How Did the English Language Begin?

Practically all languages spoken on earth today can be traced by scholars back to some common source, that is, an ancestor language that has many descendants. The ancestor language - together with all the languages, which have developed from it - is called a «family» of languages.

English is considered a member of the Indo-European family of languages. Other languages belonging to the same family are French, Italian, German, Norwegian, and Greek.

In this Indo-European family of languages there are various branches and English is a member of the «West Teutonic» branch. Actually, English dates from about the middle of the fifth century, when invaders from across the North Sea conquered the native Celts and settled on the island now known as England.

For the sake of convenience, the history of the English language is divided into three great periods: the old English (or Anglo-Saxon), from about 400 to 1100; Middle English, from 1100 to 1500; and Modern English, from 1500 to the present day.

So the original language spoken in English was Celtic. But the Anglo-Saxons (the Angles, the Jutes, and the Saxons) conquered the island so thoroughly that very few Celtic words were kept in the new language.

The Anglo-Saxons themselves spoke several dialects. Later on, the Norsemen invaded England and they introduced a Scandinavian element into the language. This influence, which was a Germanic language, became a part of the language.

In 1066, William the Conqueror brought over still another influence to the language. He made Norman French the language of his Court. At first, this «Norman» language was spoken only by the upper classes. But gradually its influence spread and a language quite different from the Anglo-Saxon developed. This language became the chief source of modern English.

III. Comprehension check

Answer the questions.

1. Why don’t we all speak the same language?

2. How can a dialect become a language?

3. How did the English language begin?

4. What language family English can be subscribed to?

5. What are the 3 periods in the history of English?

6. What was the original language spoken in England?

7. What happened in 1066?

IV. Report writing

Find out the information about the origin of the Belarusian language. Make a report on it, and then present your findings in class.

Text 3 the english language*

(Intermediate – upper-intermediate)

I. Pre-reading task

The English language is one of the 5,000 lan­guages in the world now. It is used in many countries and it is by no means entirely uniform. Read Extract 1 speaking about the subdivision of Standard English into different kinds of the Eng­lish language. Say how many people in all speak English.

Extract 1

The english language

Where did English come from? The obvious answer is England. However, in the past two thousand years very many people came to England and changed the language. Perhaps most of the lan­guage comes from the Anglo-Saxons who came to England in the fifth to the seventh centuries. But there are also Roman words from the time when England was a part of the Roman Empire: the ending — 'Chester' in the name of an English town such as Col­chester comes from the Latin word 'castra' and shows that there was a Roman town there. The Vikings brought many words with them, such as 'they' and 'their'; the Normans governed England for many years and brought French words with them. Then the English brought many words from different countries — 'kangaroo' from Australia, 'pyjamas' from India, and 'anorak' from Canada.

But what is English now? It is no longer spoken just in Eng­land and there are many different kinds of English in different parts of the world. In his book, Peter Strevens gives the following diagram:

Standard English
American English Family		British English Family
United States	Canada	West Indies Britain Australia Africa

He says that there are two main families of Standard English, the American and the British. American English is spoken in the USA and in Canada. British English is spoken in the West Indies, Brit­ain, Australasia, and Africa. However, many other parts of the world also use English. In India English is an official language still and there is a special kind of Indian English. In several Afri­can countries, such as Nigeria and Ghana, English is spoken in schools and colleges. In many sciences English is the language of communication. There are about 350 million people who speak English as a first language, and there are another 450 million who use it as a second language. So English is now an interna­tional language and is useful to people who never go to England.

II. Comprehension check

1. What are two main families of Standard English?

2. What countries is American English spo­ken in?

3. Why is English considered to be an inter­national language?

4. What languages have lent words to Eng­lish?

III. The term "melting pot” applied to the United States refers to the idea that the country is a place where people from many lands have come together and formed a unified culture. American English absorbed much of the vocabulary of dif­ferent nations inhabiting the country. Read Extract 2 and state briefly in 3 or 4 sentences what cultures the American variety of English reflects.

Extract 2