The Gift of William the Conqueror: Eighth Week

 

This week we shall start with “bipetalous.” Johnson says this word comes from “bis” from Latin and “πεταλον” (petalon) meaning “A flower consisting of two leaves.” It is not the definition to which I would like to draw your attention but the etymology. Johnson says this comes from Latin and Greek.

The combination of Latin and Greek as a historical beginning for an English word summons the question of what would the English language be without its connections to Latin and Greek and how did the connection evolve?

The answer mainly begins with the year 1066 and a Norman duke named William. In 1066, William of Normandy assembled his army and crossed the stormy winter seas of the North Atlantic to attack an underdefended England whose king was in the North fighting a usurping king from Norway, named Harald Hardrada. Hardrada was defeated at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. King Harold Godwinson and his exhausted English army rushed back to the South when word of the Norman invasion came to him. The Normans were too much for Godwinson. He was killed in battle and the throne went to William, now called the Conqueror.

At this point in our brief historical journey, you might rightly ask what this could possibly have to do with the English, Latin, and Greek languages. The key is that William brought the French language to England and made it the official language of the island. Oh, to be sure, English continued to be spoken, but instead of being washed away by French, English absorbed it and saw a rebirth that came to be known as Middle English which eventually became Modern English. The massive loan of French into English brought French etymology with it. Being a Romance language, French comes from Latin. Latin, in turn, derives much from Greek and was contemporary with it. A brief examination of Latin lexicon quickly shows the affinity Latin has with Greek. Word after word either comes from Greek or is akin to it. To open an English lexicon reveals the same affinity between English and French. Since one cannot have Modern English without French or French without Latin nor Latin without Greek, English has absorbed them all. With Latin and Greek came centuries of history from Rome and its Republic and its Caesars to Athens and the great orator Demosthenes. The history of Western civilization came into English with William when he crossed violent seas to distant shores hungry for power. He came to take a throne, but he brought a world larger than he knew to the Britons’ embattled coasts.

Until next week.

John