English language irregularities

History of The English Language

  • Period: 400 BCE to

    Old, Middle, and Modern English Language

  • Period: 450 to 1150

    Old English

  • 600

    Anglo-Saxon language covers most of modern-day England

  • 792

    Viking raids

    Viking raids
    The Viking raids on Britain begin.
  • 878

    Britain Gets Divided

    Danelaw established, dividing Britain into Anglo-Saxon south and Danish north
  • Period: 1066 to 1075

    Norman Invasion

    William, duke of Normandy Invaded England, which caused the English Language to be influenced by French.
  • Period: 1150 to 1450

    Middle English

  • 1349

    Black Plague

    Black Plague
    The Black Death kills one third of the British population
  • 1385

    English Replacement

    English replaces Latin as main language in schools (except Universities of Oxford and Cambridge)
  • 1392

    Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

    Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
    Popular book written about social realism and estate satire.
  • 1399

    English Speaking Monarch

    English Speaking Monarch
    Henry IV becomes first English-speaking monarch since before the Conquest
  • 1440

    Invention of The Printing Press

    Invention of The Printing Press
    The printing press had a major role in the English language. After this machine was perfected in 1450 the English language stabilized due to people learning how to read and write.
  • Jun 24, 1497

    Discovery of North America

    Discovery of North America
    A man named Christopher Columbus discovered North America after setting sail in 1492, he sailed with his captain Henry VII of England
  • Period: 1500 to

    Early Modern English

  • Bible Published

    Bible Published
    The Authorized, or King James Version, of “The Bible” is published
  • Publication of Shakespeare first Folio

    Publication of Shakespeare first Folio
    This was Shakespeare’s first published Folio of all of his plays after his death.
  • Period: to

    Modern English

    This is how the English Language is spoken today, not much has changed accept for slang throughout the generations.
  • Dictionary created

    Samuel Johnson publishes his “Dictionary of the English Language”
  • Period: to

    American Revolution

    Gunfire exchanged in Lexington and Concord which starts off the Revolutionary war.
  • Death of Celtic Cornish

    Last native speaker of the Celtic Cornish language dies