HowoldisEnglish?

Introduction
Whythiswebsite?

Spreadofagriculture

Websitesummary
SUMMARY

Whois?
Authors

Linguisticevidence
Language:
Howeasytochange?
Socialpressure
Languageevolution
Celt:etymology
Gaul:etymology
Celticculture
Theclosestlanguage
Languageborders
Theplacenameproblem
Vindolanda/Lincoln
Thames/London
BathbyGildas

Preliminaryconclusions

PIE=protoIndoEuropeanlanguage.ThisisthesupposedancestorofallEuropeanlanguages,except
Basque,HungarianandFinnish.OtherPIElanguagesarePharsi(Iran),Pashtun(Afghanistan/Pakistan),
Hindiandmore,75intotal.Manyetymologistsaretryingtoreconstructthislanguage,inthesuppositionthat
allIndoEuropeanlanguagesevolveddirectlyfromthissinglelanguage.Iestimatehoweverthatthetime
span,some9000years,iswaytooshorttoadheretothistheory.ModernGreekistraceabletoancient
Greek,adistanceintimeofsome3600years.Coptic(originalEgyptianlanguage)wasspokeninEgypt
betweenatleast3200BC(earliesthieroglyphs)and1800AD,orsome5000years.Ofcourse,both
languagesevolvedovertime,andconsiderably,buttheydidn'tchangeintolanguagesodifferentasLatin
andRussian.Theircoreremained.Champollionwasabletodecipherhieroglyphsbecausehehada
CopticLatindictionary.Howthencanoneexplainthat75languagesevolvedanddiversifiedwithinafew
thousandyearsmore?LanguageswhichareasdifferentasSpanish,DanishorHindi aresupposedto
diversifybetween7000BCand2000BC.Morelikelyisthatthe PIElanguagesteamrolledoverprePIEand
nonPIElanguagesandgavebirthtothevariousknownlanguagessuchasGerman,English,Italian,etc.In
otherwords:theIndoEuropeanlanguagesaresodiverse becausetheirsubstratelanguages,notonlyin
words,butalsoinsounds,wereverydifferentbefore.PIEsprayedanewtransparent layeruponoldpictures,
givingthemallasimilarcolour.UnderthislayerwefindvariationsoftheancestorofPIE,probably mixedwith
nonPIEinfluences.

LateRomanBritain

Hereisthehypothesis:

Dialectproblems(1)
Dialectproblems(2)

AdventusSaxonum
Consideringmigrations
Limitedquantities
WhyNorthGermans?
NorthGermanmentality

Whathappenedbefore
ConstantineIIItheusurper
LettertoHonorius
Honoriusanswer

Theadventofagriculture(70005000BC)changedlittleintherelationsbetweenpeople.Agriculturecame
asanewtechnologyfromtheEast,probablytheMiddleEastandspreadslowlyoverEuropefromeastto
west.

PIEwasinitiallyspokenontheshoresoftheBlackSeaand expandedlateroverthegreyzoneonthemap.
EssentialistounderstandthelivingconditionsofthesefirstPIEpeople.
Theyweremarshlandpeoplewithanadvancedtechnology.Thankstothefactthattheyhadboatstheywere
fishermen andsocolonizedtheshoresoftheBlackSea,whichatthetimewasstillalake, notconnectedto
theMediterraneanSea.TheBlackSeawasverymuchtheirMareNostrum,'oursea'.Theirsituationwastoa
certainextendcomparablewiththeGreeksintheAegeanSea.Thefactthattheyused'theirsea'asa mean
oftransportmeansthattheirlanguagenotonlyspreadonalltheshores,butalsopreventedatoogreat
diversificationofit.AllGreeksclaimedthattheycouldunderstandeachotherandportrayedallnonGreek
speakersasbarbarians,meaning'brabrabra'people,whoselanguagenoGreekcouldunderstand.
Thereasonofsuccessforpopulationsisnottheirtechnology.Themainreasonistheirlevelofinternal
organisation andthecapacitytoimposethisorgansisationuponotherpeople.TheRomansweremasters
indoingthis.ThereasonwhytheEuropeanscolonistsinAmericacouldsoeasilyovercomethenative
populationswastheircapacity toorganisethemselves.Theminutemen areafineexampleofthat.
Livingontherichshoresofagreatlakewithitsnumerouslargeestuaries(suchastheDanubedelta)meant
thatthePIEpeoplecouldfindsufficientfood.TheIceAgecausedicecoldwintersbuttheyhadtheluxuryto
preparethesewintersduringthemildsummers. Thisallowedthedevelopmentofanadvancedtechnology
inordertoosailsafelyoverthelakeandtoprotectthemfromthecoldandhardshipsofthewinter.Asthey
wereinconstantcontactwitheachother,astrongtribalfeelingdeveloped. Allthatmadethemmore
developedthanthesurroundinghuntersgatherers.So,theyslowlyexpandedtheirterritory,mainlytothemild
westandsouth.
ThisexpansionhappenedslowlyduringtheIceAge,butaccelerateddramaticallyatthebeginningofthe
Holocene(endoftheIceAge).ThePIEpeopletookovertheirneighbours.Around7000BC,1000yearsafter
thewarmingup,theyhadcolonizedmostoftheBalkanregionandnorthernGreece.

ClickherefortheMysteryof
theBritishOak.

thatthePIEpeoplecouldfindsufficientfood.TheIceAgecausedicecoldwintersbuttheyhadtheluxuryto
preparethesewintersduringthemildsummers. Thisallowedthedevelopmentofanadvancedtechnology
inordertoosailsafelyoverthelakeandtoprotectthemfromthecoldandhardshipsofthewinter.Asthey
wereinconstantcontactwitheachother,astrongtribalfeelingdeveloped. Allthatmadethemmore
developedthanthesurroundinghuntersgatherers.So,theyslowlyexpandedtheirterritory,mainlytothemild
westandsouth.
ThisexpansionhappenedslowlyduringtheIceAge,butaccelerateddramaticallyatthebeginningofthe
Holocene(endoftheIceAge).ThePIEpeopletookovertheirneighbours.Around7000BC,1000yearsafter
thewarmingup,theyhadcolonizedmostoftheBalkanregionandnorthernGreece.
TheyalsopenetrateddeepintoAnatolia(modernTurkey),wheretheyimportedalanguagelaterknownas
Hittite.ItistherethatthePIEpeoplewouldtakeovertheagriculturaltechnologyandincorporateitintotheir
language.
Afterthisinitialexpansion,thePIElanguagezonewasnolongeruniform.ThePIEclanshadlefttheshores
oftheBlackSeaandasthedistancegrew,communicationwiththeirhomelandbecamemoredifficult.
StrongvariantsofPIEdevelopedlocallybeforetheadventofagriculture.IntheBalkanvalleysPIEhad
becomemixedwiththeremnantsoflocalnonPIElanguages.Thesevariationswouldlatergivebirthtothe
PIEsublanguagegroupsasweknowtoday,suchasGerman,Occitan,Greek,etc.Eachsub language
groupwouldlaterbeinfluencedforasecondtime,whenfarmingandlanguagemovedintoGermany,
France,Italy,etc.
80007000BC:thefarmerscametoGreeceandspreadovertheGreekeastcoast(inblueonthemap).
TheseGreeksalreadyspokeprotoPIE,asdidmostpeopleinthiseastEuropeanregion.Languagewasnot
importedfromSyriaorsouthTurkey(oneoftheregionswhereagriculturewasinvented)asitalreadywas
similar.
70005800BC:spreadtothenorthmostoftheBalkan,Bulgaria,Romania,Serbia(probablyallproto PIE
speakers)haveacceptedagriculture.ThefarmersfollowtheDanubetothewest.TheybringaprotoGerman
language.
58004800BC:usingtheDanube/RhineaxisthefarmersarriveattheshoresoftheNorthSea.Germany
precedesFranceinadoptingagricultureby1000years.TheeastcoastofItaly,Spainandthesoutheastof
Francediscoveragricultureatthattime.Thisspreadhappenedprobablybyboat.Boat farmerscamefrom
theeastAdriaticcoastwhereasortofprotoAlbanianwasspoken(inorangeonthemap).Mixedwithother
languages, thisgavebirthtotheOccitanRomancelanguagesinthewestMediterraneanregion.
48003800BC:France,Britain,Spain,Scandinaviaeventuallyfollow.IneasternEurope,theSlavonic
languagestartstospreadtothesouthandtotheeast. TheGermaniclikelanguageintheBalkan
disappears.OnlyprotoAlbanianmanagedtosurvive.ThepreBryttonicspeakersadoptedagriculturefrom
thesouthofFrance.TheybuildtheirownvariantofPIEwhichwouldbecomeBryttonicor'Celtic'.
Thespreadissurprisinglyslow.Archaeologistsfoundforagerswholivedintheimmediatevicinityoffarmers
andwhoresistedfarmingforsome300years!Acomparativebonesstudyofthatperiodandregionrevealed
thattheforagerswereinabetterconditionthanthefarmers.Apparently,agriculturewas notalwaysagift.
Thespreaditselfwasduetothepracticedmethod:overcropping.Theslashandburnmethodmeantthat
thefarmersrequiredconstantlynewandfreshland.Theindigenouspopulationofhuntersgatherershad
plentyoftimetomergewiththenewfarmers.Localforagerstookoverthetechnologyandrenewedtheir
ancestralprePIElanguage,butmanyoriginal,localwordssubsistedinthenewlanguageas substrate
words.Typicalarewordsfortreessuchasoak,birch ,etc.Thisoriginallanguagewasinfactpartofthe
precursorofthePIElanguages(prePIE),saytheolderversionwhichwasimportedmuchearlierduringthe
YoungerDryas,butmixedwithsomewordsofunknown(Basque?Etruscan?)origin.Etymologistsestimate
thatuptoathirdofallGermanwordsarepre PIEinorigin(substratewords).
Evenprimitivefarmingcanfeedatleasttentimesmorepeoplethanhuntingandgathering.The localhunter
gathererswhohadbecomefarmersrapidlyoverwhelmedinnumberstheremaininghunter gatherers.One
cancallthisasnowballeffect.WhenagriculturereachedMiddleEurope,theeasternbloodline almost
completelydisappearedandreplacedbythelocalone.Asfarmerstheymovedwestwards,steadily
absorbingandincorporatingthe localpopulations.TheoriginallanguagespokeninGermanybecame
graduallyIndoEuropean,withGermanconsonants.Thesamehappenedinthesouthandsouthwestof
protoGaul.Thespreadingoffarmingtechnologyhappenedalongtheage oldtribalrelationships.The
populationinthewestofBritainadoptedtheprotoGaulIndoEuropeanlanguagevariant,astheylearned
howtofarmfromtheirrelativesinprotoGaul(mostprobably:BrittanyorArmorica).Thepopulationinthe
eastofBritainlearnedtheprotoGermanIndoEuropeanlanguagevariantinasimilarway fromtheirproto
Germanrelativesinproto Belgium.
SomepopulationsontheshoresoftheMediterraneanSeahadlearnedhowtopracticeagricultureearlier
fromfarmerswhohadchosentoemigratefromtheirhomelandbyboat.Becausetheselocalpeoplewerea
bitmoreadvancedandtheirteacherswerefew,theyonlytookoverthetechnologyoffarming,notthe
language.TheykepttheiroriginalnonPIElanguage.Weknowoftwosuchlanguages:BasqueandEtruscan
(Tuscany,Italy),buttheexistenceinthepastofmorenonPIElanguagesisveryprobable..
Thetheorythatagriculturehardlydisplacedhumansexplainswhy,forinstance,thereisaprovengenetic
differencebetweenEnglishmenandWelshmenandwhyWelshgeneticcharacteristicsresemblesthoseof
southwestFranceandnorthernSpain.Duringandaftertheintroductionofagriculturelanguageborders
moved,absorbingsomeremainingminornon PIElanguages.Thegeneticdifferencecouldbeanindication
thatthelanguagedifferenceinEurope(protoGauls/protoGermans)hasa verylonghistory.

differencebetweenEnglishmenandWelshmenandwhyWelshgeneticcharacteristicsresemblesthoseof
southwestFranceandnorthernSpain.Duringandaftertheintroductionofagriculturelanguageborders
moved,absorbingsomeremainingminornon PIElanguages.Thegeneticdifferencecouldbeanindication
thatthelanguagedifferenceinEurope(protoGauls/protoGermans)hasa verylonghistory.

Europearound1000BC.TheextentofOccitanisunsure.TheSlavoniclanguageexpandedinalldirections
untiltheearlyMiddleAges.

Germaniclanguageswouldlaterexpandtotheeast(eastGermany)andtothewest(westBritain).Brythonic
woulddisappearinmostofGaulandbereplacedbyannorthernOccitanRomancedialect(French).
AsIwrotebefore:forgettheideathattheRomansspreadtheirlanguage.AtbesttheymadetheOccitan
languagegroupabitmoreuniform.ItishardtotellwhereOccitancamefromandhowitspread.Themost
likelyplaceisthesoutheastofFrance(theRhonevalley),fromwhereitexpandedeast(Italy),west
(Aquitaine)andsouth(eastcoastofSpain).
AboriginalpopulationsaroundtheMediterraneanSeaspokeinitiallyapatchworkofPIELanguages(like
Greek)andnonPIElanguageslikeEtruscan,Ligurian,Basqueandotherextinctandunknownlanguages.
Theywerethefirsttocomeincontactwiththeearliestagriculturalmethodsbecausethetechnologycould
rapidlybespreadbyboat.
InnorthwestEurope,languageshadbeenformedbytheprevioushabitofseasonalmigrationswhich
unifiedthelocallanguages.
LaterwavesofmoreadvancedMediterranean'boatfarmers'searchedforsuitable'leftover'landandwere
forcedtolookabitmoreinland.ThatishowtheystumbleduponthesouthofFrance:theysailednorthonthe
Rhoneriverandcolonizeditsbanks.Astheirmethodsweremoreadvanced,theyweresoonabletoproduce
morefoodandtheirpopulationgrew.Subsequentlytheyoverwhelmedtheirneighbours,likeAquitaine,the
ItalianPovalleyandtheCatalanvalley(eastSpainwithitsmoderncapital:Barcelona)wheretheychasedoff
thelocalandretardedBasquespeakingfarmersupstreamalongtheRiojarivertotheirmodernlocation.
In(modern)France,agriculturecamealongthecoastsfromthesouthwestandfromtheeast(southern
Germany)on.ThecenterofFrancewasprobablycolonizedsometimelater.
BritainandIrelandwerecolonizedfromthewestcoastsinwardsbyfarmerscoming(mainly)fromBretagne
(Brittany,Armorica),whileatthesametimeonthesoutheastcoast(Kent)agriculturewasintroducedby
farmerscomingfrom(Flemish)Belgium.Once establishedinBritain,bothfarmingpopulationsgrew
towardseachotherandmetsomewhereinthemiddleoftheBritishmainland.Eachmigratingfarming
populationbroughtitslanguageandabsorbedsomelocalsubstratewords.
Allthisisofcourseahypothesis.Manyquestionsremain.