1. A (More Detailed) History
of the
English Language
Copy these notes into your notebook; only copy what is underlined on each slide.

2. *Review slide; don’t copy.
Anglo-Saxon Invasion
*Review slide; don’t copy.
5th century AD: “Germanic/ northern European” tribes Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded
Saxons invaded first but it is the Angles who give us the name of the language Englisc [Old English spelling]
Today’s regional variations in accents and vocabulary can be traced to the arrival of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who brought with them different versions of the same language.

3. The Celts
Descendants of Indo-European tribes, who are believed to have originated in south/east Europe.
Traced back to c500 BC.
Displaced by the arrival of the Angle and Saxon tribes. They are driven into the mountains, islands, and coastal fringes of the far north and west
Scots, Irish, Welsh, Manx, Cornish and Breton are all descended from Celtic

4. Clothing – gown, breeches, skein Children – cradle, babe, brat
Examples of Celtic Influence on English: (You don’t have to copy these.)
Clothing – gown, breeches, skein
Children – cradle, babe, brat
Cooking – crock, pan, griddle

5. The Runic Alphabet Each letter had a name The origins are unknown
Old English was first written using the runic alphabet
Each letter had a name
The origins are unknown
The common runic alphabet consisted of 24 letters, but in its most developed , 9th century form, it consisted of 31 letters
Runic inscriptions are found on artifacts and stone monuments
The earliest evidence dates back to AD
Go to

6. Old English Manuscripts
Main literary work of the period is an epic poem, “Beowulf”
Transcribed around 1000AD, but originally composed some 250 years earlier
The story tells of a Scandinavian hero who kills a monster in Denmark and later becomes the king of the Geats, in southern Sweden

7. The Arrival of Christianity
597AD
St Augustine (from Rome)landed at Thanet in Southern England and introduced the Benedictine order to England
He established a monastery at Canterbury
Christian monks brought a huge new vocabulary – mainly Latin but also some Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic words
The monks established churches, monasteries, and schools, where education and culture thrived
Within a century most Anglo-Saxons were converted
9th century
Aelfric translated the Bible and other major texts into English

8. A History of the English Church and People
Written in AD 731 by the Venerable Bede or Saint Bede, an English monk
Written in Latin and translated into Anglo-Saxon in the 9th Century (Old English)

9. *You don’t have to copy these.
A few words in Old English that are similar to words in Modern English...
Anglo-Saxon Modern English
wæs was
fæder father
worold world
cwen queen
cyning king
mon man
hus house
feld field

10. *You don’t have to copy these.
A few words in Old English that are quite different from words in Modern English...
Anglo-Saxon Modern English
gelimplice
fitting/suitable
neata
cattle
swefn
dream
frumseaft
beginning/creation

11. Summary of Main Points: Anglo-Saxon (Old English)
Anglo-Saxon derived from a Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages
There was no single spelling system at the time. So the word ‘evil’ can be found as yfel or efel
It was an ‘inflected’ language, so word order did not need to be fixed
‘Inflected’ means the sounds of the words change as the number or tense changes
There were no punctuation marks or capital letters in Anglo-Saxon writings
There were many compound words, e.g. ‘banhus’ (bone-house), meaning “a person’s body”
There is a clear line of descent from Old English to present day English, in sounds, spelling, vocabulary and grammar
1/3 of the words we use on any page have Old English origins

12. Middle English
1100 – 1500 AD
*Dates can vary somewhat, depending on the book or web site you consult. We will use the dates above.

13. The Norman Invasion However…
Edward the Confessor was the last of the Anglo Saxon kings; he had no children.
He had spent his early life in Normandy (France) and was related to William the Conqueror
It is believed that Edward had told William he wanted him (William) to become the King of England upon Edward’s death
When Edward died, his brother-in-law Harold took the throne
William raised an army and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings on September 28, 1066
Thus England came under the rule of a French monarchy
Ultimately, England became a tri-lingual country
French language of the aristocracy and ruling class
Latin language of the church
English language of the common people
However…

14. Part 2: The Norman Conquest - 1066
After the Norman Conquest, land and power were taken by French noblemen. French, as the language of the dominant class, became the language of government, administration and high culture.
French was seen as the language of sophistication and so adopted by upper class English people
English was submerged for nearly 300 years
When it did re-emerge as the national language it was heavily influenced by French
Ex: The French ‘qu’ was adopted in place of the Anglo-Saxon ‘cw’
English see animals as stock to be reared
French see them as food to be prepared by servants

15. English Makes a Comeback in the 14th Century, Thanks to Rebellious Youth and the Bubonic Plague...
Great deal of antagonism between France and England
By the end of 12th century the children of Norman noblemen were speaking English
Black Death (aka, Black Plague; aka Bubonic Plague) of 1384
2/3 of Europe’s population died
Both the rich and the poor were affected
No teachers left to teach French
Peasants/servants took over the land and houses their rich masters had owned
Because labour was so scarce, those left to work could command higher wages
By middle of 14th century, English again being used as language of government and administration

16. Geoffrey Chaucer
By mid 14th century English was being used in literature
1386 Chaucer began work on The Canterbury Tales
About a group of pilgrims, of many different occupations and personalities, who meet at an inn near London as they are setting out for Canterbury, England.

17. Middle English Begins to Evolve... *Only copy the underlined bullets.
By the end of 15th century the pronunciation of English had radically and rapidly changed – within the course of a couple of generations, in what is known as the Great Vowel Shift
So the Modern English sentence
so it is time to see the shoes on the same feet now
Would have sounded like this in Middle English
saw it is team to say the shows on the sarm fate noo
The Great Vowel Shift marks the last major barrier between early English and the Standard English of today

18. Modern English 1500– Present
Modern English 1500– Present *Remember the note about variations in dates

19. The Beginnings of Modern English
Greatly influenced by the advent of printing
Literacy is spreading and the demand for English books grows
Caxton (a printer) published around 100 titles - including Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
During the 15th century, written English gradually became more uniform and English grammar simpler
Thou, thee, thy and ye were starting to disappear - as was -eth as a verb ending
Arbitrary nature of this dialect choice
Why the need for a standard?

20. The Beginnings of Modern English *Copy only the underlined bullet
Henry VII’s ascension to the throne of England marked the beginning of Modern English
His reign ushered in a time of relative peace
The East Midland dialect became the standard
Arbitrary nature of this dialect choice
Why the need for a standard?

21. Modern English
*Don’t copy this
The Renaissance (‘rebirth’) – late 15th century; education becomes more widespread
Rediscovery of
philosophy
arts
science
astronomy
chronology
mathematics
navigation

22. Shakespeare (1564-1616) bare-faced dislocate assassination thin air
In his writings, William Shakespeare used more than 33,000 different words
3,000 of those words make their first appearance in his plays
Shakespeare is renowned for his ability to coin new words and phrases (copy these):
bare-faced
dislocate
assassination
thin air
stark naked

23. The Authorized Version of the Bible:
The King James Version
1604- a conference of leading churchmen, supported by King James I, called for a new translation of the Bible
This would be the 3rd English translation
It took 47 scholars 7 years to finish it
It introduced 8,000 new words to the lexicon
The common people – still largely illiterate – could now listen to readings and sermons in their own tongue

24. Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary
Published in 1775; took nine years to complete
One of the most influential and complete dictionaries ever published
Johnson’s Dictionary accomplished two of the most important “roles” of a dictionary:
to record language in use at a particular time
to provide precise, thorough meanings of words

25. The Oxford English Dictionary *Copy only underlined bullets
1857 The Philological Society of London called for a new English Dictionary
1884 Five years into the ten year project, the editors had only reached the word “ant”
The Dictionary is published in fascicles
Supplements to the OED are published
1980’s Supplements are combined into the 2nd Edition of the OED
1992 CD-ROM version is published
2000 OED goes online

26. English in the 21st Century *Copy only underlined segments.
Initialisms: abbreviations consisting of the initial letters of a name or expression – such as OMG (oh my God), LOL (laughing out loud), FYI (for your information), TMI (too much information), IMHO (in my humble opinion) and BFF (best friends forever) have been formally included for the first time in the OED.
Some of these initialisms have been in existence for longer than you might think. OED research shows that OMG was first used in 1917, FYI dates back to 1941 and LOL started out in 1960 as an abbreviation of ‘little old lady’.
An acronym is defined as an initialism that is pronounced as a word rather than letter by letter. (NASA, SCUBA)
Major growth during the Agricultural and Industrial revolution
Rate of growth slowed down in 20th century