AngloSaxon Language Essay -- essays papers

AngloSaxon Language Nearly all knowledge of the English phrase before the seventh ascorbic acid is hypothetical. Most of this knowledge is based on later English documents and earlier documents in related languages (3). The English language of today represents many centuries of education. As a continuous process, the development of the English language began in England around the year 449 with the arrival of several Germanic tribes including the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes (1, p.49). English, like all other languages, is subject to unending growth and decay (1). Many of the political and social events that have so profoundly affected the English people in their life have by and large had an impact on their language (1). The evolution and developmental changes of Anglo-Saxon Language and Modern English have been characterized by three basic periods Old English, center English, and Modern English.Old English was spoken and indite in England during the early part of the Middle Ages, from about 600-1100 (2). The languages earliest stage of development was known as Old English (OE) (3). The four main varieties of the language that were taken to Britain were Kentish which was associated with the Jutes West Saxon, from the Southern region, Wessex Mercian, an Anglian dialect which was spoken in Mercia and Northumbrian, one of the north Anglian dialects (3). The vocabulary expanded chiefly through compounding and derivation, but there were also a few changes in meaning that contributed to this growth (3, p473). The first written form of the language was runic letters which was replaced by a modified version of the Roman alphabet during the Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity (3). Very little of OE cou... ...atus of presumable importance among the world (1). Although the Germanic dialects that migrated in the 5th century to Britain have expanded into a 20th century global common language, the position that the language will occupy in the futur e is still uncertain (3p472).BibliographyWorks CitedBaugh, A.C. & Cable, T. (1987). A History of the English Language. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall, Inc.Lynch, J. (2002, January). History of the English Language. Online. usable Internet dept.English.upenn.edu Directory lynch/terms File accountMcArthur, T. (1992). The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford, NY Oxford University Press.Oxford English Dictionary. (2002, January). History of the Dictionary. Online. Available Internet www.oed.com Directory public/inside File history