LATIN INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE

INFLUENCE OF LATIN ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE

INTRODUCTION

‘The English Language, observed Ralph Waldo Emerson, is the sea which receives tributaries from all the region under heaven’. Of all the languages in the world English has the vocabulary which is varied and heterogeneous. All the people with whom its speakers have come into contact over the centuries have contributed to its abundance. One of the most remarkable reasons for its unparalleled variety of vocabulary is the foreign influence.

England as an island in Europe has undergone several invasions such as the Romans, the Scandinavians, the French etc. All these invasions directly or indirectly contributed to the development of the English language. The relative simplicity and astonishing flexibility of the structure of modern English has added to its variety.

The English has borrowed even its alphabets from other languages. Among all the various contributions Latin has added more vocabulary along with its alphabets. This assignment is an attempt to expound the influence of Latin on English Language.

 

INTRODUCTION OF LATIN IN ENGLAND

Latin which was the language of the Romans was introduced in England by the Romanization. Latin was spoken by the military and official classes. However it did not replace the Celtic language in Britain as it was confined to the upper classes and the inhabitants of cities. It was the language of a race with higher civilization .Contact with this civilization, first as commercial, military, and later as the religious language introduced Latin. For many years before the Teutons (Angels,saxona and jutes) were still occupying their continental homes , they had various relations with Romans through which they acquired a considerable number of Latin words. Later when they came to England they saw evidences of long Roman rule and learned from Celts a few more words which had been acquired by them. Later when the Christian missionaries came to England they reintroduced Christianity into the island this lead to the adoption of a large number of Latin words into the language. So there are three occasions in which the Latin words were borrowed into English language.

1.    Latin influence of the zero period (Before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons)

2.    Latin influence of the first period (Latin through Celtic transmission)

3.    Latin influence of the second period (The Christianization in England)

4.     

5.    LATIN INFLUENCE OF THE ZERO PERIOD

Zero period refers to the time before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. The first Latin words came into English from the early contact with the Romans and the Germanic tribes on the continent. They are found in all ranks and classes of society, from slaves to commanders of the Roman army. They were scattered all over the region mainly the northern frontier. This stretched along the Rhine and the Danube and upto German territory. Traders both German as well as Romans came and went; all these intercourses between the two races was certain to carry words from one language to other.

Roman military operations stretched the districts occupied by the Angles and Jutes. The intercommunication between the different Teutonic tribes was frequent and made possible the transference of Latin words from one tribe to another. The adopted words are naturally connected with the occupations of the Romans. Next to agriculture the chief occupation of the Romans was war and this experience resulted in words like:

Camp (Battle) Weall (Wall)

Pil (Pointed stick, Javalin) Strat (Steet)

Pytt (Pit) Mil (Mile)

Numerous words connected with trade such as amber,furs,slaves are also contributed by Latin .One of the items of Roman trade was wine ,hence some word like win(wine) must(new wine) ,flasce(flask).A number of other words also are added to English language:

Pyle (L.pulvinus,pillow),Cuppe (L.Cuppa,cup) disc (dish,L.discuss),Mortere (L. Mortarium, a mortar), line (L. linea)

The word associated with food items such as Ciese(L.caseus,cheese), piper(pepper), Popig (poppy),Plume (plum),pise (L. pisum,pea) and some other words such as Mul(mule),Draca (Dragon) Pawa (peacock) ,Pipe a musical instrument, Casere (Emperor), Cirece (Church),Bicop (Bishop) and saeternesdaeg (Saturday).

LATIN INFLUENCE OF THE FIRST PERIOD

Latin influence of the first period refers to the Latin which came through the Celtic transmission. Although the Romanization continued for several years the number of Latin words that remained in use and to appear in English language today is very less . It is probable that the use of Latin as a spoken language did not last long because of the Teutonic invasions. However the Celts would have adopted a considerable number of Latin words .Among the few Latin words that the Teutons seems likely to have acquired upon settling in England is the word Ceaster. This word which represents the Latin castra (camp) is a common designation in OE for a town or enclosed community. It forms a familiar element in English place names such as:

Chester, Manchester, Lancaster, Winchester, Doncaster

. Some of these refer to sites of Roman camps. The English attached it freely to the designation of any enclosed place intended for habitation. 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 (mountain) . However the Latin influence of the first period remains much slightest of all the influences which old English owed to contact with Roman civilization.

THE CHRISTIANISATION IN BRITAIN

The greatest influence of Latin upon Old English was through Christianity was brought to Britain in 597.There was a systematic effort from the part of Rome to convert Britain into a Christian country . It was st.Augustine along with forty monks came to England.

The monks were exemplary people with appealing personality and for their advantage , they landed in the kingdom of kent which had a small number of Christians and that included a queen. Ethelberht , the king , had sought his wife from the franks and the princess made a condition that she be allowed to continue her Christian faith. Then the king built a chapel in Canterbury and the priest who accompanied Berthe conduct regular sacrifices. But later the king was also baptized followed by many others. By the time Augustine dead, seven years later the kingdom of kent had become wholly Christians.

The conversion of the rest of England was a gradual process. In 635 aidan a monk from the monastery of Iona undertook the initiative to convert Northumbria. He travelled from place to place and drew crowds towards him. With this 20 years he had converted the whole Northumbria into Christianity. Although there were periods of reversion to paganism, the missionaries were able to win the faith. An important fact in that no missionary suffered martyrdom during this efforts of conversion mainly because the kingdom of kent accepted Christianity. Within hundred years of the landing of Augustine in kent all England was permanently Christian.

INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON VOCABULARY

Over five hundred years starting from the arrival of Christianity to the end of the Old English period a number of Latin words were making their way into English language .ssssssssss The new words introduced by the new religion had to do with religion, They were adopted because they express new ideas. A few words relating to Christianity such as church and bishop were borrowed earlier. This words include: abbot, alms, alter ,angel ,anthem, ark, Aryan, candle, canon, chalice, cleric, cowl, deacon, disciple, epistle, hymn, litany, manna, martyr, mass ,minster, noon, nun, offer, organ, pall, palm, pope, priest, provost, psalm, psalter, shrine, shrive, shrift, stole, sub-deacon, synod relic, rule, temple and tunic .

some of these were reintroduced later. Church also played an important role in the domestic life of people. This is seen in the adoption of words such as cap ,sock, , purple, silk, chest, mat, sack. Words denoting food such as beet, caul (cabbage), lentil, millet, pear, radish, doe, oyster, lobster, to which we may add the names of trees , plants, herbs, such as box, pine, aloes, balsom, fennel, hissop, lily, mallow, marsh mallow, myrrh, rue ,savory and the general word plant.Words such as school, master, latin, grammatic, verse , meter, gloss, notary.Sme words too miscellaneous to admit of profitable classification,like anchor,coulter,fan (winnowing),and some more or less learned or literary words, such as calend, circle, legion,giant,consul,and talent.

THE BENEDECTINE REFORM

The flourishing state of the church came to an end when the Danes started plundering the monasteries. In Northumbria and Mercia the churches lay everywhere in ruins. By the tenth century this decline had affected the moral fibre of the catholic church. Among the clergy poverty gave way to ease and ease passed to luxury. In the religious houses discipline became lax, services were neglected, monasteries were occupied by a set of secular priests and many of them married. The work of education was neglected and learning decayed to such a level that there were only few who could understand English and Latin and hardly any word was added to English during this period.

As this situation continued King Alfred took an initiative to reform the church. Besides starting monasteries and churches he also took efforts to spread education. But in the later half of the tenth century three religious leaders arouse in England with a spirit to reform the church: Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury , Athelwold, bishop of Winchester and Oswald , bishop of Worcester and arch bishop of York. These men effected a revival of monasticism in England. As the first step in the rew form the secular clergy was turned out of the monasteries and the places were filled with monks who pledged to the three fold vow of chastity, obedience, and poverty. Athelwold prepared a version of the Benedictian rule know as the “ Concordia regularis” to bring about a unity of observances.The result of all these efforts were positive , by the close of the century monasteries were once again became the centre of learning .

 EFFECT OF BENEDICTIAN REFORM IN ENGLAND

The Latin language still continued its influence during these years. As in the earlier borrowings a considerable number of words associated with religious matters:

Alb, Antichrist, Antiphoner, apostle, cantor, canticle, cell, cloister, collect, creed, chrism, dalmatic,demon, dirge, font, idol, nocturn, prime, prophet, Sabbath, synagogue, troper:

A great number of plant names are recorded in this period such as:

verbena, celandine, centaury, coriander, cucumber, ginger etc. A few names of trees are added such as cedar, cypress, fig, laurel, medical terms such as cancer, paralysis, plaster and words relating to animal kingdom such as camel, scorpion, tiger in this way many more words were added to the vocabulary.

LATIN BORROWINGS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

This is popularly known as the Latin influence of the third period. Latin was the spoken language of the ecclasiastics and the men of learning and also many words have entered through literature.Wicliffs translation of the Bible has also brought several words into language, some of the words are:

Abject, adjacent, allegory, conspiracy, contempt, custody, distract, genius, history, homicide, immune, incarnate, inferior, innate, magnify, popular, prevent, necessary, nervous, project, promote, prosody, rational, reject, remit, subjugate, submit, subordinate, subscribe, solitary, supplicate, suppress etc…

LATIN WORDS AND DERIVATES

Latin Word	Definition	English Derivatives
Villa	villa, house	villa, village, villager
Alta	tall, high, deep	altitude, altimeter, alto
Antiqua	antique, old	antique, antiquity, ancient
Longa	Long	longitude, longevity, long
Magna	large, great	magnify, magnificent, magnitude
Pictura	Picture	picture, picturesque, pictorial
Nova	New	novice, novel, novelty, nova, Nova Scotia
Terra	land, earth	terrier, terrace, terrestrial, terrain
Prima	First	prime, primary, primitive, primeval
Sub	Under	subway, subterranean, suburban
Corna	Horn	cornucopia, cornet, clavicorn
Est	Is	estate, establish, essence
Habere	Have	have, habit, habitual
Casa	small house	Casino
Via	Street	Via
Parva	Small	parval, parvanimity
Lata	wide, broad	latitude, lateral, latitudinal
Bona	Good	bonus, bonanza, bona fide
Copia	Plenty	copious, cornucopia, copiously
Fama	Fame	fame, famous, infamous
provincia	Province	province, provincial, provincialism
Multa	Many	multitude, multiple, multiplex
nominare	to name	nominate, nominal, name, nominative
Postea	Later	postlude, postgraduate, posthumous
Non	Not	nonfction, nonmetal, nonexistent
In	In	In
Aqua	Water	aquatics, aquarium, aqueduct, aqueous
Agricola	Farmer	Agriculture
Bestia	Beast	bestial, bestiality
Figura	figure, shape	figure, figurine, figment, figurative
Flamma	Flame	flame, flamboyant, flambeau
Herba	Herb	herb, herbivorous, herbage
Insula	Island	insular, insulate, insularity
Lingua	Language	language, lingual, linguistics
Nauta	Sailor	nautical, nautilus
Pirata	Pirate	pirate, piratical
Schola	School	scholar, school, scholastic
Alba	White	albino, albinism albumen
Amica	Friendly	amicable, amicability, amity
Beata	Happy	beatific, beatify, beatitude
maritima	Sea	Maritime
Mea	Me	me, my
Mira	Strange	miracle, miraculous, mirage
Nota	Noted	noted, note, notice, notable, noticeable
Obscura	Dark	obscure, obscured, obscurity
periculosa	Dangerous	perilous, peril
propinqua	near to	Propinquity
Pulchra	Beautiful	Pulchritude
Quieta	Quiet	quiet, quietude, disquiet
Circum	Around	circumstance, circumnavigate, circumspect
Filia	Daughter	filly, filial

A

Add, Alumni, Audit, Alumnus, Anno Domini, Apex, Area
Audio
Apex
Aqueduct
Area
Audio
Addition
Agent
Albumen
alma mater
alumna
alumnae
alumni
Audit

alumnus
Anno Domini
Apex
Aqueduct
Area
Audio

B

Bacteria

Bona fide

C

Cactus
Camera

Cancer
Candle
Caveat
Circus
Color
Colossus
Complex
Consider
Contemplate

D

Data
De facto
De jure
Decide
Dictum
Discus

E
ego
Equilibrium
Erupt

Et cetera
Exeunt
Extempore
Fauna

F

Fiat
Flora
Formula
Fungus

G

General
Genius
Genus

H

habeas corpus
Habitat
Homo sapiens
Honor
Honorarium

I

id
Igneous
Ignite
Ignoble
Illiteracy
Immoral
Immortality
Imprimatur
in camera
in medias res
Inertia
Ingenious
Interim
Ipso facto

L

Latex
libido
Literature
Locus

M

Magnum opus
mea culpa
Media
Medicinae Doctor
Meditate
Memento
Memorandum
Memory
minus

Moment
Momentum
Moral

N

Noble

nota bene
O

Opera
Ovum
P

Pauper
Pendulum
Peninsula
per capita
percent
persona
post meridiem
Post mortem
Prima facie
Pro forma
Propaganda
Radium

R

rara avis
Referendum
Revise

S

Series
Sex
Similar
Simile
Status
Stimulus

superego
tabula rasa

T

Temple
Terminus

V

vice versa
Victor

Video
vox populi,

Noun/adjective doublets

As with Latinate/Germanic doublets from the Norman period, the use of Latinate words in the sciences gives us pairs with a native Germanic noun and a Latinate adjective:

·        animals: ant/formic, bee/apian, bird/avian, crow/corvine, cod/gadoid, carp/cyprine, fish/piscine, gull/larine, wasp/vespine, butterfly/papilionaceous, worm/vermian, spider/arachnid, snake/anguine, tortoise (or turtle)/testudinal, cat/feline, rabbit/cunicular, hare/leporine, dog/canine, deer/cervine, reindeer/rangiferine, fox/vulpine, wolf/lupine, goat/caprine, sheep/ovine, swan/cygnean, duck/anatine, starling/sturnine, goose/anserine, ostrich/struthious, horse/equine, chicken/gallinaceous, cattle/bovine, pig/porcine, whale/cetacean, ape/simian, bear/ursine, man/human or hominid (gender specific: man/masculine, woman/feminine).

·        physiology: head/capital, body/corporal, ear/aural, tooth/dental, tongue/lingual, lips/labial, neck/cervical, finger/digital, hand/manual, arm/brachial, foot/pedal, sole of the foot/plantar, leg/crural, eye/ocular or visual, mouth/oral, chest/pectoral, nipple/papillary, brain/cerebral, mind/mental, nail/ungual, hair/pilar, lung/pulmonary, kidney/renal, blood/sanguine.

·        astronomy: moon/lunar, sun/solar, earth/terrestrial, star/stellar.

·        sociology: son or daughter/filial, mother/maternal, father/paternal, brother/fraternal, sister/sororal, wife/uxorial.

·        other: book/literary, edge/marginal, fire/igneous, water/aquatic, wind/vental, ice/glacial, boat/naval, house/domestic, door/portal, town/urban, sight/visual, tree/arboreal, marsh/paludal, sword/gladiate, king/regal, fighter/military, bell/tintinnabulary, clothes/sartorial.

CONCLUSION

The influence of Latin has a major role in the richness of English vocabulary. Latin influence at four different levels have shaped not only English vocabulary but also English culture.Scientific and philosophical works are often written in Latin in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries and both Bacon and Newton wrote their great works in Latin .In a way words in almost all fields are equipped with Latin words.