History of the English Language

(2) Roman Occupation

• Early Latin Borrowings

Latin	Meaning	Mod. Eng
caseus	cheese	cheese
pondo	weight	pound
calx	chalk	chalk
uncia	twelfth	inch
milia	thousand paces	mile
strata	road	street

(3) Invasion of Angles, Saxons, & Jutes

• Historical Notes:
• The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany.
• The Angles were named from Engle, their land of origin. Their language was called Englisc from which the word, English derives.

• Germanic invaders entered Britain on the east and south coasts in the 5th century.

(3) Invasion of Angles, Saxons, & Jutes

• What happened to the Celts?
• Most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders, mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
• One group migrated to the Brittany Coast of France where their descendants still speak the Celtic language of Breton today.

• Wales

• Scotland

• Ireland

• Brittany Coast of France