Bad English In Thread Titles

Jim is probably the one BB member who actually speaks true English. :thumbs:

 

That may have been true 700+ years ago. The language is so mottled up with German, French, Spanish and many other languages that it no longer resembles the original tongue or dialect. Yet Jim just might be that old. :laugh:

 

The beard is deceptively bleached!

English did not become the common language in Southern England until the 1300's with Chaucer. German was the common language of royalty; Latin the common language of academica; French was commonly spoken amongst the people along with the Celtic languages....English is comprised of many languages from the continent. English is a tough language to learn properly. Even to-day there are some 18 dialects spoken around England, and some you wouldn't have a clue what they are on about.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Always good to have a guy who was around so can remember when all the changes took place... Looks like your memory is razor sharp Mr. Jim... :thumbsup:

 

Some of this differs from my learning... The Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and a few Frisians invaded Britain in the 5th century and especially began conquering the native Celts after the Romans abandoned the island. These Germanic tribes drove the Celts to the west and many fled Britain for Ireland or France, the area that came to be known as Brittany. The Angles conquered the most land, in the east and in north up to Hadrian's Wall, and somehow the entire country became known as Land of the Angles-- Englii--> England. There were 7 major kingdoms (the Heptarchy) and England and English was just beginning to flower as writing began in the 8th century (before then, the dialects of the tribes were almost completely oral/unwritten). But then new invaders, the Vikings began conquering the kingdoms, and all fell except the most advanced, King Alfred's Wessex (kingdom of the West Saxons). This kingdom stood and saved the English language, and finally made a treaty with the Viking Danes-- a basically northwest-to-southeast line, with Old Norse spoken in the Danelaugh NE and the Saxon's English to the SW. In the Danelaugh Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon gradually converged, having been similar to begin with. But then, William of Normandy believed he had a claim to the Saxon throne, and seeing a vast comet (Halley's, it turned out), thought the time had come in 1066 to usurp that throne over Harold, whom he beheaded, and Harold's kingdom, which he soom conquered, plus the rest of England. The king and his nobles-- to whom he granted fiefs of land with the conquered Anglo-Saxons to work it-- spoke French. So French was the language of nobility, authority, and power, while English was still spoken by the common people. Again there was convergence, with about 10,000 new words added to English vocacbulary from French. By the time Chaucer came along, he consciously decided to publish his Canterbury Tales in English, and the language has not been threatened with extinction since; indeed it was taken to all parts of the world through the British Empire. In England and Britain itself, differing accents and dialects still exist, which can be traced all the way back to the Heptarchy and the Danelaugh. "Standard English" came from the London/Oxford/Cambridge triangle, as the sources of power and learning. Scots English is notable as a dialect through the writings of Robert Burns and others; Yorkshire English (I'd like to addle some brass there some time) is a dialect derived from the Vikings, et al.

So, if "German was the common language of royalty," when and where did this start? With William of Hanover, perhaps?

 

I just saw a thread, "Origianal Sin" posted. :type:

 

OK, I only looked up the one spelling. :tongue3:

 

Oh, ooops!

Did you get "mayonaise" on the Forum for Polls yet?

 

Bad English In Thread Titles

 

True, that.

 

I am a bad speller, and learning a second language did not help me at all. I try mix phonics and grammar rules all the time, however I tend go agree with Rippon. We should try our best to watch our spelling and grammar. My Safari browser has automatic spell check. It has been wonderful for me.