Historically, English originated from the fusion of languages and dialects, now collectively termed Old English, which were brought to the eastern coast of Great Britain by Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) settlers by the 5th century – with the word English being derived from the name of the Angles. is the dominant language or in some instances even the required international language of communications, science, information technology, business, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy. Following the British colonization of North America, it became the dominant language in the United States and in Canada. The growing economic and cultural influence of the US and its status as a global superpower since World War II have significantly accelerated the language's spread across the planet. commonly coined new terms from Latin to refer to things or concepts for which there was no existing native English word.

Modern English, which includes the works of William Shakespeare South Africa (3.7 million), 38,993,066 third language speakers ||1,028,737,436||Figures include both those who speak English as a second language and those who speak it as a third language. 2001 figures.||3,427,000 |- | Canada ||25,246,220||85%||17,694,830||7,551,390||29,639,030||Source: 2001 Census – Knowledge of Official Languages and Mother Tongue. The native speakers figure comprises 122,660 people with both French and English as a mother tongue, plus 17,572,170 people with English and not French as a mother tongue. |- | Australia ||18,172,989|| 92% ||15,581,329||2,591,660||19,855,288||Source: 2006 Census. and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language. Some linguists believe that it is no longer the exclusive cultural property of "native English speakers", but is rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it continues to grow. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications. with Science Citation Index reporting as early as 1997 that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries.

This increasing use of the English language globally has had a large impact on many other languages, leading to language shift and even language death, English itself is now open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole. Because of that global spread, English has developed a host of English dialects and English-based creole languages and pidgins.

Several educated native dialects of English have wide acceptance as standards in much of the world, with much emphasis placed on one dialect based on educated southern British and another based on educated Midwestern American. The former is sometimes called BBC (or the Queen's) English, and it may be noticeable by its preference for "Received Pronunciation". The latter dialect, General American, which is spread over most of the United States and much of Canada, is more typically the model for the American continents and areas (such as the Philippines) that have had either close association with the United States, or a desire to be so identified. In Oceania, the major native dialect of Australian English is spoken as a first language by 92% of the inhabitants of the Australian continent, with General Australian serving as the standard accent. The English of neighbouring New Zealand as well as that of South Africa have to a lesser degree been influential native varieties of the language.

Aside from these major dialects, there are numerous other varieties of English, which include, in most cases, several subvarieties, such as Cockney, Scouse and Geordie within British English; Newfoundland English within Canadian English; and African American Vernacular English ("Ebonics") and Southern American English within American English. English is a pluricentric language, without a central language authority like France's Académie française; and therefore no one variety is considered "correct" or "incorrect" except in terms of the expectations of the particular audience to which the language is directed.

Scots has its origins in early Northern Middle English |- | || crdental]] !Dental !Alveolar !Post-alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Labial-velar !Glottal |- !Nasal | style="text-align:center;"| |   |   | style="text-align:center;" | |   |   | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center;"| |   | style="text-align:center;"| |   | style="text-align:center;"|

Basic sound-letter correspondence

Written accents

Unlike most other Germanic languages, English has almost no diacritics except in foreign loanwords (like the acute accent in café), and in the uncommon use of a diaeresis mark (often in formal writing) to indicate that two vowels are pronounced separately, rather than as one sound (e.g. naïve, Zoë). Words such as décor, café, résumé/, entrée, fiancée and naïve are frequently spelled both with or without diacritics.

Some English words retain diacritics to distinguish them from others, such as animé, exposé, lamé, öre, pâté, piqué, and rosé, though these are sometimes also dropped (for example, résumé/, is often spelt resume in the United States). To clarify pronunciation, a small number of loanwords may employ a diacritic that does not appear in the original word, such as maté, from Spanish yerba mate, or Malé, the capital of the Maldives, following the French usage.

Formal written English

A version of the language almost universally agreed upon by educated English speakers around the world is called formal written English. It takes virtually the same form regardless of where it is written, in contrast to spoken English, which differs significantly between dialects, accents, and varieties of slang and of colloquial and regional expressions. Local variations in the formal written version of the language are quite limited, being restricted largely to the spelling differences between British and American English, along with a few minor differences in grammar and lexis.

Basic and simplified versions

Ogden did not include any words in Basic English that could be said with a combination of other words, and he worked to make the vocabulary suitable for speakers of any other language. He put his vocabulary selections through a large number of tests and adjustments. Ogden also simplified the grammar but tried to keep it normal for English users. Although it was not built into a program, similar simplifications were devised for various international uses.

Another version, Simplified English, exists, which is a controlled language originally developed for aerospace industry maintenance manuals. It offers a carefully limited and standardised subset of English. Simplified English has a lexicon of approved words and those words can only be used in certain ways. For example, the word close can be used in the phrase "Close the door" but not "do not go close to the landing gear".

See also

References

Bibliographic

External links

;Dictionaries

Category:English languages Category:Languages of American Samoa Category:Languages of Antigua and Barbuda Category:Languages of Australia Category:Languages of Bangladesh Category:Languages of Belize Category:Languages of Bermuda Category:Languages of Botswana Category:Languages of Cameroon Category:Languages of Canada Category:Languages of Fiji Category:Languages of Ghana Category:Languages of Grenada Category:Languages of Guam Category:Languages of Guyana Category:Languages of Hong Kong Category:Languages of India Category:Languages of Ireland Category:Languages of Jamaica Category:Languages of Kenya Category:Languages of Kiribati Category:Languages of Lesotho Category:Languages of Liberia Category:Languages of Macau Category:Languages of Madagascar Category:Languages of Malawi Category:Languages of Malaysia Category:Languages of Malta Category:Languages of Mauritius Category:Languages of Namibia Category:Languages of Nauru Category:Languages of New Zealand Category:Languages of Nigeria Category:Languages of Niue Category:Languages of Pakistan Category:Languages of Palau Category:Languages of Papua New Guinea Category:Languages of Rwanda Category:Languages of Saint Kitts and Nevis Category:Languages of Saint Lucia Category:Languages of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Category:Languages of Samoa Category:Languages of Seychelles Category:Languages of Sierra Leone Category:Languages of Singapore Category:Languages of South Africa Category:Languages of Sudan Category:Languages of Swaziland Category:Languages of the Bahamas Category:Languages of the British Virgin Islands Category:Languages of the Cayman Islands Category:Languages of the Gambia Category:Languages of the Philippines Category:Languages of the Pitcairn Islands Category:Languages of the Solomon Islands Category:Languages of the United Kingdom Category:Languages of the United States Virgin Islands Category:Languages of the United States Category:Languages of Tokelau Category:Languages of Trinidad and Tobago Category:Languages of Uganda Category:Languages of Vanuatu Category:Languages of Zambia Category:Languages of Zimbabwe Category:SVO languages Category:Stress-timed languages

Although The Goons elevated Milligan to international stardom, the demands of writing and performing the series took a heavy toll. During Series 3 he suffered the first of several serious mental breakdowns, which also marked the onset of a decades-long cycle of manic/depressive illness. In late 1952, possibly exacerbated by suppressed tensions between the Goons stars, Milligan apparently became irrationally convinced that he had to kill Peter Sellers, but when he attempted to gain entry to Sellers' neighbouring flat, armed with a potato knife, he accidentally walked straight through the plate-glass front door. He was hospitalised, heavily sedated for two weeks, and spent almost two months recuperating; fortunately for the show, a backlog of scripts meant that his illness had little effect on production. From 1980 to 1982, Milligan advertised for the English Tourist Board, playing a Scotsman on a visit around the different regions of England.

Personal life

Australia

I have got so low that I have asked to be hospitalised and for deep narcosis (sleep). I cannot stand being awake. The pain is too much... Something has happened to me, this vital spark has stopped burning - I go to a dinner table now and I don't say a word, just sit there like a dodo. Normally I am the centre of attention, keep the conversation going - so that is depressing in itself. It's like another person taking over, very strange. The most important thing I say is 'good evening' and then I go quiet. and Milligan was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) (honorary because of his Irish citizenship) in 2000. He had been made an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1992.

Campaigning

He was a strident campaigner on environmental matters, particularly arguing against unnecessary noise, such as the use of muzak.

In 1971, Milligan caused controversy by attacking an art exhibition at the Hayward Gallery with a hammer. The exhibit consisted of catfish, oysters and shrimp that were to be electrocuted as part of the exhibition. He was a strong opponent of cruelty to animals and, during an appearance on Room 101, chose fox hunting as a pet hate, and succeeded in banishing it to the eponymous room.

In 1966, he successfully campaigned for the restoration of London's Elfin Oak.

He was also a public opponent of domestic violence, dedicating one of his books to Erin Pizzey. reads "Duirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite", Irish for "I told you I was ill."]]

Family

Milligan had three children with his first wife June (Marchinie) Marlow: Laura, Seán and Síle. They were married in 1952 and divorced in 1960. He had one daughter with his second wife, Patricia Ridgeway (known as Paddy): the actress Jane Milligan (b. 1966). Milligan and Patricia were married in June 1962 with George Martin as best man. The marriage ended with her death from breast cancer in 1978. In 1975 Milligan fathered a son, James (born June 1976), in an affair with Margaret Maughan. Another child, a daughter Romany, is suspected to have been born at the same time by a Canadian journalist named Roberta Watt. His last wife was Shelagh Sinclair, to whom he was married from 1983 to his death on 27 February 2002. Four of his children collaborated with documentary makers on a new multi-platform programme called I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan (2005), which includes an accompanying website.

In October 2008 an array of Milligan's personal effects were sold at auction by his third wife, Shelagh, who was moving into a smaller home. These included a grand piano salvaged from a demolition and apparently played every morning by Paul McCartney, a neighbour in Rye in East Sussex.

Death

Even late in life, Milligan's black humour had not deserted him. After the death of friend Harry Secombe from cancer, he said, "I'm glad he died before me, because I didn't want him to sing at my funeral." A recording of Secombe singing was played at Milligan's memorial service. He also wrote his own obituary, in which he stated repeatedly that he "wrote the Goon show and died".

Milligan died from liver disease, at the age of 83, on 27 February 2002, at his home in Rye, East Sussex. On the day of his funeral, 8 March 2002, his coffin was carried to St Thomas's Church in Winchelsea, Sussex, and was draped in the flag of the Republic of Ireland. He had once quipped that he wanted his headstone to bear the words "I told you I was ill." He was buried at St Thomas's Church cemetery in Winchelsea, East Sussex, but the Chichester Diocese refused to allow this epitaph. A compromise was reached with the Irish translation, "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite", and additionally in English, "Love, light, peace".

Legacy

From the 1960s onwards Milligan was a regular correspondent with Robert Graves. Milligan's letters to Graves usually addressed a question to do with classical studies. The letters form part of Graves' bequest to St. John's College, Oxford.

The film of Puckoon, starring Sean Hughes and including Milligan's daughter, the actress Jane Milligan, was released after his death.

Milligan lived for several years in Holden Road, Woodside Park and at The Crescent, Barnet, and was a strong supporter of the Finchley Society. His old house in Woodside Park is now demolished, but there is a blue plaque in his memory on the new house on the site. The Finchley Society is trying to get a statue of him erected in Finchley. There is also a campaign to erect a statue in the London Borough of Lewisham where he grew up (see Honor Oak). After coming to the UK from India in the 1930s he lived at 50 Riseldine Road, Brockley and attended Brownhill Boys' school (later to become Catford Boys' School which was demolished in 1994). Lynsey De Paul is a patron of the Spike Milligan Statue Memorial Fund. There is a plaque and bench located at the Wadestown Library, Wellington New Zealand in an area called Spike Milligan corner.

In a BBC poll in August 1999, Spike Milligan was voted the "funniest person of the last 1000 years". Also, in a 2005 poll to find The Comedians' Comedian, he was voted among the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

Milligan has been portrayed twice in films. In the adaptation of his novel Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, he was played by Jim Dale, while Milligan himself played his own father. He was also portrayed by Edward Tudor-Pole in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). In a 2008 stage play, Surviving Spike, Milligan was played by the entertainer Michael Barrymore.

On 9 June 2006 it was reported that Professor Richard Wiseman had identified Milligan as the writer of the world's funniest joke as decided by the Laughlab project. Professor Wiseman said the joke contained all three elements of what makes a good gag: anxiety, a feeling of superiority, and an element of surprise.

Eddie Izzard described Milligan as "The Godfather of Alternative Comedy". "From his unchained mind came forth ideas that just had no boundaries. And he influenced a new generation of comedians who came to be known as 'alternative'." Members of Monty Python greatly admired him. In one interview, which was widely quoted at the time, John Cleese stated "Milligan is the Great God to all of us". The Pythons gave Milligan a cameo role in their 1979 film, Monty Python's Life of Brian, when Milligan happened to be holidaying in Tunisia, near where it was being filmed. Graham Chapman gave him a minor part in Yellowbeard.

Apart from those cited above, a number of people have paid tribute to Milligan's influence on them, with 49 such people contributing to Maxine Ventham's (2002) book "Spike Milligan: His Part in Our Lives".

Radio comedy shows

The Goon Show (1951–1960)

The Idiot Weekly (1958–1962)

The Omar Khayyam Show (1963–1964)

Milligna (or Your Favourite Spike) (1972) The title is based on Milligan's introduction in The Last Goon Show of All as "Spike Milligna, the well-known typing error".

The Milligan Papers (1987)

Other radio shows

Milligan contributed his recollections of his childhood in India for the acclaimed 1970s BBC audio history series Plain Tales From The Raj. The series was published in book form in 1975 by André Deutsch, edited by Charles Allen.

TV comedy shows

The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d

A Show Called Fred

Son of Fred

The World of Beachcomber

The Q series: Q5, Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9, and There's a Lot of It About

Curry & Chips

Other notable TV involvement

Six-Five Special, first aired on 31 August 1957. Spike Milligan plays an inventor, Mr. Pym, and acts as a butcher in a sketch.

The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, Milligan co-wrote and performed in some sketches.

This is Your Life, 11 April 1973. With Sellers, Bentine, and many others. Secombe spoke via a TV recording, as did his great friend Robert Graves.

In 1975 Milligan co-wrote (with Neil Shand) and co-starred in a BBC TV sitcom called The Melting Pot. Its cast of characters included two illegal Indian immigrants, an Irish landlord, a Chinese Cockney, a Scottish Arab and numerous other racial stereotypes. After screening the pilot, the series was deemed to be too offensive for transmission. Five episodes remain unseen. Some of the characters and situations were reused in Milligan's novel, The Looney.

Tiswas - 1981 edition.

Guest appearing along with Peter Cook in Kenny Everett's Christmas Show in 1985.

Playing a moaning stranger in an episode from 1987 of In Sickness and in Health.

Narrator of The Ratties (1987), a children's cartoon series written by Mike Wallis and Laura Milligan, Spike's daughter.

The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town ran as a serial in The Two Ronnies in the 1970s.

Special guest star of 18 January 1979 edition of The Muppet Show

Guest star in the 3rd episode of the award-winning BBC Scotland drama series Takin' Over the Asylum (1994)

Narrated the 1995 TV show Wolves, Witches and Giants. A cartoon based on the book of the same name, it retold classic tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, but with a twist. The programme won the 1995 Royal Television Society award for Best Children's Entertainment, and was nominated for the same award again in 1997.

Guest on Series 4, Episode 3 of Room 101 in 1999

Theatre

Treasure Island (1961, 1973–1975)

The Bed-Sitting Room (1963, 1967) written by Milligan and John Antrobus

Oblomov opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1964. It was based on the Russian classic by Ivan Goncharov, and gave Milligan the opportunity to play most of the title role in bed. Unsure of his material, on the opening night he improvised a great deal, treating the audience as part of the plot almost, and he continued in this manner for the rest of the run, and on tour as 'Son of Oblomov'. The show ran at The Comedy Theatre in London's West end in 1965.

Films

Let's Go Crazy (1951), played Eccles and a Waiter in this short, which also featured Peter Sellers and Wallas Eaton ''Penny Points to Paradise (1951) played Spike Donnelly. Features the later Goons, Alfred Marks and Bill Kerr.

Down Among the Z Men (1952), played Eccles in a black-and-white secret agent comedy with all the Goons, including early member Michael Bentine and original announcer Andrew Timothy.

A Kid for Two Farthings (1955), played an Indian with a grey beard (uncredited)

The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn (1956), a Goon-like 2-reel comedy ("Mukkinese" = " knees").

The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film (1960), a silent comedy, Richard Lester's debut film.

Watch Your Stern (1960), played Ranjid, the first civilian electrian. The Invasion Quartet (1961), he plays a leader of commandos, also featuring Bill Travers and John Le Mesurier.

What a Whooper (1961), played a tramp. The film starred Adam Faith.

Country postman Harold Petts in Postman's Knock (1962).

The Bed-Sitting Room (1969), post-apocalyptic comedy with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and also Arthur Lowe; written by John Antrobus based on the Milligan/Antrobus play. Milligan had a small role as a postman named "Mate", which was also the name of a Goon Show character.

The traffic warden who eats the ticket in The Magic Christian (1969).

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972) as Gryphon.

(1972), a film of the first volume of his autobiography. Spike played the part of his father. The role of the young Spike Milligan was played by Jim Dale.

The decrepit manager of a seedy London hotel in Bruce Beresford's The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972).

Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World (1973) children's comedy.

Monsieur Bonacieux, husband of Madame Bonacieux (Raquel Welch) in Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers (1973).

Man About The House (1974) Film version of the popular TV series, playing himself at the Thames Television Studio finale.

The Great McGonagall (1974), untalented Scottish poet (based on William Topaz McGonagall) angles to become laureate, with Peter Sellers as Queen Victoria.

The decrepit Geste family retainer Crumpet in The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), with Marty Feldman.

A policeman who briefly talks to Dr. Watson and Stapleton when they first arrive on the moors in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The prophet abandoned by his flock in Life of Brian (1979).

Monsieur Rimbaud in History of the World, Part I (1981).

A royal herald flunkie who accidentally blows a spy's cover in Yellowbeard (1983).

Books

Silly Verse for Kids (1959); the 1968 paperback edition omits one poem and adds some from the next two books

A Dustbin of Milligan (1961, Dobson Books). Subsequent reprints by Tandem, London, 1965-1975. This book contains a good representation of Milligan's earlier writing style, including poems, cartoons, short stories, letters to Secombe, and his views on some issues.

Goblins (1978) A collection of poems

The Little Pot Boiler (1963)

Puckoon (1963)

A Book of Bits, or A Bit of a Book (1965)

A Book of Milliganimals (1968)

Badjelly the Witch (1973)

The Goon Show Scripts (1973). London: Sphere. Milligan's selection of scripts.

More Goon Show Scripts (1974, paperback). London: Sphere. ISBN 0-7221-6077-1. Milligan's selection of scripts. [Original, London, Woburn Press, 1973]

The Lost Goon Shows (1987). London: Robson. Milligan's selection of scripts.

The Bedsitting Room. First published in Great Britain by Margaret & Jack Hobbs, 1970. Published by Universal-Tandem, 1972. Tandem, 1973. © 1970 Spike Milligan and John Antrobus.

(1987)

The Bedside Milligan

"The War (and Peace) Memoirs"

*The seven memoirs were also recorded as talking books with Spike reciting them in his own inimitable style.

* (1971)

* "Rommel?" "Gunner Who?" (1974)

* (1976)

** This and the previous two books were released and publicised as the first, second and third part respectively of a trilogy.

* (1978)

** This was announced as the fourth part of his "increasingly misnamed" trilogy.

* Where Have All the Bullets Gone? (1985)

* Goodbye Soldier (1986)

* Peace Work (1992)

Scunthorpe Revisited, added articles and instant relatives. Michael Joseph, London. Published by Penguin. Copyright, Spike Milligan Productions, 1989. ISBN 07181.3356.0

Small Dreams of a Scorpion (1972)

''Open Heart University

Startling Verse for All the Family

Sir Nobonk and the Terrible Dreadful Awful Naughty Nasty Dragon

A Mad Medley of Milligan

Transports of Delight (Sidgwick & Jackson 1974)

More Transports of Delight

Depression and How to Survive It (with Professor Anthony Clare), medical biography.

It Ends with Magic

The Murphy (Virgin, 2001)

Milligan's Ark

''The Spike Milligan Letters (edited by Norma Farnes)

''More Spike Milligan Letters (edited by Norma Farnes)

The Unpublished Spike Milligan BOX 18 (edited by Norma Farnes), London, Fourth Estate, 2006. ISBN 978-0-00-721427-3. [posthumous]

The "According to" Books

* The Bible—the Old Testament According to Spike Milligan (Michael Joseph, October 1993)

* Black Beauty According to Spike Milligan (Michael Joseph, 1996)

* (Michael Joseph, 1995)

* Frankenstein According to Spike Milligan (Virgin, 1997)

* The Hound of the Baskervilles According to Spike Milligan

* Lady Chatterley's Lover According to Spike Milligan (Michael Joseph, April 1994)

* Robin Hood According to Spike Milligan (Virgin, 1998)

* Treasure Island According to Spike Milligan

* Wuthering Heights According to Spike Milligan (Michael Joseph, 1994)

The Essential Spike Milligan'' (compiled by Alexander Games, 2002), ISBN 0-00-767358-2

The Compulsive Spike Milligan'' (Edited by Norma Farnes, 2004), ISBN 0-00-771702-4

References

Biographical works

Carpenter, Humphrey. Spike Milligan: The Biography. London, Hodder and Stoughton. 2003. ISBN 9780340826119

Farnes, Norma. Spike: An Intimate Memoir. London, Harper Perennial. 2004. ISBN 1-84115-787-2 [Original, 2003] (Written by his "manager, mentor and troubleshooter for thirty or more years" - Eric Sykes, in Foreword)

Scudamore, Pauline. Spike. London, Sutton Publishing. 2003. ISBN 9780750932547 This is a paperback publication of the hardcover biography, originally published as:

External links

"Spike Milligan's people"; Times Literary Supplement article

Listing of Milligan's works and performances

Milligan's TV Q series

Previously unheard audio of one of Milligan's last one-man shows Extrageographic Magazine.

'I Told you I was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan' documentary website

The Guardian newspaper obituary

BBC poll article

Listing of Milligan's works

Kettering Magazine - Fanzine with detailed article on Milligan and the film The Great McGonagall

Puckoon website

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