Scribd
Upload
29 views3 pages

Summary

Uploaded by

lika.gorn
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
29 views3 pages

Summary

Uploaded by

lika.gorn
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Khisamova Alina 509RKI

Summary: The Adventure of English - Birth of a Language

The film "The Adventure of the English Language - The Birth of a Language"
tells viewers about how the English language was formed and became great,
what changes it experienced throughout history. The story of the English
language is an extraordinary one. It has the characteristics of a bold and
successful adventure. The history of the English language continues, as new
dialects appear, new rules, and there are also factors threatening the English
language that are important to pay attention to.

At the very beginning of the film, we see Friesland, where you can still hear a
version of the English language that sounds almost the same as the ancestor of
the English language. The presenter gives examples of words that may seem
familiar to us: "three" and "four", "frost" and "freeze", although many words are
not clear to us. The reason we can recognise these words is that modern Frisian
and modern English can both be traced back to the same family.

The story of english language starts with the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes,
Germanic tribes who migrated to Britain in the 5th century AD. Their language,
Old English, was heavily influenced by these tribes' dialects. Key Old English
texts, such as the epic poem "Beowulf," are highlighted to demonstrate the
language's early form and complexity. Many words in modern English are the
same as those used 1500 years ago. Most of those words were from Old
English, nouns like "youth", "son", "daughter", "field", "friend", "home", and
"ground", prepositions like "in" and "on", "into", "by", and "from". "And" and
"the" are from Old English. Some words in Old English sound very different
from those we are used to. For example: Many words in modern English are the
same as those used 1500 years ago. Most of those words were from Old
English, nouns like "youth", "son", "daughter", "field", "friend", "home", and
"ground", prepositions like "in" and "on", "into", "by", and "from". "And" and
"the" are from Old English. The British took their writing from Latin. The
Angles, Saxons, Frisians, and Jutes who would become the English hadn't
brought script as we know it with them, but runs. The runic alphabet was made
up of symbols formed mainly of straight lines so that the letters could be carved
into stone or wood.
It is still unknown who wrote Beowulf, but this literary work plays a huge role
in understanding the development of the English language.The poem celebrates
the glory days of the Germanic tribes, epitomised in the heroic warrior who
gives the poem its name. Today, the Vikings may seem romantic, but the poem
shows how the Vikings were a destructive force, their conquests having an
impact on the transformation of the English language: the languages ​were
mixed.

A few words are worth saying about an important historical figure - Alfred,
who won a victory over the Danes in Wiltshire. He signed a peace treaty with
the Danes which established a border running up through the country, from the
Thames to the old Roman road of Watling Street. English, rather than being
engulfed by the Danes' language, began to absorb it. Maps of the area show just
how widespread the Danish settlement was. Place names ending in "-by" reveal
the Danish name for "farm".

English has also been influenced by Old Norse. Sometimes where both Old
Norse and Old English had a word for the same thing, both words lived on in
English, each taking on a slightly different meaning. Where Old English said
"craft", Old Norse said "skill". For an English "hide", the Norse said "skin".
Words like "law", "egg", "husband", "leg", "ill", "die", "ugly" all these words
are from Old Norse, and yet you wouldn't necessarily think that they were
foreign at all. Old Norse affects the English language more than any other
because it actually leads to a restructuring of the language. Old English
constructs sentences differently from the way we do today. Instead of relying on
word order, it uses suffixes and endings attached to words such as articles,
pronouns, and nouns to convey meaning.

The Norman Conquest of 1066 is a pivotal event in English history. The


Normans, who spoke Old Norman (a Romance language), imposed their
language on the English. For several centuries, French became the language of
the elite, while English was relegated to the common people. This bilingual
period led to a rich infusion of French words into English, particularly in the
realms of law, government, and culture. For example, words "army", "archer",
"soldier", "garrison", and "guard" all come from the conquering Norman
French.
Nearly 500 words dealing with food, cooking, and eating alone entered
English from French just a fraction of the imports which would enrich the
English word hoard in the centuries after the Norman conquest.

The diversity of Old English dialects is a testament to the rich and complex
history of the English language. The migration of Germanic tribes, their
interactions with the indigenous population, and the influence of Latin and other
languages created a linguistic landscape characterized by regional dialects.
Understanding the origins and characteristics of these dialects provides valuable
insights into the early development of English and its evolution into the global
language it is today.

You might also like