How did the English language develop?

Answer 1

This is a massive question. You'll have to dig in and do some reading. A good layman's book is "The Story of English" by Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil, and William Cran, Penguin, 2002. Yes, you can do some reading, but here's the short of it:

Old English comes from the Anglo-Saxon (West Germanic) languages, which comingled and was brought to England after the Roman troops had left. (Other tribal languages no doubt had some impact on the language - most likely the Jutes and perhaps the Frisians.) It had already, at this point, been introduced to some latin (older texts read heofon - say it aloud - that's heaven). A good place to check out Old English would be the wonder page at the University of Virginia (http://faculty.virginia.edu/OldEnglish/anthology/). The language was then introduced to languages already surviving on the island, such as Welsh and British. The Language was then introduced to Old Norse from the Norse invasions. Then, with the arrival of the French-speaking government, English began to be heavily influenced by the French, and over time, was turned into what we call Anglo-Norman English, or Middle English (although there's early middle english, late middle english, etc, and different dialects all over the island at this time). A good place to find Middle English is eChaucer (http://www.umm.maine.edu/faculty/necastro/chaucer/ ...Make sure to check out the original texts, instead of just the translations). The Middle English continued to be influenced by other European languages, especially in such a time of international (across Europe, and beyond) exchange. And, just as words change over time, so did the language - into what we call Renaissance English (Shakespeare). And from there, Victorian English (Jane Austen). And from there, Contemporary, or Modern English. These are all lies..... lies......

Answer 2

Gradually, and over many, many years, the English language was transformed by those who spoke it, as well as those using other languages who interacted with the English speakers. Even today the language is being transformed; it is a living language. There is no single book or PhD thesis that even begins to answer this question because it is such a broad one. Those who are familiar with the history of the language might be able to draw up a road map, but describing the scenery on the drive along that route would take a number of volumes, and more than a lifetime to compile. The original inhabitants of the British Isles in neolithic times spoke a language of which very little is known and very little survives. Some linguists suggest that 'Thames' (the river) is such a pre-Celtic survivor.

The original inhabitants were supplanted by the Celts (from Europe) around 600 BC. Celtish languages survive to this day in the form of Welsh and Scots and Irish Gaelic. The Celtic languages bequeathed several word elements to what would later become English, although less than would be expected. Generally, the Celtic languages have survived as place names (for example 'coombe' meaning valley). In 55 BC the Roman General Julius Caesar invaded Britain, but conquest and colonisation did not begin in earnest until 44 AD. The Romans, of course, spoke Latin and the Romans were to be around until about 410 AD. The influence of this period on subsequent English is, again, less than expected. Place names bear the greatest stamp - for example the 'caster' in 'Lancaster' is from the Latin 'castra' or 'army camp'. In around 450 AD, England began to be invaded by the Germanic tribes from an area near to modern day Denmark. They spoke a language related to German and, in England, this evolved to what is known as Anglo-Saxon or Old English. It is from this language that English gets its framework - much of the grammar and much of the 'plain English' vocabulary is derived from Anglo-Saxon. 'The','I','house','dog','you' are all Anglo-Saxon in origin. When the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity, Latin began to again exert an influence over English - especially in language related to religion ('altar','apostle' are derived from Latin). The Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons also had many Latin loan words.

Anglo-Saxon was also influenced by the Old Norse of the Vikings - who settled in the North of England. Some words are derived from the Norse - any word starting with 'sk' is likely to be Norse in origin. The two languages were similar in vocabulary and through trade, the grammar of Anglo-Saxon simplified along the border to allow better communication.

In 1066, England was invaded by the Normans who spoke a language similar to that which became modern day French (itself derived from Latin). The Norman-French language gave many terms to English - particularly those associated with government and the courts. Many words in modern English are derived from French ('parliament','cabbage','garden'). A situation existed where the aristocracy spoke Anglo-Norman and the peasants Anglo-Saxon. English derives much of its richness of vocabulary from this - we can have several terms for the same or similar thing - one will often be Anglo-Norman and the other Old English (e.g. 'veal' is Anglo-Norman, 'calf' is Anglo-Saxon). Over time, the languages mingled to become Middle English (the language of Chaucer) and the grammar simplified in the process. The pronunication of vowels changed and words lost many endings that hitherto had been used to denote grammatical structure - word order became more important.

After around 1500, with the Renaissance, Ancient Greek began to be studied in earnest and many scientific terms are derived from it. (e.g. 'telescope'). With the discovery of the New World and the rise of England as a naval power (and later, an empire), English was exposed to a myriad of languages and cultures and has never ceased to borrow a good word when it was found. India proved to be a fertile source for words ('kakhi','curry') but English will adopt vocabulary from anywhere ('kayak' from the Innuit, 'robot' from Czech, 'checkmate' from Persian','kangaroo' from Aboriginal Australia and so on). It is this willingness to adopt and change that gives English its rich vocabulary and nuance.