History of English language

England before the English (55 BC-450AD) Old English (450-1150) Middle English (1150-1500) Early Modern English (1500-1700) Present-day English (1700-Today)

The main timeline

Family Tree of Language!

One of the leaves is our language, English.

The branch it has come from is West Germanic, which grows out of

Germanic, which comes from the roots of

The Indo-European family of languages.

Debatable Proto-Indo-European tribes (6000 years ago) later spilt into a number of branches, including the Germanic

branch

this population then expanded/migrated eastward, westward and northward and

thereby came to inhabit most of Europe and parts of Western Asia.

Original home of the Proto Indo-Europeans

The Roman Invasions (55 BC-400AD)

About 500 B.C. — Britain was invaded by Celtic tribes and ruled for about 500 years.

100-44 BC — Julius Caesar took several attempt to invade Britain.

43 AD.—Emperor Claudius conquers Britain except for Scotland where the Celtic Scots and non-Indo-European Picts reigned sovereign.

Occupy Britain for nearly 400 years.

100-44BC

Founded cities Built walls, baths, roads, theaters Intermarried with Celts. Place names—Lancaster, Manchester,

Winchester, London, Bath Latin becomes the prestige language of education and social life

Roman Empire is threatened by invading Germanic tribes.

410 AD—Emperor Honorius summons all Roman troops back to Rome.

Celtic tribes in Britain are left defenseless against future invasions.

So what language is being used in British Isles at this time?

Celtic languages—the native language of the people.

Latin—the language of Rome was the prestige language.◦ Education◦ Government◦ Written language

Anglo-Saxon Invasions

With the Romans gone, a power vacuum existed.

The Scots and Picts advanced southwards and the weak Celts could not keep them back.

Germanic tribes from the mainland soon began to fill that vacuum.

450 AD By this time Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians have a firm foothold in Britain.

Celts are conquered and/or driven out.

By 600A.D. the victory was complete.

The Beginning of English What we know as English today begins with

these Germanic invasions. Englaland and English was born.

England Englaland Angle land The word English comes from Angles Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is an early form

of German.

Britain into seven kingdom Kent Essex (East Saxon) Sussex (South Saxon) Wessex (West Saxon) Mercia (angeles) Northumbria (Angeles) East Angeles

Old English (450-1150 AD) Four dialects emerge Northumbrian Mercian Kentish West Saxon

West Saxon Most important OE dialect

Most OE literature is in West Saxon

Dialect of King Alfred (AD 899)

Dialect of government and church

Return of Latin

597 AD Roman Church sends St. Augustine to England

England is Christianized

Latin Latin is the language of the church

Latin once again becomes prominent in education

Latin is the written language of the time

So what language is being used in British Isles at this time?

Various dialects of Old English All these dialects are forms of German These dialects also adopt some words from

Celtic languages and from Latin

Viking Invasions Most powerful people of their time 793 AD. Vikings invade England Eventually, Vikings control much of England

◦ The Vikings, usually referred to as ‘Danes’◦ This area is called the Danelaw

Anglo-Saxons continued to control much of the south

Alfred the Great put up resistance them and eventually forced the Viking troops to surrender in 878.

Danelaw

Various dialects of Old English

These dialects continue to be influenced by Latin and Celtic

They are also now influenced by Scandinavian languages

So what language is being used in British Isles at this time?

Where do words come from?

Anglo-Saxon words: to, and, for, in, man, wife, child, fight, love, sleep, eat, house, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Latin words: altar, monk, preach, priest, hymn, noon, candle, offer

Viking words: lift, take, give, husband, sky, dirt, skull, leg, rotten, crawl, clasp

Here come the French! Here come the French! 1066 AD. William the Conqueror invades

from Normandy, France

Brings 600 ships and 10 to 12 thousand men

Defeats King Harold at the Battle of Hastings

Battle of Hastings

What Changes?

William the Conqueror was French He did not speak English French now becomes the language of the

government and aristocracy For the next 300 years all English royalty

speak only French Common folk speak English Church speaks Latin and French

So what language is being used in British Isles at this time?

Common folk speak English, which is slowly simplifying its form (losing tense and verb endings, etc)

English is also adopting many, many French words

Upper class folk speak French Church speaks French and Latin Latin and French are also written

languages

Middle English (1150-1500) The Middle English period begins with the Norman

conquest at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Middle English is mixed of two languages: Norman

French (aristocrat) and English (common folk). Norman French Influences on English vocabulary

and spelling - New words duplicated old English words or both

were existed till today. i.e. hearty (OE) and cordial (F), and house (OE) and mansion.

By the 13th century approximately 10,000 French words had come into English.

Vocabulary French Words: action, adventure, marriage,

power, vision, beef, venison, honest, prefer, master, court, crown

Almost half of modern English vocabulary comes from Latin and French

• Royalties and government officials began speaking French

• English became language of the poor (peasants, butchers, maids, servants)

• Also the language of poets and writers

• English kings began marrying Norman women

• More people adapted French language, causing the decline of English usage

Middle English cont.

In 1362AD. the Normans decided to adopt English as their official language and, Parliament was opened in English.

This parliament was situated in Westminster, London, a process of standardisation of English had begun.

Middle English Cont.

Middle English cont. Grammar is simplified Fixed word order is developed

◦ Word order dictates meaning Chaucer first major writer to use English

Two major factors that influenced the language and served to separate Middle and Modern English were the Great Vowel Shift and the advent of the printing press.

Early Modern English (1500-1700)

The Great Vowel Shift was a change in pronunciation that began around 1400AD.

During the next two centuries there was a great influx of people into the London region and the different dialects began to affect the pronunciation patterns of the standard.

Modern English speakers can read Chaucer with some difficulty, Chaucer's pronunciation would have been completely unintelligible to the modern ear.

Great vowel shift

The vowel shift as a process which led to long vowel sounds being raised and diphthongised. Chaucer's Lyf (pronounced /lif/), for example became the modern life.

Great vowel shift cont.

The last major factor in the development of Modern English was the advent of the printing press.

William Caxton brought the printing press to England in 1476.

Books became cheaper and as a result, literacy became more common.

The dialect of London, where most publishing houses were located, became the standard.

Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the first English dictionary was published in 1604.

Printing press

• Began writing his sonnets and novels

• Created words, such as critical, leapfrog, majestic, pedant, and dwindle

• Created clichés, such as flesh and blood, and vanish into thin air

Shakespeare

Modern English is essentially an expanded version of Early-Modern English, that is, the vocabulary of Modern English is substantially larger due to Industrial Revolution and British Colonialism.

Same as Early Modern English, but has richer vocabulary

BRITISH EMPIRE

• Colonized many nations• Words were borrowed (i.e. pajamas and shampoo from Hindi, tycoon from Japanese, and

sauna from Finnish) and added to the English vocabulary

• Other words have Latin or Greek roots (i.e. biology, oxygen)

WORLD WAR I AND WARLD WAR II

• American soldiers collaborated with British soldiers• Military slang words were created• blockbuster, nosedive, camouflage, radar, roadblock, spearhead, and landing strip

Present-day English (1700-today)

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