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Origins of the English language

Origins of English

English is a West Germanic language brought to Britain from various parts of northwest Germany and the Netherlands in the 5th century AD. As England was made up of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the language included a combination of various Germanic tribal dialects including the Angles, Saxons, Frisians, Jutes and possibly the Franks, known as the Anglo-Frisian dialects. The dialect that came to dominate was the Late West Saxon, which was then influenced further by Scandinavians who invaded parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th century. As a result, much of the grammar was simplified and the vocabulary enriched.

Then the Normans invaded in the 11th century, so Anglo-Norman developed with a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance languages (Latin-based languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian and Catalan). Although invasion was not the only way that the Old English language was influenced. Trade with the Roman Empire influenced vocabulary long before Britain was invaded, including Latin-based words such as cheese, fork, linen, street and wall.

Old English

Old English came to replaced the indigenous languages of Britain, the Celtic languages. These were made up of the Brythonic and Goidelic languages. Goidelic  languages included Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic. Brythonic langues included Cumbric, Welsh, Cornish and Breton. The golden era for Old English was during the period of the Anglo-Saxon kings, when it was used in legal, political, religious and economic arenas. It was during this period that new words were coined rather than borrowed from foreign languages.

The Old English era ended sometimes after the Norman Conquest in the 12th or 13th century, although about fifty per cent of standard modern English words have Old English roots, such as strong or water. Even English dialects such as Scots and Northumbrian English feature many characteristics of Old English vocabulary and pronunciation.