The History of the English Language

Old English

English

• Is a Germanic language of the Indo-European family. It is the second most spoken language in the world.

• What is the most spoken language in the world?

The Numbers

• It is estimated that there are 300 million native speakers and 300 million who use English as a second language and a further 100 million use it as a foreign language. It is the language of science, aviation, computing, and tourism.

Official LanguageEnglish is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken extensively where it has no official status. __________________________________

Majority English speaking populations:Antigua New ZealandAustralia St. LuciaBahamas St. VincentBelize South AfricaCanada Trinidad and TobagoDominica United KingdomGrenada U.S.AGuyanaIreland *there are more than listed

What is the official language of the United States?

The World

English, official language for 45 counties compares with 27 for French, 20 for Spanish, and 17 for Arabic.

_____________________Half of all business deals are conducted in English.

Mandarin (Chinese) is spoken by more people, but English is by far the most widespread of the world’s languages.

_____________________2/3 of all scientific papers are written in English.

Over 70% of all mail is written and addressed in English

Old English (450-1150) • The history of the English language can be

traced back to the arrival of three Germanic tribes to the British Isles during the 5th Century AD.

• Angles, Saxons, and Jutes crossed the North Sea from what is the present day Denmark and northern Germany.

Old English • Inhabitants of Britain

previously spoke a Celtic language.

• Most of the Celtic speakers were pushed into Wales, Cornwall, and Scotland.

• Angles were from Engle, their land of origin. Their language was English from which English derives.

Old English • During the next few

centuries four dialects of English developed:

1. Northumbrian2. Mercian3. West Saxon4. Kentish

• As time went on, Northumbria’s culture and language dominated Britain.

• The Vikings invasion of the 9th Century brought this domination to an end.

• By the 10th Century, the West Saxon dialect became the official language of Britain.

Old English Old English consisted of an Anglo Saxon base with borrowed words from the Scandinavian languages (Danish and Norse) and Latin.

Latin gave English words like: street, kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, angel, bishop, martyr, candle

The Vikings added many Norse words like: sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window.

Celtic words also survived mainly in place and river names: Devon, Dover, Kent, Avon, Thames

Old English • In 1066 the Normans

conquered Britain. French became the language of the Norman aristocracy and added more vocabulary to English.

• Because the English underclass cooked for the Norman upper class, the words for most domestic animals are English while the words for the meats derived from French.

Old English: Interesting Tidbits

The Germanic form of plurals (house:housen; shoe:shoen) was eventually displaced by the French method of making pluralsOnly a few words have retained their Germanic plurals: oxen, feet, teeth, children

French also affected spelling so that the cw sound came to be written as qu (cween)

Old English It wasn’t until the 14th

Century that English became dominant in Britain again. By the end of the 14th Century, the dialect of London had emerged as the standard dialect of what we now call Middle English.

Old English Excerpt from Beowulf:

1-21HWÆT, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum, þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon! oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum, monegum mægþum meodosetla ofteah, egsode eorlas, syððanærest wearðfeasceaft funden; he þæs frofre gebad,weox under wolcnum weorðmyndum þah,oð þæt him æghwylc ymbsittendraofer hronrade hyran scolde, gomban gyldan; þæt wæs god cyning! Ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned geong in geardum, þone God sende folce to frofre; fyrenðearfe ongeat, þe hie ær drugon aldorlease lange hwile; him þæs Liffrea, wuldres Wealdend woroldare forgeaf, Beowulf wæs breme --- blæd wide sprang--- Scyldes eafera Scedelandum in. Swa sceal geong guma gode gewyrcean, fromum feohgiftumon fæder bearme,

(Lines 1-11: Translated by Seamus Heaney – A 34) • Hwæt w Gâr-Dena in geâr-dagum�So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by• þod-cyninga þrym gefrãnon,�and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.• hã ð~ æþelingas ellen fremedon. We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.• Oft Scyld Scfing sceaþena þratum, � �There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,• 5 monegum mægþum meodo-setla oftah; �a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.• egsode Eorle, syððan ærest wearð This terror of the hall-troops had come far.• fasceaft funden; h þæs frÇfre geb~d: � �A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on• wox under wolcnum, weorð-myndum þ~h, �as his powers waxed and his worth was • proved.oðþæt him æghwylc þ~ra ymb-sittendraIn the end each clan on the outlying coasts• 10 ofer hron-r~de hyran scolde, beyond the whale-road had to yield to him• gomban gyldan: þæt wæs gÇd cyning! and began to pay tribute. That was one good king

Old English Timeline:

http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/changlang/across/languagetimeline.html

Important Dates:(450-1150)

1066