The Modern Standard English which prevailed within the bounce of an entire nation superseded the provincial types. These standard languages became more and more uniform as time goes on. In most instances they have grown out of the provincial types that prevailed the upper class of the urban center that became the capital on the unified nation. For eg., modern English is based on the London type, as modern standard French.
According to Bede, at a very early period England was invaded by three tribes – Angles, Saxons, and Jude giving rise to three dialects in the north with two sub-divisions – Northumbrian and Mexican; the Saxon Dialects in the greater part of the south; the most important of which was the dialect of Vessex (West Saxon) and the Centish dialect, Cent according to tradition selected by Judes. Though the Saxons were numerically superior to the Anglians, the later were influenced enough to impose their names on the whole. The country is called England (OE Englaland), the nation English(O Englise) and the language English (O Englise).
The continental language, that is, Latin that shows the greatest similarity to English is Frisian and it is interesting to note that Frisian has some points in common with the Centish and some with Anglians and so on.
Old English Language was essentially self-sufficient. Its foreign elements were few and did not modify the character of the language as a whole. But here super structures, as it were that came to be corrected on the Anglo-Saxon Foundation, each of them modifying the character of the language and each preparing the ground for its successor. A Scandinavian element, a French element, and a Latin element now enter largely into the texture on the English Language.
It was about 790 A.D that the long series of in-roads began and gradually settled on the land they conquered. A great number of Scandinavian families settled in England never to return specially in Norfolk, Northumberland, Cumberland, West Morland etc. Numerous names of places ending in -by, -throp, -beck, -dale, etc beat witness to the predominance of invades in greater part of England by about 1000 A.D.
The first remarkable aspect of Scandinavian influence is in the fact that it gave a fresh base of life to absolute native words like, ‘till’, ‘born’, and ‘blend’. In order to estimate rightly the Scandinavian influence, it is very important to remember how great the similarity was between Old English and Old Norse. An enormous number of words were then identical in the two languages, so that we should now have been utterly unable to tell which language they had come from is we had no English literature before the invasions. Nouns such as man, wife, father, sorrow, winter, house, thing, etc., Verbs like will, can, meet, bring, stand, sit etc. adjective and adverbs such as full, wise, best, mine, over, under, etc.
In some words, the old native form has survived, but has adopted the signification attached in Scandinavian to the corresponding words. For ex. The word Dream in OE meant joy but M.E the, meaning of dream was taken over from ON “draumr”. It was also found that many words had two slightly differing forms, one of the original English form and the other Scandinavian form, and they exist side-by-side for a long time. E.g. Native ‘No’ – Scandinavian ‘Nay’, the exist for centuries but Nay is now used only to add to an amplifying remark. “It is enough nay too much”.
Thus, it is obvious that these no-technical words show us nothing about the cultural and industrial superiority of the Scandinavian. These Scandinavian words give us no new ideas. They give only new names, but the fact remains that the two languages in many cases side-by-side. In the words of Jesperson “They fought like brother’s side-by-side”. He adds, “An English man cannot thrive or be ill or die without Scandinavian words; they are to the Language what bread and egg are to be for the daily life.”
As Jesperson points out loan words are not only the milestones of philosophy but those of general history. The French Loan words in English points out the kind of influence that the Norman conquerors had on the Anglo-Saxons.
The Norman conquest of England established the French rule there. William the Conqueror occupied the throne. The Norman became Land Lords and all the important offices were filled by them. The court was distinctly French in character. As the French were superior to the Anglo-Saxons in many respects they influenced the latter who borrowed many French words which point to the nature and extent of the cultural influence.
Words like State, Crown, Government, Nation, Prince, War, Peace, Soldiers, Vessel, Prison, Justice, Judge, Damage, Cause, Partiality, etc., were borrowed for government and administrative purpose.
Ecclesiastic words like Religious, Virgin, Saint, Relic, Alter, Blame, Discipline etc. were borrowed.
Food - Beef, Mutton, Pork, Bacon etc.
Enjoyment – Joy, Pleasure, Case, Delight, Comfort, Cards, etc., were borrowed.
In art category – Art, Beauty, Colour, Images, Design, Ornaments etc., were borrowed.
The Anglo Saxons learnt man things from their French rulers and adopted many French words which are now in common currency and form valuable part of English vocabulary. The French influence was however, combined to the upper class only and the common man remained aloof. During 1350-1660 Latin scholarship was in vogue, but through, Latin many French words flowed into English.
Names of some articles which were important had French names. They are – Sugar, Ivory, Pepper, Dates, Ginger, Oil, Rice etc. In the previous borrowings all the French words were accented by the Anglo-Saxons in their own way. The French pronunciation was also written there was a decided preference for French during the Restoration Period. In Nineteenth century words like cookery, furniture, etc., were borrowed.
Thus, the English language has always been enriching itself by borrowing words from French, since the eleventh century.
When the Anglo Saxons were in Germany they hunted the outer fringe of the Roman Empire and bought goods from the Roman merchants. Thus, they came to know the names of some articles and used them in common speech. For e.g., Wine, Cup, Candle, Cheese, etc., when they came to Great Britain they brought these words with them. In Great Britain they found the Celts who had been under the Roman rule for a long time. The Romans had built walled cities and connecting roads which survived and the Latin names survived too. The Anglo-Saxons adopted some Celtic words and learnt some of the Latin words that the Celts had been using. For e.g., Master, Pot, Chalk.
When the Anglo-Saxons accepted the Latin form of Christianity they learnt a good many ecclesiastical words. They had to read the Latin Bible. The Church Dignitaries had Latin names, for ex. Pope, Bishop, Clerk, Deacon etc. Many words relating to church service also entered the English Language. For ex. Hymn, Mass, etc. Church words were also borrowed at that time.
During the Middle Ages Latin scholarship was cultivated in the monasteries. Thus, many words of learning and technical terms came to be accepted.
Medical Terms – Diaphragm, Dislocate, Ligament etc.
General terms – Admit, Adoption, Continue, Expenditure, Polite, were accepted.
The renaissance gave a fresh impetus to Latin’s scholarship. Bacon, Brownie, Milton, Johnson and Gibbon were great Latinists and wrote books in Latin. The words introduced by them were not however, accepted by the people, but still the Bible was translated into English and the people had not to depend on Latin any more.
As we move from one social class to another, or from one part of the country to another, we cannot help from becoming conscious at the separate current in the brand river of the English speech. Three main currents had easily discernible, the first is that of the local dialects confined to the restricted areas, the second is that form of English speech which is spoken by some in all parts of England. The third represents the speech of the majority of people but lacks uniformity.
In speaking about Standard English one question which is usually asked is “What is good English and what is the relation of Standard English op other forms of good English”. The answer to the question is that good English in the educated class used without self-consciousness. It is now recognized that the real life of a language lies in its speech.
Like every living language Standard English is subject to change and development. These changes are of three types – sound changes, changes in grammatic structure and symantic changes.
Of all the languages in the world English perhaps has the most heterogeneous and varied vocabulary. This vocabulary includes a large number of foreign words borrowed from different language. Thus, to sum up we may say that Standard English has the unified influence of borrowing, observing, changing and developing and thus like any living language is likely to undergo more changes and development.
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