Words of Old English origin in powerful speeches

Some years ago I remember reading about Churchill’s deliberate use of curt, Anglo-Saxon language in speeches where he wanted to generate an emotional response with urgency.

Shall: from Old English ‘Sceal’

Fight: from Old English ‘Feohtan’

Beaches: from Old English ‘Bece’

Hills: from Old English ‘Hyll’

Fields: from Old English ‘Feld’

It could, of course, be a coincidence and indeed there are some words in that speech like ‘surrender’ which come from French. Whether it’s accidental or not, I think it’s plausible that there is power in punctuating and punching a speech with these short words whose sounds have been uttered around these isles for thousands of years. These words appear to convey emotions beyond the rational, reasoning part of the brain. These are the kinds of words that strip away bureaucracy and deep-though, instead engaging with a primitive, ancient part of our psyche as native English speakers. Even if we haven’t been taught etymology, there’s this sense of knowing that these words belong to us more than others. Their brute sounds give them away.

I noticed a similar pattern in Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘Mountaintop’ speech. It’s an oratory that lasts approximately 40 minutes but the knockout blows come every now and then in the form of short, repeated phrases executed with words of Old English origin.

“Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world”

Something: from Old English ‘Sum pfinge’
Happening: from Old English ‘Hap’
World: from Old English ‘Worold’

This phrase comes after an introduction involving a little humour and some words of foreign origin:

Eloquent
Sophisticated
Generous
Associate
Reveal
Determined

When these words were said, the audience is somewhat relaxed and you can hear laughter.

It’s interesting that when Dr. King wants to lose the theatre and underline a serious point to rouse a sincere emotion, he repeats a phrase armed with Old English words:

“I wouldn’t stop there” (repeated 4 times)

Wouldn’t: from Old English ‘Wolde’
Stop: from Old English ‘Stoppian’
There: from Old English ‘Pfaer’

The other parts of the speech which drive applause and rapture are when he makes biblical references. This is evidenced magnificently at the end when he has a ‘mic-drop moment’ after roaring: “Mine eyes hath seen the glory of the coming of the lord”.

Dr. King was a minister and he was speaking to an audience who clung onto sermons for hope, so it’s natural that these moments were so impactful. They even give me goosebumps.

I wonder if something similar was happening subconsciously when he was using the short, sharp Old English phrases. Is there a switch that gets stroked in the mind of the native English speaker when an orator reduces his language down to its bare bloody bones? ‘Fight’ and ‘beach’ and ‘stop’; have these words accrued some power through their persistence of existing despite invasions and linguistic mutations from migration?

To be continued.