History of the English

Language
History of the English
Language

 A language develops
and changes slowly over
centuries. We do not
know when the English
language started.
 Celtic People

The Celts immigrated to England

in the 5th century B.C. and drove out
the Stonehenge people. Since the
Celts wandered over areas from
Spain to Russia and Britain, the Celtic
language was spoken over a vast area
of the European continent. (BBC, British History,
timelines)

Pronunciation guide: Celt (hard c - k)

In Celtic culture,
the Druids were
the priestly class
in
Celtic polytheism.
(BBC, British History, timelines)

Dictionary skills:
polytheism
 The Celtic language survives today
in the language spoken by the Scotch
Gaelic, Irish, Welsh, and Breton.
Celtic names are used for many
places in Britain. One British town has
this Celtic name: Lian \ vire \
pooll \ guin \ gill \ go \ ger \
u \ queem \ drop \ ooll \
llandus\ illo \ gogo \ goch!
 The Romans
In 43 A.D., an army of 40,000
Roman soldiers invaded Celtic Britain
and made it part of the Roman Empire.
In the 400 years the Romans ruled
Britain, they introduced Christianity,
Latin, built roads, established Roman
laws, and protected the Celts from the
fierce Picts and Scots on the north side
of Hadrian’s Wall. Research skills:
 Hadrian’s Wall
Hadrian’s
Wall was
built across
the narrow
part of
England to
keep the
Pics and
Scots from
invading the
south.
 Romans
spoke Latin. * Roman Soldier
Roman soldiers
were exellent
engineers and
built roads to
link Rome with all
the Roman
Empire.
*Research: Why is it
important to the
English language that
Romans spoke Latin?
(BBC, British History,
timelines)
 The Romans

The Romans (Italy)

Romans soldiers
came from the area we
call Italy today. The
city of Rome is still the
capital of Italy. Rome

After serving in the

army, many soldiers
married Celtic women
and stayed in England.
 Italy and England on a map of
Europe.

England

Italy
 End of Roman Rule
410 A.D.
The Romans started pulling soldiers
from Britain in 410 A.D. after 400 years
of Roman rule. Rome, the capital of the
Roman Empire, was under attacks from
barbaric tribes. The Celts were left
without the protection of the Roman
army and with no weapons to defend
themselves. (BBC, British History, timelines)
After Scandinavia
the
Romans
left, the
Picts and Scandinavia
Scots
came
south
into
England. Bands of Vikings
came south from
Scandinavia.
 After 300 years of Roman
protection, the Celts were civilized
and accustomed to Roman laws. (Bryson
46-47)

Since the Celts had Roman

protection for 400 years, they
were defenseless against the Pict,
Scot, and Viking raiders. (BBC, British History,
timelines)
 The Jutes Come to Britain

Vortigern, a Celtic chieftain, asked

the Jutes, a Germanic tribe, to come to
Britain and fight the Picts and Scots. In
return, Vortigern promised that Jutes
could have the isle of Thanet. The Jutes
defeated the Picts and Scots, but when
they finished fighting, the Jutes stayed in
Kent. (BBC, British History, timelines)
Why did the Jutes want to stay?
Britain is a beautiful island and located in the
path of the Gulf Stream waters. This huge river
of warm water provides a warmer climate than
one would expect at that latitude and excellent
grazing and farm land. (BBC Weather Centre)
 Jute, Angle, and Saxon Invasion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/who_were_th
e_anglo-saxons/#resources-photos
 The Jutes,
Angles, and
Saxons tribes
spoke German
although each
spoke a different
dialect. (Bryson, 47)
Dictionary skills:
dialect
 The Celts,
renamed Wealas
(foreigners), were
driven west by the
Angles and Saxons,
settled in Wales.
The present day
heir to the English
throne, Prince
Charles, is titled the
Prince of Wales.
Welch is a form of
the Celtic language.
 By the middle of the 6th century, the
Jutes, Angles, and Saxons were settled
on the land they had taken from the
Celts. Historians decided that the
Angles’ dialect was the origin of our
language, Angle – ish, English. Our
language could be called Saxon-ish
because of a Saxon king, Alfred the
Great.
Research: Saxon, English, Alfred the Great
(bbc.co.uk/history/trail/conquest/after_viking/sound)
 King Alfred the Great was a scholar,
statesman, and general who ruled the
West Saxons from 871 to 899 A.D. He
had the most important Latin books
translated into the Saxon dialect and
collected folk tales and history. King
Alfred’s love of reading, writing, and
language preserved our language during
the Dark Ages .
Research: King Alfred the Great
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alfred_the_great.sht
ml)
Saxons, etc.*
*Etc. (et cetera) – and so forth (L) Latin

The language known as Old English

was spoken 450 A.D. – 1150 A.D.
Most surviving Old English
documents are in West Saxon dialect.
Beowulf is one of these.
Library search: “Beowulf”
 The Vikings
Vikings came from Scandinavia
and Denmark. There were many
places on the British island to beach
their boats and raid the English
countryside.
Internet – Interactive game: Be a Viking Raider.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/v
ikings/who_were_the_vikings/
Decide your strategy:
How large will your ship be?
Who will you include in the crew?
 In the century following 878
A.D., the Viking invaders kept
coming. Finally, in 1016, a Danish
Viking named Canute (Cnut) was
crowned King of England. Cnut
ruled Denmark and Norway. He
was wise and humble king.
bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/what_happened_
to_the_anglo-saxons/
Meanwhile, England … 1066

Edward the Confessor, a descendant

of King Canute, had no heir to claim
the throne of England.
Two Norman nobles, Harold of
England and William, Duke of
Normandy, said the throne had been
promised to them.
Upon the death of the king, Harold
had himself crowned.
 The Vikings gradually stopped
speaking Danish or Norse and
learned English. However, they
gave us such words as:
they, their, them, are, skirt, sky,
skin, scrub, whisk,
and names ending in –son.
bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings/what_happened_to_th
e_vikings/
 French Vikings, the Normans

Scandinavian Viking bands invaded the

northern coast of France, settled there,
and learned French. They forced the
French king to name their leader the
Duke of Normandy and to give them the
province of Normandy (Northman
lands). They were called Normans
(Northmen).
 1066, the Battle of Hastings
William, Duke of Normandy, and his
Norman army crossed the English
Channel, invaded England, and attacked
army of newly crowned King Harold of
England. Harold was killed when an
arrow entered his visor and pierced his
eye. William the Conqueror became
King of England.
The Normans built
towers and castles in
a style quite different
from the old Celtic hill
forts.
 Normans
The Normans (Northmen)
nobles spoke
French with a
Viking accent.
The peasants
spoke the
English of the
German Saxon
tribe.
 For 200 hundred years after 1066,
French was the language in the
government, church, education, and the
arts. English was spoken, but only by
the lower classes. Modern English has
inherited two different words for the
same item. For example, the peasant
who milked the beast called it a cow
(Engl.), but the Norman lord who ate it
called it beef (FR.).
How English Became Classy Again

In 1204, the Anglo-Normans

and the French king fought once
more for possession of
Normandy. The Anglo-Normans
lost the battle and their
possessions in Normandy to the
French king.
 English Became Classy

The King of France added insult to

the English king’s loss of Normandy. He
said, “The King of England can’t fight or
speak French well.”
The English king was angry! He
ordered all his subjects to speak English.
English was the official speech of
England.
Interesting Facts about modern English

• Our language has over 600,000

words.

• Words from German origins are

those we use most frequently because
these are about us and our immediate
world. (Bryson

• Words from Latin and Greek form

most of the words in the English
dictionary.
 We use Germanic words when we
talk about everyday, essential things of
life, such as the parts of the human
body, the sun, moon, and stars, and
home.

German words are the most

frequently used, but words from
German make up only one fifth of our
total vocabulary words.
.
 About three fifths of our vocabulary
came originally from Latin and Greek…
usually passing through French on the
way.
The rest of the English word stock is
borrowed from dozens of other languages.

(Glencoe Writer’s Choice Grammar and Composition Grade 6, 542-556)

 The Language Family Tree
The Indo-European languages are called
a language family because they are believed
to be the descendants of a parent language
spoken in Central Europe in the late Stone
Age. There are no written records; but
similar words in many languages have made
it possible to reconstruct the possible original
forms. On the next slide there are some
common Indo-European words.
(Classroom chart, no origin)
Indo-E Sanskrit Russian Greek Latin Germ Engl.
Modern Early Modern
Puhter Pita ….. Pater Pater Fadar Father

Treies Trayah Tree Treis Tres Threis Three

Kmtom Satam Staw E-katon Centum Hund Hundred

Ed- Admi Yest Edo Edo Ita Eat

Yugom Yugam Yarmo Dzugon Jugum Juk Yoke

Bhero Bharami … Fero Fero Baira Bear (verb)

(Classroom Chart, no source cited)