ENGLISH - ITS ORIGIN AND RELATION TO OTHER LANGUAGES

ENGLISH - ITS ORIGIN AND RELATION TO OTHER LANGUAGES


The history of English has been distinguished and divided into three different periods. The period from the arrival of the English in Britain down to about 1100 is usually called the Old English (O.E.) or Anglo-Saxon period. Following the earliest age, the period from 1100 to 1500 is called the Middle English (M.E.). From 1500 to the present day is finally called the Modern English. Although migration of the English people from the continent of Europe had started during the fifth and sixth centuries, very few records of English writing is available before 700. After about the year 700 there is an unbroken sequence of documents in English which speaks the nature of the language.
A convenient division of the history of English can be made by starting from 700 and ending at 1900. This division gives the following three periods of 400 years each:
O.E. - 700 - 1100
M.E. - 1100 - 1500
N.E. or Mod. E. - 1500 - 1900
The most outstanding literary work of the O.E. period is the epic poem "Beowulf", written about 700. The most significant work of the M.E. period is the poetry of Chaucer (died 1400) and, the remarkable works of Spenser and Shakespeare is followed by a continuous series of great writers till date. (Mod. E.)
Due to the gradual and imperceptible evolution of the language, a distinct line between any two ages can not be drawn. There must have been considerable overlapping between old and new, the older generation, more conservative, retaining the older forms of speech, the younger, more revolutionary adopting innovations. The changes in the language were not abrupt and sudden, rather they were gradual and imperceptible and not brought about deliberately by the speaker.
English is not the original language of England but, like the English people themselves, came over from the continent of Europe. But before the arrival of English people and their language, there had existed for several centuries a tongue belonging to a quite different family of languages, the Celtic group. This was spoken by the ancient Britons. During the Roman occupation of Britain (43-410), Latin must also have been widely used and both these earlier languages must have left their imprint on Old English. The history of the English language in England began during the middle of the fifth century when the invading Teutonic tribes from the continent began to conquer the Britons and imposed on the country their own speech and social organization.
These continental tribes came from different parts of Northern Europe. Their exact origin is yet to be located. The historians agree on at least two branches - the Angles and the Saxons - that they came from a region around what is now Northern Germany. But there was a third tribe, whose original home is less certain. These were the Jutes, who, according to the traditional view, migrated from Jutland. Most modern historians do not accept this explanation which is based merely on the resemblance of the two names - Jutes and Jutland. The Angles settled mainly in the north and central portions of England and gave their name both to the country and its language, the Saxons settled mainly in the south, the Jutes in Kent, the south-eastern corner of England, and in the Isle of Wight. Mingled with these three main races there may well have been representatives of several other tribes, such as the Frisians, who inhabited what is now part of Holland, and even possibly the Franks. Because of this mixed strain in the
English people the term Anglo-Saxon is not quite accurate. To make alignment with Middle English and Modern English it is more appropriate to employ Old English for this early stage of English language. This also has the advantage of being parallel to the terminology applied to other language, e.g. - Old English, Middle English and Modern English is parallel to Old French, Middle French and Modern French. It also suggests the continuity of the English language from its earliest stages. The Old English writers themselves used the term 'englisc' or 'englisc-gereord' - "the English language". The use of "Anglo-Saxon" to indicate the English people and their language prior to the Norman conquest arose at a relatively late period, in the 16th century.
One of the striking and far-reaching discoveries of the 19th century was that many languages show important resemblances in their structure, and that these features are to be explained, not by a process of borrowing but by descent from a common ancestor. Languages are like plants or animals, which may differ considerably today but may still exhibit certain characteristics pointing to a common origin or parent stock. By grouping together those similar characteristics various genera, families and classes can be drawn. Languages, too, may be divided into families. To indicate a common descent for a group of languages or a group of words, the term 'cognate' is used. Some idea of the evidence on which these relationships are based may be obtained from the following facts. The following common terms in some European languages show many striking resemblances and the possibility of their descent from a common ancestor cannot be ruled out.
English
German
Dutch
Swedish
Danish
one
ein
een
en
een
two
zwei
(German z=ts)
twee
tva
to
three
drei
drie
tre
tre
four
vier
(German v=f)
vier
fyra
fire
father
vater (v=f)
vader
fader
fader
mother
mutter
moeder
moder
moder
brother
bruder
broeder
broder
broder
sister
schwester
zuster
syster
soster