The Story of English: How the English language conquered the wo .9780857383280

Quercus Publishing

The Story of EnglishHow the English language conquered the world\nAuthor(s): Philip Gooden\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Quercus Publishing, United Kingdom\nImprint: Quercus Publishing\nISBN-13: 9780857383280, 978-0857383280\nSynopsis\nBorn as a Germanic tongue with the arrival in Britain of the Anglo-Saxons in the early medieval period, heavily influenced by Norman French from the 11th century, and finally emerging as modern English from the late Middle Ages, the English language has grown to become the linguistic equivalent of a superpower, and is now sometimes described as the world's lingua franca. Worldwide some 380 million people speak English as a first language and some 600 million as a second language. A staggering one billion people are believed to be learning it. English is the premier international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, and diplomacy and also on the Internet. It has been one of the official languages of the United Nations.