They spoke a French dialect and regarded Old English as a rather crude and rustic language. The next major change to English was initiated in 1066 after the invasion and subjugation of England by the Normans. The name is perhaps most prominent in the counties of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire in England and around Telemark in Norway, suggesting its origins lie in these two parts of the world. My own surname (Overland) was essentially the same in pronunciation and meaning in both languages. Old English was very similar to Old Norse. The Celtic speaking Britons were pushed out of England into Wales, Cornwall and Scotland, where versions of the Celtic language persisted and, indeed, survive to this day.Īs an aside, ancient Cornish, the language of my ancestors, is very similar to ancient Breton, a language which still has a few modern speakers living mostly in Brittany, a region of France.īoth Cornish and Breton were quite widely spoken until around 1700, when English and French respectively became dominant. They brought with them their own languages which over time merged into what became Anglo-Saxon or Old English. Despite their colourful warrior garb (reminds me of somewhere), Celtic-speaking Britons proved no match for invaders from northern Europe, although elements of their culture and language remain in the UK
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