Latin Influences on Old English

A brief analysis on the evolution of Old English and its Latin predecessor.

1. he earliest literary period which can meaningfully be called “English” is The evolution of the English language. Old English Middle English Modern English 6 th -7 th century 11 th -12 th century 16 th century present Anglo-Saxon settlement Norman settlement development of the English language. Old English is the oldest form of the language attested, and it was spoken by people known as Anglo-Saxons . divided into two major periods, each of which describes the state of

2. The Anglo-Saxons were a mixed group (tribes of Angles , Saxons and Jutes ) from North Germany who originally spoke a wide variety of dialects . The amalgamation of this group’s languages and a considerable amount of other influences (especially that of Latin , as we’ll discuss) contributed to shaping what is commonly referred to as Old English . When the Anglo-Saxons conquered England in the mid-fifth century, displacing the native Roman Britons, they were heathen people. However, they were missionized by Augustine of Canterbury in 597 , making them among the earliest Germanic people to convert to Christianity over the course of the sixth century. The Anglo-Saxons’ conquest of Britain

3. ong before the Angles, Saxons and Jutes’ settlement of England (5 th -11 th century ), a lasting bond between Latin and the aforementioned populations’ tongues had been established insomuch that the former’s relevance within a wide array of realms would play a determinating role in moulding Old English , hence its contemporary descendant. According to scholars Albert Baugh and Thomas Cable, t hrough their military and commercial connection to the Roman Empire, Britain’s forthcoming inhabitants had “ acquired a considerable number of Latin words ” which had entailed a significant change in their languages’ structure and lexicon. As they came to England, they learned from local Celtic people a few additional Latin words which had been assimilated by them (it shall be noted that the Romans had conquered the island in 43 AD). A century and a half later (6 th -7 th century), more Latin elements were integrated into Old English by way of Roman missionaries’ diffusion of Christianity ( angel, pope, priest…) . Christianization brought literacy to boot. caseus cēse / cȳse cheese vinum wīn wine strāta (via) strǣt street Latin Old English Modern English puteus pytt pit

4. Old English literature All three chief instances on which borrowing from Latin occurred can be summarized as follows: Pre-Germanic migration Christianization Celtic influence 5 th century Assimilation of trade/military-related Latin words. Prose and poetry were passed down orally . Acquirement of additional Latin elements through the Celts . Aristocratic Britons probably used the language as a medium of upper-class communication. 6 th- 7 th century Roman Britain Transmission of religious Latin terms on behalf of Roman missionaries . Initially, treatises were written in Latin whereas OE was used for law codes. King Alfred gave way to a vast OE translation program in the 9 th century. It has been estimated that approximately 450 Old English words, mostly nouns, were picked up from Latin; around 170 of these entered the Old English lexicon prior to the Germanic migration (that is, before the Angles, Saxons and Jutes takeover of Britain). Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain 9 th century At the outset of the christianization period , Old English was a language used for law codes . Philosophical or medical treatises tended to be written in Latin , the international language of learning in the Middle Ages.

5. This changed after the Viking invasions of the ninth century left most religious houses too empty to produce scholars with strong Latin skills . After warding off the Viking threat, King Alfred of Wessex addressed this educational lack with a large scale translation project and book production program . A number of important scholarly and religious works were translated into Old English from Latin. benedicere blodison blēdsian/blētsian  ”to mark or consecrate with blood” “to praise, to worship” “to bless, to consecrate, to praise”.  Latin Germanic Old English In some instances, Germanic words with slightly different connotations were employed to translate Latin elements, thus altering/expanding the former’s meaning to suit its counterpart’s. King Alfred the Great (849-899)

6. An excerpt from the Old English copy of Latin author Prudentius ’ (5 th century) Psychomania . “ Ælfric 's Colloquy ” , a dialogue between a teacher and his pupils in both Latin and Old English. “ Narratio metrica” , a treatise in Latin by Anglo-Saxon author Wulfstan of Winchester.

7. ithout a doubt, the most overt bearing Latin had on Old English concerns the adoption of the Latin alphabet . Up until the Anglo-Saxons’ christianization (6 th century), literary componiments were written in runic letters   ( futhorc alphabet ). Via the final wave of L. influence, the L. alphabet was assimilated and certain runes underwent changes in accordance with the new writing standards. ð d þ Latin Thorn Old English “th” as in think “th” as in there Modern English //th// as in thing //th// as in father Example. Etymology of the “ þ” rune. Due to the paucity of surving Old English texts, it is still unclear whether the two languages had the same syntax. It has nevertheless been ascertained that the OE "dative absolute“ was modeled upon the L. “ablative absolute” construct. Moreover, as in Latin, “Old English had three genders  (masculine, feminine, neuter) in the noun and adjective, and nouns, pronouns, and adjectives were inflected for case. Nouns and adjectives contained four cases—nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative”.

8. The usage of Latin would only decline through the Norman settlement of Britain (1066), during which the royal court spoke a Norman language influenced by French . William the Conqueror Norman conquest of Britain (1066)