Beowulf and the Monomyth (The Hero's Journey)The History of England and English

World LiteratureMr. Brennan

History of EnglandWhat do you know about…the history of England?

…the history of the English language?

Do-Now

SWBAT explain the tumultuous past of England, and identify the various influences on the development of the English language.

1. Mini-Lecture: —Anglo-Saxons and the Conquest of England

2. Mini-Lecture:

—English: A Developing Language

3. Activity: Word Origin Exercise

Learning Objective

AGENDA

Complete the Word Origin Exercise

HomeworkReminders

The Celts

The Celts• The Celts were tribal societies

originating from Iron Age Europe (c. 800-600 BC) who spoke Celtic languages

• By mid 1st millennium AD, following the expansion of the Roman Empire and the Great Migrations (Migration Period) of Germanic peoples, Celts became restricted to Ireland and northern Britain

• Britons took over Britain (or England)• Gaels settled on what is now Ireland

The Romans• In 55 BC, Romans under

Julius Caesar invade Britain

• Invasion continued over the next 100 years until the Romans established rule

• Brought Christianity (and Latin) officially by Emperor Constantine in A.D. 415

• Roman rule lasted more than 300 years

• Rome fell to Barbarian tribes (pagan) in A.D. 476 but Celts remained Christian

Germanic Invation• Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic

group of N. European, identified by their use of the Germanic languages • Evidence suggests a common culture dwelt in a region defined by the Nordic Bronze Age between 1700—600 BC

• The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were the Germanic tribes which began invading the Briton’s on present day England between 400—500 A.D.

Germanic Invasionsof Britain

(Post-Roman Empire)

Anglo-Saxon Period Begins

Anglo-Saxons• Began invading from

Germany in 400s as the Roman Empire diminished

• Mainly farmers and fishermen looking for better land

• Romans brought Christianity to England and eventually converted the Anglo-Saxon (spreading Latin)

• Brought a warrior culture, seafaring tradition, pagan beliefs, and a fatalist view of the world

Norman Conquest• As the Viking Age came to a close,

there was relative peace in England from 886-1066.

• In the 1060s, King William from Normandy began to oust the Anglo-Saxons and take their lands.

• Led to the Battle of Hastings (1066)where Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons.

• Normans (“North men”) were descendent of Vikings who invaded France in 800s

• Normans replaced native ruling class with a foreign French-speaking monarchy

• Normans helped establish feudal system in England (exchanging property for personal service)

English: A Developing Language

• Early written texts in Britain were in LATIN; as English was considered ‘vulgar’ and the language of the common people

MAJOR PERIODS OF ENGLISH:• Old English (449-1100)– Norse, Celtic, Germanic and Latin

• Middle English (1100-1500) – Combined Old English w/ elements of French from the Normans

• Early Modern English (1500-1650) – Alt. vowel pronunciation (e.g. ough)

• Present Day English (1650-present) – Standardized spelling and pronouns (thoug you)

What language did Shakespeare write?

How do you pronounce “ough”?

1. Ought – awt (so, “enough” would be…)

2. Enough – enuf (so, “thorough” would be…)

3. Thorough - thoro (so, “through” would be…)

4. Through – throo (so, “trough” would be…)

5. Trough – troff (Confused yet?)There are actually 8 ways to pronounce the phoneme “ough”

Word OriginsThe English language is filled with words that have come from other languages:• Shampoo – • Hip – • Paper – • Slemputrous –

Hindi

West African

Egyptian

Mr. Brennan

English in the US TodayEnglish continues to develop

In the US alone, there are as many as 24 dialects

spoken.However, there is no formally accepted

standard of English in the US.

Your TaskLook up the origins of each word

listed in the table on Dictionary.com

Add a word of your choosing to the blank cell in the table

and record its origin