Brain Stretcher What do the following words have in common? Baxter Brewster Spinster
Question Time Which language or languages are NOT related to English? 1. Chinese 2. French 3. Romanian 4. Persian / Farsi 5. Greek 6. Sanskrit
Did you know….? England, the home of English, is named for some of our wonderful “barbarian” friends. HINT: What is the French for England?
The First Inhabitants of England Britons Picts Gaelic (Irish) Known collectively as the Celts
Celtic Tribes & and Words from Celtic Languages Brock Bog Keening Clan Basket Hog
Roman Britain
Enter the Germanic Tribes
Old English (500 – 1100) The first epic poem in English
BEOWULF : The Prologue
The Lord's Prayer (Old English - Anglo-Saxon) Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum; Si þin nama gehalgod to becume þin rice gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice Translation of Old English Text
The Danes / Vikings / Norse (800)
Viking Words 1. Want 2. Uggligr 3. Berserk 4. Knifr 5. Husbondi 6. Freckle 7. Kaka (not what you think!) 8. Elf & troll 9. Scream 10. They / them / their And 100’s more!
Middle English (1100 – 1500) Marked by the coming of the Normans…
English becomes the THIRD language after French and Latin. The French were the rulers so all of the fancy words and words concerning government came from French or Latin. Words concerning common everyday stuff remained English.
Name that Animal / Food Moo Oink Baa
Is it French (Latin) or is it English? Swan / cygnet Demand / ask Wish / desire Room / chamber Liberty / freedom
Famous Middle English Poem by Geoffrey Chaucer
Whan that aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of march hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (so priketh hem nature in hir corages); Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; And specially from every shires ende Of engelond to caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. Here begins the Book of the Tales of Canterbury When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root And bathed each vein with liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath, Quickened again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun Into the Ram one half his course has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)- Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands, To distant shrines well known in sundry lands. And specially from every shire's end Of England they to Canterbury wend, The holy blessed martyr there to seek
How far back in time could you go and still understand English?
Modern English