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Hi No Tori

Hi no Tori

Phoenix, originally Hi no Tori (火の鳥) in Japan, is a manga series made by Osamu Tezuka. Consists of 12 volumes. See below. Phoenix is published in English by Viz Communications. Six volumes have been translated as of now. The story, Tezuka's "life's work", is a collection of short to moderate length episodes, springing back and forth through time, revolving around the eponymous Phoenix (who looks like a peacock rather than eagle). In one episode, the reader may be in ancient Japan during the period of the Genpei War, and the next episode the reader would be flung into the far future. As the series go on, the time periods get closer to the present. There is speculation among fans as to how (or if) the series would have concluded, or if there was any strong purpose to the back-and-forth time periods converging on the present. Fredrick Shodt, who did some translations of the work, wrote in 'Dreamland Japan' that he fantasized about a secret ending hidden in a safe somewhere that would surface after Tezuka's death. Every story is based on the theme of the search for immortality. The common thread or character that binds all the various stories together is a Phoenix whose blood is believed to grant eternal life to those who drink it. One recurrent character throughout the series is Saruta, a stocky man with a huge roundish nose whose descendants go through extremely harsh trials. The "Space", "Yamato" and "Karma" volumes have been adapted into animated films; "Karma" was adapted into a video game by Konami [http://www.funet.fi/pub/msx/photos/gamecovers/Hinotori_-Konami-.jpg]. "Phoenix 2772" is available in an anime format. Phoenix also makes a cameo appearance in the 2004 Astro Boy: Omega Factor game created for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, along with a number of other characters created by Osamu Tezuka.

Dawn

The first volume, originally released in 1967. This story occurs in 240-270 A.D., in the era of Queen Himiko of the Yamatai Koku. Using her army, led by feudal general Saruta, to invade Japan, she seeks the Phoenix in order to get eternal youth. Himiko

Future

The second volume, originally released in 1967-68. This story happens chronologically at the very end of the saga. In 3404 A.D., the world has become super-modernized but humanity has reached its peak and shows decline. Masato, a young man, is living with his girlfriend, Tamami, a shapeshifting alien. Being pursued by Masato's boss, Rock, they have to take shelter at the isolated base of mad scientist Dr. Saruta, who attempts to preserve Earth life, with the assistance of his robot Robita. Eventually, nuclear war breaks out...

Yamato

The third volume, originally released in 1968-69. This story occurs at 320-350 A.D. (Kofun period), and is based on the Yamato-takeru-no-mikoto legend. The decadent king of Yamato tries to get his own version of Japan's history written. A tribe called the Kumaso is writing the real history of Japan. The king sends his youngest son, Oguna, to murder their chief, Takeru. Oguna, confused, meets the Phoenix to know his true destiny.

Space (a.k.a. Universe)

The fourth tale, originally released in 1969. In the Viz edition, it is in the same book as "Yamato". The story of "Space" (a.k.a. "Universe") occurs in 2577 A.D., where members on a space shuttle break down into space, and eventually crash into a mysterious planet. Among them is Saruta, who is in rivalry with Makimura for Nana's heart. As they wander, they shall discover the Phoenix on the planet.

Karma

The fourth volume, originally released in 1969-1970. The story occurs in 720-752 A.D. (the period in which the Daibutsu of Todaiji was built), during the Nara period. One-eyed and one-armed young man Gao (who is Saruta's ancestor) turns into a murderous bandit when he is being rejected by his village. Along with woodcarver Akanemaru that he attacked, they shall discover spirituality, kharma, and try their hand as Buddhist sculptors. The Japanese title of "Karma" is "Ho-ou".

Resurrection

The fifth volume, originally released in 1970-1971. The story occurs in 2482-3344 A.D.. In an age of robotics, technology and science, young Leon dies in a car accident. He is brought to life by scientific surgery, but his brain, having become mostly artificial parts, makes him see living things, including humans, as distorted and repulsive elements, while he sees machines and robots as beauties. Leon falls in love with a worker robot, Chihiro, who appears as a beautiful girl to him, and will fight for this forbidden love. He will also find out the secret behind his accident... the story is told along the sideplot of a robot called Robita, who already appeared in "Future".

Robe of Feathers

Published in COM. 1971

Nostalgia

Published in COM. 1971. Then in Manga Shonen 1976-1978.

Turbulent Times

Published in Manga Shonen 1978-1980.

Life

Published in Manga Shonen 1980.

Strange Beings

Published in Manga Shonen 1981.

Sun

Published in The Wild Age 1986-1988 Category:manga

External links

- [http://www.tezuka.co.jp Osamu Tezuka's Official site] (in Japanese and English) ko:불새 시리즈 ja:火の鳥 (漫画) th:วิหคเพลิงฮิโนโตริ

Manga

:This article is about the Japanese medium. For other uses see Manga (disambiguation) Manga (disambiguation) Manga (漫画) is the Japanese word for comics and/or cartoons (not necessarily animated, this includes print cartoons); outside of Japan, it usually refers specifically to Japanese comics. Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. A small amount of the total manga output of Japan is adapted into anime, which is usually created afterwards, once a market interest has been established. Stories are often modified to appeal to a more mainstream market or meet broadcast regulations.

Origins

anime Literally translated, manga means "random (or whimsical) pictures". The word first came into common usage after the publication of the 19th century Hokusai Manga, containing assorted drawings from the sketchbook of the famous ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. However, gi-ga (lit. "funny pictures") drawn in the 12th century by various artists contain many manga-like qualities such as emphasis on story and simple, artistic lines. Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western art movements. When the United States began trading with Japan, Japan tried to modernise itself and catch up with the rest of the world. Thus, they imported Western artists to teach their students things such as line, form and colour (things which were never concentrated on in ukiyo-e as the idea behind the picture was normally considered more important). Manga as people know it in the 20th and 21st centuries only really came into being after World War II when government bans on non-propaganda were lifted and many publishers sprang up. In the 20th century, manga came to refer to comics, though in Japan, the word is more commonly used to describe children's animation; the English word (comic) is actually the main term in use. Though roughly equivalent to the American comic book, manga holds more importance in Japanese culture than comics do in American culture. Manga is well respected both as an art form and as a form of popular literature. Like its American counterpart, manga has been criticized for being violent and sexual; however, there have been no official inquiries or laws that have tried to limit what can be drawn in manga, except for vague decency laws that apply to all published materials, stating that "overly indecent materials should not be sold." This freedom has allowed artists to draw manga for every age group and about every topic.

Manga format

20th century Manga magazines usually have many series running concurrently with approximately 20–40 pages allocated to each series per issue. These manga magazines, or "anthology magazines", as they are also known, are usually printed on low-quality newsprint and can be anywhere from 200 to more than 850 pages long. Manga magazines also contain one-shot comics and various four-panel yonkoma (equivalent to comic strips). Manga series can run for many years if they are successful. Manga artists sometimes start out with a few "one-shot" manga projects just to try to get their name out. If these are successful and receive good reviews, they are continued. When a series has been running for a while, the stories are usually collected together and printed in dedicated book-sized volumes, called tankōbon. These volumes use higher-quality paper, and are useful to those who want to "catch up" with a series so they can follow it in the magazines or if they find the cost of the weeklies or monthlies to be prohibitive. Recently, "deluxe" versions have also been printed as readers have gotten older and the need for something special grew. Old manga have also been reprinted using somewhat lesser quality paper and sold for 100 yen each to compete with the used book market. Manga are primarily classified by the age and gender of the target audience. In particular, books and magazines sold to boys (shōnen) and girls (shōjo) have distinctive cover art and are placed on different shelves in most bookstores. Japan also has manga cafés, or manga kissaten. At a manga kissaten, people drink coffee and read manga. Many things appear in manga format, including wanted posters for criminals. Traditionally, manga are written from right to left. Some publishers of translated manga keep that format, but some switch the direction to left to right, so as not to confuse Western readers.

Manga outside Japan

Manga has been translated into many different languages in different countries including Korea, China, France, Germany, Italy, and many more. In the USA, manga is still a rather small industry, especially when compared to the inroads that Japanese animation has made in the USA. An example of a manga publisher in the United States is VIZ Media, the American affiliate of publishers Shogakukan (小学館 Shōgakukan) and Shueisha (集英社 Shūeisha). They have many popular titles such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Dragon Ball Z, Tenchi Muyō!, Rurouni Kenshin, YuYu Hakusho, (Yūyū Hakusho), Yu-Gi-Oh! (Yūgiō) and the various works of Rumiko Takahashi. The UK has fewer manga publishers than the U.S. Since Japanese is usually written from right to left in works of fiction, manga is drawn and published this way in Japan. When various titles were first translated to other languages, the artwork and layouts were flipped and reversed in a process known as "flopping", so that the book may be read from left-to-right. However, various creators (such as Akira Toriyama) did not approve of their work being modified this way, and requested that foreign versions retain the right-to-left format of the originals. Soon, due to both fan demand and the requests of creators, more publishers began offering the option of right-to-left formatting, which has now become commonplace in North America. Left-to-right formatting has gone from the rule to the exception. Translated manga often includes cultural notes for details of Japanese culture that may not be familiar to foreign audiences. Another company, TOKYOPOP, is producing manga widely in the United States, with the right-to-left format as a highly publicized point. They are widely credited with starting the current boom in manga sales, particularly amongst teenage girls. Some critics have complained that their aggressive publishing schedule emphasizes quantity over quality, and might be responsible for translations which many feel to be of sub-optimal quality. Many also frown upon the company for their frequent localization changes, including additions such as American slang, excessive swearing that is not to be found in the Japanese originals of the same titles, and joke rewrites, among others. However, even their critics tend to admit that their contributions to the success of manga in America have been considerable. France is noted for having a particularly strong and diverse manga market. Many works that are published in France fall into genres that aren't well represented outside of Japan, such as adult oriented drama, or experimental and avant garde works. Authors such as Jiro Taniguchi who are relatively unknown in other western countries have received much acclaim in France. Part of the reason for the sheer popularity and diversity of manga in this country is due to it having a well established and respected comics market of its own (see Franco-Belgian comics). The company Chuang Yi publishes manga in English and Chinese in Singapore; some of Chuang Yi's English-language titles are imported to Australia and New Zealand. In Indonesia, manga has quickly become one of fastest growing consumer industries, and Indonesia has become one of the biggest manga markets outside of Japan. Manga in Indonesia is published by Elex Media Komputindo, Acolyte, Gramedia. Manga has greatly influenced Indonesia's original comic industry. In Australia, many popular Japanese and Chinese language manga and anime are distributed by Madman Entertainment. Another popular form of manga distribution outside of Japan is through the Internet as (mostly illegal) scanlations, also known as scanslations. Typically, a small group of people scan the original version of a series with no current license in the language which they wish to translate it to, translate it, and freely distribute; usually through the use of IRC or BitTorrent. Most scanlation groups request that downloaders cease distribution and purchase official copies in the event that their projects become licensed, though it is a common concern that readers will continue to use these unauthorized copies. Many readers prefer scanslations due to the frequent changes found in official translations, though scanslations are more likely to have some unintentional mistakes due to the varying degrees of skill employed by the unpaid translators. Some scanslators do make edits, though it is rare, especially compared to the official manga translation industry. In Korea, manga can be found in most bookstores. However it is also common to read manga online for a much cheaper price than a concrete copy of the comic. Publishers such as Daiwon and Seoul Munhwasa give out most of the popular manga in Korea. In Thailand before 1992–1995 almost all available manga was fast, unlicensed, poor quality bootlegs. More recently, licensed translations have begun to appear, but are still inexpensive compared to other countries. Thailand's manga publishers include Vibunkij, Siam Inter Comics, Nation Edutainment, and Bongkouh. Manga has proved so popular that it has led to other companies such as Antarctic Press, Oni Press, Seven Seas Entertainment, TOKYOPOP and even Archie Comics to release their own manga-inspired works that apply the same artist stylings and story pacing commonly seen in Japanese manga. The first of these such works came in 1985 when Ben Dunn, founder of Antarctic Press, released Mangazine and Ninja High School. While Antarctic Press actively refers to its works as "American Manga", not all of these manga-inspired works are made by Americans. Many of the artists working on Seven Seas Entertainment series such as Last Hope and Amazing Agent Luna are Filipino and TOKYOPOP has hired a variety of Korean and Japanese artists to work on titles such as Warcraft and Princess Ai.

The manga style

The most popular and recognizable style of manga is very distinctive. Emphasis is often placed on line over form, and the storytelling and panel placement differ from those in Western comics. Panels and pages are typically read from right to left, consistent with traditional Japanese writing. While the art can be incredibly realistic or cartoonish, it is often noted that the characters look "Western", or have large eyes. Large eyes have become a permanent fixture in manga and anime since the 1960s when Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro Boy and considered the father of modern manga, started drawing them that way, mimicking the style of Disney cartoons from the United States. Being a very diverse artform, however, not all manga artists adhere to the conventions most popularized in the west through anime such as Akira, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and Ranma ½. A fair number of manga artists do not feel that their stories and characters are set in stone. So a set of characters may build relationships, jobs, etc. in one set of stories ("story arc") only to have another story arc run where the same characters do not know each other. The Tenchi series in particular is known for this; there are more than thirteen different pretty-much unrelated story arcs based around Tenchi and his friends.

International influence

Tenchi Manga has long had an influence on international comics and animation the world over. American alternative comics artists such as Frank Miller and Scott McCloud were somewhat influenced by manga in a few of their works. Other artists such as Americans Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan (Demo) and Canadian Bryan Lee O'Malley (Lost At Sea) are heavily influenced by the mainstream manga style and have received acclaim for their work outside of anime/manga fan circles. These artists have many other influences that make their work more palatable to non-manga readers. These artists have their roots in the anime/manga subculture of their particular regions. American artist Paul Pope worked in Japan for Kodansha on the manga anthology Afternoon. Before he was fired (due to an editorial change at Kodansha) he was developing many ideas for the anthology that he would later publish in the U.S. as Heavy Liquid. As a result his work features a strong influence from manga without influences from international otaku culture. In France there is a "Nouvelle Manga" movement started by Frédéric Boilet which seeks to combine mature sophisticated daily life manga with the artistic style of traditional Franco-Belgian comics. While the movement also involves Japanese artists, a handful of French cartoonists other than Boilet have decided to embrace its ideal. In addition, there are many amateur artists who are influenced exclusively by the manga style. Many of these have their own small publishing houses, and some webcomics and webmanga in this style have become very popular (see Megatokyo). For the most part, these artists are not yet recognized outside of the anime and manga fan community. Many people outside of those circles view those works as being too focused on the American anime subculture, and not focused enough on telling stories that resonate with a wider audience.

Off the main path

Some manga artists will produce extra, sometimes unrelated material, which are known as omake (lit. "bonus" or "extra"). They might also publish their unfinished drawings or sketches, known as oekaki (lit. "sketches"). Unofficial fan made comics are called dōjinshi. Some dōjinshi continue with a series' story or write an entirely new one using its characters, much like fan fiction. In addition other dōjinshi is produced by small amateur publishers outside of the mainstream commercial market in a similar fashion to small-press independently published comic books in the United States. Comiket, the largest comic book convention in the world with over 400,000 gathering in 3 days, is devoted to dōjinshi.

Types of manga

Many of these genres apply equally well to anime (which very often includes adaptations of manga) and Japanese computer games (some of which are also adaptations of manga).

By target audience

- Josei (or redikomi) women
- Kodomo children
- Seinen men
- Shōjo young and teenage girls
- Shōnen young and teenage boys

Genres

- Alternative (See also: Garo)
- Gekiga (dramatic pictures)
- La nouvelle manga (Franco-Belgian/Japanese artistic movement)
- Semi-alternative (popular publication individualistic style)
- Battling companion (not an official name)
- Magical girl (mahō shōjo)
- Mecha (giant robots)
- Moé (also mahō kanojo or magical girlfriend)
- Shōjo-ai (or Yuri, lesbian romance)
- Shōnen-ai (or Yaoi, gay romance)
- Dōjinshi Fan-art or self-published manga

Popular shōnen manga series

- Bleach (manga) (Spiritualism/Action/Adventure/Comedy)
- Dragon Ball (Fantasy/Action)
- Fullmetal Alchemist (Science-Fiction/Fantasy/Action)
- InuYasha (Action/Fantasy/Romance)
- Love Hina (Comedy/Romance)
- Naruto (Fantasy/Ninja)
- One Piece (Fantasy/Pirate)
- Ranma ½ (Action/Comedy)
- Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai Epic)
- Saint Seiya (Action/Mythology)

Popular shōjo manga series

- Nana (Drama/Romance)
- Ceres, Celestial Legend (Ayashi no Ceres) (Paranormal/Romance)
- Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango) (Drama/Romance)
- Fruits Basket (Comedy/Romance/Paranormal)
- Hana-Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimi-tachi e) (Comedy/Romance/Drama)
- Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances a.k.a. Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō) (Comedy/Romance/Drama)
- Marmalade Boy (Comedy/Romance/Drama)
- Please Save My Earth (Sci-fi/Drama)
- Revolutionary Girl Utena (Action/Drama)
- X/1999 (Paranormal)
- Nana (Romance)

Popular seinen manga series

- 3x3 Eyes (Mythology/Comedy/Horror)
- Akira (Sci-Fi)
- Angel Densetsu (Drama)
- Berserk (Medieval/Fantasy)
- Blade of the Immortal (Samurai Drama)
- Ghost in the Shell (Sci-Fi)
- Lone Wolf and Cub (Samurai Drama)
- MONSTER (Horror/Drama)
- Hellsing (Action/Horror)
- Eden: it´s an endless world (Sci-Fi/Futuristic)
Distributors of manga

Major Japanese distributors

- Akita Publishing Co., Ltd.
- Chuokoron Shinsha
- Hakusensha
- Kadokawa Shoten
- Hayakawa Publishing
- Kōdansha
- Shinshokan
- Shodensha
- Shōgakukan
- Shōnen Gahōsha
- Shūeisha
Major English-language distributors

- ADV Manga
- CMX (an imprint of American comic book company DC Comics)
- CPM Manga
- Dark Horse Comics
- Del Rey Manga
- DrMaster
- TOKYOPOP
- VIZ Media (formerly Viz, LLC)
Other English-language distributors

- Blast Books
- BLU (an imprint of Tokyopop)
- Broccoli Books
- ChuangYi Publishing (Singapore) [http://www.chuangyi.com.sg/english/]
- ComicsOne (defunct)
- DH Publishing
- Digital Manga Publishing
- eigoMANGA
- NitenKyoso
- Kodansha (Once published bilingual editions of manga)
- Ponent Mon/Fanfare
- Raijin Comics (defunct)
- Seven Seas Entertainment
- Studio Ironcat (defunct)
- Vertical Publishing
- Madman Entertainment
Major Chinese-language distributors

Traditional Chinese

- Daran Books (Taiwan)
- Tong Li (Taiwan) [http://publishing.com.hk/org/orgdetail.asp?orgid=h03000020020503237]
- Sharp Poing Publishing (Taiwan)
- King Comics (Hong Kong)
- Culturecom Comics (Hong Kong) [http://www.culturecom.com.hk/comic]
- Comicsworld (Hong Kong) [http://www.comicsworld.com/]
- Jade Dynasty Publications Ltd
- Jonesky Limited
- Kwong's Creations Co Ltd
- Rightman Publishing Ltd
Simplified Chinese

- ChuangYi Publishing (Singapore) [http://www.chuangyi.com.sg/chinese1.html]
Major French-language distributors
French-language
- Asuka
- Casterman
- Delcourt
- Génération comics
- Glénat
- J'ai lu
- Kana
- Kabuto
- Pika Édition
- Tonkam
- Végétal Manga
Major German-language distributors

- Carlsen-Verlag
- Egmont Manga & Anime (EMA)
- Planet Manga
- TOKYOPOP Germany
Major Indonesian-language distributors

- Elex Media Komputindo
- M&C Comics
- Level Comics
Major Spanish-language distributors

- Glénat
- Planeta DeAgostini
- Editorial Vid México
- Norma Editorial
Major Italian-language distributors

- d/world
- Dynit
- Flashbook
- Hazard
- Star Comics
- PlayPress
- Planet Manga (part of Panini Comics)
Major Polish language distributors

- [http://www.jpf.com.pl JPF]
- [http://www.waneko.pl Waneko]
- [http://www.egmont.pl Egmont]
- [http://kasencomics.com Kasen Comics]
Major Brazilian Portuguese-language distributors

- [http://www.editorajbc.com.br JBC - Japan Brazil Communication]
- [http://www.conradeditora.com.br Conrad Editora]
- [http://www.animanga.com.br Editora Animangá]
- [http://www.paninicomics.com.br Panini Comics Brasil]
- [http://www.escala.com.br Editora Escala]
- [http://www.editoratalisma.com.br Editora Talismã]
Major Vietnamese-language distributors

- [http://www.nxbtre.com.vn Nha xuat ban Tre]
- [http://www.nxbkimdong.com.vn Nha xuat ban Kim Dong]
Major Malay-language distributors

- Comics House
- Tora Aman
List of manga magazines
See: List of manga magazines
Language notes
Because nouns in Japanese don't change based on pluralization, manga is the form for both plural and singular. It is also commonly called コミックス(comics) in Japanese. Mangaka (漫画家) is the corresponding Japanese word for a manga author/artist.
See also
For an extensive list of Japanese manga and Webmanga, see List of manga, List of manga by Japanese title, and List of dōjinshi (manga). For a list of Manga artists (or Japanese Cartoonists), see Mangaka. For an international list of manga magazines see List of manga magazines. For a list of pornographic manga, see List of H manga, and List of H dōjinshi (manga). See also: List of anime games.
- Dōjinshi
- Anime game
- Anime
- Dorama
- Gashapon
- Hentai
- Weekly Shonen Jump
- Manhua (Sinosphere)
- Manhwa (South Korea)
References

- Gravett, Paul. Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics. New York: Collins Design, 2004. ISBN 1856693910.
- Schodt, Frederik L. Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge Press, 1996. ISBN 188065623X.
- Schodt, Frederik L. Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics. New York: Kodansha International, 1983. ISBN 870117521, ISBN 4770023057.
External links
Websites with descriptions and informations:
- [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ Anime News Network]- A huge database of information on anime as well as manga.
- [http://www.animeinfo.org/animeu/hist102.html Anime University - History of Manga] History of Manga article from AnimeInfo.
- [http://www.manganews.net/ Manganews.net] - Contains a large database of manga titles with useful descriptions, and also lists recently scanlated manga, with manga news and reviews updated daily.
- [http://www.mangaupdates.com Baka-Updates Manga] Lists manga title and author information, and has information pertaining to manga scanlations.
- [http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JAPAN_SUNDAY_COMICS?SITE=TXDER&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT U.S. Papers Adding Japanese-Style Comics] Websites of News:
- [http://www.mangalife.com/ Manga Life]- Manga reviews, news, and information updated daily.
- [http://www.mangajouhou.net/ Manga Jouhou]- Manga news
- [http://manga.3yen.com/ Manga.3Yen] - Daily news and info on Manga from Japan.
- [http://www.mangareviewer.com Manga Reviewer] - Reviews, previews and mangaka bios. Websites with illustrations:
- [http://mangallery.pl/ Mangallery]- A big Manga and Anime Gallery in Poland.
- [http://lyhana8.free.fr Lyhana8]- Huge database of pics, able to illustrate this article.
- [http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/tutorial.html How to draw manga] - A popular series of art instruction books. Here the tutorial page. Others websites:
- [http://www.imaf.co.uk/ IMAF] - International Manga and Anime Festival, County Hall, London
- [http://www.fansubbers.com Fansubbers.com Online Manga] Manga online by Fansubbers
- [http://www.mangaka.co.za Mangaka.co.za] A South African manga community site with artist profiles, video manga tutorials & forum discussions.
- [http://www.noated.net/ Noated]: Very active community forum, including anime/manga db, book store, and site directory.
- [http://www.thegioimanga.com The gioi Manga] - Community forum on Manga and Anime of Hong Bang University - Vietnam.
- Category:Comic books ko:일본 만화 ja:漫画 simple:Manga th:การ์ตูนญี่ปุ่น

Osamu Tezuka

Dr. Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫 Tezuka Osamu, November 3, 1928 - February 9, 1989) was a Japanese manga artist and animator born in Ōsaka. He is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. His prolific output and his pioneering techniques and genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the god of manga." The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation (anime) was invented by Tezuka, who based it on cartoons of the time such as Betty Boop by Max Fleischer and Mickey Mouse by Walt Disney. As an indication of his productivity, the Complete Manga Works of Tezuka Osamu (手塚治虫漫画全集, published in Japan) comprises some 400 volumes, over 80,000 pages (in fact, his complete opera includes over 700 mangas in about 170,000 pages); even so, it is not quite comprehensive. He was formally trained as a physician, but devoted his life to the production of an enormous body of manga work, the vast majority of which has never been translated from the original Japanese and is thus inaccessible to Western audiences. He began his career as a manga creator while a university student. His medical and scientific knowledge enriched his sci-fi manga, as well as Black Jack, a series about a genius rogue surgeon. Black Jack]] Famous creations include Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu in Japan), Black Jack, Princess Knight, Phoenix (Hi no Tori in Japan), Kimba the White Lion (possibly an inspiration for Disney's The Lion King), and Adolf. His "life's work" was Phoenix—a story of life and death, concerning an eponymous phoenix whose blood endows those who drink it with immortality. Tezuka headed the animation production studio Mushi Pro ('Bug Production'), which pioneered TV animation in Japan. The name of the studio derives from one of the kanji ("虫") used to write his name. It is well-known that many of the yet-to-flourish young manga artists once lived in the apartment where Tezuka lived, Tokiwa-so. (As the suffix -so indicates, this was probably a small, inexpensive apartment.) The residents included Shotaro Ishinomori, Fujio Akatsuka, and Fujiko Fujio (both of the duo). Osamu Tezuka died of a gall stone infection at the age of 60. In 1994 the city of Takarazuka, where Tezuka grew up, opened a museum in his memory. In 1997 stamps were issued in his honor.

Manga & anime (partial list)

The years cited beside each title refer to the period of manga serialization.
- Diary of Ma-chan, 1946. Tezuka debuted with this four-panel newpaper strip, published in the Osaka edition of Shokokumin Shimbun (Mainichi School Children's Newspaper). He was only 17 years old when he produced this work.
- Shin Takarajima (New Treasure Island), 1947. This is the manga that made Tezuka a household name in Japan. It is an action-adventure drama inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's book, about a boy named Pete whose discovers a map to Treasure Island and embarks on a voyage to find it. The Western-style art and fast-paced storyline attracted much attention, and it became a best seller with 400,000 copies sold, laying the groundwork for the manga craze and its modern style.
- Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor Leo), 1950-54. Better known in the USA as Kimba the White Lion, this manga established one of Tezuka's most iconic creations. His first full-scale long serial, Jungle Taitei follows the adventures of Leo the lion as he seeks to succeed his father, killed by a hunter, as king of the jungle. In 1965, Mushi Productions came up with an anime series based on the manga. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119406/ A full-length animated film] was released in 1997.
- Metropolis, 1949. One of Tezuka's early science fiction works, about a private detective, Higeoyaji, who tries to take care of Mitchy, a gender switching robot, after its creator is killed. It would be made into a 2001 animated film. This film was heavily influenced by the Fritz Lang film Metropolis (1927), while the manga had only been slightly influenced. It is said that Osamu Tezuka never even saw the movie but was inspired by the poster of the film.
- Captain ATOM, 1951-52. A science fiction manga about the coexistence and conflict between humans and aliens from another planet. Astro Boy made his debut in this manga as a supporting character. After Astro Boy became popular, Tezuka rewrote Captain ATOM as an episode of Astro Boy.
- Tetsuwan ATOM (Astro Boy), 1952-68. A sequel to Captain ATOM, it made Astro Boy its main character. Eventually, Astro Boy would become Tezuka's most famous creation. In 1963, Astro Boy made its debut as the first commercial animated program on Japanese television. The 30-minute weekly program received high public and critical acclaim, and led to the first craze for anime in Japan. In America, the TV series was also a hit, becoming the first Japanese animation to be shown on U.S. television, although the U.S. producers downplayed the show's Japanese origins. Several other Astro Boy series have been made since. Columbia Pictures (Sony) has announced that a CGI-animation Astro Boy movie is currently in production. CGI-animation
- Ribbon no Kishi (Princess Knight), 1953-56. A gender-bending adventure drama about Princess Saphire, a girl who must pretend to be a boy. The manga was inspired by the themes and styles of musicals by the all-girl Takarazuka Revue, which Tezuka had watched in his youth. Ribbon no Kichi itself established many of the themes and styles of later shōjo (girls' manga), such as its affinity for androgynous heroes, and is sometimes referred to as "the Mother of all shōjo." It was made into an anime TV series in 1967, and the anime has been dubbed into English and sporadically broadcast on TV in the United States and other English-speaking countries. The anime is also known in English as "Choppy and the Princess."
- Hi no Tori (Phoenix), 1956-89. Tezuka's most profound and ambitious work, dealing with man's quest for immortality, ranging from the distant past to the far future. It remains unfinished. Phoenix has been filmed several times, most notably as [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079293/ Phoenix 2772] (1980).
- Black Jack, 1973-83. The story of Black Jack, a talented surgeon who operates illegally, using radical and supernatural techniques to combat rare afflictions. This is the longest of Tezuka's works. Black Jack received the Japan Cartoonists' Association Special Award in 1975 and the Koudansha Manga Award in 1977. Three Black Jack TV movies were released between 2000-01. In fall 2004, a TV anime was aired in Japan with 48 episodes currently scheduled.
- Buddha, 1974-84. Tezuka's unique interpretation of the life of Buddha. The critically acclaimed series is often referred to as a gritty, even sexy, portrayal of the holy-man's life.
- Unico, 1976-1979. Unico is a baby unicorn with the power to grant a wish to anyone who finds him. The gods, however, are jealous of Unico and order the West Wind to banish him to the Hill of Oblivion. The West Wind can't bear to subject Unico to such a fate, and thus continually spirits Unico from one place to another to escape the wrath of the gods. Tezuka's manga was serialized in Sanrio's "Ririka" (Lyrica) magazine. Unico also appeared in a TV special and two feature-length anime films made for Sanrio by the Madhouse animation studio.
- Tell Adolf (Adolf), 1983-85. A manga set in the pre-World War II era, it centers around three people with the name Adolf—one a Jew, one a Nazi, the third being Adolf Hitler himself.

External links

- [http://www.tezuka.co.jp Official site] (in Japanese and English)
- [http://www.hanabatake.com/research/tezuka.htm Tezuka: God of Comics (an extensive overview)]
- [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0856804/ Osamu Tezuka's filmography] on the [http://www.imdb.com/ Internet Movie Database]
- [http://www.tezuka.spoonybards.net/ Tezuka in English: a resource for English-language Tezuka fans] Tezuka, Osamu Tezuka, Osamu Tezuka, Osamu Tezuka, Osamu Tezuka, Osamu Tezuka, Osamu Tezuka, Osamu ko:데즈카 오사무 ja:手塚治虫

English language

English is a West Germanic language that is spoken in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and many other countries. English is now the third-most spoken native language worldwide (after Chinese and Hindi), with some 380 million speakers. It has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries and that of the United States from the 20th century to the present. Through the global influence of native English speakers in cinema, airlines, broadcasting, science, and the Internet in recent decades, English is now the most widely learned second language in the world. Many students worldwide are required to learn some English, and a working knowledge of English is required in many fields and occupations.

History

English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Old Saxon language brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of northwest Germany. The original Old English language was subsequently influenced by two successive waves of invasion. The first was by speakers of languages in the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who colonised parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second wave was of the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke a variety of French. These two invasions caused English to become "creolised" to some degree (though it was never a full creole in the linguistic sense of the word); creolisation arises from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication. Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Friesian core of English; the later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of European languages; this new layer entered English through use in the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of considerable suppleness and huge vocabulary. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, around the year 449, Vortigern, King of the British Isles, invited the "Angle kin" (Angles led by Hengest and Horsa) to help him against the Picts. In return, the Angles were granted lands in the south-east. Further aid was sought, and in response "came men of Ald Seaxum of Anglum of Iotum" (Saxons, Angles, and Jutes). The Chronicle talks of a subsequent influx of settlers who eventually established seven kingdoms, known as the heptarchy. Modern scholarship considers most of this story to be legendary and politically motivated. These Germanic invaders dominated the original Celtic-speaking inhabitants, whose languages survived largely in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland. The dialects spoken by the invaders formed what would be called Old English, which resembled some coastal dialects in what are now the Netherlands and north-west Germany. Later, it was strongly influenced by the North Germanic language Norse, spoken by the Vikings who settled mainly in the north-east (see Jorvik). The new and the earlier settlers spoke languages from different branches of the Germanic family; many of their lexical roots were the same or similar, although their grammars were more distant, including the prefixes, suffixes and inflections of many of their words. The Germanic language of these Old English inhabitants of Britain would be partly creolised by the contact with Norse invaders. This resulted in a stripping away of much of the grammar of Old English, including gender and case, with the notable exception of the pronouns; thus, the language became simpler and plainer. The most famous work from the Old English period is the epic poem "Beowulf", by an unknown poet. For the 300 years following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Norman kings and the high nobility spoke only a variety of French. A large number of Norman words were assimilated into Old English, with some words doubling for Old English words (for instance, ox/beef, sheep/mutton). The Norman influence reinforced the continual evolution of the language over the following centuries, resulting in what is now referred to as Middle English. Among the changes was a broadening in the use of a unique aspect of English grammar, the "continuous" tenses, with the suffix "-ing". During the 15th century, Middle English was transformed by the Great Vowel Shift, the spread of a standardised London-based dialect in government and administration, and the standardising effect of printing. Modern English can be traced back to around the time of William Shakespeare. The most well-known work from the Middle English period is Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.

Classification and related languages

The English language belongs to the western subbranch of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. The closest living relative of English is Scots (Lallans), a West Germanic language spoken mostly in Scotland and parts of Northern Ireland. Like English, Scots is a direct descendant of Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon. After Scots, the next closest relative is Frisian—spoken in the Netherlands and Germany. Other less closely related living languages include Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Plattdüütsch and the Scandinavian languages. Many French words are also intelligible to an English speaker (pronunciations are not always identical, of course), because English absorbed a tremendous amount of vocabulary from French, via the Norman language after the Norman conquest and directly from French in further centuries; as a result, a substantial share of English vocabulary is quite close to the French, with some minor spelling differences (word endings, use of old French spellings, etc.), as well as occasional differences in meaning.

Geographic distribution

Norman conquest English is the second or third most widely spoken language in the world today; a total of 600–700 million people use English regularly. About 377 million people use English as their mother tongue, and an equal number of people use it as their second or foreign language. It is used widely in either the public or private sphere in more than 100 countries all over the world. In addition, the language has occupied a primary place in international academic and business communities. The current status of the English language compares with that of Latin in the past. English is the primary language in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia (Australian English), the Bahamas, Barbados (Caribbean English), Bermuda, Belize, Canada (Canadian English), the Cayman Islands, Dominica, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Guyana, Ireland (Irish English), Isle of Man, Jamaica (Jamaican English), Jersey, Montserrat, New Zealand (New Zealand English), Saint Helena, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom (various forms of British English), the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United States. English is also an important minority language of South Africa (South African English), and in several other former colonies and current dependent territories of the United Kingdom and the United States, for example Guam and Mauritius. In Hong Kong, English is an official language and is widely used in business activities. It is taught from kindergarten, and is the medium of instruction for a few primary schools, many secondary schools and all universities. Substantial numbers of students acquire native-speaker level. It is so widely used and spoken that it is inadequate to say it is merely a second or foreign language, though there are still many people in Hong Kong with poor or no command of English. The majority of English native speakers (67 to 70 per cent) live in the United States. Although the U.S. federal government has no official languages, it has been given official status by 27 of the 50 state governments, most of which have declared English their sole official language. Hawaii, Louisiana, and New Mexico have also designated Hawaiian, French, and Spanish, respectively, as official languages in conjunction with English. In many other countries where English is not a major first language, it is an official language; these countries include Cameroon, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Ghana, Gambia, India, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. English is the most widely learned and used foreign language in the world, and as such, many linguists believe it is no longer the exclusive cultural emblem of "native English speakers", but rather a language that is absorbing aspects of cultures worldwide as it grows in use. Others believe that there are limits to how far English can go in suiting everyone for communication purposes. It is the language most often studied as a foreign language in Europe (32.6 per cent), followed by French, German, and Spanish. It is also the most studied in Japan, South Korea and in the Republic of China (Taiwan), where it is compulsory for most high school students. See English as an additional language.

English as a global language

See also: English on the Internet Because English is so widely spoken, it has been referred to as a "global language". While English is not the official language in many countries, it is the language most often taught as a second language around the world. It is also, by international treaty, the official language for aircraft/airport communication. Its widespread acceptance as a first or second language is the main indication of its global status. There are numerous arguments for and against English as a global language. On one hand, having a global language aids in communication and in pooling information (for example, in the scientific community). On the other hand, it excludes those who, for one reason or another, are not fluent. It can also marginalise populations whose first language is not the global language, and lead to a cultural hegemony of the populations speaking the global language as a first language. Most of these arguments hold for any candidate for a global language, though the last two counter-arguments do not hold for languages not belonging to any ethnic group (like Esperanto). A secondary concern with respect to the spread of global languages (English, Spanish, etc.) is the resulting disappearance of minority languages, often along with the cultures and religions that are primarily transmitted in those languages. English has been implicated in a number of historical and ongoing so-called "language deaths" and "linguicides" around the world, many of which have also led to the loss of cultural heritage. In the Americas, Native American nations have been most strongly affected by this phenomenon.

Dialects and regional variants

The expansiveness of the British and the Americans has spread English throughout the globe. Because of its global spread, it has bred a variety of English dialects and English-based creoles and pidgins. The major varieties of English in most cases contain several subvarieties, such as Cockney within British English, Newfoundland English within Canadian English, and African American Vernacular English ("Ebonics") within American English. English is considered a pluricentric language, with no variety being clearly considered the only standard. Some consider Scots as an English dialect. Pronunciation, grammar and lexis differ, sometimes substantially. The Scottish dialect retains many German aspects including guttural pronunciations. Because of English's wide use as a second language, English speakers can have many different accents, which may identify the speaker's native dialect or language. For more distinctive characteristics of regional accents, see Regional accents of English speakers. For more distinctive characteristics of regional dialects, see List of dialects of the English language. Many countries around the world have blended English words and phrases into their everyday speech and refer to the result by a colloquial name that implies its bilingual origins, which parallels the English language's own addiction to loan words and borrowings. Named examples of these ad-hoc constructions, distinct from pidgin and creole languages, include Engrish, Wasei-eigo, Franglais and Spanglish. (See List of dialects of the English language for a complete list.) Europanto combines many languages but has an English core.

Constructed variants of English

- Basic English is simplified for easy international use. It is used by some aircraft manufacturers and other international businesses to write manuals and communicate. Some English schools in the Far East teach it as an initial practical subset of English.
- Special English is a simplified version of English used by the Voice of America. It uses a vocabulary of 1500 words.
- English reform is an attempt to improve collectively upon the English language.
- Seaspeak and the related Airspeak and Policespeak, all based on restricted vocabularies, were designed by Edward Johnson in the 1980s to aid international co-operation and communication in specific areas.
- European English is a new variant of the English language created to become the common language in Europe.

Sounds

Vowels

Notes: It is the vowels that differ most from region to region. Where symbols appear in pairs, the first corresponds to the sounds used in North American English, the second corresponds to English spoken elsewhere. #North American English lacks this sound; words with this sound are pronounced with or . According to The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1998), this sound is present in Standard Canadian English. #Many dialects of North American English do not have this vowel. See cot-caught merger. #The North American variation of this sound is a rhotic vowel. #Many speakers of North American English do not distinguish between these two unstressed vowels. For them, roses and Rosa's are pronounced the same, and the symbol usually used is schwa . #This sound is often transcribed with or with . #The letter U can represent either /u/ or the iotated vowel /ju/.

Consonants

This is the English Consonantal System using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). #The velar nasal is a non-phonemic allophone of /n/ in some northerly British accents, appearing only before /g/. In all other dialects it is a separate phoneme, although it only occurs in syllable codas. #The alveolar flap is an allophone of /t/ and /d/ in unstressed syllables in North American English and increasingly in Australian English. This is the sound of "tt" or "dd" in the words latter and ladder, which are homophones in North American English. This is the same sound represented by single "r" in some varieties of Spanish. #In some dialects, such as Cockney, the interdentals /θ/ and /ð/ are usually merged with /f/ and /v/, and in others, like African American Vernacular English, /ð/ is merged with /d/. In some Irish varieties, /θ/ and /ð/ become the corresponding dental plosives, which then contrast with the usual alveolar plosives. #The sounds are labialised in some dialects. Labialisation is never contrastive in initial position and therefore is sometimes not transcribed. #The voiceless velar fricative /x/ is used only by Scottish or Welsh speakers of English for Scots/Gaelic words such as loch or by some speakers for loanwords from German and Hebrew like Bach or Chanukah /xanuka/, or in some dialects such as Scouse (Liverpool) where the affricate [kx] is used instead of /k/ in words such as docker . Most native speakers have a great deal of trouble pronouncing it correctly when learning a foreign language. Most speakers use the sounds [k] and [h] instead. #Voiceless w is found in Scottish, Irish, some upper-class British, some eastern United States, and New Zealand accents. In all other dialects it is merged with /w/.

Voicing and Aspiration

Voicing and aspiration of stop consonants in English depend on dialect and context, but a few general rules can be given:
- Voiceless plosives and affricates (//, //, //, and //) are aspirated when they are word-initial or begin a stressed syllable and are not part of a consonant cluster—compare pin [] and spin [].
- In some dialects, aspiration extends to unstressed syllables as well.
- In other dialects, such as Indian English, most or all voiceless stops may remain unaspirated.
- Word-initial voiced plosives may be devoiced in some dialects.
- Word-terminal voiceless plosives may be unreleased or accompanied by a glottal stop in some dialects (e.g. many varieties of American English)—examples: tap [], sack [].
- Word-terminal voiced plosives may be devoiced in some dialects (e.g. some varieties of American English)—examples: sad [], bag []. In other dialects they are fully voiced in final position, but only partially voiced in initial position.

Intonation

Tone groups

English is an Intonation language. This means that the pitch of the voice is used syntactically, for example, to convey surprise and irony, or to change a statement into a question. In English, intonation patterns are on groups of words, which are called tone groups, tone units, intonation groups or sense groups. Tone groups are said on a single breath and, as a consequence, are of limited length, more often being on average five words long or lasting roughly two seconds. The structure of tone groups can have a crucial impact on the meaning of what is said. For example: :- :- :-

Characteristics of intonation

Each tone group can be subdivided into syllables, which can either be stressed (strong) or unstressed (weak). There is always a strong syllable, which is stressed more than the others. This is called the nuclear syllable. For example: :That | was | the | best | thing | you | could | have | done! Here, all syllables are unstressed, except the syllables/words "best" and "done", which are stressed. "Best" is stressed harder and, therefore, is the nuclear syllable. The nuclear syllable carries the main point the speaker wishes to make. For example: :John had stolen that money. (... not I) :John had stolen that money. (... you said he hadn't) :John had stolen that money. (... he wasn't given it) :John had stolen that money. (... not this money) :John had stolen that money. (... not something else) The nuclear syllable is spoken louder than all the others and has a characteristic change of pitch. The changes of pitch most commonly encountered in English are the rising pitch and the falling pitch, although the fall-rising pitch and/or the rise-falling pitch are sometimes used. For example: :When do you want to be paid? :Nów? (rising pitch. In this case, it denotes a question: can I be paid now?) :Nòw (falling pitch. In this case, it denotes a statement: I choose to be paid now)

Grammar

English grammar is based on its Germanic roots, though some scholars during the 1700s and 1800s attempted to impose Latin grammar upon it, with little success. English is just slightly inflected, much less so than most Indo-European languages. It compensates for this by placing more grammatical information in auxiliary words and word order. Unlike most other Indo-European languages, modern nominal groups (nouns) in English do not carry gender, although an archaic form of gender is technically assigned as either masculine, feminine, neuter or common. Engendered nouns are only apparent in special cases, such as "I loved that ship as if she were my own", where the noun "ship" is referred to by its feminine pronoun.

Vocabulary

Almost without exception, Germanic words (which include all the basics such as pronouns and conjunctions) are shorter and more informal. Latinate words are often regarded as more elegant or educated. However, the excessive use of Latinate words is often mistaken for either pretentiousness (as in the stereotypical policeman's talk of "apprehending the suspect") or obfuscation (as in a military document which says "neutralise" when it means "kill"). George Orwell's essay Politics and the English Language gives a thorough treatment of this feature of English. An English speaker is often able to choose between Germanic and Latinate synonyms: "come" or "arrive"; "sight" or "vision"; "freedom" or "liberty"—and sometimes also between a word inherited through French and a borrowing direct from Latin of the same root word: "oversee", "survey" or "supervise". The richness of the language is that such synonyms have slightly different meanings, enabling the language to be used in a very flexible way to express fine variations or shades of thought. List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents In everyday speech the majority of words will normally be Germanic. If a speaker wishes to make a forceful point in an argument in a very blunt way, Germanic words will usually be chosen. A majority of Latinate words (or at least a majority of content words) will normally be used in more formal speech and writing, such as a courtroom or an encyclopedia article. English is noted for the vast size of its active vocabulary and its fluidity. English easily accepts technical terms into common usage and imports new words which often come into common usage. In addition, slang provides new meanings for old words. In fact this fluidity is so pronounced that a distinction often needs to be made between formal forms of English and contemporary usage. See also sociolinguistics.

Number of words in English

As the General Explanations at the beginning of the Oxford English Dictionary state: :The Vocabulary of a widely diffused and highly cultivated living language is not a fixed quantity circumscribed by definite limits.... there is absolutely no defining line in any direction: the circle of the English language has a well-defined centre but no discernible circumference. The vocabulary of English is undoubtedly vast, but assigning a specific number to its size is more a matter of definition than of calculation. Unlike other languages, there is no Academy to define officially accepted words. Neologisms are coined regularly in medicine, science and technology—some enter wide usage; others remain restricted to small circles. Foreign words used in immigrant communities often make their way into wider English usage. Archaic, dialectal, and regional words might be considered "English" or not. The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition) includes over 500,000 headwords, following a rather inclusive policy: :It embraces not only the standard language of literature and conversation, whether current at the moment, or obsolete, or archaic, but also the main technical vocabulary, and a large measure of dialectal usage and slang (Supplement to the OED, 1933). The difficulty of defining the number of words is compounded by the emergence of new versions of English, such as Asian English.

Word origins

One of the consequences of the French influence is that the vocabulary of English is, to a certain extent, divided between those words which are Germanic (mostly Old English) and those which are "Latinate" (Latin-derived, mostly from Norman French but some borrowed directly from Latin). A computerised survey of about 80,000 words in the old Shorter Oxford Dictionary (3rd ed.) was published in Ordered Profusion by Thomas Finkenstaedt and Dieter Wolff (1973) which estimated the origin of English words as follows:
- French, including Old French and early Anglo-French: 28.3%
- Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24%
- Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and Dutch: 25%
- Greek: 5.32%
- No etymology given: 4.03%
- Derived from proper names: 3.28%
- All other languages contributed less than 1% James D. Nicoll made the oft-quoted observation: "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary." [http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1990May15.155309.8892%40watdragon.waterloo.edu&oe=UTF-8&output=gplain]

Writing system

English is written using the Latin alphabet. The spelling system or orthography of English is historical, not phonological. The spelling of words often diverges considerably from how they are spoken, and English spelling is often considered to be one of the most difficult to learn of any language that uses an alphabet. See English orthography.

Basic sound-letter correspondence

Written accents

English includes some words which can be written with accent marks. These words have mostly been imported from other languages, usually French. But it is increasingly rare for writers of English to actually use the accent marks for common words, even in very formal writing, to the point where actually writing the accent may be interpreted as a sign of pretension—though this view is counterbalanced by the view that fine typography should preserve accents, especially where it makes a distinction in pronunciation (compare façade vs. facade which would rhyme with cascade). The strongest tendency to retain the accent is in words that are atypical of English morphology and therefore still perceived as slightly foreign. For example, café has a pronounced final e, which would be silent by the normal English pronunciation rules. Some examples: ångström, appliqué, attaché, blasé, bric-à-brac, café, cliché, crème, crêpe, façade, fiancé(e), flambé, naïve, né(e), papier-mâché, passé, piñata, protégé, raison d'être, résumé, risqué, über-, vis-à-vis, voilà. For a more complete list, see List of English words with diacritics. Some words such as rôle and hôtel were first seen with accents when they were borrowed into English, but now the accent is almost never used. The words were considered very French borrowings when first used in English, even accused by some of being foreign phrases used where English alternatives would suffice, but today their French origin is largely forgotten. The accent on "élite" has disappeared from most publications today, but Time magazine still uses it. For some words such as "soupçon" however, the only spelling found in English dictionaries (the OED and others) uses the diacritic. Italics, with appropriate accents, are generally applied to foreign terms that are uncommonly used in or have not been assimilated into English: for example, adiós, coup d'état, crème brûlée, pièce de résistance, raison d'être, über (übermensch), vis-à-vis. It is also possible to use a diaeresis to indicate a syllable break, but again this is often left out or a hyphen used instead. Examples: coöperate (or co-operate), daïs, naïve, noël, reëlect (or re-elect). One publication that still uses a diaeresis to indicate a syllable break is the New Yorker magazine. Written accents are also used occasionally in poetry and scripts for dramatic performances to indicate that a certain normally unstressed syllable in a word should be stressed for dramatic effect, or to keep with the meter of the poetry. This use is frequently seen in archaic and pseudoarchaic writings with the "-ed" suffix, to indicate that the "e" should be fully pronounced, as with cursèd. In certain older texts (typically in Commonwealth English), the use of ligatures is common in words such as archæology, œsophagus, and encyclopædia. Such words have Latin or Greek origin. Nowadays, the ligatures have been generally replaced in Commonwealth English by the separated letters "ae" and "oe" ("archaeology", "oesophagus") and in American English by "e" ("archeology", "esophagus"). However, the spellings "oeconomy" and "oecology" are now generally replaced by "economy" and "ecology" in Commonwealth English, making these spellings the same as in American English.
See also

- English literature
- Formal written English - regional differences
- List of languages
- Common phrases in various languages
Dialects

- American and British English differences
- English speaking Europe
- General American
- List of dialects of the English language
Pronunciation

- General American
- International Phonetic Alphabet for English
- List of words of disputed pronunciation
- Non-native pronunciations of English
- Phonemic differentiation in English
- Received Pronunciation
- Regional accents of English speakers
- Rhotic and non-rhotic accents
Social, cultural or political

- English as a lingua franca for Europe
- English as an additional language
- English on the Internet
- Foreign language influences in English
- Languages in the United States
- Lists of English words of international origin
- Anglosphere
- Anglo-Saxon
Grammar

- English declension
- English plural
- English verb conjugation
- Initial-stress-derived noun
- Present progressive tense
Usage

- Dictionary
- Like
- List of archaic English words and their modern equivalents
- List of unusual English words
- Longest word in English
- Misspelling
- Gender-neutral language
- Singular they
- Siamese twins (English language)
External links

- [http://www.abroadlanguages.com/al/english/ Learning English abroad] and online. With dictionaries, games, penpals, etc.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/routesofenglish/index.shtml BBC - Radio 4 - Routes of English]
- [http://www.englishtenseswithcartoons.com Short Discriptions of the English Tenses]
- [http://www.ego4u.com/ English Grammar Online] free exercises, explanations, games and teaching materials on English as a foreign language
- [http://www.eslbase.com/ TEFL] - Teaching English as a Foreign Language - information and advice
- http://www.teach-yourself-english.com/ Easy-going learning aid
- [http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en Learning English Online] grammar, vocabulary, exercises, exams - English as a second language.
- [http://www.english.hb.pl Pako's English Page - Articles and advice on learning English]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=eng Ethnologue report for English]
- [http://www.LanguageMonitor.com LanguageMonitor] - Watchdog on contemporary English usage
- [http://www.vec.ca/english/1/english.cfm Development of English]
- [http://www.esu.org English Speaking Union]
- [http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm The World's Most Widely Spoken Languages]
- [http://www.antimoon.com/ Antimoon - How to learn English] - Advice and inspiration for learners of English.
- [http://www.zozanga.com/ Zozanga ESL - Learn Online English] How to learn English.
- [http://www.quiz-tree.com/English_Spelling_main.html Free English spelling quizzes]
- [http://inenglishofcourse.pl Conversation and Resource Point for Learners of English]
- [http://www.globalenglishsalon.com Global English Salon] - Listen to English online free.
- [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=2&learn-English/ Learn and listen to useful expressions in English] Each expression is presented with an audio recording and an illustration
- [http://www.whatdoesthatmean.com What Does That Mean?] A wiki based lexicon of English idioms from around the world
- [http://www1.ku-eichstaett.de/SLF/EngluVglSW/ELiX/bge.pdf Basic Global English]
Dictionaries

- [http://www.oed.com Oxford English Dictionary] The definitive record of the English language
- [http://dicts.info/dictlist1.php All free English dictionaries] Collection of many free English dictionaries.
- [http://dictionary.cambridge.org Cambridge Dictionary]
- [http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/french.html Freelang - French-English Dictionary made by Bertrand Cornu]
Further reading

- Baugh AC and Cable T. A history of the English language (5th ed), Rouledge, 2002 (ISBN 0415280990_
- Crystal, D. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language (2nd ed), Cambridge University Press, 2003 (ISBN 0521530334)
- Halliday, MAK. An introduction to functional grammar (2nd ed), London, Edward Arnold, 1994 (ISBN 0340557826)
- McArthur, T (ed). The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press, 1992 (ISBN 019214183X)
- Robinson, Orrin, "Old English and Its Closest Relatives", Stanford Univ Press, 1992 (ISBN 0-8047-2221-8) English language Category:Languages of Fiji Category:Languages of Guam Category:Languages of Hong Kong Category:Languages of Singapore Category:Languages of the Philippines Category:Languages of the United Kingdom Category:Languages of the United States Category:Languages of Canada Category:Languages of New Zealand Category:Languages of India als:Englische Sprache ko:영어 ms:Bahasa Inggeris zh-min-nan:Eng-gí ja:英語 nb:Engelsk språk simple:English language th:ภาษาอังกฤษ

Eponym

An eponym is a person, whether real or fictitious, whose name has (or is thought to have) given rise to the name of a particular place, tribe, discovery, or other item. An eponymous person is the same as an eponym. In contemporary English, the term "eponymous" is often used to mean "self-titled." The word eponym is often used for the thing titled.

Political eponyms of time periods

In different cultures, time periods have often been named after the person who ruled during that period.
- One of the first cases of eponymity occurred in the second millennium BC, when the Assyrians named each year after a high official (limmu).
- In ancient Greece, the eponym archon was the highest magistrate in Athens. The Archon of Athens had a yearly charge and each year was named after the elected one (e.g., the year 594 BC was named after Solon).
- In Rome, the two annual consuls, as formal chief magistrates of the Roman republic (never constitutionally abolished, so still formally the joint heads of government even under the 'political' reality of empire, both principate and dominate) gave both their names -regardless whether either one was reelected- to the year they were in office, this being the formal way of dating, alongside the 'Ab Urbe Condita' continuous year ordinal (starting from the mythical date of the founding of Rome), the Greek Olympiad or even the rather pointless fiscal indiction (yet a tradition long surviving the Roman empire). :Famously, when the future dictator for life Julius Caesar was in office with an entirely insignificant political colleague, the jocular phrase was 'the consulate of Julius AND Caesar'. Emperors would often be elected consul, some even repeatedly, but never had an automatic right to be eponymous.
- Even well in the Christian era, dating eponymously by reign-years (the first, 2nd etc year of a named monarch) was not uncommon in various chanceries, especially at the court of a prince aspiring pivotal importance to his entire state's society, and was copied by minor dignitaries, even prelates. But the church, carefully presenting God as the supreme monarch above all mortal rulers (at times with some success in positioning its ecclesiastic head, the pope, as his vicegerent on earth - sovereigns as John Lackland of England recognized him as their suzerain, the Holy Roman Emperor's refusal to do so being the ideological stake of the medieval so-called Investiture conflict), would succeed in imposing first on the public, and ultimately on all royal scripts, the 'neutral' dating AD.

Other eponyms

- Both in ancient Greece and independently among the Hebrews, a legendary leader of a tribe gave his name to it (as Achaeus for Achaeans, or Dorus for Dorians). The eponym gave apparent meaning to the mysterious names of tribes, and sometimes, as in the Sons of Noah, provided a primitive attempt at ethnology too, in the genealogical relationships of eponymous originators.
- Places and towns can also be given an etymological meaning through an important figure: Peloponnesus was said to derive its name from Pelops. In historical times, new towns have often been named and renamed for historical figures.
- In science and technology, discoveries are often named after the (supposed) discoverer, or to honor some other influential workers. Examples are Avogadro's number and Parkinson's disease.
- In (modern) art
- Some books, films, and TV shows have an eponymous principal character(s): Robinson Crusoe and Daria, for example.
- The term is also applied to music, usually with regard to record titles. For example, Blur's 1997 album was also titled Blur. Many other artists and bands have also served as eponyms of albums or singles, usually as their debut or second release. (Blur is an oddity in that their album Blur was their 5th release.) Some bands, such as the Tindersticks, Led Zeppelin, Duran Duran, and Weezer, have released more than one and are thus referred to in other ways, including number (Led Zeppelin IV) and album art ( The Blue Album). Peter Gabriel's first four long play releases were all such. Another more common term is the self-titled album. The band R.E.M. titled their 1988 compilation CD Eponymous as a joke.

Lists of eponyms

By person's name
- List of eponyms By category
- Adages
- Adjectives
- Asteroids
- Astronomical objects
- Cartoon characters
- Chemical elements
- Companies
- Diseases
- Foods
- Human anatomical parts
- Inventions
- Medical terms
- Observations
- Places and political entities
- Prizes, awards and medals
- Scientific constants
- Scientific laws
- Scientific phenomena
- Scientific units
- Sports terms

External links

- [http://www.whonamedit.com A site dedicated to Medical Eponyms]
- Category:Figures of speech Category:Names nb:Eponym

Peacock

:Peacock re-directs here; for alternate uses see Peacock (disambiguation). Pavo cristatus
Pavo muticus
Afropavo congolensis The peafowl consist of three species of bird in the genera Pavo and Afropavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are most notable for the male's extravagant tail, a result of sexual selection, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen. In common English usage, however, "peacock" is used to mean either gender of peafowl. The species are:
- Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus
- Green Peafowl, Pavo muticus
- Congo Peafowl, Afropavo congolensis

Overview

The typical Asiatic peafowl belonging to the genus Pavo and include the familiar Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus and the poorly known Dragonbirds or Green Peafowl Pavo muticus. Some taxonomists believe that the endangered Green Peafowl is actually a complex of five distinct species although they are currently treated as one species with three subspecies. The Javanese Green Peafowl, Pavo muticus javanensis is an endemic found on the island of Java. The extinct Malay or Pahang Peafowl Pavo muticus muticus was earlier thought to be introduced by humans from Java, however, fossils from the the Pliocene epoch rules this out. Northern Yunnan is the home of one of the most distinctive form of Green Peafowl, The Yunnan Dragonbird Pavo muticus yunnanensis. The Arakan Dragonbird Pavo muticus spicifer was once native to Northern Western Myanmar, Southern Tibet and Assam. The Indo-Chinese or Siamese Dragonbird Pavo m