1. The making of English is the story of three invasions and a cultural revolution

2. Origins of Old English: Invasion #1
brought to Britain by invading Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (AD 449). Germanic tongues developed into “Old English”
-the Anglo-Saxons overwhelmed the Celtic tribes; Old English contains scarcely a dozen Celtic words. Celtic languages still survive in western fringe areas.
-the 100 most common words in English today are all of Anglo-Saxon origin (eg. the, is, you, here, there, sheep, dog, ox, earth, wood, field, work)

3. A Cultural Revolution Contributes to Old English
Christianity brought a large Latin vocabulary to England in AD 597 (St. Augustine) of these words survive to the present (eg. devil, shrine, angel, and other words from the East such as orange, pepper, ginger; also street, kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, bishop, martyr, candle)
Christian monks provided additional education in poetry, astronomy, math

4. Viking Invasions Add New Germanic Vocabulary and Influences to Old English (invasion #2, AD )
Invaders from Norway colonized parts of the British Isles, many words borrowed in: sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window
Danes (aka “Norsemen”) conquered Northern France (Normandy) and from there later England (invasion #3)
Above groups known as “Vikings”
Alfred the Great (English King) later did much to restore schools, monasteries and institute English prose (late 800s)

5. Normans of Northern France Invade England (invasion #3, 1066 AD)
Dominated government of England for next 300 yrs.
gov’t., law, religion, science, literature were conducted in French and Latin
French established as the smart language carrying cultural and social prestige, ~10,000 words added
Latin dominated as the language of religion and learning
English vernacular survived as commoner speech

6. Examples of “Elite” French in English
kingly in Anglo Saxon
Normans: royal, regal, sovereign
Horse in Anglo-Saxon
Equestrian
Curious about the origins of English? See
Or Google <english history language development index>