ANGLO-SAXON. Saxon. The language which next disturbed, or rather Angloalmost wholly displaced, the original Keltic, was Anglo-Saxon, the mother tongue of the present English. It was introduced by some tribes from the North of Germany, in the fifth and sixth centuries of our era. The following is the received account of their Saxon ininvasions : : FIRST SAXON INVASION. vasions. A.D. 449. Some Jutes, under Hengist and Horsa, landed Jutes, at Ebbsfleet, in the Isle of Thanet, Kent, where they soon afterwards established the kingdom of Kent. They gradually extended to the Isle of Wight and part of Sussex. SECOND SAXON INVASION. A.D. 477. Some Saxons, under Ella, landed in Sussex, Saxons, and formed the kingdom of Sussex, or South Saxons. They did not extend themselves beyond Sussex. THIRD SAXON INVASION. A.D. 495 Some Saxons, under Cerdic, landed in Hants, Saxons, and formed the kingdom of Wessex, or West Saxons. They afterwards extended their power over Hampshire, Berkshire, part of Surrey, Dorset, Wilts, Bucks, Oxfordshire, and Gloucestershire. Saxons, Angles, Angles, Mercia, FOURTH SAXON INVASION. Some Saxons, under Ercenwin, landed in Essex, and formed the kingdom of Essex, or East Saxons. They afterwards extended their rule over Essex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire. FIFTH SAXON INVASION. Some Angles, under Uffa, landed in Norfolk, and formed the kingdom of East Angles. They afterwards extended their dominion over Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, and Lincolnshire. SIXTH SAXON INVASION. Some Angles, under Ida, landed in Yorkshire, and afterwards established the kingdom of Northumbria. They afterwards extended their dominion over the six northern counties of England, and the Scottish counties south of the friths of Forth and Clyde. The seventh kingdom of the Heptarchy was not formed by a fresh immigration of German tribes, but by a portion of the Anglians already settled in England, under Penda, in 626 A.D. Mercia embraced all the midland counties west of the kingdoms of East Angles and East Saxons, south of that of Northumbria, east of the Severn, and north of the Thames. UNION OF THE ANGLO-SAXON TRIBES INTO ONE KINGDOM. Anglo Egbert, King of Wessex, died in 836 A.D. Union of He had united the Saxon Heptarchy into one Saxon kingdom. By this time, the languages of the various tribes, which were all dialects of the same language, resolved themselves into Anglo-Saxon, our mother tongue. dialects. A.D. 836. Saxon As by far the greatest element in modern AngloEnglish is derived from Anglo-Saxon, words element. from that source cannot be limited to any class or classes of names. matical Anglo words. It will be sufficient to state that the gram- Grammatical structure of English is formed from Structure. that of the Anglo-Saxons; and that of words, all the pronouns, numerals up to a million Classes of (which is Latin), the ordinals, except second Saxon and millionth (which are both Latin), the prepositions proper, conjunctions, and auxiliary verbs, are of Anglo-Saxon origin. The names of the elements, of the seasons, the organs of the body, the modes of bodily action and posture, the words used in earliest childhood, terms of pleasantry, satire, contempt, and anger are for the most part Anglo-Saxon. The monosyllables and words, derived or compounded of monosyllables, which have an independent existence in English, are nearly all Anglo-Saxon. Words beginning with bl, br, dl, gl, gr, k and Anglo- Norse element. From A.D. 800 to A.D. 1020. Classes of Norse words. Geographical terms. Obsolete words. Provincial words. kn, and sh, are Anglo-Saxon; except blame, blanche, blaspheme, blemish, blenche, brace, branch, brief, brick, brilliant, drapery, and dress. All words beginning with ea are AngloSaxon, except eager and eagle. The NORSE or DANISH element in English consists of:: Words coming indirectly through the Normans, who were originally Norwegians: as, Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney; the -ey in these words meaning island in Norse. Words introduced direct either by the Danish pirates or by the followers of Canute. The Danish words in English may be divided into four classes. (1.) Geographical terms: as, Grimsby, Whitby, etc., from the Danish -by, a town. Guernsey, Orkney, etc., from Danish -ey, an island. Seaforth, Frith of Forth, etc., from firth, an inlet. Dungeness, Skipness, etc., from -ness, a head land. Thorpe, Grimsthorpe, etc., from thorpe, a village. Wick, Sandwich, Ipswich, etc., from wick, a bay. (2.) Words found in Old English literature, now obsolete; as, busk, prepare; boun, ready; (in the line, “Busk ye, and boun ye, my merry, merry men "); mark, a coin; neif, a fist. (3.) Provincial words: as, braid, resemble; Provincial cleg, a sharp fellow; flit, to change house; gar, Provin to make; gawm, to stare; greet, to weep; kirk, a church; tarn, a mountain lake. words. (4.) Words retained in the current language; Current as, bait, bray, bustle, chime, dash, dock, doze, dwell, flimsy, fling, gust, ill, ransack, slant, sly, whim. LATIN OF THE SECOND PERIOD. from A.D. A.D. 1066, This element of English was introduced Latin II: under the Christianized Anglo-Saxon kings. It 596 to consists of Latin words, relating to ecclesiastical matters, foreign animals, and plants. At the same time there were introduced some Greek words, though in Latin forms and characters, relating to the same matters. Examples of Latin Ecclesiastical Words. Examples of Greek Alms from eleemosyna. (b) These words must have come through the French. Ecclesiastical Words. Minster from monasterium. Greek ec Angel angelus. Monk monachus. clesiastical. Apostle Archbishop presbyter. canon. |