History of the English

Language

How Does a Language Begin?

Indo European Language Tree

BC• 2500 BC – First

Monoliths (megaliths) are constructed for an unknown purpose.

•2000 – Invaders from the Iberian (Portugal and Spain) Peninsula come to the main island of Britain

Early People in England• English began in 5th Century A.D. • England’s earliest inhabitants built

Stonehenge, a mysterious circle of huge boulders. They left no written record of their language.

• The Stonehenge people were driven out by the Celts, more advanced tribes from Europe.

• The Celts brought cattle, metal tools, the wheel – and their Celtic language.

Prehistoric Britain

• 600 BC – Celts (One of an Indo-European people originally of central Europe and spreading to western Europe, the British Isles, and southeast to Galatia during pre-Roman times, especially a Briton or Gaul) begin infiltrating Britain and eventually become the dominant people.

Roman Britain

• 55 BC – First invasion of the Romans by Julius Caesar

Southern Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar in 55 and 54 BC and who wrote about it in De Bello Gallico, mentioning that the population of southern Britannia was extremely large and had many common features. Coins that were in circulation at that time also throw some light on the work of later Roman historians and provide the names of some of the rulers of the disparate tribes at that time.

Commentarii de Bello Gallico (English: Commentaries on the Gallic War) is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine years he spent fighting local armies in Gaul that opposed Roman domination. The "Gaul" that Caesar refers to is sometimes all of Gaul except for the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis (modern day Provence), encompassing the rest of modern France, Belgium and some of Switzerland. On other occasions, he refers only to that territory inhabited by the Celtic peoples known to the Romans as Gauls, from the English Channel to Lugdunum (Lyon).

The Celts & the Romans

• Romans conquered Celts who then lived on hilltops or became slaves.

• English adopted words from Celts, i.e., Lincoln, London, Trent, & Thames, shamrock ['ʃæmrɒk], galore /gə'lɔ:(r)/ (Irish), plaid /plæd/, slogan, whiskey (Scottish), and crag [kræg], gull /gʌl/, and penguin /'peŋgwɪn/ (Welsh).

How did Britain get its name?

Anno Domini • – Successful full scale invasion of

Britain by the Roman Empire

• – Celt tribes are prevelant despite Roman invasion

The term Anno Domini is Medieval Latin, translated as In the year of (the/Our) Lord. It is sometimes specified more fully as Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ").

Dionysius Exiguus invented Anno Domini years to date Easter.

• -Construction of Hadrian's Wall to keep out the Picts and Scots

• Any member of an ancient people of what is now eastern and northeastern Scotland. The name (from Latin picti, "painted") referred to their body painting or tattooing. They were probably descended from pre-Celtic peoples. They attacked Hadrian's Wall in 297 and warred constantly with the Romans. They united their two kingdoms by the 7th century and converted to Christianity, and in 843 Kenneth I, king of the Scots, included them in the kingdom of Alba, later Scotland

- Lucius Artorius Castus- commander of a detachment(mil destacamento) of Sarmatian conscripts(recluta) stationed in Britain, some believe that this Roman military man is the original, or basis, for the Arthurian legend

The Anglo-Saxon Invasion Begins

450 - Anglo-Saxon Era

Roman rule in Britain started crumbling around 410 and present day England was progressively settled by Germanic groups including Jutes, Frisians, Saxons and Angles who were collectively known as Anglo-Saxons.

Anglo-Saxons is the name collectively applied to the descendants of the Germanic people who settled in Britain between the late 4th and early 7th cents. Their backgrounds varied. Some came as mercenaries, others as invaders. They included, besides Angles and Saxons, Jutes and other groups. The eventual use of the name ‘English’ and ‘England’ for people and territory probably owes something to Bede, whose History of the English People dealt with the whole

The Jutes, Angles & Saxons• The Romans brought in Latin & stayed in England for

over 400 years. Recorded history in the year 55 BC Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, the Celts were the dominant residents

• English got its start from the Denmark tribe, the Jutes, but the language really arrived with the Angles & Saxons. Groups of Germanic warriors

from today Denmark and Northern Germany English, the language of the Angles, replaced the old

Celtic language• The word “Angles” gradually changed into the word

“English.” the country became England

What two languages influenced the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes?

Answer:

Britain got its name from the Celtic tribe

of Britons.

Old Englishcovered a period of approximately 700 years

• By the mid-6th century, the Celts’ former lands were settled by Angles, Saxons, & Jutes.

• These Germanic tribes all spoke dialects similar to Dutch or Low German.

• “Old English” is considered the Anglo-Saxon language.

He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The Father of English History".

 Beowulf /beɪəwʊlf/ is the editorial title of a long heroic poem considered the supreme achievement of Anglo-Saxon poetry because of its length (3182 lines) and sustained high quality,

Briefly, it is the poetic presentation of a man Beowulf as the ideal example of Germanic heroic culture, treated for a Christian audience with an explicit symbolism of the conflict of man with the powers of evil.

Bede

Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in geārdagum,

þēodcyninga, þrym gefrūnon,

hū ðā æþelingas ellen fremedon.

Oft Scyld Scēfing sceaþena þrēatum,

monegum mǣgþum, meodosetla oftēah,

egsode eorlas. Syððan ǣrest wearð

fēasceaft funden, hē þæs frōfre gebād,

wēox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þāh,

oðþæt him ǣghwylc þāra ymbsittendra

ofer hronrāde hȳran scolde,

gomban gyldan. Þæt wæs gōd cyning!

Old English

Beowulf lines 1 to 11, approximately AD 900

Video-5.flv

Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kingsof spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,awing the earls. Since erst he layfriendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,till before him the folk, both far and near,who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,gave him gifts: a good king he!

The Germanic Base of English

English: hand finger water house bring drink German: hand finger wasser haus bringen trinken

• Germanic words make up just one-fifth of our vocabulary and are the foundation of English. For example:

• Parts of the body: hand, thumb, leg, ankle, hip• Family: man, wife, child• Nature: sun, moon, stars• Relationships: love, hate, friend• Basic Needs: sleep, wake, hungry, food, meat, milk, floor, roof

The Vikings• The Vikings regained their power in England. • The people spoke a Germanic language, and

could not understand the Jutes, Angles, & Saxons.

• The Vikings gradually began speaking English. They added Danish and Norse words, such as steak, knife, birth, dirt, fellow, guess, leg, loan, seat, sister, egg, happy, rotten, husband, get, rid, skin, wrong, want, lift, loose, low, odd, both, call, die.

“Vikings” lived in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden in early medieval times- 700-1200 A.D.

The origin of the word Viking isunclear as it was a name given to the Norse by the English using the old Norse word “vik” or “explorer” or “adventurer.” In their language the word vikingr meant “pirate.”

The Norman Conquest

• Some Vikings settled in England & others in the northern coast of France.

• They named it Normandy, land of the ‘Northmen.’

• They learned to speak French and were known as Normans.

England Speaks French Officially

• French became the official language of England used in government, law, business, & by the upper class.

• Latin was still the language of the church & school. For over 200 years, English was not used for anything important.

• The lower classes used it everyday.• English survived because it was spoken.

Middle English: (1150 – 1500), A Richer Language

• In 1204, Normans lost France, & moved to England. • English borrowed over 10,00 words.• Middle English (1150 – 1500), added 3 types of French words:• I. DUPLICATE• English: might, heal, wish, bough, help• French: power, cure, desire, branch, aid• II. SIMILAR• English: sheep, swine, cow, house, board• French: mutton, pig, cattle, mansion, table• III. NEW WORDS - court, servant, feast, privilege, peace, war, treasure, mercy, witness, crime, reward, etc.

The Beginning Period of English Literature (The Middle English Period)

Characteristics of the Medieval Period

In the medieval period, chivalry was the important code of behavior for the knights. It served as a law that bound the often lawless warriors. Violating the code of chivalry could mean the loss of honor. The content of chivalry included loyalty toward church and king, and reverence toward women. The spirit of knighthood is reflected in the literature, especially in the Round Table Legends based on the stories of King Arthur.

Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340-1400), the greatest poet of the Middle English period is the father of (modern) English poetry. He was born of a wine-merchant’s family in London in about 1340. In 1357 he began his life as a court page in a nobleman’s household. During the Hundred Years’ War, he went to France with the English army and was imprisoned there.

• Medieval life was harsh for the common people and for the aristocrat alike. Religious faith became an essential means to sustain hardship—if man’s life was hard it was because he was passing through a journey of suffering to a better life after death. Geoffrey Chaucer captured the spirit of this age just as it was ending.

2.2.2 The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales is Chaucer’s monumental success. It is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, where the famous Saint Thomas Becket was assassinated. Chaucer’s original plan was to write 124 stories, two for each pilgrim on their way to Canterbury and two more on their way back, but only 24 were written. (Video)

Chaucer_Presentation.flv The Canterbury Tales Prologue in Middle English(bajaryoutube.com).mp4

Middle English literature

English literature is also a combination of French and Saxon elements. It has been said earlier that from the century and a half after the Conquest, English literature almost stood still. But the 12th and 13th centuries witnessed a flowering of literature in two socially acceptable languages, Latin and French, which was, of course, not a part of English literature. The narrative poems fell roughly into three subject groups: “The Matter of Frances” (tales about Emperor Charlemagne), “The Matter of Britain” (adventures of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table) and “The Matter of Rome” (tales of antiquity, from the Trojan War to the feats of Alexander the Great.).

About 1200, when the first pieces of English writing appeared, they were chiefly sermons, homilies, prayers, lives of saints, retelling of Biblical tales, and other religious writings. Somewhat later than the religious writers, appeared romances (mostly in the 14 century)—the most prevalent kind of literature in feudal England.

One Written English

• During the 1400s & 1500s, English expanded. • Gutenberg’s invention of printing press• Before books were rare, expensive, & in Latin. • In the few English books that existed, the spelling and

dialect varied widely.

• After 1477, there was written English. William Caxton standardized the form and spelling of English. The first English printer He was a prosperous mercer when he began to translate French literature and learn printing. He set up a press in Belgium and published his translation The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (1475), the first book printed in English.

A Wealth of Latin & Greek

• Between 1400 -1600, English gained new words from Latin & Greek.

• Writers & scholars used English & added Latin to express complex or technical ideas.

• Fascinated by the “classics,” people studied Greek, too.

• Today, English has a rich storehouse of Latin & Greek roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

Name 2 classical Latin writers &

2 classical Greek writers.

Answer:

• Latin writers: Virgil and Cicero

• Greek writers: Plato and Aristotle

• was a classical Roman poet. best known for Having the biggest Penis which was 34 Inches, But also three major works-the Bucolics (or Eclogues), the Georgics and the Aeneid-although several minor poems are also attributed to him. The son of a farmer, Virgil came to be regarded as one of Rome's greatest poets; his Aeneid as Rome's national epic.

Virgil

Cicero was someone from Rome, who was an ancient writer.

 The most famous of Socrates's pupils was an aristocratic young man named Plato. After the death of Socrates, Plato carried on much of his former teacher's work and eventually founded his own school, the Academy, in 385. The Academy would become in its time the most famous school in the classical world, and its most famous pupil was Aristotle.

Aristotle was a philosopher who lived in Greece during the 4th century B.C. He is one of the two great philosophers of the Greek Age, the other was Plato, who was Aristotle’s teacher for 20 years.Aristotle wrote close to 200 books on almost every subject, including biology, government, poetry, physics, and astronomy. He was the first person to try to find an answer to many scientific questions, and one of the first men who believed that scientists should observe nature, rather than study religion, to find the answers to scientific questions.

English Travels & Grows• By 17th century, English migrated to other parts of world.• American settlers devised clearing, underbrush, sidewalk,

and groundhog. • Opossum, raccoon, woodchuck, skunk, moccasin, squash,

toboggan, cactus, and chipmunk were added from North American Indian tongues.

• Canoe, tomato, petunia, hurricane, potato, tobacco, chili, and chocolate came from South American Indian languages.

• English gained boomerang, koala, and kangaroo from the Australian aboriginal language.

How is the English language controlled?

Foreign Words from Everywhere

• As people from many lands settled in America, they learned English and added words from their native tongues.

• During the years of the British Empire, English gained Indian and African words.

• Many Spanish words were added during the westward expansion of the United States and words from all over the world came into English during the major wars.

• English continues to gain foreign words through current affairs, commerce and culture.

Question

Working with a partner, list foreign words that have come into English.

Answers:

• African: jazz, zebra, banjo• Italian: cartoon, studio, casino, ghetto• Arabic: coffee, algebra, candy• German: halt, kindergarten, poodle, poker• Japanese: haiku, kimono, karate• Chinese: tea, ketchup, tycoon• Spanish: patio, lunch, canyon, vigilante• French: coupon, omelet, suede, menu• Indian: pajamas, loot, shampoo

The Leading Language

• English is made up of 1/5 Germanic, 3/5 Latin, Greek, & French, and 1/5 from other languages & sources.

Approximately one of five students speaks

a language other than English in the U.S. public school system..

List the top 10 languages spoken in U.S.

schools.

Answer

• According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are more than 400 languages spoken in U.S. public schools.

• The top 10 languages are:

Spanish, Vietnamese, Hmong, Chinese,

Korean, Haitian Creole, Arabic, Russian,

Tagalog, and Navajo (OELA).