient
Egypt" began in the 3 rd Dynasty in which the Pharaoh Zoser built the first surviving pyramid. In
2600 BC, Khufu (Cheops) built the Great Pyramid of Giza, the largest pyramid still standing. The
following Pharaohs, son and grandson of Khufu, Chephren and Mycerinus also built pyramids in
Giza. The famous statue of the Sphinx was also built during this time period but without slave
labor as many historians once believed (www.scinet.cc/articles/egypt/historyofegypt.html). The
capital city, known as Memphis at the time, was located about 25 km south of today's Cairo. The
"Capital of the Pharoahs" grew over the next few centuries but the power of the Pharaohs declined
due to the increasing power of the Nomes, which were similar to modern Mayors or Governors.
2200 BC marked the end of the Old
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British Abolition Movement
The debate around British abolition movement centers on how what could possibly motivate an
empire, with one of the largest slave economies in the world, to end an institution they had heavily
relied on for centuries in the span of fifty years. This question has plagued historians for nearly two
hundred years, as they attempt to identify what caused public opinion to shift from a view of
indifference towards slavery to a massive, full–fledged push for abolition. Despite the debate
capturing the interests of scholars across a wide–range of specialties, the conversation seems to
focus on three major elements and the extent to which they led to the success of the abolition
movement. The first, humanitarianism, focuses on the influence of religious...show more content...
Through his analysis of the slave economy in the British West Indies, Williams steered the
conversation towards capitalism rather than an idealized focus on evangelical leaders. He devotes
the first section of the book to providing an outline of the economic situation of these slave–holding
British colonies. During which, Williams places a heavy emphasis on the significance mercantilism,
which focuses on accumulating wealth through exportation, played in creating the prosperous
plantation systems. He then turns to his principal argument. In the decades prior to abolition in
1807, the British slave colonies in the West Indies proved to be unprofitable. Thus, abolition
occurred not because of humanitarian, or religious reasons, but instead, out of British economic
self–interest. Williams' revolutionary thesis, which was later coined the "Decline Thesis," was
responsible for placing the emphasis on the economy, and identifying the study of capital as vital to
the understanding of this era of British
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What is History? Essay
What is History?
The definition of history, is a question which has sparked international debate for centuries between
the writers, readers, and the makers of history. In the words of acclaimed historian Edward Gibbon,
"History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind." A
more romantic view on the subject was taken by Cicero. He said, "History is the witness that testifies
the passing of time. It illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance of daily life and
brings us tidings of antiquity" History, described in the simplest of terms, can be seen as a record of
events that have occurred in the past that the historian has taken the trouble to document. It is the
...show more content...
There is of course the argument, that even primary source evidence can be somewhat tainted.
Propaganda by rulers and governments has been used a major tool to promote popularity amongst
their people. For example, in Russia at the turn of the century writers who wrote critically about the
internal affairs of government were censured, persecuted and sometimes imprisoned or executed. In
1537 to 1574, The massive censorship exercised by Cosimo I de' Medici of Florence precipitated a
decline in historiography in Florence. The extreme wealth and power of the Medici family
extended even further into the art of the Renaissance period and their depiction was prevalent as
saintly figures in the works of these artists. Fear of persecution could drive an otherwise
intelligent scholar to be biased and one sided. Even today bias and prejudice is apparent in the
accounting of daily events in newspapers and television. The events revealed to the public are
those which the editor or director chooses to be relevant. The Daily Telegraph for example, is
widely perceived as being supportive of the Tories. In the world of films we never read 'this is a
true story' in the credits but that it is 'based on a true story'. The director, has used artistic licence to
inject either a romantic or
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The History of the English Language Essay
The History of the English Language In this paper I will discuss where and how the English
language originated and how it has spread to become one of the most spoken languages in the
world. Before I started my research on my topic of choice, my original hypothesis was that the
English language was started by a whole assortment of Germanic tribes invading England
thousands of years ago. This ultimately became the goal of my paper, to see if Germanic tribes
started the English language, or if it was started from some other tribes that I was not aware of. The
history of the English language is of significance because English is spoken more frequently than
any other language except Chinese, (Bright, 1992). A Germanic language, English...show more
content...
The Proto–Indo–European language was more complex than English today. It is possible to
reconstruct three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and up to eight cases (nominative,
vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, locative, instrumental). Adjectives agreed in case,
number, and gender with the noun. The verb system was also rich in inflections, used for aspect,
mood, tense, voice, person, and number. Different grammatical forms of a word were often related
by the feature of ablaut, or vowel graduation: the root vowel would change systematically to
express such differences as singular and plural or past and present tense, as is still the case in
English foot/feet or take/took (Crystal, 1997). The Proto–Indo–European language is thought to have
been spoken before 3,000 BC, and to have split up into different languages during the following
millennium (Crystal, 1997). The languages families include Celtic, Germanic, Italic, Indo–Iranian,
Tocharian, Armenian, Anatolian, Albanian, Greek, Balto
–Slavic, and Slavic languages. Yiddish,
German, Afrikaans, Dutch, Flemish, Frisian, and English make up the West Germanic subgroup of
the Germanic Branch (Crystal, 1997). Scholars renamed the language group the Indo–European
family after 3,000 BC (Crystal, 1997). Theorists suggest that the horse was a major element of the
Proto–Indo–European and the Indo–European
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Short Essay on History of India
SHORT ESSAY ON HISTORY OF INDIA
India has frequently been subjected to horrors of famine. From 1858 to the end of the 19th century,
more than twenty famines occurred in India.
A major characteristic of British rule in India, and the net result of British economic policies, was
the prevalence of extreme poverty among its people. While historian disagree on the question
whether India was getting poorer or not under British rule, there is no disagreement on the fact that
throughout the period of British rule most Indians always lived on the verge of starvation.
British economic exploitation, the decay of indigenous industries, the failure of modern industries to
replace them, high taxation, the drain of wealth to Britain and a...show more content...
The settlement and the Ryotwari system were not made permanent. It was revised periodically after
20 to 30 years when the revenue demand was usually raised.
The Ryotwari system protected neither the rights of the cultivators ner put them to any financial
gain. The system could not introduce peasant ownership. The state remained the owner of the land.
The cultivator had to pay regular revenue otherwise they could be dispossessed of their lands any
time. The demand for revenue by the government remained very high. Besides, it had the right to
enhance the revenue as it pleased. The cultivators were, thus, not sure of greater advantage for their
better producing.
The purpose of the Ryotwari System was to save the cultivators from the oppression of the
zamindars. Though they were no more on the mercy of the zamindars but the system did not satisfy
the aspirations of the peasantry. In fact, it caused widespread oppression and agricultural distress.
The large number of zamindars had been replaced by one giant zamindar – the state, which only
knew to squeeze as much from the peasant as possible. This did not bring into existence a system of
peasant ownership. Later the government openly claimed that land revenue was a rent and not a tax.
The ryot's lights of ownership of his land were also negated by three other factors: (i) in most areas
the land revenue fixed was exorbitant;
Get more content on HelpWriting.net
The Importance of the Study of History Essay
Most universities require every student, regardless of their major, to take at least two history
courses. Most students take these history courses because they are required to do so. This raises the
question, why study history? What is the importance of history to a common being? History is
something that has happened and is factual. By knowing these facts, its students can learn how to
progress and advance not making the same mistakes. Studying history also provides a sense of
respect and pride from its students towards a society. History can also help its students improve
many skills needed for other fields of life. The study of history is very important to a society.
History is a relevant topic for an individual and a society to...show more content...
Ancient Athenians introduced the ideology of a rule by democracy. Without excessive study of the
democracy of the Athenians and its effectiveness, America would not have been born. In order to
inhibit any uprisings to power, such as that which occurred to the democracy of Romans, the
government of United States introduced the concept of checks and balances between the branches of
government. Without the leisure of learning from the fall of the Roman democracy and making
adjustments to prevent that sort of happening, even the strongest democracy could have fallen.
History is used as a tool of learning from the setting of the prices of market products to the decision
to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
Famous philosopher George Santayana once said, "A country without memory is a country of
madmen" (Szasz). America is a country of tremendous nationalism and tradition. To picture the
respect this nation gives to its predecessors, one just needs to examine the US flag. While the flag
shows fifty stars representing the fifty states, the majority of the flag is occupied by thirteen stripes
giving homage to the original thirteen colonies, upon which the nation is founded. Recognizing the
struggles of the people of the past brings newfound pride and patriotism to the minds of the people.
An old man lying on his deathbed usually tries to remember his life from that of early childhood to
the elderly present. He cherishes all the good times of the past,
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The Influence Of The Old English
In the development of English, invasions and other historical events were huge factors that had
influence to the process. Through the history, the language especially English has been changed
very much. When we see the Shakespeare's sonnet, we can find out that his sonnet is written in
early Modern English but that language is not quite different from Modern English. However, when
we read the poem which was written in the Old English period, many of us can realize that Old
English is very different from the Modern English. When Old English was changed into Middle
English, there was an important historical event, the Norman Conquest. In this report, I would like to
explain what Norman Conquest is and how that event changed the Old English....show more content...
As William the Conqueror brought the Normans to England, the Norman culture, language or
Feudalism could be accepted without any resistance of England people. Also the nobilities who
helped William in the battle became the lords and they lost their own language (Old English) and
began to use Old French dialect which is called Old Norman. Since the leaders of Normans used
Old Norman, language which was related to politics, religious began to change. Especially, Norman
from France had huge influence in politics and Anglo–Saxons had to step down from their status.
Conquerors were proud of themselves as a French people, and they designated Norman French as
a national language of England. Since then, the upper class and educated people used Anglo
Norman that was developed from Norman French and Old English was used only by the lower
class, and as a result the status that old English had was collapsed. That is, because Norman people
kept away from using Old English and adopted Anglo Norman, Norman language has huge influence
in Middle English period unlike in Old English period. All social activities and official documents
were done through the Anglo Norman and Old English could barely maintain its use in that
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

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History Of English Essay

  • 1. English : The History Of The English Language The History of the English Language BEFORE ENGLISH Where does English come from? English has a convoluted history, spanning many millennia and cultures throughout history. The English we all know and love today started its journey way back in the late Stone Ages. The people who spoke this early concept of English are known as the Neolithic or Indo–European people. These people lived in Eastern Europe and Central Asia sometime after 5,000BC, although different sources state anywhere between 3,000BC – 7,000BC. Since there are no recorded writings of this Indo–European language, it's a mystery as to how it actually sounded. Using the "comparative method", linguists were able to reconstruct what it may have sounded like using context clues from several of its daughter languages. Thanks to this method, it is thought by many that modern–day Lithuanian may be the closest to the Indo–European language, i.e. the most unchanged form. Indo–European is but one of many language families, however it is by far the most expansive family, accounting for nearly half of today's modern languages. Within Europe, there are only few languages which do not derive from this tree. These include Basque, Finnish, Estonian, Turkish, Hungarian, and few other small Russian languages. The Indo European Spread Sometime between 3,500BC – 2,500BC, this Indo–European language spread all throughout Europe and Asia, developing and evolving as it did. As they developed in isolation, by 1,000BC, Indo–European had split into smaller language groups, the main ones being Hellenic, Italic, Indo–Iranian, Celtic, Germanic, Armenian, Balto–Slavic, and Albanian. Several other groups existed, such as Anatolian, Tocharian, Phrygian, Thracian and Illyrian, but they have since died out before they had a chance to properly develop. Over time these new language groups forked into even smaller languages, languages one would recognize as modern–day languages, such as Swedish, Portuguese, and Latin. Because all of these languages came from the same source, it makes sense as to why some words in different languages look similar. Compare: English (brother), Dutch (broer), German (brГјder), Old Norse (brГіГ°r) English (father), Dutch (vader), Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 2. Essay On Prehistory And History Prehistory literally means "before history". It is derived from the Latin word which means "before" (Prehistory Wikipedia, 2011). This was the era when there were no written records yet about the existence of the first wave of ancient humans. This was also the time when the periods were divided into subgroup system which consists of the Stone Age, Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Prehistory gave rise to the emergence of civilizations. This was also the time when the evolution of the early human beings was influenced by some inventions such as the writing system. So basically, prehistory is the time when the first set of human beings came into existence along with their discoveries and inventions. "History (from Greek бј±ПѓП„ОїПЃОЇО±, historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation")[2] is the study of the past, particularly how it relates to humans and it can also refer to the academic discipline which uses narrative to examine and analyze a sequence of past events" (History, Wikipedia, 2014). The term history was coined after Aristotle used it in one his studies called the "Inquiries about animals". However this Greek word in which the term history originated was also borrowed into Classical Latin as historia which means...show more content... Prehistory that later became a history provides us with details of how people lived to survive during those early ages when there is no technological developments yet. So these historical events and information serve as an inspiration and foundation for us to keep growing and improving as long as we preserve the ancient tradition and culture. Both the prehistory and history has been an instrument on how our cultural heritage was shaped. That is why if we have some confusions about our heritage, we always go back to how it started in the prehistoric era and what were recorded as Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 3. The Importance of History Essay What is history? Should we study history? Who creates history? Is history relevant? The definition of history, is a question which has sparked international debate for centuries between the writers, readers, and the makers of history. It is a vital topic which should be relevant in our lives because it?s important to acknowledge past events that have occurred in our world that deeply influences the present. This essay will discuss what history is, and why we study it. History is the study of past events leading up to the present day. It is a research, a narrative, or an account of past events and developments that are commonly related to a person, an institution, or a place. It is a branch of knowledge that records and analyzes...show more content... Focusing on the people involved in a time, place, and series of events makes history. Biographies and historical fiction may popularize these entities/figures with descriptions of people who lived in the past or events that happened in the past. Such Historical figures and events include King Leopold II of Belgium and The Scramble of Africa in the late 19th century. Among other things, King Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909), is known for the exploitation of Congo and the mass murder of its citizens as told in King Leopold?s Ghost by Adam Hochschild. King Leopold II of Belgium, created and ironically erased history by ultimately slashing the area's population by ten million during his reign in the Congo, and still managed to shrewdly foster a reputation as a great humanitarian. In telling this story, Hochschild gave detailed descriptions, especially of the individuals involved, both good and bad. Set in the palaces and boardrooms of Europe and in the villages of central Africa, it tells the story of the tragedy that took place during Leopold's so called rule. This ?horror? story gives and reveals the utter most secrets of the respected King Leopold. Prior to his colonization, In the mid–1870s, the King hired then world renowned explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who was familiar with many parts of Africa, to help him go about conquering. During the following years Stanley stayed throughout in central Africa, talking various tribes into signing over their Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 4. Introduction: The English language got its present form through lot of changes. If we look into the history of any language then we can see that every language has gone through a lot of changes. English language is divided into four periods: Old English, Early Middle English, Late Middle English and Modern English. As we know that English is a Germanic language and it belongs to the branches of Indo–European languages so it has Germanic influence in vocabulary. Old English grammar is similar to Modern Germanic but Modern English is different from what it was before. Middle English began after the Norman Conquest in England. Normans were French people so Middle English language had a great influence of French vocabulary. As we know that middle English has two periods: Early middle and Late middle, so there are various changes like grammatical, vocabulary etc. we can find between these two language periods. In Early Middle English the grammatical structure did not have a stable form like as we have in modern English. But Late...show more content... If we look into the history of any language then we can see that every language has gone through various changes and there are a lot of reasons behind it. A language changes when cultural, economic and people's habit gradually change with time. When all these things start to change then language is somewhat start to change. As we know that Old English is totally different from Modern English. But in Middle English the language change rate was high. Germanic language had SOV structure and OLD English also followed that. In Peter Borough Chronicle, we saw that the word order structure so was static. We saw various word order structures were used in it. But in The Nun Priest's Tale, the word order structure had static form. After Late Middle English the Modern English came. So it's obvious that Late Middle English will have SVO word order structure as it is the base of Modern English Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 5. The Medieval Period Essay A set point in the historical time line stands as the medieval period. The medieval period in history was the era in European history – from around the 5th to the 15th century, coming after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and preceding the start of the early modern era. This historical time period has been long since been the victim of film directors and romantic novelists, which has lead to the common, but false, idea of the medieval period consisting of knights and damsels in distress, wizards and dragons, and castles and battles. Although mainly wrong in most parts and being highly historically inaccurate – some aspects of the dramatic works do play true to the original time period. Certainly within British/English history we...show more content... Another relevant role of the medieval period was the development of parliament later in the period. It is of high relevance to society today – as the controlling force of the country arose from the proposed council of 25 (Magna Carta) and developed into the fully fledged House of Commons and Lords that we know today. Magna Carta also played other, hugely influential roles in the world as we know. The first written constitution is very important in America– with the declaration of independence, signed in ... – being based on this very document. However, the Magna Carta was not always this important, as it was annulled by Pope Urban shortly after King John signed it. Medieval lives were controlled completely by one thing – Christianity. Christianity was part of a person's live from before they were born until after they died. Christianity rocketed through Europe, serving as a unifying cause for many things – such as the crusades. The crusades were the battle between the Christianity and Islam, over Christendom – the holy land. The crusades lasted for over 200 years but had limited success, ultimately ending in 1291 with the fall of acre. When looking at the relevance and significance of the medieval period, it is good to look at specific medieval topics – like the Crusades. The Crusades were an phenomenon which is obviously interesting in its own right, due to the reasons behind Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 6. The History of Reading Essay examples The History of Reading Anglo–Saxon Chronicle for 871 is the earliest evidence for the existence of Reading It was at some time during this period that the Roman roads radiating from Silchester began to be replaced by roads that met in Reading The area was mostly gravel and well–drained, but was close to the rivers, which provided major transport and trade routes. By the time of the Domesday Survey (1086), Reading was a borough with a population of 500 or so. It was not important enough to have a castle. The centre of Reading now moved eastwards. A new road was constructed, and a new bridge over the Kennet, to funnel traffic towards the new Market Place. The...show more content... Most of the trade was with London. Barges coming up the Thames would turn into the River Kennet to unload at the town wharves, which were lined with timber–yards, warehouses and granaries. The Kennet was made navigable up to Newbury in 1723, and the navigation was extended as the Kennet and Avon Canal, authorised in 1794 and completed in 1810 to give a continuous route between London and Bristol. The importance of Bristol as a port and commercial centre, and Bath as a fashionable resort, led to the improvement of the Great Western Road, which passed through the middle of Reading. In 1801, the population of Reading was about 9,400. By 1851 the population had more than doubled, to 21,500, and at the end of the century, it stood at around 59,000. The town's position, on two railway systems, helped it grow and prosper. The Great Western Rail Road was built first, connecting Reading with London in 1840, and with Bristol in 1841. The Reading, Guildford & Reigate Railway was constructed in 1849 The Twentieth Century In the first half of the century, Reading was a large, prosperous country town, with some long–established industries and the names of local families on the sign–boards of town–centre shops. There was not much damage to its fabric in the two wars, The story in the second half of the century is one of gradually accelerating growth and change. Reading Borough's Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 7. The History of Australia Essay To some degree the unfamiliar country of Australia was a 'Fatal Shore', a land of suffering and hardship for the British, however after its early years, the colony began to flourish and Australia was established as being a land of opportunity. Events in Britain, such as The Industrial Revolution, encouraged people to consider migrating to Australia for a better life as many of the working class were profoundly affected. Furthermore, the increase in crime due to unemployment lead to overcrowded prisons and no destination to transport the convicts, especially after the American War of Independence in the eighteenth century. And so, the British embarked on a new settlement project, leading to long struggles for some and great opportunity for...show more content... Enticed by news of inexpensive land and the abundance of work, free settlers were lured into the country and boatloads of migrants swarmed into Australia, thus proving that Australia was no longer a destitute place but was a land of great potential. The British people were not met without resistance from the native Aboriginal people. Conflict, as expected, arose between the two parties, resulting in many deaths. Captain James Campbell, an officer who came with the First Fleet, wrote in a letter in 1788 that "I stumbled upon the bodies of two of our Convicts...I never saw a more shocking sight – the sculls of both were fractured, one quite open with no less than seven Spears through the body", referring to the response of the native people to the arrival of the British. For the native Aboriginals most of all, their country became one of suffering and brutality as the British brought with them diseases and unprecedented military power. John Hunter wrote in April 1789 that "Small Pox had made its appearance a few Months ago amongst these poor unfortunate Creatures...Men, Women, & Children laying dead". This provides evidence pointing to the conclusion that the arrival of the British directly resulted in Australia becoming a 'Fatal Shore' for the native people. Convicts could find themselves living in rough Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 8. Essay On The Modern English Period As Old English and Middle English period, the Modern English Period is linked to several historical events, changes and inventions. Defining changes from one period to another vary a lot; therefore it is important to mention some of them which are part of Modern English. The Early Modern English Period is dated from 1500 to 1800. As we have seen Modern English has developed a vocabulary of great extent and richness that is drawn from many other languages of the world. It has few inflections but its syntactic rules are presumably as intricate as those of any language. Its verbal system represents great complexities on making delicate distinctions. It is a concrete and also abstract language, whereas its spelling is fairly irregular even though...show more content... Those are also the main historical events that mark the beginning of this new era. In the time of Tudor Dynasty an intellectual revolution hit London during the reign of Henry VIII, the scholars that he sent to Italy learned Latin and Greek languages, which they taught in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Books were available throughout the country, and they brought the Renaissance in England, while encouraging the study of sciences, philosophy, literature and arts. Thus the rise of the Tudors in England and the Renaissance all over opened a new chapter of "Modern Age" in the History of England. During the Renaissance many positive developments took place in Europe and especially in England. The English people became more united and trusted more on their own Church, a spirit of nationalism spread all over England. The English language, literature and people were becoming more distinctive. Many new words and phrases entered English and Shakespeare as one of the most famous writers of the world then and now, created a tremendous number of new words which is estimated to be around 34.000 (thousand) new words. Nowadays many students having difficulty understanding Shakespeare would be surprised to know that he wrote in "modern Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 9. Old English Period Old English (450–1100 AD) Old English was the language the invading Germanic Tribes spoke in Britain. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English were derived from Old English words. Some example of words taken from Old English are be, strong and water. Old English was popular until around 1100. When the Romans withdrew from England in the early 5th century, they left a political vacuum. The Celts of the south were attacked by tribes from the north and with no more hope asked help from others. There are moments like this at other points in the history of the British Isles. Thus in the case of Ireland, help was sought by Irish chieftains from...show more content... Old English is far closer to early Germanic than Middle English. It is less Latinised and still has many morphological features (nominal and verbal inflection) that were lost during the 12th to 14th centuries. The languages today which are closest to Old English are the Frisian languages, which are spoken by a few hundred thousand people in the northern part of Germany and the Netherlands. Before literacy in the vernacular Old English or Latin became widespread, a runic alphabet, the futhorc, was used for inscriptions. When literacy became more common, a form of Latin script was used with a couple of letters derived from the futhorc: 'thorn' ‹þ› and 'wynn' ‹ƿ› (generally replaced with ‹w› in modern reproductions). The letters regularly used in printed and edited texts of Old English are the following: a Г¦ b c d Г° e f g h i l m n o p r s t Гѕ u w x y with only rare occurrences of j, k, q, v, and z. The four main dialectal forms of Old English were Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish, and West Saxon. Each of those dialects was associated with an independent kingdom on the island. Of these, all of Northumbria and most of Mercia were overrun by the Vikings during the 9th century. The portion of Mercia that was successfully defended and all of Kent were then integrated into Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 10. Essay about The History of English The History of English The most commonly spoken language in our day, would be English or as some people might call it " The Lingua Franca ". It is a language, which is taken almost a thousand years to evolve, mainly through its borrowings from other languages such as French and Latin. It is actually classified as part of the Germanic group of languages. Even though it is the most commonly spoken language today, it is not without its faults, which would be its phonetic symbols only, representing one sound and each sound would have its appropriate symbol. Most European languages are very similar to those spoken in India and Persia, assuming that most of the European peoples are descendants of the...show more content... (Lecture notes, M. Disney) Latin influenced English before the Anglo–Saxons arrived in England. The Germanic tribes who later settled on the isles were in contact with small parts of the Roman civilization. Some of the words borrowed by the Germanic groups were: Mint: Minet, Street: strata via When the first English tribes came to settle in England they made contact with the people that had been part of the Roman Empire which probably spoke a form of Latin. Some of their words past in to the language of the new conquerors. (Lecture notes, M. Disney) In the sixth century St. Benedict reintroduced Christianity. As the religion spread English added a large number of Latin words to itself to express new ideas connected with the religion. However, this lead to the loss of grammatical gender of the language and therefore mixed the vocabulary. (Internet 1) In the eighth century the Danes made continual raids upon the English coasts which they later settled. They were then defeated by King Alfred the Great. A hundred years later another Danish King invaded England and managed to get his son, Canute, was put upon the English throne. These Danish invasions, however destructive they were, had quite a tremendous influence upon the English language. The English borrowed words such as skin, ill, get and leg. (Lecture notes, M. Disney) Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 11. Essay about The History of Computers The first ever computer was invented in the 1820s by Charlse Babbage. However the first electronic digital computer were developed between 1940 and 1945 in the United States and in the United Kingdom. They were gigantic, originally the size of a large room, and also need to be supply a large amount of power source which is equivalent as several hundred modern personal computers. The history of computer hardware covers the developments from simple devices to aid calculation, to mechanical calculators, punched card data processing and on to modern stored program computers. The tools or mechanical tool used to help in calculation are called calculators while the machine operator that help in calculations is called computer. At first the...show more content... UNIVAC 1 was created to process data like Herman Hollerith's tabulator over 50 years before, however UNIVAC 1 was then manufactured for other users and become the world's first large scale commercial computer. The key period of the evolution of modern electronic computer is in between the late 1930s and the early 1950s. Not all of them were invented by the mathematician or physician. Among those machines were pioneering computers put together by english academics notably Manchester/Ferrenti Mark 1, built at Manchester University by Frederic Williams and Thomas Kilburn. And the EDSAC, Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator built by Maurice Wilkes at Cambridge University. The microelectronic revolution started when they were using the vacuum tubes it consume a lot of power supply. As a comparison the ENIAC used about 2000 times as much electricity as the modern laptop. Not just that, the modern term for a problem that holds up a computer program is a "bug". Popular legend has it that this word entered the vocabulary of computer programmers sometimes in the 1950s when moths, attracted by the glowing lights of vacuum tubes, flew inside machines and caused a short circuit. In order to create more advance computer, would have needed hundreds of thousands or even millions of tubes, which would have been Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 12. A History Of The English Church And People When Bede was writing 'A History of the English Church and People ' the conflicts between Christians and pagans were still not long a ago and Christianity was not yet as dominant in England as it would be in the future. Therefore, the memories of these conflicts were still fresh within some people 's minds and Bede made sure to record it. Bede wrote the history of past events of Christianity 's struggles, the great men that protected it and enforced it. He wrote so that Christians would have an example on how to act in order to achieve greatness, how to avoid sin and how to strengthen Christianity and the Church itself in England. Bede thought that greatness is achieved only in one way and that was being a good, devout Christian. He used the history of King Oswald 's life as an example of what it meant to be great and what are the rewards for achieving greatness. He wished everyone who read his history to follow in Oswald 's footsteps as he continuously mention in his written work 'history records good things of good men, the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good '. He gives many examples of Oswald 's deeds as a devout Christian, but his number one achievement was bringing the faith to the lands of Bernicia. He came to Bernicia to fight heathen kings while at the same time showing a great trust in God, as before the battle he set up a holy cross and made everyone in his army pray before upcoming battles. 'it seems that there was no evidence of the Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 13. History of Egypt Essay History of Egypt The rich history of Egypt is tied very closely with the Nile River's fertile banks and existence as a source of water. Flowing south to north, this massive river has had a tremendous impact on agriculture, transportation, religion, migration of populations, and culture as a whole. The narrow Nile Valley as well as the surrounding deserts provided defense and isolation from the arising cultures of the time. Over many centuries, the rainfall has affected the levels of flooding on the Nile and therefore the way in which the Egyptians had to live. This region is rich with cultural and historical records of the ongoing relationship of culture and society with the environment and the Nile. Cairo is the capital of Egypt...show more content... Over the next 1,000 years the settlements along the Nile grew from small villages living primarily off of wheat and barley with the occasional sheep or pig to larger villages with constantly developing irrigation. The Nile was becoming an increasingly important element in the lives of those settled in Northern Africa. Ancient Egypt Egypt began its first dynastic period with the unification of Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Egypt by King Menes. Menes established the 1 st Dynasty of Ancient Egypt by declaring himself Pharaoh and assuring that his son, Har–Aha, would rule after him. What many consider "Ancient Egypt" began in the 3 rd Dynasty in which the Pharaoh Zoser built the first surviving pyramid. In 2600 BC, Khufu (Cheops) built the Great Pyramid of Giza, the largest pyramid still standing. The following Pharaohs, son and grandson of Khufu, Chephren and Mycerinus also built pyramids in Giza. The famous statue of the Sphinx was also built during this time period but without slave labor as many historians once believed (www.scinet.cc/articles/egypt/historyofegypt.html). The capital city, known as Memphis at the time, was located about 25 km south of today's Cairo. The "Capital of the Pharoahs" grew over the next few centuries but the power of the Pharaohs declined due to the increasing power of the Nomes, which were similar to modern Mayors or Governors. 2200 BC marked the end of the Old Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 14. British Abolition Movement The debate around British abolition movement centers on how what could possibly motivate an empire, with one of the largest slave economies in the world, to end an institution they had heavily relied on for centuries in the span of fifty years. This question has plagued historians for nearly two hundred years, as they attempt to identify what caused public opinion to shift from a view of indifference towards slavery to a massive, full–fledged push for abolition. Despite the debate capturing the interests of scholars across a wide–range of specialties, the conversation seems to focus on three major elements and the extent to which they led to the success of the abolition movement. The first, humanitarianism, focuses on the influence of religious...show more content... Through his analysis of the slave economy in the British West Indies, Williams steered the conversation towards capitalism rather than an idealized focus on evangelical leaders. He devotes the first section of the book to providing an outline of the economic situation of these slave–holding British colonies. During which, Williams places a heavy emphasis on the significance mercantilism, which focuses on accumulating wealth through exportation, played in creating the prosperous plantation systems. He then turns to his principal argument. In the decades prior to abolition in 1807, the British slave colonies in the West Indies proved to be unprofitable. Thus, abolition occurred not because of humanitarian, or religious reasons, but instead, out of British economic self–interest. Williams' revolutionary thesis, which was later coined the "Decline Thesis," was responsible for placing the emphasis on the economy, and identifying the study of capital as vital to the understanding of this era of British Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 15. What is History? Essay What is History? The definition of history, is a question which has sparked international debate for centuries between the writers, readers, and the makers of history. In the words of acclaimed historian Edward Gibbon, "History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind." A more romantic view on the subject was taken by Cicero. He said, "History is the witness that testifies the passing of time. It illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance of daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity" History, described in the simplest of terms, can be seen as a record of events that have occurred in the past that the historian has taken the trouble to document. It is the ...show more content... There is of course the argument, that even primary source evidence can be somewhat tainted. Propaganda by rulers and governments has been used a major tool to promote popularity amongst their people. For example, in Russia at the turn of the century writers who wrote critically about the internal affairs of government were censured, persecuted and sometimes imprisoned or executed. In 1537 to 1574, The massive censorship exercised by Cosimo I de' Medici of Florence precipitated a decline in historiography in Florence. The extreme wealth and power of the Medici family extended even further into the art of the Renaissance period and their depiction was prevalent as saintly figures in the works of these artists. Fear of persecution could drive an otherwise intelligent scholar to be biased and one sided. Even today bias and prejudice is apparent in the accounting of daily events in newspapers and television. The events revealed to the public are those which the editor or director chooses to be relevant. The Daily Telegraph for example, is widely perceived as being supportive of the Tories. In the world of films we never read 'this is a true story' in the credits but that it is 'based on a true story'. The director, has used artistic licence to inject either a romantic or Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 16. The History of the English Language Essay The History of the English Language In this paper I will discuss where and how the English language originated and how it has spread to become one of the most spoken languages in the world. Before I started my research on my topic of choice, my original hypothesis was that the English language was started by a whole assortment of Germanic tribes invading England thousands of years ago. This ultimately became the goal of my paper, to see if Germanic tribes started the English language, or if it was started from some other tribes that I was not aware of. The history of the English language is of significance because English is spoken more frequently than any other language except Chinese, (Bright, 1992). A Germanic language, English...show more content... The Proto–Indo–European language was more complex than English today. It is possible to reconstruct three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and up to eight cases (nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, locative, instrumental). Adjectives agreed in case, number, and gender with the noun. The verb system was also rich in inflections, used for aspect, mood, tense, voice, person, and number. Different grammatical forms of a word were often related by the feature of ablaut, or vowel graduation: the root vowel would change systematically to express such differences as singular and plural or past and present tense, as is still the case in English foot/feet or take/took (Crystal, 1997). The Proto–Indo–European language is thought to have been spoken before 3,000 BC, and to have split up into different languages during the following millennium (Crystal, 1997). The languages families include Celtic, Germanic, Italic, Indo–Iranian, Tocharian, Armenian, Anatolian, Albanian, Greek, Balto –Slavic, and Slavic languages. Yiddish, German, Afrikaans, Dutch, Flemish, Frisian, and English make up the West Germanic subgroup of the Germanic Branch (Crystal, 1997). Scholars renamed the language group the Indo–European family after 3,000 BC (Crystal, 1997). Theorists suggest that the horse was a major element of the Proto–Indo–European and the Indo–European Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 17. Short Essay on History of India SHORT ESSAY ON HISTORY OF INDIA India has frequently been subjected to horrors of famine. From 1858 to the end of the 19th century, more than twenty famines occurred in India. A major characteristic of British rule in India, and the net result of British economic policies, was the prevalence of extreme poverty among its people. While historian disagree on the question whether India was getting poorer or not under British rule, there is no disagreement on the fact that throughout the period of British rule most Indians always lived on the verge of starvation. British economic exploitation, the decay of indigenous industries, the failure of modern industries to replace them, high taxation, the drain of wealth to Britain and a...show more content... The settlement and the Ryotwari system were not made permanent. It was revised periodically after 20 to 30 years when the revenue demand was usually raised. The Ryotwari system protected neither the rights of the cultivators ner put them to any financial gain. The system could not introduce peasant ownership. The state remained the owner of the land. The cultivator had to pay regular revenue otherwise they could be dispossessed of their lands any time. The demand for revenue by the government remained very high. Besides, it had the right to enhance the revenue as it pleased. The cultivators were, thus, not sure of greater advantage for their better producing. The purpose of the Ryotwari System was to save the cultivators from the oppression of the zamindars. Though they were no more on the mercy of the zamindars but the system did not satisfy the aspirations of the peasantry. In fact, it caused widespread oppression and agricultural distress. The large number of zamindars had been replaced by one giant zamindar – the state, which only knew to squeeze as much from the peasant as possible. This did not bring into existence a system of peasant ownership. Later the government openly claimed that land revenue was a rent and not a tax. The ryot's lights of ownership of his land were also negated by three other factors: (i) in most areas the land revenue fixed was exorbitant; Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 18. The Importance of the Study of History Essay Most universities require every student, regardless of their major, to take at least two history courses. Most students take these history courses because they are required to do so. This raises the question, why study history? What is the importance of history to a common being? History is something that has happened and is factual. By knowing these facts, its students can learn how to progress and advance not making the same mistakes. Studying history also provides a sense of respect and pride from its students towards a society. History can also help its students improve many skills needed for other fields of life. The study of history is very important to a society. History is a relevant topic for an individual and a society to...show more content... Ancient Athenians introduced the ideology of a rule by democracy. Without excessive study of the democracy of the Athenians and its effectiveness, America would not have been born. In order to inhibit any uprisings to power, such as that which occurred to the democracy of Romans, the government of United States introduced the concept of checks and balances between the branches of government. Without the leisure of learning from the fall of the Roman democracy and making adjustments to prevent that sort of happening, even the strongest democracy could have fallen. History is used as a tool of learning from the setting of the prices of market products to the decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Famous philosopher George Santayana once said, "A country without memory is a country of madmen" (Szasz). America is a country of tremendous nationalism and tradition. To picture the respect this nation gives to its predecessors, one just needs to examine the US flag. While the flag shows fifty stars representing the fifty states, the majority of the flag is occupied by thirteen stripes giving homage to the original thirteen colonies, upon which the nation is founded. Recognizing the struggles of the people of the past brings newfound pride and patriotism to the minds of the people. An old man lying on his deathbed usually tries to remember his life from that of early childhood to the elderly present. He cherishes all the good times of the past, Get more content on HelpWriting.net
  • 19. The Influence Of The Old English In the development of English, invasions and other historical events were huge factors that had influence to the process. Through the history, the language especially English has been changed very much. When we see the Shakespeare's sonnet, we can find out that his sonnet is written in early Modern English but that language is not quite different from Modern English. However, when we read the poem which was written in the Old English period, many of us can realize that Old English is very different from the Modern English. When Old English was changed into Middle English, there was an important historical event, the Norman Conquest. In this report, I would like to explain what Norman Conquest is and how that event changed the Old English....show more content... As William the Conqueror brought the Normans to England, the Norman culture, language or Feudalism could be accepted without any resistance of England people. Also the nobilities who helped William in the battle became the lords and they lost their own language (Old English) and began to use Old French dialect which is called Old Norman. Since the leaders of Normans used Old Norman, language which was related to politics, religious began to change. Especially, Norman from France had huge influence in politics and Anglo–Saxons had to step down from their status. Conquerors were proud of themselves as a French people, and they designated Norman French as a national language of England. Since then, the upper class and educated people used Anglo Norman that was developed from Norman French and Old English was used only by the lower class, and as a result the status that old English had was collapsed. That is, because Norman people kept away from using Old English and adopted Anglo Norman, Norman language has huge influence in Middle English period unlike in Old English period. All social activities and official documents were done through the Anglo Norman and Old English could barely maintain its use in that Get more content on HelpWriting.net