India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and South Africa, Tuvalu

Canada | Jamaica, Dominican Rep | Malta, Cyprus | Nigeria, Zambia | India, Sri Lanka | Papua New Guinea | Australia, New Zealand

2. Early history of Britain - Celtic people

• 750 BC – 15,0000 people

• 700 BC – Celtic people

• Tall, warlike

• Brythonic – Breton, Cornish, Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic

• Celtic languages: Breton, Cornish, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Manx

• Stonehendge 2800-2100 BC

• Celtic words in OE come from three identifiable sources – from the continent (usually words associated with conflict and battle – the Celts were often used as ‘armies for hire’), loans taken over after settlement (usually place names), and words from Ireland frequently associated with the Christianisation of Britain.

• For the most part, Celtic influence on the English language is mostly apparent through place names. For generations, the language of the Celts was referred to as ‘British’ – the language of the Britons, the native inhabitants of the land. Some names that survive are the names of rivers such as the Thames and the Yare, and important Roman towns such as London, York and Lincoln. A number of names are compounds of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon words.

• Celtic place names:

  • Bre [high wall] – Brewood

  • Mel [whitish] – Melbourn

  • Dun [fortified place] – Donnington

  • Pen [peak] – Penge, Penrith

3. Early history of Britain - Roman invasion

• Invaded Britain in 43 AD

• Britain started to export food, dogs and slaves

• Romans brought writing: Latin and Greek

• Hadrian’s Wall: in AD 122 Emperor Hadrian; separated England from Scotland

• as soon as they had conquered Britain they began to built towns, splendid villas, public baths; roads

• When the Romans conquered England, they brought with them their language, Latin. It was the language of the Empire for a long time. Church Officials mainly used Latin as well, so it lived on. We also have many words with Latin bases today, especially scientific names. [+ place names]

• Roman place names:

  • Chester [caster – military camp]: Doncaster, Chesterfield, Colchester, Worcester, Glouchester, Lanchester, Manchester

  • Port – Portland, Portchester, Portloe

  • Street < via strata, wall < vallum

• 409 – Romans leave Britain

4. Early history of Britain - Anglo-Saxons

• The Angles [from Angeln], the Saxons [Lower Saxony], the Jutes [the Jutland peninsula]

• 420 - Saxons land on East Anglian coast

• 450 – Scots from Ireland establish a colony on Scottish west coast

• Beowulf

• The Anglo-Saxons also brought their own religious beliefs, but the arrival of Saint Augustine in 597 converted most of the country to Christianity.

• Kingdoms: Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex, etc.

• Their language, which we call “Old English” comes from "Ingvaeonic" West Germanic dialects, this was made up of Old Frisian, Old English and Old Saxon, and later changed into Middle English from the 11th century.

• The Saxon built many churches in England and wrote beautiful manuscript describing the time, their art was second to none. they ruled Britain from the end of Roman rule around 410 until the Conquest by the Normans in 1066.

• Thus the Anglo-Saxon Germanic tongue became the foundation for the English language. The Anglo-Saxon language is generally referred to as Old English and was widely spoken once the Romanized Britons had been defeated and driven into the west during the 6th century. Old English would be an amalgum of the labguage spoken by the tribes participating in the invasions (Angles, Jutes, and Saxons and probaly the Frisians), which were similar to begin with. Old English is not an easy language. The declensions of nouns have five classes three genders and four cases--and that is just the nouns.

• Kennings:

  • Swan-road = lake

  • Whale-road = ocean

  • Bone-house = booly

  • Battle-sweat = bloody