A very moderate acquaintance with Latin will solve such words like abbreviation, accumulation or agriculture, and little Greek will enable us to understand the sense of amphibious and anthropology . In addition, we have to remember a vast masses of French words with which English abounds.

Another not common delusion is that knowledge of German will solve native English words; that fact being that of all the Tentonic language, the modern German is usually the most remote from Middle English and Anglo-Saxon. The most useful Tentonic language is Gothic; and it is always advisable to trace native or Scandinavian words back to their Anglo-Saxon or Norse forms.

Latin sounded like English. It was the natural result of pronouncing Latin and English alike at all dates. It began in Beda¡¦s time, in that 7th century, when Northumbrian English was pronounce like Latin, yet differently from modern language.

During the next few centuries, four dialects of English were developed: Northumbrian in Northumbria, north of the Humber, Mercian in the Kingdom of Mercia, West Saxon in the Kingdom of Wessex, Kentish in Kent.

It wasn't till the 14th Century that English became dominant in Britain again. In 1399, King Henry IV became the first king of England since the Norman Conquest whose mother tongue was English. By the end of the 14th Century, the dialect of London had emerged as the standard dialect of what we now call Middle English. Chaucer wrote in this language.

Many pairs of English and Norse words coexisted giving us two words with the same or slightly differing meanings.

By this time, the vocabulary of Old English consisted of an Anglo-Saxon base with borrowed words from the Scandinavian languages, Danish and/or Norse and Latin. Latin gave English words like street, kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, angel, bishop, martyr and candle. The Vikings added many Norse words such as sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window, husband, fellow, skill, anger, they, their and them.

Some topics in this essay:
Yearly English, , Latin English, Written English, Scotland Angles, Modern English, Northumbrian English, North Sea, Norman Conquest, Britain French, english „h, norse words, words english, west saxon, english words, language modern, middle english, latin latin, latin english, 14th century,