Choose Anglo-Saxon Words

The English language has so many choices! Have you ever wondered why English has so many more words than French or German? For instance, have you ever questioned why sheep, cow, swine, deer, and chicken are called mutton, beef, pork, venison, and pullet at dinner? You can find the answers to these questions, as well as a brief history of the evolution of the English language, in Richard Lederer’s The Miracle of Language (Pocket Books, 1991). Lederer explains how our language began in 400 AD when the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes settled in England. The biggest shift in English came when William the Conqueror sailed over from Normandy and became king at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Normans gained power, but they were outnumbered. They wisely didn’t demand that everyone speak their language, so French words were blended with English words. Another shift occurred during the Renaissance, when a surge of Latin and Greek terms entered the English language.