Old English – Where English Came From
Old English – before 1066
Middle English – 1066 to 1485
Modern English – 1485 to present
The Ancestor of English – Proto-Indo-European
· Written records of English have existed for about 1300 years
· A much older people from the east spoke Proto-Indo-European
o Proto means “the first or the earliest form of something”
o Speakers of this language traveled into Turkey, Iran, India, and most of Europe
o In various places, their language became Greek, Russian, Spanish, French, Irish, Italian, English, etc.
· Angles and Saxons, descendents of the Indo-Europeans, were part of a large group of Germanic people living in N. Europe
Influences on Old English
· Latin, the language of the Christian church, was highly influential
o Roman soldiers and merchants taught them words like mile, street, wall, wine, cheese, butter, and dish
o Words learned from the church included: school, candle, altar, paper, and circle
· Vikings from Scandinavia invaded England near the end of the 8th Century
o Gave the English language common words like get, give, hit, kick, law, sister, skirt, sky, take, they, their, window
Middle English: The Language in Transition
Influences on Middle English – The Norman Invasion
· For several hundred years after the Norman Invasion, England was bilingual
o French – Used by upper classes
· Law courts
· Government
o English – Used by lower classes in everyday life
Ex. cow, deer, pig, calf, sheep
· English eventually gained favor
o Most people spoke English
o The Hundred Years’ War intensified feelings of patriotism
o English speakers borrowed from French to supplement their own language:
§ Government: baron, duke, prince, noble
§ Law: attorney, court, crime, judge, jury, prison
French (Norman) Term / English Termbeef
venison
pork
veal
mutton