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Latin Influences on Old English

by Albert C. Baugh & Thomas Cable
An excerpt from Foreign Influences on Old English,
a chapter from A History of the English Language, 3rd. ed. (1978)
(The fragment is reproduced on the Orbis Latinus with no commercial purpose)

56. Three Latin Influences on Old English. see Celts) to the Anglo-Saxon (see Anglo-Saxons) was that of a submerged race and, as suggested above, because the Celt was not in a position to make any notable contribution to Anglo-Saxon civilization. It was quite otherwise with the second great influence exerted upon English—that ofLatin—and the circumstances under which they met. Latin was not the language of a conquered people. It was the language of a higher civilization, a civilization from which the Anglo-Saxons had much to learn. Contact with that civilization, at first commercial and military, later religious and intellectual, extended over many centuries and was constantly renewed. It began long before the Anglo-Saxons came to England and continued throughout the Old English period. For several hundred years, while theGermanic tribes who later became the English were still occupying their continental homes, they had various relations with the Romans through which they acquired a considerable number of Latin words. Later when they came to England they saw the evidences of the long Roman rule in the island and learned from the Celts a few additional Latin words which had been acquired by them. And a century and a half later still, when Roman missionaries reintroducedChristianity into the island, this new cultural influence resulted in a really extensive adoption of Latin elements into the language. There were thus three distinct occasions on which borrowing from Latin occurred before the end of the Old English period, and it will be of interest to consider more in detail the character and extent of these borrowings.
57. Chronological Criteria. In order to form an accurate idea of the share which each of these three periods had in extending the resources of the English vocabulary it is first necessary to determine as closely as possible the date at which each of the borrowed words entered the language. This is naturally somewhat difficult to do, and in the case of some words impossible. But in a large number of cases it is possible to assign a word to a given period with a high degree of probability and often with certainty. It will be instructive to pause for a moment to inquire how this is done.

The evidence which can be employed is of various kinds and naturally of varying value. Most obvious is the appearance of the word in literature. If a given word occurs with fair frequency in texts such as Beowulf, or the poems of Cynewulf , such occurrence indicates that the word has had time to pass into current use and that it came into English not later than the early part of the period of Christian influence. But it does not tell us how much earlier it was known in the language, since the earliest written records in English do not go back beyond the year 700. Moreover the late appearance of a word in literature is no proof of late adoption. The word may not be the kind of word that would naturally occur very often in literary texts, and so much of Old English literature has been lost that it would be very unsafe to argue about the existence of a word on the basis of existing remains. Some words which are not found recorded before the tenth century (e.g., pîpe 'pipe', cîese 'cheese') can be assigned confidently on other grounds to the period of continental borrowing.

The character of the word sometimes gives some clue to its date. Some words are obviously learned and point to a time when the church had become well established in the island. On the other hand, the early occurrence of a word in several of the Germanic dialects points to the general circulation of the word in the Germanic territory and its probable adoption by the ancestors of the English on the continent. Testimony of this kind must of course be used with discrimination. A number of words found in Old English and in Old High German, for example, can hardly have been borrowed by either language before the Anglo-Saxons migrated to England, but are due to later independent adoption under conditions more or less parallel, brought about by the introduction of Christianity into the two areas. But it can hardly be doubted that a word like copper, which is rare in Old English, was nevertheless borrowed on the continent when we find it in no less than six Germanic languages.

Much the most conclusive evidence of the date at which a word was borrowed, however, is to be found in the phonetic form of the word. The changes which take place in the sounds of a language can often be dated with some definiteness, and the presence or absence of these changes in a borrowed word constitutes an important test of age. A full account of these changes would carry us far beyond the scope of this book, but one or two examples may serve to illustrate the principle. Thus there occurred in Old English, as in most of the Germanic languages, a change known as me (bench), and is an early borrowing. Another change (even earlier) that helps us to date a borrowed word is that known as and O.E. i-umlaut. This change affected certain accented vowels and diphthongs(ae, â,ô,û,êa,êo, andîo) when they were followed in the next syllable by anî or j. Under such circumstances ae and a becamee, andô becaê, â became ae, andû became ý. The diphthongsêa,êo,îobecame îe, laterî ,*mûsiz > monêta (which became*munit in Prim. O.E.) > palatal diphthongization. By this sound-change an ae or îe respectively) when preceded by certain palatal consonantsê in early Old English was changed to a diphthong cîese (L. p (and p in the combination pr) in the late Latin of northern Gaul (seventh century) was modified to a sound approximating a v, and the fact that L. cuprum, coprum (copper) appears in O.E. as copor with the p unchanged indicates a period of borrowing prior to this change (cf. F. cuivre). Again Latin short i changed to e before A.D. 400 so that words like O.E. biscop (L. episcopus), disc (L. discus), sigel, 'brooch' (L. sigillum), etc., which do not show this change, were borrowed by the English on the continent. But enough has been said to indicate the method and to show that the distribution of the Latin words in Old English among the various periods at which borrowing took place rests not upon guesses, however shrewd, but upon definite facts and upon fairly reliable phonetic inferences. câseus, cheese), mentioned above, shows both i-umlaut and palatal diphthongization(câseus > *caesi > *cêasi > cîese). In many words evidence for date is furnished by the sound-changes of Vulgar Latin. Thus, for example, an intervocalic mynet (a coin. Mod. E. mýs, plural of mûs (mouse), etc. The change occurred in English in the course of the seventh century, and when we find it taking place in a word borrowed from Latin it indicates that the Latin word had been taken into English by that time. Thus Latiný .Thus*bankiz > benc mint)(êa (c, g [= or initialj], sc).

58. Continental Borrowing (Latin Influence of the Zero Period). The first Latin words to find their way into the English language owe their adoption to the early contact between the Romans and the Germanic tribes on the continent. Several hundred Latin words found in the various Germanic dialects at an early date—some in one dialect only, others in several—testify to the extensive intercourse between the two peoples. The number of Germans living within the empire by the fourth century is estimated at several million. They are found in all ranks and classes of society, from slaves in the fields to commanders of important divisions of the Roman army. While they were scattered all over the empire, they were naturally most numerous along the northern frontier. This stretched along the Rhine and the Danube and bordered on German territory. Close to the border was Treves, in the third and fourth centuries the most flourishing city in Gaul, already boasting Christian churches, a focus of eight military roads, where all the luxury and splendor of Roman civilization were united almost under the gaze of the Teutons on the Moselle and the Rhine. Traders, German as well as Roman, came and went, while German youth returning from within the empire must have carried back glowing accounts of Roman cities and Roman life. Such intercourse between the two peoples was certain to carry words from one language to the other.

The frequency of the intercourse may naturally be expected to diminish somewhat as one recedes from the borders of the empire. Roman military operations, for example, seldom extended as far as the district occupied by the Angles or the Jutes. But after the conquest of Gaul by Caesar, Roman merchants quickly found their way into all parts of the Germanic territory, even into Scandinavia, so that the Teutons living in these remoter sections were by no means cut off from Roman influence. Moreover, intercommunication between the different Germanic tribes was frequent and made possible the transference of Latin words from one tribe to another. In any case some fifty words from the Latin can be credited with a considerable degree of probability to the ancestors of the English in their continental homes.

The adopted words naturally indicate the new conceptions which the Teutons acquired from this contact with a higher civilization. Next to agriculture the chief occupation of the Germans in the empire was war, and this experience is reflected in words like here although the evidence for their adoption thus early is not in every case conclusive: camp (battle), segn (banner), cycene (kitchen; L. coquîna), cuppe (L. lînum, flax), cîese (L. câseus, cheese), spelt (wheat), pipor (pepper), senep (mustard; L. sinâpi), popig (poppy), cisten (chestnut-tree; L. castanea), cires(bêam) (cherry-tree; L. cerasus), while to this period are probably to be assigned butere (butter; L.bûtýrum), lîne (rope, line; L. lînea), and gimm (L. gemma, gem). The Teutons adopted Roman words for certain foods, such as cuppa, cup), disc (dish; L. discus), cucler (spoon; L. cocleârium), mortere (L. mortârium, a mortar, a vessel of hard material), pîl (pointed stick, javelin), weall (wall), pytt (pit), straet (road, street), mîl (mile), and miltestre (courtesan). More numerous are the words connected with trade. The Teutons traded amber, furs, slaves, and probably certain raw materials for the products of Roman handicrafts, articles of utility, luxury, and adornment. . To this period are probably to be attributed the wordsCertain other words of a similar kind probably belong lînen (cognate with or from L. ynne(lêac) (L. ûnio,

In general, if we are surprised at the number of words acquired from the Romans at so early a date by the Germanic tribes that came to England, we can see nevertheless that the words were such as they would be likely to borrow and such as reflect in a very reasonable way the relations that existed between the two peoples.

L. 59. Latin through Celtic Transmission (Latin Influence of the First Period). The circumstances responsible for the slight influence which Celtic exerted on Old English limited in like manner the Latin influence that sprang from the period of Roman occupation. From the extent to which Britain was Romanized, and the employment of Latin by certain elements in the population, one would expect a considerable number of Latin words from this period to have remained in use and to appear in the English language today. But this is not the case. It would be hardly too much to say that not five words outside of a few elements found in place-names can be really proved to owe their presence in English to the Roman occupation of Britain (see a note). It is probable that the use of Latin as a spoken language did not long survive the end of Roman rule in the island and that such vestiges as remained for a time were lost in the disorders that accompanied the Germanic invasions. There was thus no opportunity for direct contact between Latin and Old English in England, and such Latin words as could have found their way into English would have had to come in through Celtic transmission. The Celts, indeed, had adopted a considerable number of Latin words—over six hundred have been identified—but the relations between the Celts and the English were such, as we have already seen, that these words were not passed on. Among the few Latin words that the Anglo-Saxons seem likely to have acquired upon settling in England, one of the most likely, in spite of its absence from the Celtic languages, is ceaster. This word, which represents the Latin castra (camp), is a common designation in Old English for a town or enclosed community. It forms a familiar element in English place-names such as Chester, Colchester, Dorchester, Manchester, Winchester, Lancaster, Doncaster, Gloucester, Worcester, and many others. Some of these refer to sites of Roman camps, but it must not be thought that a Roman settlement underlies all the towns whose names contain this common element. The English attached it freely to the designation of any enclosed place intended for habitation, and many of the places so designated were known by quite different names in Roman times. A few other words are thought for one reason or another to belong to this period: port (harbor, gate, town) from portus and porta; mûnt (mountain) from L. mons, montem; torr (tower, rock) possibly from L. turns, possibly from Celtic; wîc (village) from L. vîcus. All of these words are found also as elements in place-names. It is possible that some of the Latin words which the Teutons had acquired on the continent, such as street (L. strata via), wall, wine, etc., were reinforced by the presence of the same words in Celtic. At best, however, the Latin influence of the First Period remains much the slightest of all the influences which Old English owed to contact with Roman civilization.

was far from new in the island, but this date marks the beginning of a systematic attempt on the part of Rome to convert the inhabitants and make England a Christian country. According to the well-known story reported by 60. Latin Influence of the Second Period: The Christianizing of Britain. The greatest influence of Latin upon Old English was occasioned by the introduction of Christianity into Britain in 597. The new faith Bede as a tradition current in his day, the mission of St. Augustine was inspired by an experience of a man who later became Pope Gregory the Great. Walking one morning in the marketplace at Rome, he came upon some fair-haired boys about to be sold as slaves and was told that they were from the island of Britain and were pagans. "'Alas! what pity,' said he, 'that the author of darkness is possessed of men of such fair countenances, and that being remarkable for such a graceful exterior, their minds should be void of inward grace?' He therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation and was answered, that they were called Angles. ' Right,' said he, 'for they have an angelic face, and it is fitting that such should be co-heirs with the angels in heaven. What is the name,' proceeded he, 'of the province from which they are brought?' It was replied that the natives of that province were called Deiri. 'Truly are they de ira,' said he, 'plucked from wrath, and called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that province called?' They told him his name was Ælla; and he, alluding to the name, said 'Alleluia, the praise of God the Creator, must be sung in those parts.'" The same tradition records that Gregory wished himself to undertake the mission to Britain, but could not be spared. Some years later, however, when he had become pope, he had not forgotten his former intention, and looked about for someone whom he could send at the head of a missionary band. Augustine, the person of his choice, was a man well known to him. The two had lived together in the same monastery, and Gregory knew him to be modest and devout and thought him well suited to the task assigned him. With a little company of about forty monks Augustine set out for what seemed then like the end of the earth.

It is not easy to appreciate the difficulty of the task which lay before this small band. Their problem was not so much to substitute one ritual for another as to change the philosophy of a nation. The religion which the Anglo-Saxons shared with the other Germanic tribes seems to have had but a slight hold on the people at the close of the sixth century; but their habits of mind, their ideals, and the action to which these gave rise were often in sharp contrast to the teachings of the New Testament. Germanic philosophy exalted physical courage, independence even to haughtiness, loyalty to one's family or leader that left no wrong unavenged. Christianity preached meekness and humility, patience under suffering, and said that if a man struck you on one cheek you should turn the other. Clearly it was no small task which Augustine and his forty monks faced in trying to alter the age-old mental habits of such a people. They might even have expected difficulty in obtaining a respectful hearing. But they seem to have been men of exemplary lives, appealing personality, and devotion to purpose, and owed their ultimate success as much to what they were as to what they said. Fortunately, upon their arrival in England one circumstance was in their favor. There was in the kingdom of Kent, in which they landed, a small number of Christians. But the number, though small, included no less a person than the queen. Æthelberht, the king, had sought his wife among the powerful nation of the Franks, and the princess Bertha had been given to him only on condition that she be allowed to continue undisturbed in her Christian faith. Æthelberht set up a small chapel near his palace in Kent-wara-byrig ( Canterbury), and there the priest who accompanied Bertha to England conducted regular services for her and the numerous dependents whom she brought with her... Æthelberht was himself baptized within three months, and his example was followed by numbers of his subjects. By the time Augustine died seven years later, the kingdom of Kent had become wholly Christian.

The conversion of the rest of England was a gradual process. In 635 Aidan, a monk from the Scottish monastery of lona, undertook independently the conversion of Northumbria. He was a man of great sympathy and tact. With a small band of followers he journeyed from town to town, and wherever he preached he drew crowds to hear him. Within twenty years he had made all Northumbria Christian. There were periods of reversion to paganism, and some clashes between the Celtic and the Roman leaders over doctrine and authority, but England was slowly won over to the faith. It is significant that the Christian missionaries were allowed considerable freedom in their labors. There is not a single instance recorded in which any of them suffered martyrdom in the cause which they espoused. Possibly the fact that the important nation of the Franks was known to have accepted the new religion was a significant factor in rendering the English more receptive. At all events, within a hundred years of the landing of Augustine in Kent all England was permanently Christian.

skill in both the Greek and Latin tongues." They devoted considerable time and energy to teaching. "And because," says Bede, "they were abundantly learned in sacred and profane literature, they gathered a crowd of disciples ... and together with the books of Holy Writ, they also taught the arts of poetry, astronomy, and ecclesiastical arithmetic; a testimony of which is that there are still living at this day some of their scholars, who are as well versed in the Greek and Latin tongues as in their own, in which they were born." A decade or two later Aldhelm carried on a similar work at Malmesbury. He was a remarkable classical scholar. He had an exceptional knowledge of Latin literature, and he wrote Latin verse with ease. In the north the school at York became in time almost as famous as that of Canterbury. The two monasteries of Wearmouth and 61. Effects of Christianity on English Civilization.The introduction of Christianity meant the building of churches and the establishment of monasteries. Latin, the language of the services and of ecclesiastical learning, was once more heard in England. Schools were established in most of the monasteries and larger churches. Some of these became famous through their great teachers and from them trained men went out to set up other schools at other centers. The beginning of this movement was in 669, when a Greek bishop, Theodore of Tarsus, was made archbishop of Canterbury. He was accompanied by Hadrian, an African by birth, a man described by Bede as "of the greatest Charlemagne called him to be the head of his Palace School. In the eighth century England held the intellectual leadership of Europe, and it owed this leadership to the church. In like manner vernacular literature and the arts received a new impetus. Workers in stone and glass were brought from the continent for the improvement of church building. Rich embroidery, the Jarrow were founded by Benedict Biscop, who had been with Theodore and Hadrian at Canterbury, and who on five trips to Rome brought back a rich and valuable collection of books. His most famous pupil was the Venerable Bede, a monk at Jarrow. Bede assimilated all the learning of his time. He wrote on grammar and prosody, science and chronology, and composed numerous commentaries on the books of the Old and New Testament. His most famous work is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731), from which we have already had occasion to quote more than once and from which we derive a large part of our knowledge of the early history of England. Bede's spiritual grandchild was Alcuin, of York, whose fame as a scholar was so great that in 782 illumination of manuscripts, and church music occupied others. Moreover the monasteries cultivated their land by improved methods of agriculture and made numerous contributions to domestic economy. In short, the church as the carrier of Roman civilization influenced the course of English life in many directions, and, as is to be expected, numerous traces of this influence are to be seen in the vocabulary of Old English.

62. The Earlier Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary. From the introduction of Christianity in 597 to the close of the Old English period is a stretch of over five hundred years. During all this time Latin words must have been making their way gradually into the English language. It is likely that the first wave of religious feeling which resulted from the missionary zeal of the seventh century, and which is reflected in intense activity in church building and the establishing of monasteries during this century, was responsible also for the rapid importation of Latin words into the vocabulary. The many new conceptions which followed in the train of the .new religion would naturally demand expression and would at times find the resources of the language inadequate. But it would be a mistake to think that the enrichment of the vocabulary which now took place occurred overnight. Some words came in almost immediately, others only at the end of this period. In fact it is fairly easy to divide the Latin borrowings of the Second Period into two groups, more or less equal in size but quite different in character. The one group represents words whose phonetic form shows that they were borrowed early and whose early adoption is attested also by the fact that they had found their way into literature by the time of Alfred. The other contains words of a more learned character first recorded in the tenth and eleventh centuries and owing their introduction clearly to the religious revival that accompanied the Benedictine Reform. It will be well to consider them separately.

It is obvious that the most typical as well as the most numerous class of words introduced by the new religion would have to do with that religion and the details of its external organization. Words are generally taken over by one language from another in answer to a definite need. They are adopted because they express ideas that are new or because they are so intimately associated with an object or a concept that acceptance of the thing involves acceptance also of the word. A few words relating to Christianity such as , and church and bishop were, as we have seen, borrowed earlier. The Anglo-Saxons had doubtless plundered churches and come in contact with bishops before they came to England. But the great majority of words in Old English having to do with the church and its services, its physical fabric and its ministers, when not of native origin were borrowed at this time. Since most of these words have survived in only slightly altered form in Modern English, the examples may be given in their modern form. The list includes abbot, alms, altar, angel, anthem, Arian, ark, candle, canon, chalice, cleric, cowl, deacon, disciple, epistle, hymn, litany, manna, martyr, mass, minster, noon, nun, offer, organ, pall, palm, pope, priest, provost, psalm, psalter, relic, rule, shrift, shrine, shrive, stole, subdeacon, synod, temple tunic. Some of these were reintroduced later. But the church also exercised a profound influence on the domestic life of the people. This is seen in the adoption of many words, such as the names of articles of clothing and household use— cap, sock, silk, purple, chest, mat, sack (see more examples); words denoting foods, such as beet, caul (cabbage), lentil (O.E. lent), millet (O.E. mil), pear, radish, doe, oyster (O.E. ostre), lobster, mussel, to which we may add the noun cook (see more examples); names of trees, plants, and herbs (often cultivated for their medicinal properties), such as box, pine (see more examples), aloes, balsam, fennel, hyssop, lily, mallow, marshmallow, myrrh, rue, savory (O.E. sæþerige), and the general word plant. A certain number of words having to do with education and learning reflect another aspect of the church's influence. Such are school, master, Latin (possibly an earlier borrowing), grammatical), verse, meter, gloss, notary (a scribe). Finally we may mention a number of words too miscellaneous to admit of profitable classification, like anchor, coulter, fan (for winnowing), fever, place (cf. marketplace), spelter (asphalt), sponge, elephant, phoenix, mancus (a coin), and some more or less learned or literary words, such as calend, circle, legion, giant, consul, and talent. The words cited in these examples are mostly nouns, but Old English borrowed also a number of verbs and adjectives such as âspendan (to spend; L. expendere), bemûtian (to exchange; L. mûtâre), dihtan (to compose; L. dictâre), pinian (to torture; L. poena), pinsian (to weigh; L. pensâre), pyngan (to prick; L. pungere), sealtian (to dance; L. saltâre), temprian (to temper; L. temperâre), trifolian (to grind; L. trîtbulâre), tyrnan (to turn; L. tornâre), and crisp (L. crispus, 'curly'). But enough has been said to indicate the extent and variety of the borrowings from Latin in the early days of Christianity in England and to show how quickly the language reflected the broadened horizon which the English people owed to the church.

ious orders were earnest about doctrine, and learning, and all the services they owed to God"; and he lamented that the decay of learning was so great at the beginning of his reign " that there were very few on this side of the Humber who could understand their rituals in English, or translate a letter from Latin into English, and I believe not many beyond the Humber. So few were there that I cannot remember a single one south of the Thames when I came to the kingship." Two generations later Ælfric, abbot of Eynsham, echoed the same sentiment when he said, "Until 63. The Benedictine Reform. The flourishing state of the church which resulted in these significant additions to the English language unfortunately did not continue uninterrupted. One cause of the decline is to be attributed to the Danes, who at the end of the eighth century began their ravages upon the country. Lindisfarne was burnt in 793 and Jarrow, Bede's monastery, was plundered the following year. In the ninth century throughout Northumbria and Mercia churches and monasteries lay everywhere in ruins. By the tenth century the decline had affected the moral fiber of the church. It would seem as though once success had been attained and a reasonable degree of security, the clergy relaxed their efforts. Wealthy men had given land freely to religious foundations in the hope of laying up spiritual reserves for themselves against the life in the next world. Among the clergy poverty gave way to ease, and ease by a natural transition passed into luxury. Probably a less worthy type was drawn by these new conditions into the religious profession. We hear much complaint about immoderate feasting and drinking and vanity in dress. In the religious houses discipline became lax, services were neglected, monasteries were occupied by groups of secular priests, many of them married, immorality was flagrant. The work of education was neglected and learning decayed. By the time of Alfred things had reached such a pass that he looked upon the past as a golden age which had gone, "when the Kings who ruled obeyed God and His evangelists," and when "the relig Dunstan and Athelwold revived learning in the monastic life no English priest could either write a letter in Latin, or understand one." It is hardly likely, therefore, that many Latin words were added to the English language during these years when religion and learning were both at such a low ebb.

But abuses when bad enough have a way of bringing about their own reformation. What is needed generally is an individual with the zeal to lead the way and the ability to set an example that inspires imitation. King Alfred had made a start. Besides restoring churches and founding monasteries, he strove for twenty years to spread education in his kingdom and foster learning. His efforts bore little fruit. But in the latter half of the tenth century three great religious leaders, imbued with the spirit of reform, arose in the church: Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury (d. 988), Athelwold, bishop of Winchester (d. 984), and Oswald, bishop of Worcester and archbishop of York (d. 992). With the sympathetic support of King Edgar these men effected a genuine revival of monasticism in England. The true conception of the monastic life was inseparable from the observance of the Benedictine Rule. Almost everywhere in England this had ceased to be adhered to. As the first step in the reform the secular clergy were turned out of the monasteries and their places filled by monks pledged to the threefold vow of chastity, obedience, and poverty. In their work of restoration the reformers received powerful support from the example of continental monasteries, notably those at Fleury and Ghent. These had recently undergone a similar reformation under the inspiring leadership of Cluny, where in 910 a community had been established on even stricter lines than those originally laid down by St. Benedict. Dunstan had spent some time at the Abbey of Blandinium at Ghent; Oswald had studied the system at Fleury; and Athelwold, although wanting to go himself, had sent a representative to Fleury for the same purpose. On the pattern of these continental houses a number of important monasteries were recreated in England, and Athelwold prepared a version of the Benedictine Rule, known as the Concordia Regularis, to bring about a general uniformity in their organization and observances. The effort toward reform extended to other divisions of the church, indeed to a general reformation of morals, and brought about something like a religious revival in the island. One of the objects of special concern in this work of rehabilitation was the improvement of education—the establishment of schools and the encouragement of learning among the monks and the clergy. The results were distinctly gratifying. By the close of the century the monasteries were once more centers of literary activity. Works in English for the popularizing of knowledge were prepared by men who thus continued the example of King Alfred, and manuscripts both in Latin and the vernacular were copied and preserved. It is significant that the four great codices in which the bulk of Old English poetry is preserved date from this period. We doubtless owe their existence to the reform movement.

(shingles), 64. Benedictine Reform's Influence on English. The influence of Latin upon the English language rose and fell with the fortunes of the church and the state of learning so intimately connected with it. As a result of the renewed literary activity just described, a new series of Latin importations took place. These differed somewhat from the earlier Christian borrowings in being words of a less popular kind and expressing more often ideas of a scientific and learned character. They are especially frequent in the works of Ælfric and reflect not only the theological and pedagogical nature of his writings but also his classical tastes and attainments. His literary activity and his vocabulary are equally representative of the movement. As in the earlier Christian borrowings a considerable number of words have to do with religious matters: alb, Antichrist, antiphoner, apostle, canticle, cantor, cell, chrism, cloister, collect, creed, dalmatic, demon, dirge, font, idol, nocturn, prime, prophet, sabbath, synagogue, troper . But we miss the group of words relating to everyday life characteristic of the earlier period. Literary and learned words predominate. Of the former kind are accent, brief (the verb), decline (as a term of grammar), history, paper, pumice, quatern (a quire or gathering of leaves in a book), term(inus), title. A great number of plant names are recorded in this period. Many of them are familiar only to readers of old herbals. Some of the better known include celandine, centaury, coriander, cucumber, ginger, hellebore, lovage, periwinkle, petersili (parsley), verbena (see more examples). A few names of trees might be added, such as cedar, cypress, fig, laurel, and cancer, circulâdl magdala (almond). (Most of these words were apparently bookish at this time and had to be reintroduced later from French.) Medical terms, like paralysis, scrofula, plaster, and words relating to the animal kingdom, like aspide (viper), camel, lamprey, scorpion, tiger, belong apparently to the same category of learned and literary borrowings. It would be possible to extend these lists considerably by including words which were taken over in their foreign form and not assimilated. Such words as epactas, corporate, confessores, columba (dove), columne, cathedra, catacumbas, apostata, apocalipsin, acolitus, absolutionem, invitatorium, unguentum, cristalla, cometa, bissexte, bibliothece, basilica, adamans, and prologus show at once by their form their foreign character. Although many of them were later reintroduced into the language, they do not constitute an integral part of the vocabulary at this time. In general the later borrowings of the Christian period come through books. An occasional word assigned to this later period may have been in use earlier, but there is nothing in the form to indicate it, and in the absence of any instance of its use in the literature before Alfred it is safer to put such borrowings in the latter part of the Old English period.

of Eostre, the goddess of dawn. Instead of borrowing the Latin word 65. The Application of Native Words to New Concepts. The words which Old English borrowed in this period are only a partial indication of the extent to which the introduction of Christianity affected the lives and thoughts of the English people. The English did not always adopt a foreign word to express a new concept. Often an old word was applied to a new thing and by a slight adaptation made to express a new meaning. The Anglo-Saxons, for example, did not borrow the Latin word The word Easter is a Germanic word taken over from a pagan festival, likewise in the spring, in honor praedicâre (to preach) the English expressed the idea with words of their own, such as læran (to teach) or bodian (to bring a message); to pray (L. precâre) was rendered by biddan (to ask) and other words of similar meaning, prayer by a word from the same root, gebed. For baptize (L. baptizâre) the English adapted a native word fullian (to consecrate) while its derivative fulluht renders the noun baptism. The latter word enters into numerous compounds, such as fulluhtbæþ (font), fulwere (baptist), fulluht-fæder (baptizer),fulluht-hâd (baptismal vow), fulluht-nama (Christian name), fulluht-stôw (baptistry), fulluht-tîd (baptism time), and others. Even so individual a feature of the Christian faith as the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was expressed by the Germanic word hûsl (modern housel), while lac, the general word for sacrifice to the gods, was also sometimes applied to the Sacrifice of the Mass. The term Scriptures found its exact equivalent in the English word gewritu, and evangelium was rendered by godspell, originally meaning good tidings. Trinity (L. trinitas) was translated þrines (three-ness), the idea of God the Creator was expressed by scieppend (one who shapes or forms), fruma (creator, founder), or metod (measurer). Native words like fæder (father), dryhten (prince), wealdend (ruler), þêoden (prince), weard (waðd, protector), hlâford (lord) are frequent synonyms. Most of them are also applied to Christ, originally a Greek word and the most usual name for the Second Person of the Trinity, but Hælend (Savior) is also commonly employed. The Third Person (Spiritus Sanctus) was translated Hâlig Gâst (Holy Ghost). Latin diabolus was borrowed as dêofol (devil) but we find fêond (fiend) as a common synonym. Examples might be multiplied. Cross is rôd (rood), trêow (tree), gealga (gallows), etc.; resurrection isærist, from ârîsan (to arise); peccatum is synn (sin), while other words like mân, firen, leahtor, wôh, and scyld, meaning 'vice', 'crime', 'fault', and the like, are commonly substituted. The Judgment Day is Doomsday. Many of these words are translations of their Latin equivalents and their vitality is attested by the fact that in a great many cases they have continued in use down to the present day. It is important to recognize that the significance of a foreign influence is not to be measured simply by the foreign words introduced but is revealed also by the extent to which it stimulates the language to independent creative effort and causes it to make full use of its native resources.

66. The Extent of the Influence.To be sure, the extent of a foreign influence is most readily seen in the number of words borrowed. As a result of the Christianizing of Britain some 450 Latin words appear in English writings before the close of the Old English period. This number does not include derivatives or proper names, which in the case of biblical names are very numerous. But about one hundred of these were purely learned or retained so much of their foreign character as hardly to be considered part of the English vocabulary. Of the 350 words that have a right to be so considered some did not make their way into general use until later—were, in fact, reintroduced later. On the other hand, a large number of them were fully accepted and thoroughly incorporated into the language. The real test of a foreign influence is the degree to which the words that it brought in

Notes:

O.E. § Theflasce should have become flash in Modem English, so that the word was probably reintroduced later and may have been influenced (as theOED suggests) by the Italian fiasco . =>

§ Butter is a difficult word to explain. The unweakenedt suggests early borrowing. Butter was practically unknown to the Romans; Pliny has to explain its meaning and use. But a well-known allusion in Sidonius Apollinaris testifies to its use among the Burgundians on their hair. The good bishop complains of the rancid odor of Burgundian chiefs with buttered hair.=>

Other words which probably belong to the period of continental borrowing are § ynce (ounce, inch),palentse (palace),solor (upper room), taefel (chessboard),miscian (to mix), and olfend (camel), but there is some uncertainty about their origin or history.=>

J. Loth in § Les Mots Latins dans les langues brittoniques (Paris, 1892, p. 29) assigns fifteen words to this period. Some of these, however, are more probably to be considered continental borrowings.=>

Other words of this sort, which have not survived in Modem English, are § cemes (shirt),swiftlere (slipper),sûtere (shoemaker), byden (tub, bushel),bytt (leather bottle),cêac (jug), læfel (cup), ore (pitcher), andstræl (blanket, rug). =>

also O.E. § Cf.cîepe (onion, L. cepo), næp (turnip, L.nâpus), sigle (rye, V.L.sigale). =>

Also § sæppe (spruce-fir),môrbêam (mulberry tree). =>

of this class have not survived in modern usage, such as § A number of interesting wordsaprotane (wormwood), armelu (wild rue),caric (dry fig), elehtre (lupin), marufie (horehound),nepte (catnip),pollegie (pennyroyal), hymele (hop-plant). =>

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Latin Influences on Old English by Albert C. Baugh & Thomas Cable An excerpt from Foreign Influences on Old English, a chapter from A History of the English Language, 3rd. ed. (1978) (The fragment is reproduced on the Orbis Latinus with no commercial purpose) 56. Three Latin Influences on Old English.

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English Lesson - 8 Latin words or expressions used every day in English you need to know !

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(I have uploaded my own transcript for this video - it can be turned on/off in 'Captions') "per" - "via" - "etcetera" - "vice-versa" - "nota bene" - "exempli gratia" - "id est" - "post scriptum" What are these Latin terms and where do you frequently see them in English, and how are some of them abbreviated?

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Latin is one of the languages that has most influenced English since its birth as a language. In this essay we are going to approach the Latin influence in vocabulary along the periods of the English language to see if, without the Latin influence it would be as rich as it is now with it and if the language would be impoverished or not.

In its beginnings, Old English did not have the large number of words borrowed from Latin and French that now form part of English vocabulary. Old English was a very flexible language capable of using old words and giving them new uses.

Latin has been the second great influence on English. It was the language of an educated and sophisticated civilization from which the Saxon peoples wanted to learn. The contact between these people was at first commercial and military but then it also became religious and intellectual. Before going to England the Germans had already had contact with the Romans and of course, from this contact they acquired some Latin words. When Christian was introduced in England, the people living there adopted many Latin elements.

English borrowings from Latin came in three waves that extended the resourced of their vocabulary.

"A connection between Latin and English is indicated by such correspondences as pater with English father, or frāter with brother, although the difference in the initial consonants tends somewhat to obscure the relationship" (Baugh, Cable 1993:18)

Albert Baugh and Thomas Cable, in their book 'A history of the English language' divide the Latin influences in the vocabulary in three stages: The continental borrowing, the Latin through Celtic transmission and the Latin influence of the second period and the norman conquest.

We are going to see three occasions in which borrowings from Latin occurred ¿¿¿before the end of the old English period??:

During the continental borrowing, the words were introduced because of the contact the German tribes had had with the Romans on the continent. Some of the words introduced were already present in the early Germanic dialects because of the trading contact. The Germans coming back from the empire brought with them words apart from goods. The words they adopted indicated new conceptions related with things they did not know or for which they did not have terms. The germans in the empire dedicated themselves to agriculture and war, as some words like camp (battle), segn (banner), weall (wall), pytt(pit), strœt (road, street), mīl (mile) and miltestre (courtesan) show. Owing to the commercial relationship most words are related to trade. One of the things they traded was wine and we can observe words like wīn (wine), eced (vinegar). They also traded domestic and household articles plus clothing as in cytel (kettle L.Catillus). In the art of buildings and construction there were words like copor (copper), pic (pitch) or tigele (tile). The words the Germans borrowed reflected the kind of relationships they had.

In the Celtic transmission, which had a poor influence on old English made the Latin influence be limited too during the roman occupation. The extent to which the country had been Romanised and the use of latin by the population were not influential. Some terms could be found in placenames but a direct contact between latin and old English was not possible during this period because the Latin words came thought the transmission of the celts and their interaction with old English was weak. Words like ceaster ( L. castra. Camp) which today forms English place names as Manchester or Doncaster or words like port (harbour, gate, town) from Latin portus and porta; munt (mountain) from latin montem were introduced. The influence of the language in the first period was the slightest of all.

The Latin influence of the second period and the greatest of all was the Christianizing of Britain that started in 597. From this moment until the end of the old engliush period around 500 years later words made their way into English thanks in most cases to monasteries. It is needless to say that most of the terms introduced had to do with the new religion. Some words like church or bishop already belonged to the language because they had been introduced before but the vast majority of terms having to do with churches and their services were introduced in this period. Some examples are abbot, deacon, disciple, angel, althar, anthem, pal, pope, psalm. But the church did not only influence religiously speaking. Some terms related to the domestic life of people, clothes, food, trees, plants, education, miscellaneous things or literature were introduced. Words like cap or silk, lentil or caul (cabbage), pine or lily, the word plant itself, school, master, grammatic(al), meter, notary, anchor, sponge or elephant or calend or talent. There was a great influence in the early years of Christianity in England. As the Latin influence always came and went hand in hand with the church new words when with the Benedictine reform. The imports were different now and they expressed scientific and learned ideas. But some words were still related to religious matters antichrist, apostle or demon.

The words that predominated in this period were the literary and learned ones. Some examples are accent, history, paper, title. Plant names like coriander, cucumber, ginger. Trees like cypress or laurel, some terms related to medical matters like cancer, paralysis and some others related to animals like scorpion, tiger. Despite the introduction of all these words English did not always adopt them to express a new concept. An old word was generally applied to a new object or thing with a small adaptation in order to convey new meanings. The Anglo-Saxons, for example, did not borrow the words for which they already had a meaning.

According to Baugh, as a result of the Christianizing of Britain some 450 Latin words appear in English writings before the close of the English period (Baugh and 1993:86) In spite of this, some words did not make their way into general use until later, when they were reintroduced but others were fully accepted and incorporated into the language.

Before the Norman Conquest Latin was the language used by the church and the one of scholarship, international communication and administration but then, after the conquest, it was replaced by French.

A History of the English Language . Baugh, Albert C., and Thomas Cable. 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1993.

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Latin is one of the languages that has most influenced English since its birth as a language. In this essay we are going to approach the Latin influence in vocabulary along the periods of the English language to see if, without the Latin influence it would be as rich as it is now with it and if the language would be impoverished or not.

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Latin (L) influenced the development of Old English (OE) more than any other non-West Germanic language with which OE came into contact. Most scholars divide the influence of L chronologically into three time periods. The first time period concerns such influence as occurred on the continent prior to the arrival of Anglo-Saxons in England and which arose from contacts between West-Germanic speaking peoples and L speakers.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Anglo-Saxons received an enormous boost when Christianity brought its huge Latin vocabulary to England in AD 597. There was a collision of Old English and Latin.

They landed in Kent, which already had a small Christian community. The liberal-minded king arranged for Augustine to have a house in Canterbury, the capital of this tiny kingdom.

The conversion of England to Christianity was a gradual process, but a peaceful one.

Both sources (a & b) are reflected in the two Old English words for its central symbol: the cross.

With the establishment of Christianity came the building of churches and monasteries, providing education in a wide range of subjects. (Not only literature, but also taught poetry, astronomy and arithmetic).

The importance of this cultural revolution in the story of the English Language is not only that it strengthened and enriched Old English with new words, more than 400 of which survive to this day, but it also gave English new capacity to express abstract thoughts.
2. THE ROMAN CONQUEST
55 BCJulius Caesar invaded England with a bad result, due to some difficulties with the terrain and the natives didn?t collaborate.

54 BCJulius Caesar established himself in the Southeast of England. He exacted a tribute from the natives and this tribute was never paid.

In AD 43 Emperor Claudius undertook the conquest of the island with an army of 40,000 men, under the command of the senator AULUS PLAUTIUS.

Within three years, the Centre and the Southeast of England were under Roman rule.

The landing was first unopposed. But the Roman forces were eventually drawn up on the south bank of the Thames until the pre-arranged arrival of Claudius from Rome (the future emperor, Vespasian, played a notable part). The Thames was then crossed in three ways, by swimming, by a bridge and by a ford at Westminster.

The awaiting Britons were easily defeated by Claudius and peace negotiated. He returned to Rome and the rest of the campaign was left in the hands of Plautius, governor of the new province.

Britain adopted Roman ways of life. This is evident from:

This process was cut in the fifth century mainly due to new invasions from the North-Western part of the continent.

The conquest of the South and South-West of England was entrusted to VESPASIAN and the second legion.

He subdued the Isle of Wight and advanced westwards to the present Devonshire.

The Romans possessed the best farming land, including the corn-producing area of East-Anglia.

Gradually, the frontier was pushed forward (Gloucester, Wroxeter and York). The new military centres were intended as bases for the conquest of Wales (in the West) and Brigantia (in the North).

During 14 years 3 governors were responsible for carrying out the expansionist programme dictated from Rome. The object was to secure all the lowland areas, suitable for farming and food production, by occupying the adjacent uplands and subjecting them to control from fortified positions.

The BRIGANTES were in possession of practically all northern England.

- Not homogeneous people: Confederation of Celtic tribes.

- Warlike and numerous.

- Ruled by a dynastic chieftain.

They succeeded in their advance northwards.

He was a governor in the Gaulish province of Aquitania. It was left to him (AD 78) to overcome the ORDOVICES of North Wales.

In North Wales he controlled from the new military centre he created at Chester.

AD 79 - He moved his troops by sea along the west coast of England to South Scotland: Newstead on the river Tweed became one of the principal centres of Roman power in Scotland.

AD 83 & 84 - he met opposition from the Caledonians (Romans 20,000 vs. an army of 30,000). But Romans won and shortly after this victory, he was recalled to Rome, where he died in retirement ten years later.

The building of Hadrian?s Wall was in AD 122-123.

The Lowlands of Scotland continued occupied, but the rebellions North were so troublesome that 4 years before he became emperor, Hadrian built a wall: 76 miles long on the North side of it. It?s the most elaborate Roman frontier work anywhere in Europe: dozens of forts, mile ?castles, and turrets.

But wasn?t only defensive in a military sense; its object was to prevent cattle-rustling and petty raids, and at the same time to act as a customs barrier.

There are 3 reverses that punctuate the decline of Roman Power in Britain.

The capture of Hadrian?s Wall AD 196. It was during Claudius Albinus (governor of Britain). The Brigantes and the Maeatae overrun part of the Roman Province as far South as York.

The situation was restored with the arrival in Britain of the Emperor Severus in AD 208. He remained until his death in York in 211.

Though peace was restored in the northern province and Scotland, the East coast of Britain was very vulnerable to attack by armed ships.

On the second half of the third century, the Roman Empire was disintegrating. In AD 367 there was a co-ordinated assault upon Britain by Picts, Irish, Scots, Saxons and Franks.

Finally the Romans left the province, approximately in 410, when the last of the Roman troops were officially withdrawn from the island.
3. LATIN INFLUENCE ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
An evidence of the Romanization is the use of the Latin language. A lot of inscriptions have been found, all of them in Latin. These proceed from the military and official class. They don?t indicate a widespread use of Latin by the native population.

LATIN DID NOT REPLACE THE CELTIC LANGUAGE AS IT DID IN GAUL.

Its use by native Britons was probably confined to members of the upper classes and the inhabitants of the cities and towns. Its use was not sufficiently widespread to cause it to survive. Its use probably began to decline after 410.

Many Latin words were incorporated into the English Language. The influence of Latin on English has been analysed in three main periods.

The influence of Celtic upon Old English was slight because the Celt was not in a position to make any notable contribution to Anglo-Saxon civilization.

It was different with Latin, which was the language of a higher civilization.

Contact with that civilization:First - Commercial and military

It was extended over many centuries and was constantly renewed.

The Germanic tribes (who later became the English) were still occupying their continental homes. They had various relations with the Romans through which they acquired a considerable number of Latin words.

Later, when they came to England, they learnt from the Celts a few additional Latin words.

And later, when Roman missionaries introduced Christianity into the island, it became an extensive adoption of Latin elements into the language.

In the 4 th century, St Jerome?s Vulgate Bible became the model for Christian writing in Latin. His example was followed in England by other scholars as Bede (7 th-8 th century).

LATIN CONTINUED TO BE THE PRIMARY LANGUAGE OF SCHOLARSHIP UNTIL THE END OF THE 17 th CENTURY.

In the late 17 th century, Sir Isaac Newton chose Latin as the medium for the Principia, but later he wrote in English. His work was Opticks and it was written in 1704, marking the point at which significant scholarly work began to appear in English and without any translation into Latin.

A large part of the lexicon of Latin has entered English in two major waves:

RELIGIOUS VOCABULARYSCIENTIFIC, SCHOLARLY & LEGAL VOCABULARY

until the Reformation

In the 17 th century the makers of English dictionaries, converted Latin words into English. These words meant education and refinement.

i.e. ?Fraternity? and ?feline? were set lexically and stylistically above words like ?Brotherhood? or ?Cat?.

They also turned the endings of Latin words into Anglo-French endings:

i.e. ?puerilis? became ?puerile?

It?s easy to identify relationships between basic Latin forms and words derived from them in Spanish, French and English.

The majority of these forms are:

VERBAL: relating to the four Latin conjugations.

NOMINAL-ADJECTIVAL: relating mainly to three of the five Latin declensions.

Latin verbs are routinely listed with two canonical forms: the INFINITIVE and the NEUTER OF THE PAST PARTICIPLE. Amare / amatum (love: first conjugation).

Latin nouns and adjectives are often listed using two categories of case: NOMINATIVE for the subject of a sentence and GENITIVE for possession. Regina / reginae (1 st declension)

Etymologically and structurally they relate to these two broad types:

i.e. From the verb cantare / cantatum (sing) come such words as cant, canticle, cantor, accent.

i.e. From the verb currere / cursum (to run) come current, currency, cursor, excursion, occurrence?

i.e. From dominus / domini (master) and dominare / dominatum come dominate, domain.

Many Latin sentences and phrases are perpetuated as tags and mottoes:

i.e. Per ardua ad astra (Through difficulties to the stars) the motto of the Royal Air Force

Other phrases have been abbreviated and are part of the currency of everyday life:

AD (anno Domini: in the year of the Lord)

a.m. / p.m. (ante meridiem: before / after midday)

e.g. (exempli gratia: for the sake of example)
4. THE EVOLUTION OF LATIN AND ENGLISH
The citizens of the Roman Empire didn?t use the Latin used for literacy, legal and other such purposes. The populace used Vulgar Latin: This varied from region to region and coexisted with many vernacular tongues.

It was nor ordinary. It had no baby talk and colloquial usages. It served as an elevated second language everywhere. It was written for centuries in much the same way in every country.

The invention of printing in the 15 th century helped to establish a standard, followed in Europe.

English has its print standard, its national and regional varieties and subvarieties, and its pidgins and creoles.

Standard English : It?s a minority among the many forms of English. It has purposes of education and communication, both nationally and internationally.

: There are some varieties the status of which is discussed.

Scots: it?s for some a language, for others a dialect.

Tok Pisin and other creoles: which now are generally described as ?English-based? rather than as kinds of English.
5. BORROWINGS FROM LATIN
There are three different occasions on which borrowings from Latin occurred before the end of the Old English period: The demarcation line between these periods is not sharp, and it?s sometimes difficult to say.

From the days of Julius Caesar there have existed contacts between the Germanic and the Latin peoples.

First, the contacts were not peaceful. Later, peaceful co-existence and more and more members of Germanic tribes joined the Roman army.

The army was followed by the Roman merchant, who came into the pacified regions and sold his superior goods: dresses, ornaments, etc.

Gradually, also settlers stayed, introducing building terms.

It was heavier in the southern provinces, but the northern Germanic tribes that migrated to England were affected the same way.

It is estimated that 170 lexical items were borrowed during this continental period.

i.e. Porta > port (gate, door)

Planta > plante (plant)

Vinum > win (wine)

Caesus > ciese (cheese)

After the Roman troops left Britain, the use of Latin began to decline, although it had been used by Britons belonging to the upper classes and inhabitants of the cities and towns.

It was initiated by St Augustine at the head of a missionary band.

It was soon popular, as people felt that most of German pagan philosophy had to be changed.

The missionary movement began in Kent and moved northward.

- Christian churches and monasteries were built.

- Latin became the language of religious services and ecclesiastical learning.

- Schools were established in monasteries: Canterbury.

- Monasteries contributed to the diffusion of learning and to domestic economy; they also improved agriculture.

The 7th century is considered the beginning of a rapid importation of Latin words into the English vocabulary. New conceptions demanded new expressions.

Latin borrowings: candle, bishop, altar, church, canon, school, verse, grammatical?

There is a decline in the state of Church in England at the end of the 8th century. It is attributed to Danish invasions. Monasteries were destroyed, so learning decayed.

This situation began to change with King Alfred. He began a deep reformation of the Church. It was based on restoring churches, founding new monasteries, spreading education?

In the 10th century the reform was supported by 3 great religious leaders (in Canterbury, Winchester and York) and as a consequence, Benedictine rule applied to monastic life. Education improved (Cluny reform in continental monasteries).

Some pagan words changed their meaning: ? Easter? (a pagan festival held in spring), ? Heaven? and ? Hell?.

From this period is the WYCLIFFE?S BIBLE, where he had to use more than a thousand Latin words that are not previously found in English.

Apart from religious words, there can also be found words from the fields of Medicine, Law and Science.

i.e. homicide, lunatic, testimony, testify, summary?

Some typical endings: -able ( innumerable), -ible ( incredible), -ent ( prevent), -al ( temporal), -ous ( nervous), -ive ( lucrative)

During the RENAISSANCE, English was enriched with words from many languages, mainly from Latin and Greek.

The printing press became very important. Latin words came in through books.

During the 18th century, there was a need for standardisation of English, because it didn?t have a grammar. As a consequence, Latin was looked upon as a model and Latin grammar was applied to English.

?s SAMUEL JOHNSON Dictionary of the English Language has been fundamental in the creation of the English that is spoken today.

He was born on September 18 th, 1709, in a small bookshop in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Mostly self-educated, he entered Oxford University in 1728, but poverty forced him to leave after just one year.

He started a school with his wife?s money, but it quickly collapsed. Determined to be known as a scholar and writer, he set off for London in March 1737 to seek his fortune.

Johnson gradually gained a reputation through journalism, poetry and prose work. In 1746, he was commissioned to compile a dictionary of the English language. Over the next eight and a half years, Johnson wrote the definitions for 40,000 words. Six assistants helped him copy out the 114,000 quotations he used to explain the words? meanings. Johnson read hundreds of books, choosing quotes from classic works by writers such as Locke and Milton, Pope and Newton and, above all, William Shakespeare.

Published on April 15 th, 1755, the two-volume Dictionary of the English Language made Johnson famous. It made him little money, however.

With its concise prose style, incredible variety of linguistic illustrations, and descriptions of practical use as well as literal meanings, Johnson?s dictionary has helped define English for centuries.

He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The dictionary is also famous for its faithful reflection of its creator?s quirky (rara) personality. The definitions can be charming (simpàtiques), eccentric or simply abusive:

? Oats? (avena) are a grain ? which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people?.

Finally, most famously of all, comes:

? Lexicographer? > ? A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge (esclau inofensiu).

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THE ROMAN CONQUEST. LATIN INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE. BORROWINGS FROM LATIN.

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1. INTRODUCTION Anglo-Saxons received an enormous boost when Christianity brought its huge Latin vocabulary to England in AD 597. There was a collision of Old English and Latin. They landed in Kent, which already had a small Christian community. The liberal-minded king arranged for Augustine to have a house in Canterbury, the capital of this tiny kingdom.

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The World of English | Global Language and World Culture

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English belongs to the Anglo-Frisian group within the western branch of the Germanic languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European languages. It is related most closely to the Frisian language, to a lesser extent to Netherlandic (Dutch-Flemish) and the Low German (Plattdeutsch) dialects, and more distantly to Modern High German. Therefore English is a Germanic language, having a grammar and core vocabulary inherited from Proto-Germanic. However, a significant portion of the English word hoard comes from Romance and Latinate sources. Estimates of native words (derived from Old English) range from 20%-33%, with the rest made up of foreign borrowings. (These estimates, however, are based on the total raw counts of dictionary entries, where the frequency of use for most non-native words is low to nil.

The English vocabulary has increased greatly in more than 1500 years of development. The most nearly complete dictionary of the language, the Oxford English Dictionary (13 vol., 1933), a revised edition of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (10 vol., 1884-1933; supplements), contains 500,000 words. It has been estimated, however, that the present English vocabulary consists of more than 1 million words, including slang and dialect expressions and scientific and technical terms, many of which only came into use after the middle of the 20th century. The English vocabulary is more extensive than that of any other language in the world, although some other languages - Chinese, for example - have a word-building capacity equal to that of English.

Extensive, constant borrowing from every major language, especially from Latin, Greek, French, and the Scandinavian languages, and from numerous minor languages, accounts for the great number of words in the English vocabulary. In addition, certain processes have led to the creation of many new words as well as to the establishment of patterns for further expansion. The true percent of native words used in everyday spoken and written English actually ranges from 75%-90%.

A large number of these borrowings come directly from Latin, or through one of the Romance languages, particularly Anglo-Norman and French, but some also from Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish; or from other languages (such as Gothic, Frankish or Greek) into Latin and then into English. The influence of Latin in English, therefore, is primarily lexical in nature, being confined mainly to words derived from Latin roots.

The number of Latin words, many of them derived from the Greek, that were introduced during the Old English period has been estimated at 140. Typical of these words are altar, mass, priest, psalm, temple, kitchen, palm, and pear. A few were probably introduced through the Celtic; others were brought to Britain by the Germanic invaders, who previously had come into contact with Roman culture. By far the largest number of Latin words was introduced as a result of the spread of Christianity. Such words included not only ecclesiastical terms but many others of less specialized significance.

In the early part of the Modern English period the vocabulary was enlarged by the widespread use of one part of speech for another and by increased borrowings from other languages. The revival of interest in Latin and Greek during the Renaissance brought new words into English from those languages. Other words were introduced by English travelers and merchants after their return from journeys on the Continent. From Italian came cameo, stanza, and violin; from Spanish and Portuguese, alligator, peccadillo, and sombrero. During its development, Modern English borrowed words from more than 50 different languages.

For instance, the great poet John Milton, as a Renaissance man, was profoundly familiar with classical learning and his works abounds with classical references, which are often used to describe aspects of Christian belief. The wide use of classical and biblical sources is an important element of what is known as Milton's "Grand style". Other stylistic features contribute to the grandeur of Milton's epic poetry, epic simile for example is a technique he often employs following the Homeric and Virginian style. Another important element is the language he used. In keeping the high seriousness of his subject, he tended to use solemn and rather grandiose language, instead of plain simple English, so he often used words that derived from Latin or Italian, and also his syntax was heavily influenced by these two languages.

Word origins. A computerised survey of about 80,000 words in the old Shorter Oxford Dictionary (3rd ed.) was published in Ordered Profusion by Thomas Finkenstaedt and Dieter Wolff (1973) that estimated the origin of English words as follows:

Influences in English vocabulary Langue d'oïl, including French and Old Norman: 28.3% Germanic languages - inherited from Old English, from Proto-Germanic, or a more recent borrowing from a Germanic language such as Old Norse; does not include Germanic words borrowed from a Romance language, i.e., coming from the Germanic element in French, Latin or other Romance languages: 25%
Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24%

Greek: 5.32%
No etymology given: 4.03%
Derived from proper names: 3.28%
All other languages: less than 1%

A survey by Joseph M. Williams in Origins of the English Language of 10,000 words taken from several thousand business letters gave this set of statistics:

Based on the above, the percentage of Latin words used in formal business context (15%) is substantially lower than that of the dictionary survey (28.24%) due primarily to the effects of linguistic register, where the vast majority of Latin words in English tend to be of a scientific or technical nature, or consist of words which are rarely to never used (i.e. are functionally obsolete).

Loanwords from Latin

The English language has borrowed extensively from the Latin language beginning during the Germanic period before English was English through the Old English period and up to the early Modern English period. The earliest Latin loanwords date from the period before the Germanic tribes invaded England under invite from the Britons. Latin borrowings continued throughout the Old English period. English again borrowed heavily from Latin during the Early Modern period during which many scholars imported many Latin loanwords. Although English is a Germanic language, many common and everyday words are of Latin origin.

List of Latin Loanwords

With all the loanwords borrowed from Latin into English, an exhaustive list would be too lengthy to be possible. The following are some of the commonly used Latin loanwords in English:

Agile, abdomen, album, alien, anatomy, animate, animosity, anchor, annual, apostle, area, audio, bacteria, bonus, bovine, butter, Caesar, cancer, canine, capsule, cervix, chalk, cheese, circle, circus, city, civil, chest, church, comet, compensate, color, colossus, complex, consider, contemplate, data, decide, dexterity, deity, discus, disc, disciple, dish, disk, domestic, ego, emperor, equilibrium, erupt, et cetera, excavate, expensive, fauna, feline, feminine, fictitious, flora, floral, formula, fungus, general, genius, genus, gradual, habitual, habitat, honor, id, ignite, immoral, immortality, inertia, infinite, ingenious, insane, interim, janitor, judge, kettle, kitchen, lachrymose, latex, legal, libido, lingua franca, literature, lunar, manual, master, martyr, media, meditate, memento, memorandum, memory, mile, minus, moment, momentum, moral, noble, nocturnal, notorious, opera, orbit, ovum, paper, patron, pauper, pavement, pendulum, peninsula, pepper, percent, persona, physician, plus, pound, propaganda, referendum, regal, revise, rural, sack, series, sex, sickle, similar, simile, status, stimulus, street, subpoena, superego, superintendent, tabula rasa, temple, title, ultimate, vehicle, verbatim, vertigo, vice versa, video, vindicate, wall, wine.

Learn more visiting these useful websites:

https://www.latin-english.com Latin English Dictionary

https://www.etymonline.com Online Etymology Dictionary

You can download the following books on Latin at this page :

Latin Language: Bennett, Charles E.: New Latin Grammar;
D'Oogle, Benjamin L.: Latin for beginners;
Wine, women and songs. Medieval Latin Student's Songs, including translation and commentary by John Addington Symonds.

Or read other articles about the English Language and Literature:

Short History of the English Language
The essence of English Grammar The importance of grammar
Short History of the Origin of English
English words origin and vocabulary
History-of-the-English-Language.pdf

British-history-milestones-synthesis

Questions-about-the-english-language

History-of-English-Literature-Summaries.pdf

British_literature_history_chart_summary.htm

General_literature_history_chart_summary.htm

American_literature_history_chart_summary.htm

British_english_history_timeline.htm

More videos;

Latin, the key to English

Latin influence on English

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Latin influence in the English Language | The World of English

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English belongs to the Anglo-Frisian group within the western branch of the Germanic languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European languages. It is related most closely to the Frisian language, to a lesser extent to Netherlandic (Dutch-Flemish) and the Low German (Plattdeutsch) dialects, and more distantly to Modern High German.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHcESlNZmtY

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A presentation on how Latin words spread into English by Carter, Quinn, Grace, and Emily.

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http://www.orbilat.com/Influences_of_Romance/English/RIFL-English-Latin-The_Inflluences_on_Old_English.html