-
Period: 450 to 1066
Old English
Anglo-Saxon language covers most of modern-day England. Oral tradition was very strong in early English culture. The important influence of Christianity. Literary works: The dream of the Rood - Ruthwell Cross. Caedmon - anonymous. -
600
Anglo-Saxon language
These peoples all spoke variations of a West Germanic tongue, similar to modern Frisian, variations that were different but probably close enough to be mutually intelligible -
800
“Beowulf”poem
Old English epic poem “Beowulf” consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines, The story is set in Scandinavia in the 6th century. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. -
871
Alfred the Great encourages English prose and translation of Latin works
Alfred the Great rebuilt and fostered the revival of learning, law, and religion. Crucially, he believed in educating the people in the vernacular English language, not Latin, and he himself made several translations of important works into English, including Bede’s “Ecclesiastical History of the English People”. -
Period: 1066 to 1500
Middle English
SECOND PERIOD 1066 - 1500, was a form of the English language spoken after the Norman conquest (1066) until the late 15th century. English underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English period. Middle English saw significant changes to its vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and orthography. Writing conventions during the Middle English period varied widely. -
1209
Cambridge University established
The universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded in 1167 and 1209 respectively, and general literacy continued to increase over the succeeding centuries, although books were still copied by hand and therefore very expensive. -
1384
John Wycliffe publishes his English translation of “The Bible”
He produced his translation of “The Bible” in vernacular English. This challenge to Latin as the language of God was considered a revolutionary act of daring at the time, and the translation was banned by the Church in no uncertain terms -
1399
Norman Conquest
The Normans spoke a rural dialect of French with considerable Germanic influences, usually called Anglo-Norman or Norman French, which was the verbal language of the court, administration, and culture, though, Latin was mostly used for written language, especially by the Church and in official records but the peasantry and lower classes (the vast majority of the population, 95%) continued to speak English. -
1450
The Great Vowel Shift begins
Its radical change in pronunciation during the 15th, 16th, and 17th Centuries, as a result of which long vowel sounds began to be made higher and further forward in the mouth (short vowel sounds were largely unchanged). It is the principle of phonetic and phonological language formation. -
Period: 1500 to
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
It is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, from the transition from Middle English, in the late 15th century, to the transition to Modern English, in the mid-to-late 17th century. Thomas Wyatt’s experimentation with poetical forms ensured that poetry would become the proving ground for several generations of English writers during a golden age of English literature as Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare. -
1549
First version of “The Book of Common Prayer” published
It was the first prayer book to include the complete forms of service for daily and Sunday worship in English. -
William Shakespeare writes his first plays
The identity of the first play written by the Elizabethan poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564 to 1616) is quite controversial among scholars. Some believe it was "Henry VI, Part 2," a history play first performed in 1590–1591 and published (that is, according to records kept in the "Stationer's Register") in March 1594. Others suggest it was "Titus Andronicus," first published in January 1594. -
The first English dictionary, “A Table Alphabeticall”
The first English dictionary, “A Table Alphabetically”, was published by English schoolteacher Robert Cawdrey in 1604. Cawdrey’s little book contained 2,543 of what he called “hard words”, especially those borrowed from Hebrew, Greek, Latin and Frenc -
Publication of the first English-language newspaper, the “Courante” or “Weekly News”
The first English newspaper was the “Courante” or “Weekly News” arrived in 1622, and the first professional newspaper of public record was the “London Gazette”, which began publishing in 1665. The first daily, “The Daily Courant”, followed in 1702, and “The Times” of London published its first edition in 1790, around the same time as the influential periodicals “The Tatler” and “The Spectator” -
Samuel Johnson publishes his “Dictionary of the English Language”
It is the first dictionary considered anything like reliable. An impressive academic achievement in its own right, Johnson’s 43,000 words dictionary remained the pre-eminent English dictionary until the much more comprehensive “Oxford English Dictionary” 150 more years later, although it was actually riddled with inconsistencies in both spelling and definitions. -
Romanticism 1798 - 1837
Was an important artistic, literary and intellectual movement. The important poets were Robert Burns, William Blake, and Walter Scott. This period produced authors who wrote about life, love, and nature. Many of these authors found the world to be disappointing and had a melancholy bent to their works. -
Period: to
LATE MODERN ENGLISH
The English language underwent more huge changes after 1800. Although the pronunciation and grammar of Early Modern English continued into the late modern age, the vocabulary of English grew considerably, leading to the creation of Late Modern English. The main changes in vocabulary during the Late Modern period were due to the industrial revolution, scientific advancements, and colonialism. -
VICTORIAN AGE (1837- 1901)
This period is very important because the women start to have a place in the English Literature, names as Elizabeth Gaskell (North and South); Ana Bronté (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall). We can find here Charles Dickens; George Eliot, Stevenson (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde). -
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849)
was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story.“The Black Cat", “The Masque of the Red Death", “The Murders in the Rue Morgue", The Fall of the House of Usher are the best stories. -
PETER MARK ROGET
London physician Peter Mark Roget publishes his dictionary of synonyms, the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases -
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Lewis Carroll publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a development of the story he had told Alice Liddell three years earlier. -
MODERNISM (1901 -1922)
It is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional styles of poetry and verse. In broad terms, the period was marked by sudden and unexpected breaks with traditional ways of viewing and interacting with the world. We find here novelist as Joseph Conrad, T.S Eliot, D. H. Lawrence; James Joyce. -
Agatha Christie (1890–1976)
Agatha Christie is not just a famous mystery writer, she’s the best selling novelist of all time with over two billion copies sold and a massive fandom that continues long after her death. Her works contain several regular characters with whom the public became familiar, including Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, Parker Pyne and Harley Quin. -
POST - MODERNISM (1940 -2018)
This period is experimentation, without rules for that it is very difficult to give some characteristics. Henry Miller, William Burroughs, Joseph Heller. Literary works: Nineteen Eighty-Four of George Orwell -
Lord of the Rings trilogy (1954-1955)
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, British writer and linguist, Tolkien is best known for his Lord of the Rings trilogy, a fantasy work regarded as a classic of universal literature and which shares the stage with another of his great novels, The Hobbit. -
J. K. Rowling (1997)
Better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author, film producer, television producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. She is best known for writing the Harry Potter fantasy series. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997. There were six sequels, of which the last, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. -
Doris May Lessing (1919-2013)
Lessing 2007 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the award, the Swedish Academy described it as "an epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, ardor and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny.". His novels include The Grass Is Singing, the sequence of five novels collectively calls the children of violence, The Golden Notebook, The Good Terrorist, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos: Archives.
