History
English through History
Anglo-Saxon influence
The original Britons, Celtic sun worshippers, were conquered by the Romans and lived under Roman rule for 400 years. When the Romans left to defend Rome against the Barbarians no tradition of fighting was left and so mercenaries from North Germany were called in. Between about 449 and 485 more and more Jutes, Angles and Saxons settled here, either slaughtering or pushing the original Celtic population out into Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. So the basic Germanic grammar of English can be seen, and the similarity of the basic vocabulary to modern German - eat, drink, cow, sheep, man, wife, house, sleep, weep.
Christianity influence
In 596 St Augustine was sent by the Pope to convert the local population. This conversion leads to the first small Latin influence on English vocabulary - angel, priest, candle, master, school.
Viking influence
From 737 onwards the Vikings began to invade and colonise -at one point they controlled the northern half of England. Although in the ninth century England became one political entity and the Vikings were effectively absorbed, as late as 1044 there was a Danish king of England. This influence is also reflected in the basic vocabulary of English - want, dirt, egg, die, give, sister, sky.
Norman influence
1066. The Normans invaded and conquered England. The Norman French at first formed the ruling class, but were later absorbed into the population. But the French had a large influence as they later intermingled and intermarried with the local population. Borrowings from French include - veal, mutton, beef, crime, judge, tax, adolescence, royal, sumptuous, dream, amorous, commence.
Borrowings from Greek
The next important influence is the Renaissance which led to a revived interest in classical texts. Borrowings from Greek include democracy, encyclopaedia and many medical terms; from Latin expensive, education, capital, library, n.b., agenda, per annum, per capita, ad infinitum, etcetera.
Colonial borrowings
From the sixteenth century on, England was emerging as an imperial nation. As the British encountered other cultures they continued their habit of borrowing. Colonial borrowings from Hindi are - dungarees, bangle, yoga.
American English
As the political and economic power of Britain has declined in the twentieth century, American power emerged. American English has influenced the language as it became an international language - superstar, motel, ladies’ room, senior citizen, memorial park.
Youth cultural influence
English is still changing today, as is seen from the influence of British youth culture - punk, new wave, splif (hashish).
- (Adapted from Mario Rinvolucri. Grammar Games: Cognitive, affective and drama activities for EFL students)
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