The history of the English language

[@tungyeeso3637]

I'm a 75 year old Chinese growing up in colonial Hong Kong. English has intrigued me since my early days in primary school. I found this piece of history on the development of English language fascinating though I use it as frequently as my native Chinese language. The effort you put into this is appreciated.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you very much! It took me two months to finish this project, and it was an excellent experience. Going through history, I’m now thinking about making another video about the UK.

[@desertdarlene]

I'm currently learning Dutch (and some other languages) and through that, I'm also learning a lot about English language history. Dutch uses a lot of words that are very similar to more archaic English words.

[@Hiiimylove]

I'm a student English Literature first semester, and from the video, I know about the historical English language.although English is not my first language and my skills in English is not good, Absolutely I promise that one day I can speaking English very confident in public. ❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

🙏

[@MafiMZFan]

I shared this with my classmates to know English language's history well💚 (We are freshers of English language and literature)

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you very much, I’m pretty sure they’re gonna love it🎉

[@JameB-u7i]

My ESL students did, as did I.😊

[@Colin-Fenix]

Then don’t listen to this guy…

[@MafiMZFan]

@@Colin-Fenix what do you mean?

[@MafiMZFan]

Timestamps: Old English (0:00-3:50) Middle English (3:50-6:26) Early Modern English (6:26-10:40) Contemporary English (10:40-11:25)

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you very much !!! you made my work easier

[@leviashanken7281]

I agree, thank you!

[@englishwithjenn123]

Wow! I can’t believe how much I learned while being thoroughly entertained! This masterpiece is something I’ll definitely watch again-it’s just that good! 👏🏼

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you, Jenn! It’s a pleasure hearing that from you.

[@gameon2000]

Fun fact: normans were descendants of viikings themselves, hence the name "nor(d)man" they spoke an intermingled (with british gaelic celts & germanic francs in what to become Francia / France) version of old norse.

[@Parish0050]

And the vikings were descendants of the Danes, Just like the Angles and the Saxons are Danes, so, England got invaded 4 times by different groups of Danes.

[@eumesmovictorr]

0:49 Netherlands?

[@linouwww]

Yes. That's what he said.

[@eumesmovictorr]

@@linouwww Im talking about the map, you know, basic geography

[@wxaozesty1]

​@victorbyte2945 You are correct. Netherlands is west of Saxony.

[@alexanderchristensen7369]

That was my thought too lol. The angles never even had nothing to do with the Dutch. They were very closely related to jutes and danes. In Saxo grammaticus he even explains the Danes and angles having their names from 2 probably mythical Brothers Dan and Angel. Both were Nordic peoples and had nothing to do with the Dutch nor did they live in what is now the Netherlands lol.

[@regiochuchi260]

lol, thats really not the Netherlands

[@JesperMilling]

Anglia in Southern Denmark is misnomed Netherlands

[@curtgozaydin922]

I saw that geographical mistake and also it was the end he said something like Msyor English language or something, should be “Major”. But all that notwithstanding I thought that it was a pretty excellent shorter video explaining the English language!

[@alwinmitter2161]

Agreed, but more precise, this region today is split between Denmark and Germany, with the part called „Angeln“ to this day in Northern Germany. All three main invading tribes Angles, Saxons and Jutes, are supposed to have been of West Germanic linguistic origins, close relatives to nowadays Frisian and Low German dialects. And it was only afterwards that Danes belonging to the North German language group settled in Jutland and remained there this day

[@fatihyildirim4802]

Basically I began learning English with you and currently living in Canada. Thank you for contributing to me 🎉❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

Really? Omg what a honor 🥰😘

[@tramdinh589]

This video is so great. Hope to have more videos like this soon. Thanks ❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

More to come! I’m working on my trip to Iceland these days:)

[@JJJ111JJJ]

Fun fact, did you know that "deer" is the Old English word for "animal", and that modern Germanic languages still use that word for "animal"? German - tier Dutch - dier Swedish - djur Norwegian/Danish - dyr etc Total layman's theory here, but I'm guessing "deer" became a specific animal in English because all other large wild animals on the British isles were hunted to extinction. Scandinavia for example still has tons of wild bears, wolves, moose, reindeer etc, so the need to distinguish deer from other big animals remained.

[@PhansiKhongoloza]

Wouldn't "tier" be a tiger?

[@desertdarlene]

There's a lot of Germanic words like that. Dier is Dutch is "animal" and Hert is the word for "deer." In English, Hart used to be the name for a deer/stag. It came from Hert in ME and Heorot in OE.

[@PhansiKhongoloza]

@@desertdarlene My Dutch is not that good. I can understand it if spoken slowly. Plus obviously not all dialects as some are more difficult. "Dier" is an animal in Afrikaans. We don't have deer in South Africa so I don't know of an Afrikaans word for deer. We have "Bok" with is both a goat (Boer Bok) and a buck. But a "tier" is most definitely a tiger in Afrikaans anyway.

[@sailormanoyster1849]

Thank you very a interestingsubject😮

[@alfresco8442]

It was still being used as such in the Early Modern English of Shakespeare. There's a line in King Lear which reads "“But mice and rats and such small deer have been Tom's food for seven long year”.

[@bringiton5282]

Before Old English, there was Common Brittonic, probably the first version of English. It was a Celtic language like Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Manx and Cornish.

[@leviashanken7281]

How much actually got into English?

[@jiritichy7967]

Those languages were Celtic, whereas English is a mixture of Germanic and Latin (through French) words.

[@leviashanken7281]

@@jiritichy7967 I know but you mean none of the Celtic languages got into English?

[@WizardOfArc]

You put Germany over closer to where the Netherlands were and Netherlands on top of Jutland (part of Germany)

[@stephanierosealagenio515]

Thank you so much for this! Great explanation.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Glad it was helpful!

[@talkwithsunil07]

I am student of MA English literature first semester ❤i loved it.this video is helpful video ❤ Who is student here like this comment ❤

[@tahmidmostafa9513]

Best vedio to know the history of English Language.❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thanks

[@Infosandinquires]

this was really fun and informative to watch ! clearly lots of effort was put into this and i am here to tell you that this couldn't be any better ! subscribed!

[@EnglishWithNab]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@selinaysay3914]

Amazing illustrations and animation. Wish I had the opportunity to watch this video while I was studying English teaching at university ages ago. (1989-1993) Enjoyed watching and recalling school years.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you very much! It took me some time to finish 😇 but eventually is here

[@Chris87-dj5rh]

It’s an amazing video. I learned about language and it’s history, in the same time I can improve my listening. I’m so happy because I understood the video. Perhaps because you speak not as fast as usual. Thank you so much.

[@EnglishWithNab]

I’ll make more videos like this one, although it takes some time

[@LillyKhan-dv2xq]

Very much easy and helpful ☺️❤

[@drein4274]

Very nice - thanks for making it! I did notice that the line Major World Language actually says Mayor toward the end. Have a great rest of your day!

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you very much for the feedback 🙏

[@curtpiazza1688]

Very well explained and illustrated! Thanx so much! ❤ 😊

[@fayeandtrevor]

Thoroughly interesting! Thanks.

[@Ernecio06]

Thank you so much for this video about the beautiful English language! Regards from the Dominican Republic.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you too!

[@Witness_KinmuGaiNoIshi]

Honestly I found it easier to learn Anglo-Saxon era English than modern English

[@kwitshadie6539]

Sounds like your Past Life can be traced to this time. ;)

[@leviashanken7281]

Do you know German then?

[@kwitshadie6539]

@@leviashanken7281 I understand Shakespearean English. :)

[@leviashanken7281]

@@kwitshadie6539 that's the only English you know? Then your past life?

[@PatrickMcLaughlin-ji4rb]

Great information, there is no man as rich as the English language

[@rilesibenoro2482]

Many thanks NAB for your all your hard work. Love it❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@jose280714]

Qué buen video, me encanta. Muchas Gracias. =)

[@chesterdonnelly1212]

Very nice video. The history of the English language is the history of the English people.

[@faizasanam1539]

Love this vlog , I will show this video to my students in class. By profession I 'm a teacher.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Yeah let me know what they think please 😍

[@faizasanam1539]

@@EnglishWithNab yeah I will

[@Shukhrattmuratbaev]

I wonder you have done a greater work compared to other youtube channels who did an exploration on the history of the English language,your information and the way of explaining them are fascinating.Danke für dich mein Freund,from Uzbekistan.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Wow, thank you! It took months tbh but I’m glad to hear that

[@tetianamamatova5704]

👍👍👍 a nice piece of work!!! Thanks for all your efforts to help to learn)❤️

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you very much:) I’ll more videos tho like this one

[@ombimalowangi]

​@@EnglishWithNabyeah we want more

[@llamdelmar7573]

Yo soy de Chile y estudié en una universidad internacional, donde el idioma oficial era el inglés. Mis compañeros de lengua nativa inglesa me decían: oye, tu entiendes las palabras difíciles del inglés y no las fáciles, yo respondía siempre, el ingles académico deriva en su mayoría del latín o del francés, idiomas mas cercanos al español que las palabras derivadas de los idiomas sajones.

[@believeinpeace]

Thank you so much!

[@Ohnjay288]

A big thank you for this very informative information which is truly appreciated.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Glad it was helpful!

[@comicalwizard664]

very well made video!

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you!

[@steveblair6765]

The word "window" is not from translating wind eye. Die "wand-aug" is " wall-eye. "

[@SičhaŋǧuWičhaša]

I love English ❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

Same here

[@BryantSmith-m1n]

Thanks 🙏🙏 I just found it out🥰

[@JuanMendoza-ke9bj]

Sounds nice!!

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you

[@kian-n9h]

Nice explanation🎉

[@EnglishWithNab]

Glad you liked it!

[@edwarddcastejonc4302]

awesome material

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thanks

[@RahulKumar-id5cq]

At 10:32 there is spelling mistake. Major is uttered while Mayor is written. Very informative content and very lucid to understand.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thanks for the feedback🙏

[@rememberrmee]

Great video for homeschooling thank you ❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

You are so welcome!

[@marinashilova1349]

Such an impressive video! Tell us, please, how did you create these animated maps? Which application or program was used? This is extremely important to me. I would appreciate it if you would respond.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you very much! My editors made them ❤

[@marinashilova1349]

@@EnglishWithNab Could you share their contacts with me, if only it is not top secret))

[@Roero]

Really well done video and explanation. It would be interesting to understand how the "English false friends" took a different meaning from their Latin root.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you very much! It took me two months to finish this project, and it was an excellent experience. Going through history, I’m now thinking about making another video about the UK.

[@MannyBrum]

Let me start off by saying anyone who is learning English as a second language should learn this information, and it's a shame they don't teach it more. This is a great video. My only criticism is that the Middle English pronunciations in the Great Vowel Shift section were wrong, eg in Middle English knife, the k and the e would be pronounced the same way as in German through most of the period. The k didn't become silent everywhere until the 17th century, and the final e is thought to have become silent either at the end of the Middle English period or the beginning of the Modern English period. The Old English pronunciation was excellent though.

[@BarthiArgento]

0:48 error in the video: The area you called „Netherlands“ is actually also Germany 😄

[@michaellovell1368]

A nice Video, but you have got your Angles as coming from The Netherlands. This land was in fact what is now Southern Denmark/Northern Germany. The Netherlands is to the West of "Saxony" here and was inhabited by The Freesians.

[@desmorgens3120]

Frisian is often not mentioned in the history of the English language.

[@antoniescargo1529]

Een lerares Engels (drs) vertelde ons dat ze Oud Fries gestudeerd had om het Engels te begrijpen.

[@MafiMZFan]

Can you make a video only for anglo Saxon period?

[@EnglishWithNab]

Good idea

[@Budidongky]

Hello my friends I'm from Indonesia 🙏🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩🇮🇩

[@EnglishWithNab]

Hello there 😍

[@SheikhNafiz-kk8hv]

I'm from Bangladesh 🇧🇩

[@ЗахарИванов-ж8н]

Stay at home

[@mariuszchile]

6:32 that's Europe before WWI, centuries after Renaissance 😅

[@theprofessionaltraders8122]

Great video indeed

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you kindly

[@TheSaltydog07]

If you want to read more: _The story of English_ written by Robert MacNeil, Robert McCrum, and William Cran.

[@abc_13579]

8:40 I thought it used to be pronounced as “kaneef,” due to the “k.” Are you sure it was pronounced as “neef”?

[@jorge7spary]

In Argentina, there are also people who speak English as a Foreign Language. There are little people (at least 3%) but there is evidence indeed.

[@tobiasariastoya1485]

Very good video 🎉🎉

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thank you 🤗

[@AlltNorrOmAleArNorrland]

3:35 Egg vs Æg? 🤷🏽‍♂️?… I seriously think the Vikings brought very little change to the English language. Jutes & Angles already spoke a very similar language to old Norse whom mostly came from Denmark (remember Danelaw & King Knut)

[@tanyashander1953]

That’s great

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thanks 😍

[@Patrick_Krolikow]

The English language is beautiful anyway.

[@EnglishWithNab]

I can’t agree more

[@michaelarrowood4315]

395,000 subscribers, and just 1 video on the page?

[@albionmyl7735]

we Saxons are from LowerSaxony, Westphalia and Twente /NL...... this is the old homeland of the germanic Saxons🇩🇪👋

[@EnglishWithNab]

😇

[@albionmyl7735]

@@EnglishWithNab and we still very much connected with our english cousins 🌹👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@JameB-u7i]

You labled Southern Denmark and Norethern Germany (in orange) as the Netherlands. These areas are Southern Jutland, Southern Schleswig, and Holstein. The Netherlands is to the left of Germany, bordering the North Sea.

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thanks for the info 😇

[@kimashitawa8113]

Like he isn't wrong that they also came from the Netherlands but when i saw our name over Schleswig-Holstein i thought "huh?"

[@unraed]

why people always forget about frisians?) they migrated to the brittish isles as well!)

[@kwitshadie6539]

The Frisians never really had a kingdom in England and the migrants ended up assimilated into the Heptarchy.

[@aoki_ch]

English spelling system is awesome

[@XxH3ADcaseXx]

I only know of Geoffrey Chaucer because of the movie A Knight's Tale lol bro said "The names Chaucer... Geoffrey Chaucer... The writer?"

[@hotdatedave]

0:49. That's not the Netherlands! The Netherlands is west of Germany!

[@leviashanken7281]

Were the Ks ever pronounced? Know, knight, knife, etc.

[@thomaswhittaker2443]

Yes, old English usually used C not K. Knight was spelled something like Cnict or Cnyct and both C's were pronounced as K's.

[@leviashanken7281]

@thomaswhittaker2443 Thanc you!

[@Budidongky]

Video nice ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thanks

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thanks

[@bobin5480]

Feel this l am watch history18 tv channel when i was 12years old

[@EnglishWithNab]

Glad to hear that, more videos to come

[@ombimalowangi]

​@@EnglishWithNabcan't wait

[@piteravelar5456]

I thought really interesting

[@EnglishWithNab]

Thanks

[@piteravelar5456]

@@EnglishWithNab my pleasure

[@user-hu1lr6tf2n]

The Netherlands?

[@SakibAli-yr7kw]

My English honors degree can be completed here😂😂😂

[@EnglishWithNab]

lol

[@jiritichy7967]

A significant flaw of English is its lack of consistent spelling vs. pronunciation. In languages like German or Czech, for example, every sound has one corresponding letter in the alphabet and every letter has a corresponding sound - with some exceptions. Once one knows these rules he can read German, for example, without knowing any words. In English, there are ridiculous situations, where one sound is expressed by four letters - through (although on American highways one can se smarter thru).

[@hamzabangash4956]

Old English from 450 to 1066

[@neilog747]

The Peterborough Chronicle is written in Old English up to 1154, however the 1154 entry version of English reads like Middle English without French.

[@michaelcannon7640]

Must have been a big stretch for them to go from Egg to Æg.

[@marcoparente7352]

Why showing a map taken from the year 1914 to show Europe in 1500? Back to school.

[@Parish0050]

10:43 «Lingua Franca» is Latin, it literally means «The French language», and it is English. Go figure.

[@hakalrakan]

Maybe no relationship between French and Normans only this tribes came from France side. They had a Scandinavian sources.

[@neilog747]

Culturally they were definitely French though.

[@JonnhyOliver]

Thou hast knowest Olde Ænglisc doeth not reacheth The highlands of Scottland.

[@MohiBaraa-qj9kp]

Sir your video this there some problem Please correct it The peoples of Britain consisted of tribes called Celtic Anglo-Saxons. It is true that they are a mixture of German-Danish tribes, but there is no country known as the Netherlands at that

[@thl-df9iu]

Create a defense mechanism for the language against DEMON by providing new words : 1 NOTdie 2 NOTold 3 NOTsick 4 NOTkill 5 NOTwar 6 NEVER end of the world AMEN

[@NareLusinyan]

Հայերեն թարգմանությունն ուղարկեք,կարդամ,լսեմ։😅❤+**12Ճյուղն ԱՐՄԱՏԻՆ ինչ ունի սովորեցնելու?😂❤

[@EnglishWithNab]

Turn the subtitle on

[@georgen9755]

ENG IN

[@happyman_smiling]

Sir please please check shashi tharoor an indian politician and ex diplomat who speaks perfect victorian english just check his videos you will find best victorian accent

[@learningbeing7608]

langvagirono

[@Mementomori-vh]

English history is as "true" as Hungarian. Mixed language, foreign genes and invented "famous" history.

[@FrancoRamírez-u3v]

Muy cierto

[@neilog747]

I think more is known about early English history than early Hungarian, e.g. the source of the language. The history isn't invented, its simply one valid take on it. The 'Annales Saxonum' are meticulous for their time and the dates of the major events hold up.

[@saqibyounus2459]

WHY ON EARTH would you play this horrendously annoying, extremely nonsensical and disturbing music in the background??? WHY ... WHY ... WHY ON EARTH??????

[@thomasbergstra8874]

Nothing about Frisian.

[@neilog747]

Yes thats an omission. The English midlands and East Anglia were settled by loads of men with a Frisian genetic signature.

[@BornKafir]

No mention of other local languages of the isles either. Welsh, Manx, Scottish and Irish etc didn't have any influence, and vice versa?! That's simply not possible. It's a good summary, but there's more that can be said on this topic. Such as the colonies of Britain certainly had an impact. For example Giraffe came from either farsi or arabic. Who, in turn picked it up from African locals, who actually lived alongside the animal. Mogul comes from Mughal dynasty of India. Curry is the anglicized pronunciation of the Tamil word for either mutton or goat meat. Maize is the word natives of Mexico used for the crop. Potato comes from Batata which itself comes from some aboriginal language. Kayak is anglicized pronunciation of the Inuit word qajak (i forget the spelling). Today, English being global, it's developing more and more local varieties. As well as slangs that aren't known elsewhere. California and New York end up having more impact because of Hollywood. Jamaican is an example where English mixed with bunch of other languages became it's own language. It's not globally recognized as such, but it should be categorized as one.

[@nastybadger-tn4kl]

English came from tamil!!!!

[@kseven6551]

Heute ist diese Sprache viel zu sehr französisch und Latein

[@merte.2047]

Als ob Deutsch keine Wörter von diesen Sprachen genommen hat...

[@paolamilia1445]

I don t like american accent

[@snapmalloy5556]

Which one? 😂😂

[@gonetimeless]

It matters not how it came to be, it is a terrible, illogical language that has never been righted.

[@BornKafir]

Most languages are like that. Urdu, one of the languages of India and official language of Pakistan is like that as well. You don't usually write the vowels in their script, you're just expected to know. Imagine how difficult that is for a beginner. French also makes zero sense most of the time. Very illogical and needlessly confusing. Their numbering system is so intimidating to a new student. Pronunciation changes with umlaut and accents. They could've invented new letters, but went with diacritic marks to change the sound of the word and make life so much more difficult. All languages have weird quirks. English isn't unique in that. It's not an easy language to learn either. But nowadays there's so much free English media everywhere that I've seen kids learn it just because of the internet even if their school didn't teach English. In my country, Quebec schools provide education in French. Unless you choose a non-french school. French school kids still end up learning English nowadays due to the overwhelming dominance of English in Canada and USA. I'veSeen videos of street vendor kids in various poor country who didn't go to school but picked up English through media and tourists. They can't read well, but can communicate with ease. English won't remain one standardized language for long. Jamaican already gave us an example of English branching off into a new language.

[@irenejohnston6802]

Brittonic word for water isca in river names. Wysg. eg R Exe, places Exeter. R. Axe Axminster, R. Usk.; Aber. Mouth of a river. Aberdeen, R.Dee Aberafon (Welsh Avon/Afon water)

[@JeffPryor]

AESEIR VS VENEIR WARS