108-502: Ranulf Gender Masculine Language(s) English , Old French , Old Occitan Origin Language(s) West Germanic , Old Norse , Gothic Word/name Raginolf / Raginulf / Reginúlfr / Ramnulf / Ramnolf Derivation ragin / reginn or hrabns + ulf / úlfr / wulfs Meaning "advice", "decision" or "raven" + "wolf" Ranulf
216-427: A New York Times Bestseller , continues the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her husband, and focuses on the rift between Henry II and Thomas Becket . Time and Chance spans a 15-year period from 1156 to 1171 as Henry II became estranged from his wife (although Eleanor and Henry have eight children during thirteen years), and from his close friend and advisor Thomas Becket. King Henry's decision to elevate Becket to
324-553: A mixed language or a creole —a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis . Although the great influence of these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language. English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares innovations with other Germanic languages including Dutch , German , and Swedish . These shared innovations show that
432-644: A 2012 official Eurobarometer poll (conducted when the UK was still a member of the EU), 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents. A working knowledge of English has become
540-658: A distinct language from Modern English and is virtually impossible for 21st-century unstudied English-speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms , and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns ( he , him , his ) and has a few verb inflections ( speak , speaks , speaking , spoke , spoken ), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings. Its closest relative
648-490: A foreign language, make up the "expanding circle". The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time. For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it, and thus English
756-491: A household, complete with household knights, whom the wife relied upon to keep the household safe. In 1996, Penman published the first in the series of medieval mystery novels . Penman's first mystery, The Queen's Man , was a finalist for an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America. Penman explained her reasons for turning to the mystery genre after writing only historical novels: "By
864-520: A more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English as they grow up through day-to-day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by non-native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners. Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in
972-695: A number of other Anglic languages, including Scots and the extinct Fingallian dialect and Yola language of Ireland. Like Icelandic and Faroese , the development of English in the British Isles isolated it from the continental Germanic languages and influences, and it has since diverged considerably. English is not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, as it differs in vocabulary , syntax , and phonology . However, some of these, such as Dutch or Frisian, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages. Unlike Icelandic and Faroese, which were isolated,
1080-684: A requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995. International communities such as international business people may use English as an auxiliary language , with an emphasis on vocabulary suitable for their domain of interest. This has led some scholars to develop
1188-407: A rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection and a fairly fixed subject–verb–object word order . Modern English relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses , aspects and moods , as well as passive constructions , interrogatives , and some negation . The earliest form of English
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#17327803380681296-758: A significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million), the United Kingdom (60 million), Canada (19 million), Australia (at least 17 million), South Africa (4.8 million), Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million). In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages and new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces. The inner-circle countries provide
1404-602: A student, Penman researched and wrote The Sunne in Splendour that chronicled the life of Richard III . When the 400-page manuscript was stolen from her car, Penman found herself unable to write for the next five years. She eventually rewrote the book and by the time the 936-page book was published in 1982 she had spent 12 years writing it, while practicing law at the same time. Of practicing law, she admitted she "considered it penance." Penman lived in New Jersey, and in
1512-447: A verb ending ( present plural): From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Old English gradually transformed through language contact with Old Norse in some regions. The waves of Norse (Viking) colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse , a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the north-eastern varieties of Old English spoken in
1620-591: A way after becoming fascinated with his story and researching his life, both in the United States and in the United Kingdom, which led her to believe that "his was a classic case of history being rewritten by the victor." Once finished with The Sunne in Splendour she claimed to have become "hopelessly hooked" on writing. She had plenty of material to be written about the "rebellious sons and disgruntled brothers and conniving kings and willful queens" of
1728-563: Is Old Frisian , but even some centuries after the Anglo-Saxon migration, Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility with other Germanic varieties. Even in the 9th and 10th centuries, amidst the Danelaw and other Viking invasions, there is historical evidence that Old Norse and Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility, although probably the northern dialects of Old English were more similar to Old Norse than
1836-403: Is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the United States as a world power. As of 2016 , 400 million people spoke English as their first language , and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language. English is the largest language by number of speakers . English
1944-610: Is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK. However, English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India. David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in
2052-407: Is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world. The Indian linguist Braj Kachru distinguished countries where English is spoken with a three circles model . In his model, Kachru based his model on
2160-538: Is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon ( c. 450–1150 ). Old English developed from a set of West Germanic dialects, often grouped as Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic , and originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia , Lower Saxony and southern Jutland by Germanic peoples known to the historical record as the Angles , Saxons , and Jutes . From the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain as
2268-564: Is derived from the West Germanic name Raginulf, Raginolf . This West Germanic personal name is composed of two elements: the first, RAGN > ragin , means "advice", "decision" ; the second element, (w)ulf / (w)olf , means " wolf ". or alternatively the Old Norse name Reginúlfr is based on the Old Norse variant forms reginn and úlfr . The Old Occitan anthroponym Ranulf ( Ramnulf , Rannulf ) does not contain exactly
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#17327803380682376-461: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles English language English is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , whose speakers, called Anglophones , originated in early medieval England on the island of Great Britain . The namesake of the language is the Angles , one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to Britain . It is
2484-590: Is either the official language or one of the official languages in 59 sovereign states (such as India , Ireland , and Canada ). In some other countries, it is the sole or dominant language for historical reasons without being explicitly defined by law (such as in the United States and United Kingdom ). It is a co-official language of the United Nations , the European Union , and many other international and regional organisations. It has also become
2592-536: Is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1150 to 1500. With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now-Norsified Old English language was subject to another wave of intense contact, this time with Old French , in particular Old Norman French , influencing it as a superstrate. The Norman French spoken by
2700-424: Is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language. Many users of English in
2808-511: Is set in the 13th century, two centuries earlier than The Sunne in Splendour . During her research for Here Be Dragons , the first book in the series, she became fascinated with the complexity of the role of women in medieval society; for example, Welsh women at the time had a great deal more independence than the English women. Whether in Wales or in England, a noble wife had responsibility for
2916-517: Is spoken by communities on every continent and on islands in all the major oceans. The countries where English is spoken can be grouped into different categories according to how English is used in each country. The "inner circle" countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms for English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English
3024-777: Is the third person pronoun group beginning with th- ( they, them, their ) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- ( hie, him, hera ). Other core Norse loanwords include "give", "get", "sky", "skirt", "egg", and "cake", typically displacing a native Anglo-Saxon equivalent. Old Norse in this era retained considerable mutual intelligibility with some dialects of Old English, particularly northern ones. Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, ... Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting. Although, from
3132-978: The Anglic languages in the British Isles , and into the Frisian languages and Low German /Low Saxon on the continent. The Frisian languages, which together with the Anglic languages form the Anglo-Frisian languages , are the closest living relatives of English. Low German/Low Saxon is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the North Sea Germanic languages, though this grouping remains debated. Old English evolved into Middle English , which in turn evolved into Modern English. Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into
3240-600: The Anglo-Saxons . Late Old English borrowed some grammar and core vocabulary from Old Norse , a North Germanic language . Then, Middle English borrowed vocabulary extensively from French dialects , which are the source of approximately 28% of Modern English words , and from Latin , which is the source of an additional 28% . As such, though most of its total vocabulary comes from Romance languages , Modern English's grammar, phonology, and most commonly used words in everyday use keep it genealogically classified under
3348-461: The Archbishop of Canterbury becomes a fulcrum for discord between Henry and Eleanor. Devil's Brood (2008) opens with the conflict between Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their four sons, which escalates into a decade of warfare and rebellion pitting the sons against the father and the brothers against each other while Eleanor spends the period imprisoned by Henry. Penman places
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3456-485: The Augustinian canon Orrm , which highlights the blending of both Old English and Anglo-Norman elements in English for the first time. In Wycliff'e Bible of the 1380s, the verse Matthew 8:20 was written: Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis . Here the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present. By the 12th century Middle English
3564-546: The Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English . The centre of Norsified English was in the Midlands around Lindsey . After 920 CE, when Lindsey was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, English spread extensively throughout the region. An element of Norse influence that continues in all English varieties today
3672-552: The European Free Trade Association , Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of
3780-684: The Middle Ages . The Sunne in Splendour , her first book, is a stand-alone novel about King Richard III of England and the Wars of the Roses . When the manuscript was stolen she started again and rewrote the book. Her work was generally well received, with the more recent novels reaching the New York Times Bestseller List . Critics have praised her meticulous research of settings and events presented in her fiction, as well as
3888-605: The Plantagenets and hoped to write as many as a dozen books on the subject. After the publication of The Sunne in Splendour , Penman began work on the Welsh Trilogy, set primarily in Wales. The "Welsh Trilogy" was followed by the "Plantagenet series", which presents the events of the life of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine . Penman's settings are all in the Middle Ages ; the Welsh Princes trilogy
3996-604: The United Nations at the end of World War II , English had become pre-eminent and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations. It is one of six official languages of the United Nations. Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee , specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation. Many regional international organisations such as
4104-686: The University of Pennsylvania Library in Philadelphia, which has an excellent medieval selection. But it really helped to see the scenes for myself. At Lewes, we actually walked along the same path that Simon de Montfort and his men would have followed. It was breathtaking to stand on the Downs, gazing out upon the same view that he would have seen". The Reckoning (1991) chronicles the reign of England's King Henry III in Penman's final volume of
4212-468: The most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire (succeeded by the Commonwealth of Nations ) and the United States . English is the third-most spoken native language , after Standard Chinese and Spanish ; it is also the most widely learned second language in the world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers. English
4320-518: The palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization ). The earliest varieties of an English language, collectively known as Old English or "Anglo-Saxon", evolved from a group of North Sea Germanic dialects brought to Britain in the 5th century. Old English dialects were later influenced by Old Norse -speaking Viking invaders and settlers , starting in
4428-564: The "outer circle" countries are countries such as the Philippines , Jamaica , India , Pakistan , Singapore , Malaysia and Nigeria with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business, and its routine use for school instruction and official interactions with the government. Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to
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4536-508: The 12th century, Penman presents the young Justin de Quincy as a medieval sleuth . In the first book he is elevated to the status of "queen's man" by Eleanor of Aquitaine . The Queen's Man and Cruel as the Grave depict the period after King Henry II 's death, as Eleanor, about age 70, rules the Angevin empire with one son (Richard) in captivity, and another son ( John ) hovering at
4644-430: The 15 years she spent writing three novels and four mysteries set during the period of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine Penman claimed she found no villains. Instead she focused on the human characteristics: she believed Henry II was a brilliant king but a bad father. Of Eleanor of Aquitaine, she claimed she was a "law unto herself", and Penman was intrigued by the role of a medieval queen. Time and Chance (2002),
4752-617: The 8th and 9th centuries. Middle English began in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest of England, when a considerable amount of Old French vocabulary was incorporated into English over some three centuries. Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the start of the Great Vowel Shift and the Renaissance trend of borrowing further Latin and Greek words and roots, concurrent with
4860-608: The Angles. English may have a small amount of substrate influence from Common Brittonic, and a number of possible Brittonicisms in English have been proposed, but whether most of these supposed Brittonicisms are actually a direct result of Brittonic substrate influence is disputed. Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects ( Mercian and Northumbrian ) and the Saxon dialects ( Kentish and West Saxon ). Through
4968-524: The British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies. For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India. English
5076-547: The Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I . Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters /kn ɡn sw/ in knight , gnat , and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent
5184-655: The English Language , which introduced standard spellings of words and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language to try to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent of the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of
5292-557: The English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce koineised forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers. English has ceased to be an "English language" in
5400-644: The Germanic branch. It exists on a dialect continuum with Scots and is then most closely related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages . English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . Old English originated from a Germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the Frisian North Sea coast, whose languages gradually evolved into
5508-486: The Holy Land, and on what happened to Eleanor when she was finally released after spending sixteen years in a confinement that was ordered and enforced by her husband. A King's Ransom is about the second half of Richard's life, during and following his imprisonment, ransom, and life afterward. Penman's approach to her novels is to present meticulously researched medieval life and history as everyday life, and to present
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#17327803380685616-554: The Roman economy and administration collapsed . By the 7th century, this Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain , replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409): Common Brittonic , a Celtic language , and British Latin , brought to Britain by the Roman occupation. At this time, these dialects generally resisted influence from the then-local Brittonic and Latin languages. England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc ) are both named after
5724-578: The Shadow to Simon and The Reckoning to Llewelyn". Penman's characterization of Simon de Montfort is that of a man increasingly disillusioned by his sovereign, who rebels in 1263, becomes regent to Henry III, and attempts to re-establish rights granted under the Magna Carta . In addition to the story of Simon de Montfort and his wife, Eleanor the Countess of Pembroke and sister to King Henry III,
5832-494: The Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations. Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language . In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than Ireland and Malta ). In
5940-407: The base from which English spreads to other countries in the world. Estimates of the numbers of second language and foreign-language English speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1 billion, depending on how proficiency is defined. Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. In Kachru's three-circles model,
6048-453: The basis for the required controlled natural languages Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring and aviation. English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field. It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919. By the time of the foundation of
6156-468: The beginning of their tempestuous union. Time and Chance continues their story at high noon. From the greenwoods of Wales to a bloodied floor at Canterbury Cathedral, theirs was an amazing story, and I very much enjoyed being along for the ride! When Christ and His Saints Slept introduces the genesis of the Plantagenet dynasty as Empress Maude fights to secure her claim to the English throne. In
6264-400: The beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, ... Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing. John Trevisa , c. 1385 Middle English
6372-468: The characterizations. Penman died from pneumonia on January 22, 2021, at the age of 75. Born in New York City , Penman grew up in New Jersey. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin , where she majored in history. She also received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Rutgers University School of Law, and worked as a tax lawyer before becoming a writer. While
6480-465: The characters against a tightly woven tapestry of medieval life, personal conflict, and dramatic characters. The Devil's Brood was supposed to be the final volume in Penman's Plantagenet series, but the "Angevins were not ready to go quietly into that good night." Lionheart (2011) is about the children of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The book focuses on Richard the Lionheart 's Crusades in
6588-413: The complex events and emotional drama of the 12th – 15th centuries." Although set in the 12th and 13th centuries, Penman sets the characters and narrative in her novels in medieval sites that still exist and can be visited, including castles , churches and archeological areas. Areas such as Aber Falls and Dolwyddelan Castle have important scenes in Penman's novels. In Devil's Brood , Penman sets
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#17327803380686696-827: The conflict between Ellen and her cousin Edward, soon to become King Edward , who opposes the betrothal. The Plantagenet series focuses on the Angevin King Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine , beginning with the sinking of the White Ship , the marriage of the Empress Maude and Geoffrey of Anjou , and Henry's birth and childhood in When Christ and His Saints Slept. Of Henry and Eleanor, Penman explained: Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine were larger than life, legends in their own lifetimes. He
6804-638: The consensus of educated English speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation. American listeners readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world. Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers. The settlement history of
6912-466: The de facto lingua franca of diplomacy, science , technology, international trade, logistics, tourism, aviation, entertainment, and the Internet . English accounts for at least 70% of total speakers of the Germanic language branch, and as of 2021 , Ethnologue estimated that there were over 1.5 billion speakers worldwide. Old English emerged from a group of West Germanic dialects spoken by
7020-476: The development of English was influenced by a long series of invasions of the British Isles by other peoples and languages, particularly Old Norse and French dialects . These left a profound mark of their own on the language, so that English shows some similarities in vocabulary and grammar with many languages outside its linguistic clades —but it is not mutually intelligible with any of those languages either. Some scholars have argued that English can be considered
7128-476: The distinct characteristics of Early Modern English. In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says, "The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests." This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with subject–verb–object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and
7236-477: The early 1980s moved to Wales to research her second book, Here Be Dragons . She had a second home in the Welsh mountains where, she said, the history inspired her and provided material for her novels. The Sunne in Splendour is about the end of England's War of the Roses . In the book, Penman characterizes King Richard III as a healthy, if misunderstood, ruler. She chose to write Richard's character in such
7344-401: The early period of Old English were written using a runic script . By the 6th century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms . It included the runic letters wynn ⟨ ƿ ⟩ and thorn ⟨ þ ⟩ , and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ ð ⟩ , and ash ⟨ æ ⟩ . Old English is essentially
7452-400: The edge of power. The third novel in the series, The Dragon's Lair , is set during the same period, but Penman shifts the locale to northwest England and north Wales. And finally, in the most recent novel of the series, Prince of Darkness , Penman continues to show the conflict between mother and sons, and weaves in de Quincy's conflicts as well. In addition to the Edgar Award, Penman
7560-431: The educational reforms of King Alfred in the 9th century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex , the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety . The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn , is written in Northumbrian. Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from
7668-580: The elite in England eventually developed into the Anglo-Norman language . Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking English, the main influence of Norman was the introduction of a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains. Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative cases
7776-408: The expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use the language. Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties. Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in
7884-503: The first count of Aversa Ranulf Flambard (c. 1060 – 1128), Norman bishop of Durham Ranulph de Gernon, 2nd Earl of Chester (1099–1153), Anglo-Norman baron Ranulf de Glanvill (died 1190), Anglo-Norman chief Justiciar of England Ranulf Higdon (or Higden) (c. 1280 – 1364), English chronicler and a Benedictine monk Ranulf of Wareham (died 1222), English bishop of Chichester Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet , English adventurer Fictional characters with
7992-721: The growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC and other broadcasters, caused the language to spread across the planet much faster. In the 21st century, English is more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been. As Modern English developed, explicit norms for standard usage were published, and spread through official media such as public education and state-sponsored publications. In 1755, Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of
8100-953: The historical figures in her novels. See also [ edit ] Ranulph References [ edit ] ^ Hanks, Patrick ; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names , Reference of Oxford Paperback (2nd ed.), Oxford : Oxford University Press , p. 226, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1 (read online) [1] ^ Nordic Names : Raginolf (read online) [2] ^ Marie-Thérèse Morlet , "Études d'anthroponymie occitane : les noms de personne de l’obituaire de Moissac (suite)" in Revue internationale d'onomastique , 1958, 10-1, p. 44 (read online) [3] ^ Penman, Sharon Kay. "Ranulf vs Richard," 5 May 2009. Author's blog article accessed at < http://sharonkaypenman.com/blog/?p=48 > 14 July 2013. [REDACTED] Name list This page or section lists people that share
8208-479: The history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation. The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift , meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised , and close vowels were broken into diphthongs . For example,
8316-407: The history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time. Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where
8424-403: The inner-circle countries, and they may show grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries. In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as
8532-531: The introduction of loanwords from French ( ayre ) and word replacements ( bird originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE fugol ). By the late 18th century, the British Empire had spread English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication. English
8640-475: The introduction of the printing press to London. This era notably culminated in the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare . The printing press greatly standardised English spelling, which has remained largely unchanged since then, despite a wide variety of later sound shifts in English dialects. Modern English has spread around the world since the 17th century as a consequence of
8748-431: The languages have descended from a single common ancestor called Proto-Germanic . Some shared features of Germanic languages include the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, the use of modal verbs , and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws . English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as
8856-747: The name [ edit ] Ranulf , character in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and its sequel, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn . Ranulf, an additional natural son of Henry I of England in Sharon Kay Penman 's Plantagenet series. The meticulous research for which Penman is noted extends to the names of minor characters. Completely fictional characters in her books are rare and are always identified in her author's notes. They serve as devices to illustrate aspects of medieval life, to reveal information, or to bridge gaps in knowledge, especially when such revelations would be out of character for
8964-498: The nobility as fallible. Set against a backdrop of political tension, power struggles, war, and hardship, the main characters confront personal drama such as conflict in love, conflict between family members, conflict with God, and conflict in friendship, as well as conflicted loyalties between family, self, king and country. A Library Journal review praises Penman's attention to detail in which she "combines an in-depth knowledge of medieval Europe with vivid storytelling, re-creating
9072-730: The novel presents characters such as the Welsh ruler Llywelyn Fawr and London's FitzThomas. Of her research for Falls the Shadow , Penman explained: "I did a great deal of on-site research, visiting the castles and battlefields that figured in Falls the Shadow, visiting the Reading Room at the British Library , the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth , and local reference libraries… Here at home, I made use of
9180-426: The prestige varieties among the middle classes. In modern English, the loss of grammatical case is almost complete (it is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him , she and her , who and whom ), and SVO word order is mostly fixed. Some changes, such as the use of do-support , have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it
9288-678: The reign of Henry V . Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents , and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard , developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands . In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English. Literature from
9396-408: The same given name . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ranulf&oldid=1242512428 " Categories : English-language masculine given names Masculine given names Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
9504-1350: The same first element, but hram , short form of Gothic hrabns "raven". People with the name [ edit ] Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln (1170–1232), Anglo-Norman baron Ranulf de Briquessart (or Ranulf the Viscount ) (1050 - c. 1089), 11th-century Norman magnate and viscount. Ranulf de Vains ( Ranulf the Moneyer ) (c. 1015 – after 1035), Norman knight, around 1035 in Domesday Book Ranulf I de Soules , Norman knight who came to Scotland with David I Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (1070–1129), Norman magnate based in northern and central England. Ranulf I of Aquitaine ( Ramnulf , Rannulf see Ramnulfids ) (820–866), count of Poitiers, duke of Aquitaine Ranulf II of Aquitaine (850–890), count of Poitiers, duke of Aquitaine Ranulf II, Count of Alife (died 1139), Italo-Norman magnate Rainulf Trincanocte (1045–1048), third Italo-Norman count of Aversa Ranulf de Broc (died c. 1179), Anglo-Norman nobleman and royal marshall Ranulf Compton (1878–1974), United States Representative from Connecticut Rainulf Drengot , Norman adventurer and
9612-468: The sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English . Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons. Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries. As decolonisation proceeded throughout
9720-462: The series that began with Here Be Dragons. The conflict between the Welsh prince Llewelyn ap Gruffydd who is the grandson of Llewelyn the Great of Here Be Dragons , and England's King Henry III is one subplot. Additionally, Penman chronicles the life and character of Ellen, daughter of Simon de Montfort and niece to Henry III; her betrothal to Llewelyn (negotiated prior to de Montfort's death); and
9828-474: The southern dialects. Theoretically, as late as the 900s AD, a commoner from certain (northern) parts of England could hold a conversation with a commoner from certain parts of Scandinavia. Research continues into the details of the myriad tribes in peoples in England and Scandinavia and the mutual contacts between them. The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 shows examples of case endings ( nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and
9936-465: The story of Llewelyn the Great and Joanna , King John 's illegitimate daughter, is a remarkable one, which struck an emotional chord with many readers.” In Falls the Shadow (1988) Penman chronicles the family relationships of King Henry III and his brother-in-law Simon de Montfort . Falls the Shadow is a bridge novel as Penman uses the Simon de Montfort rebellion to lead her to the conclusion of
10044-455: The study of English as an auxiliary language. The trademarked Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words, designed to represent the highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English . The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into
10152-586: The time I'd finished researching and writing When Christ and His Saints Slept , I was in danger of burning out. For the first time in nearly two decades, my boundless enthusiasm for the Middle Ages had begun to flag. So I decided I needed a change of pace, and since I am a long-time mystery fan, it occurred to me that a medieval mystery might be fun to write. Once that idea took root, it was probably inevitable that I'd choose to write about Eleanor of Aquitaine, surely one of history's most memorable women." Set in
10260-525: The trilogy in The Reckoning . As Penman explained: '“After I'd finished Here Be Dragon s, I knew I wanted to continue the story… At first I'd planned to write one book in which Simon de Montfort would share top billing with Llewelyn Fawr's grandson, Llewelyn ap Gruffydd , who later wed Simon's daughter. I soon realized, though, that this was too much to tackle in one book, that Simon and Llewelyn each deserved his own novel. So I decided to devote Falls
10368-476: The vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death , and to claims of linguistic imperialism , and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives. Sharon Kay Penman Sharon Kay Penman (August 13, 1945 – January 22, 2021)
10476-473: The word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages. English began to rise in prestige, relative to Norman French, during
10584-785: The world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries. This is particularly true of the shared vocabulary of mathematics and the sciences. English is a pluricentric language , which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language. Spoken English, including English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents , but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English . The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by
10692-539: The world, but the number of English speakers in India is uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India. Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca , is also regarded as the first world language . English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy. English is, by international treaty,
10800-438: The worldwide influence of the British Empire and the United States. Through all types of printed and electronic media in these countries, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation , and law. Its modern grammar is the result of a gradual change from a dependent-marking pattern typical of Indo-European with
10908-583: Was a masculine given name in Old French and Old Occitan, and is a masculine given name in the English language . Ranulf was introduced into England by the Norman conquest or alternatively is said to have been introduced to Scotland and northern England , by Scandinavian settlers in Early Middle Ages . However, most earliest historical figures with this name originated on the continent. It
11016-405: Was adopted in parts of North America, parts of Africa, Oceania, and many other regions. When they obtained political independence, some of the newly independent states that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political and other difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. In the 20th century
11124-576: Was an American historical novelist, published in the UK as Sharon Penman. She was best known for the Welsh Princes Trilogy and the Plantagenet series. In addition, she wrote four medieval mysteries, the first of which, The Queen's Man , was a finalist in 1996 for the Best First Mystery Edgar Award . Her novels and mysteries are set in England, France, and Wales, and are about English and Welsh royalty during
11232-518: Was fully developed, integrating both Norse and French features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer 's The Canterbury Tales , and Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur . In the Middle English period, the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer. The next period in
11340-505: Was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to indicating possession . The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms, and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible. The transition from Old to Middle English can be placed during the writing of the Ormulum . The oldest Middle English texts that were written by
11448-596: Was one of the greatest of the medieval kings, and she was the only woman to wear the crowns of both England and France. They loved and fought and schemed on a stage that stretched from the Scots border to the Mediterranean Sea. Their children were branded by contemporaries as "The Devil’s Brood," but they founded a dynasty that was to rule England for three hundred years. My first novel in their trilogy [ sic ], When Christ and His Saints Slept , traces
11556-533: Was only used in question constructions, and even then was not obligatory. Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing , appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt ), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer ). British English
11664-528: Was the winner of the 2001 Career Achievement Award for Historical Mysteries from Romantic Times. Here Be Dragons (1985) is the first of Penman's trilogy of novels about the medieval Welsh princes of Gwynedd . Of the novel, Penman stated, “I think Dragons is so popular because it was virgin territory for most readers. The saga of the Plantagenets was much better known, but not many people were familiar with medieval Wales or its princes. And then, too,
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