So, from a cursory understanding of English history (and I am very happy to say that) I was able to, one might note that the cultural history of those who lived in England might proceed:
- Britons who spoke Brythonic
- Romans who spoke Latin
- Angles, Jutes, Saxons, et. al. (Anglo-saxons) who spoke various Teutonic dialects
- Normans (ironically, from the same stock as the former, but trained in French)
My guess (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that the Latin influence in English was more to do with the Church and the Normans than it was to do with the Romans directly, but I was wondering if there are words which may be shown to be direct descendants of the ancient Britons' tounge?
Best Answer
In just about any language, place names are the oldest words, and are often taken over from the indigenous people from whom the land was taken. So place names in England are going to be your best bet there.
Here's what wikipedia had to say about it: