BEFORE ENGLISH (Prehistory – c. 500 AD) 11/6/2018 BEFORE ENGLISH (Prehistory – c. 500 AD) Indo European Spread of Indo- European Languages Germanic/Celts/ Romans 11/6/2018

INDO EUROPEAN Indo-Europeans or Proto-Indo-Europeans, who lived in Eastern Europe and Central Asia from some time after 5000 BC. 11/6/2018

“comparative method” Look at daughter languages to find similarities of possible parent 11/6/2018

Protolanguage – language family Indo-European is the largest family, including those of most of Europe, North and South America, Australasia, the Iranian plateau and much of South Asia. 11/6/2018

SPREAD OF INDO EUROPEAN Languages Sometime between 3500 BC and 2500 BC, the Indo-Europeans began to fan out across Europe and Asia. 11/6/2018

By 1000 BC – Main LANGUAGE GROUPS SPLIT Hellenic Italic Indo-Iranian Celtic Germanic Armenian Balto-Slavic Albanian 11/6/2018

Common ancestry - cognates The common ancestry of these diverse languages exists in cognates (similar words in different languages). For example: three in English, tres in Latin, tris in Greek, drei in German, drie in Dutch, trí in Sanskrit. 11/6/2018

William jones - philologist Recognition of this common ancestry of Indo- European languages is usually attributed to philologist Sir William Jones in 1786. 11/6/2018

Philology? Philology is the study of language in written historical sources. Knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languages. 11/6/2018

Germanic The Germanic, or Proto- Germanic, language group can be traced back to the region between the Elbe river in modern Germany and southern Sweden some 3,000 years ago. 11/6/2018

Germanic consonants shift forward Certain consonants in the Germanic family of languages have shifted somewhat from the Indo-European base. Shifting of the “p” to “f” and the “d” to “t”. 11/6/2018

Germanic consonants shift Germanic words like the English foot West Frisian foet Danish fod Swedish fot are related to the Latin ped, Lithuanian peda, Sanskrit pada, Example: P  F D  T Lithuanian: Peda / English: Foot 11/6/2018

Early germanic tribes borrowed words Words for natural environment, sea travel, social practice, and farming were borrowed from non Indo-European tribes Environment: sea Sea travel: sail Social practice: bride Farming: dung 11/6/2018

Germanic groups split English belongs to the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. West Germanic languages in orange, yellow, and green   11/6/2018

Celts The earliest inhabitants of Britain about which anything is known are the Celts (the name from the Greek keltoi meaning "barbarian"). 11/6/2018

Celts also known as ‘britons’ By around 300 BC, the Celts had become the most widespread branch of Indo- Europeans in Iron Age Europe. 11/6/2018

Vibrant celt culture Between 500 BC and 400 BC until the Roman occupation, Celtic population in Britain kept increasing, and established a vibrant Celtic culture. 11/6/2018

Celtic British Place names Many British place names have Celtic origins, including Kent, York, London, Dover,  Thames, Avon, Trent, Severn, and Cornwall  The influence of the Celtic language itself on English is marginalized, although they were dominant in the earliest formative years 11/6/2018

Julius caesar Romans first entered Britain in 55 BC under Julius Caesar. 11/6/2018

Rome subjugates british celts They did not begin a permanent occupation until 43 AD, when Emperor Claudius sent a much better prepared force to subjugate the fierce British Celts. Queen Boudicca, or Boadicea , led a Celtic uprising against the Romans in 61 A.D. – although unsuccessful she remains a great part of Modern British Folklore 11/6/2018

400 years under roman empire Britain remained part of the Roman Empire for almost 400 years. The cultures and people interbred. This legacy takes the form of less than 200 “loanwords” coined by Roman merchants and soldiers. 11/6/2018

Loanwords from latin win (wine) butere (butter) caese (cheese) piper (pepper) 11/6/2018

Was latin spoken in Briton? The Roman Empire was failing, the Romans did a final withdrawal by 436 AD. Only the rich and noble classes ever spoke Latin, and that status is still visible today. 11/6/2018

Review Quiz Your professor will put you into groups randomly. You may not select your group. On a piece of paper, write all your names. Ask one member to clearly write the answers. Another group will check your answers and score the quiz. You can get answers to the quiz at the end. 11/6/2018

Group quiz 1. T/F Indo-Europeans or Proto-Indo- Europeans are the same people. 2. What is the comparative method? 3. By what year (B.C.) had the main language groups of Indo-Europeans split? 4. Three in English, tres in Latin, tris are examples of _____. 5. T/F Philology is the study of language in spoken historical sources 11/6/2018

Group Quiz continued 6. When we look at Germanic words like feet, we can see a _________ shift (Example: foot / peda). 7. Name two areas of life from which Germanic tribes borrowed words of predecessors. 8. T/ F English belongs to the Low Germanic branch of the Indo-European family tree. 9. Who are the earliest inhabitants of Britain in recorded history? 11/6/2018

Group quiz continued 10. When was Celtic culture most vibrant in Briton? 11. Who was Emperor of Rome in 55 B.C. when the Romans first entered Briton? 12. Britain was to be subjugated under the Roman Empire for _____ years. 13. Give two examples of Latin loanwords to English. 14. *OPEN ENDED QUESTION* If Latin was only ever spoken by the upper class (rich /educated) people of Roman Britain, what can we assume about Latin’s influence on Briton’s general population? 11/6/2018

Group quiz answers 1. T (they are the same people) 2. Look at daughter languages to find similarities of possible parent 3.1,000 B.C. 4. Cognates 5. F – WRITTEN / not SPOKEN 6. Consonant 7 natural environment, sea travel, social practice, and farming 8 F English belongs to the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. 11/6/2018

Group quiz answers continued 9. the Celts 10. Between 500 BC and 400 BC until the Roman occupation 11. Julius Caesar 12. 400 13. win (wine) butere (butter) caese (cheese) piper (pepper) 14. We can assume (most accurately guess) that Latin didn’t often come into contact with the general public. 11/6/2018