Modern English is the form of the
English language spoken since the
Great Vowel Shift in
England, completed in roughly 1550.
Despite some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the works of
William Shakespeare and the
King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern English, or more specifically, are referred to as using
Early Modern English or
Elizabethan English. English was adopted in regions around the world, such as
North America,
India,
Africa, and
Australia, through
colonization by the
British Empire.
Modern English has a large number of dialects spoken in diverse countries throughout the world. Most of these, however, are mutually intelligible. This includes
American English,
Australian English,
British English,
Canadian English,
Caribbean English,
Hiberno-English,
Indo-Pakistani English,
New Zealand English,
Philippine English,
Singaporean English, and
South African English.
According to the
Ethnologue, there are over 508 million speakers of English as a first or second language as of 1999, a number surpassed only by the
Chinese language. However, Chinese has a smaller geographical range and is spoken primarily in mainland China and Taiwan and also by a sizable immigrant community in North America. Additionally, Chinese is itself divided into a number of regional dialects that may not be mutually intelligible in spoken form. In contrast, English is spoken in a vast number of territories including the
United Kingdom,
Ireland,
Canada, the
United States of America,
Australia,
New Zealand,
India,
Pakistan, and
Southern Africa. Its large number of speakers, plus its worldwide presence, have made English a common language for use in such diverse applications as controlling airplanes, developing software, conducting international diplomacy, and business relations.
Influences
Early Modern English lacked uniformity in spelling, but
Samuel Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755 in England, was influential in establishing a standard form of spelling.
Noah Webster did the same in America, publishing his dictionary in 1828; see
American and British English spelling differences.
Public education increased literacy, and more people had access to books (and therefore to a standard language) with the spread of
public libraries in the 19th century. Many words entered English from other languages as a result of contact with other cultures through trade and settlement and from the migration of large numbers of people to the
United States from other countries.
World War I and
World War II threw together people from different backgrounds, and the greater social mobility afterwards helped to lessen the differences between social accents, at least in the
UK. The development of
radio broadcasting in the early 20th century familiarised the population with accents and vocabulary from outside their own localities, often for the first time, and this phenomenon continued with
film and
television.
Outline of changes
The following is an outline of the major changes in Modern English compared to its previous form (Middle English). Note, however, that these are generalizations, and some of these may not be true for specific dialects:
Phonology
Syntax
See also
