INTERVIEW: How War Created the English Language

The words you speak exist because of war. From Vikings raiding villages to Normans conquering England, battles rewrote the English language forever.

In this episode of Why Wars Happened, Dr. Colin Gorrie uncovers how Rome, the Vikings, and the Normans all left fingerprints on every sentence you speak today. Once you hear it, you’ll never look at English the same way again.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome to Why Wars Happened

00:49 – Meet Dr. Colin Gorrie

01:22 – How war shapes language

03:25 – The Norman Conquest & French rule

07:11 – Vikings, the Danelaw & Norse words

22:52 – Borrowed words from conflict & trade

26:31 – 1066 & the Norman takeover

28:47 – Fall of Old English, rise of Middle English

31:36 – The Great Vowel Shift

35:58 – Latin’s lingering influence

40:21 – War, trade & crossroads of language

51:00 – Wrapping up

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