The History of the English Language Old English

English Is a Germanic language of the Indo-European family. It is the second most spoken language in the world. What is the most spoken language in the world?

Official Language Majority English speaking populations: Antigua New Zealand Australia St. Lucia Bahamas St. Vincent Belize South Africa Canada Trinidad and Tobago Dominica United Kingdom Grenada U.S.A Guyana Ireland *More than listed English is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken extensively where it has no official status.

Old English (450-1150) Celts inhabit and colonize British Isles Language relative of Welsh (whiskey, bog) Three Germanic tribes invade the British Isles during the 5th Century AD. Angles, Saxons, and Jutes crossed the North Sea from what is the present day Denmark and northern Germany. Begin Anglo-Saxon settlements

Old English Most of the Celtic speakers were pushed into Wales, Cornwall, and Scotland. English derives from Angles’ language Anglo-Saxon language covers most of modern day England

Old English Development of four English dialects during next few centuries: Northumbrian Mercian West Saxon Kentish As time went on, Northumbria’s culture and language dominated Britain. The Vikings invasion of the 9th Century brought this domination to an end. Scandinavian influence By the 10th Century, the West Saxon dialect became the official language of Britain.

Old English Old English consisted of an Anglo Saxon base with borrowed words from the Scandinavian languages (Danish and Norse) and Latin. Scandinavian ‘sk’ vs. English ‘sh’. There are many pairs of words in English with these phonetic differences which originally had the same meaning: skirt and shirt; raise and rear; screech and shriek Latin gave English words like: street, kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, angel, bishop, martyr, candle The Vikings added many Norse words like: sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window. Celtic words also survived mainly in place and river names: Devon, Dover, Kent, Avon, Thames

Old English In 1066 the Normans conquered Britain (Battle of Hastings). French became the language of the Norman aristocracy and added more vocabulary to English. Because the English underclass cooked for the Norman upper class, the words for most domestic animals are English while the words for the meats derived from French.

Old English: Interesting Tidbits The Germanic form of plurals (house:housen; shoe:shoen) was eventually displaced by the French method of making plurals Only a few words have retained their Germanic plurals: oxen, feet, teeth, children French also affected spelling so that the cw sound came to be written as qu (cween)

Old English It wasn’t until the 14th Century that English became dominant in Britain again. By the end of the 14th Century, the dialect of London had emerged as the standard dialect of what we now call Middle English.

Old English: Excerpt from Beowulf: Hwæt w‘ Gâr-Dena in geâr-dagum So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by þ‘od-cyninga þrym gefrãnon, and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. hã ð~ æþelingas ellen fremedon. We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns. Oft Scyld Sc‘fing sceaþena þr‘atum, There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes, 5 monegum mægþum meodo-setla oft‘ah; a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes. egsode Eorle, syððan ærest wearð This terror of the hall-troops had come far. f‘asceaft funden; h‘ þæs frÇfre geb~d: A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on w‘ox under wolcnum, weorð-myndum þ~h, as his powers waxed and his worth was proved.oðþæt him æghwylc þ~ra ymb-sittendra In the end each clan on the outlying coasts 10 ofer hron-r~de hyran scolde, beyond the whale-road had to yield to him gomban gyldan: þæt wæs gÇd cyning! and began to pay tribute. That was one good king 1-21 HWÆT, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum,  þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon,  hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!  oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,  monegum mægþum meodosetla ofteah,  egsode eorlas, syððanærest wearð feasceaft funden; he þæs frofre gebad, weox under wolcnum weorðmyndum þah, oð þæt him æghwylc ymbsittendra ofer hronrade hyran scolde,  gomban gyldan; þæt wæs god cyning!  Ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned  geong in geardum, þone God sende  folce to frofre; fyrenðearfe ongeat,  þe hie ær drugon aldorlease  lange hwile; him þæs Liffrea,  wuldres Wealdend woroldare forgeaf,  Beowulf wæs breme --- blæd wide sprang-

Old English Important Takeaways: Old English: 450-1150 Norman Invasion: 1066 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K13GJkGvDw