Ever wonder where all the words we use come from?

Most of the English words we use are actually part of what linguists (language scholars) call a family— the Indo-European language family!

The Indo-European Language Family

Linguists think our language family began thousands years ago with a people living near the Black Sea. As they spread out in smaller groups, different languages developed, which show similarities.

Indo-European Family Tree

But in 1066 came The Battle of Hastings: England was conquered by France! William the Conqueror crossed from Normandy northwest to Hastings, England!

English is basically Anglo-Saxon and part of the Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, but the French conquered England in 1066: that conquest lasted for hundreds of years and influenced the development of the English language drastically. Our oldest, easiest, most commonly used English words are Germanic; the longer and more difficult words usually have Latin origins, much of that coming from French influence..

The next slide shows our Pledge of Allegiance! The white words are Germanic in origin; the red words have Latin roots. Do the majority of the words come from— the German or Latin branches?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all! How many of those words are Germanic and how many have Latin roots? Which words are longer and more difficult? Do you think the person who wrote the pledge was well-educated or not? Can you rephrase “I pledge allegiance to” in easier words?

So we’ve seen that German and Latin both play a pretty important part in the words we use every day. The oldest, easiest, and most commonly used words in English are closely related to modern German words; more difficult words in English often have roots in Latin. German Latin Sonne/sunsol/ solar Mond/ moonluna/ lunar Hand/ handmanus/ manual

Which language family represents what your ancestors spoke? Do some of you have family members or ancestors that represent a language family other than the Indo-European family?