The History of English Podcast Episode 145: A Sea Change for Europe
Feb 18, 2021
This podcast explores the European exploration and discovery in the 1400s, the linguistic impact of the New World discovery on the English language, the origins of nautical terms and shipbuilding incentives, the etymology of terms like 'denim', 'jeans', and 'maps', the historical origins of terms like Middle East and India, the influence of island chains on European exploration and naming conventions, the trading relationship between England and Iceland, and Christopher Columbus's search for support from Spanish rulers.
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Ocean Becomes A Global Highway
- Europeans began treating the ocean as a highway rather than a barrier in the mid-1400s.
- This shift enabled long-distance voyages that would spread European languages globally.
Henry VII's Maritime Push
- Henry VII enacted navigation acts to boost English shipping and exports in 1485 and four years later.
- He also funded shipbuilding and created England's first permanent shipyard at Portsmouth.
Naval Accounts Seed New Words
- Henry's naval accounts record many nautical words entering English for the first time.
- Terms like dock and scuttle appear in those English ship inventories compiled under his reign.