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410
Romans leave Britain
Not much of their latin language is left behind -
Period: 410 to
Development of English Language through history
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450
Anglo-Saxons invade Britain
Anglo-saxon vocab was used by many British people because it included simple, every-day words such as "woman" and "house". 4 days of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thirsday and Friday) also have Anglo-saxon origins. -
Jul 8, 700
Approximate date of the earliest manuscript records of Old English.
A lot of simple verbs used nowadays such as eat, drink and go originate from old English. -
Jul 8, 1066
Norman Conquest
Introduced the French language and words such as Parlament in 1290 which became the English word Parliament over time. Latin was still used in Churches and the common man still spoke in old English. The word "cow" came from English speaking farmers but "beef" has French origins. Overall, the Normans introduced around 10,000 French words to the English Language. -
Period: Jul 8, 1100 to Jul 8, 1500
Middle English Period
The Middle English period saw the breakdown of the inflectional system of Old English and the expansion of vocabulary with many borrowings from French and Latin. -
Jul 8, 1150
Approximate date of the earliest surviving texts in Middle English.
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Jul 8, 1337
"100 year war"
The English beat the French after over 100 years of war and English became the main language in England again, although it retained many French words. -
Jul 8, 1399
King Henry IV becomes the first English monarch to deliver a speech in English.
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Jul 8, 1450
Invention of the printing press
Printed books such as the bible were made more widely available at a much cheaper price so more advanced language was being used by more people, not just the most wealthy. -
Jul 8, 1475
Canterbury Tales published
Unusually for the time, Chaucer wrote about lower class people and how they were viewed at that time by eachother. The Canterbury Tales included relatable characters such as The Knight, the Merchant and The Shipman so more people from lower social classes became interested in literature. After the black death there was a huge lak of labour so peasents were able to apply for better jobs than previously, so more people were rich enough to be educated- the Canterbury Tales were then appreciated -
Jul 8, 1564
William Shakepeare's birth
Shakespeare introduced over 2,000 words and phrases to the English language during his life suh as "lacklustre" and "the green eyed monster". -
Period: to
British Empire established
English people invaded several countries such as Africa, Australia, India and the Caribbean for land and resources as-well as power. This resulted in picking up new vocabulary from these countries such as barbecue, canoe, yoga and bungalow. -
The first permanent English settlement in America is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
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First English translation of the Bible
Widely read and discussed, this publishing made everyone more familiar with the English Language beyond the simplest terms. -
Royal society of London was established
Scientists were using latin words to explain theories and findings but decided to use English words instead to make it easier to understand. New discovries such as "gravity" and "acid" were named in English. -
Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe, considered by some to be the first modern English novel. -
Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language
Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language was published and is regarded as one of the most influencial dictionaries, containing 42,773 entries. It included the standard spelling for English words which had previously been spelt and pronounced differently in different regions. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is signed, and the American War of Independence begins, leading to the creation of the United States of America, the first country outside the British Isles with English as its principal language. -
The telegraph is invented by Samuel Morse
introduces the development of rapid communication, a major influence on the growth and spread of English. -
Oxford English Dictionary started
Because so many new words were being invented all the time, it took 70 years to complete. -
American economy
As a fairly new country, the USA developed new words in order to explain and understand their economy as the industrial revolution and end of the civil war had influenced the rate of economic growth. Words such as "breakeven" were introduced and are now part of the English language. -
Oxford English Dictionary published
After taking 70 years to complete, the Oxford English Dictionary was completed but is still being updated with new words today. It includes words of Standard English although abbreviations, dialect and slang still remain but are not inluded. -
First E-mail
New technology such as e-mail means that people can communicate worldwide without having to travel. IT also brought with a new lexical field which includes words such as "download" and "toolbar" -
Invention of the world wide web
This resulted in a high-peed sread of the English language abroad, much faster than previously. -
Twitter invented
Worldwide spread of abbreviations such as "tbh" "imo" and "btw" increased due to the character limit per "tweet". Internationally recognised symbols such as :) and <3 changed into a wider range of "emojis" -
Around 1.5 billion people now speak modern English
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Introduction of Christianity
Christianity was intorduced to England and brought with it latin words such as "bishop" and "font". -
Viking invasions
Introduced around 2,000 words into the English Language such as "die", "give" and "take".
