Morphological structure of a word. Classification of Morphemes

5. The Latin borrowing of different periods & their historical background

The role of Latin was very important due to such historic events as the Roman occupation of Britain, the influence of the Roman civilization & the introduction of Christianity. That’s why Latin greatly influenced OE: its alphabet, the growth of writing & literature.

Latin words entered the E. language at different stages of OE history. Chronologically they can be divided into several layers:
1) The oldest layer words were borrowed into E. in the 1^st c. BC. Most of the territory known to us as now Europe was occupied by Roman Empire. Among the inhabitants of the continent are Germanic tribes. After a number of wars between Germanic tribes & the Romans, these 2 opposing peoples come into peaceful contact. Trade is carried. & the Germanic people get knowledge of some new & useful things. The first among them are new things to eat. It is from the Romans that the Germanic tribes learn how to make butter & cheese. & as there are no words for these foodstuffs in their tribal languages, they are to use Latin words to name them.
It is also to the Romans that the Germanic tribes gain the knowledge of some new fruits & vegetables. & the Latin names of these fruits & vegetables enter the language: cherry, pear, plum, pea, beet, plant.
Among other language borrowings of this period are: cup, kitchen, kettle, dish, pie
2) The second layer consists of words, which directly or indirectly belong to the sphere of religion & church, & words connected with learning. This period of Latin influence began with the introduction of Christianity in the late 6^th century & lasted to the end of OE. The total number of Latin loan-words in OE exceeds 500, this layer accounting for over 400 words. As Latin was the official language of the Christian Church, so Latin borrowings came from church Latin that time. & indicated persons, objects & ideas associated with church, religion & rituals.
e.g. priest, bishop, abbot, pope, monk, angle, c&le, devil.
After the introduction of Christianity many monastic schools were set up in Britain. The spread of education led to the wider use of Latin: teaching was conducted in Latin, or consisted of learning Latin.
e.g. school, scholar, magister