The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way

The Celts were the early inhabitants of Britain bound together by the common Celtic language and other cultural similarities. Under Roman rule in Britain, the Celts had become “civilized, law-abiding people” who enjoyed many aspects of civilization (44-45). Bryson notes that after living side-by-side for four centuries, the Celts and Romans became almost indistinguishable (45). However, after the withdrawal of Roman troops in 410, the Celts came under attack by invading Germanic tribes and were either slaughtered, forced to flee, or absorbed into Germanic identity. This was the first of a series of changes to the English language resulting from invasion and subsequent blending of languages. Although the Saxons were the dominant of the four invading Germanic tribes, “the new nation gradually came to be known as England and its language as English, after the rather more obscure Angles” (44).

The Anglo-Saxons were early inhabitants of England, whose heritage can be traced back to a combination of natives and the four Germanic tribes from the European mainland, who displaced the Celts in the 5th century. As opposed to the Celts, who had become “civilized” under Roman rule, the Anglo-Saxons were considered “pagan” (44). In Chapter 4, Bryson discusses the role that the four Germanic tribes’ invasion of Britain had on the formation of the English language. The four Germanic tribes—the Saxons, Angles, Jutes, and Frisians—brought Germanic dialects from mainland Europe and blended them with existing dialects of Celtic to form Old English. Bryson argues that while no one can say when English became a separate language, it is certain that “the language the invaders brought with them soon began to change” (47).

The Normans were Vikings who settled in northern France 200 years before their 1066 conquest of England (51). The Norman invasion and subsequent occupation of England changed the English language via French influence, leading to a two-tiered language society with the aristocracy of England speaking French and commoners speaking English (52). Many English words still in use were adopted from Norman French (53).

William Caxton (1442-1491) was an English writer and businessman based in Burges, France who is credited with introducing the printing press in England. In Chapter 8, Bryson explains that in 1475, Caxton was “intrigued by the recent development of printing in Germany and sensing that there might be money in it, [he] set up his own publishing house in his adopted city” (137). Caxton plays a central role in the development of English grammar and spelling, because with the introduction of the printing press, spelling became standardized. Bryson notes that prior to this development, “people seemed emphatically indifferent to matters of consistency in spelling” (135). Caxton eventually returned to England and began publishing there as well, issuing a “torrent of books of all types—histories, philosophies, the works of Chaucer and Malory, and much else—and became richer still” (137-38). By 1640, more than 20,000 titles were available in Britain with standardized spelling (138).

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet of the 14th century best known for his literary work The Canterbury Tales. Bryson frequently references Chaucer, primarily as a central figure in the formation of the English language. Chaucer’s age was one in which French and English coexisted in Britain, with the former being the language of the aristocracy—of Parliament and the courts—and the latter being the language of common people (55). Bryson argues that “Chaucer’s was the language of London—and therefore comparatively easy for us to follow” (58).

Born in England in 1564, William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the history of the English language. Bryson frequently references Shakespeare, primarily the role he played in the transformation of English words (as he often made up words). In Chapter 4, Bryson writes that “the changing structure of English allowed writers the freedom to express themselves […] and none took this more liberally than Shakespeare, who happily and variously used nouns as verbs, as adverbs, as substantives, and as adjectives” (64).

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was an English writer and lexicographer who was contracted to compile an authoritative dictionary of the English language. After 9 years, his Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755. In Chapter 10, Bryson describes Johnson’s work as “one of the landmarks of English literature” (168). The Dictionary of the English Language defined 43,000 words and included more than 114,000 supporting quotations.

Born in Connecticut in 1758, Noah Webster was an American teacher, lawyer, and lexicographer. As a spelling reformer, Webster is frequently credited with changing American spelling—but is most often associated with his American Dictionary of the English Language, which was published in 1828 and included 70,000 words. In Chapter 10, Bryson frames the American Dictionary of the English Language as “the most complete of its age” and its definitions as “models of clarity and conciseness” (172).