Think, Thank, Thunk: Origins of the English Language
by
Terry Knudsen, Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute
Tri-TESOL
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015 1:30 pm Room 14-106
________________0_______________
B.C. A.D.
Before Christ Anno Domini
(Year of the Lord)
(Year of the Lord)
The history
of Britain involves a series of invasions:
600 to 400
B.C.
Celts invaded Britain,
pushing previous dwellers west and north.
Celts invaded Britain,
pushing previous dwellers west and north.
55 B.C.
Julius Caesar invades Britain with Roman troops.
Julius Caesar invades Britain with Roman troops.
Latin becomes the official
language of Britain, used for law, courts, business, administration, and
government.
Latin is
based on Greek, an intricate system that takes time to learn and use. This
developed in a warm climate, with plenty of food and shelter, with slaves, and
time to play building blocks with words:
struct (to build)
struct (to build)
Prefixes Word
Roots Suffixes
instruct instruction,
instructive, instructing, instructed
destruct destruction,
destructive, destructing, destructed
construct construction, constructive, constructing,
constructed
deconstruct deconstruction, deconstructive,
deconstructing,-ed
Grammar Notes:
-ing was termed the present participle
-ed was termed
the past participle-ing was termed the present participle
These participles can be used as verbs, nouns, or adjectives:
The kids are talking.
(present participle as Main Verb
Talking is fun.
(present participle used as noun, aka gerund, used as Subject of the sentence.
The talking doll is cute.
(present participle used as an adjective to describe "doll."
(present participle used as noun, aka gerund, used as Subject of the sentence.
The talking doll is cute.
(present participle used as an adjective to describe "doll."
449 AD
Invasion of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes
The languages of these
northern tribes developed in harsh, cold lands, where survival depended on fast
responses.Invasion of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes
The
vocabulary existed in mostly one-syllable, short words:
farming life sailing fighting clothing
farming life sailing fighting clothing
cup, fork,
spoon rope knife shirt
cow boat cut skirt
The
following verbs were considered “regular” and also were called “strong verbs.”
Simple Form Simple Past Past
Participle
Angles gave
us the word “Anglish” now “English.”
Saxons probably contributed these conjugations:
think thought thought
think thought thought
bring brought brought
drink drank drunk
sink sank sunk
ring rang rung
sing sang sung
bring brang brang, brung
bringed branged brunged
Literature
Topics: Camelot in Southwest England
King Arthur,
Guenivere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table
This
includes the idea of courtly love, and equality.
Middle English:
Late 11th century to late 15th century.
1066 AD
The Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest
William the Conqueror and
the Battle of Hastings
French became the new
language of the British royal court.
1200s : Britain and half of France
King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Developed a system of law, and Courtly Love
King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Developed a system of law, and Courtly Love
King Richard the
Lionheart on the Crusades
King John, with the Legend of Robin Hood,
and the Magna Carta
1300s
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer wrote in the
King’s court. He had to decide whether to write in Latin, the scholar’s
language; in French, the language popular with the royals; or English, the
language of the common people, the serfs, and merchants. Chaucer decided to
write in English, and this began the formal acceptance of English for life and
literature.
1400s
The Printing Press in Europe
Johannes Gutenberg’s moveable type
printing press offered
a method for mass production of affordable books, and raised the literacy rate.
The Printing Press in Europe
Early Modern
English: Late 15th century to the late 17th century
Modern
English: Late 17th century to the present
1755
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language
A popular and imitated
book, Johnson’s dictionary contributed to standardized usage and the idea of
“correct” spelling.
References for Students and Teachers:
“History of
the English Language.” Wikipedia.
“Honey, I
sunk the boat.”
“John Doe.” Sleepy Hollow. Television Series. Season
One. 2013.
Tolkien.
J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit.
What say you? (missing the helping, or auxillary verb “do.”)
Shafer,
Robert. From Beowulf to Thomas Hardy.
New York: The Odyssey Press, 1939. Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1924,
1931.
“Anglo-Saxon
Words
After, be, bed, bid, board, body, borrow, box, break, bring,
broad, business, buy, cat, cheap, clean, climb, clinch, cloth, dear, do, dog,
draft, draw, earn, earth, father, fetch, fight, fireside, free, friend, full,
get, give, gold, good, great, have, high, hire, hold, home, house, husband,
idle, if, keep, knife, knit, lade, land, last, late, laugh, law, lay, lend,
load, loan, long, look, low, mad, make, man, match, mate, might, mother, new,
old, pride, put, read, rent, right, roof, sell, send, settle, sharp, shelter,
ship, shop, short, silver, take, trade, waist, walk, water, way, weight, wide,
wife, woman, word, work, write.
Why is it
Sink, Sank, Sunk, but not Think, Thank, Thunk?
"...Strong verbs
are actually some of the oldest words in any language, following ancient
grammatical rules that had the stem of the word (rather than just the ending)
change on the context.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921114550AAgaDCk
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921114550AAgaDCk
Sleepy
Hollow Season One “John Doe” contains a few segments with Ichabod Crane
speaking Middle English with ghosts from the vanished Roanoke Colony.
(Actually, they would have been speaking Early Modern English).
