Influence of the Language of Latin on English I. Introduction: The influence of Latin on Old English was profound. Reason: It wa

Influence of the Language of Latin on English
    Good morning. Welcome to our Lexicology class. In today’s lecture, we’ll get to know one of the most ancient languages and even now widely used almost in various fields (such as; medicine, learning, science, technology, etc.)- That is the language of Latin, which has been influencing English throughout its history. Its authority on English was profound as the Roman army and merchants gave new names to local objects such as: pea, cat, kettle, candle and a numerous number of other common words.
    The influence of Latin on Old English was profound because Latin was considered the language of a highly developed civilization. The English language has drawn from Latin mainly in its vocabulary, but also in its grammar. (2) These loans are grouped, by time and substance, into five periods—the Zero, First, Second, Third, and Modern. Each of these has distinctive characteristics, both of the Latin words adopted and the process of assimilation undergone. Latin words have also been adopted to English through Modern French, Modern Italian and Norman French.
    First, let’s go to the first period; the Zero Period.
    It includes all English words whose etymology traces back to Germanic tribes in contact with Romans on the continent. These are all short words, easily adaptable to the inflections of early Germanic languages. (3) The tribes’ dealings with the Romans were centered in military matters, cooking, trade, and commerce, especially with wine merchants. Words current in Modern English with recognizable forms include camp, kettle, cheap, and wine.
    Then comes the First Period.
    This period includes words borrowed during Julius Caesar’s English adventures (55 BC) and the Roman Conquest (43 - 449 AD) , but almost none of these survived the Teutonic and Norman invasions. (4) In fact, most Celtic words in Modern English either were borrowed from recently or continued as place names, such as Kent, Devon and Cumberland. The most interesting Latin-Celtic-Old English path is that of -chester, with its variants -cester and -caster, as found in Manchester, Gloucester, and Lancaster. In Celtic, it is -ceaster, from the Latin -castra meaning encampment.
    And next is the Second Period.
    This period, dating from Augustine’s mission of 597, is divided into two main sub-periods, the Early and the Benedictine. (5) The Early Second Period includes words taken by the English to describe their new religion (such as mass, pope) , but also household words (such as cap, plant) and those relating to education (Latin and school). The amount and miscellany of the borrowings show the extent of Christianity’s immediate impact on seventh-century Britain. In this part of the Second Period, direct translation of Latin terms is characteristic. (6) Thus, the Late Latin trinitas (meaning three) is the Old English prines, and the Late Latin resurrectio (meaning resurrection) is the Old English aerist (meaning to arise).
    Following that is the Third Period.
    The Third Period begins in 1066 with William the Conqueror. With the Norman invasion came their language, Norman French, which was related more closely to Latin than was English. Because of this closeness, (7) words adopted from French (usually of a more conversational character) are considered along with those drawn from Latin itself (often more learned, and first found in written language). The dual sources of Middle English vocabulary are still apparent today: word pairs such as example/exemplary and machine/machinate show the differences between words with Norman and Latin roots. (8) This period is the first time that un-translated Latin words are introduced wholesale, in both prose and poetry. As one Latin-English translator complained in the early 1400s, ’ There are many words in Latin that we have no proper English accordance. ’ Almost all of these terms passed into general use only after being reintroduced. Others still current were from Wycliffe’s Bible, and gained currency through constant use.
    The last period is the Modern Period.
    The Modern Period begins with the advent of Modern English, usually dated to 1500. By the time of Thomas Eliot, the classical languages were entering English mostly as compounds, either with English or previously-assimilated words, or with her classical roots. An incomplete list of widely used classical roots includes -ation, -ana, -tie, -ism, ex-, co-, -ist, and de-, (9) while scientific English uses many more specialized ones: mille-, matri-, menti-, and reticul-, though these often come ultimately from the Greek. Latin roots are also apparent in commercial names, especially of high-tech companies, but also in many from the early days of this century. Classically derived names seem to give credence to claims to knowledge and capability.
    As to Latin’s impact on English grammar, we have to say Latin’s contribution to modern English has not been based solely on derivatives. (10) The very ideas of grammar also came from the artificial structure of Classical Latin (the Latin used for poetry, oratory, and by the upper classes) . Early English was in no way an artificial or learned language, and had no grammar, no rules, nothing but conflicting precedent in everything: spelling, word order, declension, and conjugation. In this structural vacuum, those who wanted order were forced to create it, which they did by imposing classical grammar on the language. These early grammarians are the source of the stigma on ending a phrase with a preposition, of the choice we have today between who/which and that as a relative pronoun, and with the absolute participle, whose first use in English was direct translation from the Latin. While the last is a benefit, the first two lead to unnaturally worded phrases, and have no justification other than classical grammar.
    So above all, Latin is so large a part of English that, even if we wanted to, we could not get rid of even one tenth of our words derived from it. Even our grammar, which has been influenced less than our vocabulary, would be amazingly different without its Latin base.
    Well, so much for today’s lecture, in which we get a touch on some of the influences of Latin on English. Next time, we may move on to some interesting phenomena that appear in the language of English. See you next week.