Evolution of the English Language
Category: Other
Updated: 14 Jul 2020
Contributors
Created byIsabella Lipscombe
Attachments
Events
The Great Vowel ShiftThe Invention of PrintingWilliam Sheakespeare's First PlayThe First Oxford Dictionary is PublishedPeriods
Anglo Saxon Invasions
Anglo Saxons take over and try to eradicate the Celtic
language from current inhabitants.
Christian missionaries arrive and bring with them
the Latin language in 597
4 major dialects evolve:
- Northumbrian
- Merican
- West Saxon
- KentishThe Viking Raids begin
These raids continued until the 11th century
When these begun the Anglo Saxon's stayed in
power until 878
The influence on language is still present today
as over 1500 place names in England still remain.
Examples of other influences include:
The suffix's '-by' '-thorpe' '-thwaite' and '-son'
And pronouns 'they' 'them' and 'their'The Norman Conquest
1066 William Normandy invades
England but most changes don't
begin to occur until 1100
Grammer significantly develops and
word order begins tobecome important
Auxiliary verbs such as 'Shall' and 'Had'
appear spelling and pronunciation begin to
standardise and old English characters
begin to die offThe Resurgence of English
Peoples literacy proficiencies grow
England and France split ties
the French language was edged out
But words such as 'ask; 'question'
and 'interrogate' remainThe Renaissance
A large interest in classical languages and their literature
England and Scotland become one monarchy
this was a time of language invention as writers commonly
looked for words to used that provided an adequate description
prefixes 'un-' 'fore-' 'under-' and suffixes '-ness' '-able' '-ment'
becomes more commonly used as well as compoundsThe Colonisation of a New World
Inhabit America for the first time
the first-ever dictionary is published
containing 2500 words
'I guess' 'gotten' 'mad' 'fall' are adapted
into the language in AmericaThe Industrial Revolution
Became the world's leading industrial
and trading nation
the British Empire begins to fallOld EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English
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