4 Foreign Influences on Old English 53. The Contact of English with Other Languages. The language that was described in the preceding chapter was not merely the product of the dialects brought to England by the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles. These formed its basis, the sole basis of its grammar and the source of by far the largest part of its vocabulary. But other elements entered into it. In the course of the first 700 years of its existence in England it was brought into contact with at least three other languages, the languages of the Celts, the Romans, and the Scandinavians. From each of these contacts it shows certain effects, especially additions to its vocabulary. The nature of these contacts and the changes that were effected by them will form the subject of this chapter. 54. The Celtic Influence. Nothing would seem more reasonable than to expect that the conquest of the Celtic population of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons and the subsequent mixture of the two peoples should have resulted in a corresponding mixture of their languages; that consequently we should find in the Old English vocabulary numerous instances of words that the Anglo- Saxons heard in the speech of the native population and adopted. For it is apparent that the Celts were by no means exterminated except in certain areas, and that in most of England large numbers of them were gradually assimilated into the new culture. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that at Andredesceaster or Pevensey a deadly struggle occurred between the native population and the newcomers and that not a single Briton was left alive. The evidence of the place-names in this region lends support to the statement. But this was probably an exceptional case. In the east and southeast, where the Germanic conquest was fully accomplished at a fairly early date, it is probable that there were fewer survivals of a Celtic population than elsewhere. Large numbers of the defeated fled to the west. Here it is apparent that a considerable Celtic-speaking population survived until fairly late times. Some such situation is suggested by a whole cluster of Celtic place-names in the northeastern corner of Dorsetshire.1 It is altogether likely that many Celts were held as slaves by the conquerors and that many of the Anglo- Saxons chose Celtic mates. In parts of the island, contact between the two peoples must have been constant and in some districts intimate for several generations. A history of the english language 68 55. Celtic Place-Names and Other Loanwords. When we come, however, to seek the evidence for this contact in the English language, investigation yields very meager results. Such evidence as there is survives chiefly in place-names.2 The kingdom of Kent, for example, owes its name to the Celtic word Canti or Cantion, the meaning of which is unknown, while the two ancient Northumbrian kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia derive their designations from Celtic tribal names. Other districts, especially in the west and southwest, preserve in their present-day names traces of their earlier Celtic designations. Devonshire contains in the first element the tribal name Dumnonii, Cornwall means the ‘Cornubian Welsh’, and the former county Cumberland (now part of Cumbria) is the ‘land of the Cymry or Britons’. Moreover, a number of important centers in the Roman period have names in which Celtic elements are embodied. The name London itself, although the origin of the word is somewhat uncertain, most likely goes back to a Celtic designation. The first syllable of Winchester, Salisbury, Exeter, Gloucester, Worcester, Lichfield, and a score of other names of cities is traceable to a Celtic source, and the earlier name of Canterbury (Durovernum) is originally Celtic. But it is in the names of rivers and hills and places in proximity to these natural features that the greatest number of Celtic names survive. Thus the Thames is a Celtic river name, and various Celtic words for river or water are preserved in the names Avon, Exe, Esk, Usk, Dover, and Wye. Celtic words meaning ‘hill’ are found in place- names like Barr (cf. Welsh bar ‘top’, ‘summit’), Bredon (cf. Welsh bre ‘hill), Bryn Mawr (cf. Welsh bryn ‘hill and mawr ‘great’), Creech, Pendle (cf. Welsh pen ‘top’), and others. Certain other Celtic elements occur more or less frequently such as cumb (a deep valley) in names like Duncombe, Holcombe, Winchcombe; torr (high rock, peak) in Torr, Torcross, 1 R.E.Zachrisson, Romans, Kelts, and Saxons in Ancient Britain (Uppsala, Sweden, 1927), p. 55. 2 An admirable survey of the Celtic element in English place-names is given by E.Ekwall in the Introduction to the Survey of English Place-Names, ed. A.Mawer and F.M.Stenton for the English Place-Name Society, 1, part 1 (Cambridge, UK, 1924), pp. 15–35. Foreign influences on old english 69 Torhill; pill (a tidal creek) in Pylle, Huntspill; and brocc (badger) in Brockholes, Brockhall, etc. Besides these purely Celtic elements a few Latin words such as castra, fontana, fossa, portus, and vīcus were used in naming places during the Roman occupation of the island and were passed on by the Celts to the English. These will be discussed later. It is natural that Celtic place-names should be more common in the west than in the east and southeast, but the evidence of these names shows that the Celts impressed themselves upon the Germanic consciousness at least to the extent of causing the newcomers to adopt many of the local names current in Celtic speech and to make them a permanent part of their vocabulary. Outside of place-names, however, the influence of Celtic upon the English language is almost negligible. Not more than a score of words in Old English can be traced with reasonable probability to a Celtic source. Within this small number it is possible to distinguish two groups: (1) those that the AngloSaxons learned through everyday contact with the natives, and (2) those that were introduced by the Irish missionaries in the north. The former were transmitted orally and were of popular character; the latter were connected with religious activities and were more or less learned. The popular words include binn (basket, crib), bratt (cloak), and brocc (brock or badger); a group of words for geographical features that had not played much part in the experience of the Anglo- Saxons in their continental home—crag, luh (lake), cumb (valley), and torr3 (outcropping or projecting rock, peak), the two latter chiefly as elements in place-names; possibly the words dun (dark colored), and ass (ultimately from Latin asinus). Words of the second group, those that came into English through Celtic Christianity, are likewise few in number. In 563 St. Columba had come with twelve monks from Ireland to preach to his kinsmen in Britain. On the little island of lona off the west coast of Scotland he established a monastery and made it his headquarters for the remaining thirty-four years of his life. From this center many missionaries went out, founded other religious houses, and did much to spread Christian doctrine and learning. As a result of their activity the words ancor (hermit), (magician), cine (a gathering of parchment leaves), cross, clugge (bell), gabolrind (compass), mind (diadem), and perhaps (history) and cursian (to curse), came into at least partial use in Old English. It does not appear that many of these Celtic words attained a very permanent place in the English language. Some soon died out, and others acquired only local currency. The relation of the two peoples was not such as to bring 3 Cf. E.Ekwall, “Zu zwei keltischen Lehnwörtern in Altenglischen,” Englische Studien, 54 (1920), 102–10. A history of the english language 70 about any considerable influence on English life or on English speech. The surviving Celts were a submerged people. The Anglo-Saxon found little occasion to adopt Celtic modes of expression, and the Celtic influence remains the least of the early influences that affected the English language. 56. Three Latin Influences on Old English. If the influence of Celtic upon Old English was slight, it was doubtless so because the relation of the Celt to the Anglo-Saxon was that of a submerged culture and because the Celt was not in a position to make notable contributions to Anglo-Saxon civilization. It was quite otherwise with the second great influence exerted upon English—that of Latin—and the circumstances under which they met. Latin was not the language of a conquered people. It was the language of a highly regarded civilization, one from which the Anglo-Saxons wanted to learn. Contact with that civilization, at first commercial and military, later religious and intellectual, extended over many centuries and was constantly renewed. It began long before the Anglo-Saxons came to England and continued throughout the Old English period. For several hundred years, while the Germanic tribes who later became the English were still occupying their continental homes, they had various relations with the Romans through which they acquired a considerable number of Latin words. Later when they came to England they saw the evidences of the long Roman rule in the island and learned from the Celts additional Latin words that had been acquired by them. And a century and a half later still, when Roman missionaries reintroduced Christianity into the island, this new cultural influence resulted in a quite extensive adoption of Latin elements into the language. There were thus three distinct occasions on which borrowing from Latin occurred before the end of the Old English period, and it will be of interest to consider more in detail the character and extent of these borrowings. 57. Chronological Criteria. In order to form an accurate idea of the share that each of these three periods had in extending the resources of the English vocabulary it is first necessary to determine as closely as possible the date at which each of the borrowed words entered the language. This is naturally somewhat difftcult to do, and in the case of some words it is impossible. But in a large number of cases it is possible to assign a word to a given period with a high degree of probability and often with certainty. It will be instructive to pause for a moment to inquire how this is done. The evidence that can be employed is of various kinds and naturally of varying value. Most obvious is the appearance of the word in literature. If a given word occurs with fair frequency in texts such as Beowulf, or the poems of Cynewulf, such occurrence indicates that the word has had time to pass into current use and that it came into English not later than the early part of the period of Christian influence. But it does not tell us how much earlier it was known in the language, because the earliest written records in English do Foreign influences on old english 71 not go back beyond the year 700. Moreover the late appearance of a word in literature is no proof of late adoption. The word may not be the kind of word that would naturally occur very often in literary texts, and so much of Old English literature has been lost that it would be very unsafe to argue about the existence of a word on the basis of existing remains. Some words that are not found recorded before the tenth century (e.g., pīpe ‘pipe’, cīese ‘cheese’) can be assigned confidently on other grounds to the period of continental borrowing. The character of the word sometimes gives some clue to its date. Some words are obviously learned and point to a time when the church had become well established in the island. On the other hand, the early occurrence of a word in several of the Germanic dialects points to the general circulation of the word in the Germanic territory and its probable adoption by the ancestors of the English on the continent. Testimony of this kind must of course be used with discrimination. A number of words found in Old English and in Old High German, for example, can hardly have been borrowed by either language before the Anglo-Saxons migrated to England but are due to later independent adoption under conditions more or less parallel, brought about by the introduction of Christianity into the two areas. But it can hardly be doubted that a word like copper, which is rare in Old English, was nevertheless borrowed on the continent when we find it in no less than six Germanic languages. Much the most conclusive evidence of the date at which a word was borrowed, however, is to be found in the phonetic form of the word. The changes that take place in the sounds of a language can often be dated with some definiteness, and the presence or absence of these changes in a borrowed word constitutes an important test of age. A full account of these changes would carry us far beyond the scope of this book, but one or two examples may serve to illustrate the principle. Thus there occurred in Old English, as in most of the Germanic languages, a change known as i-umlaut4 This change affected certain accented vowels and diphthongs (œ, and ) when they were followed in the next syllable by an or j. Under such circumstances œ and ă became ĕ, and became ā became and became The diphthongs became later Thus *baŋkiz>benc (bench), *mūsiz> plural of mūs (mouse), etc. The change occurred in English in the course of the seventh century, and when we find it taking place in a word borrowed from Latin it indicates that the Latin word had 4 Umlaut is a German word meaning ‘alteration of sound’. In English this is sometimes called mutation. A history of the english language 72 been taken into English by that time. Thus Latin monēta (which became *munit in Prehistoric OE)>mynet (a coin, Mod. E. mint) and is an early borrowing. Another change (even earlier) that helps us to date a borrowed word is that known as palatal diphthongization. By this sound-change an or in early Old English was changed to a diphthong ( and respectively) when preceded by certain palatal consonants (ċ, ġ, sc). OE cīese (L. cāseus, cheese), mentioned above, shows both i–umlaut and palatal diphthongization In many words evidence for date is furnished by the sound-changes of Vulgar Latin. Thus, for example, an intervocalic p (and p in the combination pr) in the late Latin of northern Gaul (seventh century) was modified to a sound approximating a v, and the fact that L. cuprum, coprum (copper) appears in OE as copor with the p unchanged indicates a period of borrowing prior to this change (cf. F. cuivre). Again Latin ĭ changed to ẹ before A.D. 400 so that words like OE biscop (L. episcopus), disc (L. discus), sigel, ‘brooch’ (L. sigillum), etc., which do not show this change, were borrowed by the English on the continent. But enough has been said to indicate the method and to show that the distribution of the Latin words in Old English among the various periods at which borrowing took place rests not upon guesses, however shrewd, but upon definite facts and upon fairly reliable phonetic inferences. 58. Continental Borrowing (Latin Influence of the Zero Period). The first Latin words to find their way into the English language owe their adoption to the early contact between the Romans and the Germanic tribes on the continent. Several hundred Latin words found in the various Germanic dialects at an early date—some in one dialect only, others in several—testify to the extensive intercourse between the two peoples. The Germanic population within the empire by the fourth century is estimated at several million. They are found in all ranks and classes of society, from slaves in the fields to commanders of important divisions of the Roman army. Although they were scattered all over the empire, they were naturally most numerous along the northern frontier. This stretched along the Rhine and the Danube and bordered on Germanic territory. Close to the border was Treves, in the third and fourth centuries the most flourishing city in Gaul, already boasting Christian churches, a focus of eight military roads, where all the luxury and splendor of Roman civilization were united almost under the gaze of the Germanic tribes on the Moselle and the Rhine. Traders, Germanic as well as Roman, came and went, while Germanic youth returning from within the empire must have carried back glowing accounts of Roman cities and Roman life. Such intercourse between the two peoples was certain to carry words from one language to the other. The frequency of the intercourse may naturally be expected to diminish somewhat as one recedes from the borders of the empire. Roman military operations, for example, seldom extended as far as the district occupied by the Angles or the Jutes. But after the conquest of Gaul by Caesar, Roman merchants quickly found their way into all parts of the Germanic territory, even into Scandinavia, so that the inhabitants of these more remote sections were by no means cut off from Roman influence. Moreover, Foreign influences on old english 73 intercommunication between the different Germanic tribes was frequent and made possible the transference of Latin words from one tribe to another. In any case some sixty words from the Latin can be credited with a considerable degree of probability to the ancestors of the English in their continental homes. The adopted words naturally indicate the new conceptions that the Germanic peoples acquired from this contact with a higher civilization. Next to agriculture the chief occupation of the Germanic tribes in the empire was war, and this experience is reflected in words like camp (battle), segn (banner), pīl (pointed stick, javelin), weall (wall), pytt (pit), (road, street), mīl (mile), and miltestre (courtesan). More numerous are the words connected with trade. They traded amber, furs, slaves, and probably certain raw materials for the products of Roman handicrafts, articles of utility, luxury, and adornment. The words cēap (bargain; cf. Eng., cheap, chapman) and mangian (to trade) with its derivatives mangere (monger), mangung (trade, commerce), and mangunghūs (shop) are fundamental, while pund (pound), mydd (bushel), sēam (burden, loan), and mynet (coin) are terms likely to be employed. From the last word Old English formed the words mynetian (to mint or coin) and mynetere (money-changer). One of the most important branches of Roman commerce with the Germanic peoples was the wine trade: hence such words in English as wīn (wine), must (new wine), eced (vinegar), and flasce5 (flask, bottle). To this period are probably to be attributed the words cylle (L. culleus, leather bottle), cyrfette (L. curcurbita, gourd), and sester (jar, pitcher). A number of the new words relate to domestic life and designate household articles, clothing, and the like: cytel (kettle; L. catillus, catīnus) mēse (table), scamol (L. scamellum, bench, stool; cf. modern shambles), teped (carpet, curtain; L. tapētum), pyle (L. pulvinus, pillow), pilece (L. pellicia, robe of skin), and sigel (brooch, necklace; L. sigillum). Certain other words of a similar kind probably belong here, although the evidence for their adoption thus early is not in every case conclusive: cycene (kitchen; L. coquīna), cuppe (L. cuppa, cup), disc (dish; L. discus), cucler (spoon; L. cocleārium), mortere 5 The OE flasce should have become flash in Modern English, so that the word was probably reintroduced later and may have been influenced (as the OED suggests) by the Italian fiasco. (L. mortārium, a mortar, a vessel of hard material), līnen (cognate with or from L. līnum, flax), līne (rope, line; L. līnea), and gimm (L. gemma, gem). The speakers of the Germanic dialects adopted Roman words for certain foods, such as cīese (L. cāseus cheese), spelt (wheat), pipor (pepper), senep (mustard; L. sināpi), cisten (chestnut tree; L. castanea), cires (bēam) (cherry tree; L. cerasus), while to this period are probably to be assigned butere (butter; L. ),6 ynne (lēac) (L. ūnio, onion), plūme (plum), pise (L. pisum, pea), and minte (L. mentha, mint). Roman contributions to the building arts are evidenced by such words as cealc (chalk), copor (copper), pic (pitch), and tigele (tile), while miscellaneous words such as mūl (mule), draca (dragon), pāwa (peacock), the adjectives sicor (L. sēcūrus, safe) and calu (L. calvus, bald), segne (seine), pīpe (pipe, musical instrument), biscop (bishop), cāsere (emperor), and Sæternesdæg (Saturday) may be mentioned. OE cirice (church) derives from a word borrowed into West Germanic during this period, though probably from Greek (cid:539)υρ(cid:538)(cid:539)óv covrather than from Latin.7 In general, if we are surprised at the number of words acquired from the Romans at so early a date by the Germanic tribes that came to England, we can see nevertheless that the A history of the english language 74 words were such as they would be likely to borrow and such as reflect in a very reasonable way the relations that existed between the two peoples. 59. Latin through Celtic Transmission (Latin Influence of the First Period). The circumstances responsible for the slight influence that Celtic exerted on Old English limited in like manner the Latin influence that sprang from the period of Roman occupation. From what has been said above (see page 45) about the Roman rule in Britain, the extent to which the country was Romanized, and the employment of Latin by certain elements in the population, one would expect a considerable number of Latin words from this period to have remained in use and to appear in the English language today. But this is not the case. It would be hardly too much to say that not five words outside of a few elements found in place-names can be really proved to owe their presence in English to the Roman occupation of Britain.8 It is probable that the use of Latin as a spoken language did not long survive the end of Roman rule in the island and that such vestiges as remained for a time were lost in the disorders that accompanied the Germanic invasions. There was thus no opportunity for direct contact between Latin and Old English in England, and such Latin words as could have found their way into English would have had to come in through Celtic transmission. The Celts, indeed, had adopted a considerable number of Latin words—more than 600 have been identified—but the relations between the Celts and the English were such, as we have already seen, that these words were not passed on. Among the few Latin words that the Anglo-Saxons seem likely to have acquired upon settling in England, one of the most likely, in spite of its absence from the Celtic languages, is ceaster. This word, which represents the Latin castra (camp), is a common designation in Old English for a town or enclosed community. It forms a familiar element in English place-names such as Chester, Colchester, Dorchester, Manchester, Winchester, Lancaster, Doncaster, Gloucester, Worcester, and many others. Some of these refer to sites of Roman camps, but it must not be thought that a Roman settlement underlies all the towns whose names contain this common element. The English attached it freely to the designation of any enclosed place intended for habitation, and many of the places so designated were known by quite different names in Roman times. A few other words are thought for one reason or another to belong to this period: port (harbor, gate, town) from L. portus and porta; munt 6 Butter is a difficult word to explain. The unweakened t suggests early borrowing. Butter was practically unknown to the Romans; Pliny has to explain its meaning and use. But a well-known allusion in Sidonius Apollinaris testifies to its use among the Burgundians on their hair. The bishop complains of the rancid odor of Burgundian chiefs with buttered hair. 7 The OED has an interesting essay on the uncertainties of the etymology of church. Other words that probably belong to the period of continental borrowing are ynce (ounce, inch), palenise (palace), solor (upper room), tæfel (chessboard), miscian (to mix), and olfend (camel), but there is some uncertainty about their origin or history. 8 J.Loth in Les Mots latins dans les langues brittoniques (Paris, 1892, p. 29) assigns fifteen words to this period. Some of these, however, are more probably to be considered continental borrowings. Foreign influences on old english 75 (mountain) from L. mōns, montem; torr (tower, rock) possibly from L. turris, possibly from Celtic; wīc (village) from L. vīcus. All of these words are found also as elements in place-names. It is possible that some of the Latin words that the Germanic speakers had acquired on the continent, such as street (L. strāta via), wall, wine, and others, were reinforced by the presence of the same words in Celtic. At best, however, the Latin influence of the First Period remains much the slightest of all the influences that Old English owed to contact with Roman civilization. 60. Latin Influence of the Second Period: The Christianizing of Britain. The greatest influence of Latin upon Old English was occasioned by the conversion of Britain to Roman Christianity beginning in 597. The religion was far from new in the island, because Irish monks had been preaching the gospel in the north since the founding of the monastery of lona by Columba in 563. However, 597 marks the beginning of a systematic attempt on the part of Rome to convert the inhabitants and make England a Christian country. According to the well-known story reported by Bede as a tradition current in his day, the mission of St. Augustine was inspired by an experience of the man who later became Pope Gregory the Great. Walking one morning in the marketplace at Rome, he came upon some fair-haired boys about to be sold as slaves and was told that they were from the island of Britain and were pagans. “‘Alas! what pity,’ said he, ‘that the author of darkness is possessed of men of such fair countenances, and that being remarkable for such a graceful exterior, their minds should be void of inward grace?’ He therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation and was answered, that they were called Angles. ‘Right,’ said he, ‘for they have an angelic face, and it is fitting that such should be co-heirs with the angels in heaven. What is the name,’ proceeded he, ‘of the province from which they are brought?’ It was replied that the natives of that province were called Deiri. ‘Truly are they de ira’ said he, ‘plucked from wrath, and called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that province called?’ They told him his name was Ælla; and he, alluding to the name, said ‘Alleluia, the praise of God the Creator, must be sung in those parts.’” The same tradition records that Gregory wished himself to undertake the mission to Britain but could not be spared. Some years later, however, when he had become pope, he had not forgotten his former intention and looked about for someone whom he could send at the head of a missionary band. Augustine, the person of his choice, was a man well known to him. The two had lived together in the same monastery, and Gregory knew him to be modest and devout and thought him well suited to the task assigned him. With a little company of about forty monks Augustine set out for what seemed then like the end of the earth. It is not easy to appreciate the difftculty of the task that lay before this small band. Their problem was not so much to substitute one ritual for another as to change the philosophy of a nation. The religion that the Anglo-Saxons shared with the other Germanic tribes seems to have had but a slight hold on the people at the close of the sixth century; but their habits of mind, their ideals, and the action to which these gave rise were often in sharp contrast to the teachings of the New Testament. Germanic philosophy exalted physical courage, independence even to haughtiness, loyalty to one’s family or leader that left no wrong unavenged. Christianity preached meekness, humility, and A history of the english language 76 patience under suffering and said that if a man struck you on one cheek you should turn the other. Clearly it was no small task that Augustine and his forty monks faced in trying to alter the age-old mental habits of such a people. They might even have expected difficulty in obtaining a respectful hearing. But they seem to have been men of exemplary lives, appealing personality, and devotion to purpose, and they owed their ultimate success as much to what they were as to what they said. Fortunately, upon their arrival in England one circumstance was in their favor. There was in the kingdom of Kent, in which they landed, a small number of Christians. But the number, though small, included no less a person than the queen. Æthelberht, the king, had sought his wife among the powerful nation of the Franks, and the princess Bertha had been given to him only on condition that she be allowed to continue undisturbed in her Christian faith. Æthelberht set up a small chapel near his palace in Kentwara-byrig (Canterbury), and there the priest who accompanied Bertha to England conducted regular services for her and the numerous dependents whom she brought with her. The circumstances under which Æthelberht received Augustine and his companions are related in the extract from Bede given in § 47 above. Æthelberht was himself baptized within three months, and his example was followed by numbers of his subjects. By the time Augustine died seven years later, the kingdom of Kent had become wholly Christian. The conversion of the rest of England was a gradual process. In 635 Aidan, a monk from the Scottish monastery of lona, independently undertook the reconversion of Northumbria at the invitation of King Oswald. Northumbria had been Christianized earlier by Paulinus but had reverted to paganism after the defeat of King Edwin by the Welsh and the Mercians in 632. Aidan was a man of great sympathy and tact. With a small band of followers he journeyed from town to town, and wherever he preached he drew crowds to hear him. Within twenty years he had made all Northumbria Christian. There were periods of reversion to paganism, and some clashes between the Celtic and the Roman leaders over doctrine and authority, but England was slowly won over to the faith. It is significant that the Christian missionaries were allowed considerable freedom in their labors. There is not a single instance recorded in which any of them suffered martyrdom in the cause they espoused. Within a hundred years of the landing of Augustine in Kent all England was Christian. 61. Effects of Christianity on English Civilization. The introduction of Christianity meant the building of churches and the establishment of monasteries. Latin, the language of the services and of ecclesiastical learning, was once more heard in England. Schools were established in most of the monasteries and larger churches. Some of these became famous through their great teachers, and from them trained men went out to set up other schools at other centers. The beginning of this movement was in 669, when a Greek bishop, Theodore of Tarsus, was made archbishop of Canterbury. He was accompanied by Hadrian, an African by birth, a man described by Bede as “of the greatest skill in both the Greek and Latin tongues.” They devoted considerable time and energy to teaching. “And because,” says Bede, “they were abundantly learned in sacred and profane literature, they gathered a crowd of disciples…and together with the books of Holy Writ, they also taught the arts of poetry,