what historical event lead to so many English words being of Latin origin?

Answer 1

Battle of Hastings, 1066. The defeat of Harold II allowed William of Normandy (William the Conquerer) and his Normans to rise to the rule of England.

The victors spoke Norman French, which was a Latin-derived language. The ruling class never bothered to learn the English in use by the common poeple, so to survive, the common people learned the Norman words for things. What resulted was a rapid change in English. The core grammar and the common, everyday words kept their Germanic roots, but Latin derived words flooded the language.

In many cases, both the original Anglo-Saxon word survived and the Norman French just joined in. Look at the words for cow, pig, and sheep - all good Germanic words. Now look at what you say when you eat them - beef, pork, mutton - all good French-based words. Sort of tells you who was on top of the society.

The earlier Roman occupation of part of the island left almost no mark on English.

Answer 2

Technically speaking, English began as a West Germanic language, developed from Old English, which was the language of the Anglo-Saxons. When England was conquered by the Normans, and due other historical events came into play, that original language was heavily influenced by French and Latin. Still, all languages are in a constant state of change, never remaining the same for very long as more words get added to the vocabulary and as colloquial and slang usage vary over time, so the English that was spoken ten years ago may vary considerably from the English that is spoken today.

Answer 3

Dollhaus and Krome give you the only right answers.

Many English words have an old French origin.
And French is a language derived from Latin (Romance language).

The French-Norman conquest in 1066 brought many dramatical changes to Anglosaxon people in governement, culture, language, law.

Nevertheless English is a Germanic language, not a Romance language

Answer 4

The Romans were pretty wide-spread, you know. All the way up into England (Hadrian's wall); and then as the other answer says, when the Norman conquest happened, Norman French, a "Roman"ce language derived from Latin blended with Anglo-Saxon and eventually became English.

Answer 5

Historical Event that lead to it - is that Claudius (Roman Empire ) invades Britain in 46 AD.
Approximate 350 year later:
Roman military legions evacuated Britain in the late 300s and early 400s

That 350 years of Roman occupation pretty much did it.

Answer 6

The Norman conquest of England

Answer 7

I don't think there's a specific event. I think it's more because ancient Rome had such a large area of influence that their language wound up influencing so many others.

Answer 8

All the romance languages are based on Latin. English, Spanish, French, and a couple others I can't think of at the moment are all rooted in Latin.

Answer 9

When the Romans ruled the world.

Answer 10

european ppls coming to America