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UnitoneABriefHistoryofEnglishPaulMcHenryRoberts(1917-1967)wasanAmericanauthorandjournalist.HetaughtcollegeEnglishforovertwentyyears，firstatSanJoseStateCollegeandlateratCornellUniversity.Hepublishednumerousbooksonlinguistics,includingUnderstandingGrammar(1954)，PatternsofEnglish(1956)，andUnderstandingEnglish(1958).InthisselectionexcerptedfromthebookUnderstandingEnglish(1958)，RobertsrecountsthemajoreventsintheEnglishhistoryanddiscussestheirimplicationsforthedevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguage.NounderstandingoftheEnglishlanguagecanbeverysatisfactorywithoutanotionofthehistoryofthelanguage.Butweshallhavetomakedowithjustanotion.ThehistoryofEnglishislongandcomplicated,andwecanonlyhitthehighspots.ThehistoryofourlanguagebeginsalittleafterA.D.600.Everythingbeforethatispre-history,whichmeansthatwecanguessatitbutcannotprovemuch.ForathousandyearsorsobeforethebirthofChristourlinguisticancestors,theAnglo-Saxons,werewanderingthroughtheforestsofnorthernEurope.TheirlanguagewasapartoftheGermanicbranchoftheIndo-EuropeanFamily.NotmuchissurelyknownaboutthearrivaloftheAnglo-SaxonsinEngland.Wedoknow,however,thattheywerealongtimesecuringthemselvesinEngland.FightingwentonforaslongasahundredyearsbeforetheCeltsinEnglandwereallkilled,drivenintoWales,orreducedtoslavery.ThisistheperiodofKingArthur,whowasnotentirelymythological.HewasaRomanizedCelt,ageneral,thoughprobablynotaking.HehadsomesuccessagainsttheAnglo-Saxons,butitwasonlytemporary.By550orsotheAnglo-Saxonswerefirmlyestablished.EnglishwasinEngland.ItiscustomarytodividethehistoryoftheEnglishlanguageintothreeperiods:OldEnglish,MiddleEnglish,andModernEnglish.OldEnglishrunsfromtheearliestrecords—i.e.,seventhcentury—toabout1100;MiddleEnglishfrom1100to1450or1500;ModernEnglishfrom1500tothepresentday.SometimesModernEnglishisfurtherdividedintoEarlyModern,1500-1700,andLateModern.1700tothepresent.WhenEnglandcameintohistory,itwasdividedintoseveralmoreorlessautonomouskingdoms,someofwhichattimesexercisedacertainamountofcontrolovertheothers.Inthesixthcenturythemostadvancedkingdom.Northumbria,developedarespectablecivilization,thefinestinEurope.ItwasinthisperiodthatbestoftheOldEnglishliteraturewaswritten,includingtheepicpoemBeowulf.Intheeighthcentury.Northumbrianpowerdeclined,andthecenterofinfluencemovedsouthwardtoMercia,thekingdomoftheMidlands.Acenturylaterthecentershiftedagain,andWessexthecountryoftheWestSaxons,becametheleadingpower.ThemostfamouskingoftheWestSaxonswasAlfredthegreat,whosemilitaryaccomplishmentwashissuccessfuloppositiontotheVikinginvasions.Intheninthandtenthcenturies,theNorsemenemergedintheirshipsfromtheirhomelandsinDenmarkandtheScandinavianPeninsula.ThelinguisticresultofallthiswasaconsiderableinjectionofNorseintotheEnglishlanguage.NorsewasatthistimenotsodifferentfromEnglishasNorwegianorDanishisnow.ProbablyspeakersofEnglishcouldunderstand,moreorless,thelanguageofthenewcomerswhohadmovedintoeasternEngland.Atanyrate,therewasconsiderableinterchangeandwordborrowing.ExamplesofNorsewordsintheEnglishlanguagearesky,give,law.egg,outlaw,leg.ugly,scant,sly,crawl,scowl,take,thrust.Therearehundredsmore.WehaveevenborrowedsomepronounsfromNorse-they,theirandthem.ThesewordswereborrowedfirstbytheeasternandnortherndialectsandtheninthecourseofhundredsofyearsmadetheirwayintoEnglishgenerally.Ingrammar,OldEnglishwasmuchmorehighlyinflectedthanmodernEnglishis.Thatis,thereweremorecaseendingsfornouns,morepersonandnumberendingsforverbs,amorecomplicatedpronounsystem,variousendingsforadjectives,andsoon.Present-dayEnglishhasonlytwocasesfornouns-commoncaseandpossessivecase.Adjectivesnowhavenocasesystematall.Ontheotherhand,wenowuseamorerigidwordorderandmorestructurewords(prepositions,auxiliaries,andthelike)toexpressrelationshipsthanOldEnglishdid.Invocabulary,mostoftheOldEnglishwordsarewhatwemaycallnativeEnglish:thatis,wordswhichhavenotbeenborrowedfromotherlanguagesbutwhichhavebeenapartofEnglisheversinceEnglishwasapartofIndo-European.OldEnglishdidcertainlycontainborrowedwords.WehaveseenthatmanyborrowingswerecominginfromNorse.RatherlargenumbershadbeenborrowedfromLatin,too.SomeoftheseweretakenwhiletheAnglo-SaxonswerestillontheContinent(cheese,butter,bishop,kettle,etc.).ButthegreatmajorityofOldEnglishwordswerenativeEnglish.Now,onthecontrary,themajorityofwordsinEnglishareborrowed，andonlyabout14percentarenative.Sometimebetweentheyears1000and1200variousimportantchangestookplaceinthestructureofEnglish,andOldEnglishbecameMiddleEnglish.ThepoliticaleventwhichfacilitatedthesechangeswastheNormanConquest.TheNormans,asthenameshows,cameoriginallyfromScandinavia.IntheearlytenthcenturytheyestablishedthemselvesinnorthernFrance,adoptedtheFrenchlanguage,anddevelopedavigorouskingdomandaverypassablecivilization.Intheyear1066,ledbyDukeWilliam,theycrossedtheChannelandmadethemselvesmastersofEngland.Forthenextseveralhundredyears,EnglandwasruledbykingswhosefirstlanguagewasFrench.Onemightwonderwhy,aftertheNormanConquest,Frenchdidnotbecomethenationallanguage,replacingEnglishentirely.ThereasonisthattheConquestwasnotanationalmigration,astheearlierAnglo