Influence of Latin on Old English By Kenneth Estrada, Dave Hovemeyer, Liz Rozansky, and Sarah Seitz

Pre-Germanic Migration Before the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes migrated to Britain, they traded and fought with the Latin-speaking Roman Empire (Gramley). As a result, the Germanic tribes adopted many Latin words for common objects, food, trade, and military practices into their vocabulary. Common objects: cup, dish, pillow, spoon, table Food: butter, cheese, mustard, onion, pepper Trade: bottle, coin, pound, tradesman, wine Military: camp, mile, pit, street, wall These words were later brought to Britain through migration and incorporated into the English language.

Role of Christianity Anglo-Saxon period: 6th and 7th century (Gramley) Christian missionaries brought many Latin religious terms to Britain. These words include angel, bishop, chalice, mass, myrrh, nun, organ, pope, priest, psalm, sabbath (Macmillan). Catholic monks generally wrote texts in Latin. When translating the texts, monks tried to find suitable Old English equivalents. When equivalents could not be found, the original Latin words were incorporated into the Old English lexicon.

Latin as a Pervading Influence Sometimes, instead of Latin words, Germanic words were adapted and given new meanings. Old Germanic: bletsian- to make ‘sacred’ or ‘holy’ with blood; to consecrate by some sacrificial rite Old English: bless- to consecrate (a thing) by a religious rite, the utterance of a formula or charm (OED) While the words adapted were Germanic, Old Germanic contained Latin influences. “Latin in German (2)”

Norman Conquest Occured in 1066 (Gramley) Aristocracy spoke Anglo-Norman while lower class spoke English. Until Henry IV of England ascended the throne in 1399, the royal court spoke a Norman language that became increasingly Gallicized through contact with French. Norman influence caused a decrease in the influx of Latin lexical borrowings. Latin-based Old Norse became more popularly adopted.

Works Cited Gramley, Stephan. "The origins of English (before 450)" The History of English: An Introduction. London: Routledge, 2012. 52. Print. "Latin in German (2)." About.com. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. Macmillan, Palgrave. “Word Lists- Latin Loan Words.” Palgrave. Web. Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, Web. 15 Feb. 2014.