Language Change Timeline

436 Roman’s Complete Withdrawal from Britain- No influences to English Language- no communication with Romans. Place names remain: Chester, Manchester → No Need

449 Anglo-Saxon’s Arrive in Britain- Borrowings. They invaded in regions, so accent and dialect was regional (i.e. Geordie) → Influence of Others; Need (to communicate)

597 St Augustine Arrives in Britain- Catholic Religion through Latin → Fashion

792 Viking Raids in Britain- Borrowings. They invaded in regions, so accent and dialect was regional → Influence of Others; Need (to communicate)

1066 Norman Conquest- Latin brought from French: introduced through philosophy- only used by the upper class. French borrowings- ‘-tion’ words → Influence of Others; Fashion

1200s Syntax (Word Order) - SVO used, eradication of inflections (gradually) → No Need; Ease

1450 Great Vowel Shift- Changed the way vowels are pronounced. Interchangeable ‘u’ and ‘v’, ‘y’ and ‘i’ → Need

1476 Caxton the Printer- Started standardisation, the language needed uniformity in order to make more money from books. Picked spellings from all over England → his Need; Regularity

1526 Tindal’s Bible- Translated the Bible from Latin to English → Fashion (to be religious)

1600 Trading in India- Building up empire- trading more internationally, meant borrowings from India → Need; Influence of Others (to some extent)

1604 First Dictionary of English- collecting words, to aid…