Why is English difficult? (in prep)

Origins of Latin and French words in English

English has multiple origins. Principally though it has Anglo-Saxon, Latin and French sources. According to Phillip Durkin, chief etymologist of the Oxford Dictionary, the reason there are so many words of Latin and French origin in modern English is largely because of the Norman Conquest in 1066.

1066 is the date of the Battle of Hastings in which the Norman army from France led by William the Conqueror defeated the Saxons in England led by King Harold. Harold was slain, traditionally thought, by an arrow to his eye. The events of the battle were recorded graphically in the famous Bayeux Tapestry. If you are curious you can watch an animated version of the tapestry on ‘You Tube’. It begins with the appearence of Halley's Commet; just follow the link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDaB-NNyM8o).


The insertion of French and Latin into Anglo-Saxon continued up until the late Medieval period. The resulting language was called ‘Middle English’.

During this time it was common for businessmen and professionals to be trilingual speaking Latin, French and English. This led to considerable vocabulary sharing. It is estimated that about 28% English words have come directly from French, and another 28% comes from Latin origin. It is important to note that many of these words of Latin origin may have entered the language via French.

In modern English, words of Latin and French origin are commonly used in formal and academic contexts, whereas their Anglo-Saxon equivalents are used in informal language. Informal English is frequently spoken and used in in emails and elsewhere on the Internet, such as in blog comments.

You may be thinking that the phrasal verb is older than their Latin equivalents. Well according to linguists they appeared afterwards.


Origin of Phrasal Verbs

You may be thinking that the phrasal verb is older than their Latin equivalents. Well according to linguists they appeared afterwards.

According to scholars the first time phrasal verbs appeared in English was after the Norman Conquest. They were relatively rare until the 1600s when they became more common
Their structure was more flexible than today. They probably were of English origin – having no foreign source (Blake, 2002).

They were frequently used to define words of Latin origin (Ref). They may also may have been a kind of Cockney slang for the conquered Anglo-Saxons. A dialect meant to alienate the ruling nobles – designed to confuse and obscure.
Phrasal verbs pose difficulties for learners of English mostly because there are so many of them and notably because are idiomatic. This means their meaning cannot be guessed from either the verb or the particle.