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134-509: The lake's name is also spelled Hovsgol , Khövsgöl , or Huvsgul in English texts. In Mongolian it is also referred to as Хөвсгөл далай ( Hövsgöl dalai ; lit.   ' Ocean Khövsgöl ' ) or Далай ээж ( Dalai éj ; lit.   ' Ocean Mother ' ). Lake Khuvsgul is located in the northwest of Mongolia near the Russian border , at the foot of the eastern Sayan Mountains . It

268-546: A mixed language or a creole —a theory called the Middle English creole hypothesis . Although the great influence of these languages on the vocabulary and grammar of Modern English is widely acknowledged, most specialists in language contact do not consider English to be a true mixed language. English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares innovations with other Germanic languages including Dutch , German , and Swedish . These shared innovations show that

402-635: A 2012 official Eurobarometer poll (conducted when the UK was still a member of the EU), 38 percent of the EU respondents outside the countries where English is an official language said they could speak English well enough to have a conversation in that language. The next most commonly mentioned foreign language, French (which is the most widely known foreign language in the UK and Ireland), could be used in conversation by 12 percent of respondents. A working knowledge of English has become

536-461: A 2017 phylogenetic study revealed nine clades, including one representing polar bears. As of 2005 , 15 extant, or recently extinct, subspecies were recognized by the general scientific community. DNA analysis shows that, apart from recent, human-caused population fragmentation , brown bears in North America are generally part of a single interconnected population system, with the exception of

670-523: A crossbreeding of a brown bear with a polar bear . It has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid was confirmed by testing the DNA of a strange-looking bear that had been shot in the Canadian Arctic , and seven more hybrids have since been confirmed in the same region, all descended from a single female polar bear. Previously, the hybrid had been produced in zoos and

804-651: A distinct language from Modern English and is virtually impossible for 21st-century unstudied English-speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern German: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs had many more inflectional endings and forms , and word order was much freer than in Modern English. Modern English has case forms in pronouns ( he , him , his ) and has a few verb inflections ( speak , speaks , speaking , spoke , spoken ), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more person and number endings. Its closest relative

938-484: A foreign language, make up the "expanding circle". The distinctions between English as a first language, as a second language, and as a foreign language are often debatable and may change in particular countries over time. For example, in the Netherlands and some other countries of Europe, knowledge of English as a second language is nearly universal, with over 80 percent of the population able to use it, and thus English

1072-408: A head-and-body length of 1.4 to 2.8 m (4 ft 7 in to 9 ft 2 in) and a shoulder height of 70 to 153 cm (28 to 60 in). The tail is relatively short, as in all bears, ranging from 6 to 22 cm (2.4 to 8.7 in) in length. The smallest brown bears, females during spring among barren-ground populations, can weigh so little as to roughly match the body mass of males of

1206-520: A more standard version of English. They have many more speakers of English who acquire English as they grow up through day-to-day use and listening to broadcasting, especially if they attend schools where English is the medium of instruction. Varieties of English learned by non-native speakers born to English-speaking parents may be influenced, especially in their grammar, by the other languages spoken by those learners. Most of those varieties of English include words little used by native speakers of English in

1340-688: A number of other Anglic languages, including Scots and the extinct Fingallian dialect and Yola language of Ireland. Like Icelandic and Faroese , the development of English in the British Isles isolated it from the continental Germanic languages and influences, and it has since diverged considerably. English is not mutually intelligible with any continental Germanic language, as it differs in vocabulary , syntax , and phonology . However, some of these, such as Dutch or Frisian, do show strong affinities with English, especially with its earlier stages. Unlike Icelandic and Faroese, which were isolated,

1474-536: A polar bear are quite different, being notably shorter but broader with a strong curve and sharper point. The species has large paws; the rear feet measure 21 to 36 cm (8.3 to 14.2 in) long, while the forefeet tend to measure 40% less. Brown bears are the only extant bears with a hump at the top of their shoulder, which is made entirely of muscle. This feature developed presumably to impart more force in digging, which helps during foraging and facilitates den construction prior to hibernation. Brown bears inhabit

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1608-679: A requirement in a number of occupations and professions such as medicine and computing. English has become so important in scientific publishing that more than 80 percent of all scientific journal articles indexed by Chemical Abstracts in 1998 were written in English, as were 90 percent of all articles in natural science publications by 1996 and 82 percent of articles in humanities publications by 1995. International communities such as international business people may use English as an auxiliary language , with an emphasis on vocabulary suitable for their domain of interest. This has led some scholars to develop

1742-407: A rich inflectional morphology and relatively free word order to a mostly analytic pattern with little inflection and a fairly fixed subject–verb–object word order . Modern English relies more on auxiliary verbs and word order for the expression of complex tenses , aspects and moods , as well as passive constructions , interrogatives , and some negation . The earliest form of English

1876-744: A significant minority speaks English. The countries with the most native English speakers are, in descending order, the United States (at least 231 million), the United Kingdom (60 million), Canada (19 million), Australia (at least 17 million), South Africa (4.8 million), Ireland (4.2 million), and New Zealand (3.7 million). In these countries, children of native speakers learn English from their parents, and local people who speak other languages and new immigrants learn English to communicate in their neighbourhoods and workplaces. The inner-circle countries provide

2010-465: A successful male will mate with two females in a span of one to three weeks. The adult female brown bear is similarly promiscuous, mating with up to four, sometimes even eight, males while in heat and potentially mating with two in a single day. Females come into oestrus every three to four years, with an outside range of 2.4 to 5.7 years. The urine markings of a female in oestrus can attract several males via scent. Dominant males may try to sequester

2144-447: A verb ending ( present plural): From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Old English gradually transformed through language contact with Old Norse in some regions. The waves of Norse (Viking) colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries put Old English into intense contact with Old Norse , a North Germanic language. Norse influence was strongest in the north-eastern varieties of Old English spoken in

2278-431: A yellowish-brown or whitish collar across the neck, chest, and shoulders. Even within well-defined subspecies, individuals may show highly variable hues of brown. North American grizzlies can be from dark brown (almost black) to cream (almost white) or yellowish-brown and often have darker-colored legs. The common name "grizzly" stems from their typical coloration, with the hairs on their back usually being brownish-black at

2412-552: Is Old Frisian , but even some centuries after the Anglo-Saxon migration, Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility with other Germanic varieties. Even in the 9th and 10th centuries, amidst the Danelaw and other Viking invasions, there is historical evidence that Old Norse and Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility, although probably the northern dialects of Old English were more similar to Old Norse than

2546-456: Is 1,645 metres (5,397 feet) above sea level , 136 kilometres (85 miles) long and 262 metres (860 feet) deep. It is the second-most voluminous freshwater lake in Asia, and holds almost 70% of Mongolia's fresh water and 0.4% of all the fresh water in the world. The town of Hatgal lies at the southern end of the lake. Lake Khuvsgul's watershed is relatively small, and it has only small tributaries. It

2680-529: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , whose speakers, called Anglophones , originated in early medieval England on the island of Great Britain . The namesake of the language is the Angles , one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to Britain . It is the most spoken language in the world, primarily due to the global influences of the former British Empire (succeeded by

2814-528: Is a National Park bigger than Yellowstone and strictly protected as a transition zone between Central Asian Steppe and the Siberian Taiga . Despite Hovsgol's protected status, illegal fishing is common and prohibitions against commercial fishing with gillnets are seldom enforced. The lake is traditionally considered sacred in a land suffering from arid conditions where most lakes are salty. The Hövsgöl (Khövsgöl) Long-term Ecological Research Site (LTERS)

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2948-660: Is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America . Of the carnivorans , it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear , which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on average. The brown bear is a sexually dimorphic species, as adult males are larger and more compactly built than females. The fur ranges in color from cream to reddish to dark brown. It has evolved large hump muscles, unique among bears, and paws up to 21 cm (8.3 in) wide and 36 cm (14 in) long, to effectively dig through dirt. Its teeth are similar to those of other bears and reflect its dietary plasticity . Throughout

3082-459: Is also undergoing change under the influence of American English, fuelled by the strong presence of American English in the media and the prestige associated with the United States as a world power. As of 2016 , 400 million people spoke English as their first language , and 1.1 billion spoke it as a secondary language. English is the largest language by number of speakers . English

3216-603: Is also widely used in media and literature, and the number of English language books published annually in India is the third largest in the world after the US and UK. However, English is rarely spoken as a first language, numbering only around a couple hundred-thousand people, and less than 5% of the population speak fluent English in India. David Crystal claimed in 2004 that, combining native and non-native speakers, India now has more people who speak or understand English than any other country in

3350-407: Is an official language of countries populated by few descendants of native speakers of English. It has also become by far the most important language of international communication when people who share no native language meet anywhere in the world. The Indian linguist Braj Kachru distinguished countries where English is spoken with a three circles model . In his model, Kachru based his model on

3484-453: Is asserted by making a frontal orientation, showing off canine teeth, muzzle twisting, and neck stretching, to which a subordinate will respond with a lateral orientation, by turning away and dropping the head, and by sitting or lying down. During combat, bears use their paws to strike their opponents in the chest or shoulders and bite the head or neck. Several different facial expressions have been documented in brown bears. The "relaxed-face"

3618-480: Is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon ( c.  450–1150 ). Old English developed from a set of West Germanic dialects, often grouped as Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic , and originally spoken along the coasts of Frisia , Lower Saxony and southern Jutland by Germanic peoples known to the historical record as the Angles , Saxons , and Jutes . From the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain as

3752-648: Is derived from Turkic words for "Khob Su Kol, means Lake with Great water" Göl is the Turkic word for "lake" and today the Mongolian word for river. There are a number of different transcription variants, depending on whether the Cyrillic "х" is transliterated to "h" or "kh," or whether the "ө" is transliterated to "ö," "o," or "u." Transcriptions from the name in the classical Mongolian script , like Hubsugul, Khubsugul etc. may also be seen. English language English

3886-532: Is drained at the southern end by the Egiin Gol , which connects to the Selenge and ultimately flows into Lake Baikal . Between the two lakes, its waters travel more than 1,000 km (621 mi), and fall 1,169 metres (3,835 feet), although the line-of-sight distance is only about 200 km (124 mi). Its location in northern Mongolia forms one part of the southern border of the great Siberian taiga forest, where

4020-525: Is from, as most accepted subtypes vary widely in size. This is in part due to sexual dimorphism , as male brown bears average at least 30% larger than females in most subtypes. Individual bears vary in size seasonally, weighing the least in spring due to lack of foraging during hibernation, and the most in late fall, after a period of hyperphagia to put on additional weight to prepare for hibernation. Brown bears generally weigh 80 to 600 kg (180 to 1,320 lb), with males outweighing females. They have

4154-404: Is harsher and is made continuously (approximately twice per second). Growls and roars are made when aggressive. Growling is "harsh" and " guttural " and can range from a simple grrr to a rumble. A rumbling growl can escalate to a roar when the bear is charging. Roaring is described as "thunderous" and can travel 2 km (1.2 mi). Mothers and cubs wanting physical contact will bawl, which

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4288-564: Is heard as waugh!, waugh! . Brown bears usually inhabit vast home ranges; however, they are not highly territorial. Several adult bears roam freely over the same vicinity without contention, unless rights to a fertile female or food sources are being contested. Despite their lack of traditional territorial behavior, adult males seem to have a "personal zone" within which other bears are not tolerated if they are seen. Males always wander further than females, due to such behavior giving increasing access to both females and food sources. Females have

4422-416: Is made during everyday activities, a face where the ears pointed to the sides and the mouth closed or slackly open. During social play, bears make "relaxed open-mouth face" in which the mouth is open, with a curled upper lip and hanging lower lip, and the ears alert and shifting. When looking at another animal at a distance, the bear makes an "alert face" as the ears are cocked and alert, the eyes wide open with

4556-527: Is often arbitrarily defined as beginning with the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, but it developed further in the period from 1150 to 1500. With the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the now-Norsified Old English language was subject to another wave of intense contact, this time with Old French , in particular Old Norman French , influencing it as a superstrate. The Norman French spoken by

4690-1036: Is one of eight extant species in the bear family Ursidae and of six extant species in the subfamily Ursinae . Giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) [REDACTED] Spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) [REDACTED] Sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ) [REDACTED] Sun bear ( Helarctos malayanus ) [REDACTED] Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus ) [REDACTED] American black bear ( Ursus americanus ) [REDACTED] Polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) [REDACTED] Brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) [REDACTED] Giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) [REDACTED] Spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ) [REDACTED] Sloth bear ( Melursus ursinus ) [REDACTED] Sun bear ( Helarctos malayanus ) [REDACTED] Asian black bear ( Ursus thibetanus ) [REDACTED] American black bear ( Ursus americanus ) [REDACTED] Polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) [REDACTED] Brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) [REDACTED] The brown bear

4824-424: Is routinely used to communicate with foreigners and often in higher education. In these countries, although English is not used for government business, its widespread use puts them at the boundary between the "outer circle" and "expanding circle". English is unusual among world languages in how many of its users are not native speakers but speakers of English as a second or foreign language. Many users of English in

4958-518: Is smaller than the others, and is usually absent in adults. It is usually lost at an early age, leaving no trace of its alveolus in the jaw. The first three molars of the lower jaw are very weak, and are often lost at an early age. The teeth of brown bears reflect their dietary plasticity and are broadly similar to those of other bears. They are reliably larger than teeth of American black bears , but average smaller in molar length than those of polar bears . Brown bears have large, curved claws, with

5092-565: Is sometimes referred to as the bruin , from Middle English . This name originated in the fable History of Reynard the Fox , translated by William Caxton , from the Middle Dutch word bruun or bruyn , meaning "brown". In the mid-19th-century United States, the brown bear was given the nicknames "Old Ephraim" and "Moccasin Joe". The scientific name of the brown bear, Ursus arctos , comes from

5226-471: Is species-poor compared to that of Lake Baikal. Species of commercial and recreational interest include Eurasian perch ( Perca fluviatilis ), burbot ( Lota lota ), lenok ( Brachymystax lenok ), and the endangered endemic Hovsgol grayling ( Thymallus nigrescens ). Though endangered by poaching during its spawning runs, the Hovsgol grayling is still abundant throughout much of the lake. The name Khövsgöl

5360-517: Is spoken by communities on every continent and on islands in all the major oceans. The countries where English is spoken can be grouped into different categories according to how English is used in each country. The "inner circle" countries with many native speakers of English share an international standard of written English and jointly influence speech norms for English around the world. English does not belong to just one country, and it does not belong solely to descendants of English settlers. English

5494-550: Is the sole or dominant language for historical reasons without being explicitly defined by law (such as in the United States and United Kingdom ). It is a co-official language of the United Nations , the European Union , and many other international and regional organisations. It has also become the de facto lingua franca of diplomacy, science , technology, international trade, logistics, tourism, aviation, entertainment, and

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5628-777: Is the third person pronoun group beginning with th- ( they, them, their ) which replaced the Anglo-Saxon pronouns with h- ( hie, him, hera ). Other core Norse loanwords include "give", "get", "sky", "skirt", "egg", and "cake", typically displacing a native Anglo-Saxon equivalent. Old Norse in this era retained considerable mutual intelligibility with some dialects of Old English, particularly northern ones. Englischmen þeyz hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre manner speche, Souþeron, Northeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, ... Noþeles by comyxstion and mellyng, furst wiþ Danes, and afterward wiþ Normans, in menye þe contray longage ys asperyed, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng, and garryng grisbytting. Although, from

5762-592: Is thought to have evolved from the Etruscan bear ( Ursus etruscus ) in Asia during the early Pliocene . A genetic analysis indicated that the brown bear lineage diverged from the cave bear species-complex approximately 1.2–1.4 million years ago, but did not clarify if U. savini persisted as a paraspecies for the brown bear before perishing. The oldest brown bear fossils occur in Asia from about 500,000 to 300,000 years ago. They entered Europe 250,000 years ago and North Africa shortly after. Brown bear remains from

5896-479: The Augustinian canon Orrm , which highlights the blending of both Old English and Anglo-Norman elements in English for the first time. In Wycliff'e Bible of the 1380s, the verse Matthew 8:20 was written: Foxis han dennes, and briddis of heuene han nestis . Here the plural suffix -n on the verb have is still retained, but none of the case endings on the nouns are present. By the 12th century Middle English

6030-499: The Commonwealth of Nations ) and the United States . English is the third-most spoken native language , after Standard Chinese and Spanish ; it is also the most widely learned second language in the world, with more second-language speakers than native speakers. English is either the official language or one of the official languages in 59 sovereign states (such as India , Ireland , and Canada ). In some other countries, it

6164-537: The Danelaw area around York, which was the centre of Norse colonisation; today these features are still particularly present in Scots and Northern English . The centre of Norsified English was in the Midlands around Lindsey . After 920 CE, when Lindsey was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon polity, English spread extensively throughout the region. An element of Norse influence that continues in all English varieties today

6298-525: The Eurasian brown bear and is believed to have a population of only about 50 bears. The brown bear is considered to be one of the most popular of the world's charismatic megafauna . It has been kept in zoos since ancient times, and has been tamed and trained to perform in circuses and other acts. For thousands of years, the brown bear has had a role in human culture , and is often featured in literature , art , folklore , and mythology . The brown bear

6432-532: The European Free Trade Association , Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) set English as their organisation's sole working language even though most members are not countries with a majority of native English speakers. While the European Union (EU) allows member states to designate any of the national languages as an official language of

6566-647: The Internet . English accounts for at least 70% of total speakers of the Germanic language branch, and as of 2021 , Ethnologue estimated that there were over 1.5 billion speakers worldwide. Old English emerged from a group of West Germanic dialects spoken by the Anglo-Saxons . Late Old English borrowed some grammar and core vocabulary from Old Norse , a North Germanic language . Then, Middle English borrowed vocabulary extensively from French dialects , which are

6700-537: The Last Glacial Maximum (>25,000 BP). Brown-bear fossils discovered in Ontario , Ohio , Kentucky , and Labrador show that the species occurred farther east than indicated in historic records. In North America, two types of the subspecies Ursus arctos horribilis are generally recognized—the coastal brown bear and the inland grizzly bear. A grizzly–polar bear hybrid is a rare ursid hybrid resulting from

6834-731: The Low Saxon and Frisian languages . English is an Indo-European language and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . Old English originated from a Germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the Frisian North Sea coast, whose languages gradually evolved into the Anglic languages in the British Isles , and into the Frisian languages and Low German /Low Saxon on

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6968-630: The Pyrenees in 2010, in a range shared between Spain, France, and Andorra , and some 210 animals in Asturias , Cantabria , Galicia , and León , in the Picos de Europa and adjacent areas in 2013 ) in the west, to Russia in the east, and from Sweden and Finland in the north to Romania (5,000–6,000), Bulgaria (900–1,200), Slovakia (with about 600–800 animals), Slovenia (500–700 animals), and Greece (with Karamanlidis et al. 2015 estimating >450 animals) in

7102-584: The United Nations at the end of World War II , English had become pre-eminent and is now the main worldwide language of diplomacy and international relations. It is one of six official languages of the United Nations. Many other worldwide international organisations, including the International Olympic Committee , specify English as a working language or official language of the organisation. Many regional international organisations such as

7236-511: The palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic (see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization ). The earliest varieties of an English language, collectively known as Old English or "Anglo-Saxon", evolved from a group of North Sea Germanic dialects brought to Britain in the 5th century. Old English dialects were later influenced by Old Norse -speaking Viking invaders and settlers , starting in

7370-500: The withers . The winter hairs are thin, yet rough to the touch. The summer fur is much shorter and sparser, with its length and density varying among geographic ranges. Adults have massive, heavily built, concave skulls, which are large in proportion to the body. The projections of the skull are well developed. Skull lengths of Russian brown bears tend to be 31.5 to 45.5 cm (12.4 to 17.9 in) for males, and 27.5 to 39.7 cm (10.8 to 15.6 in) for females. Brown bears have

7504-449: The "biting face" is similar to the "relaxed open-mouth face" except the ears are flattened and the eyes are wide enough to expose the sclera . Both the "jaw gape face" and the "biting face" are made when the bear is aggressive and can quickly switch between them. Brown bears also produce various vocalizations. Huffing occurs when the animal is tense, while woofing is made when alarmed. Both sounds are produced by exhalations, though huffing

7638-558: The "outer circle" countries are countries such as the Philippines , Jamaica , India , Pakistan , Singapore , Malaysia and Nigeria with a much smaller proportion of native speakers of English but much use of English as a second language for education, government, or domestic business, and its routine use for school instruction and official interactions with the government. Those countries have millions of native speakers of dialect continua ranging from an English-based creole to

7772-805: The 1940s and 1990s. Brown bears in Central Asia are primarily threatened by climate change . In response to this, conservationists plan on building wildlife corridors to promote easy access from one brown bear population to another. In Himalayan Nepal , farmers may kill brown bears in revenge for livestock predation. A 2014 study revealed that brown bears peaked in activity around the morning and early evening hours. Although activity can happen day or night, bears that live in locations where they are apt to interact with humans are more likely to be fully nocturnal. In areas with little interaction, many adult bears are primarily crepuscular , while yearlings and newly independent bears appear to be most active throughout

7906-596: The 8th and 9th centuries. Middle English began in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest of England, when a considerable amount of Old French vocabulary was incorporated into English over some three centuries. Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the start of the Great Vowel Shift and the Renaissance trend of borrowing further Latin and Greek words and roots, concurrent with

8040-595: The Angles. English may have a small amount of substrate influence from Common Brittonic, and a number of possible Brittonicisms in English have been proposed, but whether most of these supposed Brittonicisms are actually a direct result of Brittonic substrate influence is disputed. Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects ( Mercian and Northumbrian ) and the Saxon dialects ( Kentish and West Saxon ). Through

8174-463: The British Empire in the 1950s and 1960s, former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it as independent countries setting their own language policies. For example, the view of the English language among many Indians has gone from associating it with colonialism to associating it with economic progress, and English continues to be an official language of India. English

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8308-537: The Early Modern period includes the works of William Shakespeare and the translation of the Bible commissioned by King James I . Even after the vowel shift the language still sounded different from Modern English: for example, the consonant clusters /kn ɡn sw/ in knight , gnat , and sword were still pronounced. Many of the grammatical features that a modern reader of Shakespeare might find quaint or archaic represent

8442-628: The English Language , which introduced standard spellings of words and usage norms. In 1828, Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English language to try to establish a norm for speaking and writing American English that was independent of the British standard. Within Britain, non-standard or lower class dialect features were increasingly stigmatised, leading to the quick spread of

8576-543: The English-speaking inner circle countries outside Britain helped level dialect distinctions and produce koineised forms of English in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The majority of immigrants to the United States without British ancestry rapidly adopted English after arrival. Now the majority of the United States population are monolingual English speakers. English has ceased to be an "English language" in

8710-597: The IUCN. However, the California grizzly bear , Ungava brown bear , Atlas bear , and Mexican grizzly bear , as well as brown bear populations in the Pacific Northwest , were hunted to extinction in the 19th and early 20th centuries and many of the southern Asian subspecies are highly endangered. The Syrian brown bear ( U. a. syriacus ) is very rare and it has been extirpated from more than half of its historic range. One of

8844-595: The Japanese island of Hokkaidō , which holds the largest number of non-Russian brown bears in eastern Asia, with about 2,000–3,000 animals. While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a least-concern species by the IUCN , with a total population of approximately 200,000. As of 2012 , the brown bear and the American black bear are the only bear species not classified as threatened by

8978-699: The Latin ursus , meaning "bear", and the Greek ἄρκτος / arktos , also meaning "bear". Carl Linnaeus scientifically described the species under the name Ursus arctos in the 1758 edition of Systema Naturae . Brown bear taxonomy and subspecies classification has been described as "formidable and confusing", with few authorities listing the same set of subspecies. There are hundreds of obsolete brown-bear subspecies. As many as 90 subspecies have been proposed. A 2008 DNA analysis identified as few as five main clades , which comprise all extant brown bear species, while

9112-522: The Pleistocene period are common in the British Isles , where, amongst other factors, they may have contributed to the extinction of cave bears ( Ursus spelaeus ). Brown bears first emigrated to North America from Eurasia via Beringia during the Illinoian Glaciation . Genetic evidence suggests that several brown bear populations migrated into North America, aligning with the glacial cycles of

9246-491: The Pleistocene. The founding population of most North American brown bears arrived first, with the genetic lineage developing around ~177,000 BP . Genetic divergences suggest that brown bears first migrated south during MIS-5 (~92,000–83,000 BP), upon the opening of the ice-free corridor, After a local extinction in Beringia ~33,000 BP, two new but closely related lineages repopulated Alaska and northern Canada from Eurasia after

9380-550: The Roman economy and administration collapsed . By the 7th century, this Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in Britain , replacing the languages of Roman Britain (43–409): Common Brittonic , a Celtic language , and British Latin , brought to Britain by the Roman occupation. At this time, these dialects generally resisted influence from the then-local Brittonic and Latin languages. England and English (originally Ænglaland and Ænglisc ) are both named after

9514-490: The Union, in practice English is the main working language of EU organisations. Although in most countries English is not an official language, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language . In the countries of the EU, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in nineteen of the twenty-five member states where it is not an official language (that is, the countries other than Ireland and Malta ). In

9648-529: The Yukon and Northwest Territories , south through British Columbia , and through the western half of Alberta . The Alaskan population is estimated at a healthy 30,000 individuals. In the lower 48 states, they are repopulating slowly, but steadily along the Rockies and the western Great Plains. In Europe, in 2010, there were 14,000 brown bears in ten fragmented populations, from Spain (estimated at only 20–25 animals in

9782-710: The advantage of inhabiting smaller territories, which decreases the likelihood of encounters with male bears who may endanger their cubs. In areas where food is abundant, such as coastal Alaska, home ranges for females and males are up to 24 km (9.3 sq mi) and 89 km (34 sq mi), respectively. Similarly, in British Columbia , bears of the two sexes travel in relatively compact home ranges of 115 and 318 km (44 and 123 sq mi). In Yellowstone National Park , home ranges for females are up to 281 km (108 sq mi) and up to 874 km (337 sq mi) for males. In Romania ,

9916-406: The base and whitish-cream at the tips, giving them their distinctive "grizzled" color. Apart from the cinnamon subspecies of the American black bear ( U. americanus cinnamonum ), the brown bear is the only modern bear species to typically appear truly brown. The brown bear's winter fur is very thick and long, especially in northern subspecies, and can reach 11 to 12 cm (4.3 to 4.7 in) at

10050-407: The base from which English spreads to other countries in the world. Estimates of the numbers of second language and foreign-language English speakers vary greatly from 470 million to more than 1 billion, depending on how proficiency is defined. Linguist David Crystal estimates that non-native speakers now outnumber native speakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. In Kachru's three-circles model,

10184-449: The basis for the required controlled natural languages Seaspeak and Airspeak, used as international languages of seafaring and aviation. English used to have parity with French and German in scientific research, but now it dominates that field. It achieved parity with French as a language of diplomacy at the Treaty of Versailles negotiations in 1919. By the time of the foundation of

10318-682: The bears of the Alexander Archipelago is unusual in that these island populations carry polar bear DNA, presumably originating from a population of polar bears that was left behind at the end of the Pleistocene , but have since been connected with adjacent mainland populations through the movement of males, to the point where their nuclear genomes indicate more than 90% brown bear ancestry. MtDNA analysis revealed that brown bears are apparently divided into five different clades, some of which coexist or co-occur in different regions. The brown bear

10452-400: The beginning, Englishmen had three manners of speaking, southern, northern and midlands speech in the middle of the country, ... Nevertheless, through intermingling and mixing, first with Danes and then with Normans, amongst many the country language has arisen, and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and grating gnashing. John Trevisa , c.  1385 Middle English

10586-541: The broadest range of habitats of any living bear species. They seem to have no altitudinal preferences and have been recorded from sea level to an elevation of 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in the Himalayas . In most of their range, brown bears seem to prefer semi-open country, with a scattering of vegetation, that can allow them a resting spot during the day. However, they have been recorded as inhabiting every variety of northern temperate forest known to occur. This species

10720-434: The broadest skull of any extant ursine bear. The width of the zygomatic arches in males is 17.5 to 27.7 cm (6.9 to 10.9 in), and 14.7 to 24.7 cm (5.8 to 9.7 in) in females. Brown bears have strong jaws: the incisors and canine teeth are large, with the lower canines being strongly curved. The first three molars of the upper jaw are underdeveloped and single-crowned with one root. The second upper molar

10854-592: The brown bear's range has shrunk, and it has faced local extinctions across its wide range, it remains listed as a least concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with a total estimated population in 2017 of 110,000. Populations that were hunted to extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries are the Atlas bear of North Africa and the Californian , Ungavan and Mexican populations of

10988-521: The brown bear's range, it inhabits mainly forested habitats in elevations of up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft). It is omnivorous , and consumes a variety of plant and animal species. Contrary to popular belief, the brown bear derives 90% of its diet from plants. When hunting, it will target animals as small as insects and rodents to those as large as moose or muskoxen . In parts of coastal Alaska , brown bears predominantly feed on spawning salmon that come near shore to lay their eggs. For most of

11122-571: The coastal populations weigh about twice as much. The average weight of adult male bears, from 19 populations, was found to be 217 kg (478 lb) while adult females from 24 populations were found to average 152 kg (335 lb). Brown bears are often not fully brown. They have long, thick fur, with a moderately elongated mane at the back of the neck which varies somewhat across bear types. In India, brown bears can be reddish with silver-tipped hairs, while in China brown bears are bicolored, with

11256-638: The consensus of educated English speakers around the world, without any oversight by any government or international organisation. American listeners readily understand most British broadcasting, and British listeners readily understand most American broadcasting. Most English speakers around the world can understand radio programmes, television programmes, and films from many parts of the English-speaking world. Both standard and non-standard varieties of English can include both formal or informal styles, distinguished by word choice and syntax and use both technical and non-technical registers. The settlement history of

11390-682: The continent. The Frisian languages, which together with the Anglic languages form the Anglo-Frisian languages , are the closest living relatives of English. Low German/Low Saxon is also closely related, and sometimes English, the Frisian languages, and Low German are grouped together as the North Sea Germanic languages, though this grouping remains debated. Old English evolved into Middle English , which in turn evolved into Modern English. Particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into

11524-437: The day. From summer through autumn, a brown bear can double its weight from what it was in the spring, gaining up to 180 kg (400 lb) of fat, on which it relies to make it through winter, when it becomes lethargic. Although they are not full hibernators and can be woken easily, both sexes prefer to den in a protected spot during the winter months. Hibernation dens may be located at any spot that provides cover from

11658-476: The development of English was influenced by a long series of invasions of the British Isles by other peoples and languages, particularly Old Norse and French dialects . These left a profound mark of their own on the language, so that English shows some similarities in vocabulary and grammar with many languages outside its linguistic clades —but it is not mutually intelligible with any of those languages either. Some scholars have argued that English can be considered

11792-467: The distinct characteristics of Early Modern English. In the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, written in Early Modern English, Matthew 8:20 says, "The Foxes haue holes and the birds of the ayre haue nests." This exemplifies the loss of case and its effects on sentence structure (replacement with subject–verb–object word order, and the use of of instead of the non-possessive genitive), and

11926-530: The dominant tree is the Siberian larch ( Larix sibirica ). The lake is surrounded by several mountain ranges. The highest mountain is the Bürenkhaan / Mönkh Saridag (3,492 metres (11,457 feet)), whose peak, north of the lake, lies exactly on the border with Russia . The lake freezes over completely in winter, and the ice cover is strong enough to carry heavy trucks; transport routes on its surface offer shortcuts to

12060-401: The early period of Old English were written using a runic script . By the 6th century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms . It included the runic letters wynn ⟨ ƿ ⟩ and thorn ⟨ þ ⟩ , and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ ð ⟩ , and ash ⟨ æ ⟩ . Old English is essentially

12194-539: The educational reforms of King Alfred in the 9th century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex , the West Saxon dialect became the standard written variety . The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Cædmon's Hymn , is written in Northumbrian. Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from

12328-946: The elements and that can accommodate their bodies, such as a cave, crevice, cavernous tree roots, or hollow logs. Brown bears have one of the largest brains of any extant carnivoran relative to their body size and have been shown to engage in tool use, which requires advanced cognitive abilities. This species is mostly solitary, although bears may gather in large numbers at major food sources (e.g., open garbage dumps or rivers containing spawning salmon ) and form social hierarchies based on age and size. Adult male bears are particularly aggressive and are avoided by adolescent and subadult males, both at concentrated feeding opportunities and chance encounters. Females with cubs rival adult males in aggression and are much more intolerant of other bears than single females. Young adolescent males tend to be least aggressive and have been observed in nonantagonistic interactions with each other. Dominance between bears

12462-684: The elite in England eventually developed into the Anglo-Norman language . Because Norman was spoken primarily by the elites and nobles, while the lower classes continued speaking English, the main influence of Norman was the introduction of a wide range of loanwords related to politics, legislation and prestigious social domains. Middle English also greatly simplified the inflectional system, probably in order to reconcile Old Norse and Old English, which were inflectionally different but morphologically similar. The distinction between nominative and accusative cases

12596-408: The expanding circle use it to communicate with other people from the expanding circle, so that interaction with native speakers of English plays no part in their decision to use the language. Non-native varieties of English are widely used for international communication, and speakers of one such variety often encounter features of other varieties. Very often today a conversation in English anywhere in

12730-511: The front ones being larger than the back. They may reach 5 to 6 cm (2.0 to 2.4 in) and measure 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in) along the curve. Compared with the American black bear ( Ursus americanus ), the brown bear has longer and stronger claws, with a blunt curve. Due to their claw structure, in addition to their excessive weight, adult brown bears are not able to climb trees as well as black bears. In rare cases adult female brown bears have been seen scaling trees. The claws of

12864-458: The grizzly bear of North America. Many of the populations in the southern parts of Eurasia are highly endangered as well. One of the smaller-bodied forms, the Himalayan brown bear , is critically endangered: it occupies only 2% of its former range and is threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts. The Marsican brown bear of central Italy is one of several currently isolated populations of

12998-710: The growing economic and cultural influence of the United States and its status as a superpower following the Second World War has, along with worldwide broadcasting in English by the BBC and other broadcasters, caused the language to spread across the planet much faster. In the 21st century, English is more widely spoken and written than any language has ever been. As Modern English developed, explicit norms for standard usage were published, and spread through official media such as public education and state-sponsored publications. In 1755, Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of

13132-479: The history of English was Early Modern English (1500–1700). Early Modern English was characterised by the Great Vowel Shift (1350–1700), inflectional simplification, and linguistic standardisation. The Great Vowel Shift affected the stressed long vowels of Middle English. It was a chain shift , meaning that each shift triggered a subsequent shift in the vowel system. Mid and open vowels were raised , and close vowels were broken into diphthongs . For example,

13266-407: The history of how English spread in different countries, how users acquire English, and the range of uses English has in each country. The three circles change membership over time. Countries with large communities of native speakers of English (the inner circle) include Britain, the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, where the majority speaks English, and South Africa, where

13400-403: The inner-circle countries, and they may show grammatical and phonological differences from inner-circle varieties as well. The standard English of the inner-circle countries is often taken as a norm for use of English in the outer-circle countries. In the three-circles model, countries such as Poland, China, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Egypt, and other countries where English is taught as

13534-524: The introduction of loanwords from French ( ayre ) and word replacements ( bird originally meaning "nestling" had replaced OE fugol ). By the late 18th century, the British Empire had spread English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first truly global language. English also facilitated worldwide international communication. English

13668-467: The introduction of the printing press to London. This era notably culminated in the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare . The printing press greatly standardised English spelling, which has remained largely unchanged since then, despite a wide variety of later sound shifts in English dialects. Modern English has spread around the world since the 17th century as a consequence of

13802-510: The lake's eastern shore, and 50 km north of the town of Hatgal . Khuvsgul is one of seventeen ancient lakes in the world, being more than 2 million years old, and the most pristine (apart from Lake Vostok ), as well as being the most significant drinking water reserve of Mongolia. Its water is potable without any treatment. Hovsgol is an ultra oligotrophic lake with low levels of nutrients, primary productivity and high water clarity ( Secchi depths > 18 m are common). The Lake area

13936-400: The lake, showing that even small rural populations can cause high plastics pollution levels, as high as elsewhere around the world. The park is home to a variety of wildlife such as ibex , argali , elk , wolf , wolverine , musk deer , brown bear , Siberian moose , and sable . It has also been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International . Hovsgol's fish community

14070-431: The languages have descended from a single common ancestor called Proto-Germanic . Some shared features of Germanic languages include the division of verbs into strong and weak classes, the use of modal verbs , and the sound changes affecting Proto-Indo-European consonants, known as Grimm's and Verner's laws . English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as

14204-548: The largest are primarily threatened by overhunting . The use of land for agriculture may negatively effect brown bears. Additionally, roads and railway tracks could pose a serious threat, as oncoming vehicles may collide with crossing animals. Poaching has been cited as another mortality factor. In one instance, a 3-year-long survey in the Russian Far East detected the illegal shipping of brown bear gallbladders to Southeast Asian countries. The purpose and motive behind

14338-472: The largest home range was recorded for adult males (3,143 km ; 1,214 sq mi). In the central Arctic of Canada, where food sources are quite scarce, home ranges range up to 2,434 km (940 sq mi) for females and 8,171 km (3,155 sq mi) for males. The mating season occurs from mid-May to early July, shifting to later in the year the farther north the bears are found. Being serially monogamous , brown bears remain with

14472-482: The mouth is closed or only open slightly. The "tense closed mouth face" is made with the ears laid back and the mouth closed, and occurs when the bear feels threatened. When approached by another individual, the animal makes a "puckered-lip face" with a protruding upper lip and ears that go from cocked and alert when at a certain distance to laid back when closer or when retreating. The "jaw gape face" consists of an open mouth with visible lower canines and hanging lips while

14606-422: The normal roads. However, this practice is now forbidden, to prevent pollution of the lake from both oil leaks and trucks breaking through the ice. An estimated 30–40 vehicles have broken through the ice into the lake over the years. There is a roughly elliptical island in the middle of the lake, named Wooden Boy Island , measuring 3 km east–west and 2 km north–south. It is located about 11 km from

14740-620: The population (or subspecies) in the Kodiak Archipelago , which has probably been isolated since the end of the last Ice Age . These data demonstrate that U. a. gyas , U. a. horribilis , U. a. sitkensis , and U. a. stikeenensis are not distinct or cohesive groups, and would more accurately be described as ecotypes . For example, brown bears in any particular region of the Alaska coast are more closely related to adjacent grizzly bears than to distant populations of brown bears. The history of

14874-426: The prestige varieties among the middle classes. In modern English, the loss of grammatical case is almost complete (it is now only found in pronouns, such as he and him , she and her , who and whom ), and SVO word order is mostly fixed. Some changes, such as the use of do-support , have become universalised. (Earlier English did not use the word "do" as a general auxiliary as Modern English does; at first it

15008-657: The reign of Henry V . Around 1430, the Court of Chancery in Westminster began using English in its official documents , and a new standard form of Middle English, known as Chancery Standard , developed from the dialects of London and the East Midlands . In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press to England and began publishing the first printed books in London, expanding the influence of this form of English. Literature from

15142-414: The same mate for a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Outside of this narrow time frame, adult male and female brown bears show no sexual interest in each other. Females mature sexually between the ages of four and eight. Males first mate about a year later, when they are large and strong enough to compete with other males for mating rights. Males will try to mate with as many females as they can; usually

15276-464: The sense of belonging only to people who are ethnically English . Use of English is growing country-by-country internally and for international communication. Most people learn English for practical rather than ideological reasons. Many speakers of English in Africa have become part of an "Afro-Saxon" language community that unites Africans from different countries. As decolonisation proceeded throughout

15410-418: The smallest living bear species, the sun bear ( Helarctos malayanus ), while the largest coastal populations attain sizes broadly similar to those of the largest living bear species, the polar bear . Brown bears of the interior are generally smaller, being around the same weight as an average lion , at an average of 180 kg (400 lb) in males and 135 kg (298 lb) in females, whereas adults of

15544-400: The smallest-bodied subspecies, the Himalayan brown bear ( U. a. isabellinus ), is critically endangered: it occupies only 2% of its former range and is threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts. The Marsican brown bear in central Italy is believed to have a population of just 50 bears. The smallest populations are most vulnerable to habitat loss and fragmentation , whereas

15678-478: The source of approximately 28% of Modern English words , and from Latin , which is the source of an additional 28% . As such, though most of its total vocabulary comes from Romance languages , Modern English's grammar, phonology, and most commonly used words in everyday use keep it genealogically classified under the Germanic branch. It exists on a dialect continuum with Scots and is then most closely related to

15812-703: The south. In Asia, brown bears are found primarily throughout Russia, thence more spottily southwest to parts of the Middle East, including the Eastern Black Sea Region , Turkey which has 5,432 individuals of brown bear, to as far south as southwestern Iran , and to the southeast in Northeast China. Brown bears are also found in Western China , Kyrgyzstan , North Korea , Pakistan , Afghanistan , and India . A population of brown bears can be found on

15946-474: The southern dialects. Theoretically, as late as the 900s AD, a commoner from certain (northern) parts of England could hold a conversation with a commoner from certain parts of Scandinavia. Research continues into the details of the myriad tribes in peoples in England and Scandinavia and the mutual contacts between them. The translation of Matthew 8:20 from 1000 shows examples of case endings ( nominative plural, accusative plural, genitive singular) and

16080-455: The study of English as an auxiliary language. The trademarked Globish uses a relatively small subset of English vocabulary (about 1500 words, designed to represent the highest use in international business English) in combination with the standard English grammar. Other examples include Simple English . The increased use of the English language globally has had an effect on other languages, leading to some English words being assimilated into

16214-501: The trade is unknown. An action plan in 2000 aimed to conserve brown bears in Europe by mitigating human–wildlife conflict , educating farm owners as to sustainable practices, and preserving and expanding remaining forests. Compensation was given to people who suffered losses of livestock , food supplies, or shelter. Growing bear populations were recorded in some countries, such as Sweden, where an increase of 1.5% per annum occurred between

16348-482: The vocabularies of other languages. This influence of English has led to concerns about language death , and to claims of linguistic imperialism , and has provoked resistance to the spread of English; however the number of speakers continues to increase because many people around the world think that English provides them with opportunities for better employment and improved lives. Brown bear 15, see text and article The brown bear ( Ursus arctos )

16482-473: The word bite was originally pronounced as the word beet is today, and the second vowel in the word about was pronounced as the word boot is today. The Great Vowel Shift explains many irregularities in spelling since English retains many spellings from Middle English, and it also explains why English vowel letters have very different pronunciations from the same letters in other languages. English began to rise in prestige, relative to Norman French, during

16616-785: The world may include no native speakers of English at all, even while including speakers from several different countries. This is particularly true of the shared vocabulary of mathematics and the sciences. English is a pluricentric language , which means that no one national authority sets the standard for use of the language. Spoken English, including English used in broadcasting, generally follows national pronunciation standards that are established by custom rather than by regulation. International broadcasters are usually identifiable as coming from one country rather than another through their accents , but newsreader scripts are also composed largely in international standard written English . The norms of standard written English are maintained purely by

16750-539: The world, but the number of English speakers in India is uncertain, with most scholars concluding that the United States still has more speakers of English than India. Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca , is also regarded as the first world language . English is the world's most widely used language in newspaper publishing, book publishing, international telecommunications, scientific publishing, international trade, mass entertainment, and diplomacy. English is, by international treaty,

16884-438: The worldwide influence of the British Empire and the United States. Through all types of printed and electronic media in these countries, English has become the leading language of international discourse and the lingua franca in many regions and professional contexts such as science, navigation , and law. Its modern grammar is the result of a gradual change from a dependent-marking pattern typical of Indo-European with

17018-501: The year, it is a usually solitary animal that associates only when mating or raising cubs. Females give birth to an average of one to three cubs that remain with their mother for 1.5 to 4.5 years. It is a long-lived animal, with an average lifespan of 25 years in the wild. Relative to its body size, the brown bear has an exceptionally large brain. This large brain allows for high cognitive abilities, such as tool use . Attacks on humans , though widely reported, are generally rare. While

17152-405: Was adopted in parts of North America, parts of Africa, Oceania, and many other regions. When they obtained political independence, some of the newly independent states that had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the official language to avoid the political and other difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. In the 20th century

17286-468: Was considered a " cryptid " (a hypothesized animal for which there is no scientific proof of existence in the wild). Analyses of the genomes of bears have shown that introgression between species was widespread during the evolution of the genus Ursus , including the introgression of polar-bear DNA introduced to brown bears during the Pleistocene. The brown bear is the most variable in size of modern bears. The typical size depends upon which population it

17420-531: Was established in 1997 and an extensive research program began soon thereafter. Now part of an international network of long-term study sites, the Hövsgöl LTERS provides a stage for nurturing Mongolia's scientific and environmental infrastructures, studying climate change, and developing sustainable responses to some of environmental challenges facing the lake and its watershed. Recent studies has identified high levels of plastic pollution (esp. microplastics ) in

17554-511: Was fully developed, integrating both Norse and French features; it continued to be spoken until the transition to early Modern English around 1500. Middle English literature includes Geoffrey Chaucer 's The Canterbury Tales , and Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur . In the Middle English period, the use of regional dialects in writing proliferated, and dialect traits were even used for effect by authors such as Chaucer. The next period in

17688-500: Was lost except in personal pronouns, the instrumental case was dropped, and the use of the genitive case was limited to indicating possession . The inflectional system regularised many irregular inflectional forms, and gradually simplified the system of agreement, making word order less flexible. The transition from Old to Middle English can be placed during the writing of the Ormulum . The oldest Middle English texts that were written by

17822-570: Was once native to Europe, much of Asia, the Atlas Mountains of Africa, and North America, but are now extirpated in some areas, and their populations have greatly decreased in other areas. There are approximately 200,000 brown bears left in the world. The largest populations are in Russia with 130,000, the United States with 32,500, and Canada with around 25,000. Brown bears live in Alaska , east through

17956-533: Was only used in question constructions, and even then was not obligatory. Now, do-support with the verb have is becoming increasingly standardised.) The use of progressive forms in -ing , appears to be spreading to new constructions, and forms such as had been being built are becoming more common. Regularisation of irregular forms also slowly continues (e.g. dreamed instead of dreamt ), and analytical alternatives to inflectional forms are becoming more common (e.g. more polite instead of politer ). British English

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