The History of English and Etymology of Words Used in Famous Literary Works English, commonly referred to as the language of opportunity, is widely regarded to be a system of communication characterized by potential for unity. A language to ease the conversation of trade, to draft scripts of Hollywood movies, to write recipes in, and more or less, a language that belongs to the people. However, before English officially became accessible to anyone who wished to employ it, English “belong[ed] to the Anglo-Frisian group within the Western branch of the Germanic languages” ("English Language."). The Anglo-Frisian possession over the language, is merely a subsidiary interval included in a long and eventful timeline. English historians tend to
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Following the Roman establishment in that territory, Germanic tribes kickoff an extensive migration, beginning in Scandinavia and heading south with “successive waves” into Central Europe. At the start of the fifth-century, the Roman Empire collapses and the Britain-occupying-Romans return to their home to build up their defense there. With the Romans gone, and a “power-vacuum” available in the British Isles, the ever-migrating Germanic tribes move in and occupy the area. This occupation is characterized specifically by those endowed with West German dialects, “primarily Angles and Saxons”, whose dialects are “distantly related to Latin”. Their inhabitancy marks a pivotal turn from the Pre-English era to the Old-English epoch …show more content…
Therefore, when he inhibited several Anglo-Saxon rebellions, he essentially also shut down the progression of English. In addition, William proceeded to grant the majority of his loyal Normans positions of nobility, and enslaved a great deal of the Anglo-Saxon population. As a result, English became the language of lower classes, while French, spoken by the Normans, became the voice of those noble, owning property, and operating the government (Kemmer). “Before 1250 about 900 new words had appeared in English, mainly words, such as baron, noble, and feast, that the Anglo-Saxon lower classes required in their dealings with the Norman-French nobility”("English Language."). For a while the English language laid dormant, but then in a strange cultural reversal, there was a surge of Normans embracing English pride, and the nobles began allowing their children to learn English. In an even odder turn of events, the children being educated began to be taught English as their first language, and French as their “foreign language”. As a result, there was a huge English revival, and in 1205 the first book to be written in English since the Norman Conquest was published. Within thirty years of the Hundred Years war, which was between England and France, everything had returned to being
Following the Roman establishment in that territory, Germanic tribes kickoff an extensive migration, beginning in Scandinavia and heading south with “successive waves” into Central Europe. At the start of the fifth-century, the Roman Empire collapses and the Britain-occupying-Romans return to their home to build up their defense there. With the Romans gone, and a “power-vacuum” available in the British Isles, the ever-migrating Germanic tribes move in and occupy the area. This occupation is characterized specifically by those endowed with West German dialects, “primarily Angles and Saxons”, whose dialects are “distantly related to Latin”. Their inhabitancy marks a pivotal turn from the Pre-English era to the Old-English epoch …show more content…
Therefore, when he inhibited several Anglo-Saxon rebellions, he essentially also shut down the progression of English. In addition, William proceeded to grant the majority of his loyal Normans positions of nobility, and enslaved a great deal of the Anglo-Saxon population. As a result, English became the language of lower classes, while French, spoken by the Normans, became the voice of those noble, owning property, and operating the government (Kemmer). “Before 1250 about 900 new words had appeared in English, mainly words, such as baron, noble, and feast, that the Anglo-Saxon lower classes required in their dealings with the Norman-French nobility”("English Language."). For a while the English language laid dormant, but then in a strange cultural reversal, there was a surge of Normans embracing English pride, and the nobles began allowing their children to learn English. In an even odder turn of events, the children being educated began to be taught English as their first language, and French as their “foreign language”. As a result, there was a huge English revival, and in 1205 the first book to be written in English since the Norman Conquest was published. Within thirty years of the Hundred Years war, which was between England and France, everything had returned to being