Editing Old English (section)

== Influence of other languages ==
{{further|Celtic influence in English|Latin influence in English|Scandinavian influence in English}}
[[File:Her swutelað seo gecwydrædnes ðe.jpg|thumb|{{lang|ang|Her sƿutelað seo gecƿydrædnes ðe}} ('Here the Word is revealed to thee'). Old English inscription over the arch of the south [[porticus]] in the 10th&nbsp;century [[Breamore#St Mary's church|St Mary's parish church, Breamore]], Hampshire]]
The language of the Anglo-Saxon settlers appears not to have been significantly affected by the native [[British Celtic languages]] which it [[Celtic language-death in England|largely displaced]]. The number of Celtic [[loanword]]s introduced into the language is very small, although dialect and toponymic terms are more often retained in western language contact zones (Cumbria, Devon, Welsh Marches and Borders and so on) than in the east. However, various suggestions have been made concerning possible influence that Celtic may have had on developments in English [[syntax]] in the post–Old English period, such as the regular [[progressive aspect|progressive]] construction and [[Analytic language|analytic word order]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rotary-munich.de/2005-2006/theo-vennemann.pdf |title=Rotary-munich.de |access-date=20 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327012738/http://www.rotary-munich.de/2005-2006/theo-vennemann.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009}}</ref> as well as the eventual development of the [[periphrastic]] auxiliary verb ''[[Do-support|do]]''. These ideas have generally not received widespread support from linguists, particularly as many of the theorised [[Brittonicisms in English|Brittonicisms]] do not become widespread until the late Middle English and Early Modern English periods, in addition to the fact that similar forms exist in other modern Germanic languages.<ref>John Insley, "Britons and Anglo-Saxons", in ''{{lang|de|Kulturelle Integration und Personnenamen in Mittelalter}}'', De Gruyter (2018)</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Koch |first=Anthony S. |title=Function and Grammar in the History of English: Periphrastic Do |url=https://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kroch/papers/function-grammar-do.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Culicover |first=Peter W. |title=The Rise and Fall of Constructions and the History of English Do-Support |url=https://www.asc.ohio-state.edu/culicover.1/Publications/do.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Elsness |first=Johann |date=1997 |title=On the progression of the progressive in early Modern English |journal=ICAME Journal |volume=18 |s2cid=13441465 |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/455f/5bdb18ddeb74a5c5015c733b4f0691bfe8f3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806012413/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/455f/5bdb18ddeb74a5c5015c733b4f0691bfe8f3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Alexiadou |first=Artemis |title=Nominal vs. Verbal -ing Constructions and the Development of the English Progressive |year=2008}}</ref><ref>Robert McColl Millar, "English in the 'transition period': the sources of contact-induced change", in ''Contact: The Interaction of Closely-Related Linguistic Varieties and the History of English'', Edinburgh University Press (2016)</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hoeksema |first=Jack |title=Verbal movement in Dutch present-participle clauses |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/~koster/DenBesten/Hoeksema.pdf}}</ref>

Old English contained a certain number of loanwords from [[Latin]], which was the scholarly and diplomatic ''[[lingua franca]]'' of Western Europe. It is sometimes possible to give approximate dates for the borrowing of individual Latin words based on which patterns of sound change they have undergone. Some Latin words had already been borrowed into the Germanic languages before the ancestral [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] and [[Saxons]] left continental Europe for Britain. More entered the language when the Anglo-Saxons were [[Christianization of England|converted to Christianity]] and Latin-speaking priests became influential. It was also through Irish Christian missionaries that the [[Latin alphabet]] was introduced and adapted for the [[#Orthography|writing of Old English]], replacing the earlier runic system. Nonetheless, the largest transfer of Latin-based (mainly [[Old French]]) words into English occurred in the [[Middle English]] period.

Another source of loanwords was [[Old Norse]], which came into contact with Old English via the Scandinavian rulers and settlers in the [[Danelaw]] from the late 9th&nbsp;century, and during the rule of [[Cnut]] and other Danish kings in the early 11th&nbsp;century. Many [[place names]] in eastern and northern England are of Scandinavian origin. Norse borrowings are relatively rare in Old English literature, being mostly terms relating to government and administration. The literary standard, however, was based on the [[West Saxon dialect]], away from the main area of Scandinavian influence; the impact of Norse may have been greater in the eastern and northern dialects. Certainly in Middle English texts, which are more often based on eastern dialects, a strong Norse influence becomes apparent. Modern English contains many, often everyday, words that were borrowed from Old Norse, and the grammatical simplification that occurred after the Old English period is also often attributed to Norse influence.<ref name="Baugh1951">{{Cite book |title=A History of the English Language |last=Baugh |first=Albert |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |year=1951 |location=London |pages=60–83, 110–130 (Scandinavian influence)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Scott |first=Shay |title=The history of English: a linguistic introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1vj0-f_U1SQC&pg=PA86 |access-date=29 January 2012 |date=30 January 2008 |publisher=Wardja |isbn=978-0-615-16817-3 |page=86}}</ref><ref name="Jespersen1919">{{Cite book |title=Growth and Structure of the English Language |last=Jespersen |first=Otto |publisher=B. G. Teubner |year=1919 |location=Leipzig, Germany |pages=58–82}}</ref>

The influence of Old Norse certainly helped move English from a [[synthetic language]] along the continuum to a more [[Analytic language|analytic word order]], and [[Old Norse]] most likely made a greater impact on the English language than any other language.<ref name="Baugh1951" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-OiNxknXdY |title=Birth of a Language – 35:00 to 37:20 |date=27 December 2014 |access-date=4 January 2016 |work=BBC |via=YouTube}}</ref> The eagerness of [[Vikings]] in the Danelaw to communicate with their Anglo-Saxon neighbours produced a friction that led to the erosion of the complicated inflectional word endings.<ref name="Jespersen1919" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language |last=Crystal |first=David |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |page=32}}</ref><ref name="McCrum1987">{{Cite book |title=The Story of English |last=McCrum |first=Robert |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=1987 |location=London |pages=70–71}}</ref> Simeon Potter notes:
{{blockquote|No less far-reaching was the influence of Scandinavian upon the inflexional endings of English in hastening that wearing away and leveling of grammatical forms which gradually spread from north to south. It was, after all, a salutary influence. The gain was greater than the loss. There was a gain in directness, in clarity, and in strength.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Our Language |last=Potter |first=Simeon |publisher=Penguin |year=1950 |location=Harmondsworth, England |pages=33}}</ref>}}

The strength of the Viking influence on Old English appears from the fact that the indispensable elements of the language{{snd}}[[pronoun]]s, [[English modal verbs|modals]], [[comparison (grammar)|comparatives]], [[pronominal adverb]]s (like ''hence'' and ''together''), [[conjunction (grammar)|conjunctions]] and [[English prepositions|prepositions]]{{snd}}show the most marked Danish influence; the best evidence of Scandinavian influence appears in the extensive word borrowings because, as Jespersen indicates, no texts exist in either Scandinavia or Northern England from this time to give certain evidence of an influence on syntax. The effect of Old Norse on Old English was substantive, pervasive, and of a democratic character.<ref name="Baugh1951" /><ref name="Jespersen1919" /> Old Norse and Old English resembled each other closely like cousins, and with some words in common, speakers roughly understood each other;<ref name="Jespersen1919" /> in time the inflections melted away and the analytic pattern emerged.<ref name="McCrum1987" /><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adngAZ2iuRc |first=Charlene |last=Lohmeier |title=Evolution of the English Language |time=23:40–25:00; 30:20–30:45; 45:00–46:00 |date=28 October 2012 |via=Youtube}}</ref> It is most important to recognise that in many words the English and Scandinavian languages differed chiefly in their inflectional elements. The body of the word was so nearly the same in the two languages that only the endings would put obstacles in the way of mutual understanding. In the mixed population which existed in the Danelaw, these endings must have led to much confusion, tending gradually to become obscured and finally lost. This blending of peoples and languages resulted in "simplifying English grammar".<ref name="Baugh1951" />