HISTORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
English is a Western Germanic language originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by the German invaders from various parts of what is now northwestern Germany, southern Denmark and the northern Netherlands.
Initially, Old English was a group of several dialects, which reflected the varied origin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, the late west saxon (late Western Saxon), at one time came to dominate. The original ancient English language was then influenced by two invasive waves.
The first was of speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic languages, that conquered and colonized parts of Britania in centuries VIII and IX; The second was the Normans in the eleventh century, who spoke ancient Norman and developed a variety of English denominated as Anglo-Roman. These two invasions made the English mingle to some extent.
The cohabitation with the Scandinavians, who would have spoken dialects of the old Norse, resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and a lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; The later Norman occupation led to a grafting of a layer of more elaborate words from Romance languages (derived from Latin). This Norman influence in English penetrated through the courts and the government. With the arrival of the Renaissance, Latin and classical Greek supplanted Norman Frenchman as the main source of new words. Thus English developed with many language loans that produced a huge and varied vocabulary.
Initially, Old English was a group of several dialects, which reflected the varied origin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, the late west saxon (late Western Saxon), at one time came to dominate. The original ancient English language was then influenced by two invasive waves.
The first was of speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic languages, that conquered and colonized parts of Britania in centuries VIII and IX; The second was the Normans in the eleventh century, who spoke ancient Norman and developed a variety of English denominated as Anglo-Roman. These two invasions made the English mingle to some extent.
The cohabitation with the Scandinavians, who would have spoken dialects of the old Norse, resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and a lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; The later Norman occupation led to a grafting of a layer of more elaborate words from Romance languages (derived from Latin). This Norman influence in English penetrated through the courts and the government. With the arrival of the Renaissance, Latin and classical Greek supplanted Norman Frenchman as the main source of new words. Thus English developed with many language loans that produced a huge and varied vocabulary.
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