History of the English Language

  • 401

    Angelo Saxons

    The Angelo Saxons arrive in Britain and bring everyday words, and the vikings add about 2,000 more words
  • 1066

    The Norman Conquest

    The Norman Conquest
    William the Conqueror invades Britain and brings French words with him. The Normans brought about 10,000 words, and English took over as the main language instead French
  • Period: 1564 to

    New Words & Metaphors

    Shakespeare creates around 2,000 new words and phrases.
    King James has a new version of the Bible made and nearly 8,000 new words and metaphors are created
  • The Expansion of the English Language

    The Expansion of the English Language
    Britain starts to expand its empire and language over seas. During their expansion they pick up new words from the Americas, Australia, and Asian nations
  • The First Dictionary is Made

    The First Dictionary is Made
    Samuel Johnson creates the first English dictionary. He takes 7 years to make it, with no help. The book was a massive 18 inches tall and 20 inches wide. The first version contained 42,773 words, and the language just kept growing.
  • Period: to

    Modern English and the Internet

    English currently now has 1.5 billion speakers and counting, but there are hundreds of thousands of dialects that vary. Internet slang is making conversations shorter than the average attention span of the user