Celtic Influence on Old English Language Evolution
CH.ARUNA
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
HINDU COLLEGE
GUNTUR
1.The
Celtic
Influence
2.Latin
Influence
3.Scandinavian
Influence:
The
Viking
Age
•
In the course of the
first
700 years of its
existence in
England
it was brought into
contact
with
at
least
three other languages,
the languages of the
Celts,
the
Romans,
and
the
Scandinavians.
From each of these
contacts it
shows
certain effects, especially
additions
to
its
vocabulary.
•
We
should find
in the
Old English
vocabulary
numerous
instances
of
words
that
the
Anglo-
Saxons heard in the speech of the native
population and adopted. For it is apparent
that
the
Celts
were
by
no
means
exterminated
except
in
certain
areas,
and
that in
most
of England large numbers of
them were gradually assimilated into the
new
culture.
•
The
evidence
of the place-names in this
region
lends
support
the
Celtic
influence.
•
Such
evidence
as there is survives chiefly in
plac
e
-
names.
Th
e
kingdo
m
o
f
Ken
t
,
for
example,
owes
its
name
to the
Celtic
word
Canti
o
r
Cantio
n
,
th
e
m
e
anin
g
o
f
which
is
unknown,
while
the
two
ancient
N
o
rthumbria
n
kingdom
s
o
f
Deir
a
and
B
e
rnicia
derive their designations
from Celtic
tribal
names.
•
Devonshire contains in the
first
element
the
triba
l
name
D
u
mnoni
i
,
Cornwall
me
a
ns
t
he
‘
Cornu
bia
n
W
e
lsh’
,
an
d
t
he former
coun
t
r
y
Cumberland (now part of Cumbria) is the
‘land
of the
Cymry
or Britons’.
C
e
l
t
i
c
P
l
a
c
e
-
N
a
m
e
s
a
n
d
O
t
h
e
r
L
o
a
n
w
o
r
d
s
•
The name
London
itself, although the origin of the
word
is somewhat uncertain,
most
likely
goes
back
to
a
Celtic
designation.
•
The
first syllable
of
Winchester,
Salisbury,
Exeter,
Gloucester,
Worceste
r
,
L
i
c
h
fi
el
d
,
an
d
a
score
o
f
othe
r n
a
mes
o
f
c
itie
s
is
traceable
to
a
Celtic
source,
and
the
earlier
name
of
Canterbury
(Durovernum)
is
originally
Celtic.
•
But
it
is
in
the
names
of
rivers and
hills
and
places
in
proximity
to
these
natural
features
that
the
greatest
number
of
Celtic
names
survive.
•
T
h
us
th
e
T
h
am
e
s
i
s
a C
e
lti
c
ri
v
e
r n
a
me,
an
d
various
Celtic
words
for
river or
water
are
preserved
in
the
n
a
mes
Avo
n
,
E
xe
,
Es
k,
Us
k
,
D
o
v
er
,
and
Wy
e
.
C
e
l
t
i
c
P
l
a
c
e
-
N
a
m
e
s
a
n
d
O
t
h
e
r
L
o
a
n
w
o
r
d
s
•
Outside of place-names, however, the influence
of Celtic upon
the
English
language
is
almost
negligible.
Not
more
than
a score of
words
in
Old
English
can
be
traced
with
reasonable
probability
to a
Celtic source.
Within
this
small
number
it
is
possible
to
distinguish
two
groups:
(1)
those
that
the
Anglo
Saxons
learned
through
everyday
contact
with
the
natives,
and
(2)
those that were
introduced
by the
Irish
missionaries
in
the
north.
•
The
former
were
transmitted
orally
and
were
of
popular character;
the
latter were connected with
religious
activities
and
were
more
or
less
learned.
•
As a
result of their
activity
the
words
ancor
(her
m
i
t
)
,
(
ma
g
ici
a
n),
c
i
ne
(
a
g
ath
e
rin
g
of
parchmen
t
lea
v
es)
,
cross,
•
clug
g
e
(bell)
,
gabolrind
(compass)
,
mind
(diadem)
,
an
d
perha
ps
(history
)
and
cursia
n
(t
o
curse
)
,
ca
m
e
int
o
a
t
l
e
as
t
parti
a
l
use
in
Old
English.
C
e
l
t
i
c
P
l
a
c
e
-
N
a
m
e
s
a
n
d
O
t
h
e
r
L
o
a
n
w
o
r
d
s
•
Latin
was not
the
language
of
a
conquered
people. It was the
language
of
a highly
regarded civilization, one
from which
the
Anglo-Saxons
wanted to
learn.
•
Thus there
occurred
in
Old English,
as in
most
of the Germanic languages,
a
change
known as
i-umlaut.
This
change
affected
certain accented vowels and diphthongs
(oe,
and
)
wh
e
n
the
y
w
e
r
e
follo
w
e
d
i
n
th
e
n
e
x
t
syllable
by
an
or
j.
Un
d
e
r
such
c
ircumstance
s
o
e
an
d
ă
becam
e
ĕ,
an
d
became
ā
becam
e
and
Th
e
di
p
hthongs
became
became
later
T
h
r
e
e
L
a
t
i
n
I
n
f
l
u
e
n
c
e
s
o
n
O
l
d
E
n
g
l
i
s
h
•
The
first
Latin
words
to
find
their
way
into
the
English
language
owe
their
adoption
to
the
early
contact
between
the
Romans
and
the
Germanic
tribes
on
the
continent.
•
In
general,
if
we
are
surprised
at
the
number
of
words
acquired
from
the
Romans
at
so
early
a
date
by
the
Germanic
tribes
that
came
to
England, we can see nevertheless
that the
words
were
such
as
they
would
be
likely
to
borrow
and
such
as
reflect
in a
very
reasonable
way
the
relations
that
existed
between
the two
peoples.
•
It
would
be
hardly
too
much
to
say
that
not
five
words
outside
of
a
few
elements
found
in
place-names
can
be
really
proved
to
owe
their presence in
English
to
the
Roman
occupation of Britain. It is probable that the
use
of Latin as
a spoken
language did
not
long
survive
the end of Roman rule in the
island and that
such
vestiges
as remained
for
a
time were lost in the disorders that
accompanied
the
Germanic
invasions.
•
At
best, however,
the Latin influence of the
First
Period
remains
much
the
slightest
of
all
the influences that
Old English
owed
to
contact
with
Roman
civilization.
L
a
t
i
n
t
h
r
o
u
g
h
C
e
l
t
i
c
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
(
L
a
t
i
n
I
n
f
l
u
e
n
c
e
o
f
t
h
e
F
i
r
s
t
P
e
r
i
o
d
)
•
The
greatest
influence of Latin
upon Old
English
was
occasioned
by
the
conversion
of
Britain to Roman Christianity beginning in
597.
•
There
was
in the kingdom of
Kent,
in
which
they landed,
a small number
of Christians. By
the time Augustine died
seven
years later, the
kingdom of
Kent had
become
wholly
Christian.
•
But
the
great
majority
of
words
in Old
English
having to do
with
the
church
and
its
services,
its
physical
fabric
and its
ministers,
when not
of
native
origin
were
borrowed
at
this
time.
Because
most
of
these
words
have
survived
in
only
slightly
altered
form
in
Modern
English,
the
examples
may
be given
in their
modern
form.
•
The
list
includes
abbot,
alms,
altar,
angel,
anthem
,
Arian,
ar
k
,
candle
,
canon
,
chalic
e
,
cleri
c
,
cowl,
deacon,
disciple,
epistle,
hymn,
litany,
manna,
martyr,
mass,
min
s
ter
,
noon,
nu
n
,
of
f
er,
orga
n
,
pa
l
l
,
palm
,
pope
,
priest
,
provost
,
psal
m
,
psalter,
relic,
rule,
shrift,
shrine,
shrive,stole,
subdea
c
on
,
syno
d
,
temple
,
and
tunic.
T
h
e
E
a
r
l
i
e
r
I
n
f
l
u
e
n
c
e
o
f
C
h
r
i
s
t
i
a
n
i
t
y
o
n
t
h
e
V
o
c
a
b
u
l
a
r
y
•
The
words
cited
in
these
examples
are
mostly
nouns,
but
Old
English
borrowed
also
a
number
of verbs
and
adjectives
such
as
āspendan
(to
spend;
L
.
e
x
pender
e
)
,
bemūtia
n
(t
o
e
x
chang
e
;
L.
mūtāre
),
dihta
n
(t
o
c
ompose
;
L
.
dic
t
ār
e
)
pīnia
n
(to
tor
t
ure;
L
.
poen
a
)
,
pinsia
n
(t
o
weigh;
L.
pēnsār
e
)
,
pyng
an
(t
o
pric
k
;
L
. punger
e
)
,
sealtian
(to
dance;
L.
saltāre),
temprian
(to
temper; L.
temperār
e
)
,
tri
f
olia
n
(t
o
grind;
L.
trībulāre),
tyrnan
(to
turn;
L.
tornāre),
and
crisp
(L
.
crispus
,
‘
c
url
y
’
)
.
•
B
u
t
e
n
o
u
g
h
h
a
s
b
e
e
n
s
a
i
d
t
o
i
n
d
i
c
a
t
e
t
h
e
e
x
t
e
n
t
a
n
d
v
a
r
i
e
t
y
o
f
t
h
e
b
o
r
r
o
w
i
n
g
s
f
r
o
m
L
a
t
i
n
i
n
t
h
e
e
a
r
l
y
d
a
y
s
o
f
C
h
r
i
s
t
i
a
n
i
t
y
i
n
E
n
g
l
a
n
d
a
n
d
t
o
s
h
o
w
h
o
w
q
u
i
c
k
l
y
t
h
e
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
r
e
f
l
e
c
t
e
d
t
h
e
b
r
o
a
d
e
n
e
d
h
o
r
i
z
o
n
t
h
a
t
t
h
e
E
n
g
l
i
s
h
p
e
o
p
l
e
o
w
e
d
t
o
t
h
e
c
h
u
r
c
h
.
•
The influence of Latin
upon
the
English
language
rose
and
fell
with
the
fortunes
of
the church and the
state
of learning
so
intimately
connected
with
it.
As a
result of the
renewed
literary
activity
just described,
a new
series
of
Latin
importations
took place.
•
These differed somewhat
from
the
earlier
Christian borrowings in being
words
of
a
less
popular kind and expressing
more
often
ideas
of
a
scientific
and
learned
character.
•
Literary
and
learned
words
predominate.
•
Of
th
e
f
o
rm
e
r
kin
d
ar
e
accent
,
b
rie
f
(the
v
e
rb)
,
declin
e
(a
s
a
t
e
r
m
o
f
g
ramm
a
r)
,
history,
paper,
pumice,
quatern
(a quire or
gathering
of
leaves
in
a
book),
term(inus),
title
.
•
A
gr
e
a
t
number
o
f
plan
t
nam
e
s
ar
e
re
c
orded
in this period. Many of them are familiar only
to readers of old
herbals. Some
of the better
known include
celandine,
centaury,
coriander,
cucumber
,
ging
e
r
I
n
f
l
u
e
n
c
e
o
f
t
h
e
B
e
n
e
d
i
c
t
i
n
e
R
e
f
o
r
m
o
n
E
n
g
l
i
s
h
•
The
words
that
Old English
borrowed in this
period are only
a
partial indication of the
extent to which the introduction of
Christianity
affected
the
lives
and thoughts of
the
English
people.
The
English
did
not
always adopt
a
foreign word to express
a new
concept.
•
The Anglo-Saxons,
for
example, did
not
borro
w
th
e
Lati
n word
deu
s
,
becaus
e
their
own
word
God
was
a
satisfactory
equivalent
.
•
When
,
for
example
,
the Latin
noun
planta
comes
int
o
English
a
s
th
e
noun
plan
t
and
late
r
i
s
made
into
a
verb
by
the
addition
of
the
infinitive
endin
g
-
ia
n
(
plantia
n
)
and
othe
r
in
f
lec
t
ional
elements,
we
may
feel
sure
that the word
has
been
assimilated.
This
happened
in a number
of
cases
as
in
gemartyrian
(to
martyr),
sealmian
(to
pla
y
on
th
e
harp
)
,
culpia
n
(t
o
humil
i
ate
oneself),
fersian
(to
versify),
glēsan
(to
gloss),
a
n
d
crispia
n
(t
o
curl)
. Ass
i
m
i
latio
n
is
likewise
indicated
by
the
use
of
native
formative
su
f
f
i
x
es
such
a
s
-
dō
m
,
-
hād
,
-
un
g
t
o
make
a
co
ncrete
noun
int
o
an
abstra
c
t
(martyrdōm,
martyrhād,
martyrung).
•
The
Latin
influence
of
the
Second
Period
was
not
only
extensive
but
thorough and
marks
the real
beginning
of
the
English habit
of freely
incorporating
foreign
elements
into
its
vocabulary.
•
In
Old
English
this
wasearly
palatalized
to
sh
(writte
n
s
c
)
,
e
x
c
e
p
t
possibl
y
i
n
th
e
combination
scr,
whereas
in
the
Scandinavian countries
it
retained
its hard
sk
sound
.
Consequently, while
native words
like
ship,
shall,
fish
have
sh
in
Modern
English,
words
borrowed
from
the
Scandinavians
are
generally
still
pronounced
with
sk:
sky,
skin,
skill,
scrape,
scrub,
bask,
whisk.
•
The Scandinavian
influence
is
one
of
the most
interesting
of
the
foreign
influences that
have
contributed
to the English
language
•
In
the
same way
the
retention
of the
hard
pron
u
nciation
o
f
k
a
nd
g
i
n
such
w
ord
s
a
s
ki
d
,
di
k
e
(c
f.
ditch)
,
g
e
t
,
give,
gild,
an
d
e
gg
is
an
indication
of
Scandinavian
origin.
•
For example, the
Germanic
diphthong
ai
become
s
ā
i
n
Old
E
n
glish
(an
d
has
becom
e
ō
i
n
Modern
Englis
h
)
b
ut
becam
e
e
i
o
r
ē
i
n
Old
Scandinavian.
•
That
the
Scandinavian
influence
not
only
affected
the
vocabulary
but
also
extended
to
matters
of
grammar.
•
A
certain
number
of
inflectional
elements
peculiar
to
the
Northumbrian
dialect
have
been
attributed
to
Scandinavian
influence,
among
other
s
th
e
-
s
o
f
th
e
t
hird
person
singular,
present
indicative,
of
verbs
and
the
participial
ending
-
and
(bindand),
corresponding
to
-
en
d
and
-
in
d
i
n
th
e
M
idlands
and
S
o
uth,
and
now
replace
d
b
y
-
ing
.
THANK YOU
The Old English language was influenced by the Celtic, Roman, and Scandinavian languages during its early years in England. The assimilation of Celtic words into Old English can be seen in place-names and vocabulary. Various cities and natural features in England bear traces of Celtic influence, showcasing the lasting impact of Celtic language on the evolution of Old English.
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Presentation Transcript
CH.ARUNA ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH HINDU COLLEGE GUNTUR
1.The Celtic Influence 2.Latin Influence 3.Scandinavian Influence: The Viking Age
In the course of the first 700 years of its existence in England it was brought into contact with at least three other languages, the languages of the Celts, the Romans, and the Scandinavians. From each of these contacts it shows certain effects, especially additions to its vocabulary.
We should find in the Old English vocabulary numerous instances of words that the Anglo- Saxons heard in the speech of the native population and adopted. For it is apparent that the Celts were by no means exterminated except in certain areas, and that in most of England large numbers of them were gradually assimilated into the new culture. The evidence of the place-names in this region lends support the Celtic influence.
Such evidence as there is survives chiefly in place-names. The kingdom of Kent, for example, owes its name to the Celtic word Canti or Cantion, the meaning of which is unknown, while the two ancient Northumbrian kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia derive their designations from Celtic tribal names.
Devonshire contains in the first element the tribal name Dumnonii, Cornwall means the Cornubian Welsh , and the former country Cumberland (now part of Cumbria) is the land of the Cymry or Britons .
Celtic Place-Names and Other Loanwords The name London itself, although the origin of the word is somewhat uncertain, most likely goes back to a Celtic designation. The first syllable of Winchester, Salisbury, Exeter, Gloucester, Worceste r, Lichfield, and a score of other names of cities is traceable to a Celtic source, and the earlier name of Canterbury (Durovernum) is originally Celtic. But it is in the names of rivers and hills and places in proximity to these natural features that the greatest number of Celtic names survive. Thus the Thames is a Celtic river name, and various Celtic words for river or water are preserved in the names Avon, Exe, Esk, Usk, Dover, and Wye.
Celtic Place-Names and Other Loanwords Outside of place-names, however, the influence of Celtic upon the English language is almost negligible. Not more than a score of words in Old English can be traced with reasonable probability to a Celtic source. Within this small number it is possible to distinguish two groups: (1)those that the Anglo Saxons learned through everyday contact with the natives, and (2)those that were introduced by the Irish missionaries in the north. The former were transmitted orally and were of popular character; the latter were connected with religious activities and were more or less learned.
Celtic Place-Names and Other Loanwords As a result of their activity the words ancor (hermit), (magician), cine (agathering of parchment leaves), cross, clugge (bell), gabolrind (compass), mind (diadem), and perhaps cursian (to curse), came into at least partial use in Old English. (history) and
Latin was not the language of a conquered people. It was the language of a highly regarded civilization, one from which the Anglo-Saxons wanted to learn.
Thus there occurred in Old English, as in most of the Germanic languages, a change known as i-umlaut. This change affected certain accented vowels and diphthongs (oe, and when they were followed in the next syllable by an or j. Under such circumstances oe and became , and became The diphthongs ) became became later and became Three Latin Influences on Old English
The first Latin words to find their way into the English language owe their adoption to the early contact between the Romans and the Germanic tribes on the continent. In general, if we are surprised at the number of words acquired from the Romans at so early a date by the Germanic tribes that came to England, we can see nevertheless that the words were such as they would be likely to borrow and such as reflect in a very reasonable way the relations that existed between the two peoples.
It would be hardly too much to say that not five words outside of a few elements found in place-names can be really proved to owe their presence in English to the Roman occupation of Britain. It is probable that the use of Latin as a spoken language did not long survive the end of Roman rule in the island and that such vestiges as remained for a time were lost in the disorders that accompanied the Germanic invasions.
At best, however, the Latin influence of the First Period remains much the slightest of all the influences that Old English owed to contact with Roman civilization. Latin through Celtic Transmission (Latin Influence of the First Period)
The greatest influence of Latin upon Old English was occasioned by the conversion of Britain to Roman Christianity beginning in 597. There was in the kingdom of Kent, in which they landed, a small number of Christians. By the time Augustine died seven years later, the kingdom of Kent had become wholly Christian.
But the great majority of words in Old English having to do with the church and its services, its physical fabric and its ministers, when not of native origin were borrowed at this time. Because most of these words have survived in only slightly altered form in Modern English, the examples may be given in their modern form. The list includes abbot, alms, altar, angel, anthem, Arian, ark, candle, canon, chalice, cleric, cowl, deacon, disciple, epistle, hymn, litany, manna, martyr, mass, minster, noon, nun, offer, organ, pall, palm, pope, priest, provost, psalm, psalter, relic, rule, shrift, shrine, shrive,stole, subdeacon, synod, temple, and tunic.
The Earlier Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary The words cited in these examples are mostly nouns, but Old English borrowed also a number of verbs and adjectives such as spendan (to spend; L. expendere), bem tian (to exchange;L. m t re),dihtan (to compose; L. dict re)p nian (to torture; L. poena), pinsian (to weigh; L. p ns re),pyngan (to prick; L. pungere), sealtian (to dance; L. salt re), temprian (to temper; L. temper re),trifolian (to grind; L. tr bul re), tyrnan (to turn; L. torn re), and crisp (L. crispus, curly ). But enough has been said to indicate the extent and variety of the borrowings from Latin in the early days of Christianity in England and to show how quickly the language reflected the broadened horizon that the English people owed to the church.
The influence of Latin upon the English language rose and fell with the fortunes of the church and the state of learning so intimately connected with it. As a result of the renewed literary activity just described, a new series of Latin importations took place. These differed somewhat from the earlier Christian borrowings in being words of a less popular kind and expressing more often ideas of a scientific and learned character.
Literary and learned words predominate. Of the former kind are accent, brief (the verb), decline (as a term of grammar), history, paper, pumice, quatern (a quire or gathering of leaves in a book), term(inus), title. A great number of plant names are recorded in this period. Many of them are familiar only to readers of old herbals. Some of the better known include celandine, centaury, coriander, cucumber, ginger Influence of the Benedictine Reform on English
The words that Old English borrowed in this period are only a partial indication of the extent to which the introduction of Christianity affected the lives and thoughts of the English people. The English did not always adopt a foreign word to express a new concept. The Anglo-Saxons, for example, did not borrow the Latin word deus, because their own word God was a satisfactory equivalent.
When, for example, the Latin noun planta comes into English as the noun plant and later is made into a verb by the addition of the infinitive ending -ian (plantian)and other inflectional elements, we may feel sure that the word has been assimilated. This happened in a number of cases as in gemartyrian (to martyr), sealmian (to play on the harp), culpian (to humiliate oneself), fersian (to versify), gl san (to gloss), and crispian (to curl). Assimilation is likewise indicated by the use of native formative suffixes such as -d m, -h d, -ung to make a concrete noun into an abstract (martyrd m, martyrh d, martyrung). The Latin influence of the Second Period was not only extensive but thorough and marks the real beginning of the English habit of freely incorporating foreign elements into its vocabulary.
In Old English this wasearly palatalized to sh (written sc),except possibly in the combination scr, whereas in the Scandinavian countries it retained its hard sk sound. Consequently, while native words like ship, shall, fish have sh in Modern English, words borrowed from the Scandinavians are generally still pronounced with sk: sky, skin, skill, scrape, scrub, bask, whisk. The Scandinavian influence is one of the most interesting of the foreign influences that have contributed to the English language
In the same way the retention of the hard pronunciation of k and g in such words as kid, dike (cf. ditch), get, give, gild, and egg is an indication of Scandinavian origin. For example, the Germanic diphthong ai becomes in Old English (and has become in Modern English) but became ei or in Old Scandinavian.
That the Scandinavian influence not only affected the vocabulary but also extended to matters of grammar. A certain number of inflectional elements peculiar to the Northumbrian dialect have been attributed to Scandinavian influence, among others the -s of the third person singular, present indicative, of verbs and the participial ending -and (bindand), corresponding to -end and -ind in the Midlands and South, and now replaced by -ing.
