THE CELTS

 Earliest known inhabitants of the island

 Indo-european tribe

 Ancestors of the Scots, welsh, and Irish

 They spoke their own language: Celtic

 Peaceful (they couldn't defend the island when the Romans invaded)

 After the Roman invasion they continued to speak Celtic, but many wanted to get on and
learned Latin

 Some examples of Celtic are : Crag (rock); combe (deep valley), Brat and brock (badger)

THE ROMANS

 Also Indo-europeans and invaded Britain two times (BC 55), but the real settlement was in
43 AD.

 Became masters of Britain (which they called "Britannia") that became a province of
their empire

 Built towns and roads that still remain

 Also built pipes ans heating systems

 They were warlike

 Were an advanced civilization

 Brought the skills of reading and writing which helped them establish power. They
brought their language, LATIN which became the official language.

 Lost control of the island in the 5th century and were withdrawn because their Empire was
collapsing / crumbling

THE SAXON INVASION

THE INVADERS

 Germanic tribes: JUTES (Kent), ANGLES (East and N. Midlands) and SAXONS (Between
Angles and Jutes)

 Came from Denmark and Northen Germany

 Gave the name England (The land of the Angles)

  Were farmers when not at war and came for the fertility of the island (introduced new
methods of farming).

 WARRIORS

 They slaughter most of the Celts (some survived and moved to the north and west part of
the island)

 Ancestors of the English language

 They spoke Englisc (a mixed of germanic dialects) which then developed into Old English

 There were 4 different dialects Kentish, West Saxon, Mercian and Northumbrian

 They divided into 7 kingdoms (heptarchy): Kent, Northumbria, Sussex, Wessex, Essex,
East Anglia and Mercia. (The chief center of culture was Kent (6th), then Northumbria
(8th- centres of learning, BEDE'S MONASTERY WAS THERE, then to Mercia and finally to
Wessex)

 Some examples of the influence of the Germanic dialects in modern English are: The -ing
ending meaning "the people of" as in Dorking. The -ton anding meaning "village as in
Bridlington. -ham ending meaning "farm". And from the dialects developed Old English,
some examples of OE words are: youth, son, daughter, field, friend, go, in, on, into.

 The used runes to write until St. Augustine brought Christianity to Britain (7th) and with it
he brought Latin and its script (the possibility of writing BOOKS)which English
adopted. OE was written using Latin alphabet and retained some old runes as letters.

 Bede wrote the first history of the English people (Ecclesiastical History of the English People
); the bible was translated and the language became capable of recording.

THE VIKINGS

 Scandinavians, Danes

 Came twice, the first time they burnt monasteries and churches. The second time, 865,
they settle, accepted Christianity and didn't disturbed the local population

 WARRIORS

 They spread OLD NORSE all over the country and OE was facing oblivion

 King Alfred made a treaty with them, DANELAW. Vikings ruled the east and north of
England (that part of England was also named Danelaw)

 King Alfred "the Great" is said to be the defender of the English Language because he was
determined to defeat the Vikings so as to preserved the language
  Pagan

 They spoke OLD NORSE

 They became Englishmen and words from their language were added to English: man, wife,
mother, house, think, winter, summer,sky, stream, etc. Also endings of places like "-by"
(farm) as in Easby, Rudby, "-thorpe" (village)as in Fulthorpe, "-thwaite" (portion of land),
Names ending in "-son" (the son of) Harrison, Robson, etc.

 It simplify OE adding Prepositions and word order and taking OE away from its Germanic
roots.

OLD ENGLISH

IT DEVELOPED FROM THE GERMANIC DIALECTS AND ADDED SOME WORDS FROM THE
VIKINGS AND FROM LATIN ALSO. WORDS FROM MODERN ENGLISH HAVE OLD ENGLISH
ROOTS (be, strong, water)

THE NORMAN CONQUEST - MIDDLE ENGLISH (1066 - 1500)

 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy invaded Britain in 1066

 Normans brought OLD FRENCH

 FOR 300 YEARS ENGLISH WASN'T THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE ISLAND

 French: official language for business, government, state, law. Latin: language of the church
and education.

 English was only spoken by the lower classes

 When English re-emerged it had changed. Many words from French were added (most of
them related to law and government and food.), examples: crown, throne, court, army, jury,
prison, jail, sugar, pork, etc

 This mixture of OE and OF was called MIDDLE ENGLISH

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH (1500 - 1800)

 Towards its end ME made a sudden change in pronunciation.

 With the Renaissance of Classical learning many new words entered the language
  THE PRINTING PRESS (1476) brough an standardization of the language. Spelling and
grammar became fixed.

 In 1604 the first English dictionary was published

LATE MODERN ENGLISH

 INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION and TECHNOLOGY created a need for new words.

 Engish language adopted foreing words from many countries.