Change and Development in the English Language - Essay Example

Change and Development in the English Language Thesis ment: In the development of Old English through period between 449-1100, various socio-historical influences played their role, and factors such as the separation of the land from the Continental influences, conversion of the English to Christianity, the assimilation of the Scandinavian colonizers on the English language, the veritable beehive of scholarly activity in England following its conversion to Christianity in the sixth century etc had pertinent linguistic effects which contributed to the development of Old English.

Topic Sentence 1: One of the major socio-historical influences that shaped Old English has been the fact that Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians occupied Great Britain by 449 AD, converting the main population of the land to English speakers and separating the Old English from the influences of other Continental languages. Topic Sentence 2: The conversion of the English by St Augustine to Christianity in 597 which introduced the influence of Latin on Old English and the linking of the English culture with mainstream Europe through the Synod of Whitby in 664 proved to be salient influence on the development of the Old English.

Topic Sentence 3: The assimilation of the Scandinavian colonizers on the English language had a pertinent influence on the development of Old English as "Old English and Old Norse (the language of the Scandinavians) had a whole host of frequently used words in common." (Pyles and Algeo, 92) Topic Sentence 4: The veritable beehive of scholarly activity in England following its conversion to Christianity in the sixth century with the support of famous monasteries at Canterbury, Glastonbury, Wearmouth, Lindisfarne, and York resulted in the golden age of Old English which also helped the rapid growth of the language along with the spread of the culture.

Socio-Historical Influences on the Development Old English In the development of the Old English, there were several socio-historical elements which influenced the linguistic progress of the language. The advent of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians in the British Island in the year 449 proved to be a major event in the history of the land and the language. They occupied Great Britain and converted the major population of the land to English speakers. The following separation of the land and language of the Old English from the influences of other Continental nations and languages helped in the development of a distinctive language in Great Britain.

The external influence on this language cannot be ignored and they only enhanced the progress of the Old English. It is of paramount relevance that the conversion of the English to Christianity was one of the major socio-historical influences that shaped Old English. Christianity introduced the influence of Latin on Old English and the linking of the English culture with mainstream Europe through the Synod of Whitby also contributed to the development of the Old English. The introduction of Christianity and the connection with Latin helped the Old English in the expansion of the language.

"Latin (L) influenced the development of Old English (OE) more than any other non-West Germanic language with which OE came into contact. The overall abundance of semantic loans, loan translations and loan creations suggests a final and more general truth concerning the influence of L on OE." (Moore) Significantly, the occupation of the land by several groups of people such as the Scandinavians had a great impact on the development of Old English and the assimilation of the Scandinavian colonizers on the English language is especially notable.

"Old English and Old Norse (the language of the Scandinavians) had a whole host of frequently used words in common." (Pyles and Algeo, 92) The works of the Christian missionaries through the famous monasteries at Canterbury, Glastonbury, Wearmouth, Lindisfarne, and York resulted in the large scale scholarly activity in England which also influenced the development of the Old English. Works Cited Moore, Edward. "The Influence of Latin on Old English." 2000. 24 Feb. 2009. . Pyles, Thomas and Jonh Algeo.

The Origins and Development of the English Language. Chapter 5 'The Old English Period'