Indo-European Family
Northern European Languages English German Dutch Danish Mother Mutter Moeder moder Father Vater Vader Fader Brother Bruder Broeder broder
Other Languages Latin Greek Irish Sanskrit Persian māter mētēr māthair Mādar pater patēr athair pitŗ pidar frater phrātēr brāthair bhrātŗ birādar
Cause of Similarities Not explained by borrowing Descendants of a single parent language, or proto-language Does not exist in any recorded form Became extinct before written records existed
Proto-Language Origins It is believed that tribes settled near Crimea during the 5th through 3rd millennia B.C. 3500 B..C. Successive waves moved westward and southward As groups became isolated, language developed in different directions Multiple branches occurred
Germanic (Teutonic) Where English comes from Became divided into 3 groups East: did not survive to modern times North: Scandinavian countries West: German, Dutch, Flemish, English
Italic Originally several Italic languages Latin won out when Rome came to dominance Descendants usually called Romance languages French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian Romanian
Hellenic Greek Descendant of the Classical Greek of Plato and Aristotle The common Greek dialect used to write the New Testament
Celtic 2000 years ago spoken throughout western Europe France (Gaul), Spain, Great Britain Latin replaced much of the Celtic language in its regions Anglo-Saxon replaced in Britain Descendants are Breton and Gaelic Brittany, Ireland, Wales
Summary of Proto-Language Due to common ancestor, they are called cognate languages Indo-European only one of a number of language families throughout the world The others have not been studied as much, and so do not have a universal consensus as to their origins
Development of English Language Words are borrowed from other nations with whom we have frequent contact
Romano-Celtic Period 50 B.C. – A.D. 410 British Isles People began arriving around 1000 B.C. First foreign invaders were the Romans Established control over southern and eastern islands
Extent of Roman Invasion Did not conquer Ireland or Scotland
Old English 450 to 1066 3 closely related tribes speaking West Germanic moved in around 350 Movements of German tribes caused the Romans to retreat Believed that Romano-British hired Germans to keep out the Picts (Scottish) Were not paid, so they stayed and established the Kingdom of Kent This invasion was followed by Saxon settlements Essex (East Saxony) Wessex (West Saxony) Sussex (South Saxony And the London area
Words from O.E. Pronouns: I, we, you, he, it, the , this, that , who, what, mine, your, each, any Comparisons: good, better, best, evil, worst Conjugations: bid, bade, bidden; sing, sang, sung Basic vocab: love, say, live, have, own, do, be, will, bury, name, reach, long, strong, high, quick, sun, food, hand, finger, friend, stone, earth
O.E. cont. Saxons were followed by the Angles The name England comes from Angles Land Literature from O.E. period Anglo-Saxon Chronicles Beoowulf “The Wanderer” “The Seafarer”