History of English

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HistoryofEnglishEnglandispartofthesmallislandofthewestcoastofEurope.YetEnglishisthespokenlanguageorelseistheofficiallanguageofallthesepartsoftheworld.Itisinfactaworldlanguage.Wherediditstart?SomewherebetweenSouthRussianeartheBlackSeaandBalticseveralthousandyearsago.ItisagroupoflanguageswenowcallIndo-European.FromheretheyhavespreadalloverEuropeandintoAsia,theAmericas,AfricaandAustralasia.HereinNorthernEurope,oneoftheseIndo-Europeanlanguages,abouttwothousandyearsago,dividedintothreemaingroupsofdialects.Theeasterngroup,markedroughlyhere,hasquitediedout.ThenortherngroupspreadacrossScandinavia,andmuchlaterintoIceland.ThewesterngroupbegantospreadoverthesepartsofEurope.NowBritainabout1,600yearsagowasstillpartoftheRomanEmpire.ItwasinhabitedbyCeltswhospokeCeltic,andbyRomanisedCeltswhospokeaformofLatin.ButtheRomanshadtogo,leavingthelandtotheCelts.Afewyearslater,GermanictribesfromnorthwestGermanyinvadedtheisland.TheCeltsretreatedtothewest,wheretheCelticlanguagesurvived.InvadersquicklysettleddowninthefertilelandandbecametheEnglish.TheyspokefourEnglishdialects.OfthesefourEnglishdialects,thecentralone,Mercian,isthebasisofmodernEnglish.ThisearlyEnglish,broughtfromnorthwestGermanywasalreadyasatisfactorylanguagewithfirststraightpoetry.Fromitcomeouressentialandfamiliarwords,suchasman,woman,bairn,eat,drink,sleep.Alreadyinthefifthcentury,Englishwasaflexiblelanguage,quitereadytoenrichitsstockofwordswithnewacquisition.FromtheoriginalCelticlanguagetheEnglishbeganborrowinganywordstheywanted,notablyrivernames,ThamesandSevern,orthenamesoftowns,suchasDover,London,Lincoln,Leeds.FromtheRomanisedCeltstheEnglishborrowedLatinwords,manybeingnamesofplantandagriculturalimplements.TypicalLatinwordsadoptedinthisperiodintoEnglisharecock,pear,cup,pail,anchor.AboutahundredyearslatermissionariescamefromRomantoconvertEnglandintoChristianity.FromthemtheEnglishtakemanymoreLatinwords,especiallytermsofreligion,suchasminster,alms,altar.1 Duringtheninthcentury,theVikingsfromScandinaviaattackedmanypartsofSouthernEurope.ManyoftheseScandinavianssettledinBritain.FromthemtheEnglishgatheredseveralthousandeverydaywords.TheEnglishlanguagealreadyhadsuchwordsassailandship.ButthemanyNordicwordstheytookfromtheScandinaviansincludehaven.OthercommonScandinavianwordsacquiredatthistimeareknife,take.Anotherverycommonwordtakenatthisperiodisroot.TheScandinavianswhohadsettledinFrancewerecalledtheNormans.BeforelongtheygaveuptheirownlanguageandspokeFrench.In1066theDukeofNormandymadehimselfKingofEnglandandmanyofhisfollowerscameoverwithhimandsettledamongtheEnglish.FromthemtheEnglishtookmanyhundrednewwords.Someofthemdealtwithbuildingssuchascastle,tower,moat,courtinthesenseofcourtyard,chimney.OtherFrenchwordstakenintothelanguagedealtwithcooking,sowegetfry,boil.Andwealsogetnamesoffood–beef,mutton,andsausage.FrenchwordswerealsoborrowedthroughtheNormanstodescribenewlegalideas,courtmeaninglawcourt,judge,advocate.DuringtheMiddleAges,theEnglishtookmorethan10,000wordsfromtheFrench.TheKing’scourtsoflawbegantositinLondon,soLondonbecamethelegalcentreofEnglandintheMiddleAges.Itisalsothecentreoftrade.SonaturallytheformoflanguagethatwasspokeninLondonbecamestandardEnglish.NowtheEnglishforallofusweregreattravellersandtraders,andtheytradedallaroundtheNorthSea.FromtheDutchtheygatherednewandusefulwordstodowithshipping.BuoyistheoneoftheDutchwordstakenintoEnglishintheMiddleAges.AnotherwordsofDutchoriginareskipper,deck,dock.Uptothefifteenthcenturyonlythispartoftheworld,markedinblack,wasknown.Butinthenext1ooyearstheNewWorldwasdiscovered.NowtheEnglishembracedtheNewWorldwiththeirtraderoutesandenlargedtheirlanguagewithnewwords.SomewordstheygotfromSpain.AwordofSpanishoriginisgalleon,anotheriscomrade,yetanotherisArmada.FromthePortuguesetheEnglishborrowedonlyasmallnumberofwords.Thebestknownisportwine.FromSouthandCentralAmericacamenativeAmericanwords,importedintoEnglishfromPortugueseandSpain,suchastobacco,potato,maize.EnglishalsoenricheditselfwithwordsfromEurope.FromGermanyweborrowedtermsassociatedwithmetalsandmining.Onewellknownwordisquartz.TheGermanlanguagealsoprovidedwordsassociatedwithwarsuchasplunder.2 Between1450and1600,ItalywasthehomeoftheRenaissance.FromtheItalianlanguageEnglishwasgreatlyenrichedbyculturaltermsofarchitecture,music,literatureandart.FromItalycomecameo,miniature,balcony,umbrella.Soby1600whenShakespearewaswriting,Englishhadbecomearichandpowerfulmediumofexpressionwithlargenumbersofwordstakenfrommanylanguages.Shakespeareinhisworksusedsome20,000words.Hereisapassageof11linescontainingonly59differentwords,yet22comefromabroadThisroyalthroneofkings,thissceptredisle,ThisearthofMajesty,thisseatofMars,ThisotherEden,demi-paradise;Thisfortress,builtbynatureforherself,Againstinfectionandthehandofwar;Thishappybreedofmen,thislittleworld,Thispreciousstonesetinthesilversea,Whichservesitintheofficeofawall,Orasamoatdefensivetoahouse,Againsttheenvyoflesshappierland;Thisblessedplot,thisearth,thisrealm,thisEngland;From1600,inthenextcenturyandahalf,theEnglishbuiltupahugecolonialempirewheretheirlanguagecametobespoken.In1776,thethirteenEnglishcoloniesonthecoastofNorthAmericabecameindependentastheUnitedStatesofAmerica.EnglishisthelanguageoftheUnitedStatesandwiththegrowthoftheAmericanpeoplehavespreadacrossNorthAmerica.BythistimetheEnglishwereinpartnershipwiththeScot,WalshandIrish.TogetherastheUnitedKingdomtheybuildthepresentBritishCommonwealthwhereEnglishiseitherthespokenortheofficiallanguage.AsBritishtradewiththeworldhasincreasedbyleapsandbounds,soeveryyearEnglishhasenricheditselfwithevermorewordsfromotherlanguages.FromIndiatheEnglishadoptedcockatooandchintz,fromChinacomestea,fromArabiasashandsofa,fromTurkeycoffee,fromPersiadivanandshawl,fromWestAfricachimpanzeeandzebra,fromAustraliakangarooandbudgerigar,tomentionafewexamples.Themodernworldisfullofinventionsandtodescribethesenewinventions,EnglishhasmadeuseofbothLatinandGreek.FromLatincomeomnibus,fromGreekcinema,photograph,andmanyrecentlycoinedwords,suchasthermometerandtelegraphy.WhenMrChurchillbroadcastinEnglish,heisunderstoodbythegreaterpartoftheworld.3 ThepeopleoftheBritishEmpiremaylovepeaceTheydonotseekthelandorwealthofanycountryButtheyaretoughandhardenoughTheyhavenotjourneyedallthewayacrossthecenturies,acrosstheoceans,acrossthemountains,acrosstheprairies,becausewearemadeofsugarcandies.TheEnglishthatChurchillspeaksisbasedonanoldIndo-Europeandialect.Itisavigorous,richandflexiblelanguagequicktomakeuseofwordsfromotherlanguages.TheEnglishlanguagehasborrowedthousandsofitshalfamillionwordsallovertheworld.SirWinston'sLegacyLivesoninCalgaryhttp://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/in-the-media/churchill-in-the-news/1470-sir-winstons-legacy-lives-on-in-calgary-4