The history of the English language

History of the English Language

Scholars recognize 3 distinct stages in the development of the English language:

(1) Old English (formerly called Anglo-Saxon), 449-1066 or 1100

(2) Middle English, 1066 or 1100-1450 or 1500

(3) Modern English, 1450 or 1500-present

Modern English can be subdivided into Early Modern English (1500-1750), and Late Modern English 1750-present.

(1) Old English, 449-1066 or 1100

Old English was spoken by some Germanic groups in the area of what is now southern Denmark and northern Germany.  These were the Angles, Saxons and Jutes.  When these groups invaded and colonized Britain in the 5th century A.D., they brought their language with them.  The Brythonic Celtic speakers were displaced.  Brythonic Celtic survived only in the more remote parts of the Britain, such as Wales and Cornwall.  The Celtic language of the pre-Anglo-Saxon inhabitants seems to have had relatively little influence on Old English.  Most words of Celtic origin that are used in modern English are relatively recent additions to the English vocabulary.

Four major dialects of Old English are recognized: Kentish, which was spoken by the Jutes; West Saxon, the Saxon dialect of Wessex; and Northumbrian and Mercian, which were dialects of the Angles.  In the 9th century, the Saxons of Wessex became the rulers of most of England.  As a result, their dialect is the one often found in written documents from this period of time.  The most famous example of Old English literature, however, was the epic poem Beowulf, which was written in Mercian.

Old English contained a number of words of Latin origin.  Some of these words probably entered the language before the Angles, Saxons and Jutes settled England.  Some others may have entered the language via Celtic people.  The spread of Christianity, however, played the most important role in the bringing Latin vocabulary into Old English.

The other foreign source of vocabulary were the Scandinavian dialects of Norse invaders and settlers.  The Norse ruled and colonized many areas of Britain during the 9th, 10th and early 11th centuries.  A number of Scandinavian words entered the language during this period of time.

Old English was very different from Modern English.  For a Modern English speaker, Old English would be completely unintelligible.  The grammar of Old English was quite different from its modern counterpart.  In Old English, for example, made grammatical distinctions for gender.  This is no longer done in modern English.

(2) Middle English, 1066 or 1100-1450 or 1500

One of the most significant events in the development of the English language was the Norman conquest of 1066.  The Normans were Norse invaders who had settled in northern France.  They had adopted the French language of the local people.  The dialect they spoke was called Norman French.  When the Normans conquered England, they brought Norman French with them.  This became the language of the ruling aristocracy.  The common people, however, still spoke the Anglo-Saxon tongue.  Many French terms were introduced into English during this period of time.  Many of these terms were related to administration.

During the Middle English period, English grammar became simplified.  This may be because the use of English became restricted to commoners.  The formal Old English of the Saxon nobility was replaced by the French of the new Anglo-Norman aristocracy.  The only English that was still used was the informal, colloquial English of the commoners.

(3) Modern English, 1450 or 1500-present

During the Modern English period, English began to resemble contemporary English.  Documents written during this period are at least somewhat intelligible to today’s English speakers.  During this period many words were borrowed from other European languages, such as Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.  Colonial expansion brought many new words into the vocabulary.

Words of colonial origin include:

Raccoon from the Virginia Algonquian ‘aroughcun’.
Wigwam from the North American Algonquian language Abenaki   ‘wikewam’.
Llama and quinine, from the South American language Quechua via Spanish.
Barbecue and cannibal from the Caribbean language Arawak.
Chimpanzee from the Central African language Kikongo via French.
Bandana from the Indian language Hindi via Portuguese.
Kangaroo and boomerang from Australian Aborigine languages.Read the entire article here