Language focus

We have seen how English began with the arrival of the Germanic tribes and how it was subsequently altered by the language of the Vikings. The next major influence came from the Normans and after the Norman Conquest in 1066, the language spoken in England is considered to be Middle English. Norman became the language…

We’ve previously seen how various Germanic tribes settled in what is now England and how, over time, their language started to take precedence. The Celtic languages remained in corners of the British Isles; in Scotland, Wales and Cornwall; but other than that, Old English was spoken – Old English being the name given to the…

Languages are constantly evolving and it can be difficult to define when a language actually began. Many people consider that English started to take shape when several Germanic tribes, including the Angles, Saxons, Frisians and Jutes started trading with the Roman Empire. Over a period of centuries, these tribes adopted words from Latin, including several…

The word dialect is sometimes misunderstood. As dialect tends to go hand in hand with accent, the terms are often used interchangeably, but this is inaccurate. While accent refers to the way a person pronounces words, dialect is concerned with the words themselves and the grammar a person uses. So what does distinguish a dialect…