how was our English language made?

Question

i am wondering where did our language come from and how was it made like our words like that

Answer 1

i dont know all i know is that english is a barbarian language

Answer 2

The development has come over a very long time. It includes Gaelic and German, as well as the Norman and Saxon tongues. There are a large number of Latin and Greek roots, as well. Old English is very different from modern English, and even the different Englishes aroudn the world differ considerably. All languages are like that...they evolve. Social pressure change things, and variations become the norm. It you really want to know more about it, take some courses (or study on your own) in sociolinguistics and historical linguistics. That would help you understand quite a bit.

Answer 3

I'm not sure the Government has declared English the Official language, If they had why do Elections have to be in English AND Spanish. Why do we have to push 1 for English ,2 for Spanish. Each State can say that English is the official language in that State, but our grand and glorious leaders are too chicken to do it. It might cost them a vote or two. Although the American people want English as the Official language the House and Senate will not bring it to a vote. In fact they will not even bring it up.

Answer 4

hmmm - not quite, again...

Old Saxon - a germanic based, viking-style language - existed in the Isles before the arrival of Latin with the Cesar's troups. This created a "first latinization", and generated many of the words that nowadays are most confusing - they are very modified and are hard to recognize as actually from latin roots.
The second latinization was brought over by the Normand invasion - and subsequent court language (french) for a couple of centuries. the words inherited from this periods are clearly borrowed, and are often from culinary or court subjects. In the middles, there were more Vikings (scandinavians), and all kind of other influences!

It is a most interesting history, worth of any novel. The grammatical complexities of a german-styled language were lost in the centuries, to make place to the continous extensive adaptation of the language to external influences. That is what makes English the perfect language for the world of today: it is already an Esperanto!!!

Answer 5

English wasn't made - it was cooked.

Take a bowl of about four pounds of Low German (Frisian variety would be good.) Season lightly with Celtic and Latin. Add three cups of Danish. Allow to marinate for 600 years, and then stir in three cups of Norman French. Bake for 1000 years, constantly basting with Latin and Greek. Dust with a mix of French and Italian. Grate a little German over the top, and garnish with sprigs of Spanish. Season to taste with other languages.
That's English.

ADDED: Some answers here are scary. Gaelic as a source of English? A mix of Celtic, Latin, French, and Spanish? Latin and Greek came from Sanskrit??? The Saxons were in England before the Romans?

The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, speaking a Low German language (North Sea Germanic) moved from the continent to Britain AFTER the collapse of the Roman rule. The language at that point picked up very, very few words from either Celtic or Latin and kept on speaking Low German. Later, Danes invaded the island and took control over large areas. They spoke Danish. They were eventually overcome, but they left many traces of Danish in the language - common pronouns are good examples. After limited peace and quiet, the Norman French invaded, and after winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066, soon took over England. They spoke Norman French, a Romance language and direct descendent of Latin. As the ruling class, their words spread throughout England, but the basic grammar remained Germanic. These French words were the first major influx of Latin into English.

Over the years since, the language evolved to what it is today. English has always readily borrowed words from other languages, and Latin has been the largest source. That goes on today - look at video games and car audio systems. Video is perfect Latin - it means "I see." Audio is also perfect Latin - "I hear."

English is a Germanic language with a significant number of Latin-derived words.

As for Latin coming from Sanskrit, forget it. Both do have common ancestry, but they developed separately and were in concurrent use.

Answer 6

Sorry to contradict, Matt!

Gaelic is about the ONE language which had no influence on English!

First it was Latin, left behind by Roman occupation.
Next came Germanic influences through Angles and Saxons.
This resulted in OLD ENGLISH (Beowulf etc)
Then William the Conqueror left his French mark.
This resulted in Middle English (Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales)
Finally the translation of the Bible into the vernacular of the time (Henry VIII), the invention of printing (a wide distribution of written texts) and of course the popularity and ingenuity of Shakespeare as a model led to a new language: MODERN ENGLISH.

The Gaelic language had less influence than the Vikings and Indian colonialization!!!
Spanish: not at all!!!
It is Latin, Germanic and French!!!

Answer 7

It is derived from largely Latin and Saxon and to some extent from the Greek. But both the Greek and Latin are derivatives of the Sanskrit. In recent times English is the most liberal in adding new words to its vocabulary from various spoken languages from whole over the world which are mostly used by the English speaking population in various countries.

Answer 8

Its an amalgam of Celtic French Latin and Spanish