Inglis leid

Inglis leid
Spoken in:	54 kintras Unitit Naitions European Union Commonwealth o Naitions CoE NATO NAFTA OAS OIC PIF UKUSA
Total spaekers:	First leid: 309–400 million Seicont leid: 199–1,400 million Overall: 500 million–1.8 billion
Genetic classification:	Indo-European  Germanic   West    Anglic     Inglis
Leid codes
ISO 639-2	en
ISO 639-3	en

Inglis, English or Inglish (English) is a Wast Germanic leid that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kinricks o England an spread intae what wis tae become sooth-east Scotland unner the influence o the Anglian medieval kinrick o Northumbrie. Follaein the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, an colonial influence o Great Breetain an the Unitit Kinrick frae the 18t century, via the Breetish Empire, an o the Unitit States since the mid-20t century, it haes been widely dispersed aroond the warld, become the leadin leid o internaitional discourse, an haes acquired uise as lingua franca in mony regions. It is widely learned as a seicont language an uised as an offeecial leid o the European Union an mony Commonwealth kintras, as well as in mony warld organisations. It is the third maist natively spoken leid in the warld, efter Mandarin Cheenese an Spainyie.

Historically, Inglish originatit frae the fusion o leids an dialects, nou collectively termed Auld Inglis, which wur brought tae the eastern coast o Great Breetain bi Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) settlers beginnin in the 5t century – wi the word "Inglis" being derived frae the name o the Angles. A significant number o Inglis words are constructit based on roots frae Latin, because Latin in some form wis the lingua franca o the Christian Kirk an o European intellectual life. The leid wis further influenced bi the Auld Norse leid wi Viking invasions in the 8t an 9t centuries.

The Norman conquest o Ingland in the 11t century gave rise tae hivy borrowings frae Norman-French, an vocabulary an spelling conventions began tae give the superficial appearance o a close relationship wi Romance leids tae what haed nou become Middle Inglis. The Great Vowel Shift that began in the sooth o Ingland in the 15t century is ane o the historical events markin the separation o Middle an Modern Inglis.

Awin tae the significant assimilation o various European leids throughoot history, modern Inglis is aften seen as haein a vera lairge vocabulary. The Oxford Inglis Dictionary leets ower 250,000 distinct words, an does no include mony technical or slang terms, or words that belong tae multiple word classes.

Etymology

The name "Inglis" comes frae the pairt o Germany an Denmark cried "Angeln". The spellin Inglis is a leeterar archaism frae aulder Scots that enthusiasts is gey fond o. It wis soondit [ɪŋ'lɪs] (cf. Scottis), wi time the is wis cuttit tae s an the modren ootcome wis [ɪŋ'(ə)lz] that can be seen in the faimly name wi the mair mensefu modren spellin Ingles. Maist fowk the nou says ['ɪŋlɪʃ], English, tho some fowk scrieves Inglish for fear that fowk micht soond the foregaun wrang. Mony fowk soonds Inglis ['ɪŋglɪs] efter the English soond-tae-letter spellin.

Significance

See an aa Inglis-speakin warld an Anglosphere.

Modern Inglis, sumtimes descrived as the first global lingua franca, is the dominant leid or in some instances even the required internaitional leid o communications, science, information technology, business, aviation, entertainment, radio an diplomacy. Its spread ayont the Breetish Isles began wi the growth o the Breetish Empire, an bi the late 19t century its reach wis truly global. Follaein the Breetish colonisation o North Americae, it became the dominant leid in the Unitit States an in Canadae. The growing economic an cultural influence o the US an its status as a global superpouer since Warld War II hae significantly acceleratit the leid's spread across the planet.

A working knowledge o Inglis haes become a requirement in a number o fields, occupations an professions such as medicine an computin; as a consequence ower a billion fowk speak Inglis tae at least a basic level (see Inglis leid learnin an teachin). It is ane o sax offeecial les o the Unitit Nations.

Ane impact o the growth o Inglis haes been tae reduce native linguistic diversity in mony parts o the warld, an its influence continues tae play an important role in leid attrition. Conversely the natural internal variety o Inglis alang wi creoles an pidgins hae the potential tae produce new distinct leids frae Inglis ower time.

Notes

ak:English