History of the English Language

The English language is perhaps the most frequently used and celebrated in the world, which is no mean feat, considering the size of the country from which it derives. But what of its history? Like most languages, its history is complex; a melting pot of all sorts of different cultures and countries combining to produce the language we all love today.

English is a language of extraordinary linguistic wealth, which owes its origins to a vast diversity of influences. Throughout history, the English language has adopted words from other languages ​​, mainly Anglo-Saxon, but also from Latin, Old Norse and French and even other languages ​​such as Greek and Spanish.

The Romans invaded in 55 B.C. and left their mark in more ways than one. Not only in their incredible building expertise and novel ideas for a more civilised society, but also through the use of Latin as a spoken language. This made its way in to many common words of the populace of Britain.

Then, in the fifth century, Anglo Saxon invaders colonized the islands. 'Old English' is the term used to refer to the language spoken in that period, brought to Britain by Germanic tribes of Angles and Saxons. These contributed to the language massively and many variations of these words are still used, but they also adopted terms used by the Celts who lived in the islands. This created a completely new hybrid language that would go on to become English.

The monks who came to the islands from Rome in the late sixth century left their own unique mark on the language with a set of words related to education, culture and religion, such as the words ‘minister’ and ‘school’.

In 1066, the Normans led by William the Conqueror colonized the islands. French then went on to become the dominant language at the expense of other dialects. There are literally hundreds of words that we still commonly use today that derive from French origin: court, government, able, car, chair, beef, mutton, city, country, fruit, journey, juice, fairness, freedom, liberty and justice being just a few.

The consolidation of the monarchy eventually united the language and as a result of the merging of different dialects, a form of modern English was born. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Renaissance brought a new interest in art and culture and language incorporated many words from Latin and Greek.

English is a living language and has continued to evolve to this day. Constantly new terms are incorporated into the language. The technological revolution, scientific advances and the requirement of new words make English both fresh and exciting as changes are always occurring. Migration flows and the mixture of cultures also led to the creation of new words that enrich the language even further.

We can at EFAA arrange one to one tuition in Business English or General English. Helping you learn this beautiful language..