View source for Modern English

{{Short description|Stage of the English language from the contemporary period}}
{{For|the English band|Modern English (band)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Modern English
| altname          = New English<br>present-day English
| nativename       = English
| era              = 17th century AD – present<ref>Terttu Nevalainen: ''An Introduction to Early Modern English'', Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 1</ref>
| region           = [[English-speaking world]]
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| fam3             = [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
| fam4             = [[North Sea Germanic]]
| fam5             = [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
| fam6             = [[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
| fam7             = [[English language|English]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Indo-European]]
| ancestor2        = [[Proto-Germanic]]
| ancestor3        = [[Proto-West Germanic]]
| ancestor4        = [[Proto-English]]
| ancestor5        = [[Old English]]
| ancestor6        = [[Middle English]]
| ancestor7        = [[Early Modern English]]
| script           = [[Latin script]] ([[English alphabet]])<br />[[English Braille]], [[Unified English Braille]]
| iso1             = en
| iso2             = eng
| iso3             = eng
| lingua           = 52-ABA
| glotto           = stan1293
| glottorefname    = English
}}

'''Modern English''', sometimes called '''New English''' ('''NE'''){{sfn|Sihler|2000|p=xvi}} or '''present-day English''' ('''PDE''') as opposed to [[Middle English|Middle]] and [[Old English]], is the form of the [[English language]] that has been spoken since the [[Great Vowel Shift]] in [[England]], which began in the late [[14th century]] and was completed by the [[17th century]].

With some differences in vocabulary, texts which date from the early 17th century, such as the works of [[William Shakespeare]] and the [[King James Bible]], are considered Modern English texts, or more specifically, they are referred to as texts which were written in [[Early Modern English]] or they are referred to as texts which were written in [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] English. Through [[colonization]], English was adopted in many regions of the world by the [[British Empire]], such as [[Anglo-America]], the [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Africa]], [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]].

Modern English has many [[List of dialects of the English language|dialects]] spoken in many countries throughout the world, sometimes collectively referred to as the [[English-speaking world]]. These dialects include (but are not limited to) [[American English|American]], [[Australian English|Australian]], [[British English|British]] (containing [[English language in England|Anglo-English]], [[Scottish English]] and [[Welsh English]]), [[Canadian English|Canadian]], [[New Zealand English|New Zealand]], [[Caribbean English|Caribbean]], [[Hiberno-English]] (including [[Ulster English]]), [[Indian English|Indian]], [[Sri Lankan English|Sri Lankan]], [[Pakistani English|Pakistani]], [[Nigerian English|Nigerian]], [[Philippine English|Philippine]], [[Singaporean English|Singaporean]], and [[South African English]].

According to the ''[[Ethnologue]]'', there are almost one billion speakers of English as a first or second language.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last1=Lewis|editor-first1=M. Paul|editor-last2=Simons|editor-first2=Gary F.|editor-last3=Fennig|editor-first3=Charles D.|title=English|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/eng|website=Ethnologue|publisher=SIL International|access-date=22 February 2016|date=2016|quote=Total users in all countries: 942,533,930 (as L1: 339,370,920; as L2: 603,163,010)}}</ref> English is spoken as a first or a second language in many countries, with most native speakers being in the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], [[Canada]], [[New Zealand]] and [[Ireland]]. It "has more non-native speakers than any other language, is more widely dispersed around the world and is used for more purposes than any other language". Its large number of speakers, plus its worldwide presence, have made English a [[lingua franca|common language]] (lingua franca) "of the airlines, of the sea and shipping, of computer technology, of science and indeed of (global) communication generally".{{sfn|Algeo|Pyles|2004|p=222}}

==Development==
Modern English evolved from [[Early Modern English]] which was used from the beginning of the [[Tudor period]] until the [[Interregnum (England)|Interregnum]] and [[Stuart Restoration]] in England.<ref>Nevalainen, Terttu (2006). ''An Introduction to Early Modern English''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press</ref> By the late 18th century, the [[British Empire]] had facilitated the spread of Modern English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. Modern English also facilitated worldwide international communication. English was adopted in North America, India, parts of Africa, Australia, and many other regions. In the post-colonial period, some newly created nations that had multiple [[indigenous language]]s opted to continue using Modern English as the official language to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting one indigenous language above another.{{sfn|Romaine|2006|p=586}}{{sfn|Mufwene|2006|p=614}}

==Outline of changes==
The following is an outline of the major changes in Modern English compared to its previous form (Middle English), and also some major changes in English over the course of the 20th century. Note, however, that these are generalizations, and some of these may not be true for specific dialects:

===Morphology===
* "[[like]]", "same as", and "immediately" are used as [[Conjunction (grammar)|conjunctions]].<ref name="CCE"/>
* "[[The]]" becomes optional before certain combinations of [[noun phrase]]s and [[proper name]]s.<ref name="CCE"/>

====Pronouns====
* Loss of distinction in most dialects between "[[whom]]" and "[[Who (pronoun)|who]]" in favour of the latter.<ref name="CCE">{{cite book |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511642210 |title=Change in Contemporary English |date=2009 |last1=Leech |first1=Geoffrey |last2=Hundt |first2=Marianne |last3=Mair |first3=Christian |last4=Smith |first4=Nicholas |isbn=978-0-521-86722-1 |pages=18–19 }}</ref>
* The elevation of [[singular they]] to some formal registers.<ref name="CCE"/>
* Placement of frequency [[adverb]]s before [[English auxiliaries and contractions|auxiliary verbs]].<ref name="CCE"/>

====Verbs====
* [[Regularization (linguistics)|Regularisation]] of some [[English irregular verbs]].<ref name="CCE"/>
* Revival of the present ("mandative") [[English subjunctive]].<ref name="CCE"/>
* [[Shall and will|"Will" preferred to "shall"]] to mark the [[future tense]] in the first person.<ref name="CCE"/>
* [[Do-support]] for the verb "have".<ref name="CCE"/>
* Increase in [[multi-word verb]]s.<ref name="CCE"/>
* Development of [[auxiliary verb]]s "wanna", "[[gonna]]", "gotta" in informal discourse.<ref name="CCE"/>
* Usage of [[English progressive verb]]s in certain present perfect and past perfect forms.<ref name="CCE"/>

===Phonology===
[[Phonological history of English#Up to the American–British split|Up until the American–British split]] (1600–1725), some major phonological changes in English included:
* [[Phonological history of English consonant clusters|Initial cluster reductions]], like of /ɡn, kn/ into /n/: making [[homophone]]s of gnat and nat, and not and knot.
* The [[meet–meat merger]] in most dialects: making the words "meat", "threat" and "great" have three different vowels, although all three words once rhymed. 
* The [[foot–strut split]]: so that "cut" and "put", and "pudding" and "budding" no longer rhyme; and "putt" and "put" are no longer homophones.
* The [[lot–cloth split]]: the vowel in words like "cloth" and "off" is pronounced with the vowel in "thought", as opposed to the vowel used in "lot".

After the [[Phonological history of English#After American–British split, up to World War II|American-British split]], further changes to English phonology included:
* [[Rhoticity in English|Non-rhotic (/ɹ/-dropping) accents]] develop in the [[English language in England|English of England]], Australasia, and South Africa.
* [[Happy-tensing]]: final [[tenseness|lax]] [ɪ] becomes tense [i] in words like "happy"''.'' Absent from some dialects.
* [[Yod-dropping]]: the [[elision]] of /j/ in certain consonant clusters, like those found in "chute", "rude", "blue", "chews", and "Zeus".
* [[Wine–whine merger]] from the reduction of /ʍ/ to /w/ in all national standard varieties of English, except Scottish and Irish.
* In [[North American English|North American]] and Australasian English, /t, d/ are reduced to an alveolar tap between vowels, realised as [t̬] or [ɾ].
* [[Cot–caught merger]] the merger of /ɔ/ and /ɑ/ to /ɑ/ in some dialects of [[General American]].

===Syntax===
*disuse of the [[T–V distinction]] ([[thou]], [[Ye (pronoun)|ye]]). Contemporary Modern English usually retains only the formal second-person personal pronoun, "[[you]]" (ye), used in both formal and informal contexts.
*use of auxiliary verbs becomes mandatory in [[interrogative]] sentences.
*[[Fewer vs. less|"less", rather than "fewer"]], is used for [[countable noun]]s.<ref name="CCE"/>
*For [[Comparison (grammar)#English|English comparisons]], syntactic comparison (''more'') is preferred to analytic comparison (''-er'').<ref name="CCE"/>
* Usage of the [[Saxon genitive]] ('s) has extended beyond human referents.<ref name="CCE"/>

===Alphabet===
{{see also|Early Modern English#Orthography}}
Changes in alphabet and spelling were heavily influenced by the advent of printing and continental printing practices. 
*The letter [[thorn (letter)|thorn]] (þ), which began to be replaced by ''th'' as early as Middle English, finally fell into disuse. In Early Modern English printing, thorn was represented with the Latin ''y'', which appeared similar to thorn in blackletter typeface <big>(𝖞)</big>. The last vestige of the letter was in [[Typographic ligature|ligature]]s of thorn, y<sup>e</sup> (thee), y<sup>t</sup> (that), y<sup>u</sup> (thou), which were still seen occasionally in the [[King James Bible]] of 1611 and in Shakespeare's folios.
*The letters ''i'' and ''j'', previously written as a single letter, began to be distinguished; likewise for ''u'' and ''v''. This was a common development of the [[Latin alphabet]] during this period.
Consequently, Modern English came to use a purely [[English alphabet|Latin alphabet of 26 letters]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Language}}

*[[History of English]]
*[[International English]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Algeo |first1=John |last2=Pyles |first2=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/originsdevelopme00pyle |title=The Origins and Development of the English Language |edition=5th |location=Boston, MA |url-access=registration |publisher=Wadsworth Cengage |year=2004 |ISBN=978-0-155-07055-4}}
* {{cite book |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01291-8 |chapter=Language Spread |title=Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics |date=2006 |last1=Mufwene |first1=S.S. |pages=613–616 |isbn=978-0-08-044854-1 }}
* {{cite book |doi=10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00646-5 |chapter=Language Policy in Multilingual Educational Contexts |title=Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics |date=2006 |last1=Romaine |first1=S. |pages=584–596 |isbn=978-0-08-044854-1 }}
* {{citation |first=Andrew L. |last=Sihler |title=Language History: An Introduction |ISBN=978-9027236982 |publisher=John Benjamins |year=2000 |series=Current Issues in Linguistic Theory |volume=191}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ENG English] at [[Ethnologue]]

{{History of English|state=expanded}}
{{English dialects by continent}}

[[Category:History of the English language]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 17th century|English]]
[[Category:17th-century establishments in England]]
[[Category:Modern history of England|English]]