Functional English Unit 1 – The Evolution of the English Language

Key vocabulary terms from Unit 1 covering language-origin theories, linguistic families, historical stages of English, and foundational linguistic concepts.

Language

A human, non-instinctive system of vocal symbols used to communicate ideas, emotions, and desires.

Philology

The historical and comparative study of languages and their development.

Functional English

The practical use of English for effective communication in academic and professional contexts.

Indo-European Language Family

A large group of related languages spoken across Europe and parts of Asia, including English, Hindi, Greek, and many others.

Indo-Germanic

An older term for the Indo-European family, highlighting its spread in Europe and northern India.

Germanic Group

The branch of Indo-European that includes English, German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian languages.

Lexicon

The complete set of words in a language or a subject; a vocabulary.

Accidence

The part of grammar that deals with inflections of words, such as tense or case endings.

Old English

The earliest stage of English (c. 450–1100 AD), also called Anglo-Saxon.

Middle English

The stage of English used from c. 1100–1500, influenced heavily by Norman French.

Modern English

English from c. 1500 to the present, divided into Early and Late periods.

Early Modern English

English used c. 1500–1800, marked by the Great Vowel Shift and the rise of printing.

Late Modern English

English from c. 1800 onward, distinguished by rapid vocabulary growth from science, technology, and global contact.

Great Vowel Shift

A major 15th- to 16th-century change in English vowel pronunciation that shaped Modern English sounds.

Bow-wow Theory

Origin theory proposing that language began as imitation of natural sounds (onomatopoeia).

Ding-dong Theory

Max Müller’s idea that language arose from humans’ innate sense of universal rhythm and harmony.

Pooh-pooh Theory

Theory suggesting language originated from instinctive emotional interjections like ‘ah!’ or ‘oh!’.

Gesture Theory

Sir Richard Paget’s view that language evolved from hand gestures accompanied by vocal sounds.

Yo-He-Ho Theory

Noire’s proposal that communal work chants and rhythmic grunts led to speech.

Musical Theory

Otto Jespersen’s claim that language grew out of melodic courting songs and animal cries.

Contact Theory

G. Revesz’s idea that the need for social contact drove the evolution from cries to words.

Tower of Babel Theory

Biblically inspired view that all languages descend from one ancestral tongue split by divine intervention.

Proto-World Theory

Hypothesis that several independent proto-languages arose in different regions, later influencing one another.

Evolutionary Theory (of language)

The concept that language developed gradually over millennia through adaptive changes.

Pedigree (Family Tree) Theory

August Schleicher’s model showing languages diverging through successive splits like branches of a tree.

Wave Theory

Johannes Schmidt’s model explaining language change as overlapping waves of dialectal innovation.

Universal Grammar

Noam Chomsky’s theory that humans are born with innate knowledge of linguistic principles.

Grimm’s Law

Rule describing the systematic consonant shifts that distinguish Germanic languages from other Indo-European tongues.

Weak Verb

A Germanic verb that forms its past tense with a dental suffix (-d/-t), e.g., ‘love → loved’.

Centum Languages

Western Indo-European languages (e.g., Latin, Greek) where the proto-sound *k̂ became a ‘k’ sound.

Satem Languages

Eastern Indo-European languages (e.g., Sanskrit, Persian) where the proto-sound *k̂ became an ‘s’ sound.

West Saxon Dialect

The Old English dialect promoted by King Alfred; basis of most surviving Anglo-Saxon literature.

Anglo-Saxon

Another name for Old English; also refers to the Germanic settlers (Angles & Saxons) of early Britain.

Beowulf

Epic Old English poem about a hero who slays monsters; key work of West Saxon literature.

Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Middle English masterpiece, a framed collection of pilgrims’ stories.

Romance Languages

Languages that evolved from Latin, such as French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian.

Vulgar Latin

The colloquial, spoken form of Latin from which the Romance languages developed.

Teutonic

Another term for the Germanic branch of Indo-European languages or its cultural traits.

Celtic

An Indo-European branch once widespread in Europe; today mainly Irish, Welsh, and Breton languages.

Hellenic Branch

Indo-European branch comprising Greek and its dialects.

Balto-Slavic

Indo-European branch that includes Baltic languages (e.g., Lithuanian) and Slavic languages (e.g., Russian, Polish).

Italic Branch

Indo-European languages descended from Latin, including the Romance group.

Sanskrit

Classical language of ancient India; key member of the Indo-European family.

Prakrit

Group of Middle Indo-Aryan vernaculars derived from Sanskrit; source of many modern Indian languages.

Attic Dialect

Prestigious ancient Greek dialect of Athens, basis of Classical Greek literature.

Vedas

Ancient sacred Sanskrit texts dating to c. 1500 BCE, among the earliest Indo-European writings.

Latin

Classical language of ancient Rome; foundation of the Romance languages and much scientific vocabulary.

Normans

French-speaking conquerors of England in 1066 whose language reshaped English vocabulary and grammar.

Onomatopoeic Word

A word that imitates the natural sound it denotes, e.g., ‘buzz’, ‘splash’.

Proto-language

A hypothetical reconstructed ancestral language from which a language family descends.