THE INVASION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

People often complain that English words are corrupting the purity of their native language. Adrian Wallwork[38] argues that English is such a hotch-potch of influences that the words the British export have probably already been borrowed from elsewhere.

Open nearly any foreign newspaper or magazine and you will find a wealth of English words, from the world of business (market, computer, partner, meeting) to the world of leisure (weekend, snob, nightclub, striptease, on the rocks). Some countries object to this influx of English and American expressions in their language and they try to combat them, just as many British people react strongly to Americanisms. What they all forget is that the English language has borrowed far more words than it has subsequently “lent”.

Did you know that 4% of the words in the Oxford English Dictionary come from French and that thousands of words have been borrowed from other languages, notably Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish and German? And were you aware that some of the most common English words such as their and them are not of strictly English origin? So how did this situation come about?

The first Britons to speak used a language called Indo European, which was spoken in Europe and parts of Asia. This language was made up of various dialects one of which became Celtic and was spoken in Britain till about 2 000 years ago.

How and when the Celts came to England is still a mystery, but though their language still survives in Irish, Scots Gaclic, Welsh and Breton, it has made virtually no impression on the language we speak today. The same is true of the Latin used by the Romans, who invaded England in 55 BC and stayed for 500 years. The few words that survive from this period are mainly place names.

The Anglo-Saxon component of the language, the vocabulary makes up a large part of the everyday spoken language, is a result of invasions and settlements made by the Jutes, Saxons and Angles in 449. The invaders came from what is now the North sea coast of Germany and Holland. These Germanic migrants brought with them their own languages and they settled in different parts of the country. These languages or dialects eventually unified into a language considerably more complicated than it is today, with its genders, declensions and irregular verbs (only some of which remain today). Basic words which survive from this era include the, that, this, break, find and, strange though it may seem, the Anglo-Saxons pronounced all the letters of the words.

About 150 years after these invasions Christianity was introduced into England by St Augustine and the country became a centre of learning. Many Latin words were introduced and obviously the majority were religious: angel, mass, nun, priest.

All this was destroyed when the Vikings invaded between 787 and 850. These Norwegians and Danes brought with them some very basic words: they, them, their, husband, die, take, want and (the bane of many a foreign student of English) phrasal verbs – to take up, take down, take in, take out, take off, take on, take from, take to.

The backbone of the English vocabulary was thus provided by the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, the finer trimmings and intellectual words came with the Normans and later from Latin and Greek during the Renaissance.

In 1066, the Normans successfully defeated and then later imposed themselves and their language on the British people. It took nearly 300 years before English again became the official language. During these three centuries literature was written in English, French and Latin; the language of law and administration was French; most religious works were in Latin but the lower strata of society continued to speak in English. When English was written again it was obviously fairly muddled. Thousands of French words were introduced at this time – in administration – government, state, tax; in religion – clergy, damnation; in law – judge, jury, defendant; in fashion – dress, coat, frock and many others.

With the advent of printing during the Renaissance there was an increase in scholarship and books printed on the continent soon reached England, bringing with them a host of new words, the majority Latin and Greek – genius, habitual, expectation, athlete, catastrophe, idiosyncrasy, protagonist.

It was believed that all learned works should be written in Latin and when it came to translating these works into English, it was found that there was often no English equivalent and words had to be borrowed. The result of this was the need for a dictionary of “hard words” the first of which was published in 1604.

The influx of French and classical words on the already healthy Anglo-Saxon vocabulary has made English probably the most expressive language in the world as far as actual word power is concerned: the Oxford English Dictionary lists over 500,000 words and there are perhaps another half million technical words. An Englishman should thus have a word for every occasion, be it formal or informal. Anglo-Saxon words are full of warmth and character, they are very earthy, whilst the Greek and Romance words are more cold, intellectual and emotionless. Compare hug with embrace, freedom with liberty, brotherhood with fraternity, meekness with humility and easy with facile. Precisely because of these differences a foreign student with a Romance mother tongue is likely to appear rude or cold if he/she tends to use words from the classical side of the English vocabulary.

Between 1500 and 1600 the vocabulary increased by nearly 40%, and by the 18^th century very strong complaints were being made about the prevalence of foreign words in the language. Many words were the result of trade and war between countries. From Italian England imported squadron, parapet, traffic; from Spanish and Portuguese comrade, parade, cargo, apricot, alligator; and from Dutch dock, cruise, schooner and dollar. The language by this time had virtually settled down, though the spelling, pronunciation and usage of some words have subsequently changed.

Also at this time England’s empire was beginning to expand and another stage in the process of the enrichment of the language was set in motion. Not only did England steal a lot of goods and ideas from the colonised countries, but also a number of words. Australia gave English kangaroo, wombat and boomerang; India contributed cashmere, curry, bungalow, jungle and thug; and from Cuba and the West Indies came barbecue, hurricane, potato and tobacco.

Obviously the growth of trade and communication between all countries of the world, not merely those of the Empire, has also added to the English vocabulary but now more than ever it is English that is contributing to other languages rather than the other way round. English still borrows from Latin and Greek, especially in the worlds of science and technology – oxygen, hibernate, vitamin, nylon and television; but less so from living languages. French words are still borrowed more than any others, especially words connected with the arts and fashion – blouse, chic, rouge. From Germany a few scientific words have been borrowed – paraffin, cobalt and quartz; from Italy – confetti, mafia, pizza, spaghetti, vendetta; from Russia – bolshevik, Tsar and from Afrikaans – apartheid. The methods of enriching the English vocabulary may well have turned full circle as the language has once again become subject to a direct foreign influence with the advent of immigration from India, Pakistan and Jamaica.

Today there are over 130 languages spoken in Britain, and in Inner London one in seven schoolchildren come from immigrant families. So far the effect on the language has been fairly minimal (limited to the names of goods, clothes and music) but as the various cultures mingle together, words will undoubtedly be borrowed and exchanged, thus ensuring English’s prominence as the language which most prolifically adopts foreign words. What Daniel Defoe wrote nearly 300 years ago is still true today: “An Englishman has his mouth full of borrowed phrases … he is always borrowing other men’s language”.

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