The linguistic geography of Europe

Language Groups Celtic languages Spread over much of southern and western Europe, including France, northern Italy and Spain Britain spoke British Celtic Ireland spoke Irish Celtic ( Gaelic)

Latin (Latium) Modern Italy, Spain and Portugal It survived in the central areas of continental Europe. It changed into varieties that became the modern Romance languages Most of Britain, France and Germany Latin eventually disappeared as a spoken language following the decline of the empire (5 th century) Beyond Europe it spread through North Africa and Palestine It became the dialect of Rome and spread with the growth of the Roman Empire Latin remained as the international language of scholarship and became an influenced all major languages in its vocabulary and grammar

Germanic languages Modern Germanic language derive from dialects of different tribes German : dialects spoken on south Denmark Dutch and Flemish: dialects spoken on the North Sea coast and in the area of Weser and Rhine Frisian dialects: dialects from the coast English: mainly from the coastal dialects, but also with contributions from dialects from Denmark and Norway and maybe from Weser-Rhine dialects

Language contact in Europe In the 1 st century tribes were already genetically mixed, and the language spoken by a particular tribe change as the result of contact and conquest Contact between tribal groups led to mutual influence in their languages

Romans- Germanic Language contact Latin TradingMilitary Germanic migrations Franks They spread up the Rhine and across the boarder into the empire and eventually gave their name to France Burgundians They crossed into Gaul and establish the duchy of Burgundy Alemanns They migrated through modern eastern France Saxons They cross the North Sea and settled in during Roman times Angles Later on they became the dominant group and several people who came from the 5 th century called themselves Engle (Angles) Vikings Eastern coast of England Kingdom of York The mouth of the Seine Duchy of Normandy

Language in Britain There is no information about the language of the aboriginal population in Britain The earliest languages spoken in Britain were Celtic languages, now modern Welsh, Irish and Scots Gaelic Celtic had never been completely replaced by Latin and its used continued after the retreat of Romans in the early 5 th century

Anglo-Saxons: Early English dialects Old English Dialects

The beginning of written English From about the 2 nd century the Germanic tribes used an alphabet of characters called “runes” Christianity introduced to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms a new culture that used connected texts and its language was Latin The first English texts were produced in Northumbria, but the earliest surviving texts date from the 8 th century, when literacy was already established and political leadership had passed to Mercia

Survival of Celtic Powerful people would speak English and there were strong incentives for Celtic speakers to learn the new language The Picts were overrun by a Gaelic speaking tribe from Ireland call Scots, so there was a difference with the Celtic spoken further south Cornish continued in relative isolation after the battle of Deorham in 577, until it died in the 18 th century When the word Welsh is used for language, it refers to the modern descendant of the old Celtic language