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HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The English language belongs to theGermanic branch of the Indo-Europeanfamily of languages.

Around the fifth century AD, Germanic-speaking people from northwest Germany (Saxons and Angles) and Jutland (Jutes)invaded Eastern England.

These people spoke Germanic dialectsthat formed Old English. The Norman conquest of England in1066 greatly influenced the evolution of thelanguage. For about 300 years after this,theNormans used Anglo-Norman as thelanguage of

the court, law and administration. TheNormansheavily influenced what we call MiddleEnglish.Later, during the English Renaissance,many wordscame directly from French, Latin and Greek.Early Modern English began around theElizabethan period.

I. Read and circle the correct answer.

1. Who invaded Eastern Englandaround the fifth century AD?a) Germanicsb) Saxons and Angles and Jutlandc) Indo European and Germanic

1. Where did words come from duringthe English renaissance period?a) Normans

b) English, French and Normansc) French, Latin and Greek

1. Why are French words similar toEnglish?a) Because pronunciation was

similarb) Because English absorbed a

large vocabulary from Normanand French

c) Because English conquered the

French

1. Who still do not understandGermanic Languages?a) Native speakers of Latin

languageb) Germanicc) English and Dutch

II. Read the text again and identifythe incorrect information in eachsentence

.a. English is part of the Latin

languages.

b. The Roman conquest influenced theevolution of the language.

c. The Normans heavily influencedwhat we call Modern English.

d. Only a few English words come fromFrench.

e. English follows a typically Frenchpattern of stress.

Many French words are similar to English(though

pronunciations are often quite different)becauseEnglish absorbed a large vocabulary fromNormanand French, after the Norman Conquest.As aresult, a large portion of Englishvocabulary derived from French, with some spellingdifferences(word endings, use of old French

spellings, etc.), aswell as occasional differences in meaning.The

pronunciation of French words in Englishhasbecome completely different and followsa typically Germanic pattern of stress. Nativespeakers of Latinlanguages, for example, that do not understand

any Germanic languages, often stillcannot distinguish between spoken English and Dutch.

III. Read the text again and answerthe questions.

a. What did Germanic people invade?

b. Where did Germanic speakingpeople come from?

c. What languages did they speak?

d. The Normans use Anglo-Norman asa language of.

IV. Find the mistakes in thesentences and correct them.

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1. My cousin Lucas is the most fast of all

the athletes.

2. I got the baddest mark of my life.

3. Cheyenne bought the expensive house

of the neighborhood.

4. The lion is one of the dangerousest

animals.5. Mana writes the most saddest song in

Latin America.

6. That is the goodest cake of the cake

shop.

7. The elephant is the most fattest

animal in Africa.

8. The English test was the easyest test of

all my subjects.