LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 22:11 November 2022
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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A Study on the Impact of Foreign Influences on Old English

Mahmuda Alam and Israt Jahan

The Old English period is followed by Middle English (12th to 15th century), Early Modern English (ca 1480 to 1650) and finally Modern English (after 1650). Old English was not merely the product of the dialects brought to England by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. These dialects only formed the basis of the grammar of Old English and the source of the larger part of its vocabulary. But other elements entered into Old English in the course of the first 700 years of its existence in England. It was brought into contact with three other languages, namely, those of the Celts, the Romans, and the Scandinavians. Old English showed certain effects from each of these contacts, especially in the form of additions to its vocabulary. The three influences are discussed in some detail in the sections I, II, and III below.

I. The Celtic Influence on Old English

The invasion of the Celtic population of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons led to the mixture of the two peoples and the two languages. Old English vocabulary had numerous words that the Anglo- Saxons adopted from the speech of the Celts. In parts of England, contact between the two peoples was constant for several generations.

The evidence for this contact in the English language is found chiefly in placenames. Also, a number of important centers in the Roman period have names with Celtic elements. The name London itself most likely goes back to Celtic. The greatest number of Celtic names survive in the names of rivers and hills and places near them. Thus, the Thames is a Celtic river name, and several Celtic words for river or water are preserved in the names Avon, Dover, and Wye, among others.

Outside of placenames, the influence of Celtic on English is almost negligible, since no more than ten OE words can be traced to a Celtic source with certainty.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Mahmuda Alam
M.Phil. in ELT, University of Dhaka
Faculty Member, Department of English
World University of Bangladesh
masrooralmir@gmail.com
Mobile: 01679828189

Israt Jahan
M.Phil. in Literature, University of Dhaka
Faculty Member, Department of English
World University of Bangladesh
israt.jahan@english.wub.edu.bd
Mobile: 01743356877
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