Simon dominic speaking english series#

The word “brock” (meaning “badger”) is one of the rare exceptions.ĭo we know the names of the first speakers of Old English? Two names are mentioned in ancient legends that tell the story of how the Angles and the Saxons arrived in Britain.Īccording to these legends, the British (when they were still Celtic speakers) asked two Germanic leaders, Hengest and Horsa, to come to Britain to help protect the country after the Romans had left. Very few Celtic words were taken over into Old English. So Old English or Anglo-Saxon is the oldest form of the English language that was spoken and written in England in the early Middle Ages, the period from roughly 450 to 1050.

I teach Old English to students of English at university. From the Angles comes the word “English” and from the Angles and Saxons together comes the word “Anglo-Saxon”. Once they settled in Britain it became Old English, which is also sometimes called “Anglo-Saxon”. The language they spoke is known as North Sea Germanic. These tribes were the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. This Celtic language was rather like Welsh, but again much older than the present-day Welsh language.Īfter the Romans left Britain, Germanic tribes who were on the move throughout Europe in the fifth and sixth centuries invaded. But most of the people who lived in Britain when the Romans were there – and before that too – spoke a Celtic language. The Romans who ruled Britain spoke their language, Latin. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we’ll do our very best.

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Simon dominic speaking english series#

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