a brief history of the english language, or why english is hard to spell!
TRANSCRIPT
A Brief History of the A Brief History of the English Language, English Language,
or Why English is Hard to or Why English is Hard to Spell!Spell!
How did English get to How did English get to England? England?
Prepare to fill in the spaces on Prepare to fill in the spaces on your notes sheet. your notes sheet.
How did English get to How did English get to North America? North America?
English immigrants to English immigrants to Jamestown, Plymouth,. . . In Jamestown, Plymouth,. . . In
the early 1600’sthe early 1600’s
English is the official language of ___?__ nations.
about
?
English is the official language of ___?__ nations.
about
45
English is spoken by how many people?
more than
?
English is spoken by how many people?
more than
450 million
English is one of the two working languages of the United Nations. The other one is __?___.French!
Francais!
English is the mother tongue of the British Isles.
English spread because of English spread because of
British exploration, colonization, and empire building British exploration, colonization, and empire building during theduring the SeventeenthSeventeenth EighteenthEighteenth And Ninteenth centuries And Ninteenth centuries
The history of the English Language
parallels the history of the English people and the British Islands.
In the middle of the fifth century
• Tribes of Germanic invaders -- Angles, Saxons, and Jutes -- brought their languages across the English Channel to the British Isles.
In the sixth century
• Christian missionaries arrived in England and
brought Latin with them.
• Other invaders from
Scandinavia established settlements in Britain.
By the ninth century
• Anglo-Saxon (a dialect spoken in Southern England) had become standard English.
Today,
• One fifth of the English words we use derive from this Anglo-Saxon English.
Anglo-Saxon
But in the eleventh century
• The Norman Conquest of Britain brought foreign rulers whose native language was
–French.
For more than three hundred years,
• French was the official language of England.
• French was the language of the court.
• English was spoken only by peasants.
• For example, consider the words “pig” and “pork.”
Another half of our English vocabulary is
• of French and Romance origins.
Anglo-SaxonOther
French/Romance
•No, not that kind!
In the fourteenth century,• English/Wessex again became the language
of the English upper class.• The new standard was a London dialect
since London was now the capital city.• During the three hundred years kings of
England had spoken French, the English language had changed greatly.
• The French spoken by nobles became more like English. The English of the common people was now full of French words.
There are three periods of English:
1. Old English or Anglo-Saxon to c. 1150.
2. Middle English to c. 1500.
3. Modern English to today.
An Englishman of 1300 wouldn’t have understood the English of 500; nor would he understand the English we speak today.
Here’s an example of changes in English pronunciation:
• The word name • In Old English was pronounced
nämä (the a as in fäther)• In Middle English was pronounced näme (fäther) + (sofa)In Modern English, is pronounced
nām
English is hard to spell, English is hard to spell, but it is a wonderful, but it is a wonderful, versatile, expanding versatile, expanding
language!language!
Expand your vocabulary!Expand your vocabulary!