7 Fun Facts About the English Language

 

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Chapter 1


 

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If it seems to you that there is nothing new about the English language and that translators working with most English translations see this task as a routine job, it is time to learn seven fun facts about the language of Agatha Christie and Shakespeare. There are solid reasons as to why English is so popular all over the world as it takes more than just historical facts or the influence of the English-speaking personalities. 

  • Know your language roots! English, which is spoken by over 840 million people all over the world, actually has roots in northwest Germany, southern Denmark, and the Netherlands since it is a West Germanic language. It has originated from several Anglo-Frisian dialects, which brings a relation to Germany and the Frisian part of the Netherlands. It explains why the German, Dutch, and even Danish find it easier to learn English compared to nations belonging to the other language groups. 
  • Happy English! It is believed that some languages rank higher in the index of happiness. Based on emotional content and the other factors, it was revealed that English is the third in the list of happiest languages in the world. The first two are Spanish and Portuguese, which are mostly similar. 
  • The 1000 words limitation. The study has shown that 90% of English text that is written or given for translation services consists of no more than 1000 words on average. The reason for that is the use of expressions that are most frequently used on a day-to-day basis. The exceptions may relate to the technical texts or poetic lyrics where less frequent words are used. 
  • The spelling challenges. It appears that there are at least seven ways you can spell the "ee" sound in the English language. For example, try to spell: "She believed Heather should see people seizing the peas". Spelling is an important part of any translation, hence only certified translators can handle tasks that deal with complex areas like technical writing or localization. Navigate to these guys to find out more about various translation services. Regardless if you translate an official document or personal email communication, working with an expert always pays off.
  • Genie out of control! English remains the only major language that does not have an institution that would control and publish guidelines for its use. For example, in France, they have French Académie Française. The Spanish people, who are especially strict with the rules and dialects turn to the Spanish Real Academia Española. Finally, the Germans have Deutsche Rat für Rechtschreibung that controls the rules for academic specialists. 
  • Dictionary keeps growing! Not counting the slang words, up to 4,000 new words are added to the English Oxford Dictionary annually.
  • The famous "long time no see" phrase originally comes from the Native American expression of "Good morning! Long time no see you", which is an example of the incorrect, irregular syntax. It shows that the English language is often influenced by grammatically incorrect phrases that appear in daily use. 
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