Sažetak | English language belongs to Indo-European family of language. It is believed to have originated from Eastern Europe sometime around 3000 BC. After the migration of four Germanic tribes: Saxons, Angles, Jutes and Frisians, began the spread of English language. At that time, the first known inhabitants were Celts, and Celtic was the language spoken by the native inhabitants. Gradually, some Celtic speakers were driven into an area that is today known as Wales. It is the only place where Celtic language survived in the form of Modern Welsh, which is its direct descendant. However, during the centuries, Anglicization was boosted by various events such as Offa’s Dyke, Acts of Union and dissolution of monasteries, which tried to impose English language, and lower the status of Welsh language, which resulted in decrease in number of people speaking only Welsh, and increased the number of people speaking both Welsh and English. Even though, until quite recently English was learnt as a second language in schools, higher prestige and increasing number of English speaking immigrant, helped established English as a language of the whole of Wales. Therefore, Welsh English is very similar to Standard English, but at the same time, very different in specific language areas due to its Welsh influence. In phonology, the difference is evident in the pronunciation of specific words, and in different features of vowels and consonants. Also, morphological and syntactical differences are evident with words that were influenced by Welsh Language, and with words that were influenced by non-standard English. |