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1、CHAPTERXVChangesintheLanguagesinceShakespeare'sTimeageneralviewofthefortunesoftheEnglishlanguagesinceINShakespeare'stime,oneofthefirstthingstostrikeanobserveristheworld-wideexpansionofitsuse.Atthebeginningoftheseventeenthcenturyitwas,withslightexcep-tions,confinedtoE
2、ngland.TheexceptionswereIreland,whereEnglishcolonisationhadbeguninthepreviouscentury,andScotland,whereliteraryEnglishwasalreadyinfluencingthespeakersofatonguedescendedfromtheoldNorthumbriandialect.Evento-day,EnglishdoesnotcompletelyoccupythewholeoftheUnitedKingdom.Ce
3、lticexistsinIreland,inWalesandintheScottishHighlands,while,intheChannelislands,Norman-Frenchhasbynomeansdisappeared.Tillintotheeighteenthcentury,CornishsurvivedinCornwall,andNorseinOrkneyandShetland.OutsidetheBritishisles,thelanguagehasfollowedtheflag,andisspokenallo
4、vertheempire—inCanada,inAustralia,inNewZealand,inAfrica,andintheEastandWestIndies.Beyondtheboundariesoftheempire,itpossessesavigorouslifeandliteratureamongmanymillionsintheUnitedStatesofNorthAmerica.^SinceinthoseregionsEnglishwasplantedatdifferenttimesandhasbeensubje
5、ctedtovaryinginfluences,thetypesoflanguage,especiallyasspoken,differfromstandardEnglish'AttemptshavebeenmadetocalculatehowmanypersonsemployEnglish.Exactfiguresarenotobtainable;but,inroundnumbers,120,000,000maybeconsideredatolerablysafeestimate—aboutdoubletheaggregate
6、ofthosewhospeakFrench,orItalian,orSpanish;andhalfasmanyagainasspeakGerman,orRussian.Itisbelievedthat,in1600,Englishwasspokenbyabout6,000,000,muchfewerthanthenspokeFrench,orGerman,orItalian,orSpanish.484:Pronunciation485andfromoneanother.Thevocabulary,inparticular,isn
7、ot-ablydissimilar.Strangeobjects,newconditionsoflife,haveeitheraddednativewords,orcausedspecialadaptationsofoldwordsorextensionsofmeaning.Sometimes,also,asintheUnitedStates,thelanguageissplittingintodialects.TodiscussallthesevarietiesofEnglishaswellasthenumerousdiale
8、ctsinBritain,withtheirchequeredhistoryduringthelastthreecenturies,wouldbeimpossiblehere,forwantofspace,iffornootherreason.Wemust,ac
