torsdag 9. oktober 2014

Events that shaped English


When did the English language came, and how did it came?

The settlers are traced back to 5000 years ago but the English language started to take shape in 700  when the Celts came from present-day France. There are few Celts words left. 

The Celts were either assimilated or forced westwards, into what are today Wales, Ireland and Scottland. Their descendants still speak Celtic languages Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic.

Angelo Saxons

Angelo saxons spoke different types of the Germanic dialect. They sattlet in England once and gave the land its name «Engla land» (means land of the angles). This language can still be found in some few Old English texts from the seventh, eighth, ninth centuries. Many of the Angelo Saxons were farmers so they bring some words from the Germanic dialect to the English. Some example; Field, earth and sheep  

1066 and after

The Old-English language in a kind of broke down after the battle of Hastings in 1066. Middle English was now the new. With over 100,000 different words, The Old English system was out. The middle English had a lot of loanwords from French and Latin as the language was growing enormous. The middle English had at that time around 60.000 words more then the old once. The French language was spolen by the ruling class and the elite gave the Middle English language about 10,000 new words.

Scandinavian Sattlement   


Large variety of the Scandinavian people came to Britain at first at the 9th century to sattled at the north-eastern areas. The king of England at once was Danish but that was later at the 11th century. The English society took some of Norse words and used it in there own language. The street names in York as an example is still using «gates» insted of streets.

1 kommentar:

  1. A thorough note of the development of the English language, Maxi :)

    SvarSlett