English and its relationship with French
1
Introduction
English is part of the Germanic group of languages, and is descended from the language known as
proto-Germanic which developed around the same time as Latin and whose speakers settled in
North-West Europe after the dispersion of the Indo-Europeans between 4000 and 3000 BC. There
are no records of this language, but it is known that it split into three forms:
North Germanic, which is the parent language of such languages as Norwegian, Danish
and Swedish;
East Germanic, now completely disappeared but which gave rise to Burgundian (whose
speakers settled in Southern France), Vandal (whose speakers invaded North Africa and
Spain and gave their name to Andalucia) and Gothic;
West Germanic, the parent language of such languages as German, Dutch and English.
English owes its existence to a number of languages including:
Britannic, the language of the Celtic peoples living in Britain prior to the Roman invasions,
and which survives today in Welsh and Breton. This is to be differentiated from Gaelic, the
language of the Irish Celts which subsequently spread to Scotland (Scots Gaelic) and the
Isle of Man (Manx);
Anglo-Saxon or Old English, the language of the Germanic peoples who invaded Britain
after the withdrawal of the Roman garrisons;
Old Norse, the language of the Vikings;
French, the language of the Normans.
2
The Roman and Anglo-Saxon invasions
In the last few decades BC the Romans launched two invasions of the land they
called Britannia, in 55 BC under Julius Caesar and in 43 BC under Aulus Plautius
and the Emperor Claudius. After some considerable struggle, most notably with
the forces of the British chieftain Caractacus, the territory was brought into the realms of the
Roman Empire. Although there was a considerable Romanization of British culture, particularly in
the South, for reasons of geography and numbers the Romans did not impose themselves
linguistically to the same extent as they did in Gaul.