Today’s Standard Vocabulary and Concept Development 1.2 Understand the most important points in the history of English language.

Where did our English language come from?

From England, duh! Don’t you remember the founding of the original 13 colonies by English settlers? But….

How did England get English? The history of the language can be traced back to the arrival of three Germanic tribes to 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. The inhabitants of Britain previously spoke a Celtic language. This was quickly displaced. The Angles were named from Engle, their land of origin. Their language was called Englisc from which the word, English derives. An Anglo-Saxon inscription dated between 450 and 480AD is the oldest sample of the English language. The Latin Alphabet was brought over from Ireland by Christian missionaries. This has remained the writing system of English.

A big change occurred in 1066! Bonjour! A big change occurred in 1066! A Norman, William the Conquerer, invaded Britain and took over. The Normans spoke French, so after Britain was conquered the upper class spoke French and the peasants continued to speak Anglo-Saxon. The two languages eventually melded and became Middle English. This evolved into the Modern English that we speak today. Fancier words in our language come from French: military, government, cuisine, interesting, sympathetic. Simpler, ordinary, work words came from Anglo-Saxon: iron, sheep, from, sick.

English continues to evolve today. It is the 2nd most commonly spoken language in the world. Where is English spoken? Jamaica Kenya Kiribati Lesotho Liberia Malawi Malta Mauritius Namibia Nauru New Zealand Nigeria Pakistan Papua New Guinea Philippines Puerto Rico St Christopher and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore South Africa Surinam Swaziland Tanzania Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tuvalu Uganda United Kingdom United States of America Vanatu Western Samoa Zambia Zimbabwe Antigua Australia Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda Botswana Brunei Cameroon Canada Dominica Fiji Gambia Ghana Grenada Guyana India Ireland

Some causes of recent change and expansion of English are: The major addition of technology to our culture. As a result we now have words like byte, internet, techie, website, browser. 2. The proximity to Mexico and the increase in Spanish speaking immigrants. As a result we now have words like casa, burrito, adios, barrio. The increasing popularity of slang in our culture. As a result we now have words like def, hood, bling bling, sick, phat.

English - A Historical Summary Summary of influences on English

Recap of most important points in the history of English: Some Germanic tribes settled in Britain bringing their Anglo-Saxon language (Englisc). Christian missionaries brought Latin to the region. The tribes were conquered by the Normans who spoke French. Anglo-Saxons then became the working class. These different language influences melded to create Middle English. Middle English evolved and took on new words. (Shakespeare contributed many that he created!) Our Modern English came about. English continues to grow and change. Have you got it?