History of the English language

Old English

Around the 5th century and on, the land of England was invaded by Germanic tribes, primarily the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Their Anglo-Saxon dialects developed into Old English. The most commonly used words today derive from those early Anglo-Saxon roots, but English vocabulary has also been greatly influenced over time.

The introduction of Christianity added the first wave of Latin and Greek words to the language.

Later, it was influenced by Scandinavian invaders who spoke Old Norse, which was probably mutually comprehensible with Old English. Various internal developments within Old English had already been reducing the role of inflections for some time, but the contact with Old Norse accelerated this process, especially in the Northern dialects.

It has been argued that the Danish contribution continued into the early Middle Ages.

The Old English period ended with the Norman conquest, when the language was influenced, to an even greater extent, by the Norman-speaking Normans.

The use of Anglo-Saxon to describe a merging of English and Saxon languages and cultures is a relatively modern development. According to Lois Fundis, (Stumpers-L, Fri, 14 Dec 2001) "The first citation for the second definition of "Anglo-Saxon," referring to early English language or a certain dialect thereof, comes during the reign of Elizabeth I, from a historian named Camden, who seems to be the person most responsible for the term becoming well-known in modern times."

Old to Middle English

The Norman conquest had a significant impact on English, changing the spelling, and introducing many new words.

English continued to be the language of the common people, but initially it ceased to be the language of courts and officialdom. While the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle continued until AD 1154, most other literature from this period was in French or Latin.

Various contemporary sources suggest that within fifty years most of the Normans
outside the royal court had switched to English, with French remaining the prestige language largely out of social inertia. For example, Orderic Vitalis, an historian born in 1075 and the son of a Norman knight, said that he only learnt French as a second language.

English literature starts to reappear circa AD 1200, when a changing political climate, and the decline in Anglo-Norman, made it more respectable. By the end of that century, even the royal court had switched back to English. Anglo-Norman remained in use in specialised circles for a while longer, but it had ceased to be a living language.

In the meantime, the Normans learning English introduced many new words to the language, and French spelling conventions.

Middle and Modern English

Main articles: Middle English and Modern English

By about the time of the Renaissance, the language had evolved into what is known as Middle English, which Modern English speakers can understand with a little difficulty. From the late 1400s, the language changed further into what is described as Modern English, and as a result of the Great Vowel Shift.

English has continued to assimilate foreign words, especially Latin and Greek, even to the present time. As a result of this history of assimilation, English today is commonly believed to have the largest vocabulary of any language in the world. As there are many words from different languages the risk of mispronunciation is high. Vestiges of the older forms of English remain in a few regional dialects, notably in the West Country.

In 1755 Samuel Johnson published the first significant English dictionary.

Historic English text samples

Old English

Which can be translated as:

LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, we have heard, and what honor the athelings won! Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes, from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore, awing the earls. Since erst he lay friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him: for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve, till before him the folk, both far and near, who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate, gave him gifts: a good king he! (translation by Francis Gummere)

Middle English

Early Modern English

Modern English

See also