Who invented english

Plop, ow, barf, cuckoo, bunch, bump and midge all originated this way. To this method we owe the likes of flip-flop, goody-goody, boo-boo, helter-skelter, picnic, claptrap, hanky-panky, hurly-burly, lovey-dovey, higgledy-piggledy, tom-tom, hip hop and cray-cray. Confirmed examples are few and far between, but include quark Murray Gell-Mann , bling unknown and fleek Vine celebrity Kayla Newman. Scramble, for example, seems to have originated as a variant of scrabble; but over time, the two forms have taken on different meanings, so one word has now become two.

Similarly, the words shit and science , thanks to a long sequence of shifts and errors, are both ultimately derived from the same root. And the now defunct word helpmeet, or helpmate, is the result of a Biblical boo-boo. Later editors, less familiar with the archaic sense of meet, took the phrase to be a word, and began hyphenating help-meet.

Take one word, remove an arbitrary portion of it, then put in its place either a whole word, or a similarly clipped one. Thus were born sitcom, paratroops, internet, gazunder and sexting. Note: some linguists call this process blending and reserve the term portmanteau for a particular subtype of blend. The popularity of the various methods has waxed and waned through the ages.

Programs See everything we do. Offices Find an office near you. About EF Who we are. Careers Join the team. The latest on travel, languages and culture by EF Education First. Back Topics. A short history of the English language. By Kaisa. Run from the Viking with a knife! The alligator ate my puppy dog, Mr Shakespeare In the 14thth century, following the Hundred Years War with France that ended French rule of the British Isles, English became the language of power and influence once again.

Other examples of American-influenced phrases include: no axe to grind; sitting on the fence; poker face; stake a claim — and words such as: bedrock; smooch; raincoat; skyscraper; joyride; showdown; cocktail and cookie. The English language has never had an official standard. It has evolved through the centuries and adopted many thousands of words through overseas exploration, international trade, and the building of an empire.

It has progressed from very humble beginnings as a dialect of Germanic settlers in the 5th century, to a global language in the 21st century. Sign in. Back to Main menu Virtual events Masterclasses. Thomas Elyot, a prolific writer during the English Renaissance, was an advocate for inkhorn words, says Charlie Haylock.

Many of the phrases we use today were first written by playwright William Shakespeare. Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation the Great Vowel Shift started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print.

Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard.

In the first English dictionary was published. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.