1. I read the text Words: Native and Borrowed that tells about where the first word
came from and how the discussion related with the origin of words started around 2000
years ago with Aristoteles and Hermogenes. Another issue in this text is the relationship
between the shape or sound of a word and its referent. Generally, this relationship is
arbitrary. Thus there is not a natural relationship between the sound and the thing is
named. Moreover, with this text I learnt that the language changes. Especially the
vocabulary, in fact, the English language that I know today was not the same at the
beginning. It has been involved in a long process and it has changed through the time
not only its spelling but also its pronunciation. There are different stages in the English
language: Old English (OE), Middle English (ME) AND Modern English (ME).
Also one particular issue is that some words have disappeared from the language
and other words have been preserved. Why? Most of the words preserved correspond to
actions or things that are used in the daily life. Moreover, with this text I learnt that
many languages such as English, Latin, Dutch, and German as a common ancestor
which is The Ido-European language. From the Indo European language many
languages came from and it could be the reason that many words among languages are
similar each other not only in spelling but also in pronunciation. A good example is the
word mother in English and moeder in Dutch.
In addition I would like to highlight that English derives from the Germanic
branch, especially from the West Germanic, of the Indo-European language. I didn’t
know that before reading the text and this is quite relevant for me as a future teacher of
English because if a students or a colleague asks me now where English came from I
can answer this question. However, it is the English Language a pure language or is a
mixture of many languages? According to the text, the English language that we know
today has been influenced by many languages such as Celtic, Latin, Danish among
others.
Also with this text I learnt how the external aspects such as the invasions (The
Roman, the Anglo Saxon, the Christianization) influenced English adding new words
into the language. These words are known as borrowed words, because these were
added or taken from other languages. For example English took words from the Irish
(leprechaun, banshee, etc.), Scottish (clam, bog, plaid, etc) and Welsh (crag, gull, and
penguin). In the case of the Christianization Latin added a great number of words too.
Also, there are Danish words that were borrowed into English. In this big group we can
find nouns (band, egg, down, etc.) verbs (call, die, get, etc.) adjectives (flat, low, weak,
ill, etc.) and pronouns and others words (they, them, both, same, etc.). These are only
some examples of languages that contributed to the development of the English
language.
Besides, I learnt that the Anglo-Saxon had a strong influence in the English
language, because they create four different dialects: Northumbrian, Mercian, West
Saxon and Kentish. All of these dialects were predominant in Britain; nonetheless, only
the West Saxon became the earlier prestige dialect.

2. Personally, I think that to know something about the history or the development
of the English Language is important and I appreciate the opportunity to read the text,
because now I know issues that were unknown for me.