Indo-European Influences
o First language spoken in Britain was Celtic.
o Celts came from Central Asia.
o Celtic had little effect on English
o Celts were driven to the North and West of Britain.
o Celtic still spoken in Scotland & Wales.
o Celtic words- bog, galore.
o Celtic place name- Avon river
o 55 AD Roman invasion (Julius Caesar)
o Romans brought Latin.
o Roman occupation lasted 400 years.
o During Roman occupation Celtic & Latin was spoken.
o Latin word- c astra meaning camp.
Used in town names Chester, Lancaster & Gloucester
Old English (500 AD-1100 AD)
o English dates from 5 th C.
o 5 th C Britain invaded by Angles, Saxons & Jutes.
o Angles, Saxons & Jutes from north Germany.
o Angles, Saxons & Jutes were farmers.
o Angles, Saxons & Jutes language was Anglo-Saxon.
o Anglo-Saxon main language spoken for 500 years.
o Anglo-Saxon forms the basic vocab of English.
o Anglo-Saxon vocab members of family, parts of body, food, numbers up to 1000 and verbs.
o 9 th & 10 th C Danes & Vikings invasion.
o Danes & Vikings spoke Old Norse.
o Old Norse & Anglo-Saxon come from Teutonic.
o Old English = Old Norse + Anglo-Saxon
Norman Conquest & Middle English (1066 AD-1500 AD)
o 1066 William the Conqueror and the Norman army invaded Britain.
o Normans were lawyers, government officials and traders.
o The Normans spoke Norman French.
o Anglo-Saxons were dominated by the Normans.
o French became the official language of England for 300 years.
o Latin still used in church and schools.
o The Anglo-Saxon was still spoken by the Anglo-Saxons.
o Middle English = Norman French + Old English.
o New words from Norman French are master and supper.
o Geoffrey Chaucer used English to write books “The Canterbury Tales.”
The Renaissance
o Renaissance means re-birth.
o New words from Latin & Greek. Words = education, experiment, investigate.
o 10, 000 new words.
o Shakespeare was one of the heaviest contributors to this.
Words = Longhaired, hot blooded, obscene.
o Standardization
o 1467 Caxton introduced the first printing press and used his East Midland dialect.
o 1755 Dr Johnston introduced the first English dictionary.