Some survivors
This map shows the main groups of people who influenced the English language, and when they invaded Britain. It also shows the Danelaw, a division of rule made by the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings in the 11th century. You can still hear the influence of those ancient language groups in the different accents of people from the north and south of England.
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Words and more words
Not many Celtic words have survived in English. Here are a few: Avon, cairn, crag, tan, tawny, tor.
Brother and daughter come from Old English brothor and dohtor. But sister comes from later Old Norse, the language of the Vikings, systir.
Person, chair, curtain and plate came into English as a result of the Norman Conquest.
Human, bottle, closet, saucer, biscuit and onion were added during the 14th and 15th centuries.
These are just a few examples. There are some more detailed tables in my main website, The Brain Rummager. There is some particularly interesting information in the sections on Dragons and The Unpeople!
Words that survived
Many of the words we use today came into English after the Norman conquest. Still more came later, when exploration and science were expanding. When a discovery was made, a word had to be created for it. That is why most of our scholarly and scientific words are related directly to Latin or Greek.
However, many words we use for basic items every day are modern forms of the original Old English terms. What would be more ‘ordinary’ and ‘everyday’ but the body and its parts? I have done some research and found nearly 70 names of parts of the body which are direct adaptations of Old English words. Some even have the same spelling, even though we pronounce them differently.
‘Body’ words in Old English
Here is my list of the main ‘body’ words that have survived, showing the Old English forms. You can see how close many of them to modern English.
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ANKLE ancleow ARM arm BEARD beard BELLY bellig from belg, bag, pod BLADDER blædre, bledre BLOOD blod BODY bodig BONE ban BOSOM bosm breast or womb BRAIN brægen BREAST breost breastbone breostban BROW bru CHEEK ceace CHEST cest CHIN cinn EAR eare ELBOW elnboga EYE eage eyebrow ege-bru eyelid ehe-lid
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FINGER finger FIST fyste FLESH flæsc FOOT fot FOREHEAD for-heafed, for-heafod GALL bile gealla GRISTLE grost cartilage grost GUT gutt HAIR hær HAND hand HEAD heafod HEART heorte HEEL hela HIP hype JOWL underjaw, cheekbone ceafl KNEE cneow LIMB lim limb LIP lippa LIVER lifer LOCK of hair locc LUNG lungen
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MARROW mearg, merg, mærh MOUTH muth NAVEL nafela NECK hnecca NOSE nasu, nosu NOSTRIL nasthyrl (nose-hole) PALM folm RIB ribbe SHANK scanca (lower leg or whole leg) SHOULDER sculdor SINEW sinu, seonu SKIN scinn THIGH theoh THROAT throtu, throtbolla THUMB thuma TOE ta TONGUE tonge TOOTH toth WART wearte WRIST wrist
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Some Old English terms have disappeared. Have a look at these examples!
banhus bone-house (body)
ban-schawe bone-show, bone-jut-out (thought to be arthritis or sciatica)
cne-panne knee-pan (kneecap)
feorhus life-house (body)
fot-welm foot-swelling (the sole of the foot)
gelæte appearance (face)
hæfd-bon head-bone (skull)
heals, hals neck, throat (hence our word ‘halter’, a type of collar)
hæfd-ban head-bone (skull)
herte-spon heart-chip/splinter (breastbone)
tharm bowel, gut