1. A History
of the
English Language, pt. 2

2. Old English AD

3. Anglo-Saxon Invasion
5th century AD: “Germanic/ northern European” tribes Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded
Saxons invaded first but the Angles gave 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.

4. The First English Alphabet
The Runic Alphabet
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

5. Old English Manuscripts
Main literary work of the period is an epic poem, Beowulf
Composed: 1250 A.D.?
Written down: 1000A.D.
The story tells of a Scandinavian hero who kills a monster in Denmark and later becomes the king of the Geats, in southern Sweden

6. 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

7. Middle English
1100 – 1500 AD

8. Part 2: The Norman Conquest - 1066
After William the Conqueror defeated the English with 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 for almost 300 years.
French was seen as the language of sophistication and so adopted by upper class English people
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
English see animals as stock to be reared
French see them as food to be prepared by servants

9. 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

10. 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

11. Modern English 1500– Present

12. The Beginnings of Modern English
Greatly influenced by printing technology and rising literacy
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?

13. Important Works in the Evolution of the English Language:
Beowulf: Old English epic, written down , but probably composed much earlier (considered the first English poem)
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People: written by the Venerable Bede, AD 731
The Canterbury Tales: 1387, written by Geoffrey Chaucer
The King James Bible: 1611
Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary: 1775, the first detailed dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary: published in sections,

14. English in the 21st Century
Initialisms: abbreviations consisting of the initial letters of a name or expression
Formal Abbreviations: FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Internet slang: OMG (oh my God), LOL (laugh out loud), FYI (for your information)
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’.
Acronym: 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