A Brief History of the English Language

1. A Brief History of the English Language Image Source: http://www.atlas.com

2. Why study English? English is the most widely taught and understood language in the world. About 354 million people speak English as their first language, and many more million speak English as a second language. Click a megaphone to hear how English sounds around the world. Quebec Ireland England Scotland Iraq India Cuba Nigeria Venezuela Image found at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com

3. Part One: Early History and the Old English Period Image Source: http://www.atlas.com

4. The study of words and language is called Etymology. The earliest known language came from Egypt. It was called hieroglyphics. Images found at:: http://picsforlearning.org Music found at: http://www.ancientnile.co.uk/music.htm l

5. 3,000 – 2,000 B.C - Early History: The Beginning of the English Language Indo Europeans come from Asia to inhabit the British Isles

6. 3,000 – 2,000 B.C - Early History: Indo-European Influence Celtic Tribes settle in British Isles Few words are left in the English language today from the Celtic languages, but we do still use golf, slogan and whiskey from Gaelic.

7. 449 to 1100 A.D. - Old English: Anglo Saxon Invasion Angles from Holland eventually came to the UK, too. This introduced the Germanic language to England, which is the basis of today’s Modern English. Around 449 A.D., Jutes from Denmark invaded the British Isles (or United Kingdom, UK). Saxons from Germany also came to the United Kingdom. Sound effects found at: http://www.findsounds.com

8. 449 to 1100 A.D. – Old English: Christianity Comes to England However, St. Augustine came to England from Rome in 597 AD, and is given credit for bringing Christianity to the land. In 400 AD, missionaries from Rome began to arrive in England, bringing with them the Latin language. How did this impact the English language? It introduced many new religious words to the English people from the Latin and Greek languages, such as alter, mass and monk. Sound effects found at: http://www.findsounds.com

9. 449 to 1100 A.D. - Old English: Beowulf Old English Modern English Around 1000 A.D. is the date of the oldest surviving example of Beowulf, a famous epic poem written in Old English. Here is a copy of the poem in both Old English and with a modern English translation. Click the megaphone to hear the poem read in Old English. Image and Sound found at: http://www.wwnorton.com/nto/noa/audio.htm

10. 449 to 1100 A.D. - Old English: Norman Invasion In 1066 A.D., the Norman Invasion from France brought French to England. With all of the different languages coming together, it’s easy to understand why the Old English language had no set spelling or sentence patterns. What a mess! This introduced many French words into the English language that we still use today: crown, castle, court, parliament, army, mansion, gown, beauty, banquet, art, poet, romance, chess,colour, duke, servant, peasant, traitor  and governor. Sound found at: http://www.chanson.udenap.org

11. End of Part One Click here to go back and watch this part again.