Why do we spell Knowledge with a K? Why do we use a G and an H when we spell Through? For many students who have wondered why English spelling is so strange, one answer is that many English words actually come from German - a very old version of German. How did this old version of German come to England? Lets look at this today in the History of English Part 2.
Last time I talked about the Roman invasion of England. The Romans invaded many places and were very successful at keeping the land they had taken. The Romans were good at fighting, and of course, this helped them take the land from other people. The Romans were also very smart and they knew that violence alone was not enough to keep their Empire strong. The Romans offered people all kinds of things to keep them happy. Imagine if you lived in a place where the toilet was a hole in the ground, no one took a bath and people were generally dirty all the time. The Romans built sewers and bath houses, brought wine, and built beautiful buildings including theatres and libraries. They also helped some people get rich - the Romans controlled a huge trading network, so people could sell their products to many more people if they accepted the Roman system.
The Romans usually took what they wanted by force, but they kept what they took using persuasion. Under this system, people often became pacified and no longer fought each other so often. Outside the Roman Empire, people often lived very violent lives, just like people did in most places before they were conquered by the Romans. When the Roman Empire collapsed in England, the people who lived under the Empire became a target for the people who lived outside the Empire and had spent their time fighting and killing each other. When the people who lived in the north of England were being attacked by tribes from Scotland, the leaders decided to pay a group of mercenaries to protect them. Mercenaries are professional soldiers - people who will fight for money. The mecenaries they decided to hire came from a Germanic tribe called the Saxons, from the north of Germany. The Saxons defeated the Scottish tribes but enjoyed being in England so much, they decided to stay there. The other people in England could not stop them - the Saxons were too strong, so they settled in England.
Around about this time, other Germanic tribes moved into England and set up settlements of their own; Frisians, Geats, Jutes, and Angles. So many Angles went to England, that the land became known as Angleland, or England. Before that, the area was called Britania. These tribes came from Germany, Holland, Sweden and Denmark, and they spoke a similar language and worshipped some of the same gods.
Because they came to England to fight and conquer, it is not surprising that many English words related to violence come from the old German language these groups introduced to England.
Some examples are:
Fight
Knife
Axe
Sword
Other, less violent words that come from German are:
Tell
House
Field
Bread
Next blog, I will write more about the Germanic influence on the English language. Take care everyone, see you next time!
▼▽▼▼Eddieの過去の記事を読む━━━━━━━━━━━
・【A Short History of English】2008.10.10 (Fri)
ブログランキングに参加しています。
下記の3つをクリックして、応援していただけると嬉しいです。
▼Please help us increase our blog ranking by clicking below!▼
We thank you for your continued support!
Posted By: Eddie Palmer on November 14, 2008
