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Jan 1, 1450
Beginning of the Great Vowel Shift
The Great Vowel Shift was very influential on the spelling of English words. This shift occured during the entire period of the Early Modern English period. This shift occured because words were starting to be printed and the spelling would be set, however the phonetics of the words were changing. The great vowel shift affected the ways that vowels were pronounced. A large number of words from foreign languages being introduced to England may have been a factor in the change in speech. -
Period: Jan 1, 1450 to Dec 31, 1500
Beginning of Early Modern English
The beginning of Early Monash English is not a set date. This is the period in which Middle English changed into Early Modern English. -
Jan 1, 1474
Invention of the printing press
The beginning of the printing press was a very big factor in how English words are spelt today. Before the printing press was invented, English was mainly a spoken language and any documentation was difficult to read as there were so many variation in spelling. The printing press regulated the spelling which lead to a growth in documenting things. This was effective as more people became familiar with the spelling and so were able to understand. -
Jan 1, 1500
Beginning of the Renaissance
Scholars in England spoke and wrote in Latin and Greek. This was used to communicate with other countries around the region. Over this centuary there was a large influx of Latin and Greek words. Words such as orbit, area, capsule, dexterity (latin) and critic, comedy, data, parasite (greek) were adopted. Bound morphemes (ism, ize) from Greece were also introduced. Words were translated into English and the words that could not be were simply added to the English Language. -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Change in Grammer
Grammer changed significantly during the Early Modern English period. During this stage, grammer was not set and so there were many ways to say the same thing. For example "Easier", "more easy", "more easier" were all accepted. -
Jan 1, 1530
Reformation
Under the rule of Henry VIII, links with religion and politics were cut from Catholic Europe over a period of time. This meant that English officials no longer had to speak the same language as Catholics in Europe. This lead to English printed bibles and eventually to masses that were not spoken in latin. -
Jan 1, 1550
Theatre
Although theatre had been present for a long time at this stage, it become increasingly popular. During this time one in two men visited the theatre and so they were exposed to language and vocabulary that featured in the plays. The popularity of theatre and plays exposed the greater public to the new words and phrases which increased their depth and vocabulary. -
Shakespeare's Inventions
Shekespeare had a very big influence on Early Modern English. He was the writer of many plays which were distrubuted around England. Words such as champion, bump, premeditated and secure, invented by Shakespeare were adopted and used. Compund words were also an invention of Shakespeare. -
Shakespeare Passage
"Then let not winter's ragged hand deface, In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd: Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place With beauty's treasure ere it be self-kill'd." A passage from Shakspeares earlier plays shows that the language and sentence structure was during this period was similar to modern day english. -
Beginning of American English
The growth of American colonies lead to the birth of American English. Although the roots of American English were from England, over time they developed their own language. American English has changed the world. Modern American English now used today is used all over the world as it is popularized through media, all of which originated from the language that began in the early 1600's. -
Introduction of the Dictionary
The invention of the dictionary had the same effect as the printing press. The dictionary regulated the spelling and meaning of words which made it easier for people to communicate with one another. This helped the language develope as everybody had a common understanding. -
King James Bible
During this year the King James Bible was published. The King James Bible was very influential on the English Language. Although the KJB did not contribute a significant amount of expressions or leixcal items into the English Language. However it was the way that the KJB was writen that contributed to the language. The bible included idioms and sentence structures that were not popular during the time. As the bible got more popular, so did the idioms it contained which are stlil used today -
Royal Society
Members of the Royal Society such as Isaac Newton invented words to help describe certain scientific observations. As these observations were new, new words had to be invented to describe what was being seen. The Royal Society added many words to the English Language which was already rapidly increasing.