Sources of English Vocabulary

From Small Beginnings English had tiny beginnings. In 500 AD it was spoken by perhaps twenty thousand people; less than today speak Cherokee Indian, an endangered language Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy Anglo-Saxon helmet Typical settlement

English had tiny beginnings. In 500 AD it was spoken by perhaps twenty thousand people; less than today speak Cherokee Indian, an endangered language

Old English Legacy Old English provides all the most common words in modern English: The, is, man, house, drink, here, there . Prepositions . Fundamental concepts: life, death, day, night, month and year . Anglo-Saxon Warrior Extract from The Anglo- Saxon Chronicle

Old English provides all the most common words in modern English:

The, is, man, house, drink, here, there .

Prepositions .

Fundamental concepts:

life, death, day, night, month and year .

The first great promoter of English Alfred the Great, king of Wessex translated St. Agustine´s Latin for his countrymen to read. He also made peace with the invading Vikings King Alfred

Alfred the Great, king of Wessex translated St. Agustine´s Latin for his countrymen to read. He also made peace with the invading Vikings

The Dane invasion Old English was enriched by Scandinavian words: happy, ugly, wrong, die. This provided English with synonymous pairs Anglo-Saxon Norse wish want craft skill rear raise

The Norman conquest influence Food synonyms Norman Anglo-Saxon beef cow pork pig venison deer Places to live Norman Anglo-Saxon city town palace house residence home Everything changed when the Norman invasion of 1066 subjugated the English. Bayeux Tapestry

Food synonyms

Norman Anglo-Saxon

beef cow

pork pig

venison deer

Places to live

Norman Anglo-Saxon

city town

palace house

residence home

Other Norman synomyms Professions Norman Anglo-Saxon carpenter baker painter builder tailor fisherman shoe-maker Abstract Norman Anglo-Saxon liberty freedom affection love truth veracity Still today, people regard words of Anglo-Saxon origin as less intellectual than words with French and Latin origins – and therefore, more trustuworthy

Professions

Norman Anglo-Saxon

carpenter baker

painter builder

tailor fisherman

shoe-maker

Abstract

Norman Anglo-Saxon

liberty freedom

affection love

truth veracity

New Horizons As the age of Colonialism brought English to a new shores, native languages from Canada, Australia, South Africa and India enriched it with new vocabulary New Animals Kangaroo, chimpanzee New plants tea, tobacco Clothes pyjama, anorak British Empire map from Wikipedia Daughters of the British Empire

Modern English Modern English is half Germanic and half Romance, but it has acquired the largest vocabulary of any language by freely adopting words from countless languages. Old English (Anglo-Saxon) England, man, child, water, house Old Norse (Viking) seat, window, ill, ugly French : royal, beef, manu, hotel Latin : family, wine, school. Greek : telephone, grammar. Italian : crescendo, vibrato, belvedere, grotto, estragaganza. Spanish : cannibal, guerrilla, mosquito, tornado, vanilla. Portuguese : mermalade, flamingo. Dutch : yatch, boss, cookie, apartheid, commando, trek Gaelic/Irish : hooligan, clan, slogan, whisky. Japanese : kimono, tycoon, hara-kiri, samurai, tsunami. Hindi : guru, jungle, cheetah, shampoo, pyjamas, polo.

Other examples Persian : paradise, divan, lilac, bazaar, caravan, chess. Aboriginal Australian : Kangaroo, wallaby, boomerang, budgerigar. Hebrew : cherub, hallelujah, messiah, jubilee. Arabic : alchemy, alcohol, assassin, cipher, syrup, zero. Norwegian : ski. Finnish : sauna. Czech : robot. Turkish : coffee, kiosk, caviar Chinese : tea. Malay : Ketchup, bamboo, junk, orangutan. Polynesian : taboo, tattoo Inuit (Eskimo): kayak, igloo, anorak.