Language Families& Pre- History English

Objectives

• Definition of language family

• Indo-European-languages

• Proto-Indo-European-languages

• Pre-History Phases

language family

• A language family is a set of languages deriving from a common ancestor or "parent."

• Languages with a significant number of common features in phonology, morphology and syntax are said to belong to

the same language family. Subdivisions of a language family are called "branches."

•  

• It is estimated that there are more than 250 established language families in the world, and over 6,800 distinct languages, many of which are threatened or endangered.

• The number of languages that make up a language family varies greatly.

• There are many languages that do not appear to be related to any other. These single-member language families are referred to as language isolates.

• English, along with most of the other major languages of Europe, belongs to the Indo-European  language family.

Indo-European languages

• A family of languages (including most of the languages spoken in Europe, India, and Iran) descended from a common tongue spoken in the third millennium B.C. by an agricultural people originating in southeastern Europe.

• Branches of Indo-European (IE) include Indo-Iranian (Sanskrit and the Iranian languages), Greek, Italic (Latin and related languages), Celtic, Germanic (which includes English), Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Albanian, Anatolian, and Tocharian.

Proto-Indo-European Languages

• PIE was the first proposed proto-language to be widely accepted by linguists The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE).

• The term proto-language means an ancient parent language from which a group of related languages have descended through slow modification.:

• PIE are languages thus brought into relationship by descent or progressive differentiation from a parent speech are conveniently called a family of languages. The surviving languages show various degrees of similarity to one another, the

• similarity bearing a more or less direct relationship to their geographical distribution.

Proto-Indo-European languages• It can be said that Proto-Indo-European

refers to English--along with a whole host of languages spoken in Europe, India, and the Middle East.

Proposed geographic location of original home of the Proto-Indo-European tribes

• They accordingly fall into eleven principal groups: Indian, Iranian, Armenian, Hellenic,

Albanian, Italic, Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, Hittite, and Tocharian.

•  It is by far the most well-understood of all proto-languages of its age. 

PIE

The languages thus brought into relationship by descent or progressive differentiationfrom a parent speech are conveniently called a family of languages.

• There for, English is a Germanic language which belongs to the Indo-European languages.

Pre-history phases

• The history of a language is intimately bound up with the history of the peoples who speak it.

The Roman Invasions

• 55 b.C.—Julius Caesar invades Britain.

• 43 a.d.—Emperor Claudius conquers Britain.

• Occupy Britain for nearly 400 years.

• The island we know as England was occupied by a race of people called the Celts. One of the tribes was called the Brythons or Britons (where we get the term Britain)

• The Celts were Pagans and their religion was know as “animism” a Latin word for “spirit.” Celts saw spirits everywhere

• Druids were their priests; their role was to go between the gods and the people

Important Events During Roman Occupation

Julius Caesar begins invasion/occupation in 55 B.C.

Occupation completed by Claudius in 1st cent. A.D.

Hadrian’s Wall built about 122 A.D.Romans “leave” in 410 A.D. because

Visigoths attack Rome

• St. Augustine lands in Kent in 597 and converts King Aethelbert (king of Kent, the oldest Saxon settlement) to Christianity; becomes first Archbishop of Canterbury

Hadrian’s Wall

• Founded cities• Built walls, baths, roads, theaters• Intermarried with Celts.• Place names—Lancaster, Manchester, Winchester,

London, Bath• Latin becomes the prestige language of education and social life

• Roman Empire is threatened by invading Germanic tribes.

• 410 a.d.—Emperor Honorius summons all Roman troops back to Rome.

• Celtic tribes in Britain are left defenseless against future invasions.

So what language is being used in British Isles at this time?

• Celtic languages—the native language of the people.

• Latin—the language of Rome was the prestige language.– Education– Government– Written language

Anglo-Saxon Invasions• The Anglo-Saxon period is the earliest

recorded time period in English history.

• The Anglo-Saxons form the basis of English culture, religion, and language and ruled England for 600 years. The term Anglo-Saxon refers to a group of settlers from the German regions of Angeln and Saxony who took over England after the fall of the Roman Empire.

• With the Romans gone, a power vacuum existed

• Germanic tribes from the mainland soon began to fill that vacuum.

• 450 a.d Angles and Saxons invade from Baltic shores of Germany, and the Jutes invade from the Jutland peninsula in Denmark

• Nine Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms eventually became the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy (England not unified), or “Seven Sovereign Kingdoms”

Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy

• Heptarchy = Seven Kingdoms

1. Kent

2. Essex (East Saxon)

3. Sussex (South Saxon)

4. East Anglia

5. Northumbria

6. Mercia

7. Wessex (West Saxon

The Anglo-Saxons society

• The Anglo-Saxons were a pagan society, but information about their lives and culture has been told by Christian writers.

• The Anglo-Saxons maintained order in their society through social means. Society was led by powerful leaders (a ring-giver, lord or lady) who rewarded their servants for various activities

• Anglo-Saxons enjoyed serving their lords and found it hard to survive if they were not supported by their lords.

• Women had just as much power as men did during the Anglo-Saxon period.

• Songs and poetry were very important components of Anglo-Saxon society. Poetry was first told orally but was written starting in 733. Archbishops were known to sing songs to attract crowds for their sermons.

• One of the most valued members of Anglo-Saxon society was the scop (poet), who discussed social and cultural values in his work. Scops were responsible for maintaining a person's reputation through song after his or her death.

Exercise

• What is a language family?

• What are the branches of the PIE?

• Languages that have no common features among each other are known as………….

• Using the Proto- Indo-European family map trace the history of the Modern English language.

• The first settlers of England were

• a. German b. Anglo-Saxon c. Briton

•

• Write four of the most common influences of the Romans.

• What was the language of education & prestige during the Roman period?

• Write briefly about the Anglo-Saxon society.

• Who is the Scop and what is his responsibility?

Important sites

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxzM_Y0cYJA How the Celts Saved Britain - HD - 1of2 (BBC) - A New Civilization

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIBkv7pU9Eo "How The Celts Saved Britain" (part 2of2) Dark ages and the Celts 

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n09vrVfI168Anglo Saxon house - a reconstruction

Suggested Topics for research

• Language Families

• The Endo-European Languages

• French Influences on the English Language

• Latin and Greek Influences on the English Language

• The Anglo-Saxon Period

• The Vikings Period

• Old English Literature: Characteristics & a model: Beowulf

• Middle English Literature: Characteristics & a model: The Canterbury Tales

• Modern English literature: Characteristics and a model .

• The Differences Between the Old English and the Middle English Phonological

Systems.

• The Development of the Noun System of the English Language

• The Development of the Verb System of the English Language

•

• The Distinctive Features of Old English Morphology

• The Distinctive Features of Middle English Morphology

• The Differences Between Old English and Middle English Syntax

• The Differences Between Middle English and Modern English Morphology.

• The Differences Between Middle English and Modern English Syntax.

• Differences Between British and American English