English
Portrait of a Language Over Time
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A Brief History of the English Language (and it’s relation to Latin)
? (who knows – a loooong time ago) B.C. - 42 A.D.
Until the year 42 A.D. the island of Britain (which would someday be called England and would
give birth to the language of English) was inhabited by various Celtic tribes. The Celts shared a
common basic culture and language, and different tribes of Celts once lived all over Europe (and even
into Asia). The Celts were not an “empire” or “country”, and some groups of Celts absolutely hated
other Celts and had different lifestyles. In Britain, there were many different tribes, all with their
different customs, but sharing that basic Celtic culture and language, even if they didn‟t always get
along.
The English language is not directly related to Celtic (although they do belong to the larger
language family - “Indo-European” or “Proto Indo-European”- Germanic and Celtic had been separate language
families for over a thousand years) but has borrowed some Celtic words, such as beak, bran, and down).
But at that time, English didn‟t even exist in any form! English is a Germanic language – English,
German, Dutch and other such languages have a common ancestor. At this time period, it is this
common language ancestor that is being spoken (although as far as we know not written) in the
northeastern part of Europe.
Map of origins of the
Germanic language family
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43 A.D. – 409 A.D.
In 43 A.D., the Romans (a group of people originally from central Italy but who by this point
had spread throughout the Mediterranean Sea area and beyond) decided that they wanted to add
the mineral and agricultural wealth of the island of Britain into their empire. After years of
fighting and setting up cities filled with their own people (and filled with “Romanized” Celts), the
Romans settled down for a 400 year stay in Britain. The Celtic language became less used (although
it is still alive and well even today in modern Wales), and Latin became the dominant language of the
island for four centuries. But still no sign of “English”. The Germanic ancestor of English was
beginning to transform into various different languages (the farther away people moved, and the
more they came into contact with other groups of people, the more their language changed and
became brand new languages.
This a map of the Roman Empire as it looked around 120 A.D. (almost 80 years after the conquering of Britain)
Since the Romans spent so much time in what would later become „England‟, it is natural to
assume that it is at this time that Latin influenced what would later become English. And yes, there
are some Latin-based words we use in English today that came from this time period. But remember
that Germanic language ancestor from which English evolved? The people who spoke that language
were still living on the continent of Europe, around the modern Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands,
and Scandinavia – outside of the Roman Empire.
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410 A.D. – 1065 A.D.
By the year 410 AD, the Roman Empire was crumbling. Barbarian tribes were moving in from
Asia and were fighting for land, and the Roman government had been run very poorly for many years.
The Roman emperor finally decided that it was not worth the effort to maintain Britain as part of
the empire anymore. It‟s people (who had been very “Romanized” by this time) were left to defend
themselves and would no longer have the Roman army, the famous legions, to keep the peace. It was
a time of great fear and uncertainty.
A ‘Barbarian’ Invader
and his runic alphabet
Remember those “barbarian” invasions mentioned above? Well, they kept on happening even
after the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD. A few groups of Germanic barbarians (so called because
their languages belonged to a large related language family call “Germanic”) moved into Britain, and
by around 600 AD tribes of Saxons, Angles and others had made Britain their home, kicking out or
overpowering the previous population. So while Latin was dying out in Britain because of the rise of
these “Anglo-Saxon” people, these same groups of Germanic speaking peoples were giving rise to a
new language – Old English.
Old English was a combination of various Germanic languages (most notably the language of
the tribe of the Angles, which gives us the name “English”), which looked and sounded very different
than modern English. In fact, our first example of written „English‟ doesn‟t look at all like modern
English. It is written using a different alphabet, called „runes‟ (see the chart above or click here to
turn Latin alphabet into runes). Gradually, thanks mainly to Irish Christian missionaries, the
language of Old English began to use the Latin alphabet. It was a slow transition, not a quick
transformation. But even then it did not look like or sound like modern English. A modern American
would be lost in 9th century England!
Modern English “Lord’s Prayer”(21st century)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against us. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Old English “Lord’s Prayer” (9th century)
æder ure þu þe eart on heofonum; Si þin nama
gehalgod to becume þin rice gewurþe ðin willa on
eorðan swa swa on heofonum. urne
gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg and forgyf us
ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of
yfele soþlice.
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Over time, English continued to evolve and change, as all languages do. Some Latin words
snuck into the language when Christianity came back in force to the island in the late 5 th century
A.D., and of course some Latin words had already been adopted when the Germanic people took over
the old Roman provinces in Europe. But the massive change in English comes with the next big wave
of invaders to the shores of Britain, the Normans.
1066 A.D. – around late 1400’s A.D.
In 1066 A.D., Old French (when French was becoming a new language from its Latin ancestor)
speaking people from northern France, descendents of certain Viking tribes called the Normans,
invaded Britain from Northern France (the area of Normandy, hence their name). These Normans
were led by William the Conqueror, and brought to England not only their own customs and system of
government, but also their Old French language. And so via the Norman Conquest, Latin made its
triumphal return to the island of Britain, and it is from this point on that Latin becomes forever
mixed with English.
Our modern English language begins to develop at this time, slowly at first but picking up
speed as the Normans become more and more in control of England. The language of English is a
strange mixture – it has a Germanic grammar structure (the way its sentences work) but increasingly
its vocabulary became a mix of Anglo-Saxon and Latin/French. That is why English remains such a
hard language for non-native speakers to learn – it combines bits and pieces of other languages all
rolled into one strange mix!! During this period, many words being to have two different forms; a
native “Germanic” Anglo-Saxon form, and a “Normanized” Latin-French form.
Anglo-Saxon form
pig
cow
anger
belly
brotherly
child
end
teach
wish
think
kingly
leave
ask
dog
cat
Latin-French form
pork
beef
ire
abdomen
fraternal
infant
finish
educate
desire
consider
regal
exit
inquire
canine
feline
**This is just a short list – there are hundreds of others!
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late 1400s A.D. – modern times
English continued to grow and evolve, becoming more and more like the English you are used
to today. A general change in vowel sounds (called the Great Vowel Shift, or the Great Vowel
Movement if your humor lies in THAT direction) that occurred at this time caused English to sound
less like it‟s Germanic cousins and more like it‟s Latin ancestor. During the Renaissance and into
modern times, new scientific and other intellectual words became and are still becoming part of our
common English language. These new words almost entirely came from Latin (or Greek) origins. New
words are being made all the time, using Latin as a guide!
No other language gains more than English from researching into its past because it has
borrowed so much of its vocabulary from so many diverse sources. The words of English constitute
an incredible heritage: they represent nothing less than a crystallization and a distillation of the
entire collective experience of countless speakers. They have been transmitted in an unbroken chain
from person to person, day by day, year by year, generation by generation, in a succession stretching
backward through time to the most remote period of human antiquity and leading up to the present
day – in the words you are reading right now and the words you will speak in the future.
Wherever speakers have traveled, whatever new artifacts or plants or animals or customs
they have encountered, whatever new beliefs or philosophies or sciences they have developed,
whatever joys or tragedies they have undertaken; their words have accompanied them, growing
steadily, adapting and accommodating themselves to their ever-changing needs. New words have
entered English; "new", that is, to the English language, but often incredibly old in others.
Many words have fallen into disuse, grown obsolete, and sometimes disappeared; as well as,
developed meanings that frequently diverge in amazing ways from their earlier senses. Words, of
course, serve as building blocks of communication, as tools of thought, and as outlets for emotions;
but they represent more than that: they are living representatives of the past, and each bears the
imprint of its passage through time. Every word in its own right is a souvenir of history with a
unique story to tell all of us.
The areas in green are where the Latin alphabet is used to write a wide variety of different languages.
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Language Activity : Anglo-Saxon vs. Latin-French
For this activity each group will need:
A Thesaurus
A Dictionary that gives language origin
A piece of paper and pencil for each student
English is a fantastic language to use as an example of how language changes over time and because of
different cultural influences (and, equally, how language influences the culture that uses it). One reason is
because we can see the influence a language in one distinct family (Latin, an Italic language) had on another
language from a completely different family (English, a Germanic language). As seen earlier, many synonyms
(different words that have the same meaning) in English exist because one word (such as ‘end’) comes from
our Germanic heritage while another word (finish) comes from our Italic heritage.
Using a thesaurus and a dictionary that shows language origins, try to find as many examples of these
types of synonyms as you can.
1. Start by thinking of some common everyday words that are short (one or two syllables – our
Germanic words tend to be short and abrupt, Italic ones are usually longer and more flowing) and
look those words up in your dictionary.
2. If the word origin is Germanic (the abbreviations _________ denote Germanic languages), and not all
will be, then you can go on to your thesaurus.
3. In the thesaurus, see if there is longer synonym to that word (there will probably be more than
one). Choose one and return to your dictionary with that synonym in mind.
4. In the dictionary, see if that synonym is of an Italic origin (the abbreviations _________ denote Italic
languages). If it is, add the original word and the synonym to your list. If it is not, then go back to
step 3 and try another synonym. If no synonyms are Italic then you will need to pick a new
beginning word and go back to step 1.
Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) form
Latin-French (Italic) form
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
A really good dictionary (such as the Oxford English dictionary) will also tell you the approximate year
the words are first found written (not spoken – no one can do that without a time machine!) in the English
language. Note when the words you found first entered the written language. Which word is the ‘oldest’? Which
is the ‘youngest’?
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Types of Words
Linguists have identified 8 main types of words present in most world languages. While the
rules governing how, when and where these types are used varies greatly from language to language
the basic functions still remain. As we progress it will be important for you to identify, understand,
and use these different types of words in both English and Latin.
Nouns
Verbs
(incl. pronouns)


used to identify people, places,
things, ideas, emotions, etc.
Adjectives

Adverbs
used to describe nouns, making
them more specific (not just a
man but a smart man, not just a
shoe but a flat shoe).

Prepositions


used to show action (walks, ran,
will throw, jumping) or state of
being (is, was, will be, seems,
etc)in a sentence.
used to describe verbs, making
them more specific (not just
written but quickly written, not
just done but poorly done).
Interrogatives
used to tell where (in, out, over,
under, with, etc) or when (after,
before) a noun is located or a
verb’s action is happening.
Can describe either motion
(into, toward) or position (on,
about)

used to tell ask questions
Conjunctions

used to link one word to
another, or one sentence to
another to create a longer
complex sentence (and, or,
because, but, etc)
Interjections

used to show emotion or
representation of sound
(Oh! Ouch! Look out! Vrrrooommm!)
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