Language Timeline The English language is a vast flea market of words, handed down, borrowed or created over more than 2000 years. And it is still expanding, changing and trading. Our language is not purely English at all - it is a ragbag of diverse words that have come to our island from all around the world. Words enter the language in all sorts of ways: with invaders, migrants, tradesmen; in stories, artworks, technologies and scientific concepts; with those who hold power, and those who try to overthrow the powerful. View the chart below to get an overview of some of the many chapters in the history of the English language. Celts 500BC-43BC Romans 43BC-c.450AD Anglo Saxons 449AD St Augustine 597 AD Vikings 789AD Normans 1066 100 Years War 1337-1450s Renaissance 1476-1650 1700s Industrial Revolution 1760-1800s 1900s - Present Day References: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language by David Crystal Words in Time by Geoffrey Hughes
139 Old Norse Words That Invaded The English Language When I say “Old English” what comes to mind? The ornate, hard-to-read script? Reading Beowulf in your high school English class? Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon, was a language spoken by the Angles and the Saxons — the first Germanic tribes to settle the British Isles. The short answer is that the English language changed forever after the Norman invasion brought a new ruling class of French speakers to the British Isles in 1066. As a result, modern English is commonly thought of as a West Germanic language with lots of French and, thanks to the church, Latin influence. How To Speak Viking The Old Norse noun víking meant an overseas expedition, and a vikingr was someone who went on one of these expeditions. But the truth is far more nuanced. Traust me, þó (though) it may seem oddi at first, we er still very líkligr to use the same words as the Vikings did in our everyday speech. Names of Days War & Violence If the Vikings are famous for one thing, it’s their obsession with war.
Do you speak Uglish? How English has evolved in Uganda Please don’t dirten my shirt with your muddy hands. Stop cowardising and go and see that girl. Don’t just beep her again, bench her. Typos? No, we’re speaking Uglish (pronounced you-glish), a Ugandan form of English influenced by Luganda and other local dialects, which has produced hundreds of words with their own unique meanings. Some will be immediately obvious to English speakers: dirten, meaning to make dirty; cowardising, to behave like a coward. Others offer small insights into youth culture: beep – meaning to ring someone but to hang up quickly before the person answers. Now, Bernard Sabiti, a Ugandan cultural commentator has recorded these colloquialisms in a new book which attempts to unlock what he calls “one of the funniest and strangest English varieties in the world”. Working as a consultant for international NGOs, Sabiti kept being asked “what kind of English do Ugandans speak?” The result? He also credits local musicians for introducing a number of words into the lexicon.
Online Etymology Dictionary Etymology: Languages that have contributed to English vocabulary over time. In Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English, I examine how words borrowed from different languages have influenced English throughout its history. The above feature summarizes some of the main data from the book, focusing on the 14 sources that have given the most words to English, as reflected by the new and revised entries in the Oxford English Dictionary. Using the date buttons at the top of the graphic, you can compare the impact that different languages have made on English over time. If you switch to the "cumulative" view, then you can see how the total number of loanwords from each language has built up over time. The data lying behind this graphic reflects some of the biggest changes in the history of English. The elephant in the room, however, is how Latin and French dominate the picture in just about every period. A version of this post appeared on Oxford Dictionaries.
untitled 25 maps that explain the English language English is the language of Shakespeare and the language of Chaucer. It’s spoken in dozens of countries around the world, from the United States to a tiny island named Tristan da Cunha. It reflects the influences of centuries of international exchange, including conquest and colonization, from the Vikings through the 21st century. Here are 25 maps and charts that explain how English got started and evolved into the differently accented languages spoken today. The origins of English 1) Where English comes from English, like more than 400 other languages, is part of the Indo-European language family, sharing common roots not just with German and French but with Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, and Persian. 2) Where Indo-European languages are spoken in Europe today Saying that English is Indo-European, though, doesn’t really narrow it down much. 3) The Anglo-Saxon migration 4) The Danelaw The next source of English was Old Norse. 5)The Norman Conquest 6) The Great Vowel Shift The spread of English Credits
Sample Texts: History of English - van Gelderen A History of the English Language - Elly van Gelderen - A Companion Site Old English Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - a part of the Peterborough Chronicle of the history of England in the year 1066. Orosius - King Alfred's translation of a fanciful Latin history of the Amazons. Middle English Canterbury Tales: Prologue - the prologue to Chaucer's famous story-poem about tales told by pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. Gawain & the Green Knight - a portion of a Medieval story about Sir Gawain of the Round Table. Early Modern English The Tempest - part of one of the immortal Shakespeare's best-loved plays. Osborne's Letters - one of Dorothy Osborne's love letters to her paramour and future husband, William Temple. Modern English George Washington's Journal - written by the USA's first president around the time of the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. Lady Chatterly's Lover - an extract from DH Lawrence's famous novel.