The Story of English Episode 2

Sir William Jones discovered how sanscript, an ancient language, resembled the English language a lot in many of its terms. This was cause because of the migration of central Europeans to Northern shores, creating new dialects that bracnch from sanscript.

In A.D. 449, Anglo Saxons migrated from the east. Most of the languages from this region, much of it from the Celtic tongues, have words very similar to words in English. Nevertheless, English is considered to be a Germanic tongue. Evolving from the Celtic tongues, Welsh, very similar to English, remains in the United Kingdom, despite the growth of the latter.

Another important thing to note is how old English is a lot similar to modern German. Also, it is not that different to modern English, despite it being almost a different language entirely. The structure of the words are similar and word order is almost the same, except when prepositions are thrown in. Ninety percent of the words used in modern English come from old English, so it cannot be as different as it seems.

A curious fact I noticed was that Anglo-Saxons, despite their role as pioneers in the English language, were mostly illiterate. This was saved, not for the Anglo-Saxons, but for the English speaking peoples, by Alfred the great. This was also a huge milestone for the language.

Something to note as well would be the huge influence that came from the Christian church. England was converted into Christianity, which uses a lot of Latin and Greek roots, giving the language a sense of sophistication and enhancement that it didn't use to have. Nowadays, the words that srem more "complicated" seem that way because they come from Latin roots, which are far more complex than Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Germanic roots.

Another dialect that gave to the English language was Viking dialect. They settled in England, present-day Yorkshire, and remain in the language. The ancient accent from this region is complicated to understand and greatly differs from modern English, but scarcely survives in the region. Despite this, it managed to mix in with the language.

Eventually, the two great invasions of England, the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons would crash, and simplify the language into what they would understand between both. English then survived because of them, and this was the greatest focal point into what was considered language evolution of the period.

French was also a language that was frequently used in the government and by the monks of England in 1000. By 1250, nevertheless, children were already being taught French as a second language, and only those with decent education could speak French.

English gained many of its words thanks to other languages. From what I believe, this is one of the multiple reasons why it's such an international language. Despite its modern adaptations and development of every day, the roots from different cultures, dialects, and tongues remain, and give it the connection it needs.

As the documentary says, "the English language has come of age."




MacNeil, Robert, Robert McCrum, and William Cran. "The Mother Tongue."The Story of English. Dir. William Cran. PBS. N.d. Television.