6 Little-Known Facts About the English Language

Dear friends dedicated to hard studying and continuous progress,
It has been another remarkable year with Training Centre Raya London, marking your enduring success! We are proud of your efforts and what you have achieved! As you continue the rewarding path of learning English, we are excited to share a new entry on our blog. Read it in both Bulgarian and English and remember that every word is a treasure!
The famous playwright William Shakespeare introduced as many as 1,500 new words to the English language. These words, still used in our everyday lives, were created through various methods – by converting one word into another, combining two separate words, or adding new prefixes and suffixes. Examples of such words include “eyeball,” “outbreak,” and “torture.”
English once had grammatical gender, which lasted until the 13th century and was expressed through noun declensions. The masculine gender was indicated by “se,” and the feminine by “seo.” There’s a theory that the gender system disappeared due to the influence of the Vikings, who spoke Old Norse. Their language also had grammatical genders, but they did not match those in English, leading to confusion and the eventual abandonment of gender distinctions.
The English alphabet used to have more letters. Over time, it was simplified, but there was once a letter called “thorn” (Þ), pronounced like “th.” Another letter, “yogh” (ȝ), was pronounced like “ch,” and there was an elongated “s” (ſ) that resembled an italic “f.” In total, there were about 12 additional letters.
English is recognized as the international language of aviation. Pilots must have a high level of proficiency in English to ensure clear communication. This requirement was established following a tragic accident in 1977, when two planes collided at Tenerife airport due to a communication breakdown. Since then, pilots are required to pass an English proficiency exam.
Some words in English have completely changed their meanings over time. For example, “girl” used to refer to all children, regardless of gender. Today, it specifically refers to female children. Another example is the word “awesome,” which now has a positive connotation but originally came from “awe,” meaning a sense of dread or fear. Similarly, “awful” also comes from the same root.
Modern English speakers use approximately 40,000 words in their daily lives. This is encouraging, considering that English has around 1,000,000 words, accounting for the different meanings of some words. For instance, the word “get” has multiple meanings. Despite the vast vocabulary, many words are rarely used today.
We hope you found these facts about the history and evolution of English interesting. Visit our blog for more intriguing texts! See you soon!
Author: Iveta Radeva