十分钟英语史

莎士比亚（W. William Shakespeare；1564～1616）英国文艺复兴时期伟大的剧作家、诗人，欧洲文艺复兴时期人文主义文学的集大成者。 莎士比亚永远是人类艺术经典的标志！一个来自英国的文学巨匠和天才!历经数百年，谁也没有撼动超过他世界上的文化艺术地位。英国首相丘吉尔曾经说过，我宁愿失去一个印度,也不愿失去一个莎士比亚。可见莎士比亚的文学地位几乎无人可及。莎士比亚在所有的文学人物中首屈一指，这看来是无容置辩的。相对来说，今天很少有人谈乔叟、维吉尔、甚至荷马的作品，但是要上演一部莎士比亚的戏剧，肯定会有很多观众。莎士比亚创造词汇的天才是无与伦比的，他的话常被引用──甚至包括从未看过或读过他的戏剧的人。况且他的名气也并非昙花一现。近四百年来他的作品一直给读者和评论家带来了许多欢乐。由于莎士比亚的作品已经接受住了时间的考验，因此在将来的许许多多世纪里也将会受到普遍欢迎，这一推测看来不无道理。他通过具有强大艺术力量的形象，从他的那些典型的、同时又具有鲜明个性的主人公的复杂的关系中，从他们的行动和矛盾中去揭示出他们的性格。戏剧中放射出的强烈的人文主义思想光芒，以及卓越而大胆的艺术技巧，其意义早已超出了他的时代和国家的范围。 对文学界造成如此大的影响，难怪他的朋友、著名的戏剧家本·琼斯说：“他不只属于一个时代而属于全世纪。”

因为在他之前，英国本土英语文学的通俗程度和贫瘠程度简直被大陆上的所有天主教文化圈内的国家所耻笑。而莎士比亚用一种漫不经心的通俗文学创作形式给了全欧洲一记暴击：原来英国人写好东西不一定要用法语或者拉丁语，原来英语这门“粗俗的”日耳曼人和诺曼人的语言可以写出如此伟大和优美的东西。而且人家还是以通俗剧本的形式写出来的（那时英国的戏剧和现在的电影通俗程度一致）。

A. 首都医科大学选修课程都有什么啊 这是首医“2010-2011学年第一学期本科生选修课程表” 心血管内分泌学 老年内医学 生殖医学 医疗活动容与法医证据 医学实验动物学 免疫学基础与临床（限临床医学专业） 全科医学概论B 康复医学 临床预防与生命周期保健 人群营养与健康 数据结构 网络数据库 中医与中国文化 中医养生学 医学审美心理学 实用美容学 针灸学基础知识 古代文化常识 古代汉语 推拿学基础知识与技法 人类性学基础 大学语文 中华传统伦理 中国传统哲学 医药营销学 个人理财基础 卫生经济学A 医德教育与人文医师 日语（上） 传统保健体育 名人英语演讲作品赏析 英语视听说 医学英语口语 电影艺术欣赏 绘画艺术欣赏 音乐基础知识及音乐欣赏 合唱实践课 舞蹈实践课 不过不是每学期都这些，你来了就知道了，分任选和限选还有必选类，每类都有好些课程~~ B. 学习城轨3十3首课程毕业是大专还是本科 3年大专+3年本科 这中间是有考试的考试通过了才是本科（没过就是大专文凭） C. 准备买课程学习英语，但网校好多，请报名学习过的朋友推荐一下吧。 你的孩子英语学的怎么样?初一英语家教补习帮助你 你家的孩子们英语学得怎么样呢?你对于他们学习英语的方法了解吗?他们的学习成绩你了解吗?有的孩子学习就是不好,可能是学习的方式用错了,现在由初一英语家教补习老师来为你介绍. 在小学毕业之后有一段长长的假期,这期间家长是需要让孩子了解并且认识初中所需要学的东西的,所以学习英语的误区不单单是孩子们要改正,家长们也是需要改正的. 认真听课 课堂不只满足了视觉请求,激起兴味,而且能培育其察看才能,拓宽学习渠道,培育协作肉体.老师的参与,给学习中的孩子们提供了充沛的活动和交流的时机.孩子间的互助和竞争也会鼓励进取心.不只进步积极性,也能感遭到与其他孩子之间的团队肉体. 初一英语家教补习老师想要介绍的就完毕了,请大家一定要认真的看,有这些误区的家长和孩子请一定要改正,在寻求新的学习方式. D. 网易公开课的大学课程 网易公开课课程内容不断更新，以下为部分课程举例。 《编程方法学》全28集 翻译至第28集 《7个颠覆你思想的演讲》 全7集 翻译至第7集（网易首翻1-5集） 《经济学》 全10集 翻译至第10集（网易首翻1-5集） 《商业领袖和企业家》 全4集 翻译至第4集（网易首翻1-4集） 《人与计算机的互动》全10集 翻译至第10集 《扎克伯格谈facebook创业过程》 全9集 翻译至第9集 《iphone开发教程2010年冬》 全28集 翻译至第26集 《机器学习课程》 全20集 翻译至第20集 《抽象编程》 全27集 翻译至第27集 《编程范式》 全27集 翻译至第27集 《法律学》 全6集 翻译至第2集 《机器人学》全16集 翻译至第2集 《健康图书馆》全80集 翻译至第80集 《临床解剖学》 全14集 翻译至第14集 《癌症综合研究》全56集 翻译至第56集 《从生物学看人类行为》 全25集 翻译至第25集 《非裔美国人历史——当代自由斗争》全18集 翻译至第10集 《斯坦福创意与艺术协会讲座》 全16集 翻译至第0集 《忘掉你学过的MBA——戴维谈创业37 signals》全11集 翻译至11集 《全球气候与能源计划》 全12集 翻译至第1集 《国际座谈会》 全17集 翻译至第17集（网易首翻1-12集） 《领导能力简介》 全5集 翻译至第5集（网易首翻1-5集） 《能源和环境》 全11集 翻译至第1集 《人性》 全12集 翻译至第12集 《科技世界的领导能力》 全15集 翻译至第15集 《电影哲学》 全4集 翻译至第4集（网易首翻1-4集） 《西方世界的爱情哲学》 全4集 翻译至第4集（网易首翻1-2集） 《音乐的各种声音》 全1集 翻译至第1集 《振动与波》 全23集 翻译至第23集 《单变量微积分》 全35集 翻译至第15集 《微分方程》 全33集 翻译至第15集 《媒体、教育、市场》 全14集 翻译至第14集 《商业及领导能力》 全16集 翻译至第1集 《热力学与动力学》 全36集 翻译至第30集 《搜索黑洞》 全6集 翻译至第6集 《城市面貌——过去和未来》全4集 翻译至第0集 《经典力学》 全35集 翻译至第35集 《生物学导论》 全35集 翻译至第35集 《微积分重点》 全18集 翻译至第18集 《多变量微积分》全35集 翻译至第35集 《化学原理》 全36集 翻译至第31集 《算法导论》 全6集 翻译至第6集 《计算机科学及编程导论》 全24集 翻译至第23集 《幸福课》 全23集 翻译至第23集（网易首翻1-5集） 《公正—该如何做是好？》 全12集 翻译至第12集 《计算机科学导论》 全22集 翻译至第0集 《2006年计算机课程》 全32集（缺第3、5、7、集） 翻译至第0集 《2005年计算机课程》 全15集 翻译至第0集 《计算机科学cs50》 全20集 翻译至第17集 《科学与烹饪》 翻译至22集 《空气污染》集数：5 类型：科学 环境 社会 《十分钟英语史》集数：10 类型：历史 文学 《银行业危机-源起与后果》集数：7 类型：金融 经济 《古希腊历史简介》 全24集 翻译至第8集 （1-8集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《聆听音乐》 全23集 翻译至第10集（网易首翻5-10集）（1-4集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《死亡》 全26集 翻译至第11集（网易首翻8-21集）（1-7集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《心理学导论》 全20集 翻译至第18集（网易首翻9-18集）（1-8集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《政治哲学导论》 全24集 翻译至第14集（网易首翻1-14集） 《金融市场》 全26集 翻译至第17集（网易首翻14-17集）（1-13集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《博弈论》 全24集 翻译至第9集 （1-9集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《欧洲文明》 全24集 翻译至第23集 （1-23集字幕由TLF字幕组提供） 《1871年后的法国》 全24集 翻译至第3集 （1-3集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《基础物理》 全24集 翻译至第23集 （1-5集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《罗马建筑》 全23集 翻译至第4集 （1-4集字幕由TLF字幕组提供） 《天体物理学之探索和争议》 全24集 翻译至第10集 （1-10集字幕由TLF字幕组提供） 《生物医学工程探索》 全25集 翻译至第12集 （1-12集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《新生有机化学》 全37集 翻译至第10集 （1-10集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《进化、生态和行为原理》 全36集 翻译至第4集 （1-4集字幕由TLF字幕组提供） 《1945年后的美国小说》 全25集 翻译至第3集 （1-3集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《美国内战与重建，1845-1877》 全27集 翻译至第5集 （1-5集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《全球人口增长问题》 全24集 翻译至第7集 （1-7集字幕由TLF字幕组提供） 《有关食物的心理学、生物学和政治学》 全23集 翻译至第7集 （1-7集字幕由人人字幕组提供） 《弥尔顿》 全24集 《文学理论导论》 全26集 《现代诗歌》 全25集 《解读但丁》 全24集 《旧约全书导论 》全24集 《新约及其历史背景》 全26集 《尼采的心灵与自然》 全7集 《哲学概论》 全17集 《综合生物学》 全39集 《社会认知心理学》 全25集 《数据统计分析》 全42集 《世界各地区人民和国家》 全19集（缺第17、18、20） 《大灾难时期的伦理和公共健康》 全14集 点击右上方的“播放”按钮，或者直接点击课时按钮，经过短暂的缓冲之后便可以开始在线收看课程，缓冲时会显示课时和该课时视频大小。由于是在线收看，因此课程的视频和音频不可能达到高清的效果，不过完全可以满足授课的需要，并且在wifi环境下播放流畅，丝毫不会卡顿。此外手机本身需要支持MP4格式才可以收看在线课程，不过这项要求基本Android平台手机都可以达到。网易公开课的课程视频对手机的硬件要求并不高，我用setcpu将CPU频率由1GHz降至500MHz后，仍然可以流畅播放。 播放过程中可以点击屏幕任意位置叫出播放控制按钮，用户可以暂停/播放视屏，快进和快退，以及拖动进度条来跳转至视频的任意位置。但是我在实际使用中发现，在某些情况下，拖动进度条会造成程序失去响应，实际能够使用的只有快进/快退和播放/暂停三个按键。我之后又用另一台手机Nexus S测试，发现强行关闭的问题仍然存在。 1、收集世界多所知名学府授课视频； 2、wifi环境下播放流畅。 1、当视频在线播放时拖动进度条，若遇网络环境不太好，或进程多系统繁忙，偶尔会出现无响应，造成程序强行关闭； 2、课程翻译进度较慢。 E. 在线学习网络课程视频停顿问题~~首赏100~~完美解答加赏100 这大概是用VB编写的一小视频教学小软件，它会自动检测你播放的该视频是否处在最前端，当你切换或者跳到别的网页会自动暂停，每隔15分钟就弹出确认框。这一切都是软件自动进行的，目的就是确保你的学习时间。其一是修改软件，可能性不大，其二是把浏览器分成二个窗口显示，一个视频学习，用另一个窗口做别的事。如果多窗口该软件也能识别就再想别的办法吧！ 对了！该视频的自动识别应该是在你电脑里运行其脚本程序，你也可在你的浏览器里设置关闭脚本运行及java程序运行。 F. 首学网考研课程靠谱吗 我是自学的，你可以咨询一下客服，看个人情况，比较渣的，感觉报班帮助大些，回只要时间上规划好自学答考研英语只要能看懂句子就会轻取70分。要想看懂句子，你要学会分析句子结构，考研英语真题文章，做到单词认识，结构清楚、熟悉，你能把握这两点就不错了，平对照真题解析书把完型、翻译、新题型做一遍即可。作文，全国平均得分是17分之上，所以作文你必须把握好。解决作文的最佳方式背句子结构，清北启航的作文模板所用的句子都是写作佳句，集中整理这些佳句，并背背模板，作文的最佳方式是背句子结构而不是背作文模板和范文，心里有了句子结构，就应用自如。按照以上的方法去复习，今年的考研不会有任何问题。 G. 有人在首学网报过网课班吗 一战报的班自己完全掌握不了进度，二战学长介绍的首学网的网课，自己一边看网课，一边复习，不懂的地方多看几次，还好顺利考上了。 H. 人工智能课程的前导课程是什么我想学人工智能，首先应该学会哪些课程掌握哪些知识 这是人工智复能的的全部课程，制要是感兴趣的话可以了解一下： 第一阶段 前端开发 Front-end Development 1、桌面支持与系统管理（计算机操作基础Windows7） 2、Office办公自动化 3、WEB前端设计与布局 4、javaScript特效编程 5、Jquery应用开发 第二阶段 核心编程 Core Programming 1、Python核心编程 2、MySQL数据开发 3、Django 框架开发 4、Flask web框架 5、综合项目应用开发 第三阶段 爬虫开发 Reptile Development 1、网络爬虫开发 2、爬虫项目实践应用 3、机器学习算法 4、Python人工智能数据分析 5、python人工智能高级开发 第四阶段 人工智能 PArtificial Intelligence 1、实训一：WEB全栈开发 2、实训二：人工智能终极项目实战 I. 考研的网络课程哪里弄的好,首学网,淘宝或其他,不知道什么可靠 求推荐 关于考研的课程，在淘宝网上就有卖的，价格不贵，一般都是最新的，不过你要跟店主专问清楚，属是不是全的，后期会不会有更新。一般选择售后服务好的，多找找多问问应该没问题。此外你还可以在考研贴吧或者考研论坛中找找很多往年的学生都会分享下自己的资料，一般是网盘的。我去年考上的，有些资料还有需要的话私信我就行。如果你觉得可以望采纳。谢谢，祝你考研成功。 J. 首学网的课程靠谱么 首学网整合多家结构课程，每科目都包含业界最强师资阵容，不止是一个机构的课程，套餐组合是根据历年通过率情况以及学员综合评价进行组合推荐的，课程与官网同步更新中。。。

英语就和我们所说的汉语一样，英语是英国的母语，起源于英国，英国人殖民了美洲大陆，出现了美国，英语因美国的兴盛流通于全球，这样就行成不同的地域英语的发音就会不同，意思也有所不同。

Brief History of English450-1150 Old English1150-1500 Middle English (Chaucer)1500-1800 Early Modern (Shakespeare)1800-1900 19th century (Industrial Revolution & Victorians)1900-1993 Modern (Technology) Celts dominated southern Germany and the northern Alps in the 1st millennium BC. They began migrating in all directions in the 5th century BC, though it is not known when they reached Britain. They were eventually pushed back to the Scottish Highlands in the north, Wales in the west, and Cornwall in the southwest, by the invading Anglo-Saxons who began arriving in the 5th century AD. In the 6th century a large group from South Wales and Cornwall emigrated to Brittany in northern France where they still speak Breton. In the 7th century Scottish Gaelic was introduced from Ireland. Little is known of the Picts whose language died out in the 10th century as the people merged with the Scots. Languages in BritainIn addition to English, Scottish Gaelic is spoken in Scotland, Irish Gaelic is spoken in Ireland, Welsh is spoken in Wales, Romany has been spoken by travelling gypsies for centuries all over Europe including Britain, Manx was spoken in the Isle of Man until the middle part of this century, and Cornish was spoken in Cornwall until about the end of the eighteenth century. English is primarily a Germanic language stemming from invading Angle, Saxon, Jute and Frisian tribes of northern Germany who settled in England in the 5th century, the beginning of the Old English Period. This language derived from Proto-Germanic, which was the mother tongue of German, English, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian. It was the main branch of the prehistoric Indo- European language. The Angel-Seaxans were the English Saxons, as opposed to the Ald-Seaxans. the Old Saxons of the continent. English evolved into a distinct language separate from the original speech of the Angels and Saxons by around the 10th century. Of the 1000 most frequently used words 83% are of Old English origin. Of our remaining vocabulary about 30% are Anglo- Saxon survivals. Tens of thousands of our current words are of French and Latin origin. Old English 450-1150 (Germanic)Old English is predominantly Anglo-Saxon. It also borrowed from church Latin (~450 words) and from Old Norse. 7th century Christian missions to Britain brought learning and literacy, initially entirely in Latin, but an Old English written language did emerge in the northeast and in the West Saxon kingdom of Alfred the Great in the second half of the 9th century. The first known written English sentence, "This she-wolf is a reward to my kinsman," is an Anglo Saxon runic inscription on a gold medallion (about the size of a 50› piece) found in Suffolk, dated about AD 450-480. From the 8th to the 11th centuries Vikings plundered lands adjacent to the Baltic and North Seas. The Danish King Cnut conquered Norway and England, usurping the English throne, in the early 11th century. Large numbers of Scandinavians settled in England throughout the Old English period, giving the language several thousand common words. Old English characters: ash ‘ /a/, thorn /th/, eth /dh/, and schwa. With his invading Normans, William the Conqueror (1066) established French Domination. They were originally Danes (`Northmen') who settled the northern coast of France (Normandy) in the 8th and 9th centuries. All Old English nobility were wiped out. Norman French became the language of the aristocracy and government (Normanized Latin was used in government, church and learning), and English remained the speech of the masses. So until about 1200 it was bilingual, when many french words were absorbed into English. (English: ox, sheep, swine, calf. French: beef, mutton, pork, veal.) By the mid-1300s English had reasserted itself, with a statute in 1362 enacted in Parliament that all lawsuits be conducted in English. French became a cultivated rather than a native language. The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) meant French was the language of the enemy country. Black Death (1349-50), which killed off 30% of the people, increased the economic importance of the labouring classes and with it the importance of their language. Middle English 1150-1500 (Germanic + Romance)Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400). Chaucer's English (the variety or dialect spoken in London) established itself as the standard. However, from 1250-1400 English adopted the greatest number of French words (40%), and of the nearly 10,000, 75% are still in use. It also changed in fundamental ways, especially in pronunciation and grammar (simpler), from highly inflected (Germanic) to a very analytical (modern). Some dialects retain some of the early pronunciations for a few words (/doon/ for down in northern England and Scotland). Early Modern English 1500-1800 (Renaissance)In 1476, William Caxton (1422-1491) set up the first printing press in Westminster Abbey. By 1640 there were 20,000 titles printed (mostly in London) in English. This pushed English, written and spoken, towards a standard form. The Dictionary was produced, notably Samuel Johnson's in 1755 (which he did on his own time!). 1650-1800: The Age of Reason (Augustan Age), characterized by a strong sense of order and value of standards and regulations. The language of this time is recognizable today. The `Great Vowel Shift' occurred, and spelling reform. A strong central government used English as the national language for all purposes despite the revival of the classics. Latin and Greek were the most important sources of new words, followed by French, Italian, and Spanish. Most Latin and Greek introductions were deliberate attempts by 16th and early 17th century writers to enrich the language, to elevate `low' English. Words also came in from 50 other languages, largely due to the expansion of the British Empire. 19th Century English 1800-1900 (No change - just expansions)The Industrial Revolution and the Victorian Age. Words began to come to England from America. English dialect terms became standard English. American EnglishThe first settled English colony was in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 who were contemporaries of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) and Donne (1572-1631). By the 18th century American was recognized as distinct from British English. The earliest sign is perhaps the absorption of Indian words, almost exclusively the Algonquian speaking tribes. American also borrowed many words from Africans brought in with the slave trade, and European immigrants, but they tended to be regional: African in the South, French in Louisiana, Spanish in the Southwest, German in Pennsylvania, Dutch in New York, Spanish being the most pervasive European language that American borrowed from. Many words and pronunciations died out in England but survive in American. Words adopted new meanings in the new world. Great changes were wrought in 20th century American, with global economic, political, and technological prominence. Modern English 1900-presentScience and Technology, the entertainment industry, the world wars, the car have contributed to the English lexicon. Formations: `self-explaining compounds', Greek and Latin compounds, borrowings from other languages, deliberate coinages, extending meaning of current words, slang, and acronyms; are used ever more frequently

Old English, until 1066 Immigrants from Denmark and NW Germany arrived in Britain in the 5th and 6th Centuries A.D., speaking in related dialects belonging to the Germanic and Teutonic branches of the Indo-European language family. Today, English is most closely related to Flemish, Dutch, and German, and is somewhat related to Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. Icelandic, unchanged for 1,000 years, is very close to Old English. Viking invasions, begun in the 8th Century, gave English a Norwegian and Danish influence which lasted until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Old English Words The Angles came from an angle-shaped land area in contemporary Germany. Their name "Angli" from the Latin and commonly-spoken, pre-5th Century German mutated into the Old English "Engle". Later, "Engle" changed to "Angel-cyn" meaning "Angle-race" by A.D. 1000, changing to "Engla-land". Some Old English words which have survived intact include: feet, geese, teeth, men, women, lice, and mice. The modern word "like" can be a noun, adjective, verb, and preposition. In Old English, though, the word was different for each type: gelica as a noun, geic as an adjective, lician as a verb, and gelice as a preposition. Middle English, from 1066 until the 15th Century The Norman Invasion and Conquest of Britain in 1066 and the resulting French Court of William the Conqueror gave the Norwegian-Dutch influenced English a Norman-Parisian-French effect. From 1066 until about 1400, Latin, French, and English were spoken. English almost disappeared entirely into obscurity during this period by the French and Latin dominated court and government. However, in 1362, the Parliament opened with English as the language of choice, and the language was saved from extinction. Present-day English is approximately 50% Germanic (English and Scandinavian) and 50% Romance (French and Latin). Middle English Words Many new words added to Middle English during this period came from Norman French, Parisian French, and Scandinavian. Norman French words imported into Middle English include: catch, wage, warden, reward, and warrant. Parisian French gave Middle English: chase, guarantee, regard, guardian, and gage. Scandinavian gave to Middle English the important word of law. English nobility had titles which were derived from both Middle English and French. French provided: prince, duke, peer, marquis, viscount, and baron. Middle English independently developed king, queen, lord, lady, and earl. Governmental administrative divisions from French include county, city, village, justice, palace, mansion, and residence. Middle English words include town, home, house, and hall. Early Modern English, from the 15th Century to the 17th Century During this period, English became more organized and began to resemble the modern version of English. Although the word order and sentence construction was still slightly different, Early Modern English was at least recognizable to the Early Modern English speaker. For example, the Old English "To us pleases sailing" became "We like sailing." Classical elements, from Greek and Latin, profoundly influenced work creation and origin. From Greek, Early Modern English received grammar, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Also, the "tele-" prefix meaning "far" later used to develop telephone and television was taken. Modern English, from the 17th Century to Modern Times Modern English developed through the efforts of literary and political writings, where literacy was uniformly found. Modern English was heavily influenced by classical usage, the emergence of the university-educated class, Shakespeare, the common language found in the East Midlands section of present-day England, and an organized effort to document and standardize English. Current inflections have remained almost unchanged for 400 years, but sounds of vowels and consonants have changed greatly. As a result, spelling has also changed considerably. For example, from Early English to Modern English, lyf became life, deel became deal, hoom became home, mone became moon, and hous became house. Advantages and Disadvantages of Modern English Modern English is composed of several languages, with grammar rules, spelling, and word usage both complimenting and competing for clarity. The disadvantages of Modern English include: an alphabet which is unable to adequately represent all needed sounds without using repeated or combined letters, a limit of 23 letters of the 26 in the alphabet which can effectively express twice the number of sounds actually needed, and a system of spelling which is not based upon pronunciation but foreign language word origin and countless changes throughout history. The advantages of Modern English include: single consonants which are clearly understood and usually represent the same sounds in the same positions, the lack of accent marks found in other languages which permits quicker writing, and the present spelling displays European language origins and connections which allows European language speakers to become immediately aware of thousands of words. Modern English Words British English, known as Standard English or Oxford English, underwent changes as the colonization of North American and the creation of the United States occurred. British English words changed into American English words, such as centre to center, metre to meter, theatre to theater, favour to favor, honour to honor, labour to labor, neighbour to neighbor, cheque to check, connexion to connection, gaol to jail, the storey of a house to story, and tyre for tire. Since 1900, words with consistent spelling but different meanings from British English to American English include: to let for to rent, dual carriageway for divided highway, lift for elevator, amber for yellow, to ring for to telephone, zebra crossing for pedestrian crossing, and pavement for sidewalk. American English, from the 18th Century until Modern Times Until the 18th Century, British and American English were remarkably similar with almost no variance. Immigration to America by other English peoples changed the language by 1700. Noah Webster, author of the first authoritative American English dictionary, created many changes. The "-re" endings became "-er" and the "-our" endings became "-or". Spelling by pronunciation and personal choice from Webster were influences. Cough, Sought, Thorough, Thought, and Through Why do these "ough" words have the same central spelling but are so different? This is a characteristic of English, which imported similarly spelled or defined words from different languages over the past 1,000 years. Cough From the Middle High German kuchen meaning to breathe heavily, to the French-Old English cohhian, to the Middle English coughen is derived the current word cough. Sought From the Greek hegeisthai meaning to lead, to the Latin sagire meaning to perceive keenly, to the Old High German suohhen meaning to seek, to the French-Old English secan, to the Middle English sekken, is derived the past tense sought of the present tense of the verb to seek. Thorough From the French-Old English thurh and thuruh to the Middle English thorow is derived the current word thorough. Thought From the Old English thencan, which is related to the French-Old English word hoht, which remained the same in Middle English, is derived the current word thought. Through From the Sanskrit word tarati, meaning he crossed over, came the Latin word, trans meaning across or beyond. Beginning with Old High German durh, to the French-Old English thurh, to the Middle English thurh, thruh, or through, is derived the current word through