Historical Linguistics

The History of the English Language

Old English

HWÆT! WË GÄRDEna in geärdagum, þëodcyninga þrym gefrünon,hü ðä æþelingas ellen fremedon!Oft Scyld Scëfing sceaþena þrëatum,onegum mågþum, meodosetla oftëah,egsode eorl, syððan årest wearðfëasceaft funden. Hë þæs fröfre gebäd,wëox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum

þäh,oðþæt him åghwylc þära ymbsittendra10 ofer hronräde hÿran scolde,gomban gyldan. Þæt wæs göd cyning!

Listen! We have heard of the gloryof the Spear-Danes' people-kings in

bygone days,how then the princes performed deeds

of strength!Oft Scyld Scefing took mead-benches

awayfrom troops of enemies, from many

tribes;the warrior was terrifying, after he was

firstfound helpless. He met with consolation

for that,grew under the clouds; throve in honour,until each of the neighboursacross the whale-road had to obey him,pay tribute. That was a good king!

Beowulf (1000 AD?)Modern English Translation

Middle EnglishWhan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the

roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour, Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (so priketh hem Nature in hir corages), Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge

strondes, To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were

seeke

When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root And bathed each vein with liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower; When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath, Quickened again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun Into the Ram one half his course has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)- Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands, To distant shrines well known in sundry lands. And specially from every shire's end Of England they to Canterbury wend, The holy blessed martyr there to seek Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.

The Canterbury Tales Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer (1380-1392)

Modern English Translation

Pre-Old English

• Britain originally populated by Britons (Celts)– Spoke languages

from the Celtic family: Cornish, Pictish, Welsh, Celtic

Pre-Old English

Pre-Old English

Pre-Old English

• 43 AD: Britain conquered by Romans• 43 AD – 500 AD: Britons fight back,

driving out last Roman legions by 410 AD.

Old English

• Britain invaded by Germanic tribes– Northern Germany, Denmark, Southern

Scandanavia, Eastern Europe• Conquered by Germanic tribes by

400 AD• Different Germanic dialects merge to

create Old English, or Anglo-Saxon• Probably sounded a lot like

modern Friesian (a dialect of Dutch)

Old English

Old English

• Christianity brought to Britain by Roman missionaries in 597 AD– Brought some Latin words and Latin

grammar• 700s

– Powerful people and religious people spoke Latin, and common people spoke Anglo-Saxon

– Bede (a monk) wrote the history of English-speaking peoples (in Latin)

– Bede kept an enormous library of written Anglo-Saxon

Old English

• Beowulf– Developed 600-800

AD– Memorized and retold

(sung) by storytellers across British countryside

– Shows that English was subtle enough to convey the subtleties and scope of the human experience

Old English

• 700s– Viking invasions (from Scandinavia)

brought Old Norse language• Destroyed Bede’s library• Burned most written Anglo-Saxon

• By 865, Vikings controlled most of Britain– Old Norse threatened to take over Anglo-

Saxon like Anglo-Saxon had taken over Celtic

Old English

Old English

• 878 AD– King Alfred the Great fights back against

Vikings and saves the Anglo-Saxon language

– Vikings and British start to do business together, marry each other

– Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse begin to merge

Old English

• How did Old Norse change Anglo-Saxon?– Added new words: window, knife, they,

their them– Changed some words– Added /sk/ sound– Introduced new words for the same

thing. These words live on in modern English• Skin (Norse) / Hide (Anglo-Saxon)• Ill (Norse) / Sick (Anglo-Saxon)• Skill (Norse) / Craft (Anglo-Saxon)

Old English

• How did Old Norse change Anglo-Saxon?– Simplified rules of English grammar– Made English less Germanic– Used word order instead of inflections– Introduced prepositions instead of word

endings• Syntax change (36:00)

Old English

• Latin declined into nonexistence in England– Latin was the language of religion and

scholarship– People started losing touch with religion

and history• King Alfred wanted to save souls and

maintain Christianity in England– Commissioned religious and historical

texts in Old English so people could read them we have written records of Old English

Old English

• 1066 AD: The Battle of Hastings– King of England: King Edward– Edward considered William (a duke in

France) to be his heir– Kind Edward died– Queen’s brother Harold crowns himself

King– William invades England– Harold and William fight at the Battle of

Hastings– Harold dies, William the Conqueror

becomes King

Old English

Old English becomes Middle English

• William the Conqueror spoke Old French (Latin roots)

• William put allies in power—most spoke French

• Adapted a more French governing system (more centralized, less tribal)

• Governing and aristocratic class became French speakers

• French became the language of power• French used in military, justice,

government, business / banking

Old English becomes Middle English

• New French words added to English lexicon– Military words

• Enemi, castel, armee, archier, soudier, garison, garde

– Words for new social order• corune, trone, cort, duc, baron, nobilite,

paisant, servant, governer, liberte, autorite, obedience, traitre, serf, labourer

– Words associated with courts• felonie, arester, warant, justise, juge, juree,

acuser, aquiter, sentence, condemner, prisun, gaiole

Old English becomesMiddle English

• 1066 – 1300 AD– About 10,000 words enter English– French and Latin are official languages

of state, law, aristocracy, business, religion, scholarship, history

– English unprestigious language of common people

Old English becomesMiddle English

• Explains why we sometimes have two words for the same thing. Example: English speakers grew the food and French speakers ate it:

Old English Old French

Turkey, chicken Poultry

Cow Beef (Beouf)

Deer Venison

Pig Pork (porc)

Sheep Mutton

Calf Veal