Summary:

A History of the English Language

1.ENGLISH PRESENT AND FUTURE
1. History of the English Language as a cultural subject

The Importance of the Language: It is the means by which man communicates
his thoughts and feeling to the others . It is the tool with which he conducts
his business or manage the government affairs. It is the vehicle by which
science and literature are transmitted from generation to another. It is assumed
that every educated person knows something about the structure of his
language ,its position in the world and its relation to the other languages ,the
source of its vocabulary and the prominent political ,social and cultural
influences which have affected the language .

2. Influences at Work on Language

English today reflects centuries of development .It has been mainly affected by
the social and political events. Some of such events are:
The Christianizing of Britain in 597 which caused the contact between the two
civilization Latin and Britain and consequently resulted in the increase of the
English vocabulary.
Other events are the Scandinavian invasion, the Norman ,the hundred years
war , the expansion of the British empire and other factors . In short ,the
English language results in its entire development from the political ,social and
cultural history of the English people. Growth and Decay: Do languages
change? English as well as other languages are subject to growth and decay .
When a language ceases to change ,we call it a dead language .( Latin 2000
years) . The change in the language that could be observed is mainly in the
vocabulary . Old word die out ,new words are added and existing words change
their meanings. What causes the introduction of new words into the language ?
To meet the new conditions of life e.g. for the change in meaning
Shakespeare's nice = foolish Change in pronunciation OE stan= stone
cu=cow The changes are controlled by sound low Changes in the grammatical
forms (could be a result of the gradual phonetic modification) It coul be the
result of unconditioned analogy(e.g.) knowed* This process may affect the
sound and meaning as well. The Importance of a Language: Is the relation
between the language and the peoples who speak it very strong? A language
lives only if there are people who speak it. Do you think that learning about
the historical background of the language is limited to English students? All
educated people . Why is the English language important ? A language is
important if the people who speak it are important politically, economically and
culturally. Give examples of important languages ( English , French and German)
some languages are important due to the cultural value of ethnic group.
classical Greek,for instance is important for it represents a great civilization.
Importance of English: It is spoken by great number of people, approximately

500 million 2012 late statistics . Is it the largest language in the world ? India
300 million china 880 million . The importance is not limited to numbers of
speakers .It depends on the importance of the people who speak it . The
political role of its nation and their influence in the international commerce ,
their role in art and literature , in science , invention. In short, it depends on
their contribution to the progress of the world. It is important as a lingua
franca = common means of communication among people of diverse tongues.
The Future of English: Growth of population: Most native speakers of English
live in the developed countries which constitutes smaller proportion of the
worlds population .However , English is widely used as a second language
throughout the world. In India which is one of the 1
2. developing countries English is one of the official languages.( Philippins and
Nigeria) In some countries English is a neutral language among various
languages. Available textbooks in English grant it supremacy over the other
vernaculars . Will English become a world language? Positive consequences: 1.
Travel communication 2. business conduction 3. observation and spread of
science and knowledge. 4. world peace More scientific research is probably
published in English than any other language. Moreover the preminence of
English in commercial use is obvious . The revolution in communication helped
the spread of English. Could the world enforce an international language? It is
the effect of economic and cultural forces. which may determine such a
language .Since world war II English was the official language of one fourth of
the population of the world . Even after the independent of the British
colonies English continued to be used alongside the vernaculars either as the
primary language or a necessary second in school, court and business. Assets
and Liabilities: There are some features of great advantage in facilitating the
acquisition of English by foreigners . The ability to express the multiplicity of
ideas and refinements of thoughts . Is it easy to learn English? 1.Cosmopolitan
vocabulary : One of the assets of English is its vocabulary. * It is classified as
Germanic language (same group to which belong German ,Dutch ,Flemish *
More than half of its vocabulary is derived directly or indirectly from Latin
,French and other Romance languages .Thus it shares a lot of the vocabulary
with such European languages which are derived from Latin ,French , Italian
*It has the capacity of assimilating word from other languages e.g Italy balcony
,piano ,Spanish alligator, mosquito . " 2.Inflectional Simplicity: It is an inflected
language however inflection in the noun as spoken have been reduced to a
sign of the plural and a form for the possessive. The Germanic inflection of the
adjective has been reduced to the indication of the comparative degree. The
verb has been simplified by the loss of personal endings singular and plural.
3.Natural Gender : Unlike other European languages English has adopted natural
gender in place of grammatical gender . Gender in English is determined by
meaning . All nouns naming living creatures are masculine or feminine .
According to the sex of the individual , and all other nouns are neuter .
Liabilities: There are some difficulties in learning English . Idioms are forms of
expression peculiar to one language . All languages have their own way of
saying things . Another difficulty for foreigners is spelling and the frequent lack
of correlation between spelling and pronunciation .e.g. the vowel sound in

believe, receive,leave,see,be is in each case represented by a different spelling

.In the case of consonants for example we have fourteen spellings for the
sound of sh shoe, sugar, issue, manssion ,mission, nation, suspicious, ocean,
nauseous, conscious,chaperon ,schist,fuchsia, pshaw. The causes of such
diversity: One cannot tell how to spell an English word by its pronunciation or
how to pronounce it by its spelling. " " 2

Chapter 2 The Indo-European Family of Languages

A Language is constantly changing .Usually people associate language with

writing although writing is only a conventional device for recording sounds and
it is primarily speech . As long as the language lives and in actual use it is in
constant change . The language of any district or country is merely the sum
total of the individual speech habits . Dialect Differences: How? Separating
one community from another for a considerable time may cause differences
between them. The differences may be slight if the separation is slight . The
result would be merely local dialects. However , the differences may become
considerable as to render the language of one district unintelligible to the
speakers of another. In spite of the differences ,languages preserve some
common features that indicate their mutual origin. Since English is a
Germanic language notice a close relationship e.g. milch and milk brot and
bread ,wass and water ..There are some common words among different
languages .Although sometimes the differences in the initial consonants may
obsecure the relationship . Thus the languages of a large part of Europe and
part of Asia were at one time identical. The Discovery of Sanskrit: What?
Sanskrit is the language of ancient India. In addition to the vocabulary sanskrit
preserved an unusually full system of declensions and conjunctions by which it
became clear that the inflections of these languages could be traced to a
common origin . (table p.18) In fact the hindu grammarian traced the roots
and classified the formative elements ,and worked out the rules according to
which certain sound changes occurred. " Grimms Law: Who? German philologist
called Jacob Grimm. He formulated an explanation which systematically
accounted for the correspondences between certain consonants in the Germanic
languages and those found for example in sanskrit , Greek, and Latin e.g.
according to Grimm a / p/ in Indo European ,preserved as such in Latin and
Greek was changed to an /f/ in Germanic languages . Latin piscis
pes English fish foot " " The original voicless
stops / p,t,k/ were changed to spirants/f,p,h/ The cause of such change is not
known .It must have taken place sometimes after the segregation of the
Germanic from nighbuoring dialects of the parent language .The formulation of
these correspondences of sounds among languages is known as Grimms Law.
It could have resulted from a contact between Germanic and non Germanic
population . The shifting was still occurring as late as about the fifteenth
century . The Germanic sound---shift is the most distinctive feature marking of
the Germanic languages from the languages to which the y are related. The
Indo European Family: The languages brought into relationship by descent or
progressive differentiation from a parent speech are conveniently called a family

of languages. Philologist named this family different names ( Indo---Germanic,

Indo---Teutonic..) but a most widely term used is the Indo European family
which indicates the geographical extent of the family. The parent tongue from
which the Indo European languages have sprung have already become divided
and scattered long time ago. The surviving languages show various degrees of
similarity to one another which indicates more or less direct relationship to
their geographical distribution. They are mainly divided into eleven groups
:Indian , Iranian , Armenian , Hellenic , Albanian ,Italic , Balto---slavic,Germanic
,Celtic , Hittite and Tocharian. 1.Indian: The old literary texts preserved in any
Indo---European language are the old books of Indian . The language in which
they were written is called Sanskrit. It was first restricted to religious writings
and later it was extended to other types of writings. Sanskrit was given a fixed
,literary form . In this form it is known as classical Sanskrit which is the
medium of an extensive indian literature. For a certain period of time it was
looked upon as a learned language and held a place in India similar to that
occupied by Latin in medieval Europe . Later it ceased to be a spoken
language . Alongside Sanskrit there existed a large number of local dialects.
From these dialects descended the present languages of India ,Pakistan and
Bangladesh. 3
4. (Hindi, Urdu, Bengali) .Thus urdu is by origin and present structure is closely
related to Hindi. However.It differs mainly in its considerable mixture of Persian
and Arabic and in its perso---Arabic script instead of sanskrit characters.
2.Iranian: The Indo---European population which settled this region had lived
and probably traveled for a considerable time in company with the members of
the Indian branch .Thus there are a number of linguistic features which the two
groups have in common. The region where those people settled has been
subjected to semitic influence and many of the early texts are preserved in
semitic scripts. In this region, since the 9th century ,persian has been the
language of an important culture and an extensive literature .Persian contains a
large Arabic admixture so that today its vocabulary seems almost as much as
Arabic as Iranian. Other related languages in the near territory are Afghan or
Pushtu and Beluchi Kurdish in kurdistan 3. Armanian: Armanian is found in
a small area south of the caucasus Mountains. It lacks the grammatical gender
and it shows a shifting of certain consonants (Grimms Law). It is known from
the fifth century since the Armanian were under persian domination for several
centuries ,the vocabulary shows such strong Iranian influence to the extent that
it was classified as an Iranian language . 4. Hellenic: Represented in Greek and
other dialects . The conquest of Alexander established the language in as in
Syria and as well as Egypt and other coutries 5.Albanian: In the northwest of
Greece. It is probably the descendant of Illyrian. A language spoken in the
Northwestern Balkans. The vocabulary of the Albanian is mixed with Latin
,Greek,Turkish.. As a consequent of the constant conquests. It was first classed
with the Hellenic group but since the beginning of the 20th century it was
recognized as an independent member of the family. 6. Italic : It has its center
in Italy. Italy in ancient times suggest Rome and the language of Rome ,Latin.
However Latin was only one of a number of languages found in that area. In
fact , the various languages that represent the survival of Latin in the different

parts of the Roman Empire are known as the Romance or Romanic languages.
Examples of such languages are French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. These
languages did not descend from classical Latin which was a literary language
with elaborate and artificial grammar . They descended from vulgar Latin of the
common people which is simpler in inflection and syntax. 7.Balto---Slavic: It
covers a vast area in the eastern part of Europe and it is divided in groups ,
the Baltic and the Slavic. The Baltic languages are three in number :Prussian ,
Lettish and Lithuanian. The latter is spoken by 3million people in the Baltic
state of lithuania . It is important among the Indo---European languages
because of its conservatism.(a lithuanian fesant can understand simple phrases
in Sanskrit ) . Lithuanian preserves some very old features which have
disappeared from practically all the other languages of the family . Slavic
languages cover Russia ,Poland ,Czechoslo vakia ,Bulgaria ,Serbo---croatian.
8.Germanic: The language descending from Germanic fall into three groups
East Germanic , North Germanic and west Germanic the principal language of
East Germanic is gothic. North Germanic is found in Scandinavia and Denmark.
West Germanic is of interest to us as the group to which English belong
particularly to the low Germanic branch. 9. Celtic: The celtic languages are
consider the most extensive groups in the Indo---European . Beside these
languages there are two :Hittite and Tocharian. The Home of the Indo---
Europian Family: " The indo---European languages are spoken today in many
cultures which until recently have had completely unrelated heritages.
Considering the language variety of people who have spoken these languages
from early times, it is quite possible that the people of the original Indo---
European community already represented a wide ethnic diversity. It is assumed
that the original home of this family was in that part of the world in which the
language of the family are chiefly to be found today. Thus we may exclude
Africa ,Australia and the American continents since we know that the extension
of Indo--- European languages in these areas has occurred in historical times. In
general we could say that the only regions in which it is reasonable to seek
the original home of the Indo---European family are the mainland of Europe
and western part of Asia. Observation about the Indo---European language,
show that they have a common word for winter and for snow which indicate
that the original home of the family was in a climate which at certain seasons
at least was fairly cold. On the other hand it is not certain that there was a
common word for the sea. The original community was apparently an inland
one, but not necessarily situated at a great distance from the coast.

Chapter 3: Old English

The Languages in England before English
English is always associated with people , however English was introduced to
England about the middle of the fifth century . Since that time a number of
races inhabited the island (England). The first people in England about whose
language recognized are the Celts (the last group of the immegrants to settle in
Britain before the arrival of the Anglo---Saxons ). Celtic was the first Indo---

European tongue spoken in Englang and it is still spoken by a considerable

number of people . Another language was Latin which was introduced when
Britain became a province of the Roman Empire and it was used for about four
centuries. 2.The Romans in Britain and the Roman Conquest
The Roman attempts to conquer Britain were at the reign of Ceaser 55BC.
Then it was promoted at the reign of Claudius 43AD.
" 3. Romanization of the Island The conquest of England under the Roman
Empire resulted in the adoption of various Roman habits and life style. The
Roman conquest in fact developed England. By the third century christianity
had made some progress in the Island. 4.The Latin language Among the
evidences of Romanization of England is the use of Latin . It didnt replace
Celtic . It was confined upon occasions to the upper class and inhabitants of
the cities and towns . Thus its use wasnt widespread to the extent that cause
it to survive. 5. The Germanic Conquest About the year 449 began the invasion
of certain Germanic tribes to Britain . These tribes for more than a hundred
years migrated from Denmark and settled in Britain specially in the south and
the east. The Germanic tribes are called Juts ,Saxons, Angles and Frisians.
6.Anglo---Saxon Civilization: In some districts the Anglo Saxons probably
settled down beside the Celts in more or less peaceful contact. In others
however they met resistance (the impact on the language) 7. The Names
English and England: The Celts called their Germanic Conqueror
Saxons probably because had their first contact with through the Saxons .Soon
the name Anglia occurred beside Saxons. From the beginning writers called
their language Englisc (English ) which is derived from Angles and it was used
to describe the language of all the invading tribes . From about the year 1000
England (land of the Angles) began to take its place. The name English is thus
older than the name England .English belongs to the low west Germanic
branch of the Indo---European family which means that it shares certain
characteristics common to all Germanic languages e.g shifting consonants
Grimms Law. Although English belongs to the Germanic languages ,it was
affected by other languages for it has some features in common with them
which enable us to distinguish a west Germanic group as contrasted with
Scandinavian languages (North Germanic) and Gothic (East Germanic). 8. The
Periods in the History of English: The fifteen hundred years of the existence of
English in England could be divided into three main periods. The dividing lines
between them purely arbitrary. The period from 450 to 1150 is known as Old
English . It is described as the period of full inflections. From 1150 to 1500 the
language is known as Middle English. During this period the inflections, which
had begun to break down towards the end of old English period, became
greatly reduced .It was known as the period of leveled inflections. The
language since 1500 is called Modern English. Since then a large part of the
original inflectional system has disappeared and therefore it is called the period
of lost inflection. 9. THE Dialects of English: Old English has four distinctive
dialects .Northumbrian , Mercian ,West Saxon , and Kentish 10. Some
Characteristics of Old English: The differences between OE and Modern English
concern spelling and pronunciation , vocabulary and grammar.Examples of such
differences in pronunciation are the long vowels in particular have undergone

considerable modification. /stan/=/stone/ ,/rap /= /rope/, /bat/= /boat/ Some

of the first look of strangeness which old English has to the modern reader is
the differences of spelling e.g. Old English made use of two characteristics to
represent the sound of /th/ :/p/ and // as in the word /wip/=with or /a/
=then, / sh / represented by /sc/ sceap= sheep , scip=ship A second feature
of Old English would distinguish it from modern English is the absence of words
derived from Latin and French which form so large a part of our present
vocabulary . The vocabulary of old English is almost purely Germanic. Studies
show that about 85% of old English vocabulary no longer in use. The old
English vocabulary which survived are basic elements of the language such as
pronouns ,prepositions, conjunctions ,auxiliary verbs and words that express
fundamental concepts e.g. man , wife, child, house, leaf, bird.. Another feature
that distinguish Old English from the English today is grammar . Inflectional
languages fall into two classes : synthetic and analytic . A synthetic language :is
one which indicates the relation of words in a sentence largely by means of
inflections (OE) An analytic language: is one which make extensive use of
prepositions and auxiliary verbs and depend s upon word order to show other
relationships and modern English is an analytic one.
The Resourcefulness of the Old English Vocabulary: It might seem that Old
English a language which lacked the large number of words borrowed from Latin
and French would be limited in resources. However , Old English had its own
way to enrich its vocabulary through affixes and self explaining compounds.
Old English had great flexibility, a capacity for bending old words to new uses
by means of prefixes and suffixes a single root is made to yield a variety of
derivatives . In fact Old English showed remarkable capacity for derivation and
word formation . It was more resourceful in utilizing its native material than
modern English . Part of the flexibility of the vocabulary of Old English is that
it comes from the generous use of prefixes and suffixes to form new words
from old words e.g. suffixes :full , ness , dom etc.and e.g. prefixes :fore, mis ,
un ,under Compounds consist of two or more native words whose meaning is
combination is either self---evident or has been rendered clear by association
and usage : steamboat ,railroad ,sewing machine , one way street. 12. Old
English Literature: The language of the past time is known by the
quality of its literature. It is in literature that a language displays its full power
,its ability to convey in vivid and memorable form the thoughts and emotions
of people. The literature of the Anglo Saxons is one of the richest and most
significant of any preserved among the early Germanic people . Old English
literature is of two sorts .One is that which was brought to England by the
Germanic conquerors and represent the pagan stream whereas the other stream
is the christian which was evolved by the introduction of christianity into the
island at the end of the 6th century. The greatest work of Old English
literature is the Bewolf a poem of some 3000 lines known as the folk epic. In
the development of literature ,prose comes late and vers is more effective for
oral delivery and more easily retained in the memory.

Chapter 4. Foreign Influences on Old English

53.The contact of English with other Languages

The basis of Old English goes back to the Germanic tribes. However, it was
brought into contact with three other languages . At early times when it was
introduced into the island (during the first seven hundred years of its existence
in England ). The language of the Celts ,the Romans ,and the Scandinavian . The
apparent influence was the addition to its vocabulary . a

(54) A. The Celtic Influence

The conquest of the Celts by the Anglo-Saxons resulted in mixture of their
languages which is natural consequences.
The adoption of the native language was not equal in all regions .

(55)Celtic Place-Names and Other Loanwords

A1. Celtic place-names: The language showed evidence of Celtic place names e.g
the kingdom of Kent owes its name to the Celtic word (canti) .
Many districts today specially in the west and southwest preserve their original
Celts names. The name London although the origin of the word is somewhat
uncertain most likely goes back to Celtic . The Thames is a Celtic river name.
A2. Other Celtic Loanwords: Other than place names Celtic words in English were
of two groups.
1. Those which the Anglo-Saxon learned through everyday contact with the
natives (orally transmitted and of popular character)
2. Those which were introduced by the Irish missionaries in the north.
(connected with religious activities and were more or less learned.
Generally speaking the influence of the Celts upon the Anglo-Saxons was slight
because the relation of the Celts to the Anglo-Saxons was that of a
submerged race and they were not in a position to make any contribution to
Anglo-Saxons civilization.

(56) B. Three Latin Influences on Old English

The second great influence upon English was Latin.
Latin had great influence on OE because it was the language of a higher
Civilization. The Germanic tribes who became the English ,had various relations
later with the Romans through which they acquired a considerable number of
Latin words. When they came to England ,they saw the evidence of the long
Roman rule in the Island and learned from the Celts a few additional Latin
words. Generally speaking the character of the words sometimes give some
clue to its date. Common words among English and other Germanic languages
indicate that these words were not borrowed after the settlement in the
Island(e.g. copper)
(58) B1. Continental Borrowing (Latin influence of the zero period)
The first Latin words to find their way into the English language owe their
adoption to the early contact between the Romans and the Germanic tribes in

the continent e.g. of the borrowed Latin words :kitchen, cup ,cheese ,wheat
pepper ,butter etc.
The Romans contributions to the building arts are evident: tile, chalk
The great number of Latin words adopted by the Germanic language indicated
the relationship between the two people.
(59) B2. Latin through Celtic transmission (Latin influence of the first period)
The use of Latin as a spoken language didnt long survive the end of Roman
rule in the island and even the minimum portion of the language which
survived was lost in the disorders that accompanied the Germanic invasions.
There was no opportunity for direct contact between Latin and Old English in
England . Such Latin words in English would have come through Celtic
transmission.
(60) B3. Latin influence of the second period: the Christianising of Britain
The greatest influence of Latin upon OE was occasioned by introduction of
Christianity into Britain in 597
(61) B4. Effects of Christianity on English civilization
Schools were established . Were they taught different fields of knowledge
(poetry, astronomy , etc
(62) B5. The Earlier Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary
During the five hundred year since the introduction of Christianity to the close
of old English ,Latin words must have been making their way gradually into
English Language. Vocabulary of this period were those related to religion and
its organization
(63) B6. The Benedictine Reform
Influence on English : The influence of Latin upon the English language rose
and fell with the state of the church and learning at this period started to
borrow and describe less popular words expressing ideas of a scientific and
learned character.
(65) B7. The Application of Native Words to New Concepts
English didnt always adopt a foreign word to express a new concept .Often an
old word was applied to anew thing and by a slight adoption made to express
a new meaning . Anglo-Saxon God instead of Latin Deus.
(66) B8. The Extent of the Influence
The influence on the language is seen in the number of words borrowed as a
result of Christianizing of Britain about 450 Latin words appear in English
writings without the derivatives and the proper names .The Latin influence of
the second period was thorough and makes the beginning of the English habit
of incorporating foreign elements into its vocabulary.

(67) C. The Scandinavian Influence: The Viking Age

Near the end of the Old English ,English underwent a third foreign influence as
a result of the contact with another important language, the Scandinavian.
Scandinavian peninsula and Denmark were one time neighbours of the Anglo-Saxons

and closely related in blood and language. In the eighth century they began to
attack the island, in fact from the middle of the eighth century to the beginning
of the eleventh century it was known as the Viking Age.
(68) C 1. The Scandinavian Invasion of England
The Scandinavian attacks upon England have three well recognized stages. The
first is the period of early raids in 787 . The second stage which is marked by
the extensive settlement in 850.The third stage cover the period of political
adjustment and assimilation from 878 to 1042.
(69) C 2. The Settlement of the Danes in England
The Scandinavian settlement in the island was evident from the 1,400 Places in
England bear Scandinavian names specially in the north and east.
(70) C 3.The Amalgamation of the Two Peoples
There was a close kinship between the Anglo-Saxon and the Scandinavians .
Those groups who settled peacefully in Britain
(71) C 4. The Relation of the Two languages
There was an extensive interaction of the two languages upon each other. This
interaction is evident in the number of Scandinavian elements found in English .
(72) C 5. The Tests of Borrowed Words
The similarity between Old English and the Scandinavian language makes it at
times very difficult to decide whether a given word in modern English is a
native or a borrowed one. e.g the development of the sound /sk/ in old
English was early palatalized to /sh /written sc. Whereas in the Scandinavian
countries it retained its hard /sk / sound. Consequently , while native word like
ship ,shall, fish have /sh/ sound in modern English words borrowed from the
Scandinavian are still pronounced with /sk/: sky, skill, scrub ,bask.
(73) C 6. Scandinavian Place-Names
Among the most notable evidences of the extensive Scandinavian Settlement in
England is the large number of places that bear Scandinavian names (more
than 600 places e.g Derby, Rugby etc..)
(74) C 7. The Earliest Borrowing
At the early stage of Scandinavian invasion words borrowed were limited to
those associated with sea---roving and predatory people e.g: cnearr( small
warship) lip (fleat) dreng (worrior)
(75) C 8. Scandinavian Loanwords and Their Character
It was after the Danes had begun to settle in the Island and enter into the
ordinary relations of life with the English that Scandinavian words commenced
to enter in numbers into the language . Their settlement brought the English in
contact with a civilization very much like the English . The words borrowed
have the character of everyday use. e.g: die ,egg ,dirt , leg ,kid ,loan ,race ,
root..

(76) C 9. The Relation of Borrowed and Native Words

The borrowed Scandinavian words may not supply real need in English
vocabulary. It resulted as a consequent of the mixture of the people . The
Scandinavian and the English word were used side by side and the survival of
one or the other must often have been a matter of chance.

(77) C 10. Form Words
The Scandinavian words that made their way into English were not confined to
nouns ,adjectives , and verbs, but they were extended to pronouns
,prepositions ,adverbs and even a part of verb to be . Such parts of speech are
not often transferred from one language to another and this is an evidence of
the intimate relationship that existed between the two languages.
(78) C 11. Scandinavian Influence Outside the Standard Speech
Scandinavian elements were used in dialects too.
(79) C 12. Effects on Grammar and Syntax
The Scandinavian influence not only affected the vocabulary but extended to
matters of grammar and syntax as well . Inflections are seldom transformed
from one language to another . A number of inflectional elements peculiar to
the Northumbrian dialect have been attributed to Scandinavian influence ,
among others -s of the third person singular ,present indicative of verbs. In
many words the English and Scandinavian languages differed chiefly in their
inflectional elements. Such ending may create some obstacles in the way of
mutual understanding. Syntax however was less affected than vocabulary . The
probability of such influence naturally varies with the degree of intimacy that
exist between the speakers of two languages.
(80) C 12. Period and Extent of the Influence
The number of borrowed Scandinavian words that exist in standard English may
reach nine hundred . Such words represent common everyday things and
fundamental concepts. The English Dialect Dictionary contains 1154 simple words
beginning with sc-(sk) which is a characteristic of Scandinavian Language. The
Scandinavian influence is one of the most interesting of the foreign influences
that have contributed to the English language.






Chapter 5: The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of
English 1066-1200
1.The Norman Conquest:
Towards the end of the old English period an event occurred which had a
greater effect on the English language than any other in the course of history.
This event was the Norman conquest in 1066.Such event resulted in the
reduction of inflection and the loss of a great number of Germanic vocabulary.
It also resulted in the adoption of enormous number of French words to the
extent that makes English almost as much as Romance languages as Germanic
language. 2.The Origin of Normandy: Normandy is a district in the northern
coast of France directly across the channel. It became in 1000 one of the
districts of the kingdom of France. The Normans soon absorbed the most
important elements of French civilization . They adopted the important features
of Frankish law , including the idea of jury. It was at that time one of the
outstanding legal systems of the world. Most important event is that they
have gave up their own language and learned French. Before the Norman
conquest the relations between England and Normandy had been fairly close.
Illustration The relation between Normandy and England 1002 AEthelred the
Unready married a Norman lady. He was exiled by the Danes and took refuge
with his brother in---law in France. His son Edward the Confessor(who was
brought up in France) was restored to the throne in 1042 from which his
father was driven . 3.The year 1066 : At the beginning of 1066,after the reign
of twenty---four of Edward the Confessor who died childless , England was
faced again with the choice of a successor. They elected Harold earl of the
West Saxon. Before his death Edward assured his second cousin William the
duke of Normandy that he should succeed him .In early manhood Edward had
had to face a number of crucial contests with rebellious barons, powerful
neighbors ,and even his overlord the French King. In 1066 the Normans under
the leadership of William won the battle of Hastings and then they had burnt
and pillaged the southeast of England . By the end of 1066 William was
crowned the king of England. 4. The Norman Settlment: Many of the English
higher class had been killed on the field of Hastings.Thus William brought his
Norman followers to replace such class . This process took place for the next
four years . In 1072 only one of the twelve earls in England was an Englishman
.At the reign of William as well as the reign of his sons the important positions
were mostly held by Normans or men of foreign blood. 5. The use of French
by the Upper Class: The numbers of the new ruling class were sufficiently
predominant to continue to use their own language ( French) For two hundred
years after the conquest French remained the language of the upper class in
England .The distinction between those who spoke French and those who spoke

English was not ethnic but largely social. 6.Cicumstances Promoting the
Continued Use of French: The most important factor in the continued use of
French by the English upper class until the beginning of the thirteenth century
was the close connection that existed through all these years between England
and the continent . 7.The Attitude Toward English: English become uncultivated
tongue ,it was the language of a socially inferior class but there was an
evidence of mutual respect and peaceful cooperation. During the period up to
1200 the attitude of the king and the upper class towards the English language
may be characterized as one of simple indifference . They didnt cultivate
English because their activities in England did not necessitate it and their
constant concern with continental affairs make French for them more useful. 8.
French Literature at the English Court: Literature played an important part in
the lives of the leisured class. Thus a considerable body of French literature
being produced in England from the beginning of the 12th century. 9.Fusion of
the Two People: After a few years of the conquest people accepted the new
order as a fact and adjusted themselves to it. All the inhabitance of England
were described as English . This early fusion between French and English was
evident in the marriage of the Normans to English women. It is evident from
the way in which the English gave their support to their rulers. 10. The
Disfusion of French and English: French was the language of the court and the
upper classes, English was the speech of the mass of the people. The relation
of two folds: 10
11. a) knowledge of English among the upper class: French was not
confined to persons of foreign extraction , but all those who were associated
with the governing class soon acquired a command of it. It was a mark of
social distinction. Since English was the language of the largest part of the
population ,many of the upper class would acquire some familiarity with it.
Most of them could understand the language but could not speak it .English
survived for a considerable time in some Monastries for some bishops could
not speak English. b) Knowledge of French among the middle class: By the end
of the 12th century a knowledge of English was not unusual among the upper
class, and French was also found among the lower social scale . knights as well
as the middle class cultivated French. In the period preceding the loss of
Normandy in 1204 there were some who spoke only French and many more
who spoke only English and there was a considerable number of bilinguals.

Chapter 6 The Re-establishment of English 1200-1500

Changing conditions after 1200: As long as England held its conditional territory
and the nobility of England were united to the continent by ties of property
and kinder, a real reason existed for the continued use of French among the
governing class in the island . After 1200 conditions changed England lost an
important part of its possessions abroad . The nobility gradually relinquished
their continental states. Consequently new feelings developed such as rivalry
between the two countries accompanied by an anti foreign movement in
England. Therefore the maintenance became artificial .Due to social and
economic changes in the 14th century English won its way back to universal
use. In the 15th century French almost disappeared . The Facts that Caused

the Disappearance of French: The loss of Normandy: in 1204 king John lost
Normandy which was binding England to the continent . (the bridge of England
to the continent ). He married Isabel who was betrothed engaged(in marriage
contract) to a head of powerful and ambitious family. John attacked this family
which complained to the king of France Philip. The latter summoned john
1202 to appear before his court at Paris . John thought that since he was the
king of England he wasnt subject to the French law . On the day of the trial
John did not appear, therefore the court declared his territory
(Normandy)confiscated . Thus Philip carried out the decision of the court and
invaded Normandy. After loosing Normandy ,john lost his supporters one after
another. He lost his popularity after the death of his nephew who was married
to Philips daughter who was murdered too. The loss of Normandy was
beneficial to the English language as well as to the other aspects .The King and
nobels started to look upon England as their priority . The island king soon had
his own political and economic goals which were not the same of those of
France. Separation of the French and the English Nobilty: After the Norman
conquest a large number of the nobility held lands in both countries ( England
and France)Thus existed a kind of interlocking aristocracy and it was difficult for
some of the English nobility to say whether they belonged to England or to the
continent. In 1204 the king of France announced that he had confiscated the
lands of several great barons. The families who had estates on both sides
where forced to give up one or the other. Some nobles preferd their larger
holdings in England and gave up their Norman lands .After 1250 all the nobility
of England consider themselves English. France Reinforcements: With the
separation of French and English Nobility ,the Norman nobility was forced to
identify itself with England. Consequently the country witnessed the invasion of
foreigners mainly from south of France at the reign of king john . It increased
at the time of his son Henry III (his mother and wife were French) During king
Henrys reign all the native officials of the court were dismissed from their
offices and replaced by foreigners . Those foreigners were placed in charge of
everything and they oppress the English subjects and nobles and accused them
of treachery to the king. In 1236 Henry was married to Eleanor . Many of
the relatives came to England and the king rewarded them with lands
possessions and money. e.g (one of her uncles was appointed earl of
Richmond)Henry III 1216---1272 during his long reign the country was eaten up
by strangers who were not only French but of other nations such as Romans
and Spanish. The Reaction Against Foreigners and Growth of National Feeling:
in 1234 started the policy of (England for the English) A number of bishops
told the king that the situation was not wise or safe but rather dangerous to
the whole country because these aliens hate the English people. Upon this
threat the king dismissed the foreigners from offices. Those foreigners didnt
understand the English tongue , they lacked faith and cause the country to be
poor. The reaction against foreigners caused some wars Barons was in
(1258---1265) during which the foreigners were driven from England when
peace was finally restored and Edward I(1272---1307) came to the throne we
enter upon a period in which England became conscious of its unity when the
governmental officials are for most part English. Thus the foreign attack in the

thirteenth century undoubtedly delayed the natural spread of the use of

English by the upper class. French Cultural Ascendency in Europe: The stimulus
given to the use of French in England by foreign additions to the upper class
coincides with the wide popularity that the French language enjoyed all over
Europe during the thirteenth century .Even some books were translated into
French because it was common to all people. The prestige of French civilization
was carried out by the greatest 12
13. medieval literature By the fame of the university of France and by the
Normans themselves. These were the reasons for the continued use of French
among political circle in England. English and French in the Thirteenth Century
: The thirteenth century was described as a period of shifting emphasis upon
the two languages spoken in England. The upper class continued to use French
as was the case in the 12the century however, the reasons for doing so were
not the same . French became a cultivated tongue supported by social custom
and by business and administrative conventions .At the same time English was
restoring its recognition when the separation of the English nobles from their
interest in France had been completed (English) it was becoming generally used
by the upper classes .It was at this time the adoption of the French words into
the English language took place on a large scale. Their French words occurs
when those who know French and have been accustomed to use it try to
express themselves in English. Moreover the literature intended for polite circles
begin to be made over from French into English . By the end of the century
the young generation of nobility started to speak English as their mother
tongue and had to be taught French with English glosses. French was used by
the upper class as well as in parliament, in the low court, public negotiations.
French was read by the educated . As the use of French declined French
appeared as either in court or peculiar(example :mistaken in gender by some
writers using La before a mans name and Le before a wonans name .
Compare to the decline of the use of French the use of English spread among
the upper . Evidence of the spread of English is little treaties to teach children
French when French was treated as a foreign language. Latin was the language
of record. To sum up the situation in the latter part of 13th century , English
was widely known among all classes ,though not recognized by everyone.
Attempts to Arrest the Decline of French: After the close of 13th century it
was clear that the use of French was very weak. The people had a strong
tendency to speak English specially in church and university. The 100 years
war: During he 12th century the connection of England with the contenint have
been broken. It caused a hostile atmosphere. One of the causes of such
conflect between England and France was the interference of France in
Englands efforts to control Scotland. This led to Edward III invasion of
France.These wars lasted from 1337---1453. The 100 was no doubt one of the
causes of the disuse of French. The Rise of the Middle Class: One of the main
reasons for the restoration of the English prestige was the improvement of the
conditions of the majority of people and the rise of the middle class. The
importance of a language is largely determined by the importance of the people
who speak it. What gives importance to the language ? During the last part
of the middle English period the condition of the laboring class was rapidly

improving. (e.g. fixed money payment)The reason for the change ? In the year
1348 appeared in the southeast of England the first case of a disease, which
spread fast for it was contagious once it hits in two or three days the victim
either died or showed signs of recovery. The death rate approximated 30%.
Therefore it was called The Black Death Plague. This calamity affected the
poor more than the rich. The loss of great number of the poor caused shortage
of labor which consequently caused the rise in wages. The black death
increased the economic importance of the laboring class along with the
importance of the English language which they spoke .What caused the rise of
the importance of the English language. After the black death ( the rise of the
importance of laboring class who spoke English witnessed the rise of another
group The Craftsmen and the Merchants class. As the towns fold were
engaged in trade and or in manufacturing craft and they were unified for their
mutual protection and advantages . Thus ocurred In each town an
independent wealthy and powerful class between rural peasants and the
aristocracy .Such changes in the social and economic life benefited particularly
the English speaking part of the population. General Adoption of English in
the Fourteenth century: At the beginning of the 14th century English was once
more known by everyone . So learned and unlearned understand English.This
situation was proved by texts from that age. More over it was even spoken by
many nobles. However French still was used at the court. Some writings
indicated that French was the language of two groups , the educated class and
the French , church, low court (educated people include legal profession) up to
1362In fact people who could speak French in the 14th century were
billingulals.( e.g Edward III knew English.) In 1362 for the first time English was
used in the parliament . 13
14. The best description to the situation is to say that in the 14th century
English became again the mother tongue of all England. As for schools it was
after 1349 that English began to be used in the schools. Increasing Ignorance
of the French in the Fifteeth Century: By the 15th century the ability to speak
French fluently was an accomplishment . Even the ability to write it was
becoming less general among people of position. French was a language of
culture and fashion. When French went out of use as a spoken language in
England the reasons for using French has changed . They stated three reasons
for learning French : first it was the need to communicate with their French
neighbors in France. Second, the laws are largely in French. And finally
sofesticated letters were written in French. The first of course is valid today.
But the other two disappeared by the time. The Use of English in Writing:
Latin was the language of writing for along time because people who could
write Latin could do so because of its international character and the feeling
that it was a language that had become fixed while the languages seemed to
be variable, unregulated and in a constant state of change. It was in the
15thcentury that English succeed in displacing both Latin and French in writing
.It was the reign of Henry V( 1413---1422) that marked the turning point in the
use of English in writing. 1425 represents the time at which English begins to
be generally adopted in writing . Middle English Literature: The literature
written in England during the middle English period reflects the changes in the

use and neglect of English . The time French was the language of the upper
class , the books they read were in French.From 1150---1250 English was the
language of the middle and lower class. After the separation of the English
nobility from France shift towards the use of English began and that affected
its literature started to have romantic literature and translations and adoptions,
from French begin to be made. The general adoption of English by all classes in
the latter half of the 14th century , gave rise to a body of literature which
represents the high point in English literary achievement in the middle ages.
1340--- 1400 period of great individual writers. Chauser greatest English poet
before Shakespeare. The literature at the latter 14th century form an
outstanding period in Middle English literature. They present proof of the Secure
position of the English language had attained. 15th century is known as
imitative period because much of the poetry written was written in emulation
of Chaucer. And also called transition period because it covers a large part of
the interval between the age of Chaucer and the age of Shakespeare .Middle
English literature throw interesting lights on the fortunes of the English
language. " " 14
15. Chapter 7 Middle English 1150---1500: Middle English is a period of
great change. This period has witnessed drastic change in the English language
more than any time. The causes of such changes: 1. The Norman conquest. 2.
Conditions that followed the conquest. 3. Tendencies to manifest themselves in
old English. Do you think changes would have happened in the language if the
Norman conquest didnt occur? Due to the conquest the changes took place
rapidly. The changes of this period affected English in both its grammar and
vocabulary. Regarding the grammar it reduced English from a highly inflected
language to analytic one. As for the vocabulary large part of the old English
word---stock was lost and thousands of French and Latin were borrowed. Decay
of Inflectional English: The distinctive changes in grammar was marked by the
reduction of inflectional endings of the noun and adjective , making distinctions
in number, case or gender were altered in pronunciation that they lost their
distinctive form and hens their usefulness. The loss of inflection appeared also
in verbs. The reasons for the loss of inflectional endings: 1.The phonetic
changes. 2. The operation of analogy. The earliest was the change of final---m
to ---n either for plural nouns or adjectives e.g. the muum (mouths) muun
.Such n of inflectional ending was later dropped (muu ) The vowels (a,o,u,e)
in inflectional endings were transferred to a sound called indeterminate vowel
which came to be written e and rarely (I,y,u). Consequently a number of
originally distinct endings (---a,---u,---e, ---an ,---um) were reduced to a uniform
e. Such changes have been found in the old English 10th century. Though the
pronunciation has changed the letters were preserved in writing due to the
tendency of the (conservatives) scribes to preserve the traditional spelling. The
Noun: The most distinctive ending(suffix) is the s of the possessive singular
and of the nominative and accusative plural. Since these two cases of the
plural , were those most frequently used. The s came to be thought of as the
sign of the plural and was extended to all plural forms.(which is identical to
what is used today).In early Middle English only two methods of indicating the
plural remained : the s or es (from the strong declension and en

(oxen)from the weak declension. In fact s has become the universal sign of
the plural . The Adjectives: Changes in the forms of adjectives as the nouns
were partly a result of the sound changes and partly a result of the extensive
working of analogy. 1 distinction between plural and singular disappeared both
forms ended with e blinda ,blindan = blinde The only ending which remained
to the adjectives was often without distinctive grammatical meaning. In the
fourteenth century final e ceased to be pronounced yet it was maintained in
writing . Thus the adjective became uninflected word by the end of the middle
period. The Pronouns: Due to the decay of inflections the language depend
less upon formal indications of gender , case and number(as in adjectives). It
depends on word order and the prepositions to indicate the relation of words
in a sentence. The reduction of inflection was apparent in the demonstratives
which used to have different forms for number , gender and case that
disappeared and they were reduced to what are known today :this ,that ,those
and these. However regarding personal pronouns there was a need for separate
forms for the different genders and cases, thus most of the distinctions that
existed in old English were retained. The changes happened earlier were the
combination of the dative and accusative cases under that of the dative (him,
her, them) For the nuter the form of the accusative ( he , it) became the
objective case because it was like the nominative and because the dative would
(him) be confused with corresponding case of the masculine. One of the
changes (simplification) was the loss of the dual number. The change was
gradual and both the strong and weak forms were used side by side .e.g the
verbs which changes to the weak form have the old strong form preserved as
in ( climb---clomb) The Verbs: The prominent changes in the verbs during
the Middle English period were the loss of strong conjugation (inflection of
verbs) 15