The History of English: From an Ancient Dialect to the Lingua Franca

It’s easy to forget that English wasn’t always a global language. After all, you can hear people speaking English in almost every country. You might think it’s always been this way.

English actually has humble origins for such a widely spoken language. Only a few people spoke it fluently until a few centuries ago.

So, how did English become so common and widespread? Let’s follow the history of this language through the ages to see how this ancient dialect became the lingua franca.

Old English: the ancient roots of the language

English developed in the 5th century after three Northern European tribes called the Angles, the Jutes and the Saxons invaded the British Isles. All of them spoke a similar language. After they settled in (what is now) England, all these dialects began to merge into one.

The Angles tribe named the land and the language after themselves. That’s how we got the words England and English. They also gave many English places their names, including a city you may have heard of called ‘Oxford’…

Two centuries later, Vikings began to invade parts of England. These people introduced several thousand new words to the language, some of which are commonly used today. For example, most of the days of the week in English are named for Viking gods – Thursday is actually from ‘Thor’, the Norse god of thunder.

Most English speakers today wouldn’t recognise Old English. For a start, the ancient tribes used runes instead of the Latin alphabet for many hundreds of years. A lot of Old English grammar and vocabulary was also very different from what we use now.

Here’s the start of the Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, to show you what we mean:

Middle English: a time of big changes

In the 11th century, English underwent many changes after the Normans invaded and introduced French and Latin words to the language.

As you may know, the Normans conquered England in 1066 and made William I the king. As the new rulers, they had everyone speak Old Norman French as the official language. This was a mix of German, Norse and Latin.

Many of the Anglo-Saxon people remained in the country although they’d lost their power. They kept speaking the Old English dialect. Over time, Old English and Norman began to mix to create an entirely new language.

There are theories that this is why English often has both a short, casual and a longer, formal version of many words. One set is derived from the language of the French ruling classes and the other is from the Anglo-Saxon farmers. Just compare words from Old English like ‘pretty’ and ‘clever’ with their French-based equivalents ‘beautiful’ and ‘intelligent’.

Again, modern day people would struggle to understand Middle English. The grammar and vocabulary might be familiar, but they’d have to guess a lot of the meaning. Take this writing from the 14th century poet Chaucer, for example:

How much can you understand? Find the modern translation at the end of the blog to check.

Modern English: the impact of the printing press

English people began to standardise the language over the 1400s and 1500s. They began using the same structure, spelling and pronunciation across the country. Historians believe this is mostly due to the introduction of the printing press, which meant there were more books and documents than ever before.

Some changes have remained a mystery. For example, historians can’t explain why everyone started pronouncing vowel sounds differently during this time.

Most fluent speakers should be able to read (and possibly even enjoy) Modern English texts. However, you’re likely to find it challenging due to the strange structure and unfamiliar words. One of the most famous examples of Modern English is Shakespeare.

Take a look at this dialogue from the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Do you understand everything the character Puck is saying? Compare with the modern version at the end of the article.

Late Modern English: global expansion

Two major global events led to English becoming the language we know today.

The first major event was the Industrial Revolution, when people came to rely more on machines in their daily lives. As they invented more technology, they needed new words for all these creations. This started with the introduction of factories, trains and cars in the 19th century and has lasted up to the present day with the Internet, drones and smartphones.

The second global event was globalisation, as different people began to travel more and invent technology to broadcast and communicate across borders. Many countries adopted English as an official language and developed a local version.

This also meant that the English language began to absorb a lot of foreign words. In fact, you can find words from most places – can you match these ones to their original languages? Answers are at the end of the blog.

Closing thoughts

The English language continues to evolve, meaning its story isn’t over yet. Perhaps it will even look very different twenty or thirty years from now.

Keeping up with such a fast-changing language can be challenging. You may find the words you learned last week have already started to be replaced by some new slang. The trick is to surround yourself with English, whether that’s through regular lessons or watching countless films and TV shows.

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

Humble origins (id): starting from a simple background.

Dialect (n): a way of speaking in a specific region or by a certain group.

Tribe (n): a group of people who share the same language, culture and leader.

Rune (n): a type of letter used in old alphabets.

Conquer (v): to take control of a country or area.

Derive (v): to come from somewhere (for ideas).

Standardise (v): to make everything follow the same pattern or rules.

Printing press (phr): a machine used to print books and newspapers.

Dialogue (n): a conversation between two or more people.

Present day (phr): the current time.

Key

id = idiom

n = noun

v = verb

phr = phrase

Chaucer translation:

When April with its sweet-smelling rain,

Ends the drought of March to the root,

And bathes each plant in water,

Creating the flowers.

Shakespeare translation:

‘If we spirits have offended you,

Think this and you’ll feel better,

You just slept here,

While all these things happened.’

Matching exercise answers

1 F

2 G

3 E

4 B

5 A

6 C

7 D