Essay about The History of English - 977 Words

The History of English The most commonly spoken language in our day, would be English or as some people might call it â€Å" The Lingua Franca â€Å". It is a language, which is taken almost a thousand years to evolve, mainly through its borrowings from other languages such as French and Latin. It is actually classified as part of the Germanic group of languages. Even though it is the most commonly spoken language today, it is not without its faults, which would be its phonetic symbols only, representing one sound and each sound would have its appropriate symbol. Most European languages are very similar to those spoken in India and Persia, assuming that most of the European peoples are descendants of the†¦show more content†¦(Lecture notes, M. Disney) Latin influenced English before the Anglo-Saxons arrived in England. The Germanic tribes who later settled on the isles were in contact with small parts of the Roman civilization. Some of the words borrowed by the Germanic groups were: Mint: Minet, Street: strata via When the first English tribes came to settle in England they made contact with the people that had been part of the Roman Empire which probably spoke a form of Latin. Some of their words past in to the language of the new conquerors. (Lecture notes, M. Disney) In the sixth century St. Benedict reintroduced Christianity. As the religion spread English added a large number of Latin words to itself to express new ideas connected with the religion. However, this lead to the loss of grammatical gender of the language and therefore mixed the vocabulary. (Internet 1) In the eighth century the Danes made continual raids upon the English coasts which they later settled. They were then defeated by King Alfred the Great. A hundred years later another Danish King invaded England and managed to get his son, Canute, was put upon the English throne. These Danish invasions, however destructive they were, had quite a tremendous influence upon the English language. The English borrowed words such as skin, ill, get and leg. (Lecture notes, M. Disney)Show MoreRelatedHistory of the English Language1655 Words   |  7 Pages History of the English Language [47 words] This ever so changing, perpetually adapting and complex language that is English grew as large as it is today for a variety of reasons; all of which will be explained in this disquisition, point-by-point, following the three grand evolution periods of the language (Old, Middle and Modern English). Read MoreHistory of English Language1776 Words   |  8 PagesHistory of the English Language One thing that makes human culture possible is the language, not thought. We cannot form a precise though without the power of words. Surely, we can relay on pictures, but language is the tool that will help the idea construct more completely, precisely, with more detail and finesse. 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