HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2683, 8 June 1889, Page 5 (Supplement)

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

♦ ■ The language which is at present spoken throughout Great Britain and its dependencies is neither the ancient primitive speech of the British-speaking population of the Empire, nor derived from it; but is altogether of foreign origin. The language of the first inhabitants of the British Islands beyond doubt was the Celtic or Gaelic common to them with Gaul, from which country it appears by many circumstances Great Britaiu was originally peopled. This Celtic tongue, which is said to be very expressive and copious, and is probably one of the most ancient languages in the world, obtained once in most of the western regions of Europe. Tt was the language of Gaul, of Great Britain, of Ireland, and very probably of Spain also till in the course of those revolutions which by means of the conquests first of tbo Romans and afterwards of the northern nations changed tho government speech, and in a manner the whole face of Europe ; this tongue was gradually obliterated, and now subsists only in the mountains of iVales, in the Highlands of Scotland and among tho wildest parts of Ireland, for the Irish, the Welsh and the Erse are no other than different dialects of the same tongue, the ancient Celtic. This then was tho language of the primitive Briton?, the first inhabitants of the British Islands that we know of from the most reliable ancient history of England, and continued so till the arrival of the Saxous in England in the year of our Lord, 450, who, having conquered the Britons, did not intermix with thein, but expelled them from their habitations, and drove them, together with their language, into the mountains of Wales. The Saxons were one of those northern nations that over-ran Europe, and their tongue, a dialect of the Gothic, or Teutonic, altogether distiuct from the Celtic, laid tho foundation of the present English tongue. With some intermixture of Danish, a language probably from the same root with the Saxon, it continued to be spoken throughout the southern part of the island till the time of William the Conqueror. He introduced his Norman or French, as the language of the Court, which mado a considerable change of the speoch in the language of the nation and the English, which was spoken afterwards and continues to be spoken now is a mixture of the ancient S;ixon, and this Norman-French together with such new and foreign words as commerce and learning have in progress of time gradually introduced. From what I have here stated it appears that the Teutonic dialect is the basis of our present speech. It has been imported among us in three different forms—the Saxon, the Danish and the Norman or French—all which languages have mingled together in our own English tongue. A very great number of our word", too, are plainly derived from tho Latin. These we had not directly from the Latin, but most of them, it is probable, entered into our tongue through the channel of the Norman-French, which William the Conqueror introduced. For as the llomaus had long been iu full possession of Gaul the language spoken in that country, when it was invaded by the Franks and Normans, was a sort of corrupted Latin mingled with Celtic, to which wns'giveu the name of Romanesque, and as the Franks and Normans did not like the Saxons iu England, expel the inhabitants, but after their victories mingled with them, the language of the country became a compound of the Teutonic dialect imported by these conquerors and of the corrupted Litin. From the influx of so many streams from tho junction of so many dill'eren'; anil dissimilar parts, ir. naturally follow* th it tho English like every compounded latiiruare mu-t needs be somewhat irregular, We cannot expect from it that correspondence of pails that complete analogy in structure which may bo found in those simpler languages which have been formed in it manner withiu themselves and built ou one foundation. But these disadvantages if they bo such of a language are balanced by other advantages that attend it, particularly by the numher and variety of words with which such a language is likely to be enriched. Few languages are in fact more copious than the English. In all grave subjects, especially historical, critical, political and moral, no writer has the least reason to complain of the barrenness of our tongue. It is chiefly indeed' on grave subjects, and with respect to the. stronger emotions of the mind, that our language displays its powers of expression. We are said to have thirty words at least for denoting all the varictiiM of the passion of anger alone. The English tongue undoubtedly possesses this property, that it is the most simple in its form and construction of all the European dialects. It is free from all intricacy of cases, declensions, moods and tenses. Whatever the advantages or defects of the English language, being as it is our own language,it deserves a high degree of our study and attention, both with regard to the choice of words which we employ, and with regard to the syntax or the arrangement of these words in a sentence. On this snhject the reader ought to peruse Dr. Blair's Rhc'.oric and Sonth's Short Introduction to English Grammar with Critical N'ltos. In Dr. Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric he will likewise find many cute and ineenious observations both on the English language and on stylo in general. And Dr. Priestley's Rudiments of En-lish Grammar will also bo useful by pointing out several of the errors into which writers are apt to fall.—McGillipiiaduie, Cambridge.