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 The English language

 

 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE – HOW DID IT START ?

 
Look at these words : table, chandelier, trousseau, naïve, boudoir. Do you recognize them ?
You’ll probably be surprised to know a lot of English comes from French! To understand how this happened, look at this chart which traces the history of English.
 
Celtic languages: The British Isles were originally inhabited by Celts.
 
Latin
66 A.D. The Roman Emperor Claudius invades Britain
and Latin influences the existing language. But in
Scotland and Wales the Celts resisted the Romans and
the latter never colonized these countries nor Ireland.
So Celtic languages are still spoken there today.
 
Anglo-Saxon
450 A.D. The Roman Empire collapses. Latin
disappears (except in church).
 
Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse
550 A.D. England is invaded by the Anglo-Saxons-
tribes of people from an area which is today modern
Germany, Holland and Denmark. They speak a
Germanic language which we call Anglo-Saxon (or Old English).
 
Some Anglo-Saxon words : shirt, love, earth, foot, he, his.
700-900 A.D. Viking invaders arrive in Britain from
Denmark and Norway. They speak Old Norse –a
language similar to Anglo-Saxon. The two cultures
merge and many Old Norse words are absorbed into
Anglo-Saxon.
 
Some Old Norse words : skirt, window, wrong, they,their.
 
Anglo-Saxon and French
1066 : King William of Normandy invades England and
becomes king. The Normans bring with them a rich,
civilized culture – architecture, law, government and a
love of good food and wine ! French becomes the official
language of the country although Anglo-Saxon
 continues to be spoken in the home and in the fields.
Gradually the two languages merge, simplify and develop
into a single language- ENGLISH !
 
English: Some old French words : village, painter, captain, beef.

 




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