Simplification of English (dec 13, 1155 – dec 12, 1450)
Description:
As a result of English being spoken by mostly uneducated peasants, it loses gender, as well as many conjugations and declensions.
Adjectives have been reduced to singular and plural.
Spelling has simplified greatly.
Grammatical and inflectional complexities from Old English fade away. Word order increases in importance. By late 1300's, the subject, verb, object word order has become normal.
The pronounced stress on the lexical root shifts to the first syllable.
Vowels begin to develop the unstressed "shwa".
English is mostly a spoken language, with no regulation or official status.
Added to timeline:
Toevs, Elise Assignment 1
Linguistic Timeline
Date:
