Forgotten roots

When the Vikings shaped modern English and other linguistic adventures

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Like geological layers of rocks, languages are built over time, each layer preserving traces of cultural and linguistic events that give shape to its present form. Modern English is not an exception, and its rich history forms a complex tapestry of diverse influences across centuries. From conquerors to traders, each left an indelible mark on its vocabulary, grammar, and idioms. Join us to explore which 12 languages are key to understanding the English we speak today.

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Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon, is the bedrock of modern English. Introduced by Germanic tribes in the 5th century, it gave us many everyday words like house, king, or love.

Anglo-Saxon provided English with its core structure, including basic grammar rules and common prefixes like un- and over-. Though heavily transformed later, its legacy remains in our simplest and most essential words.

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Most Latin words entered English through Christian missionaries during the 6th and 7th centuries, introducing terms related to religion, education, and law, such as altar and scripture.

However, long before the Germanic tribes that gave rise to Old English reached Britain, many Latin words for common objects had already entered their vocabulary. Later, with the Norman Conquest, Latin's influence was further amplified through French.

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After the Norman Conquest in the 11th century, Anglo-Norman (a variety of French) became the language of the elite, influencing law, art, and cuisine. Words like court, beauty, and dinner all come from this period.

Over the centuries, French contributed more than 10,000 words to English, resulting in a dual-register vocabulary. Have you ever noticed that words like help have synonyms like aid, or that start can also be said as commence?

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Through Anglo-Saxon, English actually shares roots with German, which is evident in words like mother, brother, and night. Moreover, even the word English has a Germanic source, derived from Anglisc, an ancient dialect that evolved into Old English in later centuries.

Direct borrowing in the 19th century added terms like kindergarten and zeitgeist. The German impact is also seen in philosophical and scientific vocabulary, reflecting its intellectual contributions during the Enlightenment and beyond.

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Greek entered English primarily via scholarly Latin during the Renaissance, giving us terms like philosophy, democracy, and psychology. In fact, it is estimated that more than 150,000 words of English are derived from Greek words!

Despite the temporal and linguistic distances, Ancient Greek had a profound influence on English. This is particularly evident in science and medicine, where compound words like biology (bios = life, logos = study) form the backbone of technical language, but many common words also have Greek roots.

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Before the Germanic tribes arrived and brought Anglo-Saxon with them, the native Celtic inhabitants of Britain had their own language and culture. However, their encounters with the newcomers were far from friendly, leading to a lack of cultural and linguistic integration.

Despite this, Celtic languages still influenced place names like Avon and Thames, as well as many surnames and words like bard and whiskey. And in the areas of land where Celtic culture remained dominant, new languages such as Irish, Welsh, and Gaelic evolved.

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A long-time maritime power that competed with England for dominance of the seas, the Netherlands contributed many nautical terms, such as yacht, skipper, and reef, but also many everyday words, like cookie and landscape.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Dutch-English trade interactions solidified these linguistic exchanges, especially in shipping and art.

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Even the fearsome Vikings contributed to English! The Viking invasions of the 8th–11th centuries introduced many Old Norse words, such as sky, knife, and window, into English.

Perhaps more importantly, the influence of Old Norse simplified English grammar by blending its inflections with Old English, streamlining verb forms and case endings. This legacy persists to this day in many words related to everyday life and nature.

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Early 16th-century trade and cultural exchange brought many Italian terms into English, especially in music, art, and cuisine. Italy’s artistic dominance during the Renaissance made its vocabulary integral to describing classical art, architecture, and all sorts of culinary sophistication.

Words like piano, opera, and spaghetti are living proof of this influence.

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During the Islamic Golden Age, Arab scholars preserved Greek knowledge and made groundbreaking advancements in fields like mathematics and astronomy. Many Arabic-derived terms became essential in both science and trade.

As a result, Arabic enriched English—though primarily through Spanish and Latin translations—introducing many words such as alchemy, sugar, or algebra.

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Through Britain’s long-lasting colonial rule in India, many Indian words, such as shampoo, bungalow, and curry, found their way into English. These loanwords were often adopted to describe unfamiliar objects, animals, and cultural practices.

But long before the colonial era, many Indian words originating in Sanskrit and other local languages had already entered Greek and Latin through trade routes. Words like pepper, indigo, and ginger can be traced back to this time.

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Spanish influence on English can be traced back to the 1500s, when English sailors and colonists encountered Spanish explorers on the high seas and in the New World colonies. Exploration and trade with Spanish-speaking regions introduced words like banana, patio, and cargo.

Another unexpected source of Spanish words came from the Anglo-Spanish Wars, during which England and Spain were fierce rivals. Despite the hostilities, English adopted Spanish-derived terms such as armada and breeze.

EVERY BUMPER STICKER PHRASE HAS A STORY

Keep calm and read on: have you heard these 10 popular phrases & quotes?

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Motivational and common-use phrases have been embedded in the fabric of our lives forever and social media has done nothing but increase their already ubiquitous presence just about everywhere. And, as everything that is infinitely repeated, they end up losing their original meaning and sense. The following well-known phrases and quotes have deep meanings that we will attempt to uncover. So, stick around and see if one of these bumper sticker phrases means something different than you think it does!

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Let us start by getting out of the way one of the most ubiquitous motivational phrases in the world. "Keep calm and carry on" was coined in 1939 as a wartime slogan intended to boost the morale of the British people during World War II. But the now famous phrase was never made public then, with a very small number of originals being printed.

It wasn’t until a copy was discovered in a bookshop in Northumberland in 2000, and reproductions of it began to be sold a year later, that its fame was established. Nowadays, it is used to sell everything from mugs to flight bags and baby clothes.

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Another extremely well-known phrase, used and overused in millions of mugs, prints, notebooks, and whatnot, is "eat, pray, love." The popular slogan was created by author Elizabeth Gilbert as the name of her novel about a journey of self-discovery after a failed marriage.

The phrase encompasses the three activities that helped the author navigate through the life-period described in the book and it has since been used as a mantra of sorts, for its motivational value.

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A favorite of travelers from all over the world, the phrase "not all those who wander are lost" was penned by J.R.R. Tolkien, for his timeless classic, The Lord of the Rings. The line is from the poem "All That Glitters Is Not Gold", which is the riddle of the Strider, or Aragorn.

The quote means just because someone likes to explore and wander, not just physically, spiritually, and mentally, that doesn’t mean they’re lost. It also conveys how people who lose their way can still bounce back in life.

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Coco Chanel was famous for creating a style and becoming an icon herself. But she didn’t do this by following the same path women delving into fashion were supposed to follow in the early 1900s. Instead, she made her own thing and found massive success.

Her phrase "in order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different" is especially meaningful in light of her life story and expresses a highly practical idea: if no one possesses your skills, then you cannot be replaced by anyone.

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Just by seeing the highly intimidating blackboards covered in mathematical figures the man used to face, we can be assured that Albert Einstein was no stranger to facing difficulties.

He knew that necessity is the mother of invention and was able to gain knowledge through infinite trials and errors.

The phrase attributed to him, "In the middle of every difficulty lies an opportunity" expresses that same concept in simple words that convey to each one of us to look for the gain in every challenge that presents itself to us.

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We have probably all heard this one. The phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day" is used to refer to a great task or achievement that takes time and effort.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was this phrase's history. The earliest known record of the phrase is in a collection of French poems, Li Proverbe au Vilain, that was published before the 1200s.

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The poetically charged phrase "Every cloud has a silver lining" can be traced directly from a piece written in 1634 by English poet John Milton called "Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle". In it, Milton spoke of a silver lining of brightness behind a gloomy cloud, and soon afterward ‘Milton’s clouds’ became a staple of English Literature.

The phrase’s meaning is that every bad thing brings along some good, and it eventually came into being and common use in the 1800’s, in Victorian England.

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Another one of those phrases seen embroidered on a pillow, or on a Hallmark postcard, is "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". This sweet quote came originally from the Roman poet Sextus Propertius' Elegies, "Always toward absent lovers love's tide stronger flows", which was converted into the modern variant we know today in 1832,' in The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature. The phrase means that the lack of something increases the desire for it.

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The earliest iteration of the phrase, dating back to 1866 states: "Eat an apple on going to bed, And you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread". The meaning of this phrase is quite straightforward: if you eat your vegetables, your body will thank you.

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This quote by Mahatma Gandhi suggests that love is a force that sustains and nurtures life itself. The idea here is that love, in all its forms, is a fundamental ingredient of life. It is the fuel that moves it forward, and the anchor that grounds it in troubled times. Without love, life would lose much of its meaning and color.