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:THE HOLY BIBLE, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New: Newly Translated out of the Originall tongues: & with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties Special Commandment. Appointed to be read in Churches. Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majestie. ANNO DOM. 1611.

:THE HOLY BIBLE, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New: Newly Translated out of the Originall tongues: & with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties Special Commandment. Appointed to be read in Churches. Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majestie. ANNO DOM. 1611.

Some might say that the publication of the King James Bible was more significant than the settlement at Jamestown.  This version of the Bible, which became known as the "Authorized Version," was a spectacular work that transformed and elevated the entire English language to new heights. Even a Catholic scholar expressed the highest praise for this Protestant work, as all Christians recognized it to be an absolute masterpiece:<ref name="KJV"/>

Some might say that the publication of the King James Bible was even more significant than the settlement at Jamestown.  This version of the Bible, which became known as the "Authorized Version," was a spectacular work that transformed and elevated the entire English language to new heights.

With the King James Bible as the "gold standard" for proper English, the language then grew upon this foundation at a rate of about 1000 new words per year.<ref>See [[Essay:Best New Conservative Words]].</ref>  This enables English to constantly improve its ability to express concepts.  English easily incorporates and adapts words from other languages, such as "detente" (French for a lessening in tensions between nations) and "tsunami" (Japanese for a massive tidal wave).

 

To this day many feel that the King James Bible is the finest English translation available, despite the antiquity of some of its terminology.  It is free from modern translation biases that hide the existence and wrath of Hell, for example.  But for the purposes of this course, we are interested in how this was a defining moment in the development of the English language, and how the language has grown since then.

 

The King James Bible established a framework of knowledge of the English language, which began to develop rapidly afterward.  English is unique in its ability to develop new words, at a rate of about 1000 new words per year.<ref>See [[Essay:Best New Conservative Words]].</ref>  This enables English to constantly improve its ability to express concepts.  English easily incorporates and adapts words from other languages, such as "detente" (French for a lessening in tensions between nations) and "tsunami" (Japanese for a massive tidal wave).

English has the smallest alphabet of widely used languages;<ref>Some describe the Hebrew alphabet, without vowels, as having only 22 characters, but modern Hebrew (spoken by a few million people) has more characters than English.  See http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm . The obscure [[Elder Futhark]] runic writing has an alphabet of 24.</ref> this compact simplicity gives English an advantage, particularly in using computers.  For example, modern English lacks accented letters (letters bearing a diacritic mark such as the "e" in "noël"), hybrid letters (such as the archaic digraph ligature æ used in British English in words such as encyclopædia or the ampersand character - a contraction of "et"), and pictograph characters.

English has the smallest alphabet of widely used languages;<ref>Some describe the Hebrew alphabet, without vowels, as having only 22 characters, but modern Hebrew (spoken by a few million people) has more characters than English.  See http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hebrew.htm . The obscure [[Elder Futhark]] runic writing has an alphabet of 24.</ref> this compact simplicity gives English an advantage, particularly in using computers.  For example, modern English lacks accented letters (letters bearing a diacritic mark such as the "e" in "noël"), hybrid letters (such as the archaic digraph ligature æ used in British English in words such as encyclopædia or the ampersand character - a contraction of "et"), and pictograph characters.

English features easy interchangeability of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, without much variance in form for pronouns and verbs. That promotes easy communication through brief, cryptic messages if necessary, the style preferred by electronic media.  English enjoys a powerful pipe-like quality, such that one phrase can be cut and pasted to another phrase with ease.  Computer-based cutting and pasting text works more efficiently in English than in many other languages, such as those using pictorial characters. This gives English an advantage in the internet medium, and about 80% of the internet uses English. English is now the second most widely spoken language in the world, with only Chinese dialects spoken by more people. English is overwhelmingly the second language of choice for non-English-speaking people.<ref>See Barbara Wallraff, “What Global Language?” 286 Atlantic Monthly No. 5, at 52 (Nov. 2000) (noting that “English is the working language of the Asian trade group ASEAN” and is also “the official language of the European Central Bank”).</ref>

 

English features easy interchangeability of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, without much variance in form for pronouns and verbs. That promotes easy communication through brief, cryptic messages if necessary, the style preferred by electronic media.  English enjoys a powerful pipe-like quality, such that one phrase can be cut and pasted to another phrase with ease.  Computer-based cutting and pasting text works more efficiently in English than in many other languages, such as those using pictorial characters. This gives English an advantage in the internet medium, and about 80% of the internet uses English. English is now the second most widely spoken language in the world, with only Chinese dialects spoken by more people. English is overwhelmingly the second language of choice for non-English-speaking people.<ref>See Barbara Wallraff, “What Global Language?” 286 Atlantic Monthly No. 5, at 52 (Nov. 2000) (noting, ''inter alia'', that “English is the working language of the Asian trade group ASEAN” and is also “the official language of the European Central Bank”).</ref>

==The Age of Exploration==

==The Age of Exploration==