English language

History of the English Language

By nbushman10291
  • 400

    Beginning of the English Language

    Three Germanic Tribes, the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes, brought their native language, Englisc, with them which evolved into Old English.
  • Period: 400 to

    History of the English Language

  • 450

    Beginning of Old English

  • 550

    Beowulf's Writings

    Beowulf's poems were written in Old English.
  • Oct 9, 625

    Wes hal

    Wes hal in modern English would be Hello.
  • Jan 9, 660

    Caedmon's Hymn

    It is the oldest attested poem in Old English
  • Jan 9, 1066

    Norman Invasion

    The Duke of Normandy invaded and conquered England. They brought with them a new kind of French, which then changed the English language.
  • Jan 1, 1100

    Beginning of Middle English

  • May 11, 1387

    Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

    Chaucer wrote his Canterbury Tales between 1387 and 1400.
  • Jan 1, 1500

    The Beginning of Early Modern English

  • Jan 9, 1500

    The Great Vowel Shift

    Vowel's started being pronounced shorter and shorter.
  • Jan 9, 1500

    Johannes Gutenburg Invented the Printing Press

    This made it possible to document the English language.

  • North America was discovered

    Americans were still using words with the same meaning they had in Britain, but the meaning changed in Britain afterwards.

  • Publication of Shakespeare's First Folio

    This changed the English language because Shakespeare had a unique way or writing and saying things.

  • The American Revolution

    The Modern English Language was changed once again by the influence of the Spanish giving us words like canyon and stampede.

  • Noah Webster publishes his famous dictionary

    Noah Webster published the American Dictionary of the English Language. This gave America our own version of the English language that was documented.