The document discusses the influence of Latin on the English language over different historical periods. It notes that many words entered English from Latin during the Roman occupation through trade and conflict. The Norman conquest brought more Latin words through the aristocracy and church. During the Renaissance and periods of scientific discovery, thousands more Latin and Greek words were adopted to describe new concepts. Latin continues to influence English today, especially in technical fields through coining new words from Latin roots and elements.
2. Introduction English is a Germanic language, having a grammar and core vocabulary inherited from Proto-Germanic. There are the influences in English vocabulary
3. Dark ages The Germanic who would later give rise to the English language (the Angles, Saxon and Jutes) traded and fought with the Latin speaking Roman Empire. There are many words that entered via Latin in English, like: anchor , butter , camp , cheese , chest , cook , copper , devil , dish , fork , gem , inch , kitchen , mile , mill , mint (coin) , noon , pillow , pound (unit of weight) , punt (boat) , sack , street , wall , wine .
4. Middle ages The Norman Conquest of 1066 gave England a two tiered society with an aristocracy that spoke Anglo-Norman and a lower class that spoke English. Continued use of Latin by the Church and centres of learning brought a steady, though dramatically reduced, influx of new Latin lexical borrowings.
5. Renaissance During the English Renaissance , from around 1500–1650, some 10,000 to 12,000 words entered the English lexicon, including lexicon . Some examples include: aberration, allusion, anachronism, democratic, dexterity, enthusiasm, imaginary, juvenile, pernicious, sophisticated. In turn, Late Latin also included borrowings from Greek.
6. Industrial Age The age of scientific discovery in the 17th and 18th centuries created the need for new words to describe newfound knowledge. Many words were borrowed from Latin, while others were coined from Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Some of the words which entered English at this time are: apparatus, aqueous, carnivorous, component, corpuscle, data, experiment, formula, incubate, machinery, mechanics, molecule, nucleus, organic, ratio, structure, vertebra.
7. Consequences - Conclusion In addition to all this influences, today Latin words continue to be coined in English, specially in technical contexts. It is not always easy to tell at what point a word entered English, or in what form. Some words have come into English from Latin more than once, through French or another Romance language at one time and directly from Latin at another.
