English
When a child in the United States imagines people speaking English hundreds or even a thousand years ago, perhaps they imagine them communicating in the English of Shakespeare or speaking in the exact same language that people speak today. Just like most things in history, however, the English language has changed a lot in the time since Germanic tribes first invaded Britain during the 5th century. These invaders were called the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. The many languages that these tribes brought with them to Britain became what historians today call Old English, the very first form of the English language spoken by anyone in the world!
Old English may have the same name as the modern-day language, but it is very different from the English that is spoken today around the globe. In fact, it would be nearly impossible for an English speaker in the 21st century to communicate effectively with the first speakers of English! The language not only sounded different, but some estimate that only half of the words in Modern English have roots in Old English. Even the Old English alphabet includes several letters, like æ and þ, that cannot be found in our modern language, while the modern alphabet includes v and j, letters not used by Old English speakers. Many words that people use today, like “knife,” “gnat,” and other words with silent letters are remnants of Old English. Someone speaking Old English may have asked for a “cnīf” (knife) or said that a “gnætt” (gnat) was bothering them!
Try your hand at these Old English phrases:
(Hint: Although no one knows for certain what Old English sounded like, we have a pretty good idea. The letter æ is called ash and was likely pronounced like the a in the Modern English word “cat,” while the letter þ is called thorn and was probably pronounced like the th in the word “thin.” Letters with a line over them are pronounced as long vowels.)
What’s your name? --- Hwæt hātest þū?
My name is… --- Ic hāte …
Thank you --- Ic þancie þē
You’re welcome --- Welcumen
So how exactly did English evolve from Old English into the modern language that people speak today? Believe it or not, a fight between powerful men was one of the biggest factors in shaping the English language. In 1066, the King of England, Edward the Confessor, died and his distant cousin, William the Conqueror, declared himself heir. William was the Duke of Normandy, a powerful noble from France. He faced several rivals to the throne, including Edward’s brother-in-law Harold Godwin. To claim what he thought was rightfully his, William invaded England and defeated Godwin later that year in what became known as the Norman Conquest.
The new king of England brought with him his native language of French. He rewrote many of the English codes of laws using French and gave much of the country's land to French nobles. The result of this was that the people in England spoke two different languages. The lower-class spoke Old English, while most of the upper-class spoke the French language of the king. After several hundred years, French began to mix into Old English. This changed the grammar of the language and added approximately 10,000 new words to the English vocabulary!
This is one of the reasons why English has two different words for some things. For example, someone today might say they are raising pigs or that they are eating pork. The term “pig” usually refers to the animal because it would have been the word used by the peasants who spoke Old English. They raised the farm animals who ended up on the French nobles’ tables. Since the upper-class only ever saw pigs at mealtime, the term for “pork” usually refers to the meat from a pig that we eat. It comes from the French word “porc” brought to English by William the Conqueror. If William’s fight for England had failed, people today might speak a very different version of English than we do.
The Norman Invasion is not the only big moment in the history of the language, but it is one of the most significant. It helped to change Old English into the Middle English spoken at the beginning of the Renaissance, and, eventually, into Early Modern English, the language of Shakespeare! While Middle English is much closer to the modern-day language that people speak today, it retained many of the characteristics of Old English. If someone during the Renaissance asked you where your “toon” were, you might have to pull up your Old English dictionary to find out they are asking about your “toes.” If they said they found a “deer,” however, you’d probably know what they mean!
Even the Modern English language is continually growing and changing. Each year new words, phrases, and definitions, like “Jedi” and “sim,” are added to the dictionary. In the 21st century, English has even evolved to include new ways to use grammar while texting or using social media platforms. Just like how historians study Old English to understand how people lived a thousand years ago, someday, people in the future will look back at this moment in time and study what the modern English language says about the people and cultures who use it today!