Lectures on Britain - 1 (Lectures on Britain), страница 2

Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. In 1604 thefirst English dictionary was published. A southern English accent (the dialect ofLondon) became generally accepted and most easily understood.Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" lines were written in Early ModernEnglish by Shakespeare. The main difference between Early Modern English andLate Modern English (1800-Present) is vocabulary. Late Modern English has manymore words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolutionand technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at itsheight covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adoptedforeign words from many other countries and the parts of Great Britain.Wales is the country in the west of Great Britain.

It is mainly a mountainousland with a chiefly agricultural economy and an industrial and coal-mining area inthe south. The landscape is really beautiful. Cardiff, a large city in the south, waschosen as the capital of Wales in 1955, mainly because of its size. Since 1536,Wales has been governed by England and the heir to the throne of England has thetitle of Prince of Wales. The Welsh language is an ancient Celtic language, similarto Breton, spoken in Brittany, France.Scotland is in Highlands.

The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, well known for itscastle. Glasgow is the industrial capital of Scotland. It is the third largest city inGreat Britain. The typical products of Scotland are timber, whisky, and salmon.Golf is the Scottish natural sport and it seems to have originated in this country.Scotland is also the land of myths and mysteries; every castle has “its ghost”.

Andof course everyone knows about so-called “the Loch Ness Monster”. «Nessie» issaid to be about six meters long, with a long, thin neck. The first report of themonster in Loch Ness was in 565 A.D.One third of the population of Northern Ireland (Ulster) lives in and around thecapital Belfast - the most important port, commercial, industrial and cultural centrewith theatres, orchestras, ballet and opera companies.A lot of British customs and habits as well as the language phrases areconnected with the English weather.The common ideas foreigners have about the weather in Britain are: "It rainsall the time, it's very damp"; "There's a terrible fog in London, just like in SherlockHolmes'...", 'The sun never shines in July or August". But contrary to popularopinion, it does not rain all the time.

Indeed, the weather changes so frequently thatit is difficult to forecast and it is not unusual for people to complain that the“weathermen” were wrong.Answer the following questions.1. What were the origins of Old English?2. What is the Great Vowel Shift?3. What definition can you give to English as the global language?.