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Another Part Of Teh Influences Of The English Language
The Old English Period (450-1150):
First of all let’s look at the old English period and the different influence that affected English at this period. There are three main invasions in this period. There was the Romans invasion, the Germanic conquest, and the Scandinavian invasion. Let’s look at the first invasion. It is said that something has to be sacrificed to get to another thing. From the beginning of this period, it was the peace the people who lived in England that was sacrificed. The first people that lived in England were the Celts. So, Celtic was probably the first indo European language spoken in England. They established themselves in Britain five hundred years before the the roman invasions took place. The Celts were divided tribes who lived to fight. The Celts were ruled by the clan system where clans were joined together loosely with other tribes. Each clan had its own customs, culture and religious belief. Among the different religious believes was that the Celts reserved the head of their victims in battle and show them of as souvenirs. They believed that the spiritual power lied in the head of their enemy. The Celts used to dye themselves in blue and they broke throw the enemies lines screaming to scare there enemy. When they had possession of the head they will be taking that power. It will pass on to them. The Celts worked as farmers and people who were known to be rich were only rich by the size of the land and herd they owned. The Celts could have survived if only the stopped fighting among themselves. Many years went by and they had to fall apart due to these disastrous wars among themselves.
This leads to us to talk about the first invasion on the British isle which is the Roman invasion. This invasion started with Julius Caesar in the year fifty five B.C. After conquering Gaul, he decided to conquer England. His aim was to separate the Celts in Britain to come and help those in Gaul. For two long summers, Julius Caesar fought the Celts in Britain and after that he withdrew his forces to carry out a promise he had given to them. During that time trade grew between the two nations and some Celts were sent to Rome to get a better education. Until the year forty three A.D., things were settled until the new emperor Claudius had it on his mind to continue the conquest that Julius Caesar started. The Romans were not interrupted as they set camps and the region known as England today became under the roman rule. Here we may say that the conquest was completed. The Roman way of life ruled England and more than one hundred towns surrender and became roman. There were roman baths and theatres. The houses were heated and the floors were paved in mosaic. People wore Roman clothes and they read roman poetry. Even the Christian religion found its way into the island. Latin was also introduced and it did not replace the Celtic language as it did in Gaul. It was used by the upper class and the people who lived in the roman cities and towns. This was how the Romans invaded England to rule and expand their territory.
Julius Caesar.
The second invasion on England was by the Germanic tribes. The Germanic conquest changed the course of history. These Germanic tribes were the founders of the English nation. Their invasions took the form of migration. Small bands left their homes in Denmark and settled in the south and east of the island. They extended their settlement to the highlands. These tribes were divided into three groups. They were the jutes, Saxons, and angles. The jutes and the angles were from the Danish peninsula. The jutes were in the northern half and the angles were in the southern half. The Saxons were at the south and the west of the angles. The Saxons were the first people to attack the island in the forth century. There were also the attacks by the Scots and Picts. The Celts had lost their will to fight because they have become dependant on the Romans in battles. Their lives were more peaceful and their battle traditions were almost forgotten. They were not able to defend themselves against the Picts and Scots. One of the Celtic leaders asked the jutes to help him against the Picts and Scots. In return the jutes would be allowed to occupy the Isle of Thanet. The jutes were strong and they managed to keep the Picts and Scots out. The jutes saw that the Celts were week so they stayed on the island and they were planning to settle there. The jutes came in large numbers after that and they settled on the island. They actually drove the Celts out. Along with the jutes came the Angeles and the Saxons, who followed the jutes in settling on the island. With this invasion roman civilization was destroyed. They were not used to the city life and so they were ruled by the clan system. There was a strong distinction between freemen and kings. Sometimes kingdoms were divided and ruled under separate rulers. It’s difficult to call such a result, a united kingdom. We can see that the west Saxons protected their place as kings of all England. They were all ruled by Alfred and they had a prosperous life.
The German dialect is a descendent of one of the proto-indo-European languages, which is the West Germanic language family. Some other features in old English were taken from the proto-Germanic language from which all the Germanic languages were derived. There are nine proto-indo-European languages. There are the Indian, Iranian, Armenian, Albanian, Balto-Slavonic, Hellenic, italic, Celtic and the Germanic. The Germanic is divided into three parts. The English language belongs to the Germanic language. (There is a diagram that shows the family tree of the proto-indo-European languages at the end of this research.)
Let’s look at the Germanic group in depth since the English language belongs to it and it’s our concern to focus on anything related to the history of the English language. The name Germani, it’s self, as first used by Caesar in his Gallic war. Another theory suggests that it is related to the warm springs near Aachen reflected by the word ‘germo’ which means hot referring to the spring. There are three subdivisions of the Germanic language. The East Germanic language is represented by the gothic language. The North Germanic language is reflected in the languages of Scandinavia. The West Germanic language is subdivided into three parts: the High German, the Low German, and the low Franconian, and the third group are the Angelo-Fresian. The High German is today’s spoken language in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The low Franconia developed into the Dutch and Flemish. The Low German became the basis of many dialects known today in north Germany. English and Frisian form the Angelo Fresian group and that is the origin of the English language.
The third invasion that happened in the old English period and which influenced the English language was the Scandinavian invasion. This invasion happened at the end of the old English period. The Scandinavians were the neighbours of the Angelo Saxons and they were related to them In language and blood. The Scandinavians were living quietly in their northern homes. In the eight century a great changed happing. We shall assume that it Is political or economic. The Scandinavians began a number of attacks. It is ironical that their activities began I plunder and ended in conquest.
There are three stages concerning the Scandinavian invasion. The fist period was that of early raids in England which started in 787 and continued to 850. This period was characterized with the plundering attacks on monasteries near the coast of England. They stole jewellery, robes, sacred vessels of gold and other valuables. The English people were captured and they were made slaves. These attacks were performed by small isolated bands.
The second stage of these attacks was the work of large armies. This period was famous for the widespread plundering throughout all the country. The Scandinavians had pirate ships and within one spring they managed to capture Canterbury and London and many parts of the country. During that time king Alfred ruled. He could not even face the Scandinavians. He resisted his enemy for seven years and suddenly all his tactics were insufficient. He left to summerset leaving Wes***. After many plans he decided that it was time for them again to fight back the Danes. He suddenly attacked the Danish army. He succeeded and the Danes lost the battle this time. This period is marked by the treaty of Wedmore. This treaty was signed by Alfred and the Danish king. The Danes withdrew from Wes*** but they did not leave England.
The third period of the attacks shows the political adjustment and assimilation. The treaty was not that great a cause to keep the Scandinavians away from England. The king of the Danes Guthrum broke his word and ordered new invasions to take place but they did not last very long. Edward and his son Athelstan, the successors of Alfred, won in the unforgettable battle of Brunanburh.
When every one thought that this was the end of the Scandinavian invasion, a new problem arose. A Viking fleet under the command of Olaf attacked the towns of England. Olaf was the king of Norway. He had help from the king of Denmark, Svien. They both attacked London. There were several truces but they were temporary. Fresh attacks were soon made again. The king of Denmark wanted to make himself king of the country and he had help from his son Cnut. Svien made a series of attacks and he sent the English king back then, Ethelred, into exile and he placed himself on the throne. His son became king after he died that very same year and he only fought for three more years to make the throne his own. The Danish kings since that time ruled England for twenty five years.
Now that we know the origin of the English language lets look at the most known characteristics that distinguished the old English noun phrase from the rest of the two periods. In old English there was an agreement in the noun phrase in number, gender, and case endings. There is also an agreement between the noun and the adjective. There were many nouns that were feminine, masculine and neuter. Old English was definitely dependent on grammatical gender. We are used to the knowledge that nouns designating males are often masculine and those that indicate females are often feminine but in old English this does not always have to be true. Nouns that show neuter are not necessarily neuter. For example, (fot) and (Stan) in old English is masculine. We also have ‘tonge’, which shows today’s tongue, as an example of the feminine form. ‘Child’, which resembles today’s child, is neuter in old English. The gender in old English nouns is quite illogical. Words like ‘wif’, modern English wife, which we expect to be feminine for example are really neuter in old English. As for the noun ‘wifmann’ it is considered to be masculine because the second element of the compound is masculine. There were also four cases for the old English noun. There was the nominative which represents the subject. The second case was the dative which represents the indirect object. The third case was the genitive which represents the possessive case. The last case was the accusative which represents the direct object. The endings of these cases vary and they fall into certain declensions as we will mention next.
The inflections of the noun in old English were more elaborate than it is in our modern time. The nouns in old English had five declensions or inflections. Three declensions belonged to the strong declensions. These are known as vowel declensions such as the feminine, the masculine, and the neuter. These also can belong to the a-stem. Two inflections belong to the weak declensions and they are noun as consonant declensions such as –an endings and irregular nouns such as sheep and ‘ox’, ‘oxyn’ in old English. There is also a root consonant stem. The case endings of these nouns are related to their roots without the interruption of the stem forming suffixes such as –an. The most interesting characteristic of these nouns was the change of their root vowels n various forms. This can be found in the old English word ‘fot’ foot. Here are the noun paradigms in old English which show the synthetic character of old English, this means that it’s a language that indicates the relation of words in a sentence by using inflections.
The Foreign Influences on Old English:
The old English language was not an unchangeable language. There were many dramatic events that changed the English language from period to period. During each period the English language took some characteristic from those languages to which it has com in contact with. There were three main influences on the old English language. The first influence was that of the Celts. The second influence was the roman influence. The last influence was the Scandinavian influence.
We all know that that the Angelo Saxons formed the base of the English language. Similar to other West Germanic languages, Old English was inflected with four grammatical cases and there was the plural form of pronouns relating to two things. There have been also many nouns that were given gender including those of inanimate objects. Before the Germans the Celts lived in England. They have been on the island long before the Germans attacked. And when the Germans attacked the Celts the results of the two people were astonishing. The Germans adopted some words from the Celts. There are strong evidences showing that the Celts have not been completely exterminated. They had found a way to adapt to the new culture. Some reports say that the opposite happened where most of the Britons were killed. However there have been a small number of them who fled to the west of the island where they continued living for many years. It is likely that most of the Celts were taken to be made slaves by the Germans and many Germans married Celtic women. So the Germans had a fairly immediate intimate relationship with the Celts. To show that there has really been a relationship between the two people, we will look at the concrete e evidences we have found. For instance there are many Celtic place names that still exist till this day. The kingdom of Kent owes its existence to the Celtic word the ‘Canti’ which has a vague meaning. Devonshire also contains a Celtic influence and it is derived from the word ‘Dumnonii’. The actual name of London has also proven to relate some how to the Celts. Other names such as Winchester and Salisbury have a first syllable that relate to the Celtic origin. There are also names of rivers that belong to the Celtic origin such as the river Thames. There are also the names of water survive in Avon, and Dover. Apart from the place name the Celts had a very small influence on the old English language. There can be two possible ways of how the Germans acquired some words from the Celts. The first group of word were learned from everyday contact with the Britons. They were transformed to the German orally and they include such words as ‘basket’ and cloak. The other group of words was those groups that were learned or introduced by the Irish missionaries. They were somewhat religious. Some good examples of them are the words of magicians ‘dry’, history ‘stǽr’ and cursian ‘to curse’. However most of the Celtic did not survive and they were soon forgotten at the Middle English period. The Celts were the conquered people and the Angelo Saxons did not find it necessary most of the time to use Celtic words. The Celtic influence was the least of the influences that affected the English language.
Although the Celtic language did not gain a big interest on behalf of the Angelo Saxons, the Latin did and it had such a great influence on the English language. Latin was the language of a high civilization and the Angelo Saxons wanted to learn it because it was not the language of submerged people. The Germans had contact with the roman civilization and it was at first commercial, then military then it was religious. The German contact with the Romans began long before the Angelo Saxons came to England while they were still settling on the island. They acquired a few Latin words. The second contact was seen after they had conquered the island and when they met with the Celts they learned a few Latin words that the Celts have acquired. The third contact with the Latin language was through the missionaries who reintroduced Christianity into the island. This caused in a large adoption of the Latin words. So there were three different occasions where the Latin words were borrowed into the old English language. We will look at these three occasions in detail.
The first period was the period of the continental borrowing. This period is known as the Latin influence of the zero periods. The first words of Latin found their way into the English language because of the first contact between the Romans and the Germanic tribes. There were several Latin words found in different dialects of the Germanic tribes. This shows that their was immediate contact with the Romans. This contact, as it is mentioned before, could have been commercial because the Roman and German traders went and came to see the Roman Empire. The Germans told many things about the Roman Empire and the roman way of life and they took many Latin words. So, most of the words were connected to trade. Words like cheap,‘mangian’ which means to trade, and ‘pond’ which means pound were used in the trade business. One of the most important trades among Germans and the Romans was the wine trade. Words such as ‘wĩn’ and ‘eced’ vinegar prove that the Germans borrowed words from the Romans. They also adopted words related to agriculture because it was their principle job. Also words used in war were learned and borrowed like ‘camp’ which means battle and ‘weal’ which means wall. The Germans also acquired words that are related to the domestic life and house hold objects. Words such as kettle ‘cytel’, table ‘mese’ and pillow ‘pulvinus’ are good examples of Latin words that were acquired by the German tribes. The German tribes also adobted words related to food. Words like ‘cāseus’ cheese and ‘pipor’ pepper were used. The Romans also borrowed words related to building arts such as ‘copor’ copper and ‘pic’ pitch.
The second period was the period of the Latin word attained through Celtic transmission and which is also called the Latin influence of the first period. When we see how the Romans influenced the English language, we would expect to find a lot of roman or Latin words in the English language today. However this is not the case. Today there are few words that owe their presence to the influence of the Roman Empire. So, we could say that some of the Latin words were not transmitted to the Germanic tribes directly but it was transmitted to them through Celtic transmission. One of the few Latin words that the Angelo Saxons borrowed in spite the fact that it was absent from the Celtic languages is ‘ceaster’. This word represents that Latin ‘castra’ ‘camp’ and it stands for an enclosed community in old English. In an instance several English place names such as Chester, Dorchester and Manchester comes to our mind. A few other words that belonged to this period are ‘munt’ which mean mountain derived from the ‘mōns’, or montem. This Latin influence of the first period seems to be the slightest of all influences on old English.
The third influence of Latin on old English was the Latin influence of the second period known as the christening period. This was the greatest Latin influence on old English. The conversion of England to the roman Christianity has a wee known story. It is told by Bede. The mission of St. Augustine was first inspired by a man who later became Pope Gregory. Our story begins when Gregory was walking one morning in a market place at Rome. He saw some fair haired boys who were about to be sold as slaves and some one told him that they were from the island of Briton. He asked about the name of their nations and they told him that they were angles. He also asked about their province and they told him that they were from Deiri. Again he asked about their king and he was told that he was Ǽlla. He thus alluded that it was the name that praised God like ‘Alleluia’. After that Gregory wanted to carry out the mission of christening Briton. However he was very busy that he soon postponed this mission. A few years later he became pope and he remembered his wish to go on a mission to England. He looked for some one he can trust to send on this particular mission. Augustine was a close person to him. They have lived together for some time and Gregory found that he was a good person to be trusted on this mission. Augustine was sent with forty monks to what was known then as the end of the earth. Fortunately the circumstances in England helped them. In the kingdom of Kent there was a king who was married to a Christian wife. His wife was given to him under the condition that he will allow her to carry out her Christian faith. So, a small chapel was set for her to pray. So Augustine was well received by the king of Kent and the king himself was baptized within three months. And after seven years Augustine died and the whole kingdom of Kent was made Christian.
Now that we saw how Christianity was introduced in Briton, let’s see how Christianity influenced vocabulary in the old English period. The first religious feelings were seen in the intensive building of churches and the establishing of monasteries. This was somehow responsible for the transmission of Latin. This vocabulary enrichment did not take place over night. Some words came in straight away and others came in only at the end of this period. So the words that were introduced by the new religion were introduced out of need for them. Many words were adopted because they represent new ideas or because they represent a concept. The majority of words associated with the church and its services were borrowed. Words such as candle, martyr, minister, and temple are all borrowed words. Also a lot of Latin words influenced the domestic life of the people. Words referring to household use such as chest and words referring to food such as cabbage are all borrowed words. Another aspect of the churches influence was reflected in education. Words such as school master, metre, and grammatical are all words influenced by Latin. There are also miscellaneous words such as fever, market place and elephant which were influenced by Latin.
The last influence on the old English language was the Scandinavian influence. There were many Scandinavian words introduced during the Viking invasions. For instance a lot of Scandinavian place names exist till this day. Words like derby, rugby are very familiar words. Even the word Linthorpe is considered to be Scandinavian because the end of the word ‘thorp’, which means village, is of a Scandinavian origin. There are also words that end in –son such as Stevenson or Richardson. However during the earliest borrowings the numbers of words that are Scandinavian are very small. The largest number of words is associated with sea roving. ‘Brada’ which means beaked ship, ‘dreng’ which means warrior are words of Scandinavian origin. Later in this period we found words related to the social and administrative system of the Dane law. The word law for example is of Scandinavian origin. The words outlaw, tax and assembly are also a word of Scandinavian origin. The Scandinavian words did not come in the language straight away. It was after the settlement of the Danes that the Scandinavian words began to enter in the English language. The civilization of the Danes was similar to the Angelo Saxons. So the German tribes were not facing a different civilization. So the Scandinavian loan words and their character made their way to the English language through everyday life. There were nouns such as bank and birth which came in the English language. There were also adjectives that came in the English language such as low and there are also so many verbs such as cast and crave.
The Scandinavians did not influence the old English vocabulary only they also influenced the grammar and syntax of the old English. It is important to know that the English and the Scandinavian, in many words, differed in their inflectional elements. The body of the words were the same but they were only different in the endings. It is also important to know that the Vikings spoke a language known as the Old Norse language. It is related to old English in that it is derived from the same ancestral proto Germanic language. The Old Norse is a mixture of the dialects of different speakers. There is a famous theory that claims that this mixture of old English and Old Norse had helped accelerate the decline of case endings in old English. The evidence given to support this theory is that the simplifications of case endings occurred in the north and latest in the south east which is the farthest area from the Viking influence. However, the influence of Old Norse on the English language is heavy.
The old English language was exemplified in literary works and one of the most important works is Beowulf. Beowulf is a heroic poem which consists of 3,182 lines and it actually represents ten percent of the extent corpus of old English. In this poem, Beowulf is a hero from a Germanic tribe called the Geats. He travels to Denmark to help defeat a monster named Grendel. He later deals with his mother and after that he goes back to Geatland where he becomes king. After he reaches old age he faces a lion and he heroically dies. This work of art has received great attention and it was called ‘‘England’s National Epic’’. The man techniques used in this piece of work is alliteration which is the repletion of sounds and ‘cǽsura’ which is the great distinct division between the two lines. The poem has two halves and they are distinguished in many ways. For instance the writer distinguishes between the youth then old age, public then intimate, and then diverse to focused. Here is a small sample of the poem. We will indicate the nouns and pronouns and adjectives in the following excerpt. An example of the singular nominative first person pronoun is ‘ic’. ‘Modiglicran’ is an example of the masculine dative weak adjective. ‘wrǽcsiðum’ is an example of the strong dative neuter noun.
First of all let’s look at the old English period and the different influence that affected English at this period. There are three main invasions in this period. There was the Romans invasion, the Germanic conquest, and the Scandinavian invasion. Let’s look at the first invasion. It is said that something has to be sacrificed to get to another thing. From the beginning of this period, it was the peace the people who lived in England that was sacrificed. The first people that lived in England were the Celts. So, Celtic was probably the first indo European language spoken in England. They established themselves in Britain five hundred years before the the roman invasions took place. The Celts were divided tribes who lived to fight. The Celts were ruled by the clan system where clans were joined together loosely with other tribes. Each clan had its own customs, culture and religious belief. Among the different religious believes was that the Celts reserved the head of their victims in battle and show them of as souvenirs. They believed that the spiritual power lied in the head of their enemy. The Celts used to dye themselves in blue and they broke throw the enemies lines screaming to scare there enemy. When they had possession of the head they will be taking that power. It will pass on to them. The Celts worked as farmers and people who were known to be rich were only rich by the size of the land and herd they owned. The Celts could have survived if only the stopped fighting among themselves. Many years went by and they had to fall apart due to these disastrous wars among themselves.
This leads to us to talk about the first invasion on the British isle which is the Roman invasion. This invasion started with Julius Caesar in the year fifty five B.C. After conquering Gaul, he decided to conquer England. His aim was to separate the Celts in Britain to come and help those in Gaul. For two long summers, Julius Caesar fought the Celts in Britain and after that he withdrew his forces to carry out a promise he had given to them. During that time trade grew between the two nations and some Celts were sent to Rome to get a better education. Until the year forty three A.D., things were settled until the new emperor Claudius had it on his mind to continue the conquest that Julius Caesar started. The Romans were not interrupted as they set camps and the region known as England today became under the roman rule. Here we may say that the conquest was completed. The Roman way of life ruled England and more than one hundred towns surrender and became roman. There were roman baths and theatres. The houses were heated and the floors were paved in mosaic. People wore Roman clothes and they read roman poetry. Even the Christian religion found its way into the island. Latin was also introduced and it did not replace the Celtic language as it did in Gaul. It was used by the upper class and the people who lived in the roman cities and towns. This was how the Romans invaded England to rule and expand their territory.
Julius Caesar.
The second invasion on England was by the Germanic tribes. The Germanic conquest changed the course of history. These Germanic tribes were the founders of the English nation. Their invasions took the form of migration. Small bands left their homes in Denmark and settled in the south and east of the island. They extended their settlement to the highlands. These tribes were divided into three groups. They were the jutes, Saxons, and angles. The jutes and the angles were from the Danish peninsula. The jutes were in the northern half and the angles were in the southern half. The Saxons were at the south and the west of the angles. The Saxons were the first people to attack the island in the forth century. There were also the attacks by the Scots and Picts. The Celts had lost their will to fight because they have become dependant on the Romans in battles. Their lives were more peaceful and their battle traditions were almost forgotten. They were not able to defend themselves against the Picts and Scots. One of the Celtic leaders asked the jutes to help him against the Picts and Scots. In return the jutes would be allowed to occupy the Isle of Thanet. The jutes were strong and they managed to keep the Picts and Scots out. The jutes saw that the Celts were week so they stayed on the island and they were planning to settle there. The jutes came in large numbers after that and they settled on the island. They actually drove the Celts out. Along with the jutes came the Angeles and the Saxons, who followed the jutes in settling on the island. With this invasion roman civilization was destroyed. They were not used to the city life and so they were ruled by the clan system. There was a strong distinction between freemen and kings. Sometimes kingdoms were divided and ruled under separate rulers. It’s difficult to call such a result, a united kingdom. We can see that the west Saxons protected their place as kings of all England. They were all ruled by Alfred and they had a prosperous life.
A Map of the Roman Empire and the Germanic Tribes
The Angelo Saxon chronicle, Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Let’s look at the Germanic group in depth since the English language belongs to it and it’s our concern to focus on anything related to the history of the English language. The name Germani, it’s self, as first used by Caesar in his Gallic war. Another theory suggests that it is related to the warm springs near Aachen reflected by the word ‘germo’ which means hot referring to the spring. There are three subdivisions of the Germanic language. The East Germanic language is represented by the gothic language. The North Germanic language is reflected in the languages of Scandinavia. The West Germanic language is subdivided into three parts: the High German, the Low German, and the low Franconian, and the third group are the Angelo-Fresian. The High German is today’s spoken language in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The low Franconia developed into the Dutch and Flemish. The Low German became the basis of many dialects known today in north Germany. English and Frisian form the Angelo Fresian group and that is the origin of the English language.
The third invasion that happened in the old English period and which influenced the English language was the Scandinavian invasion. This invasion happened at the end of the old English period. The Scandinavians were the neighbours of the Angelo Saxons and they were related to them In language and blood. The Scandinavians were living quietly in their northern homes. In the eight century a great changed happing. We shall assume that it Is political or economic. The Scandinavians began a number of attacks. It is ironical that their activities began I plunder and ended in conquest.
A Scandinavian Warrior
The second stage of these attacks was the work of large armies. This period was famous for the widespread plundering throughout all the country. The Scandinavians had pirate ships and within one spring they managed to capture Canterbury and London and many parts of the country. During that time king Alfred ruled. He could not even face the Scandinavians. He resisted his enemy for seven years and suddenly all his tactics were insufficient. He left to summerset leaving Wes***. After many plans he decided that it was time for them again to fight back the Danes. He suddenly attacked the Danish army. He succeeded and the Danes lost the battle this time. This period is marked by the treaty of Wedmore. This treaty was signed by Alfred and the Danish king. The Danes withdrew from Wes*** but they did not leave England.
A Scandinavian Ship
When every one thought that this was the end of the Scandinavian invasion, a new problem arose. A Viking fleet under the command of Olaf attacked the towns of England. Olaf was the king of Norway. He had help from the king of Denmark, Svien. They both attacked London. There were several truces but they were temporary. Fresh attacks were soon made again. The king of Denmark wanted to make himself king of the country and he had help from his son Cnut. Svien made a series of attacks and he sent the English king back then, Ethelred, into exile and he placed himself on the throne. His son became king after he died that very same year and he only fought for three more years to make the throne his own. The Danish kings since that time ruled England for twenty five years.
Now that we know the origin of the English language lets look at the most known characteristics that distinguished the old English noun phrase from the rest of the two periods. In old English there was an agreement in the noun phrase in number, gender, and case endings. There is also an agreement between the noun and the adjective. There were many nouns that were feminine, masculine and neuter. Old English was definitely dependent on grammatical gender. We are used to the knowledge that nouns designating males are often masculine and those that indicate females are often feminine but in old English this does not always have to be true. Nouns that show neuter are not necessarily neuter. For example, (fot) and (Stan) in old English is masculine. We also have ‘tonge’, which shows today’s tongue, as an example of the feminine form. ‘Child’, which resembles today’s child, is neuter in old English. The gender in old English nouns is quite illogical. Words like ‘wif’, modern English wife, which we expect to be feminine for example are really neuter in old English. As for the noun ‘wifmann’ it is considered to be masculine because the second element of the compound is masculine. There were also four cases for the old English noun. There was the nominative which represents the subject. The second case was the dative which represents the indirect object. The third case was the genitive which represents the possessive case. The last case was the accusative which represents the direct object. The endings of these cases vary and they fall into certain declensions as we will mention next.
The inflections of the noun in old English were more elaborate than it is in our modern time. The nouns in old English had five declensions or inflections. Three declensions belonged to the strong declensions. These are known as vowel declensions such as the feminine, the masculine, and the neuter. These also can belong to the a-stem. Two inflections belong to the weak declensions and they are noun as consonant declensions such as –an endings and irregular nouns such as sheep and ‘ox’, ‘oxyn’ in old English. There is also a root consonant stem. The case endings of these nouns are related to their roots without the interruption of the stem forming suffixes such as –an. The most interesting characteristic of these nouns was the change of their root vowels n various forms. This can be found in the old English word ‘fot’ foot. Here are the noun paradigms in old English which show the synthetic character of old English, this means that it’s a language that indicates the relation of words in a sentence by using inflections.
The Foreign Influences on Old English:
The old English language was not an unchangeable language. There were many dramatic events that changed the English language from period to period. During each period the English language took some characteristic from those languages to which it has com in contact with. There were three main influences on the old English language. The first influence was that of the Celts. The second influence was the roman influence. The last influence was the Scandinavian influence.
We all know that that the Angelo Saxons formed the base of the English language. Similar to other West Germanic languages, Old English was inflected with four grammatical cases and there was the plural form of pronouns relating to two things. There have been also many nouns that were given gender including those of inanimate objects. Before the Germans the Celts lived in England. They have been on the island long before the Germans attacked. And when the Germans attacked the Celts the results of the two people were astonishing. The Germans adopted some words from the Celts. There are strong evidences showing that the Celts have not been completely exterminated. They had found a way to adapt to the new culture. Some reports say that the opposite happened where most of the Britons were killed. However there have been a small number of them who fled to the west of the island where they continued living for many years. It is likely that most of the Celts were taken to be made slaves by the Germans and many Germans married Celtic women. So the Germans had a fairly immediate intimate relationship with the Celts. To show that there has really been a relationship between the two people, we will look at the concrete e evidences we have found. For instance there are many Celtic place names that still exist till this day. The kingdom of Kent owes its existence to the Celtic word the ‘Canti’ which has a vague meaning. Devonshire also contains a Celtic influence and it is derived from the word ‘Dumnonii’. The actual name of London has also proven to relate some how to the Celts. Other names such as Winchester and Salisbury have a first syllable that relate to the Celtic origin. There are also names of rivers that belong to the Celtic origin such as the river Thames. There are also the names of water survive in Avon, and Dover. Apart from the place name the Celts had a very small influence on the old English language. There can be two possible ways of how the Germans acquired some words from the Celts. The first group of word were learned from everyday contact with the Britons. They were transformed to the German orally and they include such words as ‘basket’ and cloak. The other group of words was those groups that were learned or introduced by the Irish missionaries. They were somewhat religious. Some good examples of them are the words of magicians ‘dry’, history ‘stǽr’ and cursian ‘to curse’. However most of the Celtic did not survive and they were soon forgotten at the Middle English period. The Celts were the conquered people and the Angelo Saxons did not find it necessary most of the time to use Celtic words. The Celtic influence was the least of the influences that affected the English language.
Although the Celtic language did not gain a big interest on behalf of the Angelo Saxons, the Latin did and it had such a great influence on the English language. Latin was the language of a high civilization and the Angelo Saxons wanted to learn it because it was not the language of submerged people. The Germans had contact with the roman civilization and it was at first commercial, then military then it was religious. The German contact with the Romans began long before the Angelo Saxons came to England while they were still settling on the island. They acquired a few Latin words. The second contact was seen after they had conquered the island and when they met with the Celts they learned a few Latin words that the Celts have acquired. The third contact with the Latin language was through the missionaries who reintroduced Christianity into the island. This caused in a large adoption of the Latin words. So there were three different occasions where the Latin words were borrowed into the old English language. We will look at these three occasions in detail.
The first period was the period of the continental borrowing. This period is known as the Latin influence of the zero periods. The first words of Latin found their way into the English language because of the first contact between the Romans and the Germanic tribes. There were several Latin words found in different dialects of the Germanic tribes. This shows that their was immediate contact with the Romans. This contact, as it is mentioned before, could have been commercial because the Roman and German traders went and came to see the Roman Empire. The Germans told many things about the Roman Empire and the roman way of life and they took many Latin words. So, most of the words were connected to trade. Words like cheap,‘mangian’ which means to trade, and ‘pond’ which means pound were used in the trade business. One of the most important trades among Germans and the Romans was the wine trade. Words such as ‘wĩn’ and ‘eced’ vinegar prove that the Germans borrowed words from the Romans. They also adopted words related to agriculture because it was their principle job. Also words used in war were learned and borrowed like ‘camp’ which means battle and ‘weal’ which means wall. The Germans also acquired words that are related to the domestic life and house hold objects. Words such as kettle ‘cytel’, table ‘mese’ and pillow ‘pulvinus’ are good examples of Latin words that were acquired by the German tribes. The German tribes also adobted words related to food. Words like ‘cāseus’ cheese and ‘pipor’ pepper were used. The Romans also borrowed words related to building arts such as ‘copor’ copper and ‘pic’ pitch.
The second period was the period of the Latin word attained through Celtic transmission and which is also called the Latin influence of the first period. When we see how the Romans influenced the English language, we would expect to find a lot of roman or Latin words in the English language today. However this is not the case. Today there are few words that owe their presence to the influence of the Roman Empire. So, we could say that some of the Latin words were not transmitted to the Germanic tribes directly but it was transmitted to them through Celtic transmission. One of the few Latin words that the Angelo Saxons borrowed in spite the fact that it was absent from the Celtic languages is ‘ceaster’. This word represents that Latin ‘castra’ ‘camp’ and it stands for an enclosed community in old English. In an instance several English place names such as Chester, Dorchester and Manchester comes to our mind. A few other words that belonged to this period are ‘munt’ which mean mountain derived from the ‘mōns’, or montem. This Latin influence of the first period seems to be the slightest of all influences on old English.
The third influence of Latin on old English was the Latin influence of the second period known as the christening period. This was the greatest Latin influence on old English. The conversion of England to the roman Christianity has a wee known story. It is told by Bede. The mission of St. Augustine was first inspired by a man who later became Pope Gregory. Our story begins when Gregory was walking one morning in a market place at Rome. He saw some fair haired boys who were about to be sold as slaves and some one told him that they were from the island of Briton. He asked about the name of their nations and they told him that they were angles. He also asked about their province and they told him that they were from Deiri. Again he asked about their king and he was told that he was Ǽlla. He thus alluded that it was the name that praised God like ‘Alleluia’. After that Gregory wanted to carry out the mission of christening Briton. However he was very busy that he soon postponed this mission. A few years later he became pope and he remembered his wish to go on a mission to England. He looked for some one he can trust to send on this particular mission. Augustine was a close person to him. They have lived together for some time and Gregory found that he was a good person to be trusted on this mission. Augustine was sent with forty monks to what was known then as the end of the earth. Fortunately the circumstances in England helped them. In the kingdom of Kent there was a king who was married to a Christian wife. His wife was given to him under the condition that he will allow her to carry out her Christian faith. So, a small chapel was set for her to pray. So Augustine was well received by the king of Kent and the king himself was baptized within three months. And after seven years Augustine died and the whole kingdom of Kent was made Christian.
Now that we saw how Christianity was introduced in Briton, let’s see how Christianity influenced vocabulary in the old English period. The first religious feelings were seen in the intensive building of churches and the establishing of monasteries. This was somehow responsible for the transmission of Latin. This vocabulary enrichment did not take place over night. Some words came in straight away and others came in only at the end of this period. So the words that were introduced by the new religion were introduced out of need for them. Many words were adopted because they represent new ideas or because they represent a concept. The majority of words associated with the church and its services were borrowed. Words such as candle, martyr, minister, and temple are all borrowed words. Also a lot of Latin words influenced the domestic life of the people. Words referring to household use such as chest and words referring to food such as cabbage are all borrowed words. Another aspect of the churches influence was reflected in education. Words such as school master, metre, and grammatical are all words influenced by Latin. There are also miscellaneous words such as fever, market place and elephant which were influenced by Latin.
The last influence on the old English language was the Scandinavian influence. There were many Scandinavian words introduced during the Viking invasions. For instance a lot of Scandinavian place names exist till this day. Words like derby, rugby are very familiar words. Even the word Linthorpe is considered to be Scandinavian because the end of the word ‘thorp’, which means village, is of a Scandinavian origin. There are also words that end in –son such as Stevenson or Richardson. However during the earliest borrowings the numbers of words that are Scandinavian are very small. The largest number of words is associated with sea roving. ‘Brada’ which means beaked ship, ‘dreng’ which means warrior are words of Scandinavian origin. Later in this period we found words related to the social and administrative system of the Dane law. The word law for example is of Scandinavian origin. The words outlaw, tax and assembly are also a word of Scandinavian origin. The Scandinavian words did not come in the language straight away. It was after the settlement of the Danes that the Scandinavian words began to enter in the English language. The civilization of the Danes was similar to the Angelo Saxons. So the German tribes were not facing a different civilization. So the Scandinavian loan words and their character made their way to the English language through everyday life. There were nouns such as bank and birth which came in the English language. There were also adjectives that came in the English language such as low and there are also so many verbs such as cast and crave.
The Scandinavians did not influence the old English vocabulary only they also influenced the grammar and syntax of the old English. It is important to know that the English and the Scandinavian, in many words, differed in their inflectional elements. The body of the words were the same but they were only different in the endings. It is also important to know that the Vikings spoke a language known as the Old Norse language. It is related to old English in that it is derived from the same ancestral proto Germanic language. The Old Norse is a mixture of the dialects of different speakers. There is a famous theory that claims that this mixture of old English and Old Norse had helped accelerate the decline of case endings in old English. The evidence given to support this theory is that the simplifications of case endings occurred in the north and latest in the south east which is the farthest area from the Viking influence. However, the influence of Old Norse on the English language is heavy.
The old English language was exemplified in literary works and one of the most important works is Beowulf. Beowulf is a heroic poem which consists of 3,182 lines and it actually represents ten percent of the extent corpus of old English. In this poem, Beowulf is a hero from a Germanic tribe called the Geats. He travels to Denmark to help defeat a monster named Grendel. He later deals with his mother and after that he goes back to Geatland where he becomes king. After he reaches old age he faces a lion and he heroically dies. This work of art has received great attention and it was called ‘‘England’s National Epic’’. The man techniques used in this piece of work is alliteration which is the repletion of sounds and ‘cǽsura’ which is the great distinct division between the two lines. The poem has two halves and they are distinguished in many ways. For instance the writer distinguishes between the youth then old age, public then intimate, and then diverse to focused. Here is a small sample of the poem. We will indicate the nouns and pronouns and adjectives in the following excerpt. An example of the singular nominative first person pronoun is ‘ic’. ‘Modiglicran’ is an example of the masculine dative weak adjective. ‘wrǽcsiðum’ is an example of the strong dative neuter noun.
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