Latin , the lingua franca of Europe
before the rise of English, influenced the development of Old English more than
any other non-West Germanic language with which Old English came into contact.
Most scholars divide the influence of Latin chronologically into three time
periods. The first time period concerns such influence as occurred on the
continent prior to the arrival of Anglo-Saxons in England and which arose from
contacts between West-Germanic speaking peoples and Latin speakers. The second
period of influence spans from the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in England up to
their Christianization ca. 600/650. The last period of influence spans from the
time of Christianization up to the arrival of the Normans in 1066.
The most readily apparent influence that Latin
had on Old English concerns the use of the Latin alphabet. Prior to the
Christianization of England, what little writing there was, was written with
runic letters. Collectively these letters comprised the futharc alphabet
(called so after its first six letters). Through the influence of Irish insular
script, Old English scribes adopted the Latin alphabet. They did so with only
slight modification and the retention of certain runic letters. Modifications
included the use of Latin with a line through it, <ð> ("eth"), to represent both /q / and /ð/. Somewhat later, they also used
the rune thorn, <þ>, to represent these two phonemes.
Finally, they incorporated the rune wynn, < >, to represent /w/.
It is more difficult to determine Latin influence
on Old English syntax. Naturally, our knowledge of Old English syntax is
hindered by the general paucity of extant Old English texts. Furthermore, many
of the surviving Old English texts are translations of Latin texts, and even
when they are not, many nonetheless reflect a clear dependence on Latin models.
Consequently, it is difficult to account for the syntactical irregularities of
Old English texts with any certainty. Such irregularities could represent the
influence of Latin or – just as likely – an otherwise poorly evidenced aspect
of Old English syntax. Nonetheless, scholars agree that certain constructions –
whether native to Old English or not - likely did find wider distribution in
Old English through the influence of Latin than would otherwise have occurred.
Such was likely the case, for example, with the Old English "dative
absolute" construction as modeled on the Latin "ablative
absolute." While this construction appears rarely in the conservative
prose of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it is ubiquitous in the highly
Latinate translation of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History.
Not surprisingly, Latin held the most pervasive
influence on Old English in the area of vocabulary. Moreover, this sphere of
influence provides the clearest index of the changing relationship between Old
English and Latin speakers. In total approximately 450 Old English words,
mostly nouns, were borrowed from Latin . Around 170 of these entered the Old
English lexicon during the continental period . These words pertain mostly to
plants, household items, clothing and building materials. As such, they
represent the influence of Vulgar (i.e. spoken) Latin rather than Classical
(i.e. literate) Latin. It is uncertain how many words date from the second
period of Latin influence. In general though, scholars maintain that there are
slightly fewer borrowings dating from this period. With the exception of a
comparatively larger number of words having to do with religion and learning,
borrowings from this period pertain to the same subject matter as those of the
first period . In strong contrast with the two preceding periods, the third
period shows a marked increase in words concerning religion and learning. The
influx of such words clearly reflects the influence of the literate, CL culture
associated with the Church following the Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons.
In addition to direct borrowings, Latin also influenced the Old English lexicon
by occasioning the formation of semantic loans, loan translations (or calques)
and loan creations. Consider, for example, the semantic loan Old English cniht
for Latin discipulus, in which native Old English cniht, "boy"
or "servant," assumes the additional sense of Latin discipulus,
"disciple." Such translations are abundant in the Old English
lexicon. Equally prevalent are loan translations, in which a Latin compound
word is translated using morphologically equivalent native elements: e.g. Old
English foreberan < Latin praeferre. Loan creations are also
numerous. Like loan translations, loan creations translate the Latin word using
native elements but with greater morphological freedom: e.g. Old English restedæg
for Latin sabbatum.
The overall abundance of semantic loans, loan
translations and loan creations suggests a final and more general truth
concerning the influence of Latin on Old English. Despite the relatively
extensive influence of Latin on Old English, Old English clearly shows a strong
tendency to rely on native resources. That is to say, given the linguistic
conditions of Old English period, one would expect Latin to have exerted a far
greater influence than in fact our knowledge of Old English suggests.