Adam
Alex
Benjamin
Emma
Gill
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James
Rebecca
Ronnie
Discover the History of English
Did you know that the English word “human” has a Latin origin? And did you know that the word “people” actually comes from French? Today, hundreds of millions of people speak English either as their first or second language. But hundreds of years ago, the English language that we know today did not exist. It has been evolving through the centuries and continues to do so now. In this lesson, I will teach you the history of invasions, migrations, and other influences that have helped to shape English as we know it. You will also discover English words that have origins in Latin, French, and other languages. Don’t miss this fascinating lesson!Related Lessons
Quiz
Test your understanding of this English lesson
Test your understanding of the English lesson by answering these questions. You will get the answers and your score at the end of the quiz.Levels
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130 COMMENTS
Hello Gill,
Thank you for presenting a historical, interesting English lesson.
Now, I understand why European English students speak English better than others. Lucky, their mother tongue is part of English language which makes much easier for them.
Latin is a mother of many languages and it is a dead language. However, I believe that people who speak Latin can easily learn other languages. Is that correct? Do you speak latin? What do you think about someone who is learning Latin nowadays?
Thank you, Thiago
Hello Thiago – thank you for your question. I’m glad you found the lesson useful :-)
Yes, I have studied Latin in the past, but I can’t speak it fluently. I think Latin is very useful, because of the similarities in vocabulary with other European languages. I think if someone wants to study Latin, they should go ahead and try it – any language learning is good exercise for the brain :-) All the best with your studies! Gill
Here in Russia, all medicals have to study Latin because most medicines have Latin names. Probably every scientist have to know this language. Animals also have their Latin name. Not so dead as we can see : )
Very fascinating and illuminating. Substantially, you explained us that a language never stands still and it always changes, but we tend to forget it. That’s a real pity because doing so we also forget our own roots.
Sorry Gill, I almost forgot to greet you in the ancient way: AD MAJORA!
Thank you Ms. Grill :*
SuperGill! :)
Thank you Gill for your useful lesson,but I’d like to add a misinfrormation to your lesson.There are five latin language in this world ,so not only four as you said.So, there are :Italian,French,Spanish,Portuguese and Romanian language is a latin language too.Of course,unfortunately ,people make confusion between romanian(it’s spoken by native people from Romania) and romano(gypsy’s language) .
Hi, Cornelly! Well, in my opinion, Gill has only given examples about some Latin languages without saying they are the unique cases. Besides, there are many more Latin tongues than five. Only in Spain there are, at least, three official Latin languages: Castilian (Spanish), Gallician and Catalonian, without regarding the great deal of dialects spoken outwards the world. Think in it!
Hi Eduard,
Firstly I thank you for your comment,but I’m afraid that you make a confuse between the main, major or biggest latin languages and the derived languages from latin languages (as you said there are a lot of them).
If you look for this information on wikipedia,you will see as I’ve just found that there are six major languages,so Cataln language is the sixth.
All the best !
Hello, Cornelly! Thanks for replying. Well, I have understood what you meant. What matters is to discuss so as to improve our culture and, mainly, our English. Bye!
I got 8 out of 10. English has been my favorite language to speak and learn and I will never lose the interests in it.
That was very interesting, thank you!!
Dear Gill!!! Thank you very much for your wonderful lesson!!! It is very helpful and well – structured. I like it very much.
This is such an imressive lesson. I’ve got 10 out of 10.
Dear Teacher, thanks for yours lessons that are always very interesting. I’d like to know something about “Stratfordians” and “anti-Stratfordians”…… :-)
Thank you for this wonderful lesson. I’m so interested history of languages.
Hi Gill, many thanks for this ‘very’ interesting video. You started in the year of 55 BC and I wondered about what sort of language was spoken in these islands before the Roman invasion. I googled it and I found that it was a Celtic language and this is another story but I wanted to ask if there is no trace of that Celtic language in the actual English. Thanks again.
Good point, Anthony.From my own research they are surprisingly few. Among them we have basket, boycott, clock, car, lawn, paw, penguin and whiskey.
All these except boycott, which has a different origin.
Hi Luiz. As you say, it seems that only a few words have remained, a very low percentage. Obrigado!
You are right. Before Romans explored The British Isles there were Celtic population. So there are a lot of words which originate. Brythonic; C – Cumbric, Cornish, Pictish; Scots and Irish Gaelic; W – Welsh
Hello, people! I agree with you. There few words in modern English whose origin is Celtic. According to my research, it is because the Anglo-saxons expelled them from the territory of modern England, and the Celts went away to the North of the island. That is why nowadays some people speak Celtic languages in Scotland and in Ireland, but they are not English. Among the few Celtic words which remain in English today, we can mention “cradle”, “shamrock”, “avon” and “slogan” (shout of war!). They were kept by the Celtic women who got married with the Anglo-saxon invaders, and that explains why most of them have a domestic meaning.
Thanks Gill for teaching us some history about English. Even I did not get a good score I learned a lot.
Very interesting lesson. Thanks Gill
Thanks teacher.
Thanks for interesting new think i will learn from you.
Thanks a lot Gill, for teaching us both English and History ;)
There are many words that very similar bitween english and hebrew for exsaple: earth, wine, love (heart in hebrew), mask, mystery, sack, evil, fall, eye, camel. a lot of them from hebrew origin.
Thank you a very nice lecture,Gill!!!
It was very interesting to me.
Thank you Gill for your lesson. I’ve got ten out of ten and I’ve learned new things about this topic. :)
Great work Gill, Ibe never liked history at school but I thouroly enjoyed yours. Thanks again.
thank you a lot, Gill.I got 7 OUT OF 10 I enjoyed the lesson
for those who are interested more :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njJBw2KlIEo
Good lesson. Queue is another word thats came from French, isn’t it?
Thank you so much, it was interesting.
thanks,Gill!informative lesson!
Great Gill! Thsnk you so much…!!!
Great Gill,I love your lessons and Emma’s lessons…actually all of you… you aren’t fast while you are speaking English ( that’s thing help me to understand the words and improve my listening English too)… thank you again Gill.
thanks Gill, I enjoyed the lesson.
Thank you Jill, your lesson is essential I have known root vocabulary. It is more interesting.
Thank you! It was interesting!
Thanks a lot,Gill. This is a pretty useful lesson for me. Which let me understand more about English language history. Therefore, I watch the video several times. And then I took the quiz. In fact, the lesson is a bit difficult for me, but it’s also very great material. Thanks again.
It is a very interesting lesson.Thank you very much.
Thank you, I loved the lesson and get a 10/10.
Thank you, Gill, for this great lesson!
I was desiring to survey about the English language history someday, but fortunately you showed it here before, and in a clear, comprehensive and direct way!
Thank you Ms.Grill
As always, great, interesting and informative! Many people all over the world (and I among them) are very grateful to You for Your educational work.
It would be interesting to see a lesson on the “pure-English” (or should I say “British”?) words.
Gill, you’re my favorite teacher. Everything you tell is true, except for one. Anglo Saxons came not from today’s Germany, but from Scandinavia. The present areas of Germany were settled, in the time, of Celts and Slavs and conquered by Germanic tribes from Scandinavia, the same as the island Great Britain.
The Normans were not French, they come from Germanic and a bit Slavic tribes (see Slavic influences in Iceland or new genetic studies of Halpogroup Y-DNA), commonly referred to as Vikings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normans).
Excuse me, Artur, but Gill is correct. The Normans, lead by William the Conqueror, a French nobleman, invaded Britain from France. You may check it in the web site: http://global.britannica.com/biography/William-I-king-of-England
The word “very” is not really of French, because it has a Indo-European origin and comes from old Indo-Germanic “wēr” as the German word “wahr” – true. So that this word is a common origin of Roman, Slavic, Germanic, Iranian, etc. languages. But it may be that really in use, came through immigration of the Normans, who knows.
FYI
https://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm
Gill, thank you for very nice video.
I like read simple English books.
I was surprised when in ´England´ by Rachel Bladon (MACMILLAN READERS)I discovered:
The names of many places in England tell us about their history.
Town with ´chester´ or ´cester´ were Roman towns e.g. Colchester (my favourite)
The Anglo- Saxon for ´town´ was ´burh´ as Peterborough. There is ´burg´´ in German language (means a castle) e.g. Edinburg
Towns with names ending in ´by´ (Grimsby, Tenby, Derby, Whitby, Selby, Crosby) are Viking towns.
I saw your video and now I think my parents made a big mistake when they made me study English. I should start with Latin, French and German. Unfortunately there is only one word from Czech in English. It is the word which was created by Karel Capek in the play R.U.R. and means an artificial Human.
I would like to find out about word Caledonia, Hibernia and Albion.
“Robot” is not the only English word with Czech roots! Wikipedia lists a few more, like “pilsner”, the common style of beer.
Hi, Javadunaj! I liked your comments! And I also know that “chester” and “cester” come from the Latin word “castra”, which used to mean “military camping”. In Portuguese it is related to the Army. As far as I know, “Albion” has a Greek origin and meant “white”. The island was christened so because of the Cliff of Dover, which is white, since it is made of chalk.
Thanks a lot Gill. This is a very interesting lesson. I just wonder if Shakespeare did not have a great influence in the English language too as (I have heard) he created many new words.Do you have any idea of the number of words he brought into English?
Thanks heaps, Gill! Great lesson.
Thank you Mirs Gill for such a fascinating lesson!
Thanks for your all lessons! I hope that every learners will benefit from your lessons.
Anyway, I will be happy if you uploaded the TOEFL or IELTS lesson, about them!
Thank you!!!
Dear Gill! You are an amazing teacher and I love your accent! Excellent course about English language origin, but I have a comment: when I took the quiz, the 2nd question which says “2. When the Romans invaded Britain, they brought the Latin language with them. Which one of the following words does not have a Latin origin?” I chose “animal” (possible answers were: animal, digital, human, library, military, people) but correct answer was “people” and explanation said: “The word “people’ has a French origin, not Latin.”. But I remember that people comes from the Latin “populus” that means people, so “people” is a wrong answer too. French word “peuple” is a descendant from Latin. Best Regards!
Thank you Gill, It is an interesting video.
Fantastic!!!Gill, that is the most interesting lesson I have watched in Engvid, for I love History! In fact, you are a very clever lady, beside gentle and didactic. I studied a little about this subject some years ago. For example, I know that from the Celtic language there are few words nowadays, like “cradle” and “shamrock”. That most of the names of week come from Viking gods’ names. And that “street” comes from the Latin expression “strata via”. By the way, I have heard that there are other languages spoken in Great Britain like Gaelic, isn’t there? Does it sound like English or is completely different from it? Thank you very, very much for the excellent lesson. It was a gift to me!
This was an easy explain critical topic of the History of English! Thank you so much Ma’am. More power to you and this endeavor to help people who want to learn the English Language… =)
thanks Grill, good lesson, i`m looking forward to see more your lesson
Really interesting thanks!
Bless your heart, My dear teacher. So glad i have you :)
The lesson is very interesting and it’s an opportunity for me to revise the history of English. I would like to ask you if the Arabic language apports some words in English ?
Thank you.
I would like to ask you if the Arabic contribute to the English language?
Hi Gil, I’d like to thank you for your amazing way to teach English. You’re so sweet person. Thanks a lot
Hi,please,write the name of the people in the 6th century invaded Britain.
Hello Gill, I’m Ayman from Algeria studying English language and literature at university. I’d like to thank you for your useful lessons. And I want a lesson about the Shakespearean English (the use of THOU, THEE, DIDST? SHALT, COMETH, HITHER, THITHER… and other old forms and also the tricky vocabulary) and thank you
This video is very nice.I enjoyed a lot of it.
Enjoyed lesson very much. My question is, could someone from our time go back to the 5th or 6th century (Old English) and understand people and make themselves be understood?
That’s a really good question! The answer is probably no, because English was later influenced by French languages. Pronunciation has also changed a lot. Here’s an example: the Christian prayer called the Lord’s Prayer read aloud in modern English and in Old English.
Old English is a lot more like other Germanic languages. Here’s a video of British comedian Eddie Izzard speaking Old English in Friesland, an area in the Netherlands with a very similar language.
You would have better luck with Middle English, but be careful to avoid the plague!
Thank you Gill. You are great!
Thank you Gill for the lesson!
English is bottomless. It’s such a big journey that obviously will never come to its end…
Hi Gill. It’s very interesting to know how the English language developed.
That ativities develop our brain and let us wisest.
Thank you. I like to see you in the vídeos.
You are so kind.
Cool class!!!
Thanks a lot!
thanks you very much for this lesson i am improving.. thanks GILL .
thnx Gill your lessons are heellping me alot
Thank you for your video. Is so interesting and educational.
Hi Gill, i write to say thanks for your classes. This one was very interesting for me. Thanks again
Hector
Hi Dear Respected Gill…. Thankful for your lecture, it is so interesting and i / we need more on it…. thanks again
HafizQuddoos
Dera Gill, that is very interesting information . But i can’t remember all , becouse i need a lot of practics . Thank you and my best to you .
Hello Gill,
that was a fantastic video and it included lots of important information.
thanks for your efforts dear.
thank you Gill that was very informativ video for me
Hi,Gill. I must say that I watched the video twice
in order to be able to do the quiz, by doing this
I got 10/10.
Loved the lesson.You’re perfect.Thank you,very much.
Exploration and the discovery of America brought new words for items imported to Britain,
tobacco and potatoes
You got 8 correct out of 10.
Hi, Mrs. Gill. There is a problem with you test. It’s about the question of Germanic invasion. I’ve answered correctly that it took place in 5th c. how it’s said that I’ve been wrong ana
Hello Gil !
I like very much your videos !!
I often put the link in the forum of the school’s site…
But a question for this lesson… People is “peuple” in french but also…”populus” in latin ;-)
This lesson brought me the question can we predict the development of English language :)
Hello Gill, I have just signed in because I would like to have the possibility to ask you different kinds of questions. The first one is the following: how often is “cut the mustard” used in real English? Thanks.
I am so delighted to have got such a good explanation of the evolution of the English language. The work is very proficient and professional.
Thanks Gill!
Thank you so much Gill, I really appreciate your efforts. So what is actually bothering me right now is, how many words did the English language have before the BC if most words are from other Languages, and could you please tell us any examples of words the English language borrowed from any of the African languages if any?
Dear Gill,
That was absolutely clear and easy to follow. Wonderful job. Thank you ever so much.
I invariably enjoy your videos and recommend or show them to my students at school.
Best wishes,
tustika
Hallo Gill,
Thank for your lessons and good explanations about everything about English. I am from Belgium. But, really, Belgian Language does not exist. I write this, because one of your multiple choice questions has Belgian as a language. In Belgium we have three official Languages: French, Dutch and German.
Thank you very much, danke sehr, merci beaucoup, dank je zeer.
Kadir from Brussels, Belgium.
Hello Gill, I enjoyed the film very much. Could you please recommend a book / website / film etc. to learn about the history of the English language? I want to thank you for your reply.
Thank a lot your teaching.
Thanks Mrs. Gill for a cognitive content of
your lesson!
I very happy to attend this course
and I hope to count until the end
Thanks Gill!
I really like this subject.
It`s important to understand how English has been developed through the time.
Thank you Gill! I love your lessons and you are a great teacher ever!
Thank you for the interesting lesson dedicated to the history of english, Ms. Gill :)
Thank you madame…i got 9/10
thank you so much
Thank you so much. Very interesting topic.
Thank you so much. Very interesting topic.
Thanks you for
Thank you V.much for Tutorials
Hello Gill,
Where can I find information or reference from your video? I have a task in school that we need to write the brief history of english language. Thank you and Have a nice day!
Dear Gill,
I am from India and I would like to get in touch with you regarding online English classes. Please give me your email ID.
Thank you,
Best,
Kynsai
Hello Gill, thanks I like your class !!!
Best regards from Lima Perú
Thank you Gill for the lesson on the history of the English language. It was informative and interesting to know how the English language changed through the history. At the 19:15 minute of the video you referred to some words from the Asian countries including the word ‘pajamas’ coming from ‘an Empire’. As you know the word is from the Persian language and the Iranian Empire in old old days. However, to be more exact would please indicate the word origin as well as some other words coming from the Persian language and the Iranian Empire somewhere in your lessons or in a review lesson? Many thanks.
Thanks. I find also the arabic words in the english language.
Thank you Gill for that great and simple lesson in history .
Thank you so much for the lesson Teacher Gill
This is so interesting and helpful.
good job teaching
Thank you Gill for these efforts. I just want to inquire why you didn’t include Arabic language as one of sources of English language.
Hi Gill, I just learned your lesson today and it was a great :) Thank you so much. ;) I learned a lot and I got 90, one mistake.
Thank you for the very clear explanation.
I got a 60 and a frowny face. LOL. I’ll pay more attention next time.
1o/1o
thanks a lot,Gill,hugs(Kazakhstan o3 Dec2o21:)
Really enjoyed lesson ,only question I have is with so much history between Engkand and Ireland I would assume there’s many a Gaelic or Irish word should be in the pie chart .
Thank you for this lesson. I think it’s very interesting and useful to discover the history of a language. It helps to understand better
Thanks Gill.