History of English Language
- Created by: Gemma Rodger
- Created on: 18-04-16 09:13
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- History of the English Language
- Early Beginnings
- Before 100 BC - Britain populated by tribes
- Celts, Picts, Irish and Cornish
- Spoke a variety of Celtic languages
- Before 100 BC - Britain populated by tribes
- Origins of English
- 5th Century AD - settlers from West Germany crossed to Britain
- Saxons, Jutes and Angles (set up West Saxon, East Anglia etc)
- Spoke a Germanic dialect (NOT GERMAN) that evolved to today's English
- OLD ENGLISH
- Germanic dialect of settlers developed differently than actual German language
- Known as 'Old English'
- Influences
- Viking Invaders (8th Century)
- Scandinavian Language spread through northern England
- These words were integrated into Old English
- Viking Invaders (8th Century)
- Germanic dialect of settlers developed differently than actual German language
- MIDDLE ENGLISH
- c.1100 -1450 AD)
- Norman Invasion (1066) meant French became dominant language (court, church, nobility)
- English then became more widely used by upper class in both speech and writing
- Had changed considerably, now referred to as 'Middle English'
- English then became more widely used by upper class in both speech and writing
- Features
- Grammar - simplified, 2 languages coexisting
- Inflections dissappeared
- French Lexis - heavily influenced M.E.
- Pronunciation - no standardised spelling, vowel sounds shortened
- Latin words found in French replaced many O.E. terms
- 85% of O.E. terms fell out of use
- Grammar - simplified, 2 languages coexisting
- EARLY MODERN ENGLISH (c. 1470 -1700)
- 1476, William Caxton Printing Press
- Mass produced texts meant language had to be standardised
- Greek and Latin texts translated to English
- East Midlands dialect was chosen to use in print (upper class)
- Features
- World Exploration - new world languages learnt
- European renaissance - new words needed for new concepts
- Shakespeare - coined around 1700 new words
- World Exploration - new world languages learnt
- 1476, William Caxton Printing Press
- LATE MODERN ENGLISH (c. 1700 - present)
- 1755 - Samuel Johnson finished Dictionary of English
- Writers attempted to make English standard,non standard forms were inferior - 'prescriptivism'
- 1762 - Robert Lowth published Grammar book
- 19th Century English
- Influenced by rail travel, colonial expansion, spread of literacy, mass produced text, industrial revolution
- Electronic media, internet, casual language, estuary language is now widespread, american influences
- Influenced by rail travel, colonial expansion, spread of literacy, mass produced text, industrial revolution
- 1755 - Samuel Johnson finished Dictionary of English
- Early Beginnings
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