Reference no: EM133252875

Answer the following problems.

Origins of the English Language

1) In starting our study of the English language, we must know something about its beginnings or origins. The English language has its beginnings in many other languages that go far back into ancient times.

2) We must start our study as far back as the invasion of two German tribes, the Angles and the Saxons, into Great Britain. This invasion occurred about four hundred years after the birth of Christ. These barbaric tribes overran the island of Great Britain and introduced a new way of life. They also introduced new words into the language that later became the English we speak and write today. From their Germanic gods, for example, come the days of the week: Tui, the god of war (Tuesday); Woden, father of the gods (Wednesday); Thor, god of Thunder (Thursday).

3) Then we must comprehend or understand how the invasion of the Normans into Great Britain- known as the land of the Angles, or England - also changed our mother tongue. The Normans were from France. In 1066 they conquered the Angles and the Saxons and made them slaves. The old English spoken by the Angles and Saxons survived; however, some French words were added. These new words helped to make our language richer. From these early Frenchmen, for example, the word porc means "pig". Today, we use the word pork, however, only when we speak of the flesh of a pig. This is because the early French Normans, as the masters of England, saw the animal only when it was cooked and served to them on the dinner table. The Angle and Saxon slaves, however, who tended the animal while it was alive, called it pig. So even now the flesh of this particular animal when eaten is pork, but the animal itself is known as a pig.

4) And, in turn, we must understand or comprehend how the French language brought to England by the Norman conquerors had its roots in the ancient languages of Greece and Rome. Many of the words borrowed from the Normans at this time, for example showed the relationship of a ruling class to its subjects. Most of these words can be traced all the way back to Latin. The word conqueror itself comes from the old French word conquerre which, in turn, comes from the Latin word conquarere, which simply means "to win".

5) Only by a brief study of these chronological events and their influences can we comprehend why the English language we speak today is so rich in meaning.

Question:

What structure of text is used in the passage?

Select one:

a.factual structure

b.Problem-solution structure

c.none of the choices

d.thesis structure