A short history of the origins and development of English

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from England and their language was called Englisc - from which the words England and English are derived.

Old English (450-1100 AD)

The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.

Middle English (1100-1500)

In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.

Modern English

Early Modern English (1500-1800)

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 1604 the first English dictionary was published.

Complete the table with the British English or American English equivalents.

Translate the words into Russian

British English	American English
	parka
articulated lorry
	eggplant
bap
	scab
black treacle
	shade
block of flats
	apartment building
blue jeans
	dresser/bureau
cloakroom attendant
	clothes pin
conscription
convoy
	checkers
drawing pin
	bathrobe
dungarees
	garbage can/trash can
dynamo
	station wagon
gaol
	yard
gear lever
	dizzy
give a bell(to phone)
	freight truck
goose pimples
	hardware store
jug
jumper/sweater/pullover
knickers (girl’s)
knock up (tennis)
lavatory/toilet/w.c./loo
lay-by
leader (leading article in newspaper)
	freeway/throughway
	sheers/under drapes
	news dealer/news stand
	zero
noughts and crosses
oven cloth/gloves
overtake (vehicle)
paraffin
parcel
	private school
	dessert
	change purse
	stroller
put down/entered(goods)
queue (n.)
	stand in line/line up
return ticket
reverse charges
reversing lights
	traffic circle
	jump rope
skirting board
sledge/toboggan
smalls (washing)
stalls (theatre)
	run

Translate the text into Russian

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a combustible material releasing heat, light, and various reaction products such as carbon dioxide and water. If hot enough, the gases may become ionized to produce plasma. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity might vary. Fire in its most common form can result in conflagration, which has the potential to cause physical damage through burning.

Fires start when a flammable and/or a combustible material with an adequate supply of oxygen or another oxidizer is subjected to enough heat and is able to sustain a chain reaction. This is commonly called the fire tetrahedron. Fire cannot exist without all of these elements being in place (though as previously stated, another strong oxidizer can replace oxygen).

Once ignited, a chain reaction must take place whereby fires can sustain their own heat by the further release of heat energy in the process of combustion and may propagate, provided there is a continuous supply of an oxidizer and fuel.

Fire can be extinguished by removing any one of the elements of the fire tetrahedron. Fire extinguishing by the application of water acts by removing heat from the fuel faster than combustion generates it. Application of carbon dioxide is intended primarily to starve the fire of oxygen. A forest fire may be fought by starting smaller fires in advance of the main blaze, to deprive it of fuel. Other gaseous fire suppression agents, such as halon or HFC-227, interfere with the chemical reaction itself.

A flame is a mixture of reacting gases and solids emitting visible and infrared light, the frequency spectrum of which depends on the chemical composition of the burning material and intermediate reaction products. In many cases, such as the burning of organic matter, for example wood, or the incomplete combustion of gas, incandescent solid particles called soot produce the familiar red-orange glow of 'fire'. This light has a continuous spectrum. Complete combustion of gas has a dim blue color due to the emission of single-wavelength radiation from various electron transitions in the excited molecules formed in the flame. Usually oxygen is involved, but hydrogen burning in chlorine also produces a flame, producing hydrogen chloride (HCl). Other possible combinations producing flames, amongst many more, are fluorine and hydrogen, and hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide.

The glow of a flame is complex. Black-body radiation is emitted from soot, gas, and fuel particles, though the soot particles are too small to behave like perfect blackbodies. There is also photon emission by de-excited atoms and molecules in the gases. Much of the radiation is emitted in the visible and infrared bands. The color depends on temperature for the black-body radiation, and on chemical makeup for the emission spectra. The dominant color in a flame changes with temperature. The photo of the forest fire is an excellent example of this variation. Near the ground, where most burning is occurring, the fire is white, the hottest color possible for organic material in general, or yellow. Above the yellow region, the color changes to orange, which is cooler, then red, which is cooler still. Above the red region, combustion no longer occurs, and the uncombusted carbon particles are visible as black smoke.

Make sentences out of the following.

Fire is DARK!

Fire isn’t bright, it’s pitch black.

FirestartsbrightbutquicklyproducesblacksmokeandcompletedarknessIfyouwakeuptoafireyomaybeblindeddisorientedandunabletofindyourwayaroundthehomeyou’velivedinforyearsFireisDEADLY!

Smoke and toxic gases kill more people than flames do.

FireusesuptheoxygenyouneedandproducessmokeandpoisonousgasesthatkillBreathingevensmallamountsofsmokeandtoxicgasescanmakeyoudrowsydisorientedandshortofbreathTheodorlesscolorlessfumescanlullyouintoadeepsleepbeforetheflamesreachyourdoorYoumaynotwakeupintimetoescape.