Old English (500-1100 AD)

West Germanic invaders from Jutland and s protrudehern Denmark: the Angles¨ç, Saxons, and Jutes, began populating the British Isles in the fifth part and sixth centuries AD. They spoke a inversely intelligible language, quasi(prenominal) to modern Frisian--the language of matingeastern region of the Netherlands--that is called senior side. four major dialects of over-the-hill incline emerged, pairingumbrian in the mating of England, Mercian in the Midlands, West Saxon in the south and west, and Kentish in the Southeast. These invaders pushed the original, Celtic-speaking inhabitants out of what is now England into Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland, leaving behind a few Celtic wrangle. These Celtic languages survive today in Celtic languages of Scotland and Ireland and in Welsh. Cornish, unfortunately, is now a dead language.¨è Also influencing side of meat at this time were the Vikings. Norse invasions, beginning around 850, brought umpteen North Germanic words i nto the language, particularly in the north of England. well-nigh examples are dream, which had meant joy until the Vikings imparted its current meaning on it from the Norse blood relative draumr, and skirt, which continues to live alongside its native face cognate shirt. The majority of words in Modern face come from foreign, not Old position roots. In fact, all about one and only(a) sixth of the known Old English words fork up descendants surviving today.

entirely this is deceptive; Old English is much more of import than these statistics would indicate. About half of the closely commonly used words in Modern E nglish have Old English roots. Words like be! , water, and strong, for example, earn from Old English roots. Old English, whose best-known surviving example is the numbers Beowulf, finishinged until about 1100. This last date is rather arbitrary, but well-nigh scholars choose it because it is presently after the most important payoff in the discipline of the English language, the Norman... If you want to get a full essay, hallow it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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