1. English: It’s Old and Complicated
(Being a brief overview of the history of the English language)

2. Born on an Island

3. Born on an Island British Isles were originally home to Celts
Some of those Celtic languages remain: Scots Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Welsh…notice that these are all islands (or parts of Britain proper) that are not “England.”

4. Romans, Yo The British Celts paid tribute to the Roman Empire
Around 45 A.D., the Romans decided they could make more money conquering Britain than they could in tribute, and commenced invading from “Gaul” (France)
Roman legions waged campaigns for about 50 years, eventually getting up into what is now Scotland and stopping (Hadrian’s Wall)

5. The Impact of Romans Romans spoke Latin.
Generally, though, the locals did not adopt Latin
Most of the Romans’ impact was in trade and infrastructure. (You can still see Roman walls in Britain, and some of their roads became foundations for what are now highways.)
The Roman impact was limited by…

6. VIKINGS!
More specifically, waves of Germanic raiders and colonists began arriving in eastern England in the 4th century.
These invaders—Angles, Saxons, and Jutes— spoke languages that had nothing in common with Latin or the Celtic languages that the locals had spoken before.
The Germanic invaders were really good at fighting. British kings gave them land in return for helping fight other enemies.

7. Old English
Eventually, the Angles and Saxons and such took over most of what is now England.
They displaced the Celtic languages and Latin.
The various dialects they spoke are collectively known as Old English.
Old English is a Germanic language (just like German and the Scandinavian languages)
It’s the language of Beowulf, which we’ll be looking at.

8. Sounded like…
Also:

9. It Changed Slowly
…but not that much. The Anglo-Saxons traded and raided with their neighbors.
Those neighbors (especially the other Germanic tribes) contributed some words, particularly from what we call Old Norse.
There were many small invasions, but most of them were by other Germanic language speakers

10. 1066, Battle of Hastings
Bayeux Tapestry

11. Vikings Invade Again! The next big thing for English happens in 1066
William the Conqueror, a Norman, leads an invasion of England.
The Normans are ethnically Germanic, but they speak Norman French
Think of the Normans as Frenchified Vikings

12. Middle English
Norman French (and “standard” French) were the languages of the nobility
They were used for high class things
Interesting cases: beef/cow, pork/swine
Latin comes back into the language indirectly (it was still being used as the language of the educated—especially members of the Church)
“Middle English” runs up to about the 14th century

13. Sounds like…
(Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Miller’s Tale” from Canterbury Tales)

14. Early Modern English
In the 15th century, there was something called the Great Vowel Shift, which is interesting mostly if you’re a linguistics nerd.
By the 16th century, English starts to be recognizable to modern readers. (This is when we get to Shakespeare—we can read it, but some words aren’t ones we use any more and others have different meanings.)
The main difference between the pronunciation of Middle English in the year 1400 and Modern English is in the value of the long vowels. Long vowels in Middle English had "continental" values much like those in Italian and Standard German, but in standard Modern English, they have entirely different pronunciations. The change in pronunciation is known as the Great Vowel Shift
bite
/iː/
/aɪ/
meet
/eː/
meat
/ɛː/
mate
/aː/
/eɪ/
out
/uː/
/aʊ/
boot
/oː/
boat
/ɔː/
RP /əʊ/, GA /oʊ/

15. Modern English
Samuel Johnson publishes the first dictionary of English in 1755
With standardized spelling and increased literacy, English becomes much more stable
A Dictionary of the English Language was somewhat large and very expensive. Its pages were 18 inches (46 cm) tall and nearly 20 inches (50 cm) wide. The paper was of the finest quality available, the cost of which ran to nearly £1,600; more than Johnson had been paid to write the book. Johnson himself pronounced the book "Vasta mole superbus" ("Proud in its great bulk").[9] No bookseller could possibly hope to print this book without help; outside a few special editions of the Bible no book of this heft and size had even been set to type.
One of Johnson's important innovations was to illustrate the meanings of his words by literary quotation, of which there are around 114,000. The authors most frequently cited by Johnson include Shakespeare, Milton and Dryden.
"Lexicographer: a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the signification of words"[11]