Yes England! English is the language of the English! But is it? Amanda Montel, a linguist, in her book “Word Slut – a Feminist Guide to taking back the English Language” spends some time on this topic. In this post, I highlight her take. Let’s dig in!

The story goes, that around 5 AD, three Scandinavian tribes with a Germanic dialect, made their way over to the British Isles. These were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. The language they brought into this new found land was called “Englisc”. Amanda says that it sounded a bit like the troll language spoken in the Lord of the Rings – throaty, phlegmy and with lots of rolling r’s. A few centuries later, the Vikings joined the party, bringing their North Germanic languages along. The natives of this conquered land spoke a Celtic language that was pushed out over to the outskirts of the country. The little Celtic left behind combined with all the other languages to become Old English – something we wouldn’t recognize today. This language held firm, and was spoken until William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 AD, bringing the French language along for the ride. 

With the two languages in place, a class separation arose, with the rich upper-class speaking French and the rest English. This uncomfortable situation remained in place for a few centuries. When the Black Death came sweeping in, killing a third of the population, the status of the working class arose, since they were the back bone rebuilding the economy. This brought the English language back to dominance. By then, it had mixed with French, becoming what is now referred to as Middle English (think Canterbury Tales).

In the years to follow, the language goes through dramatic changes with the shortening of vowels, inclusion of new terms discovered through travel and the effects of the European Renaissance. A notable result of the renaissance was the establishment of the printing press. This invention brought with it the need to standardize the language and streamline spelling and grammar. The dialect used in London became the standard form of English because this is where the majority of publishing houses were headquartered. The year 1604 sees the publication of the first English dictionary, containing 2,449 words. English Dictionaries now have almost 500,000 words.

So there you have it! The twists and turns that brought you the language that you are now reading!