Anex3.History

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The Romanization. Influence of Latin on the English language. Lexical

Borrowings/Loan words

1. Brief Introduction.

The English language is not merely the product of the dialects brought to

England by the Jutes, Saxons and Angles. There were other elements which entered into

it. In the course of the first seven hundred years of its existence in England, it was

brought into contact with three other languages: the language of the Celts, the Romans,

and the Scandinavians, meaning each of these contacts additions to its vocabulary. The

nature of the contact with the Romans and the changes that were effected by their

language will form the subject of the present topic.

2. The Romanization of the Island.

2.1. The Romans in Britain.

In the summer of 55 B.C., Julius Caesar, having completed the conquest of Gaul,

decided upon an invasion of England. It is unlikely that he contemplated the conquest of

the island; probable his chief purpose was to discourage the Celts of Britain from

coming to the assistance of their kinsman in Gaul. The resistance of the natives was

unexpectedly spirited.

It was with his second expedition, after much more elaborate preparations, when

he this time succeeded in establishing himself in the southeast, to later returned to Gaul.

He had perhaps succeeded in his purpose, but he had by no means struck terror into the

hearts of the Celts, and Britain was not again troubled by the Romans arms for nearly a

hundred years.

2.2. The Roman Conquest.

It was in A.D. 43 that the Emperor Claudius decided to undertake the actual

conquest of the island. With the knowledge of Caesars experience behind him, a

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massive army was sent to Britain and within three years had subjugate the tribes of the

central and south eastern regions.

The progress of Roman control was not uninterrupted. A serious uprising of the

natives occurred in A. D. 61 under Boudicca, the widow of one of the native chiefs

(70.000 Romans and Romanised Britons are said to have been massacred). Under the

Roman Governor Agricola (78-85) the conquest may be said to have been massacred.

The Romans never penetrated far into the mountains of Wales and Scotland. They

protected the northern boundary by a stonewall being the district south of this line under

Romans for more than three hundred years.

2.3. The Romanization of the Island

It was inevitably that the military conquest of Britain should have been followed

by the Romanization of the province.

Four great highways soon spread fanlike from London to the North, the

northwest, the west and the southwest. Numerous lesser roads connected important

military or civil centres (form the main highways). A score of small cities, and more

than a hundred towns, with their Roman houses and baths, temples and occasional

theatres, testify to the introduction of Roman habits of life. Roman dress, Roman

ornaments and utensils, and Roman pottery and glassware seem to have been in general

use. By the third century, Christianity hade made some progress in the island. Under the

relatively peaceful conditions that existed everywhere except along the frontiers, there is

every reason to think that Romanization had proceeded very much as it had done in the

other provinces of the empire. The difference is that in Britain the process was cut short

in the fifth century by the Teutonic conquest, A. D. 449.

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2.4. The Latin language in Britain.

Among the other evidences of Romanization must be included the use of the

Latin language. A great number of inscriptions have been found, all of them in Latin.

The majority of these proceed no doubt from the military and official class and, were in

the official language.

Latin did not replace the Celtic language in Britain as it did in Gaul. Its use by

native Britons was probably confined to members of the upper classes and the

inhabitants of the cities and towns.

Tacitus tells us that in the time of Agricola the Britons, who had hitherto shown

only hostility to the language of their conquerors, now became eager to speak it. On the

whole, there were certainly many people in Roman England who habitually spoke Latin

or upon occasions could use it. Nevertheless, its use was not sufficiently widespread to

cause it to survive, as the Celtic language survived the upheavals of the Teutonic

invasions. Its use probably began to decline after 410, the approximate date at which the

last of the Roman troops were officially withdrawn from the island.

3. Influence of Latin on the English Language. Lexical borrowings/Loan words.

3.1. Latin words in Old English

The 2nd (the 1st one was the Celtic) great influence exerted upon English was that

of Latin. Latin was the language of a higher civilization, at first commercial and

military, later religious and intellectual, extended over many centuries and was

constantly renewed. It began before the Anglo-Saxon come to England and continued

throughout the Old English period. The Teutons, for several hundred years, before

occupying the English territory, had various relations with the Romans through which

they acquired a considerable number of Latin words. When they came to England they

learnt from the Celts a few additional Latin words which had been acquired by them.

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There were thus three distinct occasions on which borrowings from Latin

occupied before the end of the Old English period, (and it will be of interest to consider

more in detail the character and extent of these borrowings).

3.1.1. Continental borrowings (Latin Influence of the zero period)

Several hundred Latin words found in the various Teutonic dialects at an early

date testify the extensive intercourse between the two races. Found in all ranks and

classes of society, German were scattered all over the empire but most numerous along

the northern frontier which bordered on German territory.

But after the conquest of Gaul by Caesar, Roman merchants quickly extended

into the Germanic territory, so that the Teutons living in these remoter sections received

the influence of the Romans. Also intercommunication between the different Teutonic

tribes was frequent and made possible the transference of Latin words. Some fifty

words from the Latin can be credited with a considerably degree of probability to the

Teutons.

Next to agriculture, the chief occupation of the Germans in the empire was war,

and we find this experience reflected in words like camp (battle), weall (wall).

Connected with trade, ceap (bargain), or foods, ciese (cheese), piper (pepper).

3.1.2. Latin through Celtic transmission (Latin influence of the First period).

From what has been said above about the Roman rule in Britain, the extent to

which the country was romanised and the employment of Latin by certain elements of

the population, one would expect considerable number of Latin words to have remained

in use and to appear in the English language today, but this is not the case. Not five

words outside of a few elements found in places-names can be really proved to own

their presence in English to the Roman occupation of Britain.

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Such vestiges were lost in the disorder that accompanied the Teutonic invasions,

and such Latin words would have had to come in through Celtic transmission. The Celts

had adopted a considerable number of Latin words- over six hundred have been

identified, but the relations between the Celts and the English were such, that these

words were not passed on.

Among the few Latin words that the Teutons seem likely to have acquired is

ceaster. It is the Latin castra, (camp) a common designation in Old English for a town

or enclosed community. It appears in English place names such as Chester, Colchester,

Dochester, Manchester.

3.1.3. Latin Influence of the Second period.

The greatest influence of Latin upon Old English was occasioned by the

introduction of Christianity into Britain in 597. This date marks the beginning of a

systematic attempt on the part of Rome to convert the inhabitants and make England a

Christian country.

According to the well-known story reported by Bede, the mission of St.

Agustine was inspired by the Pope Gregory the Great. The problem was to change the

philosophy of a nation. Teutonic philosophy exalted physical courage, independence,

and loyalty to ones family or leader. Christianity preached meekness and humility and

patience under suffering.

EFFECTS ON ENGLISH CIVILIZATION.

The introduction of Christianity meant the building of churches and the

establishment of monasteries. Latin, the language of the services and of ecclesiastical

learning, was once more heard in England. Schools were established in most of the

monasteries and larger churches. The beginning of this movement was in 669 and was

introduced by the Greek bishop, Theodore of Canterbury, when he devoted considerable

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time and energy to teaching. In the eight century, England held the intellectual

leadership of Europe, and it owed this leadership to the church. In like manner

vernacular literature and the arts received a new impetus. The Church as the carrier of

Roman civilization influenced the course of English life in many directions, and many

of these numerous traces of this influence are to be seen in the vocabulary of Old

English.

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Anex3.History

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