How did the English language come about? History of the appearance of English

For linguists and historians for a long time, one of the most important questions remained the question of how the English language appeared. After all, in our days it is considered international, it is known to almost all the peoples of the world from Japan to Hawaii. It is simple in study, in pronunciation, has not too much vocabulary, which makes it possible to easily remember all the most important things. We will try to find out how the English language came about . We will learn which peoples originally spoke on it, what influenced its formation and what changed it for centuries.

Celtic dictionary database

The first tribes, from which remained a worthy legacy on the British peninsula, were precisely Celtic. They settled the land about 800 BC and since then have made a huge contribution to the culture and development of future peoples who lived and live here. It is with the Celts that we should begin the story of how the English language came about. In English, in the usual way for us, they certainly did not communicate, but many of their records and documents easily succumbed to the decoding of modern archaeologists. The roots of the words that are now used in this speech were laid back in those distant centuries and hardly changed to our days.

Names and words

The Celts themselves, as history says, were very developed at that time people. There was patriarchy in the society, all the boys were under strict guardianship of their fathers. Everyone who belonged to this people, knew writing, could read in their native language. The Celts also had one feature - the warriors painted themselves with blue paint, which made them in battle with any enemy more terrible. This method they called the word "Brit" (brith), which translates as "painted". It was this that formed the basis for the name of the entire country and the peoples who settled it in the future. It would seem that at this stage it becomes extremely clear where the English language came from, but there are a couple of interesting moments. Similarly, from Celtic dialects, many names have been removed, which are now widely used by the British and Americans. Also retained their meaning and structure words such as "whiskey", "plaid", "slogan" and many others.

Roman conquests and speech assimilation

In 44 BC, the British Islands officially became a province of the Roman Empire, and the Emperor Claudius led these lands. In light of these events, there was a mixture of peoples - Roman and Celts, due to which the speech also changed. Here it is worth noting that many historians who carefully study how the English language has appeared are sure that it has precisely the Latin roots. Common grammar, a lot of similar root words, as well as undeniable historical events speak for it. Here we note that the whole of Europe at the turn of the era was influenced by the Romans and the Latin language. Each separate people took from him something for themselves, and something was supplemented by the original dialects. Similarly, English speech became an assimilation of Celtic and Latin words. But in modern language it is possible to single out such words that came exclusively from the Romans. This is all that have the root "castra" (Latin "camp") - Lancaster Leincester. Also the word "street" ("street"), which originated from the lat. "Via strata" is a "paved road". This includes the words "wine", "pear", "pepper" and others.

The influence of Scandinavia

In the late 800's, the British Isles conquered Denmark. During the occupation, which lasted for more than one year, the population was assimilated, accordingly, the speech was modified. Therefore, a big role in the way English has appeared is played by Denmark. In addition to the many words that have replenished the stock of English speech at that time, it also fit into the alphabetic combinations, which later formed independent, independent of the Scandinavian words. In particular, this is -sc and -sk. They formed such words as "skin" - "skin" (with the original "hide"), "skull" - "skull" (with the original "shell") and "sky" - "sky" (previously there was only "heaven" ).

Is modern speech mixed?

Now let us consider the foundations of the birth of that speech, which is understandable for modern man, and finally resolve the question of how the English language has appeared. In English until the 11th century, as it turned out, in principle they did not say. There were adverbs, which were called Anglo-Saxon, Romance, Celtic and so on. It was in this century that the French, under the leadership of King William, conquered Britain. Since then, the official language in the camp was French. On it were conducted courts, jurisdiction and other state affairs. At the same time, Latin was in progress - it was considered the language of science. The common people spoke the Anglo-Saxon dialects. It was from this turbulent mixture that English was born, which modern man can already understand.

New England years: from the 1500's to the present day

Finally, the language is formed in the 16th century. His founder is the famous writer William Shakespeare. This man not only created written sources confirming the existence of literate speech in those days in Britain, he also came up with many new words that we use today. One of the most amazing is "swag" (swagger) - denotes a disorderly, depraved gait. Later, in 1795, the textbook "English Grammar", which was composed by L. Murray, was published. Until now, it is the basis for teaching aids.

The application of new lands

Very interesting is the question of how the English language appeared in America, because now all the states speak exactly on it. Officially it is believed that he landed on the New Lands in the 17th century, along with the famous British colonies, who went there in search of a better share. It is important to note that at that time on the lands of America already established their settlements and other peoples of Europe - Roman-speaking (Spaniards, French, Italians), as well as German-speaking (Germans, Swedes, Danes). Among such a national diversity were mainly Spaniards who settled the southern part of the new continent. The second place was occupied by the French, who migrated to the North of America. But the vast majority were British. That is why the English language began to spread on these lands.

American dialects

Another mixture of Scandinavian, Roman and British roots gave mankind a new language - American. By its structure, it does not differ from the British one, but in colloquial speech it is much simpler and more understandable. Americans do not use complex time structures, they always speak briefly and simply. In addition, they came up with a lot of new words that for a long time were unclear to the British. Also, the American dialect is very saturated with Spanish words. Many are used in their pure form, others are redone in their own way.

How did English come about in Russia?

Each of us knows perfectly well that in his native country no one has ever spoken in English. For centuries, our Slavic, then Russian speech, which acquired a modern look only in the middle of the 20th century, evolved. However, the elite of the society began to learn this overseas language since the works of Shakespeare appeared in the country. Initially, they were translated into Russian, which also required knowledge of the source language. Later, people came to the conclusion that one should teach the classics in its original form. Gradually, the Russian people taught this language, but such a privilege could only be of the nobles. Most of the population, who were peasants, could not read even at home. In this regard, until now our nation remains the least well-versed in foreign languages, even at the level of users.