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Oct 14, 1066
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest of 1066 is held as one of the most important contributions to the English Language. When William the Conquerer was crowned, French was left as the language used in higher class, thus English was then more commonly used by the lower class. English started borrowing more words from French which helped expand vocabulary and help with trading and dealing with other issues in Europe. -
Jan 1, 1343
Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer brings an array of different words into the English Language by the way of French, Arabic, German, Greek, and Latin. He utilizes the vast amount of variety English has to offer with his poetry. Chaucer sets a standard for how poetry should be done that is followed for hundreds of years to come. He influences many famous writers one of whom being Shakespeare, who also is credited at having influence in English. -
Jan 1, 1350
Black Death
The Black Plague that lasted from 1349 to 1350 killed off around one-third of the British population. The laboring and merchant classes started to see growth in economic and social change which helped English to gain importance. Because of the severe amount of deaths that happened, there was a great amount of labor that needed to be filled. The peasants that spoke English filled these positions and could make demands for higher wages therefore gaining power and helping English expand classes. -
Jan 1, 1400
Great Vowel Shift
Starting from somewhere around 1350 to 1400 comes the Great Vowel Shift. This event, which lasts somewhere around 300 years, helps change Middle English's long vowels. Since English is starting to move its way to the Americas during this time, and spelling is starting to become standardized, the Great Vowel Shift is responsible for some of the inconsitencies we have with spelling. -
Jan 1, 1476
The Printing Press
William Caxton introduces the printing press to England which helps with the standardization of spelling with English words. Furthermore, books start to become cheaper and literacy starts to spike. Works are starting to become produced in English rather than Latin which raises the number of English speakers even more. -
Apr 26, 1564
Shakespeare
Shakespeare's writings help shape English by giving it a more fixed structure as a medium. He borrowed and invented new words and ideas from other languages; a process known as neologizing. It has been estimated that due to Shakespeare's works, the English language added somewhere around 30,000 words to its lexicon. -
King James Bible
The King James Bible is published forever changing the way English is spoken. This was during a transitional period in English where works like this were particularly good at changing the way people thought to speak English. It was a public text and would be regularly spoken aloud to people. Movers and shakers were severly influenced by this work and the commoners thought they spoke English the best so it spread throughout. -
Noah Webster publishes dictionary
Noah Webster publishes the dictionary with the intent of helping to seperate Britsh English from American English. By doing this, he helped give immigrants the chance at literacy and the ability to learn and speak the language just as any American citizen. The first edition of the Webster Dictionary helped further give standardization of spelling while simplifying words that were confusing to spell i.e. silent letters. -
Angles, Saxons, and Jutes
The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes originating from Jutland to southern Denmark begin invading the Britsh Isles bringing with them a mutual language. From their time in the British Isles, four major dialects of Old English emerges: Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon, and Kentish. The Celtic speakers of what is now England are pushed into Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Cornwall leaving behind almost zero Celtic influence in the English language. -
St. Augustine
St. Augustine arrives to England bringing with him 40 Italian priests. Within a hundred years, all of England has supposedly converted to Christianity. With this introduction of Christianity comes the introduction of Latin and thus the influence of Latin on the English language.