Siekmeier

The Story of English: Mother Tongue

(Ch. 2, pp. 51-88)(SEBCS VC VO4207)
English has a similarity to Sanskrit, as observed by Sir William Jones.
Father Threw Seven
Mother Me New
The Indo-European group of languages consists of Latin, French, Spanish,
Slavic, Germanic, Celtic tongues.
Date A.D. 449--The northern Germanic tribes Anglo-Saxons-Jutes invade
Britain. The only relic of the Celtic language (the original language of
Britain) is Welsh.
In Old English (the English of the Anglo-Saxons), word forms make
meaning.
Date A.D. 597--Christianity comes to England via St. Augustine.
Date A.D. 793--The Second Great Invasion (by the Vikings this time)
initiated with the destruction of the monastery at Lindesfarne, beginning the
Dark Ages.
By A.D. 870, Anglo-Saxons repressed. Alfred the Great saves country
and language by uniting the diverse country using English. This produced
the confict between languages: Anglo-Saxon v. Viking (Norse)/Danelaw.
The diference is in word endings. English simplifes by adding
endings instead of changing word forms.
Date A.D. 1066--Norman Invasion. The French defeat the English and
introduce languages of French and Latin.
By A.D. 1155, English had been obliterated as a written language, yet
it survived in oral use. The Normans did contribute many synonyms to
English. The Norman Conquest was a linguistic 'blessing in disguise.' For
example law, monarchy, church, military all borrowed from the French.
Humorous observation: "English is a dialect of French."
In Middle English (1150-1500), prepositions take prominence over
word endings. Word order becomes important.
The frst great English writer was Geofrey Chaucer (ca. 1380). His
success, especially the masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, gives new status
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to English. The vocabulary Chaucer used was similar to ours, but
pronunciations difer.
A contemporary of Chaucer, William Caxton, was the frst English
printer. English owes its chaotic spelling to printing spellings on page before
agreement was reached on pronunciation.
"Mankind"--a play (ca. 1470) demonstrates the last change in
pronunciation.
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