Indo-European Family

Northern European Languages English German Dutch Danish Mother Mutter Moeder moder Father Vater Vader Fader Brother Bruder Broeder broder

Other Languages Latin Greek Irish Sanskrit Persian māter mētēr māthair Mādar pater patēr athair pitŗ pidar frater phrātēr brāthair bhrātŗ birādar

Cause of Similarities Not explained by borrowing Descendants of a single parent language, or proto-language Does not exist in any recorded form Became extinct before written records existed

Proto-Language Origins It is believed that tribes settled near Crimea during the 5th through 3rd millennia B.C. 3500 B..C. Successive waves moved westward and southward As groups became isolated, language developed in different directions Multiple branches occurred

Germanic (Teutonic) Where English comes from Became divided into 3 groups East: did not survive to modern times North: Scandinavian countries West: German, Dutch, Flemish, English

Italic Originally several Italic languages Latin won out when Rome came to dominance Descendants usually called Romance languages French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian Romanian

Hellenic Greek Descendant of the Classical Greek of Plato and Aristotle The common Greek dialect used to write the New Testament

Celtic 2000 years ago spoken throughout western Europe France (Gaul), Spain, Great Britain Latin replaced much of the Celtic language in its regions Anglo-Saxon replaced in Britain Descendants are Breton and Gaelic Brittany, Ireland, Wales

Summary of Proto-Language Due to common ancestor, they are called cognate languages Indo-European only one of a number of language families throughout the world The others have not been studied as much, and so do not have a universal consensus as to their origins

Development of English Language Words are borrowed from other nations with whom we have frequent contact

Romano-Celtic Period 50 B.C. – A.D. 410 British Isles People began arriving around 1000 B.C. First foreign invaders were the Romans Established control over southern and eastern islands

Extent of Roman Invasion Did not conquer Ireland or Scotland

Old English 450 to 1066 3 closely related tribes speaking West Germanic moved in around 350 Movements of German tribes caused the Romans to retreat Believed that Romano-British hired Germans to keep out the Picts (Scottish) Were not paid, so they stayed and established the Kingdom of Kent This invasion was followed by Saxon settlements Essex (East Saxony) Wessex (West Saxony) Sussex (South Saxony) And the London area

Words from O.E. Pronouns: I, we, you, he, it, the , this, that , who, what, mine, your, each, any Comparisons: good, better, best, evil, worst Conjugations: bid, bade, bidden; sing, sang, sung Basic vocab: love, say, live, have, own, do, be, will, bury, name, reach, long, strong, high, quick, sun, food, hand, finger, friend, stone, earth

O.E. cont. Saxons were followed by the Angles The name England comes from Angles Land Literature from O.E. period Anglo-Saxon Chronicles Beoowulf “The Wanderer” “The Seafarer”

Middle English to Modern

1066 to 1500 Battle of Hastings in 1066 reduced England to a fiefdom French speaking aristocracy of Normandy took control English and French words battled for supremacy Hog (E) v Pork (F) Hut (E) v cottage (F) Help (E) v aid (F) Folk (E) v people (F)

Norman’s rule French and Latin commonly taught to aristocracy Impossible to determine whether a Latinate word in English was borrowed from French or directly from Latin Grave, gravity, solid, consolation Some words were even made to look like they had been borrowed Intensity intensité

Modern English: 1500 Three events mark beginning British colonialism Begins 1497 Renaissance and Enlightenment reach England Printing press (1440) Industrial and post-industrial revolution Dictionary (1755)