Beowulf and the Monomyth (The Hero's Journey)

The History of England and English

World LiteratureMr. Brennan

History of England

What do you know about

…the history of England?

…the history of the English language?

Do-Now

SWBAT explain the tumultuous past of England, and identify the various influences on the development of the English language.

1. Mini-Lecture: —Anglo-Saxons and the Conquest of England

2. Mini-Lecture:

—English: A Developing Language

3. Activity: Word Origin Exercise

Learning Objective

AGENDA

Complete the Word Origin Exercise

HomeworkReminders

The Celts

The Celts• The Celts were tribal societies

originating from Iron Age Europe (c.

800-600 BC) who spoke Celtic

languages

• By mid 1st millennium AD, following

the expansion of the Roman Empire

and the Great Migrations (Migration

Period) of Germanic peoples, Celts

became restricted to Ireland and

northern Britain

• Britons took over Britain (or England)

• Gaels settled on what is now Ireland

The Romans• In 55 BC, Romans under

Julius Caesar invade Britain

• Invasion continued over the

next 100 years until the

Romans established rule

• Brought Christianity (and Latin) officially

by Emperor Constantine in A.D. 415

• Roman rule lasted more than 300 years

• Rome fell to Barbarian tribes (pagan) in A.D. 476

but Celts remained Christian

Germanic Invation• Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic

group of N. European, identified by their use of the

Germanic languages • Evidence suggests a common

culture dwelt in a region defined by

the Nordic Bronze Age between

1700—600 BC

• The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were

the Germanic tribes which began

invading the Briton’s on present

day England between 400—500

A.D.

Germanic

Invasions

of Britain(Post-Roman

Empire)Anglo-Saxon Period

Begins

Anglo-Saxons• Began invading from

Germany in 400s as the

Roman Empire

diminished

• Mainly farmers and fishermen

looking for better land

• Romans brought Christianity

to England and eventually

converted the Anglo-Saxon (spreading

Latin)

• Brought a warrior culture, seafaring tradition,

pagan beliefs, and a fatalist view of the world

Norman Conquest• As the Viking Age came to a close,

there was relative peace in England

from 886-1066.

• In the 1060s, King William from

Normandy began to oust the

Anglo-Saxons and take their lands.

• Led to the Battle of Hastings (1066)where Normans defeated the Anglo-

Saxons.

• Normans (“North men”) were descendent of Vikings who invaded France in

800s

• Normans replaced native ruling class with a foreign French-speaking monarchy

• Normans helped establish feudal system in

England (exchanging property for personal service)

English: A Developing Language

• Early written texts in Britain were in LATIN; as English was considered ‘vulgar’ and the language of the common people

MAJOR PERIODS OF ENGLISH:

• Old English (449-1100)– Norse, Celtic, Germanic and Latin

• Middle English (1100-1500) – Combined Old English w/ elements of French from the Normans

• Early Modern English (1500-1650) – Alt. vowel pronunciation (e.g. ough)

• Present Day English (1650-present) – Standardized spelling and pronouns (thoug you)

What language did Shakespeare write?

How do you pronounce “ough”?

1. Ought – awt (so, “enough” would be…)

2. Enough – enuf (so, “thorough” would

be…)

3. Thorough - thoro (so, “through” would

be…)

4. Through – throo (so, “trough” would

be…)

5. Trough – troff (Confused yet?)

There are actually 8 ways to pronounce the phoneme “ough”

Word Origins

The English language is filled with words that have come from other languages:

• Shampoo –

• Hip –

• Paper –

• Slemputrous –

Hindi

West African

Egyptian

Mr. Brennan

English in the US Today

English continues to develop

In the US alone, there are as many as 24 dialects

spoken.

However, there is no formally accepted standard of English in the US.

Your Task

Look up the origins of each word

listed in the table on Dictionary.com

Add a word of your choosing

to the blank cell in the table

and record its origin