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The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English
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Anglo-Saxon language covers most of modern-day England -
poem written in Old English -
The Danes launch full-scale invasion and occupy Northumbria -
London becomes de facto capital of England -
For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French.
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The oldest surviving manuscripts in Middle English date from this period -
The “Ormulum” text of the monk Orm completed -
In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer -
English is used in English Parliament for the first time -
English replaces Latin as main language in schools (except Universities of Oxford and Cambridge) -
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Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.
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William Shakespeare writes his first plays -
Robert Cawdrey publishes the first English dictionary, “A Table Alphabeticall” -
Publication of the first English-language newspaper, the “Courante” or “Weekly News” -
First Folio of Shakespeare’s works is published -
Samuel Johnson publishes his “Dictionary of the English Language” -
Last native speaker of the Celtic Cornish language dies -
First English settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa -
The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.
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Noah Webster publishes his “The American Dictionary of the English Language” -
First edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary” is published