Evolution of the English Language

Introduction

• English is often seen as a single language but consists of many dialects spoken across the globe.
• The lecture explores the evolution of English from its ancient roots to the modern language we know today.

Historical Development

• Old English: The language spoken in England before the Norman invasion in 1066.
  • Example: Beowulf is written in Old English.
• Influence of the Norman Invasion (1066):
  • French-speaking Normans conquered England, introducing a significant amount of French and Latin vocabulary.

Language Families

• Germanic Language Family: Old English originates from this family, brought to Britain by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in the 5th and 6th centuries.
  • Also known as Anglo-Saxon.
• Viking Influence: Added borrowings from Old Norse in the 8th to 11th centuries.

Linguistic Changes and Comparative Linguistics

• Despite French/Latin borrowings, English's roots can be traced through grammatical structures and core vocabulary.
• Sound Changes:
  • German words starting with "p" shifted to "pf" while Old English maintained "p".
  • Swedish words with "sk" evolved to "sh" in English.
  • Examples: "skirt" and "skull" are Old Norse borrowings.

Common Ancestor Languages

• Proto-Germanic: The common ancestor of English, Swedish, German, etc., spoken around 500 B.C.E.
  • Not written down, reconstructed by comparing its descendants.
• Proto-Indo-European: The ancestor of Proto-Germanic, spoken about 6000 years ago on the Pontic steppe (modern Ukraine/Russia).
  • The root for many languages historically spoken in Europe and parts of Asia.

Systematic Correspondences

• Systematic similarities can be found between Indo-European languages:
  • English "t" vs. Latin "d"
  • English "f" vs. Latin "p"
• Distant relatives of English include Hindi, Persian, and Celtic languages.

Conclusion

• Many mysteries about language history remain, such as potential links between Indo-European and other language families.
• Nearly 3 billion people speak various forms of the same words, shaped over 6000 years of history.