English Language - Story Of Its Development (1952)

the people of the world speak many languages they use many different sounds and written symbols to express the same ideas for example listen to some words in French bonjour Mesa me is now in German for under each now in Latin saw waiter amiki linguam Latino locor May into legatus Hello friends I am speaking the English language do you understand me of course we understand our own language but what of its relation to the other languages we heard what of its relation to England and English History where did our language come from what is the story of the English language the introduction to our Story begins before there was an English language during the First Century A.D Roman troops invaded England and began their conquest of the island they found primitive Stone monuments which had been built by a very early people for use in religious rights they found a land of Rich farming country and forests on which were then-living tribes called the Celts the Romans dominated England and ruled the Celts for roughly 400 years and there remain today many traces of their power such as a wall built on Roman foundations and the ruins of a public bath the land was left to the Celts in the year 411 A.D when the last Roman armies were withdrawn from England but new invasions were already Brewing along the northern coasts of Europe lived various Nordic tribes the angles the Saxons the jutes the frisians these tribes began to migrate to England thousands came landing on the beaches settling on the rich farmland pressing into the forests to hunt over a period of many years they came and pushed the Celts back into the forests and Hills these tribes intermingled and spread throughout England except for parts of Wales and Scotland the stage had been set for chapter one of our story The Anglo-Saxon or Old English period the languages of the Nordic tribes were much alike and as traveling storytellers moved about among the tribes the various languages began to be intermixed here were the real beginnings of the English language the storytellers or epic singers kept alive myths of the past fables of Valor and bravery of battles and Wars stories common to all the tribes through the years the various tongues became almost as one at last some of the epics were written down in a single language the Epic of Beowulf begins what way gardeningas Allen primadan yes that is Anglo-Saxon or Old English in modern print the words look like this now we can make out a few familiar words we in King and here is a word for word translation into Modern English Lo we spiridanes in your days of the people King's Glory heard how the heroes Valor performed besides the great epics we have an important historical document the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles this work was begun at the command of King Alfred the Great about 900 A.D by this time the various Nordic tribes were intermixed and angle land or England was becoming united into a single nation and then an important historical date ushered in Chapter 2 of our story Middle English 1066. an 11th century tapestry shows how William the Conqueror led the Norman French in a conquest of England these Normans were a civilized skilled people believed to have come from the north and settled in Normandy in France in coming to England they brought with them the French language of their day the Anglo-Saxon farmer lived in a house raised a pig and wore a hat or Hood all Anglo-Saxon words the Norman conqueror lived in a castle ate pork and wore a helmet these French words and many others were added to the growing English language readers and singers were spreading the language for hundreds of years when few people could read and write around 1400 A.D Jeffrey Chaucer author of The Great Canterbury Tales set down old folk fables and tales in the new language the prologue to the Canterbury Tales begins plan that April with Esurance Sota the droops of March hath passed to the Rota yes this is Middle English set in modern type you can recognize many of the words and here is a translation into Modern English when sparkling April with his gentle Reigns here we can find Anglo-Saxon words when with his and French words April pierced flower and there are words from another language too remember the 11th century tapestry in what language is the text written not Anglo-Saxon not French but Latin let's pause for a footnote on the influence of Latin stemming from the Roman Conquest the medieval Church and the Norman invasion from the Roman conquest of England few Latin words remained except for the names of locations the medieval Church sent Christian missionaries who traveled through England using Latin for worship and leaving a Heritage of Latin words and learning the Norman conquerors brought with them Latin law and a language that was only a short step removed from Latin thus far in our story the English language has changed rapidly and repeatedly under many influences chapter 3 Modern English is the story of relatively little change in the language between 1500 and today William Shakespeare in the 16th century wrote lines which need no translation although in his plays and poems he enriched the language with new words and ideas why is it that English has changed more slowly since then first because of the printing press when books and newspapers could be produced in quantity language became standardized second the growth of London as the cultural and literary Center for all England helped to set standards for the language third as the great English universities grew in importance the English language began to rank in stature with the classic languages of the world but as the world has changed the language has grown inquisitive men began to explore new lands were discovered the English language was planted in America and in America the English language grew in vocabulary from the Indians came such words as wigwam Papoose raccoon added to our language as words in the past had been added new conditions brought new ideas and new ideas brought new words new inventions have brought new words to describe them today in Prince and by the spoken word our American English language is spread throughout the world a language that has grown and changed faster at first more slowly yet steadily in modern times although we've come to the end for now we know that the story of the English language is to be continued