History of the English Language
Antigua Australia Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda Botswana Brunei (with Malay) Cameroon (with French) Canada (with French) Dominica Fiji Gambia Ghana Grenada Guyana India (with several Indian languages) Ireland (with Irish Gaelic) Jamaica Kenya (with Swahili) Kiribati Lesotho (with Sotho) Liberia Malawi (with Chewa) Malta (with Maltese) Mauritius Namibia (with Afrikaans) Nauru (with Nauruan) New Zealand Nigeria Pakistan (with Urdu) Papua New Guinea Philippines (with Tagalog) Puerto Rico (with Spanish) St Christopher and Nevis St Lucia St Vincent Senegal (with French) Seychelles (with French) Sierra Leone Singapore (with Malay, Mandarin and Tamil) South Africa (with Afrikaans, Xhosa and Zulu) Surinam (with Dutch) Swaziland (with Swazi) Tanzania (with Swahili) Tonga (with Tongan) Trinidad and Tobago Tuvalu Uganda United Kingdom and its dependences United States of America and its dependencies Vanatu (with French) Western Samoa (with Samoan) Zambia Zimbabwe
Time Terms BC = BCE (Before Common Era) AD = CE (Common Era)
Evolution of English Old English (the most ancient form) Middle English (the next, chronologically) Modern English (the newest, most recent form)
British Isles
Celts
Celtic Language Today Languages descended from Celts are in: Wales Cornwall (southeastern England) Parts of Scotland West coast of the Republic of Ireland Northern Ireland Brittany (northern France) = “Breton”
Speak (Irish) Gaelic! Dia duit (“DEE-uh git”) = Hello Sláinte (“SLAHN-chuh”) = “Cheers!”
Romans!
55 BCE
43 CE
Angles and Saxons and Jutes and Frisians and Franks, oh my!
449 CE
Anglo-Saxon Invasion Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians and Franks push most of the Celts out of England. The word “English” comes from the Angles, who were from an area in Germany called “Engle.” Their language was called “Englisc.”
Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon Poetry Strong rhythm Alliteration Metaphor Kennings (“the whale’s way”= the ocean; “the team’s spirit”= a cheerleader) Understatement Broken line with caesura pause in middle
Christians!
597 CE
Christianity Arrives in England St. Augustine sent by Pope Gregory to evangelize the Anglo-Saxon kingdom King Ǽthelberht of Kent converts Despite initial success, the Church does not gain much of a foothold
“scops” traveling minstrels who performed songs and poems
Bede Lived from CE A Benedictine monk in a Northumbrian monastery Wrote the first piece of Old English literature (in Latin): The Ecclesiastical History of the English Speaking People. It offers a picture of early Anglo-Saxon life
The Venerable Bede
Caedmon Bede preserved many lines sung by this religious poet Caedmon = the first English poet! A scop Spoke poetry off the top of his head
Vikings!
793 CE onward
Norse Anger Nay Fro Raise Ill Bask Skill Skin Dike Skirt Scatter Skip English (Anglo Saxon) Wrath No From Rear Sick Bathe Craft Hide Ditch Shirt Shatter Shift
Alfred the Great
CE Consolidated a divided “nation” Used the word Angelcynn– forged an English national identity Fought/negotiated with the Danes Captured London, taking it from the Danes Established universities; rebuilt monasteries; planned towns First English king to write books! Translated Latin texts into English (incl. Bede’s “Ecclesiastical History”)
Normans!
Battle of Hastings, 1066 CE
Further Developments The Hundred Years’ War: CE The “Great Vowel Shift”: CE
Works Cited and Consulted Black, Joseph, ed. et al. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 1. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview P., Print. Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. NY: Perennial, Print. Katsiavriades, Kryss and Talaat Qureshi. “The Origin and History of the English Language.” The KryssTal Website Sept Web. Kemmer, Suzanne. “A Brief History of English, With Chronology.” Words In English. Rice University. 15 Sept Web. MacNeil, Robert. “The Glorious Messiness of English.” Readers Digest, Oct Print.