It is no surprise that English is the official language of the United States of America. Many of the first settlers of the British North American colonies came from England — the country from which English originated — and they brought with them the English Language.
The English they spoke would eventually be known as American English as this version diverged from the version spoken in England. The North American Colonies continued to speak a more traditional version of English that was spoken in England during the 17th and 18th centuries, which has become slightly influenced by our surroundings, including the languages of American Indians and settlers from countries other than England and the entirely new landscape.
The history of English seemed fairly straightforward to me, until recently, at which point I was perplexed to discover that only 26% of all the words in English — a germanic language — originated from germanic languages. This means 74% of English does not come from English’s linguistic family at all, in fact, English is both more French and more Latin than it is germanic!
How did this happen? In order to answer that question, we must go back 2,000 years.
The Origin of English
Two thousand years ago, the island that we now call Great Britain was inhabited by Celtic speaking Britons, which are also called Brythons. In the 1st century AD, the Romans conquered the Britons and established the land as a Roman province. This Roman presence laid down much of the foundation that would cause Latin to influence English in future years.
The Romans withdrew from the island in the 5th century, however, this did not mean that the Britons were liberated. Starting in the 3rd century, Germanic speaking tribes established kingdoms on the island, and these Germanic people eventually pushed the Britons west, into what is now Wales.
The germanic people were known as Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, as they came from the regions called Saxony, Jutland, and the Angles — which are now part of Denmark and northern Germany. These people would eventually become known collectively as Anglo-Saxons.
The Anglo-Saxons brought with them a germanic language that developed into what we now call Old English. The kingdoms they established merged into the country they called Englaland, which was Old English for Land of the Angles; Englaland is now called England.
Old English developed into Middle English, which, at that point, was heavily influenced by the French Langue due to the Norman presence in England after William, the Duke of Normandy, conquered the English and became king of England in 1066.
This is likely why English has so much Latin and French influence.
The Anglish Language
What if England was never conquered by the Romans or the Normans? What would English sound like if it was strictly germanic? These are the questions that compelled people in recent times to redevelop the English language, which they like to call Anglish, because England was named after the Angles. I suppose you could call the country Angleland or Angland.
In order to speak this Anglish, you simply speak English while omitting the words that were influenced by foreign languages, which is harder than you might expect. I have noticed that nearly every word that sounds sophisticated, such as the Latin influenced word sophisticated, is likely influence by a foreign language.
The words that we think of as being simple, rudimentary, or childish often are derived from the language of the Anglo-Saxons, who were thought of as barbaric, whereas the French words are viewed as elegant, distinguished, and fashionable — which are all French influenced words.
Interestingly, it’s not entirely a stereotype to consider Anglo-Saxon words as childish, because they usually are the words that are learned earlier in life; the more complex and eloquent words are learned later in life, often in adulthood.
You can even see the perceived roles of the different people groups based on the usage of English words. Latin words are usually medical, legal, or scholarly; French words are culinary, classy, and poetic; Anglo-Saxon words are often basic, commonplace, and repetitive.
The United States in Anglish
Did you know that the words united and states both originated from Latin? If the United States spoke Anglish, we wouldn’t call ourselves the United States of America, instead, it’s possible we would call ourselves something similar to the Oned Riches of America or the Soom Riches of America. I guess it’s a good thing that we call ourselves the United States because that first alternative name seems too similar to an infamous germanic empire of the 1940s.
I thought it might be interesting to see one of America’s most famous documents translated to Anglish, and here is how I believe it would look.
The first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence — every word that is not purely germanic is in bold:
The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
The first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence in Anglish:
The Onemood Uttering of the thirteen oned Riches of America, When in the Lode of mannish happenings, it becomes needful for one folk to sunder the mootishparty bands which have tied them with another, and to put forth among the riches of the earth, the sunderly and even standing to which the Laws of Fold and of Fold’s God beright them, a seemly manship to the wones of mankind thars that they should bode the sake which stirs them to the sundering.
If we wanted to go even further down the rabbit hole, we could write that paragraph using only the germanic spellings, in other words, excluding the modern spellings that are potentially influenced by foreign languages; this would utilize the extinct English letters torn (þ), eth (ð), and wynn (ƿ) — check out my Forgotten English Letters post to learn more about these letters.
How the paragraph might look if we adhered to the germanic spellings:
Þe Onemood Uttering of þe þirteen oned Rices of America, hƿen in þe Lode of mannisc happenings, it becums needful for one folk to sunder þe mootiscpartie bands hƿic have tied þem ƿiþ anoðer, and to put forð among þe rices of þe earð, þe sunderlie and efen standing to hƿic þe Laws of Fold and of Fold’s God berigt þem, a seemie manscip to þe ƿones of mankind þars þat þey scould bode þe sake hƿic stirs þem to þe sundering.
In my opinion, this looks quite fascinating, however, it hardly looks like English.
What do you think about Anglish?
Onward American 