Why is English so hard to Understand?

Why is English so difficult to understand?

Because… English is not English!

Peter Harte August 2015

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Why is English so hard to Understand?

Here now, is the fiveminute history of

the English Language…


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English is German, with additives!


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Anglo Saxon

(4th Century German)

Church Latin

Old Norse(Viking)

Norman French(1066)

Middle English(1430) Scientific

Greek & Latin

Hundreds of other

languages

Modern English


Romans

Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians

Britain

As the Romans left Britain between 450 and 550 C.E., Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians from the western-most regions of what is now Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, began crossing the North Sea and settling in eastern Britain. They brought with them their customs, culture and language.

The Celtic speaking population of Britain were pushed to the west, along the Irish Sea, in Wales, Cornwall, and Scotland. Celtic languages are still spoken in these areas today.

The Lord’s Prayer Compared to Rendering in Old English (Anglo-Saxon)

Our Father who art in heaven1. Hallowed be thy name2. Thy Kingdom come3. Thy will be done on earth as it

is in heaven4. Give us today our daily bread5. And forgive us our trespassers as we

forgive those who trespass against us6. And lead us not into temptation7. But deliver us from evilAmen.


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VIKINGS


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During the Viking age (800-1000 C.E.) Britain was again invaded by more foreign speaking people, and the eastern part of the country colonized once more.

Why is English so Difficult to Understand?

Six hundred Scandinavian words that end in “-by,” have come to us, from the Viking period. “-by” is the word for a farm or a town as seen in the names Selby and Whitby The “sk” sound is a characteristic of Old Norse. English borrowed, or absorbed, words as “score,” “skin” and “sky”


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Twinning of words In Old Norse you were “ill”

In Old English you were “sick”

Old Norse gave us “skill” alongside Old English “craft”

Old Norse “skin” survives with Old English “hide.”


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France were having their own problems with new invaders of Viking & German descent. The King of France gave them Normandy so they would stop threatening Paris. In 1066 C.E. William the Conqueror invaded Britain bringing with him Norman French.In one fell swoop the language, government, and customs, of the English were replaced by those of the Normans. English lands were given to Norman knights. The high functionaries and administrators appointed by the new King William were also Norman. The English had to adopt the language of their conquerors: the Norman dialect of French.


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Twinning of words continued with French

Sometimes both the English and the French words were retained. French lords lived in a maison [mansion]. The Saxon peasant lived in an English hus [house]

The French words were mouton [mutton], boeuf [beef], veau [veal] and porc [pork]. The English raised sheep, cows, calves and pigs.

The French words were kept to designate the meat of the animal. Thus one raises calves but eats veal, one raises pigs and eats pork.


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Twinning of words continued with French

Old English ‘æppel’ used to mean any kind of fruit. It comes to mean an apple as the word ‘fruit’ takes over.

The fusion of a basic English (Germanic) vocabulary and grammar with an influx of thousands of French words produced a new form of the language, Middle English.


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French became the source of numerous abstract terms that end in “–ant,” “-ence,” “-tion,” and “-ment.”

Between one third and one half of today’s English terms are taken from Anglo-Norman or French.

Norman scribes helped to establish “ch,” “sh,” “th,” and “wh” from an array of earlier variants

they also set “cw-” and “qu-” to “qu-,” which is why queen is not cween.


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In “The adventure of English: the biography of a language,” (Hodder & Stroughton, UK 2003) Melvyn Bragg explains further difficulties occur in English because of:

“the survival of old plural forms (ox, oxen),“historical changes in Old English words (foot, feet) and;“loan words adopting “s” as a plural (vows).”

Further there were the:

“reformers who wanted to spell words according to the way they were pronounced and traditionalists who wanted to spell them in one of the ways they always had been.”


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Melvyn Bragg continues…“In a desire to make the roots of the language more evident and perhaps give it more style, more class, some words that had entered into English from French were later given a Latin look. The letter “b” was inserted into the words “debt” and “doubt.“Words thought to be of Greek origin sometimes had their spelling adjusted so that “throne” or “theatre” acquired their “h.” “Rhyme” on the other hand was awarded its “h” just because “rhythm” had one.“On a similar whim, an “l” was inserted into “could” because it was still present in “should” and “would.” In the sixteenth century this became a fad designed to winnow out the under-educated.”


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It wasn't until the 14th Century that English became the dominant language in Britain again. In 1399, King Henry IV became the first king of England since the Norman Conquest whose mother tongue was English.


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The English Alphabet does not helpModern English is based on at least forty sounds.

The alphabet has only twenty-six letters.

Three letters (c, q, x) duplicate sounds already represented by other letters or by combinations of letters, and most letters can stand for more than one sound.

English is often no longer phonetic in spelling, meaning that in many cases, that which is written is not what is said. Pronunciations have significantly changed over the centuries, while spellings have not kept up or have not changed at all.

The spelling of knight, for example, reflects the way it was spoken centuries ago when there were almost no “silent letters”.


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English - A Family Tree


A Pop Quiz One Question Only

1. What factors have made English such a diverse language?


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We have covered the broad history of the English LanguageLet us briefly examine words and word use


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If you Understand and Write English you know the spelling

of tens of thousands of words. How is this possible?

You recognise patterns in words – patterns such as morphemes

Morphemes are a minimal meaningful language unit which

cannot be divided into smaller meaningful units

Take, for example, the prefix “in-,” and the suffix “-in”

You can see both used “indiscreet,” and “assassin.”


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Identify a common morpheme and present a theory

as to the root meaning of the following words:1. Podiatry, 2. Podium, 3. Antipodes, 4. Arthropod, 5. Tripod.


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Identify a common morpheme and present a theory as to the root meaning of the following words:

1. Recognise, 2. Cognisance, 3. Incognito,4. Cognitive, 5. Precognition.


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Identify a common morpheme and present a theory

as to the root meaning of the following words:1. Television, 2. Telegraph, 3. Telephone4. Telepathy, 5. Telescope.


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Identify the root meaning of the following words:

1. Conscience, 2. Omniscience,3. Prescience.


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Some Further Confusion

Mono = single, alone. Monarchy, rule by one person

Poly = many, much. Polyglot, a person who speaks many

languages

If mono is one, and poly is many what about Monopoly?

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Some Further Confusion Heteronym

Is a word that is spelled identically but whose meaning will differ depending on its pronunciation:

lead, means “to guide.” However, when pronounced LED, it means a “metallic element.”

HomonymIs a word that is spelled and pronounced the same but does not have the same meaning

left (opposite of right) and left (past tense of leave).


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What resources can you use to improve your understanding of a word?

Etymologies provide the origins of a word and if or how that word has changed

Consider the origin of “sophistication.” It derives from “sophistry” - to mislead or adulterate.

A Thesaurus provides a list of related and contrasting words

synonyms are similar words and antonyms are opposite wordsA Good Dictionary – not a school edition or a concise edition


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Audience Participation – again!Can you explain the difference between a verb and a

noun?A verb is…?

an action, occurrence, or state of existenceA noun is…?

person, place, thing, quality, or action


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Use the active voice to make your writing clear. Contrast the active voice with the passive voice:

In the active voice, the subject performs the action of

the verb

The cat scratched Joanna.

In the passive voice the subject receives the action

Joanna was scratched by the cat.


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Writers usually use the active voice rather than

the passive. It’s considered to be a more

powerful and straightforward form of expression.

The active voice also uses less words to convey

the same message.


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To use English effectively you need to understand its foundations. Take a few minutes and review what you have learned by using the following questions:

① Can you explain some of the factors that make the English Language difficult to understand?

② What can you do to improve your understanding of English?

③ Can you explain the difference between a verb and a noun?

④ How would you contrast active voice with passive voice?

Enjoy your journey with this difficult, yet intriguing, language.

What can you do?

Why is English so hard to Understand?

Education

Transcript of Why is English so hard to Understand?